Tracing our roots

When I first saw the theme of this week-tracing our roots. I somehow came up with a kind of animal. It’s a kind of fish called salmon which I got to know through Animal World, the TV program. Salmons live in the sea. However, every time when they are going to give birth to baby salmons, they somehow spare no efforts to swim back to the river they were born. The way back is definitely tough: possibility of dying exhausted, high risk of becoming the food of bears or birds passing by. Some of them even get their skin burst and become red all over their body. There is a river in Canada; every year when the time comes, the whole river turns red and just looks like a river of blood. In the end, very few salmons can reach their destination, falling in love with someone, getting married and giving birth to their children. Actually, not only salmons, many animals, including penguins, some birds, butterflies, even whales do so.

I feel it seems that these animals are trying to talk some sense to us. Every time when new life comes out, tracing is needed. What about us human beings? It is obvious that we have lost the instinct of returning to our hometown to give birth. But I think something is left in our mind, in our thought. I remember that a writer once said that we put forward all the questions for whole life when we are young and spend the rest of our life finding the answers. I think it is very much similar to the animals’ behavior of tracing their roots. When I chat with my friends, almost of us like to share something about our past. And every time when I do so, I can gain some new feelings about life. Even my big brother He Yu, such a tough guy, frequently writes articles about things happened in his past and the lessons he has learnt from them. When we trace our roots in memory, it’s kind of rebirth, isn’t it? I think we should go back to our past often and in this way, we actually understand life better.

When we look into the river salmons swim by, we are sure to find the reflections of ourselves.

Religions in Singapore

As we all know, in Singapore, there are a lot of immigrants from all over the world. They come here not only bringing their religions but also spreading them to other people. Hence, the religions here are quite multiple.
The first kind of religion is Buddhism. As for the people who believe in Buddhism, they are concerned with the balance of yin and yang and they are also used to going to Chinese temples for worshipping. Ancestral worship is common and the spirits of the dead are appeased with offerings. Second, most of the Malays in Singapore are Muslims; meanwhile, there are still a few of people who come from India and China are also Muslims. This kind of religion involves praying five times every day and eating food which is special prepared. The third kind of religion is Hinduism, nearly all the people who believe in this kind of religion are Indians and the early temples are still the central points of rituals and festivals. Another kind of religion is Christianity, people are able to find different styles of Christian churches easily in Singapore. They were actually established with the arrival of various missionaries and everyone has the freedom to visit them.
Together with Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism, Christianity is considered one of the four main religions today. There is quite a large number of people who believe religions on this island. Besides, there are also many other religions existing in Singapore. No matter how many kinds of religions are here, there will not be any possibility of argument, because of people's respect to each other.

tracing my root

Hometown, our roots. We might come from a vital city like Beijing, Shanghai, and we might come from a beautiful countryside in western China. The passion and love for our hometown never changes. We may have the feeling that when we were in hometown, we couldn’t help complaining about everything there—the air was seriously polluted and the people were never trying to be friendly. However, we became homesick after leaving hometown.
What’s the magic which are appealing to us? Because we grew up there, the memory no matter how joyous or painful records our life steps. This is the playground I managed to ride a bike for the first time, and that is the stall which sells my favorite snack, and I hanged out with best friends on this little narrow path… millions of details float in mind when we recall it, which are our ordinary but happy lives. Everything in our hometown moulds us, transforming us into a person as we are at this time.
Don’t be hurry, because it’s nearer to the date when we breathe the air in our hometown.

Li yuchun-The Person I Admire Most

      I have never seen such a handsome girl like her. Her name is Li Yuchun, who turns from an ordinary girl to a shining star overnight after appearing in a Chinese TV singing competition called Super Girl. I admire her not because of her beautiful face, her good figure, or her sweet voice. In fact, she does not have those qualities at all. The reason I admire her is that she sticks to her own way regardless of pressure from others, no matter in her appearance, in her stage style or in her attitude towards fame.

      When she first joined the TV show at the age of 21, her appearance triggered a fierce dispute nationwide, because she is radically different from the usual stereotype of girls’ image, being boyish looking and sounding. Li yuchun is tall and very thin. Her face does not show any extraordinary feature, but what makes her appearance so special is her haircut. Her haircut is short, pricky and wiry with yellow highlights, and as a whole her hair looks like the hedgehog or just being exploded. She never wears any make-ups, and unlike other female singers, she never wears a dress which almost is the symbol of girls. Simple non-brand-name T-shirts and loose jeans are her usual outfits. At first, many people criticize her appearance for too strange and rebellious. However, she does not change her appearance under these public pressures. Her insist finally embraces the change of people’s ideas for female appearance. She is such a courageous pioneer to create a new image of girls.

