never trust what people tell you

This was the golden rule I learnt from the Underground Economy class the last year at McGill. Professor Thomas Naylor is an expert in the money laundering industry. Basically what he was saying was, be skeptical about whatever people tell you, especially those figures told by the governments. Take money daundering as an example, with its complex nature and process, it is simply impossible to formulate an equation to calculate even its estimated sum per year. So, all those figures the governments throw at us are just random numbers that got picked out from the dartboard for the sake to impress, or, for the good of their policy implementation.

The theory was further taken to heart when I worked at the Lau office and I have learnt not to trust what the government says. But today, I also learnt not to trust ANY politicians.

Before given the previous identity, I participated in some close door meetings. Inside stories were shared among the legislators as a gesture of reciprocity. So as time passed I listened to stories here and there and I got the false impression that these people are honest people! Now I realized I've been wrong. Too naive. They most of the time just tell part of the truth, or even contrary to the truth, for their own benefits.

Now that memory's been refreshed, I will always remember what I learnt from Prof. Naylor's class.