兰格格：在海一方

亲爱的报纸是一个伟大的人文理想

亲爱的报纸是一个伟大的人文理想

朋友两个月没有见到我了，我说我忙得午饭都不愿意蹭别人的饭是夸张，只是每次打电话的时候我都正好在赶报告。

等到见面，说起这两个月我忙些什么，于是说：
嗯，刚换了一个部门升了一级。又说，周二刚考完试，考得不好。
最后才想起：对了我们在办报纸。
朋友反问：报纸？我说，报纸。
报纸，虽然是一份非营利性的报纸，但是这将是我最伟大的义工工作。

我其实每天忙忙碌碌，走在路上都不忘东张西望，喜欢八股，对感情的事情慢热却会烧到糊涂。所以很多事情到事到临头的事后才开始激动。

总之，说到报纸，我把手上的事情都干完的时候，大家的名片已经都印好，该投资的投资，该注册的注册，电话线，传真机，办公室，据说连贴到车身上的广告宣传胶条都已经印好，害得我在大街上看见那些贴了红红绿绿的广告的工程车，开始为我的车担心。我才想起该写得稿还没有写，该约的稿件还没有约。

因为这份报纸藏了太多理想，就不愿意接受任何一个政治和宗教团体的资助，所有印刷和发行的支出就要靠自己的投资和广告收入。唐人街上太多没有内容，全是广告的免费广东报纸，你为了和他们抢一点市场还要既编得好且必须免费。据说，出去拉广告的兄弟们 已经和**功交过硬仗，刚刚面市发行的“大**报” 的广告人员坚决刻苦，汽车行下半年都已经预算好的广告都被他们拉了过去。连“市公共图书馆” 的广告都在他们的报纸上做广告。兄弟们都说，真的难啊。我们都说：我们的报纸编得好，就有读者，有忠实读者就有市场，有市场就有广告商找我们了。─每个人都知道这样说得时候很幼稚，但是在提及理想的时候谁又不是童言无忌。

其实这样的理想也是很简单的。为我们这样的生活在加拿大却离不开中国文化的人编一份结合当地文化的边缘报纸。有很多人刚刚到达这个国度，还不知道冬天的汽车怎么保养，如何面试，什么样的机构可以帮助找CONTRACT；有很多人每天工作的很辛劳，却不知道当地有什么样的儿童芭蕾舞，大学场的电影有半价，或者落基山脉有什么样的山和湖。

他们说这份双周刊：是一份报纸和它倡导的移民生活。
其实我想说，这是一份移民报纸和它分享的移民文化生活。
一份边缘的，却一直没有具体地点的，一份飘零的，无论物质生活多么扎实依然没有根的盼望。

你只要认真的给他们一个地点去关注，就会发现我们中太多的共同点。那些不可抑制的生命的孤独感，贯穿了离开故土的所属感，是更深层的悲哀。这一点，离开家8年的我深深知道。甚至，可以看见没有终极的尽头，永无落脚的摇摆。
因为这群人，尤其是在这里受过教育的年轻一代的人，经过几年的和国内的脱节已经适应不了太纷杂的人群。实际上，在这个社会中，他们也秉着不和同族太扎群，中国人多是非多的念头，只和小范围的中国人联系。而他们具有的专业背景，或者在加拿大形成的部分西式思维，可以让他们进入这个加拿大的中层群体，却永远进入不了这个中层群体的文化核心。不光是第一代，即使是第二代的中国人，生于斯长于斯，也会带有一定的华裔色彩背景。这些都是阻隔他们在社会中更加如鱼得水的地方，反过来也可以说，其实这也是一些可以鉴别我们的优势的地方。

但仅仅是这个，隔断层的文化，却没有代言，也没有表达。很简单聋哑的没有声音。仅仅是唐人街那些做销售和餐馆广告的那些只有明星小道消息的报纸是无法添补的。

…time's up

Proud of being Chinese

CPR names Kamloops interchange after Chinese laborer Cheng

by CPR corporate historian Jonathan Hanna

"We are proud to be Canadian and are privileged that our grandfather chose to come to Canada to work for the CPR," Kevan Jangze said in Kamloops, B.C., today.

On May 27, 2005, Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) bestowed an honor that was some 120 years in the making. CPR named the railway interchange in Kamloops after Kevan Jangze's grandfather – CPR Chinese laborer Cheng Ging Butt. The Cheng Interchange honors the many CPR laborers who toiled, some sacrificing their lives, to build the western section of the Canadian Pacific Railway from Port Moody to Craigellachie, B.C.

right: Cheng Ging Butt -- 1858 to 1930: the CPR laborer, Yale store owner, temple president, orchardist and merchant, after whom CPR named an interchange in Kamloops, B.C. circa 1928 Ref. Cheng Family photo supplied by Kevan Jangze.