       Besides her appearance, her stage style is also impressive and extraordinary. Her voice is neither sweet nor too tough, but is hoarse and quite charming. When people hear her voice without seeing her appearance, they will easily conclude that the voice is from a boy. Although many girls will think having hoarse voice is sad, but Li yuchun does not think so. She takes advantage of her special voice and sings both male and female stars’ songs during TV show competition, giving audience and judges a fresh feeling. Besides, when she stands on the stage, she feels free to show herself without any signs of shyness at all. Sometimes she just sits in the middle of the stage, leans back on the seat quietly, and sings a soft song. Most times, she sings quick rhythm songs, and dances in an extemporaneous manner. Although her dance is not professional, it is full of confidence and enthusiasm, so her audience is easily affected by her dance. She controls the whole stage and catches the attention of all the audience just like a queen.

         Although she is so famous now, she is still modest and amiable. For example, on the final TV show competition, the fans of each singer came onto the stage to encourage their idol. When it came to her turn, a seventy-years-old grandma stumbled onto the stage. Li Yuchun immediately went over to support the grandma and led her all the way to the middle of the stage. When the grandma praised her proudly, almost yelling “she is handsome, sunny, active, enthusiastic…” she just stood behind listening and smiling, with her head tilted slightly to one side, the way a granddaughter who would  listen to her grandmother’s praise obediently. She is so amiable that her fans range from seven-year-old children and seventy-year-old grandparents. She is among few Chinese celebrities that have been the cover person of Magazines of Times, but she never shows self-conceit and becomes impatience with her fans.

            I am much impressed by Li yuchun’s insistence on her own way, from her appearance, stage style to her attitude towards fame. She gives me a new idea of the image of girls that girls don’t necessarily have to be gender and sweet, but also can be brave, independent and outgoing like boys. In my mind, she is forever such a handsome idol!  

Why human beings dominate the world?

This week’s theme is “Tracing our roots”, so I want to talk about our ancestors. The ancestors were not human beings, but the apes that human beings evolved from.

You may wonder why did apes evolve into human beings and then dominate the world, but not other kinds of creatures. There are reasons due to circumstances, but they are only some incidental reasons. The main reason is that apes had hands and better brains than other kinds of creatures.

With their better brains, apes learned to use languages, which helped them to communicate and cooperate with each other. With better brains, apes learned to take advantage of the circumstances, thus, they could find more food and protect themselves. And with better brains, apes learned to use fire and tools which helped them survive their natural enemies as well as compete with their competitors.

Apart from their better brains, apes’ hands also helped them a lot. The most absolute distinction between apes and other creatures is that apes’ hands were more nimble than other creatures’. The five fingers of a hand could move easily and did all kinds of gestures. Thus, apes could make many things that could not be taken from the circumstances directly. With their hands, apes could bring what they imagine into reality and became the strong in the nature.

With our brains and nimble hands, we human beings dominate the world. But if we do not have these two treasures, we even cannot live. We do not have furs to survive the cold. We do not have strong immunocompetence to prevent ourselves from diseases. And we do not have great muscles to fight against other creatures. You see, brains and hands are of vital importance to us.

Is 2012 the End of the World?

I was shocked at the scenes of devastation in the movie 2012, as were many people around the world. However, I was more curious about the idea that the world will come to an end on December 21st, 2012, which was said to be prophesied by the Maya. Although it was a fabricated story and many specialists pointed out that it was pseudo-scientific, I was worried that what if it was true. And the strong curiosity that I always have for unknown things drove me to explore more about the 2012 phenomenon.

Before investigating the prophesy of apocalypse depicted in the movie, I wanted to familiarize myself with the people who supposedly made it. The Mayan civilization began around 1,000 B.C. and quickly grew in size and complexity, eventually becoming the dominant culture in Mexico and Central America. During their rule they developed a writing system, a distinct language, monumental architecture and sculpture, improved agriculture and established a calendrical system among the most accurate in the world. However, their prosperity came to an end around 900 A.D., and the civilization itself collapsed soon after.

The apocalypse saying is based on the Maya Long Count Calendar, which does not distinguish between historical time and mythical time. It records the elapsed days since the beginning of the “Great Cycle” in the distant past. According to the Maya creation myth in the Popol Vuh, the gods failed to create humans in the first three creations and what we are living in now is the fourth creation. According to a record on Stela C at the site of Copan, the fourth creation date is 7.16.6.16.18., which equates to August 13, 3,114 B.C. They predicted the fourth age will end 5,126 years later on December 21, 2012 and a new age will begin. This is where the Maya apocalypse saying comes from. However, the Maya only said December 21, 2012 was the end of the fourth creation, and implied that important events would happen on that day - it did not say the world will be destroyed.

