When right brain rules....

Recently I engage in humanities. Not sure if it is a sign of old age. :) The recent visits to historic places such as Beijing were definitely one of the triggering points. Reading the memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew and Chen Peng and books on Buddha and Zhuang Zhi(庄子) were the others.

Oh no. Perhaps it should be the other way round. Because I was searching for a balance, searching for ying-yang, hence I chose such visits and readings.

I have been involving in science, engineering and money talks all these years. These have enabled me to contribute to the national economy. In return, these contributions have enabled me to earn a living and to feed my humble family. They have enabled me to appreciate the tranquillity, beauty and ugly part of the world.

On a particular self reflection day, suddenly I felt lost in the state of the art human world. I felt mentally tired and lack of energy to push on. I was deeply depressed. Certainly that was not a healthy sign especially after I had made a commitment to live until 120 years old. If indeed I could live in longevity, The state I am in now is equivalent to an infant. I am just an infant and the world is there for me to explore. I am just at the beginning of entering into many years of new discovery.

The past encounters and survival instincts built up over time could possibly provide me some form of confidence to move ahead and deal with the various unknown challenges for the many years to come. But the emptiness still persisted.

Then I found humanities. It filled the gap that was hidden deep in my soul. Humanities gave me a sense of balance. History is there for us to learn and relearn.

After changing position and perception, the world looks so different. It is no longer a place of pure science and engineering that talks about hard fact and logic. It is no longer a place of finance and money that talks about material wealth.

Standing at the great wall of China, can you imagine the 2500 years of battles that were embedded with human, social and culture development? The discovery of the past and present is right from the bottom of the heart. It is about right brain. It is about feeling and human touch. At that moment, I found that I was quite wealthy. Wealthy at heart.


Driving pass Hwa Chong Chinese High along Bukit Timah Road, can you imagine once upon a time, the hot blooded Chinese school students formed a united front defending their rights against the colony government? They had the passion, they wanted an independent Singapore (or Malaya?), they wanted the colony government to get out of the country. They fought a war without weapon.

Walking down Singapore river, I could hardly imagine that I was living by the river, which was smelly, dirty, busy and full of energy, for 19 years?

If Singapore river cultivated my life, the last year of staying by the river totally brightened my pair of eyes. I was studying in Singapore Polytechnic then and was an active member in the Chinese Language Society (CLS). During lunch times and over the weekends, the members would gather around and sing along. 黑水河 was a popular song. It was a song dedicated to the hard labours making a living at the Singapore River. They sang with powerful voices but I just couldn't feel the touch. I thought perhaps our CLS friends did not really know about lives by the river.

The house rental getting expensive and father decided to move out from the river bank to a one room flat at Maude Road near New World. My CLS friends volunteered to paint the flat for me but on the actual day, only one of them turned up for less than two hours. At that time we had yet to subscribe to utility supply in order to save some money. We borrowed water from a very helpful neighbour. She came from the poor and knew the poor. My friend complaint about my poor planning and he had to clean his hands with a pill of dirty water. What a damn! He left angrily.

He did not know what was poverty. I did not blame him. He was just one of the many hot blooded youth in CLS but did not really know what was hardship. Where are they now? I loss touch with most of them. Nevertheless, they formed part of my personal history. The past is like illusion, sometime I wonder whether the past exists or it's just a dream.

It is full of green outside my window. The green is rooted on a small nation called Singapore. Does Singapore exist or just a illusion? Every national day I would glue myself in front of the television. In the recent years, tear came to my eyes. My right brain has taken the ruler's role. My heart would be full of joy with all the young hearts who'd put in their months of effort to present a perfect show in front of the nation. They were proud of their nation and love their nation whole heartedly for that night, at least.

One fine day they would be getting old, they would find the history and the past are like illusion. But they could proudly tell the next generations that they've walked through the real and the illusion. They contributed to the nation building.

National day is around the corner. Happy birthday Singapore.

风起云涌--二十世纪五十年代传奇

听君一席话,胜读百年书.

星期六下午,翻新后再出发的国家历史博物院.

韩山元花了两个小时给我们上了一节上一世纪的历史课,从新加坡的四十年代到六十年代独立为止.五十年代学生运动与工人运动蓬勃发展,间接促进殖民主义的灭亡.1959年新加坡自治,英国控制国防与外交.1963年新马合并建立马来西亚,新加坡成为变相的反对党.1964马来西亚外交部长在Geylang Serai发表政治煽动演说,最后演变成721全国暴动.

