Passionate-Swedish-Tiger

I went to Sweden on a few occasions. Sweden has 450 thousand sq. km of land (about 600 times of Singapore). Depending on your journey, one possible ways to reach Sweden is transit through Copenhagen. A connection train from the Airport will bring you to the various major cities.

Sweden has 9 million people, about double the population of Singapore. By equal distribution, each person would own 50,000 sq.m of land. Like other countries in the Northern Europe, Sweden is famous for its science, technology and innovation. Back in the Viking years (8th century), Sweden had already invented slender flat-bottom landing ship to fight the amphibious warfare with the Russian. The fighting doctrine was well developed. In a typical battle, each landing ship would carry about 200 soldiers to launch a surprise attack. Swedish won most of the battles.




In Singapore, we would be familiar with the following Swedish products:
-War fighting machines like warships, submarines and Bofor guns
-Advanced electronics like radars and mobile phones
-Power generations like engines and oil and gas machinery
-High-end automotive like Volvo car
-Wooden creatures like IKEA furniture.

Sweden is highly successful in international sports. Sweden ranks seventh in the Olympic medals table with a total of 550 medals, of which 170 gold. The number of World Champions are also plentiful; two mixed titles in Badminton, 1985 and 1993; Bandy four titles in 1981, 1983, 1987, 1993 and 1995; Table-tennis twelve titles. The Swedish tennis players, Björn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg are known all over the world with two decades of fantastic achievements. Swedish football team has been competing in the world class arena.

Swedish speak their own native language but they generally have very good command in English. They don’t go round to glamorise their efficiency and effectiveness in commanding other languages. To them, additional languages allow them to break the communication barrier with the external world and enable them to connect the others culture. The world is their Oasis.

I wonder what that additional 4.5 million people have helped in making the Swedish unique? Swedish are not worker-holic. In fact they take a slower pace in order to appreciate the tranquillity of life. They pay about 30% of income tax. These money goes into a common pool which provides social security for them.

My Swedish friends felt that the different is not about that 4.5 million extra people. The different is about PASSION. Passion is a simple but very powerful word. However, this seed must be planted at a very young age, and the schools are responsible for cultivating the mindset throughout the educational years. Once passion is rooted in a person, it will become part and parcel of life.

Passion? Passionate about what? My Swedish friends said you don’t need to have a big dream nor a stretch goal. What you need is just passionate about what you do. You can be passionate about making ice cream, passionate about teaching and crafting, passionate about writing and swimming, and so on. Once the passion is in you, you will automatically develop dream and you will strive to do well. Innovation will come along.

The Swedish model of innovation is rather similar to Japan and majority of the Europe. It relies on deep experience and rooted culture to refine the products and achieve breakthrough. This is unlike the US which emphasises on quantum leap. US generate new products overnight. Which model do we subscribe to? My feeling is we draw the best out from every model. However, a team of 11 world-class strikers do not make a good football team. Perhaps we blended too many models without deep social and culture considerations. The integration of the best strikers did not suit us well.

We do have our own success. Someone coined “management innovation” as our key success. This innovation is a product of our catch-up game. In the process of realising a first-class economy, we developed passion in buying businesses and technologies to quickly lever up ourselves with the first world. This is a short-cut way to get rich. But I afraid that our economy does not have a deep root based on our own products. This may be vulnerable and eventually impact on the long-term sustenance of Singapore Inc.



In early 2000s, the emergence of IT defined the “new economy” for the world. It was a CLICK world rather than the conventional BRICK world. CLICK world was virtual and short-life. It is the BRICK world that last. BRICK gives less excitement and has to be rooted on solid ground, not virtual, not floating. Dream must be rooted on solid foundation. Dream can only be realised on BRICK.

Let’s cheer with Swedish beer. I invited my Swedish friends. Oh no. They said. Swedish beer culture, like a lot of Swedish culture, is imported. Carlsberg controls 75% of the Swedish beer market.



It should be TIGER’s time. We cheered. Oh yes, TIGER is a world class brand. Made in Singapore.

The Leap Years (After note)

Taiwan's presidential election 2008 had brought to a closure. Ma Ying-Jieu won by 16% majority vote (58% versus 42% for Frank Hsieh).

Ah Long should be one of the happiest persons on earth. He wanted the sky to change colour from Green to Blue. Now the sky has turned blue as he wished. 58% blue. This is another moment of democracy. The thrust of democracy.

水能载舟亦能覆舟.

The two presidential candidates had adopted gentleman approach after the result was released. They not only showed greatest respect to the wishes of Taiwanese, they also showed greatest mutual respect towards their opponent. To me this is already a great leap of democracy of Taiwan as compared to the previous elections.

Ma Ying-Jieu didn't write off DPP. In deed he gave credit to DPP who has contributed to the democracy movement of Taiwan, '这次的选举，大家当然有许多批评，甚至有许多的火花，但是我们从来不敢忽视民进党在过去的几十年当中对台湾民主、台湾进步的贡献......不论输赢如何，我们同感骄傲.民主自由是台湾最珍贵的资产，我们生活在其中平常也许感觉不到，但一旦到关键时刻，民主自由所展现的力量是沛然莫之能御.这是台湾最大的资产，也是台湾最迷人的资产.' Ma Yin-Jieu phrased his opponent for his frank and gentleman politician style.

Frank Hsieh admitted defeat, '台湾选民已经用选票作出决定，我接受败选的事实.我在这里要恭喜马英九先生和萧万长先生...民主包括结果，也包括过程，过程难免有争议，但是我们接受，不愿再有抗争，让我们的社会非常迅速地能够修补因为选举所留下来的裂痕，让我们的人民能够很快地生活在爱与信任的环境里面.'

Walked to the end of his political journey, Frank Hsieh showed the strongest part of his character,'这是我个人的挫折，不是台湾主体性的倒退，是民主的结果，不是民主的失败.台湾的发展从来就不是顺风而行，风愈大我们愈要走，我们要永远跟人民站在一起，衷心地为台湾祝福，我们相信人民，也相信台湾.' He had ended his political career graciously.


[台北实景 a scene in Taibei：是‘大中至正’还是‘自由广场’？]

A friend (Yeo) put his personal thought through SMS, '台湾人民终于不再以意识形态投票，为台湾的胜利，台湾的民主欢呼.'

I said he sounded like half of a Taiwanese, he said, '为他们闷了八年了，更为了我们少了那一点点的民主而遗憾.'

Don't worry. The leap year is just a moment of sensation, a moment of excitement. Day after tomorrow life will be back to normal.

The Leap Years

Watched THE LEAP YEARS played by Wong Liling, Joan Chen, QiYuWu and Ananda Mathew Everingham. It is a Singapore's love story based on a novel by Catherine Lim. The story talks about a young Singaporean girl having chance upon her special someone on 29th February. She decides to base her intuition on an Irish leap year tradition that no man will refuse any request of a lady and invites him out for a date. Together, they embark on a romantic journey that spans over 12 years, meeting only thrice in 12 years, on the leap year.




THE LEAP YEARS was one of the best local films I have seen so far. The film is not up to the standard of a Hollywood nor a Hong Kong movie. But the story is engaging based on modern sensibilities. The English is natural and real which has moved away from Jack Neo's singlish dialect comedy. THE LEAP YEARS would probably capture some of the fascinating sensibilities and the essence of life in contemporary Singapore.

It happens that the Taiwan president's election also falls into the leap years. Today is the fourth direct election for the President of Taiwan. Either Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Frank Hsieh or Kuomintang (KMT) nominee Ma Ying-jeou will end the Ah Bian's era.



Still remember quite well how Ah Long's rather comical way of laughing over himself for how naive he was in those younger days. He was a supporter of the Green Pan. The day that he received his pay envelop, he rushed to listen to the DPP speech and accidentally dropped his full month salary into the collection box. Apart from staring at the envelop being covered by more and more cash, he couldn't do any thing extra. He went home to ask for pocket money from his mother. They scolded him for gambling. No one believed him that he had accidentally "donated" his monthly income to the Green Pan.



Who is Ah Long? He is not the Loan Shark. He is the tour guide that helped me to explore Taiwan based on modern fascinating sensibilities. He even pointed to a shop at XiMengTing(西门町), saying that was where the great pretty LinQingXia(林青霞) was discovered and started her big screen career. True of false? probably only Lin would know better. Nevertheless with Ah Long, my recent tour of Taiwan was a memorable one.

沙岩下的故事

野柳的沙岩长期受到台风巨浪的侵蚀，形成蘑菇状。沙岩的生命并不长久，菇茎会逐日缩小，菇头会倒下去。油尽灯枯，这是自然的规律。




想起一个自然的规律下引申的故事，发生在芸芸众生中的故事。





年底发了花红，姐妹二人开开心心地买了大包小包的，双手一点空档也没有，尽兴而归。回到家楼下才猛然记起，糟了，今晚电梯维修，怎么上八十楼去啊？

姐妹俩你望着我，我望着你，最后决定一步一步地走上去。

好不容易走上二十层，两人气呼呼的，几乎软成一团，坐在那儿，互相埋怨。埋怨到头来，还是得想个办法啊！

哈！真糊涂！这公寓大家都挺熟络，治安良好，没人会把这把这大包小包拿走的。把全身的包袱放下，明天早上电梯维修好了再下来拿不就行了吗？于是姐妹俩空着手，一口劲就爬上了五十楼。

在五十楼往外望，世界变得渺小。妹妹说。

不。 姐姐不苟同。眼内有尘三界窄，心头无事一床宽。大或小只取决于个人的心境，所处的位置，采取的角度和时空的距离而已。

妹妹想想也不无道理。横看成岭侧成峰，远近高低各不同。不识庐山真面目，只缘身在此山中。说的也正是如此。其实姐妹俩趣味相投，见解一致，是应该互相扶持，一起走完这条路的。刚才真不该吵了一架。




两人在互相扶持互相勉励下，终于完成最后一程，可以进屋子里好好休息了。两人高兴地给了一个five。

紧接着两人的脸色都变了。钥匙放在包包里，留在二十楼！

如果楼梯代表人的一生，二十代表青年，包包代表梦想，五十代表人生历炼，那么八十就是该好好休息怡情的时候了。可是在二十岁的时候嫌那包裹太沉重，把梦想都放弃了，到老的时候回首前尘，还能无所憾吗？

