Last week, Spore Sprout realized that many of his favorite Broadway show tunes were about the seasons and the passage of time harking back to when "the livin' was easy" in days that were "slow and mellow." He wonders if that is how all middle-aged folk remember the past -- or just those grappling with the quickening pulse of life in Singapore.
Try to remember
(H. Schmidt & T. Jones)
Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.
Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.
Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.
Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.
Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.
Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
Although you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
Without a hurt the heart is hollow.
Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
The fire of September that made us mellow.
Deep in December, our hearts should remember
And follow.
Summertime
(I. & G. Gershwin)
Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high
Oh, Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry
One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky
But until that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With your daddy and mammy standing by
Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high
Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
You could look after marketing
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal on Europe's "opposite twins" recounted this incident:
Shortly after Nicolas Sarkozy was elected French president in 2007, he met German leader Angela Merkel at an aircraft factory in Toulouse to resolve a Franco-German squabble over who should run Airbus, the European plane maker.
Mr. Sarkozy joked that he and Ms. Merkel would make a good management team for Airbus. "You could look after the details," he said, according to people present. Ms. Merkel responded with a quip of her own: "And you could look after marketing."
Monday, July 5, 2010
Nixon on Brezhnev
He said, "Mr. President, most politicians have tragedy in their early lives." Well, I told him that I lost two brothers to tuberculosis. And he watched his father die from the cancer he caught in the steelworks. He was a sad man and a noble adversary.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Germany 4: 1 England (Round of 16 June 27)
“Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end the Germans win." -- Gary Lineker, circa 1990
Watch the highlights here.
Watch the highlights here.
Friday, June 25, 2010
My country, 'Tis of thee
What struck Spore Sprout most about the otherwise forgettable match between France and Mexico (Group A June 17) was at the beginning when La Marseillaise was played. As the camera panned across the faces of the France players, some singing the national anthem and some not, millions of television viewers could see tears streaming down the face of Patrice Evra, the captain of France.
Why the tears and emotion? Spore Sprout thinks he knows.
Patrice is a self-made Frenchman, in that he chose to be French (over being Senegalese). Is it any surprise that a man who chose his nationality could love it more than another born willy nilly into it?
Similarly, Jong Tae-se 张大世, captain of the North Korea team who is a South Korean by descent, born and bred and living and working in Japan, chose to be a citizen of North Korea. He cried when the North Korea national anthem was played before the match with Brazil (Group G June 15).
This is how Guillermo Franco (a former Argentine citizen who plays for Mexico) put it:
Why the tears and emotion? Spore Sprout thinks he knows.
Patrice is a self-made Frenchman, in that he chose to be French (over being Senegalese). Is it any surprise that a man who chose his nationality could love it more than another born willy nilly into it?
Similarly, Jong Tae-se 张大世, captain of the North Korea team who is a South Korean by descent, born and bred and living and working in Japan, chose to be a citizen of North Korea. He cried when the North Korea national anthem was played before the match with Brazil (Group G June 15).
This is how Guillermo Franco (a former Argentine citizen who plays for Mexico) put it:
I'm Mexican. I feel 100 percent Mexican since the day I was naturalized. I made the decision to be Mexican. I didn't decide where I was born -- God made that decision. But I made the decision to become Mexican and I feel proud of that. The opportunities that country has shown me, the love -- there are a lot of reasons why I tipped my heart towards Mexico.Do we forget something important when we criticize our sportsmen and sportswomen who are new compatriots for being less than "true blue Singaporean"?
The other side of leadership
Coach Marcello Lippi following Italy's ignominous exit (as holders!) from the group stage of World Cup 2010:
I take full responsibility... If a team shows up at an important game with terror in its heart and head and legs, it must mean the coach did not train them as he should have done. I thought the men I chose would have been able to deliver something different but obviously I was wrong.
The players didn't play right, they didn't press, they didn't build, they didn't do anything. I still have belief in the players but no one would believe that was the real Italian team, the one you saw out there. I don't want to play the victim but the leader is always responsible. I refuse to believe we are as bad as you saw tonight – I didn't think we would win the World Cup but I thought we could perform better than that – but this is clearly not a fantastic moment for Italian football.
I deeply regret not being able to prepare the team properly or find the right mix of motivation. I don't know why we only played in the last 10 minutes and I am sorry for the choices I made, what else can I say? I am extremely sorry for all the fans who came to watch us, and I can hardly express how sorry I am to end my time with the association in this way. I really would have expected anything but this.
