travel to malaysia

my responce to Mr Blackstone on EG1471

thanks, blackstone. sometimes i think this class is a little boring so i want to make it more lively.

however u are a good teacher, but this module limit ur ability. i have a lot of complain about this module, useless, aimless, inane, and waste of time. we really have problems with our english and i do not see this module as that helpful to my english. we have problems with our writing, but the key weakness does not lie on the "strategy of writing". this module limit both the teachers' and the students' ability instead of extending it. i think what we really need is the english way of thinking and the lack of emerge in the english culture. we write in english while thinking in chinese. we speak the terrible accent while ignoring this problem. we know little about shakespear, wordsworth, byron or o henry and know nothing about the english history, tradition and customs while still wanting to write a good english essay.

this seems to be radiculous. I am not referring to u. as i mentioned, u are a good teacher and have a lot more for us to learn. but the so-called scope and the aim of thie module is totally radiculous, which limit ur ability to teach us. I don't know why the so-called english experts are so rigid that they set something they called scope. yes, we can study whithin this or that scope but can we speak english or write essay whithin these so-called scope, and at the end can we also think questions whithin these scopes? i admit a lesson should have its framework of teaching contents due to the limitation of time, but this framework cannot can specified into every class. the stuff that are teaching is just a waste of time, like the editing, like the conprehension, like the outline. these are for what, just for answering the questions in exams, don't u agree with me? who will care about strategy of writing when reading a news report? who will begin with the radiculous outline when writing a blog? some stuff are useful, like the apa style, but why waste the whole two weeks on it? i don't know how to describe a physical process. i don't know how to express my wishes at the english festival, i don't know the english customs. i don't know how to express sorrow and happiness, stress and depression in english. i don't know know the very common english jokes and humor. i don't know how to write a love poem to the girl i like. aren't they are more important communication problems? should they be taught to us in this twice a week module? why setting those rigid nonsense so-called scopes to limit the teacher's ability of teaching and student's ability of asking?

NUS's biggest weakness lies in the rigidness, of both the teachers and the students, which leading directly into the teacher's teaching whithin the scope and student's studying for high marks. University is the center of human knowlege, culture and spirit and it has some holy meaning. But now from what i see, NUS is merely the center of utilitarianism and mammonism, and students are too practical to have a big heart and a holy spirit. this is different from what i think a high-ranking university should be.

perhaps we can attribute this to singapore's cultural shallowness. we can say that singapore is the crossroad of both western and eastern culture but we can also say that singapore is an island without culture. fifty-year-old accumulation of life cannot be called a civilization and a mixture of tea and wine cannot represent either's flavour. since singapore abandon so much as a branch of chinese culture and get so little as a westernised region, it is really a cultural orphan. however, this can also be good for this island, too small to hold a cultural giant, but maybe also too small to hold a world-class university. if NUS really want to improve, my suggestion is not to be influenced by the shallowness of this country.

NUS is my home university. i love it so much, so i may blame it too much. this is my feeling about the first semester in NUS. really hope it can get better and everybody has a good university life.

hallelujah

I read some msn spaces written by my seniors just now. I really admire their lives in the past years. Many of them have been to the US or Europe for travelling. Some of them got opportunities to international competitions and won the prize. A few even went to the UC berkeley, Stanford, Yale to study. For their experience, I find that life in NUS can be so interesting and colorful. Yes, perhaps I also have this chance to experience a lot, but often I cannot be that excited. I think of myself to be a person of two different personalities. When I am in a high mood, I think of everything in the positive side and I feel that life is that wonderful. But when i am down, things will be quite different. I will force myself to be sad, to complain the ambient and to sigh for my poor life. I can be happy and artless as a child and be pessimistic and serious as an aged.

And now i find that life needs not to be that rigid and tough. Change the attitude and life is that fantastic. I should cheer that I have the opportunity to study in univeristy. I should cheer that I am quite healthy and can manage myself everywhere i want. I should cheer that I am still young compared to the teachers and I still have so much time and space to improve my ability and build my future. And also I should cheer that there is still two weeks to go before the final exams. Whithin these two weeks, I can do something and make a difference.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

LIFE IS COLORFUL AND EVERY MINUTE IS ENJOYABLE.