This section is notorious in CPR history and, indeed, in Canadian history. It's the 600-km (372-mile) section of the transcontinental railway that was contracted for and mostly built under the auspices of the Federal Government. The Feds consolidated five separate contracts under one master railway builder – American Andrew Onderdonk. Onderdonk felt squeezed but had to produce. So, he did the job the American way…the way he and other contractors had built railways in the US. He tapped an inexpensive source of labor.

above: CPR's Cheng Interchange sign. The only "bi-lingual" standard CPR signpost on the system with a Chinese character. 2005 Ref. Canadian Pacific Railway Graphic Services.

This labor came from China and was sourced through Chinese labor agents. Between 1879 and 1882, Andrew Onderdonk contracted with Government of Canada to build five separate sections of railway that would bring the transcontinental rail line from Port Moody to Savona, B.C. His modus operandi for this public purse project was to cut expenses to the bone. Almost two-thirds of his workforce came from China. Mostly from Guangdong Province. Chinese labor agents supplied about 9,000 Chinese from their home country. These laborers worked alongside Onderdonk's other railway laborers but mostly banded together in their own camps, at night, to cook, clean, eat, sleep, socialize and even get paid. Chinese labor agents controlled the Chinese laborers' pay. Often times the laborer owed his ship's passage from China to the Chinese labor agent. On average Chinese railway workers were paid a dollar a day…whereas CPR's own workforce on the Prairies got a $1.50 a day.

By 1885, when Onderdonk had finished his government contracts, it's estimated he saved about $3.5 million building from Port Moody to Savona. An inexpensive workforce wasn't the only way he saved money. He cut corners on rock blasting, using less dynamite and more nitro-glycerin…a rather unstable explosive. He also perched his workers on precarious ledges, dangled them over sharp precipices, and erected flimsy wooden grasshopper trestles. All in all his workers dug 27 tunnels and erected almost 600 bridges. But the human toll was considerable. Add to that the Chinese laborer's diet with little or no Vitamin-C, being subjected to weather extremes and a new set of germs that the body was not yet immune to, and there were casualties…up to three-per-mile on this 372-mile western section of the main line.

above: CPR Chinese laborers put in a siding that cut into an embankment behind the Cheng Family home. Yale, B.C. circa 1885. Ref. Cheng Family photo supplied by Kevan Jangze.

By January 1884, Onderdonk had through service from Port Moody to Yale. But he was still working diligently on the Yale to Savona section. Since he had the men and materials close at hand, CPR contracted with him to build from Savona, through Kamloops, to Eagle Pass…finally running out of rails and material at Craigellachie, B.C., in September 1885. This section, under CPR supervision, was built more sturdily and much more safely. CPR took over the government-contracted sections from Onderdonk in mid-1886. And Van Horne immediately had to invest an additional $1 million to bring this government-built Savona-Port Moody section of the main line up to code.

Regardless, for 120 years, the contribution of the Chinese railway worker on this section of track went largely uncelebrated. Fifteen years ago CPR collaborated with the Chinese community in erecting a monument to the Chinese railway worker in Toronto. And the Royal Canadian Mint launched a two-coin commemorative set marking the 120th anniversary of the completion of the CPR and the important part Chinese laborers played in building the western end of the transcontinental line. But with the a major capital expansion project kicking off this spring in the "Onderdonk" sections of the railway, it was a prime opportunity for CPR to celebrate the importance of the thousands of Chinese railway workers who helped build the CPR from the West Coast to Eagle Pass.

And this is where Kevan Jangze's grandfather comes in. "Cheng Ging Butt is representative of the extraordinary people who withstood hardships to not only help build a railway, but a nation, as well," CPR Vice President, Paul Clark, said today. "The Cheng Interchange also symbolizes the important role Chinese railway workers made in the development of the entire railway industry in Canada. In recognizing all Chinese workers for their sacrifices, CPR is paying our deepest respects and gratitude."

right: CPR laborers under a federal government Onderdonk contract build along the Lower Fraser Valley. 1883. Ref. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives photo. NS.13561-2. An 8x10 print of this is available to employees through archives@cpr.ca for $25 Cdn, plus shipping and taxes, where applicable

Some CPR employees ask: "Is the Cheng Interchange the first place on the CPR system named after a Chinese railway worker?" Afraid so. "But what about China Bar, B.C. and Chin, Alta.? Aren't they named after Chinese railway workers?" Afraid not.

China Bar is named after Chinese miners, not railway workers. The name goes back to the Cariboo gold rush of the 1860s. Chinese in British Columbia numbered 2,000 back then. Most had come from California. After the California gold rush petered out and the Fraser River gold rush was in full swing, Chinese followed Caucasian gold seekers to placer mines and prospect points. When the others moved on to new areas, the Chinese stayed and rewashed supposedly exhausted gold areas. Their diligence in rewashing and re-slewing the earth for more treasures yielded considerable gold. China Bar is one such place. And that's how and when it got its name. This dates back to the mid-1860s… well before there was any thought of building the CPR through China Bar.

And the Taber Subdivision "Chin" gets its name from a nearby butte that resembles a chin.