Photograph: Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Team spirit
The strike was organized to protest the sending-home by the French football authorities of a player who had verbally abused the coach in an expletive-laden rant and then refused to apologize. The team captain spoke ominously of "traitors" in the dressing room and clashed with the assistant coach, who then quit. Several senior members of the squad were identified in the press as "gang-leaders" agitating against the coach. A government minister called the behavior of the players "appalling."
Similar troubles brewing in Team England bubbled to the surface when the former captain, recently removed for an extra-marital affair with a teammate's fiancee, complained in a press conference about squad selection and other mis-handlings of football matters by the coach. Several senior members of the squad were identified as being unhappy, who promptly denied his allegations, notwithstanding their recent complaints in the press about the monotony of their training regime.
France promptly crashed out of the group stage of the world cup finals, and England squeezed through on the back of a squeaker.
Many spectators, like Spore Sprout, feel that such dismal results are only to be expected when teams are dysfunctional. But which is the chicken and which the egg? Steve Archibald may well have a point when he famously called team spirit an illusion brought on by victory.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
World Cup 2010
The world cup is a festive occasion around the Sprout household. What serious fun to watch twenty men kick a ball about on television (!) -- and cheer along with the very lucky tens of thousands inside the stadium where you wish you were, also along with the lucky hundreds of millions gathered around screens just like you are. How precious to share some of football's unforgettable moments with friends and family and in happy fellowship with people all over the world.
Spore Sprout learns a few things along the way, too, quite apart from the odd geography lesson, such as that both Paraguay and Slovakia (Group F June 21) are located at the center of their respective continents.
Watching the Argentina v. South Korea game (Group B June 17) in China, the word that came to Spore Sprout's mind was 大气 (loosely understood as a generosity that is often artless, in contrast to 小气, a calculative petty-mindedness).
Three things gave Spore Sprout this impression. First, all sixty-four matches of World Cup 2010 are broadcast live and replayed several times in different guises on public television in China -- free to all viewers in China. Contrast this with our lot in Singapore: games available only to cable-TV subscribers, and at historic high rates (S$94.16 for existing subscribers; higher for new subscribers). Spore Sprout thinks he understands most of the arguments made to explain why things are the way they are in Singapore ... But he asks, "Why not be BIG about it?"
Second, notwithstanding popular sentiments against what is seen as repeated Korean attempts to appropriate certain elements of Chinese culture and tradition (e.g., Ganjeung Danojie, the Korean variant of the Duanwujie dragonboat festival that originated in China, was designated as a Korean cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2005), the Chinese TV commentary for the game in which Korea was soundly beaten betrayed no hint of snide gloating, but consistently praised the Korean team as worthy representatives of Asian football, a shining example for China to emulate.
Third, it was heartwarming to be reminded of how the magnanimity of one person can mean so much to another. The Korean goal that took the shine off the Argentine victory was clearly the fault of Argentine defender Martin Demichelis whose cringing mistake could have been expected to send his hot-tempered coach Diego Maradona into an apoplectic fit. In the words of Demichelis,
Vamos, Vamos a ganar ...
Spore Sprout learns a few things along the way, too, quite apart from the odd geography lesson, such as that both Paraguay and Slovakia (Group F June 21) are located at the center of their respective continents.
Watching the Argentina v. South Korea game (Group B June 17) in China, the word that came to Spore Sprout's mind was 大气 (loosely understood as a generosity that is often artless, in contrast to 小气, a calculative petty-mindedness).
Three things gave Spore Sprout this impression. First, all sixty-four matches of World Cup 2010 are broadcast live and replayed several times in different guises on public television in China -- free to all viewers in China. Contrast this with our lot in Singapore: games available only to cable-TV subscribers, and at historic high rates (S$94.16 for existing subscribers; higher for new subscribers). Spore Sprout thinks he understands most of the arguments made to explain why things are the way they are in Singapore ... But he asks, "Why not be BIG about it?"
Second, notwithstanding popular sentiments against what is seen as repeated Korean attempts to appropriate certain elements of Chinese culture and tradition (e.g., Ganjeung Danojie, the Korean variant of the Duanwujie dragonboat festival that originated in China, was designated as a Korean cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2005), the Chinese TV commentary for the game in which Korea was soundly beaten betrayed no hint of snide gloating, but consistently praised the Korean team as worthy representatives of Asian football, a shining example for China to emulate.