So what of the disasters that happened around the world recently? Anthony Aveni, the Russell Colgate Distinguished University professor of astronomy and anthropology, mentions a theory which links the Long Count cycle and the precession of the equinoxes in his book The End of Time. The theory suggests that the 5,126-year Long Count creation cycle was geared to an alignment of the sun with the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, an alignment that occurs once every 26,000 years because of the precession of the equinoxes. I think this particular movement may cause the earth to be more active so that disasters happened more frequently. Moreover, this link may not be a coincidence but the result of the Maya’s accurate observations of the universe and mathematical computation. That is to say, the Long Count Calendar is based on their observations of the movements of stars and other celestial phenomenon.

In my opinion, according to what I have learned, 2012 will not be the end of the world. And I feel amazed by the Maya’s brilliant achievements and insights into the workings of the universe, and I am fascinated by their civilization. It seems that they have many secrets hidden in those accomplishments, and there may be many other things that they can tell us someday. There is just so much still for us to discover!

What do we believe in?

When talking about Feng shui and Yi Jing in class and was asked what do Chinese people believe in, I think about it and find an interesting phenomenon, only from my perspective, most of we Chinese claim that we are free-thinker and believe in no-god but we sometime believe in something that is regard as superstition in our mind. It sounds contradictive but it is not a rare phenomenon in China.

One thing is that I think most of us have one or more amulets. Although we may not believe in it or even do not carry it along with us, we still got one from parents or friends. One common amulet is necklace with a small Buddhist statue. Some of the amulets had specially ceremony called kaiguang for them before given away. Monks recite prayers toward the amulet during the ceremony to make mystical power to protect the holder. We should not let others touch amulet which is kaiguang because it is believed that the power would be destroyed if other touch it.

In the other case, when it comes to an important turning point or big event in one’s life, he and his family are likely to pray to the god which is relevant and hope the god help. Take myself for instance, when my college entrance exam was about to come, although there is no problem for me to get enough grade to be enrolled by university, my mother, as a member of the Communist Party of China and do not believe in superstitions, still travelled far to go to a famous temple and pray for me to get good grades.

I think such contradictive thing that we do not believe in god but still pray to it happens is because we need something to rely on sometime. Since there is no specific god for us, it turns out to be confused when we turn to the god. Another interesting phenomenon is a lot of people only turn to the god they need when they pray. If one wants a child, he would definitely pray to Guanyin instead of Rulai or Yuhuangdadi because Guanyin is considered would to give child to people. This phenomenon also indicates that many Chinese do not believe in god but regard it as a power from supernatural to rely on when they need. Sometime we also believe in Laotianye, Chunge or Renpin when exams are coming.

Some thinking about what is happening in Libya

Recently there was very fierce battle in Libya. The United States, together with French and the UK are throwing thousands of bombs onto the land of Libya after the UN give them the right to set a no-fly zone as if the right is an order to drop bombs. However, are they really doing that out of the reasons they have given?
Yes, I also think that Gaddafi is a dictator that many Libya people do not like. Actually his administration is not legal and morally right in some sense as a dictator. Nevertheless, he has been dictating for 42 years. Then what are those western countries doing during the past 42 years? If they think they are right to do what they are doing now, why did not they do it earlier? If they think Libya people are suffering due to the cruel government of Gaddafi and those western countries themselves are obligated to give them a hand to win their freedom, why do they need to wait for 42 years?
The other thing is that while the Libya government is accused of using violence to suppress the rebellion, there is also the same case happening in Bahrain. Why are those western countries not doing anything about what is happening in Bahrain? On the other hand, if a dictator is considered not reasonable to govern a country, then why is a king? Just because he has got a name of the word “King”? Just because the kings are said to have some royal blood? This may be reasonable to accient people, but not to the people that have received modern education where democracy and equality are stressed.
Just take a few minutes to think about what happened in Iraq, when the United States launched its missiles, it claimed that Saddam, who was also a dictator, was developing weapons of mass destruction, which was a serious threat to the rest of the world as it claimed. What turned out is that they found more than a hundred thousand Iraq ordinary citizens died in the war instead of any trace of the weapon that started the war and. Saddam may not have been a kind-hearted person, but are the American soldiers treating the Iraq people better than the previous Iraq government did? Are the Iraq people’s lives getting any better because of the war?
I can find no convincing reasons to explain those contradictory facts above rather than that those western countries only do things that are to their own profits. If the Iraq and Libya do not have so much oil, will there be any war again?
It is quite likely to be right to strike Saddam down,as well as Gaddafi, but I think those western countries should have some fixed principles and criterion, rather than only do things that can benefit themselves. Otherwise it cannot be convincing enough to let me believe that they are doing those things out of a sense of justice.