窦唯的前世今生

考完试了，遂一一回复朋友来信。
有人提及窦唯，感叹。

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关于窦唯，我初中的时候就听过他的歌，那时他是“黑豹”的主唱，也写歌。黑豹是中国最好的乐队组合，虽然流行的太短了，又没有什么人自杀死亡(比如Kurt Cobain) ；没有人打架被刺伤眼睛(比如罗琦--心太软写得罗琦太感人) ─极端不起人们的悲伤情绪而使其永恒，但是我还是觉得他们是中国最具有原创能力的最好的乐队。虽然他们也不应该算摇滚。

那个时候北京到处都是乐队，甚至我学校附近的保福寺小区的居民楼的红墙上都写着“接触乐队” 。那个时候有男孩对我唱DON“T BREAK MY HEART， 只是因为我的名字的谐音。看过黑豹的MTV，他们开白色敞棚的212，长发，一脸不屑的表情。窦G长发，黑色T-SHIRT，金属项链，他是长发，黑T-SHIRT，就是90年代初的摇滚青年。

91年他离开黑豹，成立做梦乐队，后来解散。他和王菲结婚，移居香港，他成为小窦爸爸。他的魔岩同杰何勇在红堪开“中国摇滚乐势力”演唱会说“四大天王也就张学友还算是唱歌的，其余都是垃圾” 。几年后王家美人在红堪开演唱会，窦唯在侧台吹箫。不知道他的香港人都感叹，美人果然慧眼，嫁得是箫郎。却不知道，他们从小就相识，且一直倾心其才华。不知道为什么我一直觉得，那个时候的窦唯，才完整，平头，低调，是一个孩子的爸爸，一个女人的老公。

1999年窦唯和王菲离婚，据说另外有一个北京女子名叫高原。

2004年下半年，黑豹乐队推出了第五张专辑《黑豹V》，虽然有最好的后期母带处理，George Marino亲自持刀，市场仍空前的冷淡。

2004年12月，窦唯说“摇滚误国，红勘无需纪念”

2005年5月20号，窦唯和不一定乐队跑到广州的solo吧，搞了场即兴演奏会。从当天9点半折腾到12点，中间还间断停电。

我的朋友去看了，写信给我，原话是：窦唯是个小胖子，个头1米7左右，青皮头，很含蓄老道的样子，不大像艺术家，倒像和尚。

关于人生，形式和演出地点，都不一定。

China Currency

What do yuant from us?

May 20th 2005
From The Economist Global Agenda

As protectionist sentiment grows in Europe and America, China faces increasing pressure to revalue its currency. Domestic financial considerations are also making a revaluation look more attractive. But the road to a freer regime for the yuan is full of potential pitfalls, and Beijing is reluctant to be seen caving in to foreign pressure

TO HEAR American and European officials talk, you might think China was flooding their countries with toxic waste, instead of affordable consumer goods. Both the European Commission and the American Congress have begun proceedings to protect their citizens from the threat of cheap Chinese textiles. Both are unhappy with the effect of China’s currency peg to the dollar—America because it makes inexpensive Chinese goods even cheaper, and Europe because the euro is having to bear the brunt of the dollar’s depreciation. On Tuesday May 17th, America’s Treasury gave warning that unless China relaxes its peg, it is likely to be classified as a currency manipulator. In Congress, a proposal is afoot to slap punitive tariffs on Chinese goods unless the yuan is revalued within six months. Such moves are sufficiently worrying that on Friday the official Xinhua news agency reported that China would impose export tariffs on its own textiles starting in June, presumably to ward off more draconian measures abroad.

While the political logic of tariffs is clear, the reasons for pressuring China to revalue are less so. China’s currency peg, at around 8.28 to the dollar, is widely believed to be keeping the yuan undervalued by 15-40%, making Chinese exports artificially cheap. But it also subsidises a great deal of America’s profligate spending. In order to maintain the peg, China is forced to buy loads of dollars, which are then dumped into US Treasury bonds, financing America’s hefty deficits. A sudden decline in Chinese demand for Treasuries would raise America’s borrowing costs, curbing Congress’s ability to dole out pork to constituents. Some economists fear that this would push interest rates up sharply enough to cause a sharp contraction in the debt markets (including the mortgages that are fuelling America’s housing boom) and the economy—though this is unlikely, since the Chinese government seems keen to ensure that any appreciation occurs gradually.

China's economy

China's foreign-currency market
Mar 31st 2005
China's exchange rate
Mar 17th 2005
China's exchange rate
Feb 3rd 2005
Revaluing the yuan
Jan 20th 2005
A fair exchange?
Sep 30th 2004

China

America's Treasury publishes its report to Congress “International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies”. The European Commission outlines its relationship with China. The Institute for International Economics discusses the Chinese exchange rate and posts “Adjusting China's Exchange Rate Policies” by Morris Goldstein. The IMF has a paper about liberalisation and the exchange rate in China. See also the People's Daily and China's central bank, the People's

If it is hard to tell whether American politicians are just blustering to impress their constituents or really mean it, it is even harder to tell what effect their remarks are having. The markets are abuzz with talk of imminent yuan revaluation, but such hopes have surfaced many times before, and the Chinese government has so far disappointed. Last week the People’s Daily, an English-language Chinese paper, reported surprisingly specific plans to revalue the currency, only to quickly retract its story, claiming a translation error. However, some observers wondered if the publication had in fact been used by the Chinese government to test the waters.

