Wheel

You may think my example is silly. We give out contracts and ask some private companies to run our canteen.

In fact, our public hospitals also outsource a number of other services - notably cleansing and portering. We also let the Fire Services Department to run the ambulance system, and the Electronic and Mechanical Services Department to cover the corresponding areas. Some hospitals in other parts of the world also outsource patient catering, paramedical service, pharmacy, and so forth. After all, organisations should excel at what they good at, rather than trying to be all-rounded and do everything by themselves.

Or, to put it simply, you don't want to invent the wheel again by yourself, do you?

In that case, why should extra-terrestrials have their own team on information technology?

Extrapolation

If you consider the concept of self sufficiency from a wider perspective, the implication would be more obvious.

For example, if you think being self sufficient in food supply is important for a country (to be independent, to have self respect, et cetera), how about self sufficient in fuel and steel?

And the list becomes endless. How about automobiles, computer chips, and military supply?

You may think the above discussion may be important but the underlying idea is silly. No country could be independent in everything it needs and internationally trade is necessary. (In other words, all countries inevitably have to outsource some of its supply or production line and rely on international trade.) Nonetheless, all these considerations are really irrelevant for a practising physician.

But, let's forget about a country and consider the running of a hospital or HMO - Hospital Authority is no exception.

Say, does it have to be self sufficient and run its own canteen?

Sufficiency

One of the most interesting chapter in this book of Alan Beattie carries a subtitle Why does Egypt import half its staple food?

The question is remarkably valid. As stated by Beattie at the beginning of the chapter, if ever there is a place where the wheat of the world should be grown, it is Egypt. Herodotus, a Greek historian, gave a vivid account that Egyptian soils are so fertile that farmers there do not even have to plough or hoe; they had just to sow grain and let loose herds of pigs on the fields to tread the seed into the rich, damp earth. For a long time, Egypt was the major supplier of grain to the ancient Roman Empire. (Alas, that's actually the major reason why the Romes had to conquer Egypt from the very beginning.)

I shall not discuss what happened in the past 2000 years so that Egypt has to rely on importing food from other countries now. Nonetheless, I am intrigued by the concept food security and food sufficiency mentioned in this chapter.

To put it simply, food security means ensuring there will always be enough to eat, while food sufficiency means growing it yourself. On the surface of it, being self sufficient in food supply seems an attractive policy; it protects a country from risks such as disruption of trade through war or economic blockade. However, the need of being self sufficient also implies that the country may have to put considerable resource (for example, manpower and water supply) to farming - a task that the country may not be inherently good at.

My recent leisure reading is False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World by Alan Beattie.

I bought this paperback last year when I was at Kuala Lumpur. When I first thumbed through its pages in Books Kinokuniya, I imaged it is another book that illustrates quick wits on common economic phenomenon, just like Freakonomics and Economic Naturalist that I read some time ago. (See http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2009/12/freakonomics.html and http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2011/09/naturalist.html)

But I am wrong. Alan Beattie is more ambitious and tries to explain more important economic problems by going through similar scenarios in history. I may not agree with everything he said - especially with regard to what he says about the reasons for the difference between India and China in their recent economic boost. Nonetheless, it is an eye-opening experience and Beattie's view on a self sufficient country is nothing but insightful.

PS. I must say I do hope Beattie's idea about China is genuine. But, ever since the very year that I was born, the elite class of educated bureaucrat had quickly vanished, and the chance of their reappearance seems distant and increasingly improbable.

Quality

I must say I was slightly excited when I talked to my friend. After the examination, on my way home, when I thought of my argument again, I became less confident.

It goes like this: Let's take aside the scenario of monopoly in medical education (as in City M) and consider the situation of competition between two or more medical schools in the same place. On the face of it, a medical school that puts more effort on education and have graduates of a better quality should, in the long run, have the lead: their graduates would be more successful in their career. They are more likely to take up important administrative positions and to make big money and come back as important donors. In short, Mr Market will give the reward.

But, hang on. There is a catch: The quality of medical graduates, by and large, does not depend on the effort or quality of teaching in their medical school, but, rather, the a priori character of the students. (For example, KL, our dean, always says that his degree is Bachelor of Self Learning Medicine and Surgery [內外全科自學士]. Or, as Immanuel Kant said, genius does not need education.) The question therefore boils down to: How to attract good students?

