Yong Ming's Blog

The power of 'Thank you'

2009-03-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was awaken by the power of 'Thank you.' First was because of a study I did in China, and then an event that happened in the US. This is a personal blog so I do not want to go into that study in details. You can read my other blog.

'Thank you,' someone told you. And you immediately feels good about what you had done. It gives you a reason to do it again. How many times have we seen someone who bought or saw a nice thing in the mall, and immediately call her parents or good friends. Someone who would say 'Wow what a find? How much is it? Can you get it for me? Thank you!'

'Thank you' is a social asset. Someone's 'thank you' is worth more than the others. But the more important thing is, everyone has some 'thank you' to give to. Those that give 'thank you' readily are generous. Those that don't are social misers.

I my studies in China, I saw so many disappointed volunteers to the community who received no word of thank except picky remarks. Then they immediate think, 'why have I volunteered.' Similarly, a recent debate in the gaming space also sparked some players to flame the volunteers that 'I don't really need your crap' or something along that line. These people are worst then misers, they destroy faith and social connectedness.

'Thank you' - I will have to remember to say it. I think of all the language that we had invented, nothing connects people more than these magical two. You may say it, or bow, or smile, or maybe give something back. They all make your world a better place to live in.

Games = violence? Bah!

2009-03-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

Within a few days, I saw computer games being blamed for violence in youth. First was about the cases in Singapore where a student slashed his professor before jumping to his death, and another student hanging himself. Second was about a German youth killing 16 others.

On the first case, a Singapore Facebook user said, "I thk we shld also start looking into the stress our kids have at home. this may includes parenting and society stress...exams...pressure. Restrict Violence Gaming is a MUST !"

On the second case, "The actual problem is violent computer games," says Georg Stiel, president of the club in Volksdorf.

"They mislead young ones, letting them shoot people and animals without being at risk themselves. I would have those games banned."

Shooting clubs, on the other hand, teach respect towards weapons as well as safety rules, gun law, discipline and patience, Mr Stiel says.

"Guns are our sports equipment. Of course they are weapons, but so are golf clubs, tennis rackets and broken bottles," he adds."

(Duh... I wonder if Mr Stiel has a choice, would he like to be hit by a golf club or a gun?)

Why computer games? Because the users are the powerless youths who can be easily lambasted, in comparison with the general adults that watched movies? Isn't TV a more widespread perpetrator of gun and violence? How about our national service (conscription to the army)? We learn how to shoot with a real gun.

My point is violence is violence, just because we could not understand our kids doesn't mean it is due to gaming. Finding a scape goat is to overlook the real issues here. We can eradicate 100 technologies that seemingly inculcated violence, but still not realize why are our kids angry.

Best place on earth for travellers

2009-03-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

Often when we traveled, we would compare places and say, 'This place has good temperature. Not as cold as such-and-such and not too warm. It has nicer scenery, its safe, etc. That place smells and garbage piles.' After traveling so much, I finally had my conclusion of where can we find the best place on earth.

Yes, you are right - the shopping malls!

This was where I went to in Hang Zhou when I was hungry for a place to sit down and write some notes. They said that Xi Hu was nice, scenic, and a heaven on earth. I am not sure why. That day, the lake was foggy, and cold. And there the tree were bare in winter. Perhaps for those who encouraged me, their heaven had always been found in what other had.

For me, the natural thing was to hail a cab and went straight to the 'largest and most central mall.' That was what I told the cab driver, and he indeed, it never failed me.

Nice temperature, lots of lights yet not scorching, clean and safe, pretty merchandices, good food, and beautiful people - isn't that what you wanted in travels?

“Rats in Orchard Rd “ during the bull year?

2009-01-25T08:10:00.000-08:00

Rats running abound in bull year? Looked like the bull brother is not so much in control...

==================

IT'S 11pm at Somerset Skate Park. The lights are off and most of the skaters have gone home. The ground is strewn with food boxes that contain scraps of fried chicken and mashed potatoes.

There is a flash of bright eyes and a rat scurries across the park, heading for the leftovers. By 2am, there are more than 10 rats scampering about.

