Monday, October 3, 2005
A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she is in hot water.
—Eleanor Roosevelt
Violent Paradise—How Many Police Out There?
Monday, October 3, 2005
Written in 2001. Discussion on Policing the Police. I found that my basic vocabulary that I had at that time doesn't change much compared to now. Must I have no intention in learning English, I guess. And when you pay to learn, you are treated like a customer, the comment by the teacher is always so encouraging. The boss who runs the center must have warned the teachers, keep the students' motivation, if you want to keep your job. Well, the teacher was good, but when come to marking, I felt that I didn't really learn anything.
Or, I guess you just have to think of yourself what you really want to write, even you don't have enough vocabulary. It's all about what you want to express, rather than what English is all about, huh?
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If one makes an effort to earn money to survive, then the money that you earn should promise you something. Being able to protect you and keep you in peace, everyone should be happy to work hard. If you have money anywhere in the world, life is just perfect; you can "go around" with money. That is the basis of capitalism, and it is practical, I thought. Money isn't everything, but it is something, not important but it's indeed needed.
It was after I came to Japan then I realised my ideology of capitalism doesn't work with the Japanese. Money seems less important to the Japanese. You hear stories about Japanese will report to the lost and found that, they found a wallet or a handbag that has lots of money in it, at the police station. The first impression of mine was, how stupid are the Japanese! I guess they must have been brought up to behave that way, to keep the society in peace. That's their way of life. Don't they expect some reward, not in the form of money perhaps, but there should be a reward that keeps the balance.
It's so amazing that the Japanese police have the highest rate of arrests. Such a peaceful country, how do they come up with such effective training? The society is always cooperative with the police.
For instance, at the Wide Show channel, whenever an incident happens, the reporters who go around the neighbours for information, will easily get cooperative nieghbours who tell them lots of stories. Sometime you will be surprised how accurate they recall what they saw and the so-called suspect.
These neighbours are the police, the casually-dressed police, who look for suspect around them all the time. Anyone who is suspicious will be reported to the police, after any incident happens, with details.
Everyone is policing you out there.
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This was an interesting perspective. And I believe you are right.
Who is Next?
Monday, October 3, 2005
2001. Stuck in the Middle, by Lisa See.
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Lisa See is a famous writer in America, apparently. She has published a few novels, most of them has something to do with China or Chinese. Flower net, On Gold Mountain, The Interior, Half + Half.
Her mother, Carolyn See, is an author as well. In an interview with Ron Hogan in 1996 (www.beatrice.com), Lisa See mentioned that knowing her mother was an author, she never wanted to be writer growing up. It was because she wanted to travel that she started to write. At a point, she realised that her great-grandfather, Fong See, was someone that she was supposed to be proud of, she then started to collect the facts from the relatives.
In addition, due to her husband's job as an attorney, who represents many foreign governments, including Chinese, they have to deal with China on legal issues. That gave her an advantage to write, though not as a Chinese.
Her great-grandfather, Fong See, who came to American on a coincidence, and later became one of those who succeed in America. She says she has something to tell to the public; she is a Chinese. Somehow, only one eighth genetically as Chinese, her Caucasian looks—which she inherited from her great-grandmother's origin—makes people want to believe that she is white rather than a Chinese.
To convince people she is Chinese, Lisa See says she practices her Chinese customs; bring oranges to apologize, cook rice for the kids. These "Chinese identity" in her is what any normal Asian practices in daily life, though.
Lisa See was born in Paris but grew up in Los Angeles. Most of the time she lives in Chinatown, she stresses. Though she is a Chinese at heart, the family or the relatives speaks no more of their dialect of Cantonese, but she feels there's core that connected her to Fong See, the great-grandfather.
This is what I think.
In the States nowadays, or perhaps even from before, Western people always presume the Chinese as miraculous and incomprehensible; the customs, the culture, the history, the civilisation of dynasty, and the people, everything that has a name of "China" in it, is considered mysterious.
Now, there are numbers of Chinese ethnic writers who have gained popularity in America; some of their books are best-seller. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Wild Swan by Jung Chang, and On Golden Mountain by Lisa See. This proves that the Chinese can express themselves well in English, or in other words, the Chinese should be treated well as the other ethnic groups. But, why the interest in Chinese nowadays?
