下好離手

股災頻傳，市場不斷殺低，斷頭令萬箭齊發，呵，這波真是跌得兇。我自己部位的市值也跟著持續縮水。不過，眼看著投資價值一一浮現，許多等待已久的好公司，紛紛出現迷人的價位，終於忍不住下去大買。

不過各位不要誤會，以為我長線看多，或是認為短線即將反彈。我對後勢完全沒有view，只是覺得這個價位買下去，只要公司是好公司，往後數年還能維持一定的獲利能力，我就心滿意足了。因此，買了之後當然還可能繼續大跌，但就像我賣出時永遠無法抓到最高點一樣，我在買進時，也不求最低點。只要價位迷人就行了。

當然，我還是保留足夠的多年的生活資金，以免日後為了生活而被迫在空頭時賣出好股票。這波的大跌，除了恐慌心理之外，斷頭求現的賣壓應該也占很大的成分。自己當然不能犯同樣的資金控管毛病。

接下來就是耐心地等待公司好好地把經營成果拿出來了。也許半年，也許一年，也許是三、五年，天知道。

就這樣了，一個價值投資人逆勢進場之後的幾句傻話。

Starry, Starry Night

我同學又要我譯歌詞了，這首歌很美，但我只能大概抓個意思，不講字句排列和押韻，連一些細節也是意思一下就好了。希望沒有太傷原作。

當作中秋前的應景。


Starry, Starry Night
By Don McLean
星夜
林茂昌譯

Starry
Starry night
Paint your palette blue and grey
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the
Darkness in my soul

你畫星夜
在夏日大白天裡舉目四望
看到了我靈魂裡的暗部
於是，你把藍與灰塗在調色盤上

Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land

用山上的陰影
勾勒樹木和水仙
用雪地的色彩
抓住微風與寒冬

And now I understand what you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They did not know how
Perhaps they listen now

現在我終於明白　你要告訴我什麼
你說神智清楚對你是一種折磨
只求解脫
他們卻不聽
也聽不懂
也許，他們現在聽進去了

Starry
Starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze reflect in
Vincent's eyes of China blue

你畫星夜
花兒盛開如火
紫羅蘭色的水氣捲繞成雲朵
映在你Vincent青瓷般的藍眼睛

Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist's
Loving hand

顏色的調性
各異其趣
早晨的農田是金黃色麥穗
飽經風霜的臉龐是痛苦刻痕
在畫家多情的筆下
各安其所

And now I understand what you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They did not know how
Perhaps they listen now

現在我終於明白　你要告訴我什麼
你說神智清楚對你是一種折磨
只求解脫
他們卻不聽
也聽不懂
也許，他們現在聽進去了

For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left in sight on that starry
Starry night
You took your life
As lovers often do
But I could have told you
Vincent
This world was never
meant for one
As beautiful as you

你的愛依然真實如故
但他們已經沒辦法愛你了
當星夜這幅畫完成之後，連一絲希望也沒有之時
你和大多數的有情人一樣
結束自己的生命
但Vincent，我希望我能夠告訴你
這世界本來就不適合像你這麼美的人

Starry
Starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls
With eyes
That watch the world and can't forget

我看星夜
空蕩蕩的大廳裡掛著你的畫像
沒有身體的頭顱，被安在不知名的牆上
眼睜睜地看著這個世界，教人難忘

Like the stranger that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn of bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken
On the virgin snow

好像你曾經在哪見過的一個陌生人
那種衣衫襤褸的粗人
活像一枝該死的玫瑰長滿銀刺
被人折斷後丟棄在純潔的雪地上
殘破不堪

And now I think I know what you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They're not
Listening still
Perhaps they never will

現在，我想我大概明白　你要告訴我什麼
你說神智清楚對你是一種折磨
只求解脫
他們當時不聽
現在他們還是不聽
也許，他們永遠都不聽

蝴蝶蘭播種

我的蝴蝶蘭Phal. philippinensis的果莢上週無預警突然爆開，我連忙於週五（2008.07.11）調製培養基播種。這次試用花寶3號。由於果莢已裂開，消毒成了問題。我用10%的新奇漂白水泡5分鐘，然後再稀釋一倍泡5分鐘，再稀釋為原來的四倍。但我怕消毒過度會殺死種子，消毒不夠又會發霉。播了三瓶，至今尚未發霉，還可以再觀察。

另一株蝴蝶蘭Phal. Corona我大約在同時間交Phal. philippinensis，為了怕也突然裂莢，星期日（2008.07.13）也拿來播了。哪知果莢一打開，還未成熟。只好硬著頭皮播下去。就聽天由命了。這批也是播三瓶，其中一瓶是我女兒播的。