The Skate Park is just one of several rat-prone areas to have emerged along the Orchard Road and Somerset area over the last two years, say those who work at and frequent the stretch.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_330364.html?vgnmr=1

About Death (by Steve Jobs)

2009-01-16T10:12:00.001-08:00

"Death is possibly the single best invention in life. It clears out the old to make way for the new."

- Steve Jobs

敢敢做个新加坡人

2009-01-07T04:37:00.000-08:00

那天我到了机场，正准备回美。在机场的登机口排队等着登机。大多的旅客是中国人。但在我前面站着三位二十出头左右的少女。他们讲着一口非常美式的英语。但语音中之瑕丝告诉我他们不是美国人。看一看他们手中的护照才知道她们大概是新加坡籍留学生。大概喜欢上美国的语音了吧。

我们很容易发现到，很多新加坡人非常向往西方。但他们当中很多都没有出过国。可能因为受英语教育的关系，我们学到的知识许多来自神秘而相似先进的西方。Maslow, physics, chemistry, 什么的，哪个不是什么伟大的西方科学家发明的。长大后，我们又接触了好莱坞电影，和先进的外国品牌，如microsoft, apple, google, 等。神秘的西方，仿佛是我们所追求的，是一种上层社会的象征。

在新加坡两个星期时有朋友问我，我到了美国那么久，语音怎么一点都没变？Singlish还是那么重。我说我是回来练Singlish的。不然在几年下来可能会忘了怎么说了！其实，我觉得我们没有必要隐瞒我们的文化。入乡随俗，到了国外，必然要用他们听得懂的英语，但回到自己的家乡，为何还要说别人的话呢？

在西方，尤其是居住的好些日子，你又会发现原来他们的社会中有许多在新加坡无法想象的问题。例如保安，政治腐败，医疗，不平等教育，政府部门服务欠佳，与老人被忽略等。然后再想想：新加坡哪里好，西方哪里好。我们对社会问题的角度突然出现了转机。新加坡不再落后了。我们有些方面已达到西方所做不到的了。问题不再是什么都要和他们学，而是什么该学，什么还要自己创造。

敢敢做个新加坡人。我觉得是时候开始想想我们的历史，由来，身份，和去向。政府能为我们策划很多，但路还是自己走的。如果你对自己的身份和去向明确，你就不再需要跟随任何人。新加坡已经跟了很久了，你要跟到什么时候？是时候找回自己了。

Singaporeans - homely poets and artists?

2009-01-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

"88 per cent of children in Singapore believe that it is more important to spend time with family than to bring home a huge pay cheque," so said Straits Times, and I agree.

I was pretty surprised a while ago when a Chinese online friend told me that a man should have great ideals. I haven't really heard of Singaporean saying such things. Perhaps it is true that northern Chinese had bigger ambitions, while southern Chinese are homely poets and artists.

Don't know what to ask until you know what to ask syndrome

2009-01-06T16:52:00.001-08:00

One of a sign of a hierarchical community is the culture of faulting someone for the mistake of not knowing. The reason is that one had not try to find out.

However, the process of finding out goes in circle with the question itself. For instance, I was surprised by the existence of the Fly America Act today, meaning flights booked through any Federal funding has to use American airlines. This defies most assumptions practiced by most communities that professionalism chooses the cheapest flight. But how would you first ask that question if you do not know it exists?

If an organization allows the defendant to argue or circumvent the rule, it is a flat organization. If the organization fault the defendant for not finding out, it is a hierarchical organization. Faulting someone for not finding out something difficult to know in the first place creates a sense of privilege to the holders of traditions - particularly those who have been there for a long time.

Not to say who is at fault or not, just my thought about how power can be created through inter-personal micro-actions.