Certainly, the head of China’s central bank has recently been making noises that sound an awful lot like “revaluation”. But other officials are reluctant to tamper with a peg that they perceive to be working well. This week Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister, thundered that his country would not bow to outside pressure on the yuan. Indeed, many think that hotter rhetoric from American politicians will only make China delay any revaluation plans it is working on. Having enacted export tariffs in response to protectionist politicians on both sides of the Atlantic, China might now be even more reluctant to relax its peg, for fear of being seen buckling under foreign demands.

Revaluation certainly looks tricky for the Chinese government. It believes that for the sake of political and social stability, it needs 15m-20m new jobs a year. Increases at that level will be enough to absorb population growth, plus displaced workers from the agricultural sector and China’s ailing state-owned firms. And the export sector is seen as a crucial vehicle of job creation.

But this is not the only reason that Chinese politicians are reluctant to revalue. By some estimates, as much as three-quarters of China’s foreign-currency reserves are held in dollars; if the central bank allows the yuan to rise against the dollar, it will also in effect be allowing the value of its reserves to depreciate. Moreover, if slowing the flood of dollars that China’s central bank is pouring into American debt markets does cause those markets—and the American economy—to contract, China’s exporting firms will have worse problems than a more expensive yuan. And problems for those firms could translate into big trouble for China’s frail banking system.

On the other hand, revaluation has its advantages. In order to “sterilise” its foreign-currency operations, preventing them from causing domestic inflation, China’s central bank has been issuing domestic securities. These have been stuffed into the banking system, which may be reaching the limits of its ability to absorb such infusions. Revaluation would ease this problem.

It would also mean that monetary policy could focus more on controlling the money supply, less on maintaining the currency peg. With economic growth hovering close to double-digit levels, fears of an overheating economy, and the attending inflation, are coming to the fore. And because per-capita GDP is so low—only $1,226 in 2004—large swathes of the population are vulnerable to even small increases in inflation; price instability could quickly become political instability. But China’s capital controls and currency peg make monetary policy much harder to execute.

As pressures are growing at home, so they are mounting in America, where all those cheap goods, and cheap loans, are fuelling a buying binge that cannot last. America’s national savings rate has already plunged to razor-thin levels, and each passing month of spending more than they earn leaves households more vulnerable to a sharp rise in interest rates when the Chinese stop lending. Despite the immediate political fallout, it looks like both America and China would be better off taking their medicine now, rather than dragging things out in the hope that a miracle will intervene.

Don't expect too much
But even if China does revalue, it will not be the salvation that American politicians are praying for. First, it is highly unlikely that the yuan will be allowed to rise very far; even optimists expect a revaluation only in the range of 3-10%, which will still leave the currency seriously undervalued.

Moreover, the effects of a relaxed peg on America’s current-account deficit will be extremely modest. China accounts for less than one-tenth of America’s trade, so even a 10% revaluation would only reduce the trade-weighted value of the dollar by 1%—not enough to produce any noticeable change in America’s current account. Nor is it clear that even a big revaluation would help much. Morris Goldstein of the Institute for International Economics estimates that even a 25% revaluation would reduce the current-account deficit by less than 5%.

Nonetheless, China seems to be preparing the way for a slightly freer currency. This week it allowed some foreign currencies to be traded against each other for the first time in China. This is widely seen as a preparation for reform of the tightly controlled currency regime. And if a revaluation seems unlikely to please America’s protectionist politicians, it should nonetheless help to correct the imbalances caused by the gaping American current-account deficit, if only by weaning America’s spendthrift consumers—and government—off cheap Chinese credit. If the hour of reckoning is not quite at hand, it seems only a matter of time before China’s financial system, and America’s borrowers, begin to grow up.

(转贴)赵小兰谈亚裔在美国的晋升技能

赵小兰谈亚裔在美国的晋升技能
2005年5月6日

第四届美国亚太裔联邦职业晋升高峰会，己于2005年5月3日(星期二)，在华府特区的华盛顿会议中心(Washington Convention Center)举行，大会主讲人华裔赵小兰博士以其极富群众媚力的形象和才华和1000多位来自全美各地的亚裔精英，分享她对美国联邦政府机构职场的观点，并提出因应之道，以下是赵部长的主题演讲摘要：

首先非常感谢特别来宾张之香大使，欢迎各位参加第四届美国亚太裔联邦职业晋升高峰会。数年来研讨会的成长及人数令人惊喜，第一届的亚太裔华人工作发展研讨会于2002年召开，参与人数超过150人，大部份为劳工部门的人士，在劳工部的大礼堂举行。后来与会人数连年增加，今年，报名众多，以至研讨会必须移到华盛顿会中心(Washington Convention Center)召开。