新加坡的'马来西亚人的马来西亚'与马来西亚的'马来人的马来西亚'理念不同,加上种种不合常理的争端,使合并后的马来西亚雪上加霜.1965年8月9日,李光耀力排众议,宣布新加坡独立.

这里头有两个大疑团和一个小秘密.人都好奇,先谈秘密.新加坡的内阁只有李光耀是土生土长的新加坡人,其他都是早年在马来亚出生,他们的根在马来亚.新马一衣带水,本来就是一家,他们的理想是建立一个独立繁荣的马来亚,而不是独立的新加坡.

在这个区域,马印都跟新加坡对抗,中国称李光耀为走狗,英国江河日下,准备撤军.新加坡是个烂摊子,前路茫茫,何去何从?我们看到铁人李光耀流泪了.这是悲情牌吗?我看不是.英雄有泪不轻弹,只因未到伤心处.

疑团一:为甚么1963年新马合并称为合并,不是统一?历史上新马本来就是一家,血浓于水,在这关键时刻,却把两地的血缘抹杀了?

疑团二:日军占领马来亚三年零八个月,新加坡三年零六个月,马共负起抗战的使命.五十年代走入森林,血洗城市,这段历史是一段空白.我只在陈平的回忆录里读到详尽的马共与英殖民地政府斗争的叙述.有趣的是李光耀回忆录详细记载了他跟方壮璧会面的经过而只稍提陈平,陈平的回忆录则完全不提李光耀.





马共最终缴械走入勿洞和平村,历史画上句点.如今对抗时期已经过了半个世纪,江湖恩怨已成过眼烟云.回顾过去,我们应该如何对待评价这段血泪史?

风起云涌的年代过去了,我们处身于崭新的E-时代,血气方刚的理想抱负是过去的代名词.曾经投身于时代洪炉的有志之士是老了?死了?还活跃地生活着?还是禅心已作飞泥絮,莫向春风舞鹧鸪?

光绪与北京近代史--最是无情在深宫

最近在北京与周边城市走了一回,适逢汶川地震一个月追悼会与堰塞湖爆破成功,避开另一场浩劫。汶川地震团结了中国,展示中国民族独立无畏温情骨气的一面,震撼人心。

汶川地震的种种事迹很快就会走进历史,像当年的唐山大地震一样。在北京十刹海胡同拜访了一户当地人家,从三十年前受地震波及后重建家园。或许汶川地震更像北京的许多历史事件,再叱咤一时也避不过风云变幻,改朝换代的命运。

秦始皇修复长城,上下五千年,纵横十万里,其中一段长城穿越北京八达岭,是旅游点之一。北京更多的历史原于明清,从明朝朱棣开始。在北京看景点学历史,温故知新,更能神会人面对时空于固步自封的局限性。


故宫为明成祖朱棣于1406年在元朝大都皇宫的基础上开始建设的，1420年正式落成，从1420年落成到1911年清帝逊位的约五百年间，共有明清两代二十四帝在故宫生活过。





故宫在辛亥革命之前被称为“紫禁城”，它的名字来自「紫微星垣」。中国古代星像学家把天上的星星分为三垣，四象，二十八星宿等。其中三垣指紫微星垣，太微星垣和天市星垣。紫微星垣居于正中，据传皇天上帝的居所（紫宫）就在紫微星垣中，人间皇帝自称“天子”便仿皇天上帝居所的名字用其“紫”字为紫禁城。

比起末代皇帝溥仪,光绪的遭遇令人感慨。光绪(德宗)登基时只有四岁,两宫太后"慈禧","慈安"即"垂帘听政".至光绪16岁,慈禧"归政",但仍实掌大权，暗中操纵朝政。



光绪十五年正月二十日(1889年2月19日)，十九岁的光绪帝举行大婚典礼。光绪的一位皇后两个妃子都是慈禧做的主，皇后正是慈禧亲弟弟桂祥的女儿叶赫那拉氏，即隆裕皇后。隆裕皇后容貌马脸高额，瘦弱驼背，突眼露齿。光绪极为不满，但也无奈。



慈禧选自己的侄女为皇后，为的是朝政交给光绪后，还能利用皇后来控制和操纵皇帝，掌握皇帝的一举一动。

光绪的两位妃子瑾妃和珍妃是亲姐妹，但相貌性格却大不相同。珍妃貌美端庄，活泼机敏。珍妃对光绪的同情和体贴，激起了光绪对未来的憧憬和热情。大婚后的数年间，光绪与珍妃共同度过了一生中较为轻松的时光。珍妃又向光绪推荐了她的老师文廷式，引发了光绪要改革政治及摆脱束缚而有所作为的欲望。这是慈禧最不愿看到的。

