Wednesday, August 31, 2005

万水千山总是情

万水千山总是情。千古以来情是不变的变数。触景生情,旧地重游,让你如痴如醉不枉此生的不外是情与景。让你遗憾感慨顿足垂胸的不外是情与景。

去年今日此门中,人面桃花相映红。人面不知何处去,桃花依旧笑春风。因为有情所以我们情牵于景,人生多了几段故事,几段回忆。它们点缀生活,为人类发展制造软性的人文气息。

一旦迷失于森林城市,我们就会失忆,多凄美多纯情的故事都不会保存。Bras Basah 在重新打造中。窝在心中的始终是红墙下的神农药房,红砖砌成的国家图书馆。它们在闹市中的一角默默栽培着一代人,制造了一代人的神话。它们是我们共同的文化,共同的成长,共同的回忆。当这一方寸土迷失在闹市中时,净土何在?

滨海城的未来在打造中。淳朴的依丽沙白道上曾经酝酿着一个个爱情故事。黑发一同变成华发,看着彼此一天天变老。他们要的是淳朴带有咸味的海风还是繁华却不属于他们的赌城?或是美其名为综合娱乐城?

然后我才发觉原来失去了这么多。童年的牛车水充策着生命力,生活气息散发在自然中。今天刻苦营造的牛车水气息并不属于我们这一代。童年的大坡小坡,我找不回失落的回忆。在打造新城市的过程中需要考虑什么人文因素?

(1)个性Character:一个有个性的城市必能吸引人们的目光。一个有个性的城市,一个有个性的民族就能叫人尊敬。如果新加坡只是另一个上海,另一个伦敦的缩影,这个城市还能散发出独特诱人的魅力吗?

(2)故事Story:Titanic只是一宗沉船事件,一段凄美的爱情却使平淡化为神奇。男女主角在船桅迎风展翅的一幕成为绝世经典。月落乌啼霜满天,江枫渔火对愁眠。菇苏城外寒山寺,夜半钟声到客船。庭院庙宇何其多,寒山寺凭借落第秀才的一首唐诗,一缕灵气而烟火不断,不到寒山寺一游不能圆梦。

(3)经济效益Economies of scale:一旦经济效益处于主导地位,思考范围自然大受限制,无法乖离MBA设下的框框。人文与经济并存,唇亡齿寒,一个没有人文历史文化的民族只是一个世界公民,四海为家处处家,没有家园没有效忠。

活出个性,活出精采,织一个属于我们的生活,属于我们的故事,留下我们的足迹,是营造未来的过程中不可或却的一环。天上的彩虹也有你我的血汗.

Friday, August 26, 2005

About "DAO" - 道


I feel regret that I did not pick up Taiji in my earlier years. I only started learning Taiji at middle age. In the process, what I have picked up is not just about the martial art. More importantly is the philosophical thinking behind Taiji - a theory about ying-yang, beyond ying-yang, and tracing the origin of the universe.

Why am I thinking about all these? Perhaps is a transition to old age?

老子提出了“道”的概念。而“道”是看不见、摸不到的,它是宇宙唯一的、绝对的物质存在,不会随物的变化而消失,也不会因外在的力量而改变。而其本身不断运动变化,从而产生出天地万物。

自古至今的中外哲学,所要解决的是三个根本问题:一是宇宙和生命起源及演化问题,二是现实世界的本质与基础问题,三是社会与人生的理想问题。老子的道论把这三个哲学问题合在一起加以探讨。他说:“道生一,一生二,二生三,三生万物。”"人法地,地法天,天法道,道法自然。”道,不仅成为道家、道教的最高信仰,亦成为中华民族心目中最高真理的代称。从古至今,多少圣贤志士都毕生竭力于求道、学道、闻道、得道、悟道、体道、行道、宏道,为的是使人生变得更有价值,使世界变得更加美好。可以说,老子建立了一座道的丰碑,诸子百家环绕而敬仰之,得大道之滋润,用大道而生辉。老子的道论是超乎学派的,没有封界的,一切愿意穷根究底和需要安身立命的人们,都可以到大道里面去寻找答案。

<道德经>第一章开宗明义指出:“道可道,非常道;名可名,非常名。无名天地之始;有名万物之母。故常无,欲以观其妙;常有,欲以观其徼。。”道具有万物本原的意义。老子说:有一个混然一体的东西,它先天而存在。无声无形,杳冥空洞,永远不依靠外在的力量,自身不停地循环运行,可以称之为天下万物的母体。我不知道它的名称,把它叫做“道”,再勉强给它起名叫做“大”。道之所以被命名为“大”,是因为其无边无涯。道不止于大,又能不分昼夜的运行不息,故又可谓之“逝”。其愈逝愈远,无法穷尽其源,故又可谓之“远”。但虽远至六合之外,无穷无尽,却始终未尝离道,仍然依道循环运行,故又可谓“反”。这是老子对“道”的全面描述,它将生成天地万物的本体、运动性、规律性、时间和空间的无限性集于一身,指的就是宇宙——万物的本原。

在老子看来,作为万物本原的道,不是物质也不是精神,不能说它有,它是非物,无形无象;又不能说它无,因为它时刻催生着万物,形成异彩纷呈的动态世界。所以道体是无,道用是有,道是无与有的统一,两者同出而异名。他说:无,是天地的原始;有,是万物的根本。所以经常从无形无象处去认识道的微妙,经常从有形象处去认识万物的终极。这两者(有和无)同一个来源,只是名称不同,都可以说是深远玄妙的,是天地万物、一切玄妙产生的总户。