4年前，大会仅有一位共同赞助人─联邦人事管理局(Office of Personnel Management).今年，共有十一个联邦部门、机构、组织赞助。同时，也有许多参展单位报名与会，数目之多，主办单位甚至不得不拒绝些许参展单位。

众人共襄盛举反映了政府对多元化的注重，以及对于亚太裔美人在联邦政府内能力与贡献的肯定。根据最新的OPM数字显示，在联邦政府工作的亚太裔美人约为 4.9%、此数字还有能够改善的空间。就像各位所知道的，小布希总统已经委任许多亚太裔美人。他总共任命了289位亚太裔美人为高阶领导职位，包括94位总统认命、议会同意的职位。

请容我介绍其中数人，他们今天也参与大会：主管人资源部门的国防部副部长朱思九(David Chu, Under Secretary of DOD)；白宫主管人事的梅冠芳(Ed Moy, Associate Director of Presidential Personnel)；劳工部财务首长莫天成(Sam Mok, Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Department of Labor)；我也想趁此机会感谢Karen Czarnecki, Director of the Office of the 21st Century Workforce at the Labor Department和她的团队。他们为了确保大会圆满成功，非常辛苦的工作。我们也该感谢许多贡献了他们的私人时间在大会的义工们，谢谢你们！

大会与各位每一个人有切身关系。每一项目我们都希望得到各位的回响。透过各位的建议与观察可以帮助我们改善每一个项目，而我们也可帮助各位达成目标。今年，大会以三项各位认为对专业进步最重要的技能来规划。除了专门技术外，这三项技能分别是：行销、关系及简报技巧。

大会邀集了许多在这三项技能上的专家将帮助各位加强技巧。今年我们也再度提供专门的教练课程。许多回响显示这个课程对申请高阶专门职务职位的各位极有的帮助。我们也再次请到极受欢迎的Tim Koegel,The Exceptional Presenter的作者。

沟通研习会之所以重要，是由于沟通是有效领导的关键。事实上，在像联邦政府这样复杂的组织中，缺乏清晰沟通的语言及文字能力与简报技巧，是不可能有任何发展的。

在各位参与大会的同时，我想提供一些看法。首先，学习成为一位领导者是很重要的。就如我先前所说，沟通技巧对成为一位领导者亦至关重要。美国是全世界最多元的职场。人民来自各种不同的种族背景及地区。每个人的思考方式皆有不同。被任命领导职位，并不使人自动成位一位领导者。一位领导者必须有能力说服他的团队，他或她的领导方向才是完成任务最好的选择。团队也只会跟随说服者。因此，诱导他人及鼓励他人的能力，是使一位最好的领导者与众不同的地方。

各位可能会问，除了参与大会，我如何加强我的领导能力？其实，很多人是透过工作外的方式加强他们的领导能力的。这也是为什么可强化领导能力的团体运动在美国文化中如此重要。非营利的义务工作也是另一个可以训练领导能力的方法。同时，就像其它任何一件事，各位必须在做中学。因此，请不要因为初期的挑战而退缩。各位将会渐入佳境。

其次，决定领导能力次重要的因素相当有趣，那便是：团队合作。在大部份的大型组织之中，每个人都以团队成员的方式工作。团队合作讲究如何沟通。这里又再次提示了沟通技巧的重要，尤其是将你的意见以具有建设性及不带威胁方式表达出来的技巧。此时要求的是建设性的参与，而非强制性的压迫。

我们之中有许多人受传统的亚裔家庭教育，高声说话或抢答都被认为是很粗鲁的行为，且总是等着轮到你发言的机会。我记得在我第一个工作，我很耐心的等待我的发言机会，这机会却从没出现！人们总是打断别人说话！我并不是鼓励各位应该举止粗鲁，好的倾听技巧很重要，但是，以自信及适当的方式表达意见也是很重要的。

但那并不表示声量要比任何人大声，或是公然挑战。倾听，消化，并提出有效意见才是无价的技巧。

再者，各位必须理解，工作中的工作伦理、员工伦理及契约条款也是极为重要的。有些人错误的认为职位愈高规则愈不适用。但我发现正好相反。你的职位愈高，人们愈期待你做为一位模范。而且你的位阶愈高，你所吸引的注意力愈多。

过去数年来高阶公务员牵涉的丑闻震惊了美国社会。现在社会普遍以更高的行为及信赖标准看待领导者。在政府机关内亦然。各位必须了解各位在位的组织机构之规则及规则的精神，才不会逾距。

第四点，不要犹豫于培养关系及徵求专家的意见。美国是个开放及知识化的社会。大部份的人相当容易接近也愿意帮助他人。

对女性这一点尤其重要，因为女性仍旧在摸索中向领导职务前进。让我利用这个机会指出一点，半数以上的劳工部领导团队是女性。这是联邦政府中最佳的记录!这并不表示必须要有一位正式的顾问。而是由寻求意见的机会建之你的关系网。认识其他人。这其实也是生活中很好的经验。