Third, it was heartwarming to be reminded of how the magnanimity of one person can mean so much to another. The Korean goal that took the shine off the Argentine victory was clearly the fault of Argentine defender Martin Demichelis whose cringing mistake could have been expected to send his hot-tempered coach Diego Maradona into an apoplectic fit. In the words of Demichelis,
I felt that, for a moment after the error, I had earned the insults of 40 million Argentines. ... Maradona spoke to me a lot at half time, he told me I have his support and my team-mates'. He told me to not be overcome by nerves because of the error, to not start hitting long balls from the back and try to control the ball like always. It was an amazing show of support.Vamos, Vamos Argentina,
Vamos, Vamos a ganar ...
Photographed by: Alejandro Pagni/AFP/Getty Images
Saturday, June 12, 2010
The moral life of children
Spore Sprout has suspected it for a while, and now he is almost sure: that his ten-year-old has a more finely-tuned sense of morality than he does, a greater capacity for moral reasoning, a higher degree of moral intelligence.
Discussing their favorite characters from the Mahabharata, Spore Sprout explained why he thought Karna was heroic. Please see last post.
Making his case for Yudhishthira, Small Sprout recalled the Pandava prince's reaction to the Pandavas' victory over their kinsmen and the news of Karna's death. "We have murdered our brother," Yudhishthira was inconsolable. Small Sprout asked, half rhetorically, "Do you think Karna would have felt as sad if it was the other way around?" Spore Sprout said he thought not, and asked Small Sprout: "So Yudhishthira is the greater, because he loves his enemy?" "Yes." Spore Sprout must say that his son may have a point.
This brings to mind an earlier conversation between father and son when Small Sprout had just turned seven. The boy was learning about the "life cycle" in school. The father asked, "Why 'cycle'? Why not a life 'line' instead? How is life like the water cycle that you just learned about?" "Because life goes on after death -- like leaves falling after they grow and growing after they fall." "Is there a human life cycle?" "A man dies and his children and grandchildren live on." This enlarged sense of the self impressed Spore Sprout greatly.
Discussing their favorite characters from the Mahabharata, Spore Sprout explained why he thought Karna was heroic. Please see last post.
Making his case for Yudhishthira, Small Sprout recalled the Pandava prince's reaction to the Pandavas' victory over their kinsmen and the news of Karna's death. "We have murdered our brother," Yudhishthira was inconsolable. Small Sprout asked, half rhetorically, "Do you think Karna would have felt as sad if it was the other way around?" Spore Sprout said he thought not, and asked Small Sprout: "So Yudhishthira is the greater, because he loves his enemy?" "Yes." Spore Sprout must say that his son may have a point.
This brings to mind an earlier conversation between father and son when Small Sprout had just turned seven. The boy was learning about the "life cycle" in school. The father asked, "Why 'cycle'? Why not a life 'line' instead? How is life like the water cycle that you just learned about?" "Because life goes on after death -- like leaves falling after they grow and growing after they fall." "Is there a human life cycle?" "A man dies and his children and grandchildren live on." This enlarged sense of the self impressed Spore Sprout greatly.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Karna
Spore Sprout believes that no one is too young for good theater. Recently, he sat his ten-year-old and six-year-old down for five hours of Peter Brook's adaptation of The Mahabharata (albeit on DVD and abridged from the original nine hours of stage production).
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The children wanted to discuss who each person's favorite character was, out of a cast of seeming hundreds. Spore Sprout nominated Karna (Boy Sprout chose Yudhishthira and Girl Sprout Kunti). They wanted to know the reasons for my choice -- why pick someone from the "other side" who fought against the hero Arjuna in his chariot driven by Krishna?
I explained that I thought Karna was heroic -- he was bigger than Life and more steadfast than Fate.
Karna was abandoned by his royal mother and raised by a chariot driver. When he tried to take part in a martial competition as befit his skills, he was mocked by Arjuna and the other princes and noblemen. Withdrawing in humiliation, Karna was called back by Duryodhana and granted title and land. (In a line that I am fond of, Duryodhana said: "Do not speak of Birth. Birth is obscure and men are like rivers whose origins are often unknown.") When Karna's true birth was revealed to him on the eve of battle as the first-born of the Pandava princes, he declined the proferred embrace of his brothers (and the attendant status, power and riches), but instead chose to remain loyal to Duryodhana, the Kaurava prince who had first shown him kindness. Karna went into the great battle and, unarmed and defenceless with his chariot wheel caught in the earth, was struck down finally, against the rules of battle and codes of honor, by Arjuna upon the urgings of Krishna.
