神话

神话 may be simply regarded as fairy tale. Yes? No?
If we were to just look at the chinese characters, it seems to have another shade of meaning.

神话 = 神的话

试问神的话不听，我们要听谁的话？哈哈...

Recently, I had a chance to relook at a fairy-tale period in china history : 封神榜. As the title suggest, the story is based on the period of a chao, ruled by the infamous 商纣. Whoever can bring peace back to the world shall 论功行赏而封神.

对。无论是人或鬼、甚至山妖水怪、等等，有功必赏而封神。就算是天界的神也助力一把，倘若心术不正也将遭受天律之惩罚 。那就是那么一个大时代！

I believe many people would have heard of 《封神榜》. Certainly, you may have heard of
- 哪吒大闹东海
- 纣王那个昏君
- 姜太公以直钩垂钓来个愿者上钩
- 申公豹道法虽高但却与妖孽为谋
- 妲己被九尾狐所缠而成一代妖后
- 周文王七年被囚禁在羑里演八卦、等等。
Just that.. erm.. we might not know the details.
There were past efforts trying to condense 《封神榜》 into just a movie (or something like that). Unlikely to be too successful, I must say. The content is just too rich.

Interestingly.. erm..

You may find it fairy-tale-like, I find it so real.
Looking at the world at large, I think it is rather chaotic, and so what if there is another actual 《封神榜》 going on now? What role will we be playing?

- - - - - -

一日内就是那么一正餐，
可是那是好丰富的一餐。谢了杰与湘。

两日后便是成绩放榜日，
多年努力将验收于当日。希望诸位皆能考得佳。

- - - - - -

Does the picture illustrate the different stages of a man's life in an almost chronological order? Which stage are we in now?

《凌迟》略谈

《凌迟》 : This is a new noun I have just learnt. This is a name given to a specific death sentence. I find all means of death sentences repulsive, but 《凌迟》 took the extreme end! I have an involuntary habit of visualizing the things I read, maps included. Not surprisingly, my memories (if there are) are pretty pictorial in nature. Hence, reading those materials related to 《凌迟》 is erm … Maybe that explains my lack of appetite today. Haiz..

The idea behind 《凌迟》 is.. erm.. wonder if you are prepared for it? Anyway, the idea behind it is to cause death, slowly but surely. It involves cutting-out (not just cutting, but cutting-out), slicing-away (not just slice, but slicing-away) body parts and eventually dismembering the person being sentenced to such. Naturally, it must start with parts that are non-fatal, but still draw blood. Some articles documented a minimum number of cuts/slices must be administered before that person draw his last breathe. That minimum number could be 1000. In any situation whereby that person was dead before the 1000th cut, the people performing the cutting/slicing would be punished with the same death sentence!

True, there are/were indeed very horrible people that have/had caused death or severe suffering to many fellow human beings. But to administer such torture-to-death sentence to a fellow human being is just beyond my imagination. Mm..

Alright, accounts of torture-to-death has been around since very long long time ago. Sometimes, it makes many people question the saying 《人之初 性本善》.

Mm..
我还是相信《人之初 性本善》的说法。
可是，为何人间却还有如此多的坏人呢？
哈…

当然，重点是在其中《初》的定意。
《初》不一定是指我们刚出生的那一刻。
去体会一下为何佛经时常有一种说法：“打从无始劫以来 …”
加上圣经也在谈“原罪”。
是“原罪”之前的那一种《初》。

我也不敢在此高谈阔论啦。
有机会再谈吧。
我就试着去吃一点东西。

Dilatation of Pupils

Pupils need to be dilated to facilitate observation of the inside of the eyes. Medication (in the form of eye drops) is often needed to make the pupils dilate.

How would you know your pupils are dilated (besides being told by the doctor)?
- Our vision will be blurred. The blur vision may last for approximately 4 hours.
- We can’t read the time on our watch.
- We can’t read the smses from our handphone.
- When someone call to our mobile phone, the caller-id feature is useless. We can’t see the display clearly.
- We can’t read the instructions/labels on any items (collected at the pharmacy).
- We can’t interpret the printed receipt.
- We can’t see the addressee printed on an envelope.
- We can't read newspaper or magazines.
- We can’t surf the internet.
- We can forget about managing or processing any emails.
- We can only look at far-far-big-big things (although they are still a bit blurry).

I “just” had a first-hand-experience of all the above. If not, I would have posted this entry much earlier.

Erps.. And I drove while I was still under the spell of dilated pupils. Haiz.. I hope I didn’t pose a road-hazard just now. You tell me. How useful when we receive the following tips

only upon our arrival at the clinic itself?

I just got to go slow and steady. Mm…

- - - -

I also realised that either
- my pupils are kind of small by the medical standard, or
- my pupils are quite resistant to the medication used to assist in the dilatation of the pupils.

