Wednesday, November 12, 2008

許多許多年前﹐丘世文在《一人觀眾》裡寫道﹕

「想起昔日學生時代﹐同學們大家委實也曾因作文這一課困擾非常。坦白說﹐印象中似乎就沒有誰正式教過我們作文的方法。從小學造句開始﹐接著就是中小的抒情文及記敘文的習作。通常是老師在黑版上些上幾個題目﹐諸如『我最難忘的人物』﹑『憶亡友』﹑『一個銅幣的自述』﹑『春日郊遊』等﹐雖說是任由我們選擇其中之一﹐然而字數卻老限著不能少于六百字。......

評判的結果是怎樣的呢﹖多年中小學的經驗總是﹐老師發還習作時半帶諷刺﹑半帶尖酸的語調說﹕你們一班裡有半數人作文字數不及規定的一半﹐其餘的一半無論寫抒情文﹑寫記敘文也好﹐怎可能大部份起句都是﹕『香港是一個小島﹐四面環海﹐水深港闊﹐恰是一個天然的商港』﹗」

那天﹐這位港大利馬竇堂宿生的結論是﹕「我們需要好好教導下一代作文之道。」

那當然是很久以前的事情了。丘世文已經撒手塵寰十載。不過﹐這位跟我父親同輩的人的中小學經驗﹐竟然跟我的有點相似。是香港語文教育沒有進步﹖還是因為太好所以不用改變﹖

畢竟﹐燦爛的生命總是短暫的。丘世文遺留下在人間的作品不是很多。這一篇談論作文課的﹐倒是印象最深刻。

的確﹐自小便沒有誰正式教過我們作文的方法。小學沒有。中學也沒有。仿彿那是與生俱來的能力。那不是很奇怪嗎﹖

我開始學習作文﹐是畢業幾年後的事。

那年﹐因為「陶傑」這個名字的關係﹐我膽粗粗地跑到中文大學報讀碩士。我很希望上他的課。入學試的時候﹐學院要我們寫一篇短文﹐談談他們要取錄我的原因。在那雪白的答案紙上﹐我只寫上一句﹕「老實說﹐從任何一方面看﹐我也看不到你們有取錄我的原因。」結果﹐我成功以一個理科生的資格﹐入讀中文大學那個文科生的碩士課程。

我如願上到陶傑的課。也因此﹐終於有人正式教我作文。

當然﹐我的文筆依然不好。這麼晚才起步﹐好不到哪兒。不過﹐在陶傑循循善誘的教導下﹐我的文章比以前的確有很大的進步。(可想而知﹐以前是如何的差。)老實講﹐少說我也算讀了二十多年書﹐上陶傑的課﹐是我唯一享受上課的時候。我會因為缺席一課而感到不快。從來﹐沒有一位老師的課﹑沒有一位教授的堂﹐會使我有如此感覺。

課堂裡﹐我最記得的是他這一句﹕「近來﹐大家都稱我做『才子』﹐似乎是都不曉得『才子』為何物。他們讚我寫得一手好文章﹐實在有點見笑。我寫的中文﹐只不過是最普通﹑最淺白的中文。是每個中國人都應該寫得出來的中文。假如『陶傑』就代表文筆好﹐每個中國人都應該是『陶傑』。因為那些『好文筆』是一個中國人最起碼要做到的事。」

為了改善中國人的中文﹐他是不遺餘力的。記得他講過﹐只要寫作時遇上什麼問題﹐都可以給他一個電話談談。許多年後﹐有天讀了《黃金冒險號》﹐發現有些寫作問題﹐便給他發了一個短訊請教。他是不可能還記得曾有過我這一個學生。我只記下了他的電話﹐並沒有留給他我的電話。在短訊裡﹐我也沒有留下名字。豈料﹐收到那個短訊後﹐他竟然給我撥個電話來跟我討論。

我知道﹐越來越多人不喜歡他。甚至討厭他。我不打算替他講好說話。他也不會喜歡別人替他講好說話。讀了早前幾位網友的留言後﹐我不過想寫一寫我所認識的陶傑罷了。

15 comments:

michelle said...

hmmm, 我好奇,敢問是什麼令你對陶傑特別有興趣?以至如此渴望成為他的學生?

新鮮人 said...

我曾經讀過陶生一兩本作品而已,
對他無話喜不喜歡,
但是他有時的比喻又真係幾抵死,
一針見血,能夠引起別人追看下去,
我會說他是一個好曉得捕捉別人心理的marking author,
至於他的理論和內容則略有偏頗,
不是次次中肯,
當然我也十分欣賞他的技巧和文筆的,
尤其是理論性的文章,
用字叙意十分到位!

新鮮人 said...

我想講多句,
你寫抒情文不錯,
比你的論理文章高出好多!

我自己寫得唔好,
見你寫得不俗才大膽表逹自己的意見!
莫見笑!

Snowdrops said...

Oh thank you for this post, but I hope you didn't feel that you were under attack yourself just because of some of my comments here...

I think it is possible to admire somebody without having to take everything that the person says as gospel. To be inspired by someone's example is a beautiful thing, and I'm happy for you that you found To Kit such a source of inspiration. But such admiration doesn't necessarily have to turn into full-on idolatory.