Yes, a medical school with brilliant graduates does count, but it is more a self-fulfilling prophecy or vicious cycle. The sobering truth is, many students choose which medical school to study by their ranking or fame, which depends on their research output - as well as marketing strategy and public relation.

I shall not elaborate further.

Faust

I was dumbfounded to hear the plan of setting up a medical school with no clinical professor and medical student, "Alas, it really sounds like those shell companies (空殼公司) we see in the stock market. What actually does this shell - or sham (should there be an "e" to follow?) - medical school do?"

"Big things. Their steering committee tries to focus their effort on fruitful things, and they plan to recruit top niche scientists and do cutting edge research. In short, the aim is to make this new medical school one of the top rank few in Asia. You know, teaching of medical student - and their quality after graduation - has nothing to do with this ranking business or the fame of a medical school, which all boils down to grants, donations, publications, and patents."

"That may be true," I was forced to nod, "But I must admit I am outdated and continue to believe the soul of a medical school is to train new doctors. Funding and scientific advances are worldly achievement for which the importance should come next. If a medical school sells the soul of teaching in exchange for a better ranking, their faculty must be haunted by Faust!"

Outsource

As you expect, I had the rare opportunity of discussing medical student teaching with my friends during the MB examination.

"You know, City M is going to set up their own medical school," a friend of mine told me.

"Really? How could they recruit that critical mass of teaching staff?" I was incredulous. City M is a small place with no more than a million of population and two small general hospitals. Just like Philo Vance, I am so impressed by their standard of medical care that I lose my nerve, and I am absolutely confident that both hospitals are nothing but exemplary training centers - if the term is defined in the same way as what we mean by developing countries.

"No, they will have no teacher - I mean no clinical professor," he said.

"How could that happen? If they have no professor, who is going to teach their medical students?" I was truly amazed.

"Simple. They plan to outsource the teaching duty and send their medical students to the medical school of other countries."

Confused

Shortly after that outstanding dinner at Pluto, we had our final MB examination.

I shall not elaborate what happened, but a small incident was remarkable. The story goes like this: On the morning of the second day, shortly after the first round of the examination, we noted that we gave the wrong instruction sheet to a candidate. In short, the candidate was supposed to have a sample referral letter for a patient with disease X, but, we gave a referral letter which stated that the patient had disease Y.

Fortunately, the examiners were very experienced and noticed the problem right the way. They made no comment to the student, who simply continued with the drama.

Ten minutes later, when the station finished and that student was waiting for his second station of examination, I went and tapped on his shoulder, "Is everything OK?"

"Em... yes, sir," he said slowly, "But the patient appears confused."

I smiled and walked away. By this very answer I was sure he should do well.

Occupation

What about my response?

To those with some medical background, let me tell you this:

Occupational dust exposure is an important cause of lung fibrosis.

No, not everyone with an exposure would end up with such a problem; the vast majority tolerate and do well. Some actually develop a different lung problem (say, occupational asthma), which could even be more common than, but not as dramatic as, lung fibrosis. On the other side of the coin, not all cases of lung fibrosis are caused by occupational dust exposure. (For example, there is something called cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis.) Nonetheless, in real life, a good proportion of patients with lung fibrosis are caused by occupational dust exposure - and they have characteristic features.

And, all the points mentioned above are not reasons for not improving the working environment and minimize dust exposure.

Same for occupational brain disease.

Comments

As a rule, I neither highlight nor respond to any comment to my blog.

Nonetheless, a recent entry of mine does touch the nerve of my friends EW and TW (and probably many others), and their comments are equally succinct and valid. Let me show them here once again:

********************

EW said...

How dare he stereotyped.

********************

TW said...

He has no idea. Many of the young doctors are just receiving minimum from HMOs or equivalent. A large portion of the so-called "overcharged" actually goes to HMO, hospital etc. If they could still earn more they usually work very very hard and they deserved it. Also the main reason they left HA is because it is hopeless.

Gray

You may say social enterprise and charitable organisation are different ends of the same spectrum, and there are many gray zones in between.

On that, I beg to disagree.

For the very nature of a social enterprise is to compete with other for-profit companies. If the former does not perform well, we can shift to their for-profit competitors and use the resource spared for charity purpose, rather than lingering on with something not cost-effective.

And, for charitable organisations, they have to compete - within their own species. For example, to put it simply, why should we use money to support a group that helps disabled people but not other disadvantaged ones?