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The children wanted to discuss who each person's favorite character was, out of a cast of seeming hundreds. Spore Sprout nominated Karna (Boy Sprout chose Yudhishthira and Girl Sprout Kunti). They wanted to know the reasons for my choice -- why pick someone from the "other side" who fought against the hero Arjuna in his chariot driven by Krishna?
I explained that I thought Karna was heroic -- he was bigger than Life and more steadfast than Fate.
Karna was abandoned by his royal mother and raised by a chariot driver. When he tried to take part in a martial competition as befit his skills, he was mocked by Arjuna and the other princes and noblemen. Withdrawing in humiliation, Karna was called back by Duryodhana and granted title and land. (In a line that I am fond of, Duryodhana said: "Do not speak of Birth. Birth is obscure and men are like rivers whose origins are often unknown.") When Karna's true birth was revealed to him on the eve of battle as the first-born of the Pandava princes, he declined the proferred embrace of his brothers (and the attendant status, power and riches), but instead chose to remain loyal to Duryodhana, the Kaurava prince who had first shown him kindness. Karna went into the great battle and, unarmed and defenceless with his chariot wheel caught in the earth, was struck down finally, against the rules of battle and codes of honor, by Arjuna upon the urgings of Krishna.
ईश्वरः रहस्यमयरीतिमाचरति
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Paris in May
Spore Sprout arrived in Paris whereupon he purchased a copy of the Herald Tribune from a street vendor and had an instant photo of himself taken in a booth at a Metro station -- both felt like things that one would do with some relish in Paris.
When done with his chores for the day, Spore Sprout picked up a sandwich (ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato in a baguette), a bottle of cheap red wine and a chunk of fine dark chocolate studded with hazelnuts, almonds and raisins, for a very late lunch on his balcony. A fellow hotel-guest was smoking on an adjacent terrace as Spore Sprout set his table and consumed his meal, and Spore Sprout was glad to have company to share wine, conversation and a panoramic view of the city.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité partout dans le monde!
When done with his chores for the day, Spore Sprout picked up a sandwich (ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato in a baguette), a bottle of cheap red wine and a chunk of fine dark chocolate studded with hazelnuts, almonds and raisins, for a very late lunch on his balcony. A fellow hotel-guest was smoking on an adjacent terrace as Spore Sprout set his table and consumed his meal, and Spore Sprout was glad to have company to share wine, conversation and a panoramic view of the city.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité partout dans le monde!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
再造唐家社稷，重睹漢官威儀
這兩段劇詞出於清朝戲曲家 洪升 之作《长生殿·剿匪》（1688 AD）： “誓当扫清群冠，收复两京，再造唐家社稷，重睹汉官威仪，方不负平生志愿也。”
何謂唐家社稷？ 一個開放進取，和諧共榮的社會。
何謂漢官威儀？ 技術官員的談吐風度，展現了對政策的熟悉掌握，對世局國情的深入理解，以及樂民憂民的情懷。
兩段劇詞道出我對新加坡的期許。
何謂唐家社稷？ 一個開放進取，和諧共榮的社會。
何謂漢官威儀？ 技術官員的談吐風度，展現了對政策的熟悉掌握，對世局國情的深入理解，以及樂民憂民的情懷。
兩段劇詞道出我對新加坡的期許。
Man was born free and he is everywhere in chains
Spore Sprout re-read Jean-Jacques Rousseau over the weekend ... some choice passages from The Confessions and The Social Contract. Some ideas on equality appear even more quaint today, fast receding in the rear-view mirror of the starship Enterprise as it hurtles through the growing great globalized social divide that has been the last quarter century. Ahh...but how the words keep their hold on our hearts!
Aristotle ... said that men were not at all equal by nature, since some were born for slavery and others born to be masters.
Aristotle was right; but he mistook the effect for the cause. Anyone born in slavery is born for slavery -- nothing is more certain. Slaves, in their bondage, lose everything, even the desire to be free. ... But if there are slaves by nature, it is only because there has been slavery against nature. Force made the first slaves; and their cowardice perpetuates their slavery.