Thinking from Luo Dayou

Just now i listen to a few songs composed by Luo Dayou(罗大佑) through the youtube website. I got quite moved after listening to these songs. Among these songs i like the old ones most, like "Green Island Nocturne(绿岛小夜曲)", "Flower in the sea(海上花)"，"Asia's Orphan(亚细亚的孤儿)"，"The children on the earth(大地上的孤儿)"，and the "the owner of the future(未来的主人翁)". These songs are all composed from the early 1980s to the early 1990s, when the Taiwan Island is experiencing its non-stability of societies and politics. During the rein of Kuomintang Party, people were under pressure of the dictatorial Kuomintang Party and claimed for a more democratic political system. The "Green island Nocturne" expressed the sadness and loneliness of the warrior jailed in prison because of the struggle for democracy. The "Flower in the sea" expressed the composer's love for this small island. The other songs expressed Luo Dayou's hope for the future and sadness about the reality.

Praised as the godfather of the modern Taiwan pop songs, Luo Dayou really played an important part in the history of both music and culture of this island. His songs influenced a whole generation of Chinese youths both in Chinese mainland and Taiwan island. In his songs, i can make sense of his loyalty to China and homesick to the Chinese mainland. He is a Chinese rather than the so-called Taiwanese. His heart is forever pointing to the mainland although maybe he does not like the rule of the communist party.

For a long time, i think Taiwan is an westernized island like Singapore, without soul and real culture. But with more understanding of this island after moving to Singapore, i have enough confidence to say that the Chinese culture remains better in Taiwan than the mainland, especially those people who were born before the 1970s. The real Chinese culture is one without the influence of the culture of Parties, or politics. The real Chinese culture lies in Changjiang River rather than Dadu River, in the Tai Mountain rather than Jinggang Mountain, in the Confucius rather than Karl Marx, in the Classic books of those ancient thinkers rather than the red book of Chairman Mao.

As an authentic Chinese intellect, i never hide my deep love to my motherland, including Taiwan of course. But sometimes i think that will it work that just claiming Taiwan is part of China and doing nothing else, is it that important that Taiwan must be dominated by the central government of Beijing, and is it a better situation when the two government in Beijing and Taibei both work for the progress of our ONE CHINA and maybe can get experience from each other.
Since people in that island are also our brothers and sisters, we all have the responsibility to have a good understanding of this island. Our words are of no sense if we say without knowing, and this understanding is what the youth in mainland lack of.

Through Luo Dayou's songs, we share the sorrow, the happiness, the hope and the anticipation. We speak the same language. We celebrate the same festivals. We are proud of the same culture. We have gone through the same great and also humiliating history. And above all, we have the same root and feeling. We can make sense of each other's writing and music, and mercy the tribulation, and pray the bright future for each other.

There is an old Chinese saying, "Blood is thicker than water". We are one together and the blood during the anti-japanese war has proven our brotherhood. I cannot predict the future but i really wish the peaceful development of the whole China and every Chinese has a happy life.

rerevised Mao and Zhou

Both as one of the founders of People’s Republic of China, Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai were two world-known political leaders. Simultaneously, Mao and Zhou were also famous for their different personalities or emotional intelligence as Chairman Mao was like a hawk, which was strong-willed, decisive and perseverant while Premier Zhou was like a pigeon, which was moderate, considerate and flexible.

Coming from two different family backgrounds, these two political figures developed their distinguished personalities at a very young age. As a son of kulak, Mao developed his sense of revolution during his struggle with his father, who was a typical Chinese small landlord with discrimination to the poor peasants. Comparably, Zhou was from a family of traditional intellects where his father, mother, uncles were all famous intellects in his hometown. In this bookish environment, Zhou developed his gentlemanship and modest characteristic.

