my china daily article and interview with HKET

Executive & Market
A27 Hong Kong Economic Times
2012-07-24


馮強：寫作最弱 互改作文易進步


　　曾是《南華早報》首位華人副總編，現於浸大新聞系執教的馮強，感嘆普遍香港本科學生的英語水平愈來愈差，連寫一封電郵也錯漏百出。「香港人最弱是寫作，論看、講、聽水平，一般大學畢業生都還可以。故此要自己找機會寫，以及給別人改。」

　　但馮強也承認，對不少人來說，要認真寫一篇英文文章已經很難，要找到別人替你改就更難。他建議上網找正在學中文的外國人，互相改對方的文章。「一邊寫一邊改，逐漸形成英文思維，會進步得很快。」

　　要寫出好文章，前提是要廣泛閱讀。「進步最快就是看英文長篇小說，不一定要大文豪的作品，從《Harry Potter》開始也可以。長篇小說的好處是有起承轉合，不似新聞報道那樣硬邦邦。小說會令你追看，看的量與英文進度成正比。」

　 　記生字也是馮強學英文的絕招，「最近就學到一個字『busker』，是指街頭賣藝的人，能代替『street musician』，我馬上抄下來。80年代美國副總統Walter Mondale第一次用『where's the breef？』，後來傳媒相繼引用，我也記下來，今日常說『重點在哪裏？』就能派上用場。」

---------------------------------

馮強醒醒你

　James Patterson作品

　　「對我寫作幫助很大的，是5年前開始追看的James Patterson小說。他的文筆非常簡潔，看了幾年，我發現自己的寫作更流暢。寫英文毋須用很艱深的字去炫耀，愈簡單、清楚愈好。」

...................

　BBC網

　　「BBC網頁有好多資源，更能錄音，你讀一句，然後電腦幫你評分，看看有哪個字讀錯。」

　網址：www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

遮字幕看美劇 刨《經濟學人》增詞彙


　　常說港人英語水平下降，近年書展多了不少名人出書教英文，最新鮮滾熱辣的是新民黨主席葉劉淑儀和浸大新聞系首席講師馮強。兩人不約而同紙筆不離身，英文生字見一個學一個。他們都深信，良好英語能力可提升事業前景。

HK Opinion
H03 China Daily Hong Kong Edition Victor Fung Keung
2012-07-24


Our Chief Executive deserves applause


Chief Executive CY Leung deserves a big round of applause for taking the bull by the horns in addressing the poverty problem in this world city, the so-called “Pearl of the Orient”. People develop grudges when Hong Kong’s wealth goes only into the pockets of a few high-profile families, while many elderly people suffer from hunger and lack of medical attention.

In particular, many elderly people, despite putting in life-long efforts to help the city grow and prosper, can’t make ends meet at a time when Hong Kong’s fiscal and foreign-exchange reserves hit sky high.

According to Chairman Mao Zedong, this scenario is tagged as an “internal conflict” between the haves and the have-nots. This is a conflict that must be addressed before society can march forward.

Hong Kong people live long lives, which is both good news and bad news. Our longevity is among the highest, probably in the top five, among the world’s hundreds of nations and territories. The sad picture is that many elderly, in their 60s and 70s, can be seen scavenging on the streets to ward off starvation. Isn’t it a mockery (and irony) when Hong Kong claims it is one of the world’s most prosperous cities?

If you didn’t have enough to eat or enough money to see a doctor, how would you feel? Anxious, what else! This week a survey done by the Hong Kong Rhenish Church revealed that retirees in their 70s are four times more likely to suffer from anxiety disorder than people below 50 years old. This figure is alarming because the percentage is twice as high as those reported in similar surveys in other countries.

Many elderly worry about their well-being, finances and other issues. Too much stress may lead to anxiety, which could trigger depression and substance abuse, experts say. Anxiety symptoms include insomnia, headaches and body pains.

Fortunately, Mr Leung’s new proposal in mid-July to double the old age allowance to HK$2,200 a month is like rain on parched land. Moreover, the elderly also will see the value of their medical vouchers double to HK$1,000 a year. It is not much, but it is a good start. We should give a standing ovation to our Chief Executive.

The new policy will hand out an additional HK$6 billion a year to the elderly, benefiting about 400,000 people. This is money well spent. Hong Kong’s elderly deserve our respect and care, not just lip service. They should live in dignity and we all should give them a hand.

To address the survival of our senior citizens and other issues, a commission on poverty, initiated by Mr Leung, will be established by October. It is hoped that this commission will come up with long-term, concrete and practical solutions to alleviate Hong Kong’s poverty problem.

Not only are the elderly being lent a hand, the physically and mentally-challenged also will receive assistance from the government. Kudos, again, should go to Mr Leung, who sincerely cares about people’s quality of life. Mr Leung’s call for setting aside HK$500 million to establish a Social Enterprises Development Fund should be welcomed with open arms. Social enterprises will employ the physically and mentally-challenged and ameliorate their plight brought about through unemployment.

Social enterprises in Hong Kong are underdeveloped mainly because operators possess only limited sources of funding. With this planned HK$500 million availability, many social enterprises can be launched. The many underprivileged will have better lives because of this policy.

Rome was not built in one day. But improving the livelihood of the elderly, the physically and mentally-challenged is a good start.

Well done, Mr Leung!

The author is director of the MA program in international journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University.