现实与梦

2009-01-05T04:57:00.000-08:00

我们认为我们的生命掌握在自己的手里。但当我们在现实生活中实现某种想法的时候，都会面对许多问题。有些是人为的，有些是环境没有条件让我们把工作完成。

有些人会因此觉得某某国家不好，不支持我们的梦想。但真的是国家的不是吗？

国家的基本结构是社群。在美，社群可以是公司，专业组织，家庭，学校，公会，等等。在中，社群可以是企业，家庭，学校，党，血缘关系，等等。这些结构里面的规则对人们的行为的影响是我们常常会忽略的。规则可以是社群的目标，社群的分工，和分享利益的方式。群员们不可以轻易破坏规则，否则社群可以惩罚你。而且规则的由来一定有其历史。

结果是在我们圆梦的时候，如果动用了某个社群的设施，我们就得根据它的规矩办事。规矩不容易改变的时候，我们就得变。

而改变规矩也不容易。很多人爬得越高，越被规矩约束。可以说做总统或总理的规矩最多。不然人们会推翻他们。甚至乃至断送生命。那时，我们可能就会不再设法改变，而是随着规矩办事，后来梦就变成现实。我们可能会说梦不实际。甚至在规矩中寻找漏洞，把持权力，把其政治化。

我不认为有不变得规矩，不变得社群。不变就是灭亡有日。但变得太快则会很不稳定，新规矩可能会有疏漏。我们就在这种变于不变中实行自己的梦想。梦想就在现实中变成社会产品。

新年感慨

2009-01-01T18:40:00.000-08:00

今年，我学到了不少东西。但最大的收获，还是觉得自己其实很渺小。

渺小，是因为许多事都不再自己掌握之中。虽然往往我们可以想的很多，而且可以想到一些可能会使整个社会更好一些的方法。但是，当你开始与别人分享的时候，你可能发现一些势力，或个人的企图，使至一些社会现象称为僵局。或则其实无人主宰着这个僵局，而是人根本不想变。现在虽然辛苦，但毕竟习惯了。

当你的美丽文章要推广为现实的时候，你发现了其实该或不该已经不再是你的事了。这是大家对你的提议的了解，和接受的程度的一种结果。如果大家都能接受你的提议，可能这个提议根本不怎么新鲜。但如果过于新鲜，可能接受的人却不多。往往社会学的提议，是在于传统和创新之间出现的。

所以我渺小了。我要接受传统，接受人们的意见。跟着人们的意愿，提出自己的建议。我也接受了。这世界不是我个人的。这世界是大家的。我们一起把它建立的更美好吧！

When reality and ideal becomes far apart

2009-01-01T08:04:00.000-08:00

I think alot, especially wrt to our society, and how it can become better. But too often, the ideal you built in your mind does not match up with reality. Reality has many people, who have their own ideals. Your ideals is but irrelevant to them.

You started thinking back to their ideals, and wondered why yours is different from theirs. Maybe you are shortsighted, maybe you wanted too much but they are simpler, maybe you wanted success but they wanted happiness...

Finally you found that you are abandoning your language and began to speak theirs. You left your ideals to the future and try to reach out to them. Perhaps they would prove you wrong, but perhaps you will prove them wrong.

Sweet is when reality and ideal becomes one again.

Meaning of home

2008-12-30T16:48:00.000-08:00

I am back to Singapore for just a little more than 2 weeks. Home, as Singapore is, the place I was born, grew up, schooled, made friends, and left for my career.

I told many that I am back for the food. The truth is, the moment I touched down, I felt like home. Of course, whenever I am meeting people, except for the very formal ones, there is a meal involved. The food engages everyone in one common activity.

Home is hard to define. Is home the place you sleep over at night, where you grew up, where your parents are, or where your friends are? All these places can be different. So where is home?

I could not exact a simple definition. However, when I was walking down the streets of Singapore, I feel every step to be real. It brings my mind to the moment I was walking. The place felt real. As if all dreams and future plans were put to a pause. This is it, my destination all along.

It was during this time where I really feel like drinking in a cafe for drinking sake. Not because I am waiting for someone, or I am meeting someone, or I need to do some work. It is just the cafe, myself, the coffee, and process of enjoying the process of drinking. The drinking itself.