There is one case that can show the differences of their emotional intelligence clearly. After the Great Leap and the natural disasters lasting three years from 1959 to 1961, China experienced a serious famine which caused a lot of starving. Although Chairman Mao also did some self-criticism at that time, he still believed that the policies he proposed before would eventually and non-alternatively lead the Chinese to happy lives and attributed the situation partly to the incompleteness during the execution of the policy. Meanwhile, Premier Zhou cared more about the contemporary tribulation people suffered and would like to change the policies immediately which were the ultimate causes of the suffering.

From their behavior at the foreign affairs, we can also see the difference. Chairman Mao was famous for his assertive arguments to show the independence and sovereignty of the new China, which would sometimes cause the misunderstanding of the outside. Conversely, Premier Zhou was famous for his gentleness and tact in the diplomatic stages, which earned him a great reputation as a diplomat.

Although Mao and Zhou are different in terms of their emotional intelligence, this difference does not obstruct them from being great men, which reminds me of one idiom “All roads lead to Rome”.

revised Mao and Zhou

Both as one of the founders of People’s Republic of China, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou are two world-known political leaders. Simultaneously, Mao and Zhou are also famous for their different personalities or emotional intelligence as Chairman Mao is like a hawk, which is strong-willed, decisive and perseverant while Premier Zhou is like a pigeon, which is moderate, considerate and flexible.

From two different family backgrounds, the two political figures developed their distinguished personalities at a very young age. As a son of kulak, Mao developed his sense of revolution during his struggle with his father, who was a typical Chinese small landlord with discrimination to the poor peasants. Comparably, Zhou is from a family of traditional intellects where his father, mother, uncles are all famous intellects in his hometown. In this bookish environment, Zhou developed his gentlemanship and modesty.

One case can show the differences of their emotional intelligence clearly. After the Great Leap and the continuous three-year natural disasters, China experienced a serious famine which caused a lot of starving. Although Chairman Mao also did some self-criticism at that time, he still believed that the policies he proposed before would eventually and non-alternatively lead the Chinese to happy lives. Meanwhile, Premier Zhou cared more about the contemporary tribulation people suffered and would like to change the policies immediately which were the ultimate causes of the suffering.

From their behavior at the foreign affairs, we can also see the difference. Chairman Mao is famous for his assertive arguments to show the independence and sovereignty, which sometimes will caused the misunderstanding of the outside. Conversely, Premier Zhou is famous for his gentleness and tact in the diplomatic stages.

Although Mao and Zhou are different in terms of their emotional intelligence, this difference does not obstruct them from being great men, which reminds me of one idiom “All roads lead to Rome”.

Mao and Zhou

Both as one of the founders of People’s Republic of China, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou are two world-known political leaders. Simultaneously, Mao and Zhou are also famous for their different personalities or emotional intelligence as Chairman Mao is like a Hawk, which is strong-willed, decisive and perseverant while Premier Zhou is like a Pigeon, which is moderate, considerate and flexible.

After the Great Leap and the continuous three-year natural disasters, China experienced a serious famine which caused a lot of starving. Although Chairman Mao also did some self-criticism at that time, he still believed that the policies he proposed before would eventually and non-alternatively lead the Chinese to happy lives. Meanwhile, Premier Zhou cared more about the contemporary tribulation people suffered and would like to change the policies immediately which were the ultimate causes of the suffering.

Although Mao and Zhou are different in terms of their emotional intelligence, this difference does not obstruct them from being great men, which reminds me of one idiom “All roads lead to Rome”.

Reading Nietzsche, Being a Man

I am a curious person who always wants to explore the mysteries of the world. I love physics and chemistry as they both have the amazing power to satisfy my desire to know more about the world. I also love philosophy deeply as it always enlightens me and gives me an extra eye to see the world in a new view.

I am fond of the Plato’s wandering lake, Aristotle’s library, Aquinas’s cathedral, Spinoza‘s glass as well as Lao Tzu’s water, Chuang Tzu’s butterfly, Confucius’s class and Wang Yang-Ming’s flower. In my opinion, a philosopher’s value lies on the shock and es on the rational enlightenment to our tradition concept rather than it is true or not. With these shocks, we see the world in another perception and build a new world based on it.