PS. As a rule, I disagree with anything being pin down in the so-called gray zone. By the law of physics, gray is not a colour, but a state where we cannot distinguish tiny spots of black and white. It is not an excuse for us to give up the effort of telling black from white, and, to go one step further, it is shameless to declare black and white are nothing but two different shades of gray.

Charity

Once you come to understand social enterprise has to do business, it goes without saying that it has to face competition - including that from all for-profit corporations.

For example, a restaurant could be a social enterprise, with the primary goal of providing job opportunity to disabled people or discharged prisoners rather than making money. Nonetheless, the employees still have to work hard. If anyone just muddle along with their duty, disability or social disadvantage is no excuse - they should be fired and the job could be given to an equally disabled but more enthusiastic worker.

And, for the same argument, this very restaurant should provide good food and service to attract customers - whether it is a social enterprise or not is irrelevant. Since we are talking about equal opportunity, any disabled worker or social enterprise should have an equal opportunity to be fired or bankrupt if their performance is not up to the standard. It is not acceptable for the owner to declare the food is no good but the customers have to bear with it because the restaurant hires a disabled cook - unless we are talking about a charity organisation instead.

Enterprise

You may wonder what I was worrying about. 

Let me give you my answer in a convoluted way:

The original idea of social enterprise is to use commercial strategies for maximizing improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than the profits for any shareholder. In other words, the primary goal of the enterprise is to solve social problems, and the two common means are to hire disabled persons and to provide loan to people or companies that are not considered by ordinary bankers.

(I believe the social enterprise that I met in the palace of Pluto belongs to the former.)

And, here comes the common misconceptions. First, not for profit is a misleading criterion. Social enterprises should in fact provide incentives to their employees and investors through dividends, although the distribution of profits should come after the enterprises' social objectives.

To go one step forward, there is an important distinction between non-profit organization and social enterprise. In the latter, the majority of the revenue comes from the business transaction rather than through grants or donations.

In other words, social enterprise has to mind its own business.

Dinner

Contrary to what you expect, I paid very little attention to what DL said about bullet-biting and compensation. My mind was drove to an apparently trivial and unrelated matter.

It was the dinner per se at the palace of Pluto.

Yes, I mean the food.

To put it simply, the quality was no different from what you get from the hospital canteen. (As I told TL the next morning, I could definitely make the same dishes way better.) No, it was not just the deficiency of taste and flavor, but the all too obvious lack of effort in designing the menu and paying attention to details. For example, the three main dishes - fish, pork, and chicken - were fried in the same way with similar vegetables. The finishing dish (or what we usually call the carbohydrate) was rice fried (once again!) with egg-white and kale - and the latter was just carelessly cut into half-an-inch segments rather than finely chopped to fit with the size of other ingredients.

I suppose this is a recurrent problem, and our man from Pluto knows it all too well. Right from the beginning of the dinner he reminded his important guests, "Friends, it's just a humble dinner. There's no expensive dish tonight. You know, the catering of my palace is run by a social enterprise, and we have to make some allowance."

I tell you, this very statement drew my entire attention the whole evening.

Compensate

On a recent occasion, I was summoned by the man from Pluto to attend a dinner meeting with a few very senior doctors. One of the topics that we discussed was how to improve the teaching on medical ethics and professionalism.

(I must say the topic is head-to-toe boring and, given my well known negative view on this subject, I always have the difficulty to understand why I am asked to teach medical ethics. Em... after all, David Hume was often asked to talk about theology, and George Orwell communism.)

I shall not tell you what we actually talked about that evening. As expected, there was no conclusion. Nonetheless, DL, the president of the Academy, did make a succinct observation:

"You know, for multiple reasons we have lost the glamorous halo on our head, and the status of a doctor has come down dramatically. As a result, we could only enjoy the satisfaction of monetary gain. Since the salary in the public hospital is way below private practice and the working environment is hell, young doctors just bite the bullet and endure the training. As long as that objective is accomplished, and as soon as they see little hope of promotion, they will move to the private market. At this moment, since they have lost so much time as compared to their classmates who study finance and make big money, they will have to compensate by over-charging their patients - and sometimes by doing unnecessary procedures."

Philosophy

"You know, I am not in a habit of asking questions on latest clinical trials or treatment guidelines," I went on with my confession, "As a result, I tend to focus on physiological, or, really, philosophical questions, in which most new generation doctors have not much interest. As a matter of fact, many just think those questions are kind of a cool knowledge!"