作为大道本体的“无”,又如何产生天地万物呢?老子认为,尽管“无”是宇宙最原始的状态,但此原始之道并非绝对的空无,在它朦朦胧胧、混然一体的之中,包孕着天地万物的基因,这就是精。西汉时期的道家学者曾经比喻说,老子之道就象一个鸿卵一样。鸿卵看上去什幺也没有,既没有头又没有尾,既没有翅又没有腿,可是包孕着鸿的一切;道看上去什幺也没有,既没有天又没有地,既没有人又没有物,可是却包孕着天地人物的一切。这个比喻虽然不十分确切,但却大大有助于人们理解老子所说的道。

道,看起来什幺也没有,所以可称为无。说它是无,那只是相对于天地万物而言的,而不是说它不存在。它是一种无形无象、无分无界、朦胧不清、混然一体的东西。正因其无分无界,混然一体,所以可称其为“一”。这样一来,“一”就从“无”中推衍了出来。老子把这个过程称为“道生一”。这个“一”,指出是阴阳未分之前混沌一体的宇宙。它与“无”字虽然只是一字之差,却体现了道的两种相反的属性。前者体现了道的实在性,后者突出道的虚空性。这个混沌未分的宇宙,“其中有精”,在自我的运动之中,逐渐分剖为阴阳二气,老子把这个过程称为“一生二”。“二”这是阴阳

阴阳的变化,犹如强大的动力,激活了宇宙间的“精”,从而产生天地,产生了人类,他们与道并存,老子把这个过程称为“二生三”,所谓“三”,即指天、地、人三才。宇宙间有了这三种东西,万物得以资生,即通过阴阳运动生成新的统一体后,生化出世界万物,老子把这个过程称为“三生万物”。在对道生化天地万物的整个过程做了描述之后,老子总结说:“万物负阴而抱阳,冲气以为和。”明确地指出,天地万物皆内涵阴阳,阴阳二气又在冲和之气得到统一,万物亦在冲和之气中得到生养。这段话语简直是对宇宙演化进程的一种朴素而形象的描述:从无形无象的道,演化出气态宇宙,演化出固态天地,乃至形形色色的物体;从固态的无机物中,又衍生出有机物,乃至千异百态的生命体,其生成毁灭的根本机理便是阴阳两种原素的变化。在整个宇宙生成链的各个层次上,阴阳是万物生成、生命流动的活力,大道则是贯穿始终、通达万有的根本,老子把它形容为“玄妙之门”,不是非常贴切的比喻吗?

Sunday, August 07, 2005

A sentimental journey


Collected the two tickets of 剑雪浮生 and gave them to father. To him, 剑雪浮生 is not just about 任剑辉,白雪仙和唐涤生, it is also about 陈宝珠, a character that could never be forgotten if you live through the 1960s, and there are much more...

陈宝珠 left the public scene since 1972 but made a return for her master 任剑辉 in 1999. Now, she is bringing 剑雪浮生 to Singapore in September.

For the generation like my father, 陈宝珠 carries another meaning of fond sentimental value of the past, something that can be associated with. When I passed him the tickets, I could smell the spark in his eyes, and the excitement in his old heart.

Time and again people asking me why do I like London. The reason is actually quite simple. The vibrant of the city may be part of the reason. The good mixed of science, technology and art may also be part of the reason.

When digging deep into my heart and soul, I would say that the main reason is deep memory. London is a place that I can connect and associate with. It has a big heart that contains the new and the old, the gentle and the odd. Wherever I step on the street of London, I can find the familiar architecture, I can find my old sentiment, I can recall the fond memories that my wife and I commonly shared.

People may condemn the NHS system, especially those that are not so exposed and only rely on a single source of information. The fact is, my son was born in London, premature with a body length of a pen, and lifted up by me with just two fingers. He survived through the medical care. He discharged from hospital on his perceived birthday that supposed to be. I have no complaint.

People may condemn the transport system, again for those that are not so exposed and only rely on a single source of information. Imagine the network built on the 100-year infrastructure, imagine the 60 over languages co-exist in the same underground that you and I have hopped in. You see what is cosmopolitan. There are many X-factors that we are lacking. Don't always think that we are number one. In many areas we are lagging far far behind. We can be more humble than we are.

Back here, I am actually in a lost city. My old house became a piece of flat land and now is a busy road. My childhood memory is rolling across by cars after cars, days after days. We embrace the modern architecture of the new national library. But it did not grow me. The old library built with red bricks that sat in a quiet corner of the busy Stamford road did! I can't associate the city with my personal past. My heart is quite hollow. We can't build our future by forgetting the past. Can we??

I think I have done a good job by giving the two tickets to my father. For that moment, I brought happiness to him. Happiness is actually so simple!

With 剑雪浮生, with 陈宝珠, I hope he and his accompany can find themselves not in a lost world again. At least for that short three hours.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

There is always a beginning


I first visited this fun land in 1992 when I was at the age of 31. It was a childhood dream that realised in a much later year.

13 years later, I stepped on the fun land with my wife and children.

Dreams after dreams. My next dream is to share the fun with many others through e- blog, a skill that I dream to learn and to master.

Therefore it is not surprising that this site is created but the ingredient is still under construction.