你和我是不是芸芸众生中的一份子？

佛光山之暇想

在台湾认识阿龙，是一名专业导游。他说曾经为相依为命的母亲祈福，结果奇迹出现，从此结下佛缘。高雄佛光山，星云大师和他阿龙是一体。他半玩笑半认真地说。

姑不论阿龙与佛光山的因缘。人生因某种际遇而奠定往后的一生是许多人都拥有过的经历。星云大师十二岁中日战争逃难与母亲走失，跟了一个和尚。和尚说你跟着我可很苦的，没有猪肉吃，没有人间的娱乐，要吃苦，要诵经。和尚就是避风港，你去到那里我跟到那里。星云大师从此结下佛缘。如今佛光山与星云大师已成一体。



佛光山创办于1967年,它‘给人信心、给人欢喜、给人希望、给人方便’，以文化弘扬佛法、以教育培养人才、以慈善福利社会、以共修净化人心。其中净化人心是大学问。

跟一般所谓的平民相处，他们的喜怒哀乐很简单，能学会一套太极拳已经能开心好久好久。我跟他们在一起也很开心，不用处于心机的备战状态。人生有涯，你能拥有多少？淡薄为大，所以生命可以更宽广。



也接触另一群人，多是有识之士。他们总是不如意事常八九，快乐是很短暂的。为什么？有这么一个乾隆下江南的故事。乾隆问金山寺的和尚每天有多少条船来回长江，法磐回答说两条。乾隆不解，长江水道繁忙，船只往返不计其数，怎么只有两条？于是继续追问其因。法磐回答：

“长江只有两条船，一条为名，一条为利。世上熙熙，皆为利来，世上攘攘，皆为利往。”我们身在名利当中，当局者迷而不知觉，又怎能快乐起来呢？

眼内有尘三界窄，心头无事一床宽，说的无非是“看破”二字。能看破名利，人心自能净化，生命自能宽广，快乐自能持久。明白为何和尚的芒鞋没有鞋头了吧？人只有低下头才能看得穿世俗，才能看破。其中最首要，也最困难的是以谦卑的心态来看破自己。

猪年既过，鼠年在既，愿你拥抱快乐。

伍角与船板交织的时空

伍角船板。梦是唯一的真实。谢丽香。平凡的名字。

在台湾转了一圈，在台北内湖区钻进这一间叫做“伍角船板”的饭店。伍角船板不只设在台北，台南与台中都有伍角船板的踪迹。

伍角船板的建筑奇特，由漂流木、大树和陶瓷品造成，设计建筑艺术就像酝酿上等醇酒，叫人惊叹。饭店腾出一大片空间作为艺术的展现，吃饭的地方反而变成陪衬品。在经济效益上似乎化不来，但是伍角船板与谢丽香却成为台湾的奇迹。

谢丽香的父母也不像传统的父母。他们没有对女儿施压，非得学业成绩良好不可。他们鼓励女儿去逐梦，追求自己的兴趣。谢丽香不用花太多时间读书，可以天天做白日梦。



谢丽香做过各行各业，每宗生意都失败。最后她意识到自己真正的梦想是用儿时玩积木的方式，盖出自己的房子。她发现要实现这样的愿景所费不菲，才出现另一个奇想，把建筑成品转变为餐厅，为其他建筑计划筹集资金。

台北内湖区的伍角船板花了最多的精力，是最好的伍角船板，也是最后一间。

从堆积木到盖房子，从做白日梦到焦点人物，一砖又一砖，一步一脚印，谢丽香化美梦为神奇。



为什么叫做伍角船板？又一次她生意失败，在沙滩上徘徊。沙滩上搁浅着一块船板，船板上嵌着一枚台湾早期的伍角硬币。伍角与船板相扶并存，它们一起度过艰苦的岁月，可谁也没遗弃谁。这一幕给她新的希望。如果有一天能够东山再起，就以伍角船板为名,赋予新生。

伍角船板其实是许多台湾企业家的缩影。他们织梦，他们寻梦，他们圆梦。生活是一面镜子，你对它笑它才会对你笑。

我家在那里

当年没拍多少照片，这张照片是在网上找到的。




发现这张照片是意外，是惊喜。两个月前我为启志学校一群老人制作一份特辑，启志学校位于大成巷，五十年前关闭，半世纪后的今天竟能奇迹般地找到整四十人，还搞了个喜相逢。

我本着成人之美的心态，成为义务摄影师兼专辑制作人。在网上没搜索到启志学校的资料，却意外发现这张照片。

照片是七十年代初期的新加坡河沿岸。远处是依丽沙白道外的大海。对大海、对新加坡河，我始终深情款款。它们把我的祖母和父亲带到新加坡，在新加坡河边安家。新加坡河富有生命力，船工驳力加上河边的货舱米粮，生活像淌淌河水，川流不息。

我的家在禧街，在新加坡河与谐街之间。禧街俗称小坡二马路，谐街的繁华就如今日的乌节路。小时候用过晚饭，祖母和我站在桥上，看着来往的舯舡，编织着我们的梦。祖母想回中国老乡走一回。离乡二十载，不晓得家乡变成什么样。

没多久祖母去世了，人人都说她是个大好人，虽然我们是穷光蛋，可是奔丧送殡的人潮络绎不绝。好人有好报，也许她已经乘上轻舟，度过千里路万重山，回到她的家乡。

1993 和 2004年我去了她的家乡两回，寻根的道路崎岖而伤感，想像着祖母和父亲说过的故事，情绪激动时还不禁流下热泪。光阴似箭，连我都已经两鬓发白。这是另一段故事，以后再谈。

生活是一连串的搏斗，像涓涓河水，周而复始。我也不晓得乘船的滋味，更遑论搭飞机，一切就像天方夜谭，没有希望也没有失望。怎么也没想到后来的日子飞机乘多了，工作也离不开船舰海洋。

1980年，十九岁。业主说租金太便宜，必须把月租大幅度上调。我们搬家了，搬进新世界附近的二房式组屋，接触另一群在生活中挣扎的社会下层。没多久，新加坡河清河运动开锣。改造后的新加坡河河水依旧流淌，是个欢乐的地方。过去走进历史，包括我的老家在内。

在没有希望也没有失望的日子里我们一样熬了过来。我们也见证了一段新加坡河的发展史。

浮生旧梦

我又回到我的寻梦园。

云南园，童年的梦想，心目中的天堂。

南洋大学创校史是新加坡历史的奇迹。在华人社会齐心协力下于1956年成立，万众一心，义无反顾。南洋大学被关闭，后来凤凰再生，期间的经历是另一段故事。今天不谈这故事。


南洋大学初建








如今事过境迁，云南园的生活已是二十年前的旧事。反省静思， 虽然是梦想，虽然是天堂, 可从来没想过会在云南园度过人生中很重要的三年。一来为了生活的困境，每一个日子都是为了生存而搏斗；二来当生活稳定之后已是适婚年龄，是开展另一段人生路程的时候了。

所以啦，圆梦需要勇气，无怨无悔。下一程难以预料，不跨出第一步，永远无法圆梦。那段圆梦的日子很困苦，得兼顾学业与生计。没钱没学费、学业表现差，都是圆梦的绊脚石。院长梁教授说如果他早知道就不会让我读下去。我说吃得苦中苦，方为人中人，圆梦的日子是磨炼， 磨炼是教育的精华。毕业后曾在牛车水巴刹遇见他，难得他还记得我，跟我亲切地打招呼。再见他是他的葬礼，亲切的他已为古人。


圆梦-青山依旧在，几度夕阳红



我的启蒙学校--原来匠心同出一格，冥冥中早已注定






清晨的南大湖，无风无涟漪。有中年人慢跑而过，有年轻人在逐梦。物换星移，这些脸孔都不再熟悉，不变的是当我向他们点头微笑时他们都报以亲切的笑容。

人与人之间没有利益冲突的时候，大家的相处是互敬互重的。这清晨的南大湖，这清晨的一霎是短暂的。平静的时光一闪而过，没一下子我又投身于生活的拼搏中。


南大湖 - 风吹皱一湖春水

Are you a digit?

We are facing with tough staff turnover in the recent months. The blooming of the marine industry is non-parallel in history. A sunset industry becomes sun rise. The order books filled up to five years down the road to 2012.

Many of them who have resigned are riding on the economy crest, transiting themselves into the industry as the valuable resources. Anton, one of them who had resigned and left us, shared his personal thought. He reinstated that he wanted to continue to serve us. But the organization did not practice what a modern human resource management should practice. Let me termed it as D&P.

What is D&P? Digit and People. Antonie felt that the organization has been treating people like digit. The fanciful career development, personal grooming, job matching and etc have relegated to hole plugging. Damage control plug. Human is used to plug hole.

I can feel that what he wanted is respect. He wanted a pair, in fact more pairs, of listening ears and a show of compassion in the organization. It is not about modern HR theories and practices. It is about the fundamental cultural values that we as human would like to believe in and would like to subscribe to.

As humankind we should embrace in 3R: Respect the others, Respect yourselves and be Responsible with what you do. If you subscribe to the belief of every individual is a human, you would naturally treat them as people. Or else they are like computer today, 1 or 0, purely digit. In so doing, you do not have to respect them, do not have to respect yourselves, and do not have to take responsibility with what you do. No human touch.

Apparently there are some cultural changes happening in the organization, in fact everywhere. Otherwise we do not have to try so hard to reinstall some of the basic beliefs back to individuals.

The world is connected with broadband nowadays. The digital world makes it more difficult to influence individuals when they subscribe to the belief of riding on economic crest to generate wealth and more wealth.

Human history is a spiral. We are living in the cycle of wealth generation. We loss something that is valuable through the process. It may take us another generation to bring back the values.

881的魅力

881掀起歌台的热潮，也吸引了老中青三代人涌入戏院，佳评如潮，原因何在？

881挺有台湾乡土电影的感觉。电影环绕着七月舞台，非常本土化。电影的主线在于平凡。木瓜姐妹都是平凡人，她们怀着平凡人的梦想，不过她们比一般人更敢于逐梦，结果她们圆梦。

电影要令人感动，就必需制造一些遗憾。小木瓜之死，大木瓜一人撑下舞台，所以感人。

跟梁志强导演过去的电影相比，我较欣赏881。881有一个完整的故事，有一个完整的情节，笑料出于自然，感伤出于情理之中。这一切都与梁志强导演的风格截然不同。

881没有大排演员，没有个人化的明星魅力，台前幕后众志成城，众人都是明星。

还有，原来福建歌是这么动听的。

881，诚意之作。

It is like a river flow

We are all busy people. So, have you seen a river flow? Do you have a chance to see a river flows?