To me, home is where it feels like home. It feels solid and stable. You could not say you like it or hate it. You may have both feelings, but you feel you have reached the place you should be. I think this is the same feeling why many wanted to fight for access to their home despite it in desolation.

I will leave Singapore again for California in 4 days. But I don't think California will ever feel the same.

Of writing

2008-12-10T18:20:00.000-08:00

Writing is becoming part of my job, and rightly as a PhD student. And recently, I am writing about culture, of US and China. However, it became difficult for me to find representative materials on China, and English sources often see China relatively to democracy - their ideal in US or Europe.

So I turn my readings to Frederick Mote, Lee Kuan Yew, and Fei Xiaotong for inspiration.

After reading their perspective of Chinese societies, in some aspects Asian, I am more than convinced that Chinese, or even Asia, required some sort of justice in terms of how their societies should be viewed upon. Mainly to say, Chinese culture is not yet ready to face with full blown free market economy. People make use of every opportunities to make money, even at the expense of others. Law, often harsh ones, are often necessary to keep people in line. However, we saw less of these problems in Europe and US. People monitor their own actions, or others will monitor them.

We have to be aware, as Lee Kuan Yew often say, Europeans have 400 years to develop to the point that they are ready to adopt real great personal autonomy. On the other hand, even the most advanced Chinese societies - Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, were barely more than half a century old since their people were educated.

Culture, on the other hand, takes even more time to crystallize. When I refer to culture, i refer to social protocols that enable people to work well with one another, they when you contacted a stranger to collaborate, there will be enough trust to begin with. This is very important for knowledge economy, where collaboration between strangers often reap the greatest benefits.

However, even for Singapore, I am not sure if we are culturally equip to compete in these arenas. When i search online for names, say in a government institution, more than likely, I found department emails rather and personal contacts. People are less likely to build civic groups, attend public events, or work with a total stranger.

In such environment, Asian societies are perhaps better off, at this point, to focus on technical skills, efficiency, and hardwork. These are skills that allow one to shine even when they are working relatively alone, non-collaboratively.

Yet, when I write, I have to focus on my audience, who are mostly western. This is not wrong and rightly so. There is no point writing for Asian societies, since in the first place, a US university funded my research. I will be doing a disfavor for myself, for the university, and I am not even sure if anyone in Asia would read it. However, this means I will be writing of knowledge, of creativity, and perhaps of democracy.

At times, this upset me, however, reading Lee Kuan Yew and understanding his pragmatism and realism often bring my senses back to me. After all, it is a small world. There may be no need to differentiate between you and me.

Amzanig!

2008-12-03T13:35:00.001-08:00

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig!

Singapore: A city without slums

2008-10-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

'There is about 5 to 6 per cent slums in more developed countries so to have zero incidence is an achievement worth celebrating,' said Professor Banji Oyeyinka, director of the monitoring and research division.

Well, I am proud of it. There are two primary reasons for this. One, anyone can buy a house, or rent one, and 90% of Singaporeans live in state built properties. The low interest loan (2.6%) comes from the government. Two, bankruptcy act forbids anyone to take away the house.

I am pretty proud of this.

2008-10-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

National table tennis coach Liu Guodong, who helped deliver Singapore's first Olympic medal in 48 years, on Thursday revealed this detail of the two-year deal offered to him by the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA). $6300/mth not including housing.
Liu, whose contract expires at the end of the year, has rejected the deal, dismissing it as insulting and insincere'.
In China, where table tennis is the national sport, national coaches can expect to earn over US$10,000 (S$15,000) each month - inclusive of rewards and bonuses,' said the source. 'Even coaches of provisional teams can earn about US$6,000 (S$9,000) per month.'
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Sport/Story/STIStory_294096.html

Given the level of publicity and need for national pride in sports and arts, this somewhat looks like a low point. How much is our talents worth to us? As one of the NTU professor like to say in class,

"If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys loh."

Perhaps that's the message for us.

Decline of US? In what?

2008-10-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7645743.stm

While John Gray sees US as in a 'decline,' "The era of American global leadership, reaching back to the Second World War, is over.."

