電影、書評、隨筆

Author       Arthur Charles Clarke Subject      Science fiction Year           1990 Publisher   New York: Del Rey ISBN　　    0345347951 Written by one of the greatest sci-fi authors in the 20th century, Childhood's End describes some extra-terrestrial organisms, the Overlords, coming to Earth near the end of the century with the seeming intent to bring law and order to the human race. However, as time moves on their ultimate agenda is revealed – they are helping human beings to transform from their materialistic existence to integrate with the omnipotent, spiritual Overmind of the universe. It touches on the ideas of extra-terrestrial organisms, interstellar travel, human psychic power and subconscious archetypes as well as apocalyptic revelation.  Personally thought, the characters in the prologue and first part are not properly tied up to the rest of the story, rendering them ra...

Author          Al Gore Publisher    London: Bloomsbury Year             2006 Subject        Global warming ISBN            0747589062 Personally thought, this is one of the most important books of the contemporary era. Everybody should read it. Al Gore sums up a lot of sounded scientific evidence to prove to the audience the impact of human activity on global warming, and how imminent the crisis actually is.  However, as he mentioned in the foreword, the words "crisis" means both danger and opportunity. If people act promptly and towards the right direction, not only will we be able to save ourselves from disaster, but may also become a leading force in the world.  Also, intertwined within the theme are some personal yet touching stories of Al Gore, which reflect the humanistic passion of the former US vice president.

星期二晚上到 Melbourne CBD 的 Federation Square 聽完了講座，乘火車回 Glen Waverley 的時候，遇上了這位兩髮斑白、年約六十歲、貌似華人的婆婆，也就給了我這個小故事。   其實，我一早就察覺到這位坐在我對面的婆婆在東張西望，好像想找人交談。當然，這在外國是很常見的事，我有時也很享受這過程；但當天自己帶了一疊報紙看，又不特別想說話，於是就坐在靠窗的座位上，塞上耳機，一頭栽進報紙上，望也不望她。儘管如此，我仍是留意著她的動靜。   不出我所料，很快她便聊剛上車、坐在我身旁的印度人談話。可惜的是，她的開場白很差勁，一開始就指著人的頸巾問：「Are you cold?」 人家回答後，還說當天很溫暖，好像怪責別人不應穿得那麼厚重一樣。 其後，她的談話技巧更拙劣：問別人從那裡來，父母在哪裡，大學修讀什麼，做什麼工作等等... 嘩，大嬸，你依家查人家宅咩？你不是認識了人家很久，人家沒必要告訴你這麼私人的問題。此外，她還要批評人家的國家不及澳洲...唉，要是那人不是那麼友善，恐怕早已不理睬你啦...   正因如此，我更不想和她聊天，但一個廣東話的通電很快就讓我露出了破綻。我一掛線，她就用廣東話開始問和剛才類似的「查家宅」問題。 我想：好，既然你那麼八卦，我也不甘示弱，反「起你底」。通常來說，這種人問得別人這些問題，也不介意把自己的私事告訴別人──她也不例外。   她是馬來西亞華僑，來了這裡差不多三十年，因為當時大馬有排華騒亂，才和幾個兄弟姊妹到處流亡；到過香港，又住過廣州，最後才輾轉來到墨爾本。她的幾個兄弟姊妹，有些和她一同來了澳洲，有些則在美國定居。從她的談吐中，相信她在大馬時大抵也是上流人士，不愁衣食的那一類（這也是排華的原因吧）。   原本只是閒聊一則，沒什麼特別的。但當我問她是否兒孫滿堂，坐享清福的時候，她的答案出乎我意料：她沒有結婚，也就是說沒有孩子。她用帶有遺憾的語氣告訴我：「以前不特別稀罕愛情、家庭這些東西，到現在老了，看到人家乘歡膝下，才開始後悔。」她還告訴我，她的所有兄弟姊妹都已成家立室，就只有她一個孤家寡人...   聽到這裡，我感到很傷感，原來家庭對長者來說真的是那麼重要的。我問她現在做些什麼，她說去...