光绪二十年（1894年），岁次甲午，七月一日中、日两国正式宣战，后清廷战败，签订马关条约(甲午战争)。甲午战败后，朝野有志之士便提倡维新变法。至光绪二十四年（1898年）德宗下诏变法(百日维新,历时仅一百零三天。因是年为戊戌年，故称为戊戌变法)，以康有为、谭嗣同等人推行新政。但以慈禧太后为主的守旧派反对变法，于是发动政变，光绪被幽禁，康有为、梁启超逃亡日本,谭嗣同等“戊戌六君子”遇害，光绪本人亦被软禁在中南海瀛台。此后，光绪度过了十年没有人身自由的囚徒生活。

光绪二十六年（1900年），义和团起事，仇杀外人，引起英、俄、法、德、美、日、意、奥八国共组联军，8月15日攻陷北京。慈禧仓惶出逃，临行前还不忘处置珍妃，令太监崔玉贵把珍妃推到宁寿宫外的井中害死。


金井一叶坠，凄凉瑶殿旁。残枝未零落，映日有辉光。沟水空流恨，霓裳与断肠。何如泽畔草，犹得宿鸳鸯。

光绪二十七年（1901年），岁次辛丑，九月七日，在北京与各国所订立的条约，共十二款，以赔款一项为最重，数目高达白银四亿五千万两，为不平等条约中最苛刻的。

光绪三十四年十月二十一日，病入膏肓的慈禧太后命太监把她抬到瀛台被她囚禁了十年之久的光绪皇帝床前。病体沉重的光绪皇帝和病体更加沉重的慈禧太后沉默无语地对视着,在沉默的目光中维新派领袖向保守派首领做最后的抗争--只要能比她活得更长，就有机会实施慈禧太后所反对的维新主张。


在经济上, 光绪接受了维新派发展民族资本主义的主张, 为中国民族资本主义的发展扫清道路; 在文化教育方面, 开办学堂, 改革科举制度, 派人出国留学、游历等, 这就使知识分子扩大了眼界, 给长久封闭的国家带来了一些西方的先进思想、理论和技术。光绪皇帝能否大刀阔斧,效仿西方来变革中国呢?

就在这一天，光绪皇帝死了。第二天，慈禧太后也放心地一命呜呼。

宣统三年十二月二十五（1912年2月12日），隆裕太后在天安门颁布末代皇帝爱新觉罗溥仪的退位诏书， 封建皇朝正式灭亡。

鹰蛾

在住家附近发现鹰蛾hawk moth，加上两翼大概超过30cm。头一回总是令人兴奋不已，深深被它古色古香的花纹给迷住了。





鹰蛾有八百五十种，遍布世界各地。跟蝴蝶一样，孩提时代附在叶子上，专搞破坏，成长后传播花粉，贡献社会。成长是一个明心见性的过程，酸甜苦辣，百炼成钢。


明心见性是佛性。佛性慈悲为怀，以人性的光辉坦然面对天灾人祸。世界任何地方都有可能发生天灾，但是短短十天内亚洲地区的两个近邻国家──缅甸和中国，相继发生了特大灾难。

五一二大地震，中国举国上下全力以赴在四川的救灾努力制造了许多可歌可泣的真实故事。母亲垂死前还不忘把乳头塞入婴儿嘴里，拯救小生命。母爱的光辉叫人感动又心酸。当大家往钱看的当儿，灾难巧妙地把人们唤醒。人性与尊严拴成一线，化口号为实践，中国的未来充满希望。



缅甸风灾，估计死亡与失踪人数已达13万4000人，由于善后工作迟滞缓慢，造成尸横遍野和传染病蔓延的重大危机。而流离失所，面对粮食、药物短缺的缅甸民众，则多达两百万人。一次风灾，使得最大城市仰光满目疮痍，灾情恶化。

缅甸军人政府慢条斯理，自然引起国际社会质疑军人政府这三十年来的经济建设和防灾设施到底做了多少，面对生灵为何无动于衷。依洛瓦底江你是否哭泣？







为了不曾忘却的怀念

孩子你要记住
虽然我们的告别没有一点声响
爸爸妈妈爷爷奶奶没有给你送行
我们满怀期待与希望
纵然阳光不会永远灿烂
你们要睡得安详
堆满鲜花的梦想
会把你们送到快乐天堂


爸爸妈妈与亲爱的朋友
请别再为我们悲伤
我们会乘着鹰蛾的翅膀
一天一天长大
不论冰雪严寒
把和平快乐的种子洒落四面八方
你们要记住
要活得比阳光
更
辉
煌

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

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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.