America has many ethnic groups. There was the time when Negro-Africans came out after being discriminated for decades, and Spanish language has become a formal language as the numbers of Spanish has increased. Chinese, or other Asian will soon be taking place like what the Spanish experiences in America. Every ethnic group is trying to take a place in America society including Chinese.
Any "insiders" have a story to tell. China has opened their doors to the world, and the elite of China who have started to participate actively in economical as well as cultural activities, have the stories to tell the West what China was like while in the "unsociable time." And America, who leads the global trend is the place everyone looks forward to voicing their experience.
In order to appeal to the public, story-telling is one good way. Chinese, who have more than 4000 years of civilisation, have lots of story to tell to the West. China which experienced communism as well as a cultural revolution, is something interesting to the World. That's the trend now.
I've got to catch up and get my grandmother to talk about her life to me.
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Get a good story and you will soon be rich! Good work!
Seek and Find
Saturday, October 8, 2005
Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.
—André Gide
Do you want to know what am I doing now? Both seeking and finding.
Let It Be
Thursday, October 13, 2005
After quit my previous job, I have plenty of time for myself. Indeed damn plenty that I think I have more things to think now than what I expected I would need in the first place. And worries burden up with its weight on things, which makes me wonder how the hell things were so easy when working for other people than be on ones own. You don't have to think about, for examples, how taxes being deducted from your hard work. You worked harder, the taxes would be deducted automatically and at the end you thought there wasn't anything to worry at all. Wasn't that easy? It was. Somehow the thinking of "to be with everyone else" just kills me. And my hard work never seems to pay off. Is that the formula of happiness?
I never have "competitive mindset" in groups. I don't know why I wasn't brought up that way. Or perhaps I thought it shouldn't be that way. Somehow nobody agrees with me. But, living in a society where, if you don't work together—being competitive—, you are going to lose track, and at some point you might be "dropped out" from society. And I think that's what makes one feels like to "work harder."
But, to be independent, and to work harder—initially to keep ones competitiveness—, are supposed to be two different things. And why am I having such a thought that both are relatives?
I had lost in such thinking once before. And I have gone back to working in groups so that I could confirm myself at where I belonged in a society; higher or lower than the others. Merry-go-round, I quit my job again, and I am at the same junction again. Aha.
Having nothing to hold to, it is easy to lose ones mind and start to look for a lane to follow when moving forward. When aiming ones goal, an existing lane keeps you in track so that you think you can keep moving, but it doesn't keep your consistency of aim. The lane isn't yours. You need to build your own. Think you are going to get another free ride? Keep your half ticket and make sure you remember which station you have got on.
Sometimes living in a group helps one identifies where one belongs. It's funny though, it recognises strongly vertical positioning but not horizontal. By vertical, higher or lower is what I mean. By horizontal, it's either I am "right," and you are wrong, not left. Or either you are in front of me, and I am "behind" you. Is that why it is called sense of superiority? When you know you are better than others, does it balance up your "emptiness?"
See how successful the others have done! The "others" who supposed to be your friends, tend to mean your enemies. But, why? I am judging myself from others' point of view, that's why.
Suddenly the whole mindset felt so relieved.
The Road Less Travelled
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Thanks, Dave!
Road Not Taken by Robert FrostTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Copyright © 1962, 1967, 1970
by Leslie Frost Ballantine.
The Concept Inside the Pottery
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Yoro Takeshi, got another interesting article recently, Language and Culture, in his serialised column in Chuo Koron, October, 2005.
To sum it up, he points out that Chinese (language) basically has no articles nor particles. With that, it hardly differentiates, given a rough example, between a Japanese and the Japanese. So, when make argument with the Chinese, it's always confusing for the Japanese.
Yoro might have given us a big hint for lots of issues in regards to China. How the young Chinese now who has no experience of war can still argue the issue with present tense, and ask the Japanese for compensation or apology. People were killed, that's the fact. But, to stop war from happening again, what shall we all do now? Opinion survey shows that the percentage of younger generation who "hates the Jap" is so much higher than the elderly.
With four thousand years of civilisation, why Chinese philosophy didn't conquer the West? Silk Road linked her to the West long long time ago, why the West only recognised her pottery and vases but not the great teaching and great learning? It wasn't understandable to the West, not even the Middle East. But why?