my recess week

It is the first time for all of us to spend a recess week in Singapore. And now, I want to talk about something unforgettable in my first recess week.
First of all, it is a great pity that I cannot spend my first recess week with my dear lap-top in Singapore. Due to this reason, my recess week becomes more meaningful because I love playing computer games and reading novels so much that I always spend most of my free time doing these two things in front of the screen of my lap-top. Without my lap-top, I manage to spend more free time on reading books relating to calculus and c programming, which makes me benefits a lot.
Secondly, i must express my most genuine thanks to Mr. Yang Tianchi. It is he that lends his netbook to me during the recess week and his netbook helps me a lot. To be honest, I could never have spent such a meaningful recess week without his netbook, where there is only one game namely Counter-strike and no novels for me to get addicted to. Moreover, this blogger is also typed by using Mr. Yang’s netbook. Thanks him a second time.
Last but not least, there is a significant breakthrough in the recess week: all male students from Beihang University, where I spend one and half months receiving my university education in China, conduct the first eat-together on the Friday before last Friday and the second eat-together last Saturday. The first eat-together is held in Chuan Yi Pin, where we eat hot pot, and the second in Seoul Garden, where we enjoy BBQ. We celebrate recess week by propose a toast to each other, eat a great deal of delicious food, mutton, beef, spawn, crab and so on, pile a lot of empty plates up and talk about many interesting things in both China and Singapore happily. We enjoy ourselves very much and brust into great laughter from time to time. Though the two eat-together are not perfect (ladies from Beihang consider it not a good idea to go out and eat together, and they refuse our invitations), it is still a very unforgettable and warm memory to remember my whole life.
Furthermore, I want to make a comparison between these two buffets.From my point of view, the first is much better than the second one, and there are two reasons as following. First, Chuan Yi Pin is much cheaper than Seoul Garden. The price of Chuan Yi Pin is S$22.8 per person in total while Seoul Garden is about S$32 including the tips and taxes. Second, more condiments are served in Chuan Yi Pin and still, consumers can make their own condiments, which provides great pleasure for food lovers like me. Although Seoul Garden cannot match Chuan Yi Pin in the aspects of price and food variety, Seoul Garden has its merits. For me, the most obvious merit of Seoul Garden is that Seoul Garden has more kinds of meet and ice creams.
In summary, my first recess week is very meaningful and successful.

My reflections on an article on human being

To make this blog, I have learnt something about the origin of human being. I read an article on the origin and basement of the inequality of human being written by Rousseau.
There are some opinions in the article that I quite agree. In the article, Rousseau wrote that each species had its own special ability to survive in the nature, while we human being did not have that at birth. However, we could acquire a lot of other animals' ability in our later life. One of the reason why we could be different is that we could change ourselves more easily according to the changes of environment. For example, a dove could die in front of a plate of meat without grain, a tiger might die facing with lots of grain without meat, while when we human being were set in such situation, although we might dislike the food in front of us, we would try. Maybe that could be a reason why we human now are the owner of the world.
On the other hand, Rousseau wrote that with the developing of our science and technology, we are getting vestigial, we are not as strong and fast as human in the past. Since we have axe, a strong wrist to break the wood is not necessary; since we have horse, a strong leg to run fast is not necessary. Little by little, we become weak in physics. That is not what can be avoided.
However, there is something I cannot agree with Rousseau. He wrote that we could hardly find some disabled animals in the real world while there were many disabled human now, which was because the animals can recover by themselves easily just like human in the past. While in my opinion, recovery is not the only reason there is less disabled animals, another reason is that the disabled animals will be eaten by other animals while the disabled human will be saved by other human. I think our sympathy is one catalyzer of the boom of human being.
In conclusion, although we are kind of vestigial in physics, we should not give up exercising, besides, we must keep strong in mind and brain. In addition, we should move on with love and sympathy. In this way we can keep booming the way our ancestor did.