"But I can understand why your trainees have such a feeling. After all, what's the point of focusing on physiology rather than actual clinical practice?"

"I'm not ignoring clinical practice, just that I don't think clinical trials and treatment guidelines are important - I must admit my view is not shared by most of the others." I said slowly, "In my opinion, published evidence keeps evolving when new data appear, and treatment guidelines are often revised even more quickly because of economical or political influence. There is little point to be able to remember all these because the information is probably outdated by the time it is memorized. On the other hand, physiology does not change and is, therefore, a kind of genuine knowledge. For example, if we understand how uric acid accumulates in the kidney in 2013, I am pretty sure the mechanism remains the same 100 years later!"

Ask

"Did you ask KY a lot of questions when she was working with you?" Vivian asked me during a casual conversation. KY is a classmate of my wife and has been working in my unit for some time.

"No, not really. You know, I am not in the habit of asking trainee questions," I said slowly, "In fact, JW repeatedly reminds me to ask more questions - during ward round and clinical practice and what not. He is right; that is, whether I like it or not, part of my duty."

"So, are you taking that advise? The scope of medicine is so wide that I don't think you have any problem of putting up questions!"

"I try my best. The reality is I try to ask my trainees one question each day. Alas, I must say that's not a very efficient way to teach or to learn."

Coolie

While I was feeling sorry for a putrefying language, I met a few colleagues during lunch.

One of them brought me some news, "You know, a female student burst into tears after scolded by TL in the clinic."

TL is our diamond neurologist, gentle yet stern, famous for his bedside skill. Although no detail was mentioned, our final year students were hibernating for their examination, and my friend must be talking about one of the few aggressive third-year students who use the spare time during their summer project and do voluntary attachment to a small elite of teachers - and TL is top on the list.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I hear it from the clinic nurses. The group students were clerking new referrals for TL, and that girl asked the patient what he did for a living. The patient, who was an old man, replied coolie (苦力) - and the young girl had no idea what coolie is!"

"Alas, many of our next-generation students have limited capability of understanding Chinese," I smiled, "But I suppose TL should just laugh at them?"

"The problem is, the female student retorted in an accusing tone to the patient and said I don't understand your language."

"Alas, in that case TL is absolutely right." I said, "It has nothing to do with language - it's a matter of attitude!"

Putrefy

One of my daily routines is to go to our dialysis unit and have a look, and it often ends up with a brief casual chat with the nurses.

"You know, PL is not very happy today," a senior nurse reminded me after our chat on a recent occasion. (PL is our senior consultant.)

"What's up?"

"Alas, he wrote a short article in Chinese for a newspaper - or magazine, I'm not sure. He gave it to LM to chip in some additional details, but LM replied and commented that the Chinese was not up to the standard - or, really, merely Chinglish."

LM is our nursing consultant. By the way, I'm sure she didn't know the article was written by PL himself.

I shook my head. On the way back to my office, I asked myself, "Is there anyone around who could write reasonable Chinese?"

Suddenly I realize Chinese, as a language for communication, has putrefied quickly without notice - just like all other cultural heritage of our country.

Management

The husband is apparently not happy with the label decorative management. He remains silent for a while, and, then, he puts up a curious smile, "You know, this is another level of management."

"Just like Winston Smith's another level of freedom or strength?" The wife retorts. She is obviously a fan of George Orwell.

"Alas, I could say yes. You know, I love eating fish - all kinds of fish."

"Well...?"

"And, as the head of this family, I am responsible for issuing credential and determining who could eat fish. In other words, when fish is scarce and we all want our own share, I have a firm grip on the lifeline and could dictate who would receive what they want!"

The wife shivers. She comes to understand why Cicero said The more laws, the less justice.

Decorative

"Does fishball really work?" The wife is certainly not amused with the idea. However, she decides not to dwell on this topic but, rather, switch to an, in her opinion, more important one, "Sweat-heart, there are many kinds of fish."

"Yes...?"

"You know, on one hand, we have horsehead (馬頭) and pompano (黃立鯧), which have few thorns except the backbone. On the other, there are mud carp (鯪魚) and shad (鰣魚), which are only meant for experienced gourmets. Do we need to have separate credentials for eating each and every type of fish?"

"Don't be silly, my dear. There is going to be one and only one kind of credential for eating fish within these four walls. If our princess - or any one who is going to join our family - gets the permission to eat fish, she could try any species that she likes."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring," the wife said slowly, "Mary may be fully capable of dissecting pompano by her teeth, but she will easily get into trouble with mud carp. The risk is still there. If anything, the risk is increased because, by the system of credential, we create a false sense of security by implying that if one could eat horsehead, or simply fishball as you suggest, he could safely try some shad."

