Most of what I express here will be directed towards North America’s path dependency on the private vehicle although some of it will also be relevant to policy incentives in East Asia. As my father always used to tell me: “You have to think in systems, you can’t expect everything Read more
After discussing the media’s coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent German reunification, I thought it’d be interesting to explore my own perspective on the current state of Berlin after 20 years of reunification. “Asking if the unification of Germany was ‘complete’ is the Read more
I’ve told this story to my friends in Vancouver and Toronto time and time again…until I stopped telling it last month because I no longer needed to. The year I turned 18 was the year Stephen Harper’s (Canada’s former prime minister) government barred Canadians that have been overseas for more Read more
The Right Honorable Justin Trudeau P.C., M.P., Prime Minister of Canada Office of the Prime Minister of Canada 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 1.5 million disenfranchised Canadians Dear Prime Minister, I write to you today not to advocate for a controversial issue or to bring an ethically questionable Read more
Now that the tide of incessant and meaningless social media posts on things that people want to do in the new year has died down, it’s worth reflecting on how you can achieve your goals. Too often, I see goals like “I want to lose weight” or “I want to Read more
When I applied for the Dean’s Service Award back in February of 2018 a member of the interview panel asked me how universities should implement ethical education. Naturally, I asked that professor to define “ethical education” for me. We came up with a list of items that included CSR, rights Read more
There are some people out there who believe there is a sunk cost of education, not so much economic cost, time cost. Over the past several years I’ve had several friends who encountered situations where they’ve already spent a significant amount of time studying one subject but chooses to switch Read more
Although the words “information wants to be free” has been repeated as one of the internet community’s favorite slogans, I haven’t really meditated on its meaning or impact to the dissemination of information. Recent interactions with speakers and delegates at HPAIR have directed discussions to several informational and educational initiatives. Read more
Public transportation systems from Vancouver to Berlin to Hong Kong have some sort of priority seat initiative to label seats near the doorways of trams, trains, and buses for use by those in need. Vancouver has blue TransLink labels, Berlin has yellow labels in line with BVG livery, and Hong Read more
I recently boarded an MTR train to visit a friend who is a successful potter. Along the way there I spotted several behaviors that most would find inconsiderate. There were couples leaning on handrails, men sitting down with their legs crossed obstructing standing room, commuters who refuse to put their Read more