如果现在各位的组织部门中，有类似劳工部这项顾问或辅导的课程，请多利用。顾问课程的效益之一便是给予各位了解你的组织部门寻求何种领导者的机会。而后你可以自我评估，找出不符标准之处。

如果各位的组织中没有这样的课程也不要沮丧。用你自己的方式寻找辅导或顾问，建立你的关系网。

第五个也是最后一个领导者该有的特质，便是掌握主导权。这是指主导你的项目及任务包括你的职业发展、而不等着他人来领导你。来参家这次大会，便是一个很正确的选择。大家都知道我们的社会有许多工作勤奋的人，他们十分忠诚可靠，技术上也优于他人。但是在职场发展并非如此简单明了。有许多特质和技术同样重要；如与同事相处的能力便是其中之一。这些领导技巧也被称做软性领导，必须从中培养。这些技巧亦是由文化主导的。对许多亚太裔美人而言，即使移民数代，文化仍旧有相当的差距。

如有需要,请各位向大会工作人员要求情绪谘商的范本。这个课程也被加入大会的训练课程中。情绪谘商是关于了解他人。当文化上有很大的差异时，这一点便格外的重要。事实上，了解及沟通文化差异是今日职场上最困难的课题。有这项能力的领导者被认为是无价的。

今天，我们的国家比往常更加多元化。亚太裔美人是社会中发展最快速的族群。亚太裔美人的职场己经由传统产业向外扩张，而且对美国人民生活有诸多贡献。亚太裔美人有上过月球的；他们不只得过诺贝尔科学奖，也得过文学奖。许多最重要的国家建筑及纪念馆由亚太裔美人设计。而且亚太裔美人亦在奥运为美国国家代表队赢得金牌。

现在美国的主流社会大门比往日更加敞开，如今也是各位朝目标发展、培养能力及争取联邦政府职务的最佳时机。在我的职业生涯中，我尝试帮助亚太裔美人了解其潜力及梦想。这也是大会的目标。大会提供各位达成目标的途径及。也是为各位的国家贡献心力的方法，后者给予我们的社区以及全世界许多希望、自由及机会。我希望各位也能在生涯中成为他人的导师，试图帮助他人。

现在流行单身妈妈

现在流行单身妈妈

When Hopper’s mother tells him what spring is all about, Hopper thinks that Spring is a person. Hopper goes around the forest looking for Spring…

不止一个人告诉我现在流行单身妈妈。

据说年轻的单身妈妈都漂亮有吸引力，本地时尚杂志Avenue 清一色的单身漂亮妈妈就是证据。而单身妈妈除漂亮之外的共识性优点就是：独立─要不怎么自己扶养孩子；有爱心─谁都知道不爱孩子的话可以送人领养；勤奋─努力工作才可以养活两口人。

我听过德拉拉的植物宠物的爱情言论之后曾经想过，与其是养宠物，不如养一个小孩子。因为虽然我喜欢小动物，可是从小就和弟弟合养并误杀过很多小动物。我们养过麻雀，兔子，鸭子，猫，但是没有一样东西的寿命超过三个月。比如我们养过不止一只兔子，一只被弟弟在学院草坪上放兔子放牧给放丢了，一只让被他设计的猫奶母给抓伤不愈而亡，最后一只是因为当时家里有一只猫所以把兔子放在了冰箱上而兔子又从冰箱上跳下来脑振荡而终。所以我实在没有养任何宠物的勇气。

但是大部人听说了我这个想法并没有问我小孩子是从哪里来，而是说：小孩不是宠物。我说所以养孩子比较安全。但是她们说兔子命和人命不是一回事。摔死兔子是不用坐监狱的，后者则然。

但是假如养一个小孩子就有以下优点，

第一，可以孝敬父母，让她们如愿以偿

我妈妈曾经抱怨过如果来陪我，生活会很枯燥无味，她又是学俄语的─袜子放在鞋里涅。但是她又说，假如有一个小孩子给她带，那她和爸爸就会开心多了。

她和爸爸对小孩子一直有发烧友一样的热情。我还记得当年全家一起看电视剧《渴望》，刘慧芳捡了一个孩子回家，她突然对爸爸说，我们也领养一个孩子回家吧。爸爸温柔的表示赞同。我估计妈妈在后来的岁月里都一直在留意路边的大石头地铁站台，却一直未能如愿的拣一个什么回家。而她们为我计划了各种走出单身行列的可能性之后，有一天突然打电话说：我和你爸爸都认为即使你找一个加拿大人也没有什么不好，我们可以有一个洋娃娃了。我甚至听见爸爸在电话背景里呵呵的欢笑的声。而这个大胆而美好的“ 洋娃娃” 的设想让她们和姑姑阿姨至少兴奋了一年，直到她们发现我绝对不会配合才告一段落。