...
[T]he social pact ... substitutes ... a moral and lawful equality for whatever physical inequality that nature may have imposed on mankind; so that however unequal in strength and intelligence, men become equal by covenant and by right. ... Under a bad government, this equality is only an appearance and an illusion: it serves only to keep the poor in their wretchedness and sustain the rich in their usurpation. In truth, laws are always useful to those with possessions and harmful to those who have nothing; from which it follows that the social state is advantageous to men only when all possess something and none has too much.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Once more unto the breach
KING HENRY V:
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
Friday, May 21, 2010
Far from perfect
Mrs Sprout organized a small birthday party last night at the Sprout household. Serena, the 10-year-old birthday girl, has been the classmate of Son Sprout for umpteen years.
Serena's mum observed that the older Sprouts seem to demand a great deal of Son Sprout. Serena asked what that meant. Mother Serena explained that Son Sprout "has to be perfect" in many ways. Serena observed: "But he is far from perfect!"
Upon hearing this, Spore Sprout felt quite relieved.
Serena's mum observed that the older Sprouts seem to demand a great deal of Son Sprout. Serena asked what that meant. Mother Serena explained that Son Sprout "has to be perfect" in many ways. Serena observed: "But he is far from perfect!"
Upon hearing this, Spore Sprout felt quite relieved.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
What one man can do
Ralph Nader's accomplishments:
*Safe Drinking Water Act
*Clean Air Act
*Freedom of Information Act
*Environmental Protection Agency
*Seat Belts/Air Bags/Tire Safety
*Consumer Product Safety Act
*Pension Protection Act
*Whistleblower Protection Act
*Safe Medical Device Act
*National Traffic & Motor Vehicle Safety Act
*Clean Water Act
*Occupational Health and Safety Administration
雙英對
馬英九：「經濟學諾獎得主克魯曼、哈佛大學教授波特、日本的知名學者大前研一，以及其他在台灣投資的外商，如日本工商會、歐洲及美國商會等，都認為簽署ＥＣＦＡ對台灣利大於弊，為何民進黨的評估比美日學者和商會都悲觀？」
蔡英文：「總統，如果你是競爭學或經濟、商業大師，你剛剛講的話我可以接受。但你是這個國家的總統，你必須考慮到開放以後對這個國家所產生的衝擊和政治成本。你剛才說的克魯曼、波特，他們不是政治人物，他們沒有政治責任，你有政治責任，你有沒有想過，ＥＣＦＡ會帶給我們這個社會多大的社會成本、政治成本？身為一個領導人，你難道只是聽商學大師的講法嗎？如果這樣的話，我們為什麼要選一個總統呢？」
蔡英文：「總統，如果你是競爭學或經濟、商業大師，你剛剛講的話我可以接受。但你是這個國家的總統，你必須考慮到開放以後對這個國家所產生的衝擊和政治成本。你剛才說的克魯曼、波特，他們不是政治人物，他們沒有政治責任，你有政治責任，你有沒有想過，ＥＣＦＡ會帶給我們這個社會多大的社會成本、政治成本？身為一個領導人，你難道只是聽商學大師的講法嗎？如果這樣的話，我們為什麼要選一個總統呢？」
Friday, May 14, 2010
To fight the world's fight
Without reminders from time to time, Spore Sprout is apt to forget that he owes much to many others for what he has and for who he is.
In reading the newspapers today, he came across a timely reminder. A well-known benefactor is once again advertising for needy youths to send in applications for scholarship assistance. The standards set by the benefactor for youths to aspire to are:
In reading the newspapers today, he came across a timely reminder. A well-known benefactor is once again advertising for needy youths to send in applications for scholarship assistance. The standards set by the benefactor for youths to aspire to are:
- literary and scholastic attainments
- energy to use one's talents to the full
- truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship
- moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one's fellow beings.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Benazir
Last month, a United Nations inquiry into the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto -- who died from wounds suffered during a gun and bomb attack at a political rally in the city of Rawalpindi on 27 December 2007 -- presented its findings to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Photographer John Moore caught Benazir pensive at the rally and leaving the rally, at the final moment of her life.
Spore Sprout used to take a keen interest in the career of Benazir Bhutto on account of the schools they went to. Ever since she met her horrific end, he has sometimes wondered, when paying respects to the dead, what it would take for him to face a similarly fateful moment with some measure of equanimity.