特記之。

Les Feuilles Mortes

Les Feuilles Mortes（枯葉）這首歌由Yves Montand唱起來真是感人肺腑。
YouTube上有歌詞的英譯，中譯請見這裡。順便貼上我畫的玫瑰應景一下。



Oh! je voudrais tant que tu te souviennes
Des jours heureux où nous étions amis
En ce temps-là la vie était plus belle
Et le soleil plus brûlant qu'aujourd'hui
Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle
Tu vois, je n'ai pas oublié

Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle
Les souvenirs et les regrets aussi
Et le vent du nord les emporte
Dans la nuit froide de l'oubli
Tu vois, je n'ai pas oublié
La chanson que tu me chantais

C'est une chanson qui nous ressemble
Toi, tu m'aimais et je t'aimais
Nous vivions tous les deux ensemble
Toi qui m'aimais, moi qui t'aimais
Mais la vie sépare ceux qui s'aiment
Tout doucement, sans faire de bruit
Et la mer efface sur le sable
Les pas des amants désunis

翠峰湖及龜山島之旅

小女放暑假了，我帶著父母一起去翠峰湖及龜山島賞鯨豚。盛暑出遊，其樂無窮。

海豚戲水

翠峰湖

翠峰湖步道

太平山

民宿的荷花

四季蘭無菌播種後續４

播種轉眼已一年，已到了移瓶的時候。除了培養基放了一年，品質已退化之外，肉眼可以看到部分龍根已開始出現褐化問題，必須移植。

我前幾天先把培養基做好，並消毒。觀察四、五天，沒有發霉，可以用。每一瓶的培養基我都裝很多以增加高度，因為我只有普通鑷子，長度不夠。為了減少鑷子在移瓶時長度不夠的問題，培養基只好多裝一些。

這次的培養基照說應該加NAA及BA等生長激素，才能達到效果，但我為了方便，也為了試驗，不加這些激素，而是提高蔗糖量（50g/l）及花寶濃度（4g/l）。希望透過高養分，讓龍根自己生長製造抽芽所需的生長素。如果沒抽芽，以後再移到含NAA及BA的培養基。

移瓶對我來說是高風險，因為用紙箱操作，根本就看不清楚，而且我沒有長鑷子，可以想見過程是一團亂。希望不要感染。

一共分了五瓶。

圖一：移瓶前的樣子，可以看到已經出現部分褐化現象。


圖二：移瓶前，可以看到「大集團」以外的種子發芽情況並不好，似乎與我的共生猜測吻合。


圖三：移瓶後的其中一瓶。


圖四：共分出五瓶。

四季蘭無菌播種ＤＩＹ

四季蘭無菌播種後續１

四季蘭無菌播種後續２－－長龍根

四季蘭無菌播種後續３

四季蘭無菌播種後續４

卡通主題曲：風姿花傳

這幾天電視播放日本卡通《三國志》，結尾的主題曲配上多年前實地拍攝的三國山水風景，讓我非常感動，立刻去搜尋該曲，發現連歌詞也很美、很有意境。我不懂日文，只能看著漢字，搭配網路上的翻譯去瞭解，但詞曲的魅力，絲毫不減。沒想到連卡通的配樂，都有這樣的境界。

卡通《三國志》對諸葛亮極為推崇，但其所推崇的，不在於孔明的上通天文下知地理，而是鞠躬盡瘁，以蜀漢大業為念的負責態度。

歌詞中也傳達了世事如風，無人能知的哲學觀。歌名「風姿花傳」的意思是：風的姿態，由花來傳達。世事如風，千古英雄人物如花，或嬌艷壯麗、或黯然凋零，共同譜出風的姿態。

其實，《風姿花傳》（ふうしかでん），是1400年世阿弥所著的能劇理論書，該書第五章最知名的一句話為「若能將此花，由我心傳至你心，謂之風姿花傳。」（圖片來自七色之音）



歌曲在此。


歌詞如下：

風のその姿 を （風姿花傳）

歌詞:

風を叫人の世の悲しみを
星に抱かれた静寂の中で
胸を開けば燃ゆる血潮の赤は
共に込て大いなる流れに

人は夢みる　ゆえに儚く
人は夢みる　ゆえに生るもの

嗚呼　嗚呼　誰も知ない
嗚呼　嗚呼　明日散花さえも

堅い契り爛漫の花の下
月を飲干宴の盃
君は帰らず残されて佇めば
肩にあの日の誓いの花吹雪

人は信て　そして破て
人は信て　そして生るもの

嗚呼　嗚呼 誰も知ない
嗚呼　嗚呼　明日散花さえも

国には破て　城も破て
草は枯ても　風は泣き渡る

嗚呼　嗚呼 誰も知ない
嗚呼　嗚呼 風のその姿 を
嗚呼　嗚呼　花が伝える
嗚呼　嗚呼 風のその姿 を

網路上的譯文如下（來自浣硯齋隨筆）：

風兒在哭訴著人世間的悲哀
在星辰所擁抱的靜寂之中
若是敞開胸懷沸騰的熱血
會一同流入巨大的洪流裡
人生如夢　所以虛幻無常
人生如夢　所以栩栩如生

啊啊　啊啊　誰也不知曉
啊啊　啊啊　即使連明天將要散落的花朵也不知道

在締下堅強盟約的爛漫花叢下
與明月飲乾了宴會中的酒杯
你還未回去留在這裡佇立著
肩上飄落著昔日立下誓言時的花朵
人是信任之後　而被背棄
人是信任了之後　而有意義

啊啊　啊啊　誰也不知曉
啊啊　啊啊　即使連明天將要散落的花朵也不知道

國家滅亡了　城池也破滅了
草也枯萎了　風依舊悲泣的吹著

啊啊　啊啊　誰也不知曉
啊啊　啊啊　風的容貌
啊啊　啊啊　花朵將傳達
啊啊　啊啊　風的容貌

天堂路

當過兵的朋友大多知道「地獄週」，但對「天堂路」則比較陌生。我在左營海軍陸戰隊服役時知道什麼是「天堂路」。那是二棲偵搜部隊（俗稱蛙人）結訓前的最後一項考驗，過不了的學員就要被淘汰。「天堂路」雖然只有短短的五十公尺步道，但滿布大小不一、尖銳的珊瑚礁石，受測學員不僅必須在這些珊瑚礁石上匍匐前進，更要前後翻滾，幾趟下來都皮破血流，幾乎磨掉了一層皮，但學員為了爭取通過成為特戰隊中最驃悍的爆破蛙人，都咬緊牙根苦撐。

這個維持數十年而不墜的傳統，我懷疑，可能源自美國海軍陸戰隊。當年我服役時，看到我國陸戰隊的操典，幾乎是全篇照抄自美軍，尤其是二棲登陸作戰，每一個動作細節、每一個名詞、每一項計劃、每一個表單，都來自美軍。

Cialdini在《請你跟我這樣做》一書中提到美國海軍陸戰隊也有類似的做法。其實，這種折磨新進者的做法，不只是軍中，許多團體也都有。例如我在美國讀書時，一些「兄弟會」也有。其手法或許各有不同，但幾乎可以肯定，這是個普遍現象。

新加入者要經過一番折磨之後才能加入。而加入之後，新人會覺得這是一個榮耀而非難堪的折磨，從而產生更大的向心力。

就好像原住民的成年禮。通過成年禮考驗的人，才是真正的勇士。

現在，我們回頭談價值投資。價值投資是再簡單不過的東西，難就難在加入價值投資之前也有一段「天堂路」要走。當你依照價值投資法去做時，等待理想的買進價位是一項折磨，而買進之後，到股價反應真正價值之前的波動與跌勢，更是折磨。

這段期間，不斷地考驗，不斷地懷疑。有些人被淘汰了，也些人通過了。但通過之後，就會對價值投資產生強烈的認同。並且真正瞭解價值投資。

不過有一點不同，其他的團體經過一次考驗之後，就終身不用再受試煉，而在價值投資，每一檔股票的投資，都是一段天堂路。

最近股市頻頻下跌，雖然投資價值漸漸浮現，陸續出現一些值得投資的標的，但有的股票，還是離我的「理想價位」有一段距離，通常這正是我最想買進的標的。這個過程雖然辛苦，雖然有許多的問題要去思考，卻正是價值投資人開始活動衝刺的時候。

每到此時，我都會把Neff的書再拿出來看，感受一下。

行經新生高架橋雜感

上星期四（五月二十二日）我與朋友約在美僑俱樂部吃晚飯，美僑俱樂部位於圓山飯店旁的北安路上，我沒去過，但那條路我倒是很熟，因為以前住內湖，每天上下班都要經過。

從我住處到美僑俱樂部必須走新生高架橋，記得以前新生高架橋每到下班時間都堵得很嚴重，往大直方向還好，往士林更是寸步難行。不過堵車是八、九年前的事了。我已經多年未曾在下班時間走新生高架。

憑著以前的記憶，抓了預計時間提早出門。結果，當車子上了新生高架時，我著實嚇了一跳。空蕩蕩的，放眼望去只有我一部車，一直要開到下坡往北安路方向時才稍稍看到幾輛車子。這可是星期四的下午六點半呢！當然，我早到了二十分鐘。