While most (in fact all the others I observed) need one application of that eye drop to have their pupils dilated enough, I required 3 applications. Thick skin, perhaps. :o)

He Did It! He Scored His First Goal!

He was near me and he blurted, “I did it. I scored my first goal!”

You would have thought he is kind of a soccer fanatic, wouldn’t you?

Then you are wrong.

He was making an equivalent statement, “My wife is pregnant!”

Loads of congrats to him!! :o)

I admit I wouldn’t be able to fully comprehend the happiness engulfing him now, unless I went through it myself. Soon? :P

But the bliss emitting out from him is unmistakably remarkable. Haha..

New born spells hope.
Anticipating a new born is therefore _________ !!! :)
And through your own babies, you further learn what is giving, unconditionally. Of course, I’m not saying this is the only way to learn such lesson.

I believe, the months and years to come will be filled with more excitement. And I do hope more happiness follows.

Congratulating him aside, I realised my mind starts to wonder (again). Some seemingly unrelated thoughts rushed in.

There are many couples who have tried so hard to conceive but remain unsuccessful. Besides the advices they could get from professionals, their friends and relatives will also suggest so-called promising tonics to get their systems more ready for baby-making. Yet, results varied just too much, remaining so uncertain.

There are just many couples in very poor countries who appear weak (much due to malnutrition) but have no problem conceiving. They seem to give birth one after another (though sadly, many babies don’t stay). I think you would have seen that in documentaries.

Somehow I feel that being able to conceive is more than an active sex-life and a healthy body. The idea of “destiny” may come in, I supposed?

“Destiny”? Mm..
Look at those poor little fellow citizens of the globe born in Ethiopia .. (1), (2), (3), etc..

Some people (not just one okay) commented that the previous life (that is, if you believe in it) of many of these people were very wealthy people who flouted their wealth wastefully. Mm..

- - - -

I so believe 90% of the readers here will find the main character of the following clip so familiar :
Clip 1
Clip 2

Hehe..

想睡...

作夜彻夜不眠。放心，绝不是失眠，而是叙旧话绵绵。
今早本想偷眠。可是时间就是不多，还得处理事件件。

下午与多位友人闲聚于山景道，时间竟然火速地奔前。
傍晚本以为回到敝舍定能小歇，却来了戚友贺岁拜年。

虽有话在心中，但现已头晕目眩，最好还是不要多写。
很想合眼养神，但事情耽误已久，看来还是得撑着些。
熬夜实在不易，还是我年纪作祟，提醒我要保重一点。
Mm..

- - - - - - - - - -

New Year : Some Random Thoughts

IT IS A FESTIVE, A REJOICING SEASON. Do you feel it so?

IT IS A WONDERFUL TIME FOR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS TO MEET AND GET TOGETHER. Or do you drag it more?

I over-heard the following conversation :

Father (to his 3 teenager children) : 记得年初一，我们一家要一起到亲戚家拜年。
Son A : 我不能去，我有工作。
The father was silent, looked at his son briefly, looked away, but remained silent.
Daugther B : 我也不要去。
Mother : 一年一次，拜托啦。
Daugther B (in retort, wanting to make a point) : 为什么他 (referring to A) 可以不要去，我就不可以？以后我也在新年的时候做工咯。
The father signed audibly.
Daugther C : 他们 (referring to A and B) 都没有去，我也不要去了。

Can we understand how the father feels? I think, not until we become one, ourselves.
Alright, we may turn the table around and question the father whether he knows how his children feel. Mm…

人是应该互相体谅。
可是如果只懂得一味地要求对方来体谅自己，这其中的味道就不一样了。


THERE ARE INTERESTING AND MEANINGFUL PRACTICES. Or are you merely going through the motion?

Recently, I hear this umpteen times over the TV set, some kids saying :
我们不能睡，我们要为爸妈《守岁》。

哈哈 …
你相信《守岁》吗？我相信。
你了解《守岁》吗？我不敢说我很了解。
《守岁》的意义只是为爸妈而守的吗？好像不只是这样。

苏轼写下了《守岁》名句：
明年岂无年，心事恐蹉跎；
努力尽今夕，少年犹可夸！

古人在一首《守岁》诗中写道：
相邀守岁阿戎家，蜡炬传红向碧纱；
三十六旬都浪过，偏从此夜惜年华。

我看好多的人，还真的很有心啊。就是熬着不睡。
可是仔细观察，为了提神很多人不过是在
- 吃喝玩乐、
- 谈论是是非非、
- 看看电视节目、等等。
就是要消磨时间啦。
殊不知，《消磨时间》跟《守岁》的本意背道而驰。
我…

时间允许的话，不妨好好儿的来体会一下。:o)
这里看看也不错：《守岁》


I think I believe more in the blue, but quite many people seem to have feeling tending towards the red. Mm.. Of course, I’m not going to lecture you here that you should.. blah blah blah.. But if you wish to talk about it in person, I welcome that. ;)

I often ask myself (during this season) :
I am older but am I wiser?
Have I done things more right than wrong?
What would I do to right the wrongs?
How could I do to lead the coming year(s) more meaningfully?
Have I fulfilled my roles well as a son, sibling, friend, colleague, teacher and erm.. okay the rest collectively as “etc.” ?