I remembered the fascination I had of American since I was young. Disney, US army, Microsoft, and other large corporations. Our world's sole superpower. The one nation that ripped the world of bad countries. The one nation that produced great products. The one nation that treasured and loved talents. The one country that we can rely on in times of regional stability... was all these in the past?

The rise of China is indeed phenomenal. Even when China has only had their space walk forty years after US. Forty years is a long time, but it seems just like yesterday. Perhaps because forty years after, there was no more space walk on Mars, Venus, or deeper phenomenal travels towards the unknown. Although there is no doubt the US is capable of innovating better than any countries: Google, Apple, just to name a few recent sons. While China had produced similar ones thereafter, such as Baidu. They were just similar, and I have a strong suspicion that Chinese companies are continually looking for sustained US product leadership, or er... 'copyship.'

"A boss says go, but a leader says lets go." That quote reminded me of the recent war in the gulf. US had shown strength in taking unilateral actions. And the 'if you are not with us, you are against us,' mentally had certainly shifted its leadership image towards the end of a boss. Not to mention the democratically establish national propaganda news network Fox. I had since the gulf war looking at at least 3 different news networks in US, Europe, and China (or Aljazeera depending on the issue), in order to get a better sense of the world. And no doubt many countries chose to maintain silence in the time of lunacy. No one can bear the burden of the world. Yet, instead of getting these to be friends and work together, US continued to provoke countries with different regime as itself - Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, China, and recently Russia. Even in numerous occasions, sing the popular tune of the 'Crippled UN.' The world leader had long shifted its position from one that say 'lets go,' to one that say 'go.' Our leader had turned into a boss. Meanwhile, China continued to show promise in its economy, and recently intrigued the world with how it held the Olympic. And Russia, unintendedly, poked the EU and US by interfering with a former soviet country - Georgia. But again, the inability of US to act, ascertained its stretched prowess, and entanglements in its internal politics.

Today, I am not sure if there is any country that can bear the burden of world peace and stability. The only leader seemed to have faded and performed the opposite of increasing conflicts and instability. While new world powers are rising, their moral stand point and prowess are not tested. The recess of the US appeared to create a void in leadership.

Yet, I do not see that this is an end of an era. US is known to adapt quickly. Indeed, we do not see new ideas coming from the conservatives in US, only continue indulgence in its idiocyncratic beliefs. But there is a new hope in the liberals, and the coming of a new leader. The main challenge of US, apart from recovering from the war torned economy, is the rebuilding of confidence among the new world powers. That US is again one leader to be trusted and followed. Its the world's broker, military and commercial leader. That it rekindles the minds and dreams of children all over the world.

News censoring in the US

2008-09-13T07:15:00.001-07:00

In US, I saw another type of censoring. Not censoring for 'harmony' or 'good of the country,' but censoring what people do not understand, or is incoherent with what people already understood. In this event, CNN censored the entire interview with Putin regarding the events in Georgia. Contrary to previous reporting, and American image of a good-evil world, Georgia's relationship with Russia may be more complex then you think. Perhaps CNN felt that the sympathetic genes of Americans should not be activated to avoid complications.

See the actual interviews from Russia TV with English subtitles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrQJz3NhcTg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye-W3pL8SAw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqwxqjBb-u0&feature=related

US politics turn into a dirty game

2008-09-10T04:31:00.000-07:00

"John McCain says he's about change too," Obama told a crowd. "So I guess his whole angle is: Watch out, George Bush -- except for economic policy, healthcare policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics, we're really going to shake things up in Washington."

"That's not change. That's just calling the same thing something different. But you can put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, and it's still going to stink after eight years."

For that, John McCain says Obama is calling Palin a pig, referring a Palin's joke that the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull was lipstick.

(excerpt from http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-campaign10-2008sep10,0,311675.story)

For some reasons, feminism in US has a foothold of deep hurting proportion. And McCain and his campaigners are playing dirty game to buy the hearts of these women. I do not know what Palin can bring to the table and make gender rights fairer, but beyond that, McCain is trying to get sympathetic votes, which is as pathetic as the war in Iraq.