Another linguistic issue; there is no tenses in Chinese language. Or, to show past tense, words like past, before, already, are used in between the sentences. It's a simple language. You can learn Chinese language basically following the simple rules because you don't really need to consider lots of tense and article perspectives.
Chinese also, are weak in differentiating feeling between concept. Feeling means individual, and concept means in general. So, articulately when talking about how to run a country or a company, Chinese are good at it. But, to think for each individual how everyone feels about something, you probably want to be a political refugee or to resign. I am not saying Chinese language cannot express feeling. Between generalisation and individualism, the former always win her natives' heart. Confucianism teaches one to respect the elderly or ones parents, but it doesn't teach one how to evaluate or respect each individual. Take Yoro's example, an apple is an apple, the apple places on the bottom of a case makes no difference from the one places on top of the bargain sale. Ignorance of individual. Wasn't it a familiar terms that reminded us Tiananmen Square protests in 1989?
Sense of feeling comes from whether we live close to nature or not. People who live in a city too long have basically lost it. A few years ago, a Japanese reporter found that some local Shanghai people who washed vegetables that was said to have over-sprayed of insecticide with cleanser. I told the story to one of my mainland Chinese friends, and he said nowadays the Japanese has come up with cleansers that made from natural stuff like coconuts, so there are safe cleanser. The thought of not-buying campaign or stop the wholesale of vegetables, etc. are just a few things that came up to mind. But, the concept of cleanser is perfectly correct. The Chinese might argue with you, what's wrong? Each of you has the answer, I am sure.
Everyday living in effectiveness and conveniences, one cannot stand if the only Sunday holiday you have will have to be cancelled because of a natural rain. Put on the shelter, move around with a car or train, shop in megamalls. When your kid cries and you cannot go for the movie, leave him with the babysitter. Or, don't have one. Use orginiser, manage your schedule and time. We call it the civilisation.
To make sure everything runs smoothly and systematically, you got to ignore each individual's interest and unexpected events like nature. So, take out the manual of Confucius or Lao-tse, get rid of women because they got period that's out of control, kick the kids out of the system too because they are noisy and still close to nature. Only let them in the system after they are educated. This is all about management. Any idiot who doesn't follow, brainwash them.
China itself is a big system. It was, it is, and it will. And the Chinese mirage is a skyscrapers-crowded metropolitan.
Rocket has gone off to the space and arrived at Mars, the government will like to ask half the population to apply for a new passport so that when the second section of Mirage Condo is ready, paradise won't be far. Environmental problem? What's that? Raise high the bamboo-beam, carpenters.
I am just saying.
Tinderbox Downloads
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Here is a page awaits me for exploration.
Japanese-Malaysian-Couple
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
I wrote before that a Malaysian lady wrote to me and we became friends. Apparently she hosts an online group called JMC, which stands for Japanese-Malaysian-Couple.
Japanese Malaysian Couple (JMC) is a friendship group for Malaysian women in a relationship with Japanese man.
If you are Malaysian married to a Japanese guy, engaged, dating or divorced, you are welcome to join the group.
Only for Malaysian female. If you find that someone you know who might want to join, do spread the words.
Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Ocean's Twelve. Heard that it wasn't a good one, somehow just want to see myself if I can "see" something different. Well, a bit too difficult I would say. The most interesting part, not about acting, but scene-wise, is, Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts) has to act like Julia Roberts.
Okay, it's not good at all. I hope someone could tell me that the movie has something more than that. Or perhaps tell me how the word entertainment can have a better definition.
Hurly Burly (1998)
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Perhaps I am not really into Sean Penn in whichever movies he is in. No matter how good he is, I don't seem to appreciate his acting at all. The story is okay, and, not very sure, it has a pattern of sympathy acted by Sean Penn, which I can't take it.
And Meg Ryan, oh. I don't know what to say. I would rather see her old movies than seeing her struggling with new titles. May be I am too old-fashioned.
Well, besides the above complaint, this movie has very good lines. The conversation seems "well designed" I think.
By the way, is this word, the hurly burly, similar to the verb Shanghai? Look up the dictionary? Okay.