We don’t have to always drive on the fast lane. If you subscribe to the universal law of physics of conservation of energy, Total energy in life = constant. The faster you go, the more energy you consume, the less energy remains in you.



Speed makes your heart pumps harder, your organs work harder. These are abnormal stresses. Drawing analogy to Fatigue theory, under repeated cycles, the stress tolerant levels of the organs are dropping with every stress cycle. This leads to premature failure.

We don’t have to always drive on the fast lane all the time. Switch to slower lanes at time, take alternative roads. The break from routine would help you to see the other side of the world and may give you pleasant surprises.

Back to where we begin. Have you seen a river flows? Have you touched the river flow? I did that. I made two observations:

Observation 1: water flows the fastest at mid-stream, but stagnant at river banks. This is not a new discovery. 2500 years ago Buddha already said that. When I learned about pipe flow theory, it reinforced the natural phenomenon with explanation. It is all about shear stresses.

Having saying all these, it boils down to choices. Would you want to adopt a more dynamic approach in life like the mid-stream of a river flow or would you prefer a stagnant sidelined style like water at the river banks?

Observation 2: you touched the water a moment ago. You touch the water now. You are touching the river flow but the waters that you are touching now and you were touching a moment ago are no longer the same.

Water comes; Water goes. People come; people go.
Tomorrow; yesterday. Next year; yesteryear. Life; death.
We read history and we become part of the history.

Our existence on earth is a pure coincident. By nature or by fate. How to make ourselves everlasting?

In my teenage day, I came across the first English song in my life, very touching. It was a TV advertisement for Kodak film:

Good morning yesterday
You wake up
And time had skipped away
And suddenly it’s hard to find
The memories you left behind
Do you remember?
Do you remember?

By the way, do you remember when did you last use the Kodak film?

Wind, forest, fire and mountains

Sun Zi’s essays on the art of war were the concentrated essence of wisdom on conducting warfare. Since the value of the Art of War extends beyond the study of battles, people regard it as an important part of Chinese culture. Many believed that a major achievement of The Art of War was in the scientific attitude adopted by Sun Zi.

War is a matter of life and death, the road either to survival or to ruin. Sun Tzu, generally known as Sun Zi, was a great war strategist in China's history. Sun Zi lived in a time (722-481 B.C.) during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which is referred to as the Spring-Autumn Period.

Sun Zi said, "Victory should be won before battle starts." He thought that the best policy was to first attack the enemy's strategy rather than defeat the enemy's troops. Sun Zi also believed that generals should not care much about acquiring fame when they made advances and that they should not avoid incurring penalty when they retreated provided that their actions benefit the state. This applied even if they did not become famous for their bravery or for their resourcefulness.




The art of war is based on deception. Move when it is advantageous and create changes in the situation by dispersal and concentration of forces. When campaigning, be swift as the wind; in leisurely marching, majestic as the forest; in raiding and plundering, be fierce as fire; in standing, firm as the mountains. This philosophy has now been applied to business strategy and as part of the modern MBA learning:

As swift as the wind 疾如风
As majestic as the forest 徐如林
As fierce as the fire 侵略如火
As firm as the mountains 不动如山



This warfare strategy also influenced Japan greatly in the past. This is not surprising as historians believe that Japanese was the early immigration of Chinese dated back to the Chin Dynasty. Recently I visited Iyashi no Sato Nenba 西湖溫柔之鄉根場, a village at Lake Saigo of Mount Fuji. The village was wiped out by Typhoon in 1963 and was rebuilt in the recent years to memorise those who lost their lives in this natural disaster. 风林火山 can be seen everywhere. In fact on my way to Kyoto and Osaka, the two former capitals of Japan, 风林火山 has been the guiding principle of these two great historic cities.



Some pictures taken from Iyashi no Sato Nenba西湖溫柔之鄉根場 are posted for sharing. The houses are called 合掌造, a unique architecture of Japan.

百家说

2500 年前春秋战国时代诸候争霸，造就一群伟大的思想家，影响力持续至今。MBA 甚至把百家学说应用到商场，超越国界。在 E-时代，或许大家通过网络已无国籍之分。

上世纪70年代是个希望的年代也是个失落的年代。1980年李怡为他一手创办的“七十年代”作总结就以失落为结局。当年许多文团都因失落变得人才凋零，树倒猢狲散，为人类发展史划上句点。许多人选择忘记过去，平平静静地过活。

有些文团却如再生的凤凰，经过一番磨炼之后全新姿态重新出击，继续为社会服务，失落只是希望的开始。实践剧场是一个例子。

其实认清历史的规律后，思潮的变化，人性再循环等等都是周而复始，时而阴阳相调，时而阴阳相辅，有最好的时代也有最坏的时代，盛唐不会永远存在。以包容的心态去面对种种变幻反而能领略个中奥妙。

就如“无奸不商”吧，Bill Gate却成立了地球救济基金，还亲自打理。沈望傅对慈善向来不落人后，取之社会，用之社会。资本家也有赫赫君子。君子爱财，取之有道，春秋战国时代已有此言。

风来疏竹，风过而竹不留声。雁照寒潭，雁去而潭不留影。故君子事来而心始现，事去而心随空。

Childhood Words 童话

Come across this lyrics that is well translated by Miss Jeanie Lee of East Spring Primary School. Very touchy.

Forgotten how long,
I've not heard from you.
Telling me all
Your favourite stories.

I thought it over.
I started worrying.
Was it again me,
Who did the wrong thing?

You cried and told me that,
Fairy tales always lie.
I could not be
That prince of yours.

Maybe you're not aware.
From when you said you loved me,
My starry skies were lit up so bright.

I want to be
That fairy tale
Angel that you love.
Spread both my arms,
Change to wings
Guard over you.

You must believe,
Yes, believe that we will be that fairy tale.
Happiness will be the end of story.

幸福和快乐是结局.

I think therefore I am

e

Cogito, ergo sum. I think therefore I am. 我思故我在.

Recently I learned about Arbinger Theory. It expounded the philosophical thinking of follow the sense and self-betrayer. It is about following the sense to stay out of the box to make other's day. Who can break the box? It is ME. I am the subject. When we treat other as a subject rather than as an object, the relationship can be improved. We can get out of the box to make each other’s day.

The Arbinger Theory seems building on the foundation of Martin Buber’s (马丁布伯) “I-thou, I-it”. It would be interesting to trace back to René Descartes’ (笛卡尔）famous philosophical statement Cogito, ergo sum (Latin: “I think therefore I am”, a translation of Descartes' original French statement: "Je pense, donc je suis", which occurs in his Discourse on Method (1637)). It became a foundational element of Western philosophy.

Descartes placed a strong emphasis on I. I am the subject. Descartes considered the ultimate level of doubt based on his argument from the existence of a deceiving god – Descartes examined his beliefs to see if any had survived the doubt. In his belief in his own existence he found it: it is impossible to doubt that he exists. Even if there were a deceiving god (or an evil demon, the tool he used to stop himself sliding back into ungrounded beliefs), his belief in his own existence would be secure, for how could he be deceived unless he existed in order to be deceived?

"But I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Does it now follow that I too do not exist? No: if I convinced myself of something [or thought anything at all] then I certainly existed. But there is a deceiver of supreme power and cunning who is deliberately and constantly deceiving me. In that case I too undoubtedly exist, if he is deceiving me; and let him deceive me as much as he can, he will never bring it about that I am nothing so long as I think that I am something. So, after considering everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that the proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind."

Descartes suggested that I can exist in isolation. 290 years later, Martin Buber’s I and Thou (Ich und Du, 1923) presented an alternative philosophy of personal dialogue, in that it describes how personal dialogue can define the nature of reality. Buber’s major theme is that human existence may be defined by the way in which we engage in dialogue with each other, with the world, and with God. I exist not in isolation.

According to Buber, human beings may adopt two attitudes toward the world: I-Thou or I-It. I-Thou is a relation of subject-to-subject, while I-It is a relation of subject-to-object. In the I-Thou relationship, human beings are aware of each other as having a unity of being. Human beings do not perceive each other as consisting of specific, isolated qualities, but engage in a dialogue involving each other's whole being. In the I-It relationship, on the other hand, human beings perceive each other as consisting of specific, isolated qualities, and view themselves as part of a world which consists of things. I-Thou is a relationship of mutuality and reciprocity, while I-It is a relationship of separateness and detachment.

I-Thou relation is a direct interpersonal relation which is not mediated by any intervening system of ideas. No objects of thought intervene between I and Thou. Thus, I-Thou is not a means to some object or goal, but is an ultimate relation involving the whole being of each subject.

The evolution of the I-philosophy is fascinating. From Descartes-I, Buber-I thou I it, to Arbinger-self deception and out of the box. It seems that the human society is moving towards a more holistic whole and would eventually be more compassionate. There is a Chinese saying 沉舟侧畔千帆过，病树前头万木春. We are progressing to a better tomorrow.

Big heart for CNY

This Lunar new year is extremely rushed. No real opportunity to prepare the heart and soul for the atmosphere.

Workload has geared up with thinning of resources and hardly settled down since the day after X’mas.

Because of the copy right law, I could hardly hear new year song as freely as before except at some selected shopping outlets who were willing to pay for the IP charges. Discounted that, new year shopping seemed to be of no different from normal shopping. The cutting edge of new year shopping has gone.

I used to rate CNY as my number one hit list since young. The atmosphere was tremendous although CNY also meant that I would “loss” my father for a couple of days. What had happened?

Few days before CNY, father would soak himself beside the gambling tables in China Town. No day no night like many serious gamblers. He would appear on the new year eve and disappeared again after the reunion dinner. He would bring back some exciting stories such as police storming, the great escape from water pipes and roof tops, the big fights between police and gamblers and so on. All of sudden, the gamblers became victims and those who managed to escape became heroes.

Few days after CNY, The angbao money collected by my sibling and I would disappear. We knew where had they gone but no one would dare to open our mouths after we were scolded once, “I had to give angbao to others. Now I took back from all of you, any thing wrong? After all, you have to eat and have to go to school. Where does the money come from?....”