From my point of view, it is sad to see 'democracy' degenerating into a dirty game. To me democracy represents one thing - fairness. Therefore, every individual has equal rights and opportunity to win and become the better man. For US or the world, I think we are better off to retain the form of democracy we started out with, than to degenerate into a dirtier like of it.

Calming a pool of ripples

2008-09-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

The ten days retreat was a month behind me. After spending sometime in Slovenia and Italy, the mind is again full of ripples. It is such an irony that makes practice so difficult. That the society has invented many ways of causing ripples, such as economics, fun, and competition. They aren't bad if we did not take them so seriously. But we can't. So we walked in every step with a company of dips and indulgence, causing ripples all over.

So to calm these ripples down, we meditate. And an important revelation today (though its not the first time) is I got to meditation more consistently.

A month away from Irvine

2008-09-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

Away for a month. Found myself in a place between Singapore and US: Italy - a place with a long history, so long that ruins stood unnoticed.

The thought of going to Italy wasan exotic one. It is also a popular Americans destination, judging from the number we saw in Venice and Lake Como. Beautiful to see in picture, but the journey wastiresome. I haven't spent so many days tasting hunger, thirst, and tiredness. If you think that the 15% tips 'required' in US restaurants is questionable, then you would find the 'Caputo,' or cover charges in Italy ridiculous. Our first encounter waswith a Chinese restaurant in Venice, where $24 euros order turned into $36.

So we walked to find cheaper food. We walked to find stairs to sit. We walked to find toilets. Not those that charge 0.80 - $1 per entrance. But free ones rarely exist. A subway trip costs $1 euro regardless of distance. So we kept walking. It is hard to imagine in Europe where it is supposedly social heaven, that basic needs cost so much. The obvious solution was to drink less, eat less, and just keep moving. Perhaps this is why Europeans walk a lot, and they seemingly like streets friendly to pedestrians. But I developed lesser desire to be among the gods.

Me hiding from the hot sun.

Walking, we pretended the hardships weren't there, and also invisible were the million tourists. We turned our attention to the interesting - the monuments. Endless of them. Most interesting to me is the rich history stretching up to about 2500 years ago, at the time of creation of Roman empire. You witnessed the size of the Roman city and sophistication of the arenas, baths, market place, aqueduct, and churches. As you walk, you can imagine how the people lived (your imagination supplemented by movies, books, etc).

Arena at Verona

Best of Italy? Gelato, Pasta, Pizza, and Cappuccino! I haven't know what they mean, until I tasted them there. The Gelato (real ones) are thick and tasty (not creamy). Pasta is favorful (not cheesy or tomato--eey). Pizza is thin and even, and a sip from Cappuccino catches your attention. Nothing makes your walk worth more than finding a good cafe or restaurant in Italy. When we tasted the ice cream, pasta, pizza, and coffee on our Delta flight back, we knew we are leaving Italy.

Irvine - Home sweet home.

Put an end to the Human Rights argument - at least in the eastern world

2008-08-09T01:26:00.001-07:00

I am tired of journalists whining about human rights violation. Same old story, day after day. They seem to like to search for such stories, instead of looking for real social change. Reporters are not allow to access certain places, some groups are not allowed to protest, some websites are not accessible, and so forth. Maybe it is due to the breakneck pace of articles turnaround? But I am tired. The term 'human rights' has to be more closely examine, to analyze what are eastern countries violating?

We took from wikipedia, where human rights are "Examples of rights and freedoms which are often thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education."

Civil and political rights
This has little concreteness since politics, which are a feature of social change, is different in every country. Try democracy today in Iraq, and you may end up with civil war. Russia opened up its market overnight and see its economy plunged into chaos. We have to be careful of civil and political move, and not every move in the 'rights' way is good.