第二条，养一个孩子个人所得税上有多少优惠啊。

每次收到工资支票就发现1/3的钱已经捐给了加拿大税务局和各种杂费。到了报税的季节，我还非要再买几千块钱的退休保险才可以避免补交更多税金。假如你有了一个小孩就不一样了，我的那些单身妈妈同事因为有一个孩子可以扶养，那些收入税不但都可以拿回来，孩子还有牛奶费尿布费可以领取。

第三条，可以实现我当星妈的愿望。

我觉得找爱人决不可以贪其漂亮，越不英俊的男人越有才华，比如─李宗盛。但是现在一个出色的孩子要比大人挣钱还容易。比如蒋方舟、比如刘亦非。再比如美国的秀兰邓波儿，小鬼当家的童星，香港的蔡少芬和ROSEMARY，做她们的妈妈不但有成就感，还有高收入。假如我的专业证书考不下来，而EMBA这辈子也没有本事读，那么还可以做一个星妈啊。

第四条，当然是社会公益。

抚养一个被父母遗弃的小宝宝，并给她一个温暖的成长环境肯定是比献血，为海啸捐款，为红十字义务劳动，参加绿色保护组织更为实际而直接的爱心活动。：) 过去的3年里，我参加过很多义务志愿者，甚至每个周5都为UNIT WAY捐款，当然这些都不能比领养一个小BABY更为无私。

我的两个同事都是单身妈妈，这也足以证明单身妈妈是一种非常流行的身份。星期日我和她们中的一个去给她的女儿购买夏天的衣服。

同事的女儿才9岁，金发碧眼，身材修长，走起路来轻盈的象个小仙女。她的妈妈正在准备让她开始学习夏天的游泳训练班，说让她长一些肌肉。小仙女管我叫Joy姑姑 ，她象其它的很多小孩子一样喜欢我。知道我要来，还特地给我准备了一个“ Book in the bag “袋子里有一只抱着玫瑰花的绒绒兔，还有一本她写给我的故事：

Hopper (兔子的名字) hunts for Spring
( by Sarah Collins )
When Hopper’s mother tells him what spring is all about, Hopper thinks that Spring is a person. Hopper goes around the forest looking for Spring…

她看起来仿佛就是天上最美丽的曙光。我开始幻想可以在路边捡到这样一个美丽的小女孩，那一定是上天给我的礼物。当然事不宜迟，最好在我未来的爱人没有发言权之前。

我和她们在城市中最大的商场逛了一个下午，为小仙女买的衣服如下：

Tommy Hilifiger: 3件长短不一的上衣，一个短裤，一个小夹克。
Old Navy: 4件不同颜色的短袖T-SHIRT
中间休息，在Starbucks, 她吃了一块巧克力蛋糕，和一瓶冰红茶。
GAP，3件短袖T-SHIRT，1件毛衣，一条牛仔裤，一条七分裤
Clarie, 女孩子的发绳，头花
Zellers, 玩具专柜，一个据说是学校要用的机器人

美丽的小姑娘在换衣服的时候，我和她妈妈就在试衣间她，她快乐的举行时装秀，她的妈妈(当然是和我同一职业习惯)在那里用金融计算器计算“损失” 。她的两条牛仔裤就等于我一件Tommy的仔裤，她的三件上衣就等于我的一件西服外套…仅仅是夏季的衣服，一个小小的丫头怎么可以穿这么多衣服。

这当然还不是终点，当小女孩拉着我们去Lasenza去买内衣的时候，我差点晕倒在地上。她才九岁，身材还像一个细细的竹竿，居然要去名牌专卖店买内衣。后来才知道，原来那家店还有女童区。

从Lasenza出来，我听见小姑娘和她妈妈嘟囔，妈妈夏天的鞋子没有买呢。
我已经开始替她妈妈捏把汗了。果然她说，等下次发工资吧。

不止一个人告诉我现在流行单身妈妈。
我也觉得这是一件美好的事情。可是一个下午的购物记录，就让我的信念动摇了。我得做一次成本合算，SWOT分析，Cost -Benefit比较。

失望的家庭妇女

在我的生活里，劳拉一直起著镇定我情绪的影响，在我处理重大决策的时候，她给我慰藉。要知道，不用说，这是个极富戏剧性的时刻（“九•一一”之后）。而她再镇静和坚定不过了，几乎是镇定自若，这对我来说是非常大的鼓励。我不能想象，如果劳拉表现得歇斯底里，非常有情绪，会是怎样。──乔治•布什，接受《新闻周刊》的采访

US First Lady Laura Bush has upstaged her husband at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner with a string of jokes at his expense.
Presidents normally deliver a humorous speech at the dinner but as soon as George W Bush set off on an old joke, his wife stood up to interrupt him.

Mrs Bush bemoaned his early bedtimes, saying she was often left watching TV show Desperate Housewives.

She said: "If you want to end tyranny, you're going to have to stay up later."

