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Day: 30 June 2008

Abilities Discussed

There are certain things that you would not consider as an ability, had it not been for the circumstances in which these things manifested themselves. The ability to swear may not be particularly bad in itself, but to swear in an exam in my times would earn you nothing but a zero mark (and very possibly, a long talk in the headmistress’s room).

I graduated from school in 1997, so it is certainly pleasing to see that in 11 years, in another country things have changed almost dramatically. The Times report that a London pupil answered “f*** off” when asked to describe the room he was sitting in. He gained 2 out of 27 marks, and, in the words of the Chief Examiner, could scored even more. The answer “does show some very basic skills we are looking for – like conveying some meaning and some spelling, …; shows some nominal skills but no relevance to the task. If it had had an exclamation mark it would have got a little bit more because it would have been showing a little bit of skill“.

As much as I am tempted to decry this decision, I also think that it shows some sense of humour on the part of the examiners. And hey, the note on the skill very much pleases my inner Oscar Wilde. You should only swear when you’ve got no other words left to use – and you should do so in good taste, that is, conveying the full range of thought and emotion involved. In short, don’t just mumble a swearing word – exclaim it!

Speaking of abilities… “Ability” is synonymous to “gift”. We heard earlier about Prince William receiving his RAF Wings, and now, following the reports about the cost of his helicopter flights, the MoD asserted that Flying Officer Wales “displayed natural flying ability“. I can’t help but noting this because “a natural flying ability”, instead of highlighting William’s skill, may rather be interpreted as that we may be in for more chopper flights expenses – for how can you possibly restrict anyone in expressing their natural gift?? Some can argue that monarchy, in the end, is about the ability to spend (or to distribute and receive gifts). However, in the age of taxpayers’ carefully counting every penny, monarchy will have to be about smart spending – and by the sound of the media reaction, “natural flying ability” may be too expensive. This is not to say that this ability should not be; but I think the MoD could certainly convey their meaning better.

Albert Sq, Manchester

I once said jokingly that, when you live in Manchester, you may never need to visit London. You’ve got Pall Mall, Albert Sq, Oxford St (albeit the latter is probably four times as short as the London’s Shopping Mile). Instead of Piccadilly Circus there are Piccadilly Gardens. Last year I discovered Corner House somewhere in Kensington, comparing to which Manchester’s Cornerhouse is a very welcome substitute. In short, although never visiting the capital may not be particularly good, you should not feel too distressed, at least as far as the place names are concerned.

However, as I was recently going through some of the archived photos I found several pictures of Manchester’s Albert Square, which I just wanted to share. The black-and-white picture you might already have seen a year ago: it was taken in 2007 with my cameraphone. The colour pictures all date back to 2002 when I first visited Manchester, and England. On my memory in 2002, in spite of the Commonwealth Games, and even in 2003 (and maybe even in 2004) Albert Sq was not used so extensively to host diverse and sundry bazaars, live events and even political meetings. I cannot say if this is for the good or for the bad as my main concern is the effect of the multitudes of people and machinery on the historic landmarks. Then, of course, instead of peaceful bazaars and meetings we could have a revolution, and the effect would be completely unpredictable.

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