My impression of Eton Hall’s Indian Uncle

I don’t name his name or his nationality and I think I don’t need to know. I think the best name for him is Mr. Uncle. What I do believe is that when I leave Eton Hall, he will remain in my heart as an auspicious symbol of Eton Hall.

I make a lot of contact with him because I am forever on the verge of breaking rules. I enjoying playing the piano or playing billiards with some guys at night and when the curfew time is approaching, Mr. Uncle will come in and drive us away. If we forget to close the lip or take all the balls away, he will stop us and give us critical spiritual education about what the result will be if we don’t follow the rules…..But sometimes he will also stand for a while watching we play billiards or someone plays the violin and he even applause for that!

Sometimes he will break into our room to check something. If no one is playing the game or watching a movie, he will focus on the hygiene condition instead. One day he found some single shoes lying on the ground, he told me that the room will become smelly if the shoes remained inside. Suddenly I want to make a joke on him and based on the famous TV series Friends, I answered “yeah, smelly smelly cat~” Then I found a strange expression appeared on his face and all of us burst into laughing.

One night I was playing basketball alone on the court and I did not bring a watch with me. Mr. Uncle shouted at me from a far distance. When I came to him and realized that it was too late, I was waiting for the results. He took my ball and bounced it several times, saying,”do you want me to keep your ball for a week or you do ten up-and-downs right now? ” At first I didn’t understand what is up-and-down until he did one as a prototype. It is “fu wo cheng” in Chinese. However, when I bent down my body, he stopped me and gave me my ball. Another time I forgot to sign in when I’m back from Vivo City. Mr. Uncle came to my room and asked me why I didn’t sign in. He also emphasized that several guys were punished for this. But after scaring me he told me that he would give me a second chance and keep quiet. I was really deeply touched.

When we suffer from the deprivation of the aunties in Eton Hall, I can never imagine that the one who warms me is a total unfamiliar Indian Uncle. However, several months later I will sorrow at not being able to hear his classic voice ”Hello, guys!” again.

Confucius and "The Analects of Confucius"

When I see the topic of this week—“Tracing Our Roots”, I think of an old Chinese book---- "The Analects of Confucius"and Confucius, who is the writer of this book. At the beginning, I want to give a brief introduction about Confucius, who is one of the most famous Chinese thinkers and social philosophers, and whose thought has very big influences on every Chinese.Confusius lived in 551 BC to 479 BC in the Spring and Autumn Time .His ancestors were in aristocray.However, since his father died when he was three years old, his family became poorer and poorer. During his childhood, he was interested in the study of etiquette and ceremony. When he grew up, he was really good at archery and horse riding. Because he is eager for knowledge, he asked as many teachers as he could in order to get more knowledge. When he was 30 years old, he had become a very famous learned man in his country, and opened his own school in his own country. And his school was the first private school. Once he was praised by the emperor, however, because of some bad people, he lost his chance to be a minister of his country. Then he devoted himself into teaching and studying .In his early fifty, he was reused by the emperor. But later on, because the emperor was addicted of beautiful girls and ignored all the politics, Confucius decided to retire and then he travel all the around countries.

In his old years, Confucius is just engaged in teaching .After his dead ,his students arranged all his works and combined with his words and some words from his students, then his students published the book ,which is called "The Analects of Confucius",the most famous book ever in Chinese history .Here, we must define it clearly:"The Analects of Confucius" is not written by Confucius, but is edited by his students. The structure of this book is quite simple because it all are single sentence which is said by Confucius or his students. However, this book has a very significant influence in Chinese history, and it also influences modern Chinese people. Even in my junior high school, I have to study it by heart in my Chinese classes and during tests, we should answer questions about some sentences from this book .However, in my opinion,I think the thought of Confucius is very useful even in today’s life."The Analects of Confucius"contains the principle for us how to be a good person.

As human beings ,we should never forget our roots ,and I think we need to spend time to tracing our roots.Only in this way can we learn our history better and it would help us to develop and form the value of the world.

Interesting things about Britain in the 16th century

When we mention the country Britain, it may appear in our mind that she was the most powerful country during the 18^th and the 19^th centuries. However, what else do you know about Britain, especially when it was in 16^th century? Recently I have read something about Britain in the past, and I would like to share some interesting facts with you.

It is hard to believe that British people took only one bath per year at that time, and they had the yearly bath in May. As a result, most of them got married in June as they were not too smelly then. However, they were starting to smell, so a bunch of flowers was usually held by the bride during the weeding in order to hide the bad smell.