"That may be true," the husband was forced to agree, "But, come on. We don't want to make things complicated and have micro-management."

"Alas, and therefore you end up with some kind of decorative management!"

Fishball

(The conversation between the couple continues.)

"My dear, if we follow your algorithm, fish will never appear in Mary's menu - only you and I will be qualified to eat it!" The wife complains.

"Quite right. But you do not have to worry very much. I suppose we can set up a training program so that our princess could gain sufficient experience and become a capable fish-eater."

"Em... hold on... I think you just said a moment ago eating fish is risky and Mary may get a piece of fish bone in her throat. It may happen during the training."

"Keep calm, my dear. We shall use a risk-free simulated system to train up Mary."

"My god. Is there such a system?" The wife appears incredulous.

The husband remains silent for a second, trying to figure out whether his wife was referring to him in the question. Finally, he considers that's beyond the point, "Of course, my dear. There are fishballs - maybe fish fingers as well. If Mary could eat them alright, we can grant her the credential to eat fish."

Risk

(Conversation between a couple.)

"My dear, Mary is not putting up weight. We need to make her eat more. Maybe  we should try adding some fish to her porridge?" The wife asks. Amy is their two-year-old daughter.

"Fish? What an idea!" The husband gasps, "Eating fish is a high risk procedure! What if Mary gets a fish bone stuck in her throat?"

Yes, you guess that much. The husband is a senior administrator of the Hospital Authority.

"Oh, maybe I shall check each and every piece that she eats and make sure there's no bone in it..." The wife hesitates to suggest.

"No, that's not fool-proof. We need a better way. Em... Since eating fish is new to Mary and it has a certain risk, we need to set up a system of credential to document who in this family is qualified to eat fish."

"Oh...!" The wife cannot believe her ears, "What are the requirements to be qualified?"

"Simple. One must provide evidence that he or she is capable of performing the procedure by providing a relevant track record."

魚骨

One of my regular family activity every Sunday is to bring Euterpe and Adler to visit my in-laws. Euterpe is now 6-year-old and Adler close to three.

On a recent Sunday, Vivian's mother prepared noodles, stewed to-fu, and pan-fried mackerel for our lunch. Just like all younger sisters, Adler insisted to try some fish because she noted that we put a good piece of mackerel on Euterpe's plate.

But, shortly after the two girls started eating, Adler ran to me and yelled, "Daddy, fish bone!"

She was putting up her ring hand. It took me quite a while to adjust my focus. Between her thumb and pointing finger held a tinny thorn.

"Good girl!" I exclaimed with please, "You could now eat fish by yourself!"

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It all seems a trivial event.

But, on my way back, when I though of it once again, the story is  more complicated than you imagine.

Freedom

Maybe we should be more serious about this voluntary business.

If you consider the problem philosophically, the concept of voluntary originates from a closely related one - freedom, which is, unfortunately, ignis fatuus. The classical scenario is: For a stone rolling downhill, is it free? In other words, is it falling voluntarily, or under the undue influence of some extrinsic force?

The happening that really touches my nerve is: When an apple falls to the ground, it could be reasonable for the fruit itself to think it is falling voluntarily. On the other hand, if Isaac Newton concludes that the apple decides to fall voluntarily, I shall be disappointed.

But, if it is the Earth who tells us that the unfortunate red fruit which crashes the ground and smashes into pieces has the freedom and it falls voluntarily, what word other than shameless could we use to describe the situation?

PS. The sobering truth is, all four fundamental concepts of a democratic society, namely freedom, fairness, democracy and justice, are nothing but our own fancies.

I shall not elaborate further.

Voluntary

On a recent occasion, a financial tycoon (or his right-hand man) commented that all his employees who work continuously for 24 hours are voluntary to do so. Some other creatures outside the solar system went on and concluded that all doctors who endure long working hours are also voluntary.

Of course they are. Even if there were a pistol pointing at their head, the decision of continuing to work is, as a rule,  voluntary. The skeletal muscles that do all the work are by definition voluntary muscles. After all, there is always an alternative - the employee could choose to die.