I'm grateful for your description of the more private sides of To Kit as it gives me a more rounded picture of the man. But whilst he may well be a very good teacher to his own students, and may well be a genuinely lovely guy in person, but I do not agree with his politics and more importantly, the way he used his public profile as a bully pulpit to push forward British neocolonialist ideas.

I'm no fan of the Chinese Communist Party myself, and feel despair about the way my beloved HK has changed dramatically as a city since the handover. That does not mean however that I would agree with everything the Brits have done and believe that they are a "superior people" who deserve our applause and our eternal and UNCRITICAL gratitude. But unfortunately, I think To Kit the public intellectual completely embodies the latter.

The fact that To Kit comes across in his public appearances and writings as an uncritical cheerleader of all things British serves only to further the prejudices that pro-China jingoists have about Hong Kong people. He becomes an easy strawman for CCP and their ilk, providing them with the materials they need to caricature HK people as a bunch of uncritical British lapdogs, which is rather unhelpful to further HK's right to self governance.

As an intellectual, and especially one with a high public profile, I thought To Kit could have shown more capacity for critical thought not only against his polemical target (Chinese communism) but also on his pet subject (British conservative thought).

Moreover, the personality trait that I do like about the Brits - self-deprecating wit - is something I unfortunately found lacking in his constitution, at least where his public persona is concerned.

(I sincerely hope you would forgive my frank views above, as I really don't wish to offend. My impression is that we're all grown-ups here and so hopefully I haven't overstepped the mark with my frank comments above...).

小巫 said...

陶傑吸引的是他身體裡散發出來的"傲氣"
我是一個靠聲音分辨人的人....因為陶傑的聲音,所以我喜歡他~
其他關於他的,都是從你這裡認識的....我喜歡英國的感覺,所以也喜歡看喜歡英國的人的事和看法....嗯~
知道他這點逸事,覺得他立體了....

The Man Who Loves Everton said...

michelle,

oh, simply because i like his column. and the course is writing. i just can't resist.

The Man Who Loves Everton said...

新鮮人,

不是次次中肯? actually, he is always biased. always.

you are right that he knows the way how to catch people by his words. simple and clear. this is what he always stresses.

are you kidding? good? you must be. perhaps it's better but, still, not good. anyway, thanks.

The Man Who Loves Everton said...

Snowdrop,

C'mon man. How come you always think that i'd be annoyed by what you write in this little box? Yes, I admit I get angry easily but it is always by WHO not by WHAT. If you're not Mr Wayne "FAT ASS" Rooney, or from LFC senior players or from DBA, you can forget it. YOu are not qualified to that WHO list. (LFC supporters
don't qualify. So many friends of mine, despite my cordial advice, choose to follow the other half of Liverpool city.)

About ToKit, you have to understand his background. He hates Communists because he's from a KMT family. He adores Brit because...., I think I have to stop here. It's his private life and I don't think it's appropriate to disclose any. And because what I know is not confirmed. But trace back to his days in the UK and you may understand more why he's so pro-Brit. At least he worked in BBC. For more than ten years.

Myself under attack???? C'mon man.

The Man Who Loves Everton said...

小巫,

thanks.

that's interesting 靠聲音分辨人? whats goood whats bad?

新鮮人 said...

唔係講笑,
我覺得你寫得好,
尤其對情境描寫好有電影感,
人家怎看是人家事,
我看了你部份舊文,
有意境,亦感人,
不俗啊!

Snowdrops said...

Haha, okay, thanks for your reassurance. I was just afraid that I'd put my foot in it again y'know, especially as you seem to identify so much with To Kit, and I really don't want to be the most unfriendly Irish person you came across here, especially after my faux pas in my very first comment on your blog already.

Anyway, I don't doubt that To Kit may well have very valid personal reasons for why he does what he does in public life, but I'm really only judging him on his merits and demerits as a public intellectual.

Btw, you sound like a totally different person when you talk football!

The Man Who Loves Everton said...

新鮮人,

a little bit speechless. thanks millions.

The Man Who Loves Everton said...

snowdrop,

as you said, we're all grown up. and as i said before, your first comment here was no faux pas. i also live in dublin.

i understand what you mean. in fact, i don't consider him as a public intellectual. to me, he's nothing more than you and me - blogger. we express our thoughts and comments on internet; he does so on paper. this is the only difference. is there any difference indeed?

different? of course. you know it from my name, don't you?

Snowdrops said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Snowdrops said...

Actually Des, I applied the term "public intellectual" to To Kit in a technical sense (cf. Melzer et al's book on "public intellectual". Or you could also check out this wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual). He is very different from you or I by virtue of his public profile and the fact that he is publishing and producing in the traditional mass media. And because I don't agree with his politics, I don't like the way he uses his public platform to promote, as I mentioned already, British neo-colonialist ideas.

I would have felt relatively indifferent to To Kit if he's just an anonymous blogger like you and me. But because he isn't, people are indeed entitled to their opinions about him as a public figure. But in my case, my criticisms are restricted to his public acts only. It would have been inappropriate to pass commentary on the legitimately private acts of a public figure; but conversely, it would have been erroneous to justify one's public acts on private grounds.