We knew that the new year fortune that father anticipated had never arisen year after year. Otherwise he would not take our little sum of angbao money away. On the other hand we appreciated how difficult would father have to sustain our living with his little income and we couldn’t stop father from dreaming. As age getting older, father had changed. Now he completely waves goodbye to gambling.

This is only one side of the CNY story. Now the brighter side. We shared one shop floor with 4 families. Because we all shared one kitchen, one toilet and one common narrow corridor, the living space was marginalized. There was no privacy for us. Many conflicts built up among us. CNY offered us a leverage space and for us to step out of the box. With the best wishes to each other, friendship was repaired and rebuilt.

On the first day of new year, I would spend two hours with father to visit a few old ladies who lived in Tanjong Pagar and Pagoda Street. These old ladies were either working as maids (媽姐) or construction workers (三水女工). According to father, they had taken care of him when he first came to Singapore as a lonely teenager. He could not forget their kindness and would like to pay tribute to them every new year until they passed away. We stopped the visit since they all had “migrated” to another world in the 80s.

No one is perfect. Everyone has his own strengths and weaknesses, the righteous and the evil. Everyone needs time to reflect and to relearn in order to be more mature in life. From the past CNY, I witnessed the beauty side of lives and learned to accept the imperfection and appreciate the imperfection of beauty (缺陷美). Keep our hearts open and be prepared to forgive and forget, we are giving other people and ourselves opportunities to change for the better.

Happy new year.

Are you a winner

Every Christmas season, Turkeys suffered a major lost of lives to human. This trend had been continued year after year, century after century.

One fine day, a group of Turkeys decided to call a stop to such agony. They gathered all the Turkeys for a meeting in the jungle. The theme was to free their lives from now on.

Through the mass brainstorming, they realized that the key reason for not be able to escape fast enough from the human hunters was mobility. They had to improve their mobility and the only way was to fly. They shared their theories and observations on how other birds gained aerodynamic support through flipping their wings. They experienced flying enthusiastically during the session. At the end of it, many of them actually acquired the skill of flying although they still looked a little sluggish. They all agreed to go home to improve on their individual flying skill. They would come back again to share the best practices.

They left the meeting and WALKED home happily.

So you know what had happened.

Year after year, century after century, Turkeys are still walking. They are still the sumptuous meal on the Christmas tables.

Great vision. Great plan. No action.

How many of your friends in your circle belong to such category? They share with you about their dreams, their strategies and their action plans. Yet they did not turn out to be the winners. Because they did not act.

Eventually, they live with regrets, and more regrets. 飞鸿渐杳，算年华又过几清秋 - 梁羽生.

You are always in my mind 常伴我心

How did you send away 2006? How did you receive 2007?

Most people do not like to work in old folk home. They prefer to work with new developments which are glamorous and with potential of growth.

So, who would like to hold a grand finale to send 2006 into history? Most people would join in the festive mood of welcoming 2007. New year, new hope, new resolution. Tomorrow will be a better day.

I am a person who like to look back. I believe that the future is hinging on the past. No past, no future.

Looking back, thought of great granny and granny. Great granny is my mother’s mother’s mother. Sound complicated? Granny is my father’s mother. They belonged to the past generations. They did not attend school. Schooling was for the guys. But they were knowledgeable and philosophical.

I spent most of my childhood with granny. We rented a room in Funan Street (Funan IT mall today). Every night we would walk to our little heaven. I did not know how I fell into sleep. I only knew that the next morning, we were having peanut porridge for our breakfast at the roadside stall. Where could we find those stalls? Funan Street, of course.

She passed away. She went to the real heaven alone. I missed our little heaven since. She dreamt to return to China, returned to the village where she was born. She passed away with her dream peacefully. She didn’t realize her dream. But at least she had a dream.

I fulfilled granny's dream 25 years later which was more than 13 years ago. I was not her. I did not have her kind of sentiment towards her hometown. I tried to feel it when I walked around the village, stand in the small house. I'd tried.

Great granny had more personal stories to tell. 人无千日好，花无百日红。好花不常在，好景不常开。She advised us to prepare for the rainy days and to seize opportunities when the sun was still shining. Did she have good fortune? She was not wealthy. But many people attended her funeral. I heard stories about how her one dollar in those good old days had saved lives. Perhaps completed a life-long journey with no regret was her fortune.

She had a dream. She dreamt to meet up with her husband in the heaven which I had no idea how he looked like. The few days before she passed away, she told us she managed to meet up her husband. He told her that she was not yet ready and asked her to return back to the mortal world. She told us she would be ready to go. She carried her dream and joined another world. She passed away with her dream fulfilled.

2007 should be a good starting. Why talked about all these? Well, most people do not like to work in old folk home. They do not want to look back.

We should look back. We would be able to find our position by taking a fix. We would be able to start dreaming. We would chase after our dreams with no regret. Whether we could realize our dreams is immaterial. The key question is – do you have dream?

忘不了

忽然間有一股慾望﹐　到愛丁堡去。去愛丁堡干嘛﹖

那年僑居倫敦﹐乘火車沿著英格蘭東岸北上﹐抵達格拉斯哥﹐過後輾轉南下回愛丁堡﹐沿著西岸回倫敦。東岸臨海﹐西岸草原湖泊。人在江湖﹐為何不象西岸清高自怡﹐卻得掀起東岸的滔天大浪﹐恐天下不亂﹖有說是為了塑造歷史﹐為了促進人類社會發展。像陳平在回憶錄中所說﹐I can share with the young who may wish to look beyond their palmtops and understand how history is shaped. I would like to be involved in a forum. It is the exchange of ideas that ultimately moves the world.

今天不談大道理﹐只談愛丁堡。

多次冥想暇思﹐浮現三幕重複的景象。第一幕景在皇家山上眺望伊麗沙白道。海面出現至少三種不同的色彩﹐近岸是褐色的﹐接著是綠色﹐灰色﹐再遠處海天一色。那時在皇家山上編織著未來夢﹐期望大海把我帶到更遠的地方。

第二幕景就是走出愛丁堡火車站﹐感染到截然不同的蘇格蘭風情。古堡﹐花園﹐風笛﹐格裙。那時寒冬剛過﹐正值春天﹐透徹藍天﹐百花齊放。太太還年輕﹐第一次離家就已八千里﹐跟我在異地織夢﹐嗅到蘇格蘭氣息﹐興奮不已。

如今偶然掀起塵封的記憶﹐難免為當年動情。當年有好多第一次﹐幾乎每個第一次都是赤子之心﹐每一次都動了真情。因為青澀所以也是人生中最寶貴的真情。如今我們都成熟得多﹐學會更多衡量計較﹐心境自然不一樣。

第三幕景呢﹖以後再提。

回到那個問號﹕去愛丁堡干嘛﹖

不為甚麼﹐只為了曾經擁有的最青澀的真情。

家

我們是天空中的一片云
偶然化作小水滴
涓涓落在黃土地

我們相知
我們相遇
凝聚成不容分割的體系

家﹐ 我們攜手相連打造了家
注入歡樂與淚水
注入活潑與關懷
細水長流﹐淌淌不息

十年修得同船渡
百年修得共枕眠
緣聚是千年修得的福氣

緣能聚﹐緣能散
緣像天空中的一片云
偶然化作小水滴

小水滴
涓涓落在黃土地
延續云的使命
周而復始
生生不息

我們是天空中的一片云
我們是
小
水
滴

Education one-two-three

The curtain of PSLE2006 had closed. At least closed for a time being until the result is released. The after effects will start rolling again by then.

Social activities are piling up for the P6 students. Some sort like a reward to them who had spent time and effort to sit for the exam. I volunteered myself to accompany the students to Science Centre. I saw many relief, happy and innocent faces. They thanked me for taking time off, and thanked me again when they arrived school safely.

I ponder the subject that I always pondered around again and again: Why PSLE becomes a stress to the parents and students? Why do we subject these people to such pressure and to many of them, as if PSLE would determine their final destiny? Shouldn't we give the children happier childhood, make learning a fun time so that they could sustain the learning interest as a life-long hobby?

For PSLE, I always have these burning questions:

Q1-How would the PSLE results benefit the majority in long-term? Does it mean that a child who scores badly is also a slow learner, not academically incline, and life would evolve with negative dynamics?

Q2-A child has done consistently well but has done badly in PSLE. Won all the battles but lost the war. How would you value the child?

Q3-On the reverse, a child has done consistently bad but has outperformed the rest in PSLE. Lost all the battles but won the war. How would you measure the 'success' of this child?

Friends, this is not kidding. To me, education is a long lasting process. It goes ways beyond PSLE. Life is ways beyond PSLE. Success and failure are ways beyond PSLE.
If there aren't convincing answers to the above, I could only conclude that the yardstick is illogical,asymmetricalical. The impact on the pupils is long lasting. Branding begins in primary school days, and is repeating after PSLE. Special, Express, Normal Academic, Normal Technical... You may call it different flavour, different varieties. But in reality with the mass, this is branding.

Since 1970s, I have been strongly against the idea of streaming. Whether streaming begins in P3, P4 or Secondary one is immaterial. My key disagreement is the fear of equating streaming to branding. Streaming is fundamentally different from the Confucian ideology of '因才施教'. The Confucian ideology is looking at the positive side of people, maximizing and growing individual's strengths. Streaming leans towards the negative end. Because you are not bright, you have to join the second-class society. This is Confucianfucian ideology.

For 30 years, we sacrificed two generations to make the 'brighter lot' shines. We created elite class but the elites may not understand the pyramid triangle that makes them the elites. The elites may just live in their own world and lack of compassion with the mass. This is more elaborated in the recent real case published in the various newspapers. However, elite is not the subject of this article.

After 30 years, it is heartening to see someone has the courage to make a bold change by squashing away streaming – the pillar of our unique education system for one-third of a century.

While we've yet to see the actual changes, the bold courage is plausible. Return the fun time, the true education value and the self-pride to the children. Don't create a negative social impact on them. That's what I've been looking forward to for the last 30 years. It arrives 30 years late after one big spiral. It is always better to arrive than never.

This leads to reexamination of Q3- is PSLE necessary at all? Many advance nations have dropped PSLE. Instead of spending the entire school term preparing children for exam, more of other learning opportunities could be reaped. How about bringing them to natural reserve to learn about the balance of eco-system and to appreciate the beauty of nature? How about bringing them to Pulau Ubin for group topo and team building? Must learning life evolve within the schools?

