Change for Good

I went to the McDonald's with my son. We ordered some food for a total of $4.15. I gave the girl at the counter a $5 note, one 10-cent coin and one 5-cent coin. I was hoping to get a $1 coin back for change.
The girl seemed perplexed, apparently thinking I was paying too much. She said, "It's only $4.15, sir." I said, "I know. Can I get the change?" She hesitated for a second, and turned to the manager behind her for help. The manager stepped forward, and said, "No worries. Let's do it one thing at a time."

1. The manager gave me my 10-cent and 5-cent coins.
2. He gave the girl my $5 note, and repeated my order.
3. The girl proceeded very smoothly, and gave me the food and 85 cents in change.
4. I took the whole bunch of loose coins and the food, and left the counter.

Motto: Don't confuse the cashier.

The Story of the Mother and the Son

Just after 1 am on Saturday, 17 March, 2006, a gun battle broke out in a Tsim Sha Tsui underpass in which two uniformed police officers were ambushed by a man. One police officer was seriously injured and the other was shot dead. Before the police officer died, he returned fire and shot the man, killing him at the scene. The man was later found to be an off-duty police constable, named Tsui Po-ko (徐步高). Subsequent investigations further linked Tsui to a killing of another on-duty police officer in March, 2001, in which the police officer went to investigate a fake noise complaint in a housing estate in Tsuen Wan, but was ambushed and shot dead. His police revolver was stolen during the incidence. Tsui was also linked to a killing of a Pakistani security guard during an armed robbery of the Hang Seng Bank in Tsuen Wan by a masked gunman in December 2001. Both shootings in the bank robbery in December, 2001 and in the gun battle in March, 2006 were from a gun which was identified to be the stolen revolver from the killed police officer in the March, 2001 incidence. Absolutely nothing was known to be related to Tsui until he was shot dead. Before Tsui's death, he was seen as an ordinary person in the family. an outstanding police cadet and an excellent shooter, and performed well in the police force. After he died, he was dubbed as a 'devil cop' by the media. This episode created a tremendous media coverage at that time, and had aroused an enormous attention, shock and interest to the general public in the Hong Kong community.
One year later, an inquest was made in the Coroner's Court to examine the whole case. During the 2-month hearing which started in February, 2007, we saw everyday vividly from the TV a middle-aged woman, wearing a backpack and all alone by herself. She persistently went to the the court from start till finish. We saw the woman being chased by the media before and after the hearing each day. The woman didn't say a word but just walked quickly away from the media. The woman was Tsui's mother.
Day after day, the mother tirelessly went to the hearing, just wanted to know something she didn't want to know. As the truth continued to unfold, the mother came to know more and more about her son, and what he had done, which was so different in contrast to the son she used to know. At the end of the inquest, the court ruled that Tsui unlawfully killed the two police officers and the Pakistani security guard, and he was lawfully killed by the police officer as result of self defence. At this time, we saw the mother coming out from the court, making brief statements in front of the camera slowly in a low voice, "I feel sorry for what had happened. It's very painful for me to accept because I believe my son was very very good. I hope to put the pain behind, and live life in a strong manner from now on." As we saw the mother reading out the statements word by word, we could feel how much pain the mother had gone through in learning and accepting what had happened. We could imagine how difficult it was for the mother to face all the comments and criticisms from the media, friends, relatives and neighbours over the year. And yet we could see a MOTHER still able to bravely and firmly say to the whole world,

"He's my SON, my very good boy."

I think the scene had deeply moved everyone including the media. The media stopped all the stories ever since then, to leave the mother alone to recover and to resume her normal life (if there could be a such one again).

The Elephant and the Seven Children

This story was from the TV series 'Off Peddar' in TVBJ.

Once upon a time, there was a young elephant. One day, the elephant found seven little children abandoned in the wilderness. She brought them home, fed them and raised them as her kids. When the children grew up, they left home and had their own lives. Every time the children encountered setbacks and failures, they went back home and asked the mother elephant for food. The mother always unreservedly gave the children all that was left in the family. Once again, the children came back to mother elephant and begged for food. This time, the mother elephant didn't have anything more for them. In order to satisfy the children, mother elephant gave her last and most precious belonging, the tusk (elephant tooth) to her seven most beloved kids, and let them trade for food. Without the tusk, mother elephant was unable to protect her own self, and was attacked by other wild animals in the forest, ............................ .................................... Finally, mother elephant was killed in the wilderness.
Seeing their mother lying in the wilderness, the seven children were too late to regret.

Mathematics Achieves Longevity

You probably have been taught in school about the many benefits of Mathematics. I'd just like to mention a less obvious one.

Mathematicians usually enjoy long lives. We can always pick up a few well known figures and illustrate below:

Archimedes : 287B.C.-212B.C. (75)
Isaac Newton : 1643-1727 (84)
Galileo Galilei : 1564-1642 (78)
Albert Einstein : 1879-1955 (76)
Carl Gauss : 1777-1855 (78)
Johann Bernoulli : 1667-1748 (81)
Leonhard Euler : 1707-1783 (76)
Augustin Cauchy : 1789-1857 (68)
Pierre-Simon Laplace : 1749-1827 (78)
David Hilbert : 1862-1943 (81)
Chern Shiing-shen (陳省身) : 1911-2004 (93)
Huo Luogeng (華羅庚) : 1910-1985 (74)
Tsien Hseu-shen (錢學森) : 1911-2009 (98)

In 'The Longevity Bible' (2006) by Gary Small, sharpening the mind is considered as the first essential for extending life expectancy, together with other essentials like physical exercise, healthy diet, positive attitude, harmonious relationship, stress-free environment and appropriate medication etc. As the author put it, "Fix the brain first, the rest will follow." A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that frequent participation in mentally stimulating activities such as board games, cross word puzzles, sudoku and book reading lowers the risk for Alzheimer's disease (loss of memory and mental abilities usually associated with old age leading subsequently to death) by nearly one third. Hong Kong people have long been aware that playing mahjong avoids or reduces the chance of Alzheimer, although there is no formal study to substantiate. Mathematics is a much more mentally stimulating game. Frequent usages/exercises can achieve similar results, if not better. Most mathematicians work on Mathematics until their very last days, and enjoyed longevity as shown by observations above. Mathematics is indeed rewarding!