Perhaps the theory that brings me the fiercest shock is Nietzsche’s “God is dead”. He rejected the accepted moral values and the “slave morality” of Christianity, arguing that “God is dead” and therefore people were free to create their own values (Webster’s New World Encyclopedia).

As for Nietzsche's claim, for a long time, I cannot accept. It is really a crazy theory. How can the world be without the rules and spiritual dominance? Frankly speaking, I am an earnest adherent of Aquinas and Hegel whose theories aim at building an orderly and methodic world. Contrarily Nietzsche’s idea is totally a destructive one which refuses the rational structure.

But as time goes by, I have some deeper understanding of this German and his idea also promotes my own thinking. I quite appreciate Nietzsche’s explanation of the two words, Dionysian and Apollonian, which reflect the nature of us human being. “God is dead” means the dead of Apollonian dominance and the return of the genuine humanity. If his theory ends up here, it seems that his theory is easier to understand. But subsequently he calls for the naissance of the so-called “Ubermensch”, the superman he claims has the endless passion, creativity and power to save the people from the tribulation. I just doubt that if the superman came into being, will the human being still be free? How can we prevent this powerful superman becoming the next God? I do not think the human political icon can give people more freedom than any superstitious one. Definitely we need some spirit idol, but after all we ourselves should determine our own life rather than any will of others.

Perhaps Nietzsche’s mind is not so easy for me to understand. But in my opinion, the most valuable part of Nietzsche’s theory is his calling for the return of Dionysian character, which marks the return of human’s self-determination. Perhaps Nietzsche’s claim of the death of the God is quite crazy, but with a beautiful mind he really wants the development of us human being.

If god is dead, all the God’s children are absolutely free then. I believe everyone is an independent entity with distinctive spirit. Living in the world of no bond, we are the controller of our own fates. I am sure that there is a stream of wild power in human and it will transform into the genius aptitude with some proper lead. With these aptitudes, we made miracles. Jumping from all the religious statements, now we have enough courage and confidence to speak out: “We human beings are really great!”

If god is dead, willing or not we have to step into a state of nihility. Without God’s care, we are the orphans in spirit. An orphan’s life may easily lead to two contrary results: one is to live pessimistically and sink into the aimless future; the other is to face and conquer the nihility boldly and be the master of my own fate. Although sinking into people’s marsh is of less pain, I choose the latter one and to be a real man. Although the USP is hard to conquer, I believe I am strong enough to handle it.

Thanks to philosophy. It lets me live twice in one life.
Thanks to Nietzsche. He lets me know the power of each life.

I will be forever a thinker of unknown world and a pilgrim to my promised land.

Life's Meaning

Breathing the fresh air and watching the dark sky, I am here, alive, as with the tiny mosses, giant redwood, chirping yellowbird and lonely tiger. However, I am different from them. I am a human being and have the divine ability-thinking. So I wonder what the meaning of my life is.

Perhaps in a Christian's eye, life is redemption of his original sin. In a Buddhist's eye, life is a mixture of tribulation and happiness. In a biologist's eye, life is a process of metabolism. But before talking about the meaning of life, I want to ask "Why we are alive now? How do we know that we are alive? What is the evidence of our living?" Perhaps these kinds of questions are of no sense and keeping considering will descend into the abysm of skepticism. But I think the value of these questions is that we human being are aware of the existence of ourselves.

Now I come up with my opinion, that is, the meaning of life is to prove its existence. We breathe, observe, eat and drink to make connection with the outside in order to lessen the anxiety about our existence. We put in all our efforts into our careers to gain more fortune and fame in order to make us known. We think about and try to explain the mysteries in order to feel comfortable that we are living in a real and explainable world. If this kind of anxiety and worry are beyond our abilities, we will rely ourselves on religion and ask for comfort from God. To survive, we have to separate from the outside world by skin as with the other organisms, but fortunately we have a powerful brain to think, to feel, and to understand the world. In this process, we build a relationship with the outside and prove our existence, which is also the meaning of life.

Perhaps this is a too shallow opinion, but still I am searching and proving my existence.