Do not forget to make the world as the oasis.

人間有夢

<我的夢>﹐ 中國殘疾人藝術團一場震撼人心的演出。由邰麗華及一群聾人呈現的<千手觀音>先聲奪人把有聲與無聲溶為一體。我則對<化蝶>更加偏好。梁祝的愛情故事﹐音樂的永恆﹐加上舞蹈員的心念﹐傳達了一個很重要的訊息。

姑且不論西湖上橋長情更長的小橋故事。其實<我的夢>所傳達的訊息很朴實簡單。人要活得有尊嚴﹐有志氣﹐肯奮鬥﹐自力更生。只要心中有愛有夢﹐人生自然輝煌。


輝煌的意義是自定的。成功的人生因人而異﹐你能走出一條屬于你的路﹐你就是成功嶺上的勇士。

無獨有偶﹐昨晚mobTV 的<等一个晴天>記載了一位在兒童院長大的少女成長的歷程。在兒童院與獨立面對生活之間﹐她選擇了後者﹐半工半讀的環境下完成中學教育﹐邁入理工學院﹐開始另一段旅程。她的成就十分輝煌。

信心是成功的根本保證﹐是一個人最可靠的精神支柱。唐朝僧璨大師在<信心銘>中寫道﹕

信心不二﹐不二信心﹔言語道斷﹐非去來今。

儘管訊息朴實簡單不過﹐但在經濟掛帥的大環境中很容易被人忽略。就情緒理念而言﹐<我的夢>中那群殘而不廢﹐追逐夢想的藝術家﹐<等一个晴天>中頑強面對生活﹐不言離棄的少女所展現的精神面貌﹐肯定比許多電視籌款活動中哭喪著臉博同情的病瘓者強多。或許NKF之類的組織可以引以為鑑﹐為慈善與人性尊嚴重新定位。

人爭一口氣﹐佛爭一炷香。人一生下來就不平等。你可以選擇怨天尤人﹐仿彿全世界都欠你一個人情﹔也可以選擇樂觀開懷直接面對人生。定位不同﹐道路就不一樣。


願你是個勝利者。祝你成功。

怎一個情字了得

教育制度將再度改革﹐每個學子都能夠發揮他們最大的潛能﹐沒有人會被遺棄。這是總理在教師節傳達的訊息。姑且不論這是否只是政治的一部分﹐和許多過去的訊息一樣﹐雷聲大﹐雨點小﹔我覺得是誠意之舉。

我們的教育制度走了許多彎路。我受教育的那個年代﹐學校的學術排名並不明顯。舉個例子﹐當年萊佛士女校就設在維多利亞街﹐附近的孩子們就在那兒度過他們的童年。曾幾何時萊佛士女校被打造成名校﹐又是高才班﹐無形中製造了社會階級。分流呢﹖雖然政府費勁為分流制度辯護﹐怎麼也改變不了箇中的玄機。

在曲折迂迴的漫漫長路上造就了一些人﹐也犧牲了好些人。更多的普羅大眾是默默耕耘的一群﹐任命過一生。兜了三十年﹐我們繞回原點。教育的崇高目標是有教無類﹐發揮學生的潛能﹐培養學生的人格。

我們的年代沒有教師節﹐不過教師已是生活的一部分。八十年代末﹐我寫了一篇散文<昔日福南昔日情>﹐記載一段曾經刻骨銘心的心路歷程。把其中幾段摘錄下來﹐從新分享,借此感激一群誠心奉獻給下一代的老師們﹕

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小三的時候才知道福南街之所以出名還在于其臭名昭彰。那時班上兩個同學打架﹐被老師在課堂上公開審訊。

“你住那裡的﹖”老師手持兩把木尺﹐鐵青著臉。

“潮州街。”

“你又住那裡﹖”老師凶巴巴地轉問另一名同學。

“福南街。”

“一個潮州街﹐一個福南街﹐都是阿飛流氓出入的地方﹐難怪你們打架打到學校里來﹗阿飛流氓我見多教多了﹐今天一定要教訓你們兩個不可。”結果兩人手心緊靠桌面﹐手背朝天﹐老師橫著木尺像剁豬肉一樣。未幾﹐兩只手都流著鮮血﹐木尺斷了兩根。

“休息的時候買過兩把木尺還給同學﹐知道嗎﹖”老師怒氣未消。

強忍著眼淚與痛楚﹐兩人緊咬牙根﹐點了點頭。這一來點心肯定沒著落了。
。。。。。
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馮老師就是在人心惶惶﹐士氣低落的情況下走馬上任的。那時她剛從南大畢業不久﹐還是教育學院文憑班學員。福南街出高人﹐怎不叫人另眼相看﹖

馮老師個子矮小﹐貌不驚人﹐憑著一股愛心與尊嚴﹐把潮州街烏橋頭等一班難兄難弟治得服服貼貼﹐乖乖上她的課﹐准時呈交作業﹐測驗前總安安分分的花上至少八成功夫去溫課﹐從不跟她故作刁難。是她為我開拓新的生活領域﹐教我從另一個角度俯視人間﹐激勵我以開闊無畏的心情去面對生活。

“住在福南街這類龍蛇混雜的地方都是下層人民﹐如果他們有錢﹐早就搬到加東一帶住洋樓別墅了。生活對下層人民而言就是以勞力換口飯﹐為一家人填肚子。罵粗口﹐出風頭已經成為生活的一部分﹐他們的本性還是善良的。我們學校願意招收這類頑皮學生就表示出有教無類的崇高教育宗旨。雖然山雞變不了鳳凰﹐他們只能拉低學校的會考成勣﹐但是那並不重要﹐重要的是學校給予他們學習做人的機會﹐發揮他們善良理智的一面﹐將來即使不能出人頭地﹐也能堂堂正正﹐腳踏實地﹐貢獻出一份力量。貧窮不是罪過﹐只要人窮志不窮﹐有毅力﹐肯努力﹐懂得珍惜機會﹐把握機會﹐成功永遠屬于你。。。。。”

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重回福南街好多次﹐腳下踩的是福南街的土地﹐身處的是福南中心。時光是最公正﹐也是最無情的。早年的福南街兄弟成家的成家﹐立業的立業﹐老的老﹐死的死﹐大家分散到新加坡各個角落﹐現代化的商業中心驅走昔日的凌亂污穢。當年站在這片土地上﹐除了懂得默默生活﹐懂得叛逆﹐懂得“江湖義氣”之外﹐誰曾夢想過整潔寬敞的家園﹖誰曾想到當年的叛逆青少年如今都安分守己地過活﹐今日卻多了一群游離少年重複著一段不應該重複的歷史﹖

我永遠不會忘記“只要人窮志不窮﹐有毅力﹐肯努力﹐懂得珍惜機會﹐把握機會﹐成功永遠屬于你。”也許成功的實質已經跟當年逕然不同。今日的成功是待遇﹐房屋﹐汽車及社會地位。

也很懷念曾經擁有過的“萬里無云萬里天”般﹐大家心胸坦蕩﹐肝膽相照﹐無須掩飾感情的生活。。。。。

How much does ten cent worth?

The debate in importing foreign talents has turned on. We have a deficit in the population and there is a need to augment it by actively encouraging a policy of selective immigration , otherwise in the future we will face a demographic nightmare in the shape and form of the law of minimum.

The debate in cost of living is on-going. Cost of living is a tremendous subject to grapple with, especially when there isn't an obvious social safety net to help to battle the loss of income.

The fear of majority of the foreign talents who have no root nor heart to stay on to help the local, but only grab the goodies and go is something real. The 1999 Asia financial crisis was the major setback of the Singapore economy in the recent years. Foreign talents packed up and left. The local weathered the storm.

We sank in multi-million dollars to fund John Hopskin. We have yet to measure the true return. We sank in huge sum of money to perform fire work every national day and other occasions. How could this money be channeled to help people to weather the rising living cost?

Is 10 cent fare rise considered a lot?

In the 1970s when I was a poor student, I felt the impact of every 10 cent rose in bus fare and every 5 cent rose in coffee on my daily life, let's alone the 50 cent rose of hawker food and 50 dollar rose in tuition fee. How to minimize the impact? Alighted two bus stop earlier to save that 10 cents, drank less ate less to save that 50 cents. Having said that, tuition fee could not be avoided. Study was the way to get rid of poverty.

In the 1980s when I returned to school as a mature student funding my own study to realise a childhood dream, I still felt the impact of 200 dollar rose in tuition fee. I drew from reserve, which was the CPF saving to finish the university education.

Am I complaining? From a macro-level, controlled cost rise is beneficial to the society. The upper rung would benefit most from it. The rich would become richer. This is the fact of life. From a micro-level, you have to take care of those who are directly facing the impact. To them, every 10 cent counts. This is the opposite fact of life.

How about the middle income group who is sanwiched in between? The policy that makes the rich richer does not apply to them. The policy of subsidizing the town council charges and utility bills does not apply to them either. They better to be on their own.

To survive on your own. I thought that is the right sentiment. Does anyone owe you a living? Probably not. 自力更生, self-reliance, that was what my dad told me when I was young. I am passing the same message to my children. Equip yourself with the right skill, knowledge and passion, there you go. Passion, Passion, Passion. With passion, you will see light at the end of the tunnel. That definitely worth more than 10 cents.