Rights to Life and Liberty, Expression, and Equality before Law
I do not know how to untangle these from the previous since they are intimately related.
Life is vague and again different in every country. Some people wanted to be 'somebody,' some merely wanted to relax and be merry. So I guess a country that provides for all is good.
Liberty is more complicated. It maybe interpreted as the ability to do what you like. I think the US and some western countries are taken as the role model in this. But consider a Catholic who grew up in inner states may have less freedom to choose not to got to church, due to social pressure. Liberty is thus highly social-dependent. I think more than what the government can impose on its people.
Expression is surely something often referred to as violation. Considered how some western news portrayed the 'oppression' of Tibet. How they framed Iraq has an oppressed state, thus the west should bring 'freedom' to the country. How they expressed Iran, which never started a war, as a new evil. And how a US newspaper exaggerated Bush's popularity to earn votes? Express as much as you like! But do not hurt others. If you cannot control yourself from harming others, the let others control you!
Law has been said, kind of. Simply, law is expensive in some countries and prohibitive to the poor. I think law in Singapore is very equal. You will be represented, no matter what. And lawyers cannot earn so much like the US that leads to prohibitive fees. Furthermore, there is an option of mediation, which cost virtually nothing. Beat this!

Social, cultural and economic rights
All said and done, very little of so call 'rights violations,' at least after the infamous Mao's cultural revolution, infringed on these. If religion such as Buddhism is no longer correctly practiced, it is due to the people own choice and current interests. After all, I have not seen any true religion suppressed. Even Christianity can be preached in China.
Of all, these sets of rights are perhaps more respected in eastern countries than the west. Especially that of economic rights. Some US Olympians have to spend their own money for training. In China, the Olympians drew salary. Per Capita income of Singapore is now higher than US. In Singapore, I can find supper at 2am in the morning and breakfast at 4am. Buses and trains arrive every 5mins or less. In US and even some Europeans countries, such rights do not even exist. In Singapore, driving license can be processed immediately. In US, it takes up to 3 months. In Singapore, you can complain to the state about the lack of street lamps, in the US, you have to live with it. In Singapore, ministers meet with residents weekly to talk about problems. Yes you can setup an appointment with them. In US, where are the senators? I assume the only way to 'talk' with them is to organize a 500 men protest outside their office. They have a term for it - 'lobbying.'

Moving On
Chinese economy is growing at break neck pace, improving the standard of living quickly, while reporters still whining about 'rights violations.' If the journalists do care about the eastern countries, they ought to pay more attention to social change.
I do think both western and eastern system of governance has its benefits and problems. We talked about them sparingly in this blog. But you don't write so much in blogs! Western governance appears to result in more creative system. Eastern governance results in more efficiency.

"The Chinese are a proud people. They want freedom and greater rights, but they know they must fight for them from within. They know no one can grant them freedom and rights from afar."
http://old.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20080809.E02&irec=1

I pitied this girl whose father was hurt by cultural revolution. I do not condone that movement and I am suspicious if Mao contributed anything to China. But fight!? Since Athens, western countries really learnt how to fight. They have been fighting for centuries, even in endless crusades, senseless religious conflicts. Every democratic movements began with conflict and blood shed, almost like scripted movies. People come together. The regime do not agree at first, then violence. Eastern religions do not fight, and they are less interested in conflicts.

I am not even sure of Chinese wanted that type of 'freedom.' I think the Chinese are practical people, they wanted another type of freedom, the one that is free from fear, hunger, poverty, and access to good life, job, education, and family. If I so condone the word, they are 'fighting' for it now. In a way of hard work and learning from the developed countries. Learning from Singapore even, in terms of developing a paternalistic society (state as a father, that help his children grow and takes care of them).

"But it was the removal of China from the list that drew the most attention. Was it because conditions have improved in China, because other countries have simply gotten worse – or because the Olympics will be held in Beijing this summer? Or is the US looking for ways to improve cooperation with Beijing on such issues as North Korea's and Iran's nuclear programs and the Darfur conflict in Sudan?" http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0313/p03s05-usfp.html

I have no doubt one day the US will acknowledge China as respecting human rights. But behold, at that time, China has perfected its paternalistic system. China is efficient and rural areas received ample education and adequate infrastructure. Chinese are wealthy and technological advance. US and Chinese are economically reliant on each other. Then the world politics will see a different staging.