But, we should not be too harsh to our six million dollar man or any extra-terrestrial invertebrates. I am sure their comments were made involuntarily. Based on my limited understanding on physiology, bull shit is a bowel activity and is, therefore, mediated by smooth, that is, involuntary muscle.

PS. Six million dollar refers to the amount of tax that that right-hand man needs to pay, not his salary.

Stairway

Although the visit was largely for a business purpose, I had the privilege of visiting the teaching hospital of our host the morning after that impressive dinner.

There were a dozen of us - presumably one representative from each Asia-Pacific country. We were led by an executive officer from the local faculty. After a brief introduction on the history of the medical school, we found ourselves walking up a long stairway in front of an old red-brick building.

"This is now our administration block. It used to be the out-patient clinic." Our tour guide explained.

"Out-patient clinic!" My friend from Thailand exclaimed, "How could patients walk up such a trying height of stairway?"

"That's quite natural." I smiled, "The situation is similar to how we determine which patient is eligible for ICU admission nowadays - by asking if they could climb stairs. Eighty years ago, when resource was limited, only patients who were fit enough could receive any medical care!"

Options

Had a short trip to visit a medical school north to the Shenzhen river.

I arrived in the evening and was took immediately to a business dinner. (The discussion was unexpectedly hot and serious.) That night, I rang up Vivian and tried to see where were our princesses up to. Naturally, as a amateur gourmet, my wife asked, "How's the dinner tonight?"

Of course she meant the food.

"Good by and large. The menu was western, but the serving was Chinese."

"You mean it's kind of fusion cuisine?"

"No, the dishes are head-to-toe western - Italian with American adaptation I would say." I said slowly, "But how they served the dinner was really Chinese. You know, on the menu there were two options for the main dish - maybe sirloin steak and salmon, I can't remember. But I was served with one without being asked for my preference!"

PS. I must say our friends from that crooked universe were literally correct. They only stated that there are two options, but it merely means that either of them may appear, and they were never meant for my choosing.

甄嬛

During a casual lunch time conversation, my friend AC said, "Szeto, have you heard of The Legend of Zhen Huan (後宮甄嬛傳)? It's gorgeous!"

"Of course I do." I smiled, "As a matter of fact, a friend of mine lent me the whole set of its DVD a few months ago but I did not have the time to watch it through, and Vivian has seen it from another channel. At the end of the day, I gave it to my mother-in-law, and she was very much addicted to it."

"Alas, you must watch it yourself," my friend insisted, "The story just appears so real and modern. I actually gain much insight on our daily life."

"That may be true. But, if I do want entertainment of this kind, The Yongzheng Dynasty (雍正王朝) is more masculine and would suite my palate better." I sighed, "The point is, I have little interest in small circle games of this kind - I have seen enough in real life."

The lunch table lapsed into silence.

Analogy

I was silent for a while, and then I said slowly, "Maybe, if they could have a system to check and audit and make sure where the money goes."

"Alas! That's certainly impossible. Our Supreme Leader would not agree to this. As he says, he is entirely honest and trustworthy. Would you challenge his integrity?

"Come on. I won't challenge anything that wouldn't even hold water."

"But, how about their brothers south to the 38th parallel? They would think people under the reign of that handsome leader are their flesh and blood and brothers and sisters, and making a monetary donation, although very likely to vanish or being abused, would fill their empty conscience and make them feel good."

I was about to say that's silly, but, suddenly, I saw light, "L, what are you talking about all this time? Are you really talking about North Korea?"

My friend just smiled. His eyes seemed to be saying, "You see? When you take away the smog of emotion, things suddenly become very clear."

Donation

L shook his head and asked, "No, I would rather ask you this: Will you donate?"

"What a question! You know I hardly ever do, whoever the victim is. But that's another story. I suppose there is a good surplus of food in their southern brothers and the States. They can donate as much bread and butter - or rice and bean - as the Democratic country needs."

"No, our Mr. Kim is not asking for food," my friend went on, "He is asking for money."

"That's absurd. What is he going to use the money for?"

"Alas! For you know what reasons! Or, as the famous reason put up by Qin Hui (秦檜): You don't need one (莫須有). Our Mr. Kim says that he will use the money to buy food for his people."

"Em... Do Korean people eat uranium or plutonium? That's new to me. I suppose the Supreme Leader will make a record by winning the Nobel Prizes of Chemistry and Medicine in the same year!"

"Friend, don't be too cynical - that's my domain. Let's go back to the original question: Will you donate? Or, should, say, South Korea donate?"