As to the yearly bath, there is another funny fact. When a tub of clean, hot water was ready, let’s guess who had the privilege of having bath firstly? The answer is the man who was in charge of the whole family. Then his brothers or sons would have bath, followed by women and children. However, the interesting thing is that British people did not replace the used, dirty water with clean water. What they did is to use the initial tub of water again and again, until the last person finished. Usually babies took bath in the end, when the water was so dirty that it was not transparent at all. So the saying goes, “Do not throw the baby out with the bath water.”

What about the houses at that time? Most people lived in thatched cottages, if you were not very rich. The roof was made of straw at that time, which could be very slippery when it was raining outside. Some domestic animals, for example, dogs and cats, usually lived on the roof because it was really a warm place to stay. So, when it rained, the dogs and cats might fall off from the roof. The saying “It is raining cats and dogs”, which is used to describe heavy rain, comes from here.

Many people love eating tomato nowadays, but it is quite hard to believe that tomato was considered poisonous in Europe in 16^th century. Actually, some people died after eating tomatoes. The problem lies in the utensils used at that time. The upper classes in Britain used plates made of tin and lead at that time. When they ate food contained much acid, the lead, which is poisonous, would easily leak and got into the food. As a result, some people died, and tomatoes were considered poisonous during the following several centuries in Europe.

All the things are interesting, aren’t they?

A Harmonious World

If you ask me what my biggest wish is, I would say I hope finally someday, the world would be a loving home for all species. Combing the history, we see massacres among races. We see bloody wars among nations. We see human wipe out other species. The hidden reason behind all these cruel behaviors is because of the thought of being superior. But tracing our roots, everything in the world has the same origin.

As time goes by, animals are killed for food, used for scientific research or kept as pets, and human activities constantly affect the survival of endangered species. Yet no human could ever deny their own primitive animal instincts. We need the nature to breed us with food just like any living things need. We mate to reproduce as the natural discipline would go. We have no power to manipulate the nature just as any species on earth. In some way, with the ability of speaking languages, some people think they are superior to other species.

Certainly, no one would ever doubt human’s ability of thinking, of memorizing and creating. Yet we still seek great inspiration from animals and plants, such as the invention of radar. We cannot fly like birds without consumption of petrol and discharge of pollution. We cannot build home on both lands and in the sea like amphibians do. We cannot change the color of skin like chameleons do. We just cannot do as many things as animals cannot, why on earth would anyone insist that we human are the rulers.

Besides it goes the same with human beings. We people all involved from the same kind of ancestors. The difference only came from the geographic location we lived in and the circumstances we grew out of. there is no nation or race more civilized than the other. All are unique. Why not respect the existence of differences rather than erase them? Why not find the balance point with each others?

Tracing our roots, we all came from the same cells. Everything is unique and equal. There is nothing inferior to another. As a famous Chinese princess once said, we are two leaves from the same root, why on earth are you so desperate to burn me down. As a resident of the earth, I think we all need to treat everything equally. Remember, bullying animals means bullying the balance of the whole environment thus we are endangering ourselves. Bullying other people equals to finding faults with yourself. Respect the other species and other people; therefore make the earth more harmonious.

If I Had One Billion

I am considering that if I got one billion, what would I do. Maybe I will separate them and put them in a famous bank, because keeping them at my home is too dangerous.

After arranging for my money, I would think about my demands. What do I want most? Of course a big meal! So, I will go to one of the biggest restaurants in the world and order whatever I want. It would be my first time to eat following my heart. Then, I would like to buy a car, and a big beautiful house also.

Besides, I would like to donate some of my money, but not to the charities. There are so many people needing for help but cannot get help from charities. Charities could just help the old on their health and the poor children on their education. How about those neither old nor poor, who need more help than the old and the poor children. I have heard about an SM3 girl and an SM3 boy who study in Singapore but they get into big troubles finally. They are talented students, but nobody could continue his study in face of cancer. They are not old, but they cannot conquer illness; they are not poor, but they cannot afford to cure cancer. Thus, if I had much money, I would help people like them.

There is a most amazing thing to have a large amount of money. If I had much money, I no longer need to consider things I am to do relating to money. If so, I would not worry about what major I choose will make me get high payment after graduation. I would just follow my heart to study something I am interested in. Thus, my life would be more meaningful, but not only related to money.

