Job Discussion Forums

[Doyle]

I agree totally with this. It's a great resource. It takes awhile to get through it but it will give the basics and then some.

[kowlooner]

Sorry guys, but someone still seems to be a bit slow on the uptake and needs some more education, though I promise to be brief!

Let's start with the flow of conversation before Bogey got all windy.

1) Bogey makes some of his usual claims.
2) Oxi notes that we're lucky to have Bogey.
3) Marco responds that Bogey is amusing and that much of what he says is inaccurate, exaggerated or distorted.
4) Kowloony follows up with some stats supporting Marco's statement
5) Bogey goes ballistic.

Let's start with the first observation about the public housing ratio.

Bogey says: "more than half of the population lives in government housing"

Fact 1: According to the HA, the actual figure is slightly under 48%.
Conclusion: B's comments are inaccurate, exaggerated or distorted.

Fact 2: Taking into account the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS), noted as "public subsidized sale flats" on the HA's stats page, the actual percentage living in public rental flats is under 20%.

You seem to have a misunderstanding about this, unless it was a deliberate distortion, saying "'public rental' government-provided housing and 'public subsidized' [sic] government-provided housing, they are both forms of government-provided housing." The distortion being omitting the "sale flats" part.

You can debate the HOS scheme if you wish, but the plain fact is that over 80% of HK households live in privately-owned flats. In this case, "subsidized" means the sale price, with HOS flats generally sold about 30% lower than the prevailing market rate and available only to those who meet certain income conditions. But if you really want to insist that HOS flats are "public housing", then you have to conclude HK is superior to Singapore, where their HOS equivalent covers more than 70% of the population.

Conclusion: B's comments are highly inaccurate, grossly exaggerated or wildly distorted.

Bogey says: "the average size of (public housing flats) is 450 square feet"
Bogey also says: "the average household has some five people (which presumably means some households have up to eight or nine people."

Fact 1: According to the HA, the average living space per person was 133 sq. ft in 2008. If the average household had "some five people", the flat size would average 665 sq. ft.

Conclusion: B's comments are inaccurate, exaggerated or distorted.

That's all. Simply using supporting facts to back up a statement.

And now, back to topic. Welcome back, Doyle! I believe you had entered a Canto course a year or so back. You said you'd report back on it. So, how did that course turn out? Pretty good? Would you recommend it to others?

[Yes Sir I Can Bogey]

I think you would perhaps benefit from getting out more, Kowloony.

[kowlooner]

Powerful comeback, Bogey! Especially humorous coming from you!

[Doyle]

[And now, back to topic. Welcome back, Doyle! I believe you had entered a Canto course a year or so back. You said you'd report back on it. So, how did that course turn out? Pretty good? Would you recommend it to others?[/quote]

Wow. Kowlooner, your mind is sharp. I did enter in that conversation. I started taking lessons in Sept. of '07 and I'm still doing them. I've enjoyed them so much. I haven't studied any of the characters. I just want to be able to speak and understand.

[starteacher]

Cantonese or Mandarin ?
Both

[joey2001]

Well put, Starteacher. I think you described the difference between the two languages pretty well!

[Susie]

As a NET, are you allowed to speak Cantonese with your colleagues at your school?

[oxi]

[Susie]

Yes. Putonghua. More or less told by the principal to speak only English on the school premises, that if I had any questions about this, I was welcome to make an appointment with him for early Saturday morning, and the discussion might last several hours, at the end of which his view would be upheld.

I thought the basic law gave me a right to speak Chinese and English.

My former students told me that I was violating their legal right by telling them to speak English during my lessons!

[kowlooner]