Ranching skills

President Bush had begun a joke at the 91st correspondents dinner in Washington when his wife quickly rose to say: "Not that old joke - not again.

"I've been attending these dinners for years and just quietly sitting there. Well, I've got a few things I want to say for a change," she said to great applause.

People think [Barbara Bush] is a sweet, grandmotherly... type - she's actually more like Don Corleone

Laura Bush

She went on to tell the audience of journalists, politicians and celebrities: "Nine o'clock and Mr Excitement here is in bed and I am watching Desperate Housewives - with [vice-president's wife] Lynne Cheney. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife."

Mrs Bush poked fun at her husband's riotous youth, saying: "I was a librarian that spent 12 hours a day in the library. Yet somehow I met George."

The First Lady said her husband's ranching skills had come on since he bought their plot in Crawford, Texas.

"He's learned a lot about ranching since that first year, when he tried to milk the horse. What's worse, it was a male horse," she said.

Mrs Bush also joked about her mother-in-law, Barbara Bush: "People think she's a sweet, grandmotherly... type. She's actually more like [Mafia character] Don Corleone."

The White House Correspondents' Association was founded in 1914 and since Calvin Coolidge its dinner has traditionally been attended by presidents.

Among the celebrities at the 91st dinner were Richard Gere, Venus and Serena Williams, Goldie Hawn, Jane Fonda and rap star LL Cool J.

人人都地方主义

在这里遇见的每个说中文的朋友，都会先问他们是从哪里来的：北京，上海，广州，四川…

在这里遇见每一个有中国面孔的朋友，都会问他们是从哪里来的：香港，台湾，新加坡，越南，还是马来西亚…

在这里遇见的每一个西方面孔的朋友，熟了以后都会问他们的父辈从哪里来的：英国，法国，意大利，德国…

在这个国家里，人群中有着各种肤色的面孔，各种颜色的眼睛，如果你走近了他们，就会发现原来每个人都有一个家的故事，而每一个姓氏都有自己的故乡。

这片土地上有史可考的第一批华人是一百年前为加拿大太平洋铁路公司(Canadian Pacific Railway) 修建铁路的中国工人。大学注册处有一个秘书曾经告诉我，她的爷爷就是那批数以万计的中国工人之一。她可以说出自己的姓氏，祖籍，甚至她名字中家谱排列的单字。她说家里有一本族谱，这里叫做家族树。

一次一个同事在午餐讲演会上讲了他的家族的故事。他手里拿着一个梨木雕刻的首饰盒，那是当年他太祖父为他的祖母手工雕刻的。未出嫁的祖母乘船和从法国到加拿大寻梦，她是数以万计的欧洲年轻人之一。她沿途漂流之后，所有和故乡有关的东西也只剩下了她父母传给她的首饰盒和首饰。她后来它传给了同事的父亲，父亲又传给了他。终于有一天，他在美洲各地寻找，终于画出了欧洲飘落到美洲的所有家族的分支。

那个时候才开始理解，原来漂泊过的不仅仅是中国人，而喜欢寻根祭祖的也不仅是华裔。其实每一个漂泊过的民族和家庭，都不愿放弃自己的血脉和故乡。

而一个姓氏的故乡，那不止是在人群中轻而易举的辨认出英国，意大利，乌克兰，日本的面孔。对于其它的人来说，那具有更多文化和性格的个人定义。

比如兄弟间谈论彼得的倔脾气，都说没有办法他是一个德国人啊。他的古老的德国姓氏甚至让和他同一姓氏的警察对他的超速网开一面。可是说到他的红头发和善饮，大家又说，没有办法他的母亲是苏格兰人啊，他自然有红发喜欢喝苏格兰威士忌。

比如兄弟间批评鲍比的牢骚态度，就说没有办法他是一个英国人啊。他的祖先已经习惯看很多发霉的厚书并在阴暗的天气里面担忧叹气。可是说到他吃饭的时候会把餐巾掉到地上，大家又说，虽然他的母亲也是英国人，但是加拿大确实不能培养英国绅士。

他们会一起攻击另一个组的同事，说看不惯他的意大利血统的夸张，说他喜欢超乐观的大声说话，可是完成工作却很松散。有时候我会说起蒙特利尔分部同事在电话里多余的俏皮话，他们又一口同声说，他是法国人啊。

你终于知道原来每一个血统都有自己的故乡，而每个人的故乡在别人心中也成为标志。约定俗成的一些说法如下：

德国兄弟讲信用。我喜欢他们的日尔曼民族的金发蓝眼睛。
英国兄弟有修养，他们多少都看过一些历史书籍。
法国的兄弟对女士最殷勤，他们喜欢拥抱和贴面。

至于中国人呢，我想大家的意见多少都是关于唐人街的舞狮，中餐；当然现在最热门的是经济。

虽然同事们普遍认为我作为一个亚裔女性实在是太高了，我还是试图让同事们分析我身上可以体现的中国共同性。

她们思索了片刻回答：喜欢存钱并害怕看牙医。