Maybe I am thinking too much. Haha..
Maybe as what F said : 只要过得开心就好.

我只是想我要如何把开心的定义再扩张一点。
范围不要只是自己开心就好。
我也希望大家都能过的开心。

恭贺诸位：
新年进步！
身心安康！
万事如意！

心态：From a Story …

I was walking along a row of shops and one of them was playing a VCD. It was a philosophical kind of programme. I stood by and listened for a while. I was pretty impressed. I particularly liked a story-telling segment within. I am going to re-tell it in my own “style” (as if I have a style.. haha.. )

在过去，一个秀才寒窗苦读十年，为的是有朝一日能进京赶考。若能考取功名，就可算是他有翻身的机会，亦是他命运的转捩点。

有一个秀才在进入考场的前一晚，心里相当忐忑。当晚也做了三个梦。
第一个梦：他梦见自己在高墙上种白菜。
第二个梦：他梦见自己走在雨中，头上戴着斗笠，可是手上还打把伞。
第三个梦：他与心爱的女人趟在床上，可是却背对背的靠着，两人都不做声。

隔天一早，秀才的心理更是不安。他不明白这三个梦有何含义。于是，他找来了一位高人来为他解梦。高人解释说：
第一个梦：你在高墙上种白菜不是白种了吗？是白费劲了！
第二个梦：你在雨中戴着斗笠还打着伞不是多此一举吗？
第三个梦：你与心爱的人都两人已经趟在床上了，却还是背对背的靠着，这不是没戏了吗？

什么《白费劲了》、《多此一举》、《没戏了》？秀才这么一听解说，好似沮丧。心想，这一回进京赶考真的是白费劲了。本来就与功名无缘又何必多此一举呢？既然都没戏了，不然就回去客栈收拾好行李准备回乡好了。

秀才回到了客栈，将行李收拾好正准备结账回乡。客栈的老板关心的问：秀才你怎么还没有去考就想放弃回乡呢？秀才便一五一十的，还以一种非常沮丧的心情向客栈的老板解释。心里想，老板也应该认同他想回乡的做法。

不料老板听完后却说：我也会解梦。你要不要听一听？
秀才也很想听听这位老板的见解。
老板继续说：
第一个梦：你在高墙上种白菜，这是《高中》的意思。
第二个梦：你在雨中，头上戴着斗笠，手上还打把伞，这标示你是有备而来。有备无患嘛！
第三个梦：你与心爱的女人都已经趟在床上了，而且还背对背的靠着，这表示你该《翻身》了，你《翻身》的机会到了。

秀才这么一听解说，兴奋的很，信心大振。提起勇气步入了考场。结果考取了探花。

- - - -

We may choose to just laugh at the 「秀才」 , laugh at the so-called 「高人」 or marvel at the 「客栈的老板」. Putting these aside temporarily, do we learn anything from the episode at all?

We can always adopt either an optimistic or pessimistic view to look at anything happening around us. We know the result / experience / outcome is going to be very different.

Yes, we decide…
关键在己 …

- - - - - - - - - -

走在熟悉的道路...

走在熟悉的道路，
这回怎么觉得这条路好像比较长了？
我想，是我把脚步放慢了...。

我继续的往前走着。
在熟悉的道路感觉着陌生。
走着走着也忆起这几年来的「人」、「事」、「物」、「镜」。
回味着有酸酸的、有甜甜的...，好多的滋味，
就算现在吃着白粥也觉得很有味。

原来我都没有忘记。
我想我不会忘记、也不敢忘记。
这不是对许多事情的放不下，
只是仍然在乎着种种、仍然为种种而感动着。

斜阳一线天际，暮色渐渐加剧。
这感觉不是孤寂，只是一种寂静，就是有些微的奇异。
浸在昏暗的暮色里整理好思绪，
希望明日曙光一现，我还可以。

我也想飞。
我能飞去哪儿呢？
虽说飞得高看得远，
但近在咫尺的也不可忽略。

- - - - - -

Just realised, E mentioned in the earlier entry was asked to apply for polytechnic (an euphemism for asking him to leave the college). How sad! I can see that he is trying hard, and probably he is trying too hard that he is always appearing tired. I also don't know lah. From unflattering comments about him and his progress, from the others pouring in... erm...