你快樂嗎

你快樂嗎﹖

人生不如意之事常八九﹐又要面對許許多多的是非無奈﹐有多少人能快樂起來﹖

為甚麼這麼多人比我富有﹖為甚麼這麼多人比我高高在上﹖為甚麼這麼多人比我跑得更快更遠﹖為甚麼草總是對岸的比較蔭綠﹖為甚麼春天老是遲遲不肯到來﹖

你是否嘗試從另外一個角度來對待生命﹐直面人生﹖簡單一點地說﹐當你坐擁一片藍天的時候﹐你快樂嗎﹖你真的會快樂嗎﹖

你能擺脫人生無常﹐日月星辰與宇宙體系的束縛嗎﹖如果不能﹐你的快樂只是假象虛幻。你並不快樂。所以你覺得人生不如意之事常八九﹐充滿無奈。

在慈善醫院﹐窮鄉僻壤﹐有默默耕耘的一群。他們並不富裕﹐不過他們把追求名利富貴的精力挪出來﹐把愛心奉獻給世界。他們是現代的南丁戈爾。快樂在于有能力付出﹐快樂原自內心。

那天機緣巧合碰見一位曾經有工作來往﹐但並不熟絡的朋友。他說他的阿姨已經過世了﹐她打不過癌細胞。去世前那段日子過得很平靜﹐心情悠祥﹐還問起我。

可是我怎麼都記不起她的樣子。

他說那天在裕廊我繞道載了他一程去接他的阿姨﹐過後由于時間迫切﹐怕等不到德士﹐我又繞道把他們載到中央醫院。

似乎有這一回事﹐可是印象很模糊﹐我只好抱歉一笑。人年紀逐漸大了﹐對曾經發生過的身邊事已不太在意﹐對‘人來人往’的事也看得比較淡薄。

他說想起來已經是十年前的往事了。十年風雨幾番新﹐那時他的阿姨就因為這件事萌起求生的勇氣。十年抗戰的過程﹐使他在阿姨的生命中得到啟發﹐今天他是一個義工﹐把快樂帶給不幸的一群。

他說我認為所做的是小事一宗﹐可是影響深遠﹐改變了他的阿姨和他﹐也改變了他所接觸的許多人。

很感謝他分享這一段心路歷程。能夠付出本身就是一種快樂。能夠聆聽對方由衷的故事也是一種快樂。

快樂由自心中。只有超越時空﹐超越利益﹐快樂才會快樂。願你也是快樂世界的一份子。

Conditional or unconditional?

Innovation is a buzzword in today’s business. To create an innovation culture in an organisation, people are urged “to think out of the box”.

What is out of the box? It may be explained as thinking and doing things that are “unconditional”.

What do I mean by “unconditional”?

Let’s use an example. You are driving on a road. An old lady is standing by the roadside wanting to cross. In a normal day, you would possibly slow down, stop and wait for the woman to cross before you pick up your journey again. You do it graciously. You are not expecting her to heart you and say a big thank. You are not expecting her to announce to the whole world how great you are. You are not expecting to gain something tangible.

So why do you stop and give way to the old lady? You just follow your heart. It is UNCONDITIONAL.

Again you are driving on a road. An old lady is standing by the roadside wanting to cross. This time you are in a rush. Although your heart tells you to stop, but you continue to press the accelerator and carry on with the journey.

At a moment of reflection, you think back the incident of why you do not follow your heart. Before kicking yourself, you find good reasons. Because you are rushing to the airport to pick up an important person. Because you do not know her intension, to cross the road or just waiting for a cab. Because you have the right of the road, hence she just has to wait for the right time.

So why you do not stop and give way to the old lady? Because there are thousand and one reasons. It is conditional.

Once it is conditional, we are being framed by the boundaries, the boundaries of a box. Many things we do, many approaches that we have taken are conditional based. Before we start doing it, we think of the payback, the return on investment. What do we stand to gain, win-lose or win-win?

In simple words, we are driven by business sense.

Many innovations do not originated from business thinking. Instead they start off with PASSION. Passion leads on to business and fortune. Great innovators do not use the end fortune as the driving force. But business starts with expected outcomes. In an organisation, there is this paradox.

Are you an innovator? Do you think, sense and act conditional; or unconditional? Let’s follow your heart.

Back to London

Went back to London last Sunday. Although the trip was rather short, touched ground on Sunday evening, left London on Wednesday noon, not even 72 hours. But missions accomplished.

Met Kuai Peng and family at Cheam village, outskirts of South London. They were excited with the 'Bak-Gua' that I brought to them.'Bak-Gua'is a kind of roasted pork, tasty and juicy, well like by non-Muslim in Southeast Asia.

They asked me to move to London, a place that filled with more fun and casual learning for children. Children would receive more rounded education in UK at a more affordable pace, although the cost of living would be 3 times more than that of Singapore.

Children are children. They need the space for learning, sharing and gaming in order to be nurtured with life-skill. They need their childhood. Learning process is associated with time. Let's return the childhood to them. Once the time is missed, it could never wind back. After all whether the children adopt a rapid pace or an affordable one, they would reach the same point after graduated from university. They would also reach the same point if they take on another road, i.e. not the academic path.

I tend to agree. We put our children through pressure cookers in Singapore. But how many top-notched businessmen, top-notched researchers, top-notched CEO, top-notched medical doctors, top-notched dancers, top-notched entrepreneurs, top-notched art performers and top-notched engineers we have produced? We cultivated workers, we thought them to be paper-chase, but we did not cultivate passion. We lack the depth.

On the night before returns, managed to meet up with Guo Xiong at Tavistock Square, West Central London. While waiting for him, I managed to spend some minutes back in UCL for a quick look. While I still recognised the building and without problem in getting around, people have changed.

1993 was the first time I stepped onto the land of London, first time stepped into UCL to fulfill a life-time dream. Eventually, I spent one year there with my wife. What a honey year!

That was the time I met Guo Xiong. He was my CFD lecturer. I was deeply impressed by his top-notched passion in the CFD subject. Eventually we developed friendship.

1994, my son was born in UCH. That was where we met Kuai Peng for more than a decade. I was deeply impressed by the professionalism of the hospital staff. A pre-matured kid weighed 619g, survived and discharged on actual due date! I was interviewed by BBC then. I gave full credit to the UCH staff.

Guo Xiong and I went back to the small Chinese restaurant near Russell Square. In 1999 when I attached to work in London for a year, we used to spend our time there. Crispy duck with a bottle of red wine, that's how an evening would pass. I have very little luxury like this back in Singapore.

Sincere people, open society, familiar places and fond memories. When they are integrated in a coherent manner, that brings in happiness deep from the heart. We all chase after happiness in life, don't we?

Or perhaps distance has its beauty. We are separated by physical space and do not impose threats between us. The physical distance actually serves as a bridge to cross us over. Hence we can treat others with dignity and respect. Sounds like 4th dimension?

A short trip to London. I was happy. Deep from the heart.

煮酒論英雄

早在2500年前老子已經看透世情﹐以他驚人的大智慧洞悉宇宙人生。他說﹕“天下莫柔弱于水，而攻堅強者莫之能胜，以其無以易之。 弱之胜強，柔之胜剛，天下莫不知，莫能行。”

不過當英雄豪杰在互爭兵家一蓆之地的時候﹐舌劍唇槍﹐烽火瀰漫﹐就此結下冤仇﹐有多少人具備容人的雅量﹐能夠不計前嫌﹐一笑解恩仇。現在又是島國煙林彈雨﹐全民大選的季節。一個星期後一切塵埃落定﹐便是細數英雄敗寇之時。然後呢﹖古今多少事﹐都付笑談中。這是人類社會發展史的一部分。

江海之所以能為百谷王者，以其善下之，故能為百谷王。我們期待的就是具有大智與包容的政治。７０年代我很羨慕弟妹們能有這麼體貼的幼兒園老師﹐對孩子照顧得無微不至。不過他們總是呆不久﹐我還親眼看著他們被不知名人士帶走﹐再也沒回來。有一回那位年輕的華文老師還跑上我家暫時“避難”。現在想起這段三十余年的往事﹐記憶尤新。

同樣是７０年代﹐不過不同場合﹐不同人物。在更近距離的接觸中我感受到年輕熱忱的脈搏。雖然我們來自不同的生活背景﹐對人對事未必意見相同﹐並不影響友情的滋長。在那個年代的華校生﹐很難在那個環境里不認識毛澤東與陳平﹐很難不認識方水雙與林清祥﹐很難忽略李光耀與方壯璧。在一個歷史與抱負錯縱的交叉點上﹐交織著各人的理想與對未來的憧憬與追求。

事隔多年當熱忱冷卻﹐俱往矣歷史風流人物之際﹐大家都添了白髮﹐能以平靜理智的角度來看待一段歷史。你會如何分析對待當年的是是非非﹖你以成敗論英雄或是以宏觀包容的心態來接受那股歷史洪流﹖你是不是其中一份子﹐選擇了平靜過日子而不願回首蒼桑﹖

引陳平的話為終結﹕

“I fought a liberaton war. To ask whether I would do it again is idle talk. I was a young man in an entirely different setting. But the realities and the lessons I learned from that time comprise a body of values I can share with the young who may wish to look beyond their palmtops and understand how history is shaped. I would like to be involved in a forum. It is the exchange of ideas that ultimately moves the world. The barter of views still exhilarates me. You can tell me I was wrong. You can tell me I failed. But I can tell you how it was and how I tried."

- quoted from CHIN PENG, MY SIDE OF HISTORY, Media Masters, Singapore.

Till divorce do us part

Marriage is a life time commitment.

Is this true?

This was true for the old generation. Even there weren’t any love and care binding the couple together, they would not divorce. They would still live under one roof. The commitment between them formed the family believe. The family cell. Parents’ interests subsumed under their children. They honoured the commitment. They fulfilled the commitment. Till death do they part.

Somewhat the thinking changes over time. “Don’t stay together just for the sake of the children”, “if divorce is better for you, it will be better for your kids”, “why stay in a dead marriage”, “if you no longer love your spouse, get out”! Individual happiness becomes the new standard by which a marriage is judged. Individual happiness precedes the children’s needs.

Children need security, safety, dependable and durable family ties. Divorce destroys them. Divorce has long standing impact on children. It is about cause and effect. Researches show that:

-Good parents + failed marriage = children with little confidence in the institution of marriage
-Good parents + low conflict marriage = traumatic effect on children
- The worst symptoms appear in adulthood, with less ability to trust an idea of what a lasting marriage looks like
- Bad marriage + bad divorce = children have confidence in the institution of marriage. This is the only positive outcome. The children think that they could do better and would not repeat the same mistake of their parents.

Globalisation is taking shape. Many breadwinners have to go overseas to make a living for their families. With the breadwinners separate from their spouse and children, it created a new challenge. This is not a divorce, but with non-residential parent, the effect would be similar. The children will still be impacted most.

For boys, they tend to develop overt physical aggression. For girls, they internalise the aggression. But with the absence of warm and positive family relationship, girls tend to affiliate with opposite sex. This partially explains why teenager pregnancy and abortion rates are on the climb.

