Corruption Culture

Standard practice?

Ex-New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver convicted on all corruption charges yesterday.  Hong Kong's former leader Donald Tsang charged over corruption allegations earlier this year.  And, Tsang's former deputy Rafael Hui, was jailed for 7.5 years for taking bribes from a property tycoon last year.  And, these are only what we know.

 http://www.wsj.com/articles/sheldon-silver-conviction-shakes-albany-1448936770

 

Tsang's former deputy Rafael Hui, was jailed for 7.5 years for taking bribes from a property tycoon last year.

Tsang's former deputy Rafael Hui, was jailed for 7.5 years for taking bribes from a property tycoon last year.

The people of Hong Kong have spoken


The first election (for the District Councils of Hong Kong) since the Umbrella Movement took place over this weekend. While, activist Raphael Wong in the following image did not win on his bid for entering the District Councils as an elected member, a few other did in various districts. 

"‘Umbrella soldiers’ win eight seats as veteran politicians suffer surprise defeat"

https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/11/23/umbrella-soldiers-win-eight-seats-as-veteran-politicians-suffer-surprise-defeat/

Generalization, Discrimination, and Stimulus Control

Protesters were against "police brutality" not the "police" as shown in this image of my new photojournal book.  For those who intentionally or unintentionally mix the two, take a quick read of the story about a boy and seal hunting (p. 300) in Chapter 10 Generalization, Discrimination, and Stimulus Control, of Learning and Behavior by Paul Chance.

https://goo.gl/RiaEli


It isn't just a test!

In this image from my new photojournal book, a girl was protesting for her teachers!  There seems to have way too many problems in the U.S. education system: too much tests, teachers' performance, failing schools, charter schools, U.S. students falling behind, Common Core Standard, high tuition, student loans, etc.  It isn't easy to be students these days, so as the U.S. Presidential candidates (Democrats and Republican) and New York City Mayoral candidates.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/obama-administration-calls-for-limits-on-testing-in-schools.html

The Great North East of Hong Kong

After taking me to understand the issues that Hong Kong farmers are facing earlier this year, my sister returned to the North East of Hong Kong and captured a beautiful sunset last week. If the farmland turns to shopping malls and high-rises as planned by the government, many birds will lose one of their last bit of natural habitats.  So do the humans.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153703038242002&set=pcb.10153703040757002&type=3&theater

Every 1 out of 3 elderly in Hong Kong lives in poverty

Similar to the data point that half of New York City is living near poverty, Hong Kong elderly poor is on the rise.  Not a surprise to me given what I saw in Hong Kong when I was working on my new book, the Beyond the Pale of Two Cities.  The new statistic about one out of three senior citizens in Hong Kong falls under the poverty line has just quantified an obvious problem.  The governments can choose to either deny these facts or do something about it before the term "middle class" can only be found in history books.

Beyond e Pale of Two Cities

My new series, Beyond the Pale of Two Cities is a photojournal about some of the social issues in #NYC and #HongKong.  Using the #BlackLivesMatter and #UmbrellaMovement as its backdrops, the 75 image study examines what's behind the demonstrations on the streets.

A photo book of this series will be available on Amazon in October. Like this page on Facebook to get updates when it becomes available.