曾幾何時，台北真的變了。

還有，今天晚餐我依例要到住家附近的泰式餐廳吃飯，沒想到關了。看到老闆正在打包，還有他那可愛的兒子在一旁玩耍。這家叫大理雲泰風味餐廳，東西不錯，價格也很實惠。我頗懷念的。我在當餐廳紛紛關門時一文曾經提過麗江，麗江收了之後原址換老闆，改成大理。無奈還是撐不下去。

我滿懷念的。

就在我感觸良多，為什麼台北市的小型餐廳紛紛關門時，星期日在板橋驚見好幾家餐廳都客滿！

其原因當然不是住台北市的人都跑去板橋吃飯。但我總覺得，台北市的房價如果再繼續漲下去的話，小店家終會無立足之地。台北市的店面可能要被高檔業者、連鎖店、和「吉屋出租」所取代。

還有，不知道為什麼，這一兩年來我住家附近晚上的外食人口實在是少得可怕，大家都改去哪裡吃晚餐呢？

Just for Fun

It just came upon my mind this funny sentence:
Two to the two equals two pluses two, two times two, or two by two, which too, will not be two.

13 Jours En France

這是一首多年前我喜歡彈的吉他曲，原曲是1968年冬季奧運記錄片的主題曲。以前彈吉他時只知旋律優美迷人而不知其義。如今透過網路，不僅法文歌詞找到了，連翻譯都有了。更棒的是還可以看到記錄片。

這幾天隨手彈起此曲，突然覺得，或許可以找到相關資料，特記之。

詞曲原文和翻譯均取自百度知道歌譜則引自Varios。

13 JOURS EN FRANCE

Voilà pendant treize jours
En France on a fait le tour
Du desordre et des passions,
De la disproportion
De notre temps qui court
Voilà pendant treize jours
La France a fait son discours
Sans oublier qu'en chansons
Quelles que soientles raisons
Celàfinit toujours.

Un peu comme les lampions
Survivant aux réveillons
Peu à peu toutes passions s'éteignent
Comme les rues s'ennuyaient
Quandle Quatorze Juillet
Remballait ses bals et ses rengaines
Voilà qu'aprés troize jours
En France a repris el cours
D'un folklore quotidien
Qu'an fondl'on aime bien
Qui vient aujour le jour
Pourtant pendant treize jours
En France on a fait l'amour
Sans oublier un instant
Que pendent tout ce temps
Les jeux suivraientleur cours ...

在法國的十三天

在法國的這十三天
我們經歷了所有的
混亂和激情
以及我們這個年代的
比例失調
在這十三天裏
法國說了些話
同時不會忘記
不管由於什麼原因
結局總會令人皆大歡喜

就像節日的彩燈
聖誕夜後仍在發光
熱情的火焰會慢慢熄滅
就像每年的七月十四日
總會對舞會和老歌進行重新包裝
連街道都感到厭倦
這十三天后
法國又恢復正常
如一首耳熟能詳的民歌
日復一日
人們打心眼裏喜歡
儘管在法國的這十三天
我們也曾做愛
但一刻也不會忘記
在此期間
運動會照常進行

Zugzwang and Pascal's Wager

Zugzwang, a technical term in chess, is originated from German meaning compulsion to move. Whoever is to move is put at a disadvantage. In the playing of chess, Black and White move in sequence without any disruption. No one can abandon a move. So, there may be conditions that it is your turn to move, and all your possible moves will make you worse, such as a Knight is to be killed or a piece is to block in your King's way and hence make it more vulnerable.

That reminds me of Pascal' wager. Pascal, the great French mathematician, when asked if he believes that there is a God, he did not go find the odds of God's existence, but to consider the consequence of his possible guesses. If he said that there is no God, and in the end, God does exist, then he would have serious troubles. If he said that there is a God, and it turns out that there is no God at all, then he has nothing to lose. Thus he could safely say that God does exist.

Zugzwang and Pascal's wager are two different concepts with similar mindset which I think very important in investment. Whenever I make a investment, I don't bother finding out the possibilities of every outcomes -- I can never get a precise answer. Instead, I try to make sure every possible outcomes are all good to me, or at least no harm to me.

Sometimes, I have to ponder whether to sell a certain stock. But all I do is making sure that, to sell or not to sell, all will be in my benefits. In other words, to sell it, I cash in the profits, while not to sell, I have a good long term stock in hand.

I will never put myself in Zugzwang.

The institutional investors seem always in Zugzwang. For example, when a fund in Taiwan is set up, it has to buy stocks within 3 months so that more than 70% of its portfolio has been built up. Another Zugzwang condition is so-called the forced cut loss. Every company has a rule to cut loss. When triggered, the traders are to clear all that particular stock out without any concerns. They call it disciplines, but I 'd like to call it stupid if you are a value investor. However, if you are a technical investor, please kindly forget and forgive my words.