However, it is just my imagination. I must come back to the real world unless I win much money from lottery. While, it would be a problem that how can I win the money when I never buy lotteries.

my eighth blog: Life Is A Journey

                                                                  Life Is A Journey

                                                                                    Though it, we both get and lose a lot

Last Friday, I went to a primary school to start my GIVE program. However, on seeing so many children playing in the playground, more correctly, in a small yard, I reminded myself of what my childhood in a primary was like. They played with much fun, chasing and shouting. At the time , I realized that I had been quite old compared with them. Time passing by, I have to admit that I have changed so much with more experiences and deep understanding toward life. Of course, I also lost so much as a cost such as a pure heart, a simple thought of the world, or a permanent pursuit of dream. It turns out that life is a journey, during which we both get and lose a lot. Anyway, people prefer to look forward and would like to say at the end of their life that they have learned a lot from life and they will never be regret what they have decided all along.

Here I do want to share my thoughts instead of giving any advice. Maybe it sounds I am rambling, it is really true for me.

During the journey, I learned to be mature, though I know I am not in terms of its real meaning and value. Experiencing much really can change a person. I said that I would always keep a pure heart like a child when I was young. It was not a lie, I promise. But finally I followed the normal natural developing trend of human being. With the training of reality, I have to admit life is really full of magic and forceful enough to put you on another dress. Being trapped into trouble, I begin to know how to behave like mature people with deeply profound sense of calming in mind. No crying like kids is the basic in my view. In contrast, I almost lost the simple lifestyle. Living without trouble, playing without worry, laughing without consideration have absolutely been all the past. While watching children running in the yard, I missed my pervious time so much.

  During the journey, I learned to be friendlier, more loyal, more enthusiastic, and more passionate. The cost was that I lost the purity, simplicity, and all virtues that only belonged to kids. I should be totally an adult.

   However, I believe all that I have got are worthy of my lost. Sincerely hope that my friends can get much  they want from the journey of life as I do.

Shoud Singapore Develop Nuclear Energy?

Yesterday night, I got a SMS from a frind warning that deadly radiation is coming and it’s very dangerous to leave the house. This SMS, although everyone knows it is a gossip, makes me think this question: Shoud Singapore Develop Nuclear Energy? My answer is, NO.
One reason for my opinion is that Singapore can benefit little from a nuclear plant. As we all know, Singapore is just a middlesized city with only 400 millian population and don’t have too much industry. Therefore, Singapore don’t need too so electricity that only nuclear energy is capable of providing it. In addition, as the price of uranium fuel keep rising, nuclear electricity is no longer cheaper than tranditional electricity and some other alternate energy.
The other reason is the enormously high risk of nuclear desaster. The Japanese government has displace all the residents within 20km radius of the troubled Fukushima nuclear plant due to the nuclear crisis. In case such a crisis happened in Singapore, roughly half of the state would be evacuated. Then, if the nuclear reactor exploded in Singapore, the rest of the state would be exposed to the deadly radiation too. Only one nuclear crisis can destroy Singapore, phisically or economically. After a nuclear crisis, even if Singaporan dare to stand the public health risk, would the forerge ships, corporations and individuals stay in such a island under the threat of radiation? When rich immigrants leave this land and no ship park in the port, what else Singapore has? Yes we can do some work to make the nuclear reactor safer, like the Japanese did in the past several decades. But no one can predict when the earthquake, tsunami or war come and no one can promise the nuclear plant will be safe during the war. How can you feel secure when you sleep with a bomb?
In conclusion, Nuclear Energy will bring Singapore nothing but the threat of death. Singapore should not develop nuclear energy.

powerful effect of the media

With the advent of the internet, the world cannot be any smaller, and media matters more and more in our lives. It brings us the latest news, which might be good. And it would share information within the world. Yet the problem now is that despite the good effects, we have to pay attention to those bad impacts. Here are two effects of the media that I am concerned about.

When we watch TV or a movie we usually see many images of violence and people hurting others. The problem with this is that it can become traumatic especially in little children as we see it more and more. The kids that are starting to grow and are shaping their personality values and beliefs can become aggressive or they can lose a sense of reality and fiction of what they are seeing. In the past years there have been some cases of kids carrying a gun at school and even hurting others with it. Those kids have been linked to excessive use of violent video games and war images. Another problem is that real war is used as a form of entertainment by the media, we should make kids and teens aware that war is not a form of entertainment and that there is no win or lose like in video games, in real war everyone lose.

Besides, the media has a huge impact on society and also in public opinion. They can shape the public opinion in different ways depending of what is the objective. For example, after the attacks of 911 the media gave a huge coverage of the event and exposed Osama guilty for the attack as they were told by the authorities. This shaped the public opinion to support the war on terrorism, the same happened with the war on Iraq. The problem is that if media received inaccurate information then the public opinion supported a wrong cause, this is the power of public opinion influence. The public is bribed with good radio, television and newspapers into an acceptance of the biased, the misleading, and the status. The media are not, according to this approach, crude agents of propaganda. They organize public understanding. However, the overall interpretations they provide in the long run are those most preferred by, and least challenging to, those with economic power.