Of all the things that occurred to him ... this: that his cause be just.
Photographer John Moore caught Benazir pensive at the rally and leaving the rally, at the final moment of her life.
Spore Sprout used to take a keen interest in the career of Benazir Bhutto on account of the schools they went to. Ever since she met her horrific end, he has sometimes wondered, when paying respects to the dead, what it would take for him to face a similarly fateful moment with some measure of equanimity.
Of all the things that occurred to him ... this: that his cause be just.
Courteous cities
Spore Sprout travels a great deal on business. Wherever he goes, whenever he can, Spore Sprout gets on the local subway train, as much for the close encounter with his host city as for the time saved.
These days trains in many cities in Asia have "courtesy seats" that nearby signs urge you to give up to fellow passengers who are pregnant, underage, elderly or generally infirm. As he is on the whole curious, and often tired, Spore Sprout typically watches these seats closely. He finds there are observable differences among the cities in terms of the frequency with which subway train passengers give up their "courtesy seats" to those who may need them more. In decreasing order of courteousness based on this measure, the four cities below rank as follows:
Taipei > Beijing > Hong Kong > Singapore
These days trains in many cities in Asia have "courtesy seats" that nearby signs urge you to give up to fellow passengers who are pregnant, underage, elderly or generally infirm. As he is on the whole curious, and often tired, Spore Sprout typically watches these seats closely. He finds there are observable differences among the cities in terms of the frequency with which subway train passengers give up their "courtesy seats" to those who may need them more. In decreasing order of courteousness based on this measure, the four cities below rank as follows:
Taipei > Beijing > Hong Kong > Singapore
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
不放鬆
在去年底结束的北京匡时2009秋季拍賣會中，古代、近现代大师名家的经典巨作迭创高价。
郑燮的《竹石图》在 “扬州画派”专场中拔得头筹，以1512万元成交。
想起畫家同名的絕句 ，不禁懷疑“難得糊塗”可真能是成功者的座右銘？
鄭板橋 《竹石》
咬定青山不放鬆，
立根原在破岩中。
千磨萬擊還堅勁，
任爾東南西北風。
郑燮的《竹石图》在 “扬州画派”专场中拔得头筹，以1512万元成交。
想起畫家同名的絕句 ，不禁懷疑“難得糊塗”可真能是成功者的座右銘？
鄭板橋 《竹石》
咬定青山不放鬆，
立根原在破岩中。
千磨萬擊還堅勁，
任爾東南西北風。
山水畫技法
张大千的巨幅泼彩泼墨作品《瑞士雪山》在北京匡时2009秋季拍賣會中“南张北溥”专场中拔得头筹，以5264万元天价打破了张大千作品全球拍卖纪录。
我自幼心儀潑墨畫，該是因為嚮往那一氣呵成，水墨淋漓，气势磅礴的感覺。
年紀大了， 慢慢會欣賞枯筆、 竭墨、“用干笔蘸浓墨“的焦墨畫。就像晚期的黃賓虹反問：“从那里画起？还不是一笔笔画起“ 一樣， 它更像是一步步走出來的人生。
我自幼心儀潑墨畫，該是因為嚮往那一氣呵成，水墨淋漓，气势磅礴的感覺。
年紀大了， 慢慢會欣賞枯筆、 竭墨、“用干笔蘸浓墨“的焦墨畫。就像晚期的黃賓虹反問：“从那里画起？还不是一笔笔画起“ 一樣， 它更像是一步步走出來的人生。
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Top IPOs
切勿脫離實際
"他對我說，領導幹部一定要親自下基層調查研究，體察群眾疾苦，傾聽群眾呼聲，掌握第一手材料。對擔負領導工作的人來說，最大的危險就是脫離實際。多年來， 耀邦同志這幾句語重心長的話經常在我耳旁迴響。" 《再回興義憶耀邦》
Monday, April 12, 2010
The life of an idea
Spore Sprout read that the Straits Times reported recently on Dr Tony Tan's call for Singapore to look to American liberal arts college education (where "students study varied fields") for some ideas outside of "the current British model used by universities here--where a student studies a subject in depth." Dr Tan reportedly suggested that "the American liberal arts programme may be why the United States economy is 'more dynamic and more entrepreneurial' when compared with the traditional European ones." He also noted that "this is 'pertinent