Boredom and Blissfulness

2008-07-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

I try not to write boring blogs, but sometimes it is unpreventable. Mentioning that I went somewhere and saw something, played some stuffs and it is all fun, these excites people. Mentioning what I thought about somethings, and move on to something else, I abstract some more ideas, and learn a few things, and all appeared boring. But these 'boring' stuffs are what I did in a retreat I had been.

Boredom - perhaps equates to lack of change and motion for some. But really, that level pretty much is also what happen when one feels blissful. Blissful - no need for change and motion, for one is already contented with the present moment.

It was a ten-days retreat. We wake up at 4am, sleep at 10pm. In between, we meditated for 40 mins periods, do yoga, eat, exercise, and other humanly affairs. All seem the same, except we are all looking within, meditating, ignoring wandering thoughts, reducing information to the mind, including self-generated ones.

You may think, "I think therefore I am." But you will be surprise, even when you don't want to think, you still do! We may like to change that sentence to "Thinking make us who we are," removing the subject 'I,' for we are not really in control. Thinking takes place whether we wanted, and it is not easy to calm ourselves down.

Instead of meaningless 'emptiness,' letting go of thoughts will allow us to observe our thoughts more closely. Recent thoughts fade away as days went by, replacing with older ones. Even faces that we had forgotten may resurfaces, rekindling good/bad memories, learning our history as we grew and changed. 'I' is but a composition of conditions made up of friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, and circumstances. You learn more about yourself, why do you always act in someways? Is it good? Is it bad? Are you happy? Are people around you happy? Where is your life heading?

At the end, this retreat felt like my first, stark contrast before and after, and a lot of reflections. A feeling of rebirth. The fresh air, tender breeze, voices, sight, and touches consume the anxiety and fear. I am neither ready nor not ready to return to reality. For there is neither a need to fight nor to let go. Life goes on, just as it is.

老李的姜还是辣的

2008-07-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.digg.com.cn/frame.php?news_id=172047

我是新加坡在国外留学的华人，很关心中国的事情，也目睹了在我的大学里中国学生，和洛杉矶cnn大厦中国群众的情操。

起初见到了文章，我想，哦，老李说错话了。。。后来就寻找原文，在Forbes找到了。http://www.forbes.com/global/2008/0616/014_print.html

第一：“中国何时能停止把自己看成是西方的受害者”不是标题，是一个化解了矛盾后老李说见到会发生的事情。

第二：“当受西方教育的人在中国占统治地位的时候，中国人就不会把自己看成是西方帝国主义的受害者”的原文是：“China needs a large, well-educated middle class; if and when it gets it, many of them will have been educated in the West and will be familiar with the U.S. and Europe。. Then, like the educated of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, they will cease to view themselves as victims of Western imperialism.”

翻译过来是：“中国需要一个壮大而受过高等教育的中薪阶级。当这个情况实现的时候，许多这阶层的人将已受过西方教育，也对美欧相当了解。与日本，韩国，台湾，香港，和新加坡一样，他们将停止把自己看做西方帝国的受害者。”

看了原文，老李的姜还是辣的。

Peace in the Good Ol'Days

2008-07-15T03:21:00.000-07:00

Where goes the day, where you walk with your friends in the park, 2hours before midnight, mosquitoes bite, but you don't really care.

When did you last sit with your friend, side by side, in the hammock, talking about friends and friendships.

When did you go out with a bunch, without caring when to go home, nor an agenda.

When do you last spending time consoling someone, who is having an exam tomorrow, whereby you are also having yours the day after.

When do you hear words of care and concern, about your happiness, and not your career.

When do you last eat your breakfast alone, in a quiet campus morning.

What did you last walk about, not knowing what will happen tomorrow, for tomorrow is not very important.

When did you wish for a friend, an unselfish giving, without wanting anything in return.

When did you last see an innocent, almost stupid behavior, from a friend, a trusted friend.

When did you last receive your card of wishes, with funny poems, colorful strokes, and shiny pastes.

When did you last get a call from a friend, when the caller has no reason why he called.