About a month ago, I was invited to a lady's club to give a lecture. I told them that if only they can understand and apply the Pascal's wager, they would be better off for that very reason.

I hope they take my words for it.

A Trip to Chitou

I took my family to Chitou(溪頭) for a trip last weekend. Chitou, meaning "creek head" in Chinese, is a beautiful plantation forest in central Taiwan, not very far from a famous tea town, Luku(鹿谷), or the deer valley. I've been to Chitou a couple of times, and I like it so much that I even spent a few days of my honeymoon over there. I recall that I purchased an orchid, Cym. ensifolium on that particular trip. It is still in my garden, and it spikes every year.

Well, I must say that Chitou has a lot of changes since some twenty years ago when I first went there. But the changes are delightful. As I can see, my daughter loves it much the same way I loved it twenty years ago.

The trees are tall, green, and beautiful, though wild orchids are not as much as they were. But I still found some, to my surprise.

Nowadays, it is very easy to go to Chitou from Taipei. It takes only three hours or so by car. I left Taipei 8:30 in the morning and got there before noon. That's something impossible before. I shall go there every so often.

Cym. dayanum

Bulbophyllum pectinatum

Liparis elliptica

Phaius tankervilleae

Beautiful Phalaenopsis

I like Phalaenopsis. With butterfly-like flowers hanging sweetly on the spikes, the Phalaenopsis always exuberates a sense of joy. I grow a lot of Phalaenopsis. Every time they spike, I can not help but take a lot of pictures for them and for other orchids.

These flowers are not mine, of course.

Please enjoy.









I also have some pictures of other orchids.

四季蘭無菌播種後續３

播種至今九個月左右。龍根發展成龍根群。我猜測龍根之間有共生關係存在。

在大自然狀況下，龍根與蘭菌形共生關係，但偶爾在野外會發現一大族的龍根，可能剛好是種莢同一批種子聚在一起掉落土壤中一起長出來的。

我試管裡這批就是一團種子長出來的，而且明顯長得比「落單」的種子快。快了數倍之多。而且，很神奇，有的種子根本就沒碰觸到培養基，竟可以快速發芽成長？

我猜測龍根之間會行養分和荷爾蒙之交換。換言之，當要發葉芽時，會一起發出來。

那麼，一群試管中的龍根，如果不用傳統的BA誘導，是否可以放進一株正在長芽中的龍根，然後整瓶發芽？

我還有其他猜測，但先寫到這裡，繼續觀察再說吧。

因為也有可能是我看錯了，根本是同一條龍根（雖然不太可能）。

四季蘭無菌播種ＤＩＹ

四季蘭無菌播種後續１

四季蘭無菌播種後續２－－長龍根

四季蘭無菌播種後續３

四季蘭無菌播種後續４

Mais où sont les neiges d'antan!

Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?

Where are the snows of yesteryear?

Ballade des Dames du Temps Jadis

Catching a Falling Knife

It is a common sense in the Wall Street that never catch a falling knife. However, I have just caught one. The stock I bought is a health equipment company that has just fallen out of favor: The Johnson Health Technology (喬山). Its share price falls form 290 to currently 57, because of earning surprise. The company had encountered a net lost last Q2.

I have no doubt that it was a good company, and I hope it still is. It is not my purpose to write all its merits here, but the company has an international brand name, and a strong earning record. People consider the U.S. recession had made it difficult to sustain a good earning level. Yes, due to the sub-prime problem.

The P/E ratio now is about 19 and EPS is 3. Why don't I wait until its EPS drops below 15? Or wait until P/B ratio is less than 1.5? Isn't it risky to buy at a 19 P/E?

That's right, I shall wait until the price goes down to a comfortable level. I have made a mistake to risk on this price simply because I think it has already dropped quite a lot. The price may go down further until its earning recovery. Until then, I shall wait. Somehow, I have taken a unnecessary risk.

I think over this problem again and again these days. And I get the point finally. Fortunately, I have bought the stock with only one third of my target amount. The other two third shall wait strictly until a proper price comes out.

Setting Up a Convertible Bond Trading Worksheet with Free Data Source

I have not posted anything for quite a while because I was working on a book that I like it very much. I have finished it finally! And I also had a lecture on last Friday about Greenspan's book, The age of Turbulence. That was a very special book club, in which, all members are women. I have a lot to say about the lecture, but for now, I am going to talk about Convertible Bonds, CB.

A couple of years ago, when people (in Taiwan) did not know very well about CB, I traded CB quite a lot, and made some money. The only reason that I made money is, people don't know anything about CB, and think it was a low liquidity, exotic instrument. So its price was underestimated, until it was converted to common shares or it was put.