Still hope to see him holding his head up high in the near future.

L Made Me Remember Jn

I don't even remember when I last saw her. It was nice to have met her, L, recently. The conversation continues...

Towards the end, there was a little twist of "plot".

L : You know Jn?

Me : Of course. We still contact each other regularly.

L : You know what. Sometimes we may not know how we may have affected our students. Jn and I are in the same church and I know the pastor's wife pretty well. The pastor's wife told me, Jn aspired to be a math teacher because of you.

Me : Huh?! Erm...

I was dumbfounded. He never said that (to me). Of course, I don’t expect (cannot imagine) him to utter those words. Haha..

I remember scolded him (nagged at him) the most (in his class) . He was never hard working and hardly submitted any tutorials. Those that he had submitted, I was sure he wouldn't need them for revision either. They were of such slobby quality most of the time. He failed most of his tests or at best obtained a borderline pass. However, in his second year, he participated in a mathematics competition and topped those who had participated in the college. Kaoz.. He has the brain! Still my "nagging" continued.

It was so "bad" that once (during his second year, in early term 3, I think), he questioned (not in the nicest of tone) why I bothered about his studies and his future at all. He claimed that it is his future and he will be responsible for it anyway, suggesting that I should leave him alone. But, you know what? I continued (much to his annoyance, I supposed) as he hadn’t shown any sign of improvement and didn’t seem to have any sense of direction. But of course, I changed to a much softer-approach when dealing with him then. Haha..

I don’t know when he started changing actually. I remember feeling a little strange (but glad) for him to approach me (voluntarily) for consultations after his Preliminary Examination. I really didn’t do much as his questions were all so specific. Nevertheless, we poured in some quality time to set things right. It turned out right!

When he got into NUS and told me he had decided to major in Math and had planned to teach, I was… erm… only too delighted. I was delighted not because he said “math” or “teach”. I would be just as delighted if he had said other subjects, other professions. I was delighted plainly because this fine young man all of a sudden had such a sharp sense of direction in life and knew what he wanted!

I am still very proud of him. Still, I don’t think I had done anything extra-ordinary. You would have done the same, wouldn’t you?

- - - - - - - - - -

懒人的愿望

你一定要走吗？
可不可休息一下。
像我一样，偶尔睡个懒觉，
偶尔发呆，偶尔出错，
偶尔闹情绪，偶尔耍赖.......
你一定要如此坚定、严格的向前走吗？
弄得大家都精疲力竭的老了！

He is Bored or I am Just Dull.

He was talking about *little pal, E.
He continued, "This E, always looks sleeping in class. The work or assignments he handed in are all done in a rather slobby manner. I don't think he puts in effort. He looks so not-interested, so half-hearted. I think he has no interest to continue study."

"What do you think?" (Alemah, He knows I know that student.)

Oh my, oh my...
I must also comment??!! Erm...

The easiest way out is of course, "Ya lor, I agree with you."

But I decided to choose a different approach altogether, in an attempt to "mess up" his thinking a little.

I said ...
你的观察好入微哦。
我就没有想得如此深入了。
我认识他才没有多久，还没有机会与他好好儿的谈谈，
所以不敢下此定论。
他上课的时候的确看起来有一些无精打采。
可是我不敢说他对学习没有兴趣。
我只是认为...
- How come I am not able to captivate his attention?
- Maybe I am just too dull?
- What is lacking on my side such that I cannot draw his attention?
- Maybe my approach is just not that suitable for him?
- How am I going to make my lessons for interesting to him?
- Maybe the really boring one is me?

I know I am just a little “playful” here. Haha..

But, my idea is simply…
事情既然发生了，
问题不一定是在别人。
自己可能是问题的主因。
我们可否有这样的勇气来面对？

- - - - - - - - - -



有一位作者这么说：

领导力不只是职场上重要的能力，其实，在家里也一样需要，父母就是一家的领导人。

一九九二年美国总统大选，老布希输给了柯林顿。布希的孙子当时就读小学三年级。选情揭晓的隔天，学校里，孩子在排队领营养午餐的时候，老师听到一个小孩嘲笑他：「输掉了，你爷爷输掉了！」

老师看了很心疼，正要阻挡，只见布希的孙子面带微笑，没有被激怒，也没有低头，从容不迫地说：「我相信柯林顿也会是一个好总统。」

老师听了好感动，浮上脑海的第一个念头就是：这个孩子的爸妈教得真好。有一句俗话说：「父母怎么做，孩子就怎么学。」这个故事可以凸显出，父母作为领导人，言行举止有多大的影响力。