Would infant and toddlers be affected by a “single parent” family? The answer is “yes”. They are more fretful, crying, clinging. For pre-schoolers, they may feel abandoned, fearful, withdrawn. For pre-teen, social withdrawal, anger and helplessness. For teenagers, shock, anger, sadness, anxiety, disappointment, question concept of marriage, become moralistic or involved in high risk behaviours.

You see how a person is shaped? The experiences in earlier years will shape a person’s future. The dynamic of this is subconscious without the person noticing it.

Divorce process is quite simple in today’s society. Hence the commitment of life time relationship also becomes vulnerable. But before thinking of divorce, think twice. You take a long time on courtship before vowing a marriage (this is the luxurious that the old generation did not have). All of sudden, your spouse becomes ugly, useless and worthless? How could it be?

Think of your children and the agony that they have to go through. They do not have a choice to choose you to be their parents. You created them. Do you want to destroy them as well?

When your children telling you “I am not your messenger”, “don’t ask me take sides. It’s not fair”, “I need both of you”….. Think again. Till divorce do us part? Have you thought through the impacts of divorce on the family?

美夢成真

Do you have dreams?

I asked some friends. They asked me what is dream. Dream sounds very remote and unreal. It doesn't belong to our age group.

As years go by, it is getting harder and harder to provide an answer to those philosophical questions such as "what is dream".

Jocelyn was delighted that she was chosen as a school prefect. She had been dreaming for the last three years. With dream, she had the strength to work towards realizing it and bang! There you are.

Howard was delighted that he finally managed to perform better than before in his languages. I have no doubt that his English vocab is stronger than mine now. I also observe a sudden change that he begins to use more idioms in his daily conversation, concise and precise. It actually makes our conversation more lively than before. To better master the languages was one of his dreams.

Did I have my childhood dreams? Like many others, I did. But I didn't have that far-fetch vision. In those years, we lived by day and battled for survival for another day. Vision was not a vocab in our dictionaries. Short term goals helped. Walk a journey, look up, and decide for the next journey. Step by step, we strived for a better life.

How to achieve quantum leap? Education was the best bet. It helped to bring in better income. With money we could do more to improve our quality life and living condition. Money is not everything, but without money it leaves nothing in today's world.

There is always a need to strike a balance - yingyang.

1999, London. One lazy afternoon, I walked into the theatre and watched Mama Mia. It brought me back to the Abba's era in the 1970s. I was still a school boy then and pop music such as Abba's was not tolerable. As years went by, my thinking changed. I became more receptive to the different types of music and culture, including Abba. Mama Mia ended with the song "I have a dream". Somewhat it touched my heart. I asked my Malaysian friend who married a Hong Konger and permanently stayed in London, "Do you have dreams?" She said of course. I recommended her to watch Mama Mia so that she could convert her dreams into reality.

2004, ShuZhou. I met a local teacher cum tour guide who graduated from QingHua University. He briefed that he had made a comparison and concluded that the local had adopted a slower pace than many Singaporean. The local people work, but they also spent time to appreciate life and beauty. Singaporean were the hardworking lot. They traded health with money, the local people traded money with health. Who were happier? No right nor wrong deduction.

In 2005, New Zealand. My pace of life was even slower. 採菊東籬下﹐悠然見南山。風吹草低見牛羊。We adopt a certain life style with a price. Many people dreaming of owning a farm at old age. Some who had realized their dreams decided to give up and returned back to the busy city life style. You choose something that really suits you after experiencing the different aspects of life. No right nor wrong.

You choose your own paths. You choose your dreams. Wishing you a great year ahead.

Lunar New Year

Celebration of Lunar New Year (CNY) can be dated back to the Han’s dynasty, some 2000 years ago in the ancient china. Since then, Chinese have been celebrating their new year on the 1st day of the Lunar Calendar year.

“Lien” was a fierce animal. In order to chase away Lien so that people could enjoy peaceful life in the following year, lion dance and firecrackers were used to scare Lien away. By adopting the similar practices year after year, they have integrated into CNY. History, culture and belief were made.

Do I like CNY? Among the various festivals, CNY is still the most heartfelt one. In our childhood days, new dresses, new shoes, good food and extra pocket money were luxurious items. They only came by once a year, which was CNY. CNY also symbolised grow of a person. Some parents even relaxed their house rules by allowing their children to gamble during CNY.

My father was working in a printing firm. Before CNY, he would bring home some new year cards that were printed by him. Like many others, I would pen down some wishes and gave to the school teachers, wishing them a prosperous year ahead. In P4, my form teacher proudly pulled out all the new year cards that she received. A few of them were pasted on the classroom wall for decoration. The remaining were sent to the dustbins.

What a reality! Somewhat my heart turned sour. The childhood experience had changed my approach towards appreciating the greeting cards since then. Again, history and belief were shaped.

Of course today we are more modern. We send e-cards. The other party deleted it, so what? The pain is less.

Why do I bother to share all these?

Take a deep look at the past and present. Every small little happening around us would make an impact on our future. Knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or subconsciously we shape what we think, what we believe, what we act and what we do to the others based on past influences. Those past influences could be backdated to our very young age. They keep silent in one of the corners of our brains. They will respond aggressively and decisively when circumstances arise.

In simple term, we are made up by our past and controlled by our past! Thinking deeper on it may make us feel depressive.

There is a positive side of it. The brighter side of the analogy is to think of the future.

Our future is made up by what we think, what we believe, what we act and what we do to the others today. Everyone would reach a state of soul searching sometime in life. When the day comes, do a self -cleansing, make a change, and you will be a better person. You can brighten not only yourself, but also the people surrounding you. Your little kind gesture would change other people’s life.

Happy CNY.

Rewinding the time

在Esplanade 剧院度过一个温馨的下午。听耿丽萍的演唱，有一股莫名的冲动，热泪盈眶的感觉。桐瑶模仿邓丽君的台风，惟妙惟肖，风韵多姿。

我曾经跟邓丽君同在一张小圆桌上喝咖啡。匪夷所思？1993年12月，罗浮宫，巴黎的冬天。

那年我从伦敦飞到巴黎，带着第一次到巴黎的太太在罗浮宫走了两个小时。倦了，在小咖啡厅好不容易等到一张四人的小圆桌。坐下没两下子，一位中年妇女向我们示意，然后便和Paul 坐在我们旁边。异地遇到“自己人”，我们都报以亲切的微笑。


走了几个画廊，我们又打了照面。只是觉得这名妇人有些许落寞。她身旁的男士跟她的关系耐人寻味。他们不像夫妇，少了那点默契；不像情侣，少了那点亲昵。倒象是对伙伴，互相尊重又保持距离的朋友。

1995年5月，邓丽君逝世了，带着甜蜜蜜，带着星愿。最后的照片就跟罗浮宫的她那样雍容，处之泰然。我恍然大悟，1993年底在遥远的国度同座共饮的就是她！缘聚缘散就是15分钟。这15分钟比甚么金钱都有价值。这15分钟在我过去十年里留下许多回忆，尤其是重游罗浮宫的时候。

在留君岁月演唱会上，耿丽萍和桐瑶使邓丽君复活，歌声再现人间，连那特殊的转音腔和略带调皮的一面也掌握上。邓丽君在不该离去的年龄离开人间，留下许多无奈。邓丽君变得永恒，永远叫人怀念。在华人的世界与邓小平双邓叱咤风云。

人生历经洗炼，多了内涵，自然散发出撩人的魅力。因为不再在意得与失，所以更能以真心向示。自然便是美，真善美的风采油然而生。

因为有邓丽君，所以人生多了些属于我们年代的故事.

Simplified Thermodynamics

The first lesson of thermodynamics I learnt is about work done. The work process is as follows:

Q---------> Delta U ---------> W

In layman terms, heat is provided as input (Q). Heat goes through a conditional and some energy exchange is going on (Delta U). As a result of the condition change, work produced in a form of output (W). The theory looks rather simple to me today. But in those days, Q, Delta U and W were very abstract. I couldn’t see heat energy, couldn’t feel energy exchange, how could work be done?

When dealing with a business contract, the process leading to contract signing is as follows:

Offer -------> Consideration -------> Acceptance

In this case, the Offer forms the input, Consideration is the condition, and Acceptance is the output. Whether in engineering, in physics or in commerce, the phenomenon is universal and may be shown as:

Input ------> Process ------->Output

In my article “a flower in the universe”, I articulated that flower does not exist by itself. There are causes and conditions which make a flower appears as a flower. Cause is the input, condition is the process, flower is the output.

This theory is universal: cause – condition – effect; offer – consideration – acceptance; Q – Delta U – W; INPUT – PROCESS – OUTPUT. While the theory is universal, real matters take different forms. No matter what form it takes, the principle still stands. Is Q-Delta U-W really that abstract and couldn’t be understood? When I distant myself and read the three letters QUW through a 3rd party’s eye, they become apparent to me. Energy takes various forms. Energy transfers from one form to another. Energy does not dissipate. Energy only transforms.

Therefore, with the presence of causes and conditions, you are what you are, what goes up will come down, dawn will come after dusk, a year in the temperate climate will go through four seasons, living things will go through a cycle of live and death, all suffering will have a way to end. The output hinges on the inputs and the processes that we all have gone through, just like a flower in the universe.

In the course of works, I deal with people of all levels. I interact with people of various characters. With the thinking of a flower in the universe, it strikes me that “I am what I am, you are what you are”. What so great about this verse? Looking back at how a person is developed and nurtured, we receive various influences at very young age. Through the external influences, we form a mental map in our mind subconsciously. Over the years, we reinforce our mental domain through a knowledge acquisition and filtering process to suit our own mental model. We all have different behaviour, we believe in different gods, we love different culture and music. We generalise them by saying that we have different chemistry. Now you see, I am what I am, you are what you are.

Professional researches show that we actually formulated our own mental models as early as seven years old. The influences we received before seven years old actually shaped our characters and possibly our future, our life. Sound scary?

Then what about the influences after the age of seven? They change our behaviour, attitude, social value and conduct. But our characters have been shaped, inborn.

I regret that I only thought of “a flower in the universe” after all these years. Otherwise I would have changed my parenting style and have done something different to my children when bringing them up. On a second thought, we are all human. I am learning to try to make myself more perfect than the day before. So past mistakes are just the outputs of causes and conditions. Why should I feel regret?

I do a stock take of what I have done to my children. Four paths have been taken:

(1) Decision making path – they learn to make decision, learn to face consequences with their own acts

(2) Affiliation path – they learn that my shoulders are still there for them to lean on, enable them to take a break and to press on. They also learn to immerse in a social circle, learn to love, to care and to share.