Low liquidity is not a serious problem, but lack of information was, and still is. People don't know where to get the required information, and even if they know, they are not able to manipulate it.

I built a CB system several years ago in the company. But now, I am out on my own, so I don't have Reuters or Bloomberg, and I don't have a team to maintain the database either.

Fortunately, a lot of firms have found the merits of CB and joined the market. Although they have taken all the fruit in the lower branches, they somehow provide happy free data.

Yesterday, started from these free data, I set up a free CB worksheet. It is easy to maintain, and no pains. The spread sheet is dirty and quick, so it is not fancy at all, but you have almost every thing. By the way, it is real time.

The only thing I did is to take a free CB list form the securities house, and build a excel spreadsheet with DDE functions. That’s all.

A Quote from Avatamsaka Sutra

Avatamsaka Sutra (華嚴經), a Buddhist Sutra also known as The Flower Garland Sutra, is not only a good book to understand Buddha, but also a book providing profound wisdoms about views, which is a very important concept in investment.

I was helping my wife to print out my mother in law's lecture for a Buddhist meeting when I found something really astonishing in the Avatamsaka Sutra. I shall translate it from Chinese. Please note that my translation may not correct, but close. I will do it in English as well as Chinese, so that some of you can directly read it in Chinese.

無見即是見，能見一切法。於法若有見，此則無所見。

No-view is precisely a kind of view, those who have no view can witness every law (of the Buddha).
Should there be a view to the (Buddhist) law, that must be no-view.
(or, "If you have a view to the [Buddhist] law, then you can witness nothing." Sorry, I am not very sure for this.)

有見則為垢，此則未為見。遠離於諸見，如是乃見佛。

Those who have views are polluted, thus can witness nothing. Stay away from lay views, thus can witness the Buddha.

Well, next time you see someone eloquently talking about what's going on the market, please kindly remind yourself this little quote from Avatamsaka Sutra.

4images 1.7.1 and MySQL 5.0.x

Ever since my Chinese Painting Gallery moved to a new host, the site has been off for a serious database problem. My friend Ted told me that it was because 4images 1.7.1 is not compatible with MySQL 5.0.x.

Please see 4images forum for a solution.

I have to thank my friend Ted for providing this invaluable information.

How to Be Protected from the Young

People at about my age, which is forty something, may be wondering: why is that, when we were young, the old man had the ball; and when we are getting old (and obsolete), the ball is in the young man's hand. Well, that may be just my personal feeling, but I think to some extent it is true that the young is invading into our territory.

This morning, I read the headline on the newspaper: "Two Teenagers Won the Science Fair with Only 200NT". They are just junior high school girls. Their work, "A New Method to Measure Surface Tension: An Re-Application of the Connected Pipe Theory", won the first prize of the 2008 International Science Fair in Taiwan.

Every now and then we have this kind of news circulating around, and we take it for granted that young man are taking the lead in the world of science. We, the middle-ager, mostly engaged in business or social matters, do not have to worry, so we tell ourselves. But is it that safe to keep ourselves focusing on things other than natural science? I doubt.

My friend Su is a radio program moderator, and the program is about books. She invited me to her program and talk about Greenspan's book, The Age of Turbulence with another guest- to my surprise, her student. He is just an elementary school boy.

Oh, no. If a schoolboy can talk about economics on the air, then the young are not just invading in the fields of natural science. Fortunately, I found that boy can not understand the book, and he could only squeeze words out with difficulty. I felt relieved as well as compassionate.

But I still think that the middle aged can not protect themselves from the young with knowledge. In the era of Internet, information and knowledge is never an advantage of the aged. We can only at best keep up with the young. Never think about to leading or teaching them. Some of them can even be erudite.

So, what moat do we have? What 's so important and the young are lack of? Experience? May be. But mind you, the only thing that we can learn form experience is, as the famous history saying goes, we never learn from experience.

Money? May be. But that is not a real moat. The young are getting rich ever faster. They may be richer than you already.

Social connections? May be. But the young have their own social networks, and you have yours. You have already seen many companies run buy 'kids', and they run the companies pretty well, if not better than you did.

OK, I propose one. Credits. I mean not only the bank credits, but all kinds of credits, such as your work, papers, medals, honors, some good things, and most importantly, the prizes you've won.

In the business world, we tend to judge a person by historical records. And this is a very important vetting process. We don't have to evaluate a person in every aspects, we only count on his records. And a series of good records or credits is just something that the young can never acquired when young. Some may think that the credits now can be built up much faster than before, but I doubt.

Most of the Credits are built up through competitions. And it takes time to compete. That is perhaps something the old-timers already done.

So, next time when you see some young stars in your company about to compete you out of your position, don't try to start learning computers, take trainings, or even go to schools. It's too late and useless. Besides, it is not easy. Never try fighting your enemies in their wars.