These two effects have profound impact on the development of the society. If the media is used wisely, people can have great positive potential for learning and development. But if not, the results would be rather upset. So pay attention to your TV and your computer. Who knows what they would bring to you.

The strict censorship blocking the development of culture

As we all know, the censorship of literature and video works is very strict in China, and I think the strict censorship is blocking the development of culture. When the writers or directors work on their jobs, they have to think about whether the works can pass the strict judgment. In this way, they actually lose the freedom to express what they want to show.

For example, if these video works were created in China, they might be murdered right after they were born. And reasons may be as follows.

Prison Break: How can the prisoners be more brilliant than the policemen? How it becomes those non-communist people’s turn to save the country? How can the president play a negative role?

Inside Man: It is too ridiculous for the police to miss the criminal finally.

The Pursuit Of Happiness: How can the government leave the poor people hard to make a living in such a harmonious society?

The Godfather: It is not realistic that gangs exist in China.

The Hunt: The idea is positive but there are too many dirty words that should not come from a young boy’s mouth.

… …

How can you have the expectation that writers and directors come up with great works with their thinking locked up by the censorship? Censorship is necessary in some way but we also need books and movies that reflect reality. I really wish that there can be as many Chinese books and movies popular in the world as all kinds of products made in China someday. And I think that is the real time that China becomes powerful not only in GDP.

proper media censorship is essential

I believe proper media censorship is essential in modern society, especially in a country without highly developed economy. Generally, media is involved with television, newspapers and internet. Decades ago, media was quite easy to be controlled because information transformation was dominated by the government. Nowadays, thanks to the powerful internet, folks are able to access current affairs, and can share brilliant ideas. However, many governments, including democracy governments block some information. Arguments on this issue have never come to an end.

I do not think those so called sensitive information endangers our society, but internet can be used as an evil tool. For example, a terrorist may send deceptive news saying that government is abusing a particular race’s human right, and call for violent protest. Thus, a sequence of crimes may happen, bringing about panic. In this kind of situation, blocking the internet becomes a compulsory option. Moreover, some countries like China, need to guarantee society steady in order to develop economy, so proper censorship are required.

We have to admit that people like Chinese have the right to enjoy surfing the internet freely, but the basis of personal happiness is established on his homeland’s prosperity. For this reason, a country is supposed to keep steady and keep moving. The easiest way is to remove some negative information. So I am for proper media censorship.

Eileen Chang

Eileen Chang is a legendary woman writer in the 20^th century in Shanghai China because of her extraordinary life experience and unique writing style. Her works is considered among the best Chinese literature of the period. And she is like a mystery that attracted me and millions of other readers.

Eileen was born in a family where traditional Chinese culture conflicted with western culture in 1920. Her father was a typical Chinese man while her mother was deeply influenced by western culture. Her happy childhood did not last long because of the divorce of her parents, and her father treated her badly after he married another woman. This is believed to contribute to her unique writing style which expresses advanced and open western ideas in a typical Chinese way. Alongside, she gained the chance to study in Hong Kong university. However, she came back to Shanghai before she could finish her degree due to the war and that was the time she experienced a true but heart broken love with Hu Lancheng, a minister worked for Japan who invaded China. Although many people blame Hu for his overflow love towards women that hurt Eileen seriously, I feel grateful to him for his appearance that brought Eileen’s career into the highest peak. After their divorce, Eileen moved to America and never came back again. Meanwhile, she did not come up with works as outstanding as she did before.

Eileen’s literature is full of rich and gorgeous words with amazing imagination that demonstrates the very relationship between men and women. Negative but incisive. In her world, there was almost no permanent love and everything will came to an end because of money, mistress or social pressure. But there is one exception in Love in a Fallen City in which Liusu finally married Liuyuan though in price of a destroyed city. I think Eileen’s opinions are a bit too negative but many of her sayings are incisive and realistic in black humour. For example, she said: “A woman is doomed if she is cheated by a man; a woman is an intrigante if she provides chances for a man to cheat her; a woman is a stupid evil if she fails to provide a man the chance but finally is cheated by the man.” These saying always makes people first smile and then think about it deep meaning for a while.

I appreciate Eileen’s works and her life experience. Maybe there is no way for me to understand some of her ideas, but, as a woman, I can feel part of her soul singing long and low songs which are echoing in the history.