(3) Intense knowledge gaining path – they learn through school curriculum, internet, books, play and physical training.

(4) Life skill development path – they learn to be self-disciplined, managing time, identifying right from wrong, give and take, exploration and discovery. They develop the mental model of HOPE.

Am I giving them too much freedom to pursue the four paths? I think they have the flexibility and at this age, they can afford failure. They will learn through failure. I begin to see signs on my son especially about learning through failure. But having saying all these, they have way past the age of seven. Directly or indirectly, I contributed to the causes and conditions of their upbringing, hence what they are.

That’s life.

A flower in the universe 世界一花

A seminar on ZEN was held at Suntec City over the last weekend. This article shares my thought of the theme “a flower in the universe” (世界一花).

A flower is in the vase. The flower is fresh, beautiful, blossom and fragrance. We appreciate it as if it exists permanently.

As days go by, it withers, turns brown, and soon it dies and be thrown away.

Our mind grasps at the flower from its own side, not realising that “flower” is a living thing. Moreover, the name “flower” is just a noun or a representation that people have given to a certain phenomenon with certain characteristics. People with other languages would call it by other names (e.g. Fleur, Fiore, 花, 꽃, femenino.)

What is the true story of the flower? It is not that “I’m a flower. I’ve always been here and always will be here.” It doesn’t exist in this way always.

In reality, the flower is impermanent, dependent on various causes and conditions to exist, and is not existing in and of itself. The flower comes into existence in dependence upon a seed, soil, moisture and sunlight. Its existence is also dependent on its parts: stem, petals, leaves, cell and atoms that make it up.

By absorbing the energy and the essence from the universe (吸取日月精华), and under a balanced condition of ying-yang (阴阳), the flower exists. It appears to be a real, solid, permanent and independent flower. When we decompose a flower and begin to search for a flower, it could not be found. But this does not mean that there is no flower at all. The flower is only decomposed.

There is a flower – an impermanent collection of parts that comes into existence in dependence on causes and conditions.

In the same way, all things appear to be permanently, inherently, independently existent. But on closer examination, they actually exist in a different way.

After all these elaborations, what are we deriving at? Why should we be concerned about the existence of a flower?

There is this tendency to perceive, believe in and grasp at things as truly existing or inherently existing. Fear, worry, frustration, dissatisfaction, loneliness, grief, pain, and all the other myriad problems and sufferings of mind and body that we experience are caused by this thinking. The self-grasp ignorance leads us to see things as truly or inherently existence. With this thinking, we tend to neglect the surroundings, the “emptiness” of the universe and the true nature of things. We forget the “illusory”.

We want, in fact we have the potential, to enjoy ever-lasting peace, bliss, wisdom and freedom from all suffering. We all want to reach the state of enlightenment. But we are unable to attain this as long as our mind is caught up in ignorance, and does not understand the true nature of things.

A simple analogy is a rainbow. Due to certain conditions in the atmosphere and the play of sunlight and moisture, a rainbow appears in the sky. Although it looks so real, it is insubstantial, momentary. It completely dependants on causes and conditions.

Although most things last longer than a rainbow, the way they exist is similar. They only vary with each others as a matter of degrees. They arise due to the coming together, the integration of different causes and conditions. Like rainbow, they are illusory, empty of permanent, independent, substantial existence.

Can we free ourselves from self-grasp ignorance? Laozi (老子) had already thought of DAO (道) more than 2500 years ago. DAO is about the origin of universe, which is beyond the earth we live in. DAO elevated his body and mind. He lived eternally with the universe.

Similarly, more than 2500 years ago Buddha was enlightened and able to share his deep thinking of the process of nature: Dukkha (affliction) -->Samudaya (arising)--> Nirodha (containment) -->Marga (ways).

Keeping in mind of illusory without grasping at anyone or anything as truuly existing, there is a fascinating discovery: We are all transitional. We are all exist impermenently. Eventually, a dust returns as dust, a soil returns as soil (尘归尘，土归土). Once returns to the origin, eternality arises.

A flower in the universe is not just about a flower in the universe. Don’t you agree?

萤火虫的世界

Have you ever seen limestone passages sculpted by water up close? Have you drifted in silent darkness beneath the luminous blue-green shimmer of thousands of glowworms?

It was a fascinating experience---萤火虫的世界。

你是否见过满天星斗？在城市的月光下星星都黯然失色，光辉敌不过周遭的辉煌。不过在乡野地带四周一片漆黑，满天星斗原来是那么迷人。加上一点想象，星星就不再是星星。它们是爱人，是童年，是梦想，是宿命。

北斗星在正北极上空，是导航员，是希望。郑和在北斗星指引下完成远征非洲的使命。自此中国有了皮休，据说是在非洲带回的长颈鹿。

你是否见过满天萤火虫？那种感觉仿佛在荒山野岭观看满天星斗。星星就在眼前，伸手就能抓上一把。奇妙！

我曾经那么近距离跟萤火虫亲近过，在纽西兰南岛Te Anau。乘船半小时到湖中央的小岛，岛上别有洞天，在这个二十万年的山洞里跟萤火虫近距离接触，好像是神话故事，不过很真实。我们乘坐小木舟，伸手不见五指，随着流水潺潺游荡，荡呀荡的就荡到萤火虫中。一闪一闪的萤光，密密麻麻，带给人无限的暇思。加上一点想象，它们是爱人，是童年，是梦想，是宿命。

萤光亮度越强表示越饥饿，焦急地等待美食上钩。萤光虫的生命也可以很凄美。你或许会若有所悟，宁可挥一挥衣袖，不带走一片云彩，也不想给自然生态带来任何破坏。

那段在纽西兰的日子格外轻松，心情特别漂亮，人在画图中什么脾气都消了。更妙的是在云雾中看世界，一切朦朦胧胧，那头驴子在车前摇头摆尾，把你当成同类。还有更妙的，在冰天雪地的Mount Cook，还有人流了一身汗。那是另一段趣闻，下回分解。

念天地之悠悠，独仓然而泪下，那种感觉也品尝了。从Mount Cook　在暮色中飞驰，夜越深越沉，直抵Queenstown。一路穿过重重山路，两旁是雪山，黑戚戚，路茫茫，山路弯弯，不见车前月，不见满天星斗。前不见古人，后不见来者。这就是荒野。


这段路上不见萤火虫，不然就能走入梦幻世界了。So, have you drifted in silent darkness beneath the luminous blue-green shimmer of thousands of glowworms?

It is a fascinating experience that shouldn't miss.

You are so blessed

In many instances, we believe that the greener pasture always falls at the other side of the fence. We feel distressed because we do not get what we wanted. The clock is not at our end, the globe does not rotate at our wish, winter comes before the spring, in the morning wake up from the wrong side of the bed...

Wait a minute. Think hard enough, appreciate what is surrounding you. Life isn't that bad after all. My friend from England sent me a blessing. Please read. If you are feeling blessed, repay the blessings bestowed unto you and do something for others. Share your joy with others. Show compassion to others. You can make each other's day a better day.
-------
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness,
you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle,
the loneliness of imprisonment,
the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation,
you are ahead of 20 million people around the world.

If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment,
arrest, torture, or death,
you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world.

If you have food in your refrigerator,
clothes on your back,
a roof over your head and a place to sleep,
you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank,
in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace,
you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still married and alive,
you are very rare,
especially in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile
on your face and are truly thankful,
you are blessed because the majority can,
but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand,
hug them or even touch them on the shoulder,
you are blessed because you can offer a healing touch.

If you can read this message,
you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world
that cannot read anything at all.

You are so blessed in ways you may never even know. A blessing cannot be kept. The blessing will only keep working if it is continuously passed around.

Keep the blessing working by being the source of blessing to other people.

中秋月

Mid-Autumn.

There are so many fascinating tales created for the moon in the Chinese history. By far 嫦娥奔月 is the most popular story. 嫦娥應悔偷靈藥﹐碧海青天夜夜深。Chang-er could not resist the temptation of being forever young. She stole the magical medicine from her husband and finished them all. Her body became lighter and lighter and eventually floated to the sky.

Her wish was fulfilled but she also had to stay lonely in the moon, forever. She missed the happiness in life, forever.

Life is a fine balance. You gain some, you lose some. There is no free lunch. There is always a price to pay for. This is about Ying-Yang, about Dao. Happiness arose deep from the heart, deep from the soul. It is all in your mind. Happiness can be very simple but rewarding as long as you perceive your life positively. By appreciating small little things happening around you could brighten your days.

For example, have you tried waking up 15 minutes earlier and send your daughter to school instead of leaving her to the school bus? Have you tried to talk to her during that little 15 minutes journey, Let her shares with you her encounters in school, her sadness and joys? You would possibly feel the differences of her yesterday and today. She is growing up day after day. One fine day she will leave you to pursue her dream. But you will remember the little moments that she spent with you and you spent with her. You will remember the unconditional love between you. This little time, this little share of love that you are together shapes her life.

On the night of mid-autumn festival, the lunar calendar of 15th day of the 8th month, 2005, I strolled with my 11 years old son and 9 years old daughter in the Tampines Tree Garden. There were other families around. The garden was brightened up by the mid-autumn lanterns, hanging on the trees, swinging around with the delighted faces. They lightened the night and brightened the hearts. Life can be as simple as it can be.

Near mid-night, the moon was shining high up in the sky. How many times we really devote a little moment in our life to appreciate what are surrounding us? How many times we know that Chang-er doesn't exist in the moon but just let our own imaginations flow?

藍藍的天空銀河里有只小白船﹐船上有棵桂花樹﹐白兔在游玩。Peaceful life is also a form of happiness. You know the truth but by hiding the truth with right and kind intention can also bring happiness. Why not just let the Chang-er's story last forever rather than revealing the moon is just a piece of vacant land without air and life? Art and science co-exist. don't they?

海為龍世界﹐云是鶴家鄉。The universe is built on relativity and integrated as a coherent whole. Everyone serves their respective lives and stays where they belong. Once we know the balance, lives will no longer be as complicated as they used to be. Happiness will arise from your heart. You can then appreciate life with a totally different perspective. You have elevated yourself into an entirely different context.

Life is beautiful. Just as the mid-autumn moon.