You try to be the sales of the year, to take part in an important task force, to lead a challenging project, and so on. And DON'T FOCUS ON ROUTINE WORKS ONLY. Leave them to the young. You'd better make mistakes instead of making no noise.

It’s Different to Be Different

About two thousand years ago, Suma Chien(司馬遷) in his famous book, The Historical Records(史記), described Tao Ju Gong(陶朱公),the richest man in ancient China, as follows. “Sell the expensive in a way as if it were dirt, buy the cheep in a way as if it were pearls.” One would consider that is a matter of price. But price is just a phenomenon and every person has his own view, therefore, it might not be the real point. I think it is about “being different”.

If everyone, including your mother in law, thinks that something is of no value, then you just buy it as if it were invaluable. If everyone thinks that something is very valuable, then you just sell it as if it were of no value. All you have to do is being different to all the others. Some may say that this is a kind of contrarians. But it is not that simple. Being different is never that simple.

Consider a teenager who wants to be different. He does not want to be similar to his parents, brothers, sisters, and even classmates. He wants to be different in clothing, hairstyle, talking, and even foods to the extent that he manages to be as different as he can and finally turns to the fads for help. As a result, in one way or another, those teenagers that turn to fads all become similar. They are so similar that they may even look like their parents twenty years ago. Their difference is just of no difference.

If you want to be really different, you just can’t make it by being against everything mechanically. The difference has to be originated from the bottom of your heart.

I remember that thirty years ago, when I was in high school, there was a naïve painter, Hong Tung(洪通, 1920-1987). To everyone’s surprise, he suddenly became famous. Hong had never learned painting. Actually, he had never gone to any schools. He was an illiterate, and lived in a very poor and remote village in southern Taiwan. He made a living by temporary jobs.

One day, when he was about fifty years old, he suddenly found that he had a passion in painting and started painting. The villagers looked down on him and took him as a lunatic, for he made no money and could not make a living except relying on his wife. He was considered as garbage, but he’d never mind.

Amazingly, it only took several years for him to become a hot shot in Taiwan. How he succeeded will be skipped here. You only have to know that somehow he became the headlines. A lot of tourists went to that remote village just to see him. I confess here, I did, too. Taipei elites had organized an art exhibition for Hong in the U.S. Information Agency(美新處) in 1976. Everybody in Taiwan was crazy for him, even the President Chiang Ching-kuo.

But he never sold his paintings. Some had offered a price so high that the villagers can never imagine. He just refused to sell any of his work. Recall the phrase quoted from The Historical Records: ” Sell the expensive in a way as if it were dirt.” Quite a lot of people would advise him to sell at least some. Please also note that he was still very poor at that time. I think, in this case, it is a conventional wisdom to sell.

But Hong was different, again. He insisted. None was sold.

Years after, he had passed away. But people still consider him a great painter. Nowadays, a lot of so called naïve painters imitate his style of painting. Every year, children in his hometown would paint a lot of Hong’s style painting to memorize him.

One may say aftermath that had he sold his painting then, he would already be out of our consciousness, because we might take him as an ordinary painter.

He was so different to be different.

The Flower of Chikushi

The Flower of Chikushi(筑紫之華) is a variety of Cymbidium sinense(報歲蘭). The location and time it was found are still unknown today. But one thing can be sure, it was not from Chikushi.

There are white lines called "art"(藝) on its leaves. The "arts" has various patterns. Usually, the pattern of this variety is called "nakahu"(中斑). That means the white or yellow lines are located in the inner part of the leaves, while the outer part of the leaves, especially the tip of the leave is green.


The Flower of Chikushi has a strange property. If a young shoot starts growing in spring time, its leaves will all be ordinary green, no white lines on those leaves. But if the young shoots start growing in autumn, then, it will have splendid and flashy leaves. People consider its "art" unstable and therefore The Flower of Chikushi is inexpensive.

But I think this property is quite interesting. The combination of green shoots and "art" shoots makes them easier to grow and let the whole plant look more beautiful. Further more, sometimes, there are also "arts" on its flowers, and the pattern is "nakahu" as well. But not every flower of it has "arts". Sometimes, you can see different types of flower on a scape.


Twenty years ago, people think that these "arts" can not be reproduced by pollination . Nowadays, some people have shown that if the female parent has "art", then there may be some chances to have "art" offspring.

We still don't know the exact mechanism. But it is interesting, and I have tried to make one pollinated. So, let's see what's going to happen several years later, no kidding.

The last picture shows the flowers of an ordinary Cym. sinense.

AM 729

I seldom listen to the AM radios. Today, I tune the radio back and forth without any specific program to listen. It happened that I found AM 729, the Shih Hsin Radio Station(世新電台).It was Deutsche Welle(德國之音) on the air. For me, the Deutsche Welle is not the same to the BBC world service, DW is in more depth with no-big-deal kind of news, and you won't have American election or Afghanistan news all day long.

To my surprise, they had a special on how the Indonesian ex-Chinese are doing after Suharto's death. These ex-Chinese have been through a terrible life under Suharto's anti-Chinese policy. They are a bit confused. They consider themselves as Indonesian, but why is that they have to be treated differently just because they have a Chinese strain. Some are proud of being both Indonesian and Chinese.

There were some interviews in the program, so I can hear the voices directly from those Indonesian ex-Chinese. That's quite a contact.

My point here is not to discuss the Indonesian ex-Chinese problem, but the media from German that is so different from the U.S. or British ones. We all have been for too long a time reading, watching, and listening to the U.S. media, and unintentionally getting an American view. It's a situation that I thought I can do nothing about it. For if we want to keep receiving world views, we have to receive them in English, which automatically conveys an American view. I am not saying that the American view is bad, actually it is quite good, and I have been enjoying it very much. But we just want to have some other voices to listen to.

I am glad that Deutsche Welle does it in English. From now on, I have BBC, ICRT, and DW to choose.

Whatever Will Be, Will Be

It is Chinese New Year now, and suddenly, it came up on my mind that I'd better write my Blog in English from now on, at least, once in a while.

I am forty eight years old. It is a long way for me to have a computer and start exploiting the cyberspace, and, perhaps, typing as well. But that is not the most difficult part. I find writing something that is in a flash quite challenging, especially in English.

This Blog has been written in Chinese to record my life. Somehow, I think it is time for me to write in English to share with the world. You will never know how hard it is.

I was an executive of a local securities firm and futures trading company. One day, I found I'd better start my own investment business, and I did. Currently, I am an investment free lancer, to invest for my own good. I believe that value investment is what I do, I am serious.

As an value investor, I am doing fine and have a lot of time hanging around. Usually, people think I am unemployed, or I may not have so plenty of time doing nothing. But they have no idea that I am making money, perhaps more than they are doing. And that is quite strange a feeling. I am far from super rich, but enough for a humble life.

However, while doing nothing all day is my goal, it is quite boring just sit there. So I have a lot of hobbies, such as Chinese Painting, music, orchid growing, and Go, and I also translate English to Chinese for a local publisher. Among my works are The Walmart Effect by Charles Fishman and The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan.

You should see how the publisher react to me at the very first time we encounter. Anyway, translation is fun and free for me but certainly not a good business to make a living. All translators in Taiwan know that. But it is something that you would spend a lot of time to do. It is so worthwhile to have a good book in hand to translate.

That's all I have to say for now, and, I hope you like it.

泰北行簡

原先以為泰北是偏僻之處，理當頹圮凋敝，再加上有著《異域》的印象，總是認為泰北應該是個蠻荒之地才對。但真正到了泰北，走出清邁機場，立即完全改觀，這裡富饒美麗宛如人間仙境。

清邁是個古城，有許多古剎，各個寺廟都只能用精緻美麗莊嚴來形容。導遊介紹了許多古寺的由來典故，但我已記不清楚，倒是拍了不少照片。

泰國人好客溫和，再加上物價便宜，悠遊其間，讓人感到心曠神怡。不過這裡幾乎凡事都要小費，還好是二十泰銖，我覺得尚能接受。

泰北行一般是遊古寺、看長頸族、到金三角、泰緬邊境、美斯樂，以及蘭園（我的最愛）、猴園、大象學校等。其中看長頸族一事最讓我感到不安，大家拿著相機對著長頸族少女拍攝，好像在拍動物一樣，我實在不忍拍，因此沒拍下來。

泰緬邊境是最刺激的了，各色人種混雜，充滿了生命力，但也明顯對比出泰國的富庶和緬甸的窮困。緬甸街頭上還有不少持槍軍人，尚存一股肅殺之氣。

但清邁還是最美的，沒有高樓大廈，多是精緻美屋，城裡有個洋人街，裡頭的咖啡館從Starbucks到當地的特色咖啡屋，間間暴滿，多是年輕人，還有不少像業務的人在裡頭用notebook和客人交談。

當然，清邁的高爾夫球場也很棒，不過此行沒有安排打球行程，也許將來有機會在去那裡揮桿。

泰北非常進步，非常美，值得一遊。







長頸族我只在遠遠拍街景。


這三尊緬甸的佛像其實是同一尊，非常特別，緬甸人運用特殊雕刻技巧，讓你從各個方向看佛像都覺得佛也在看著你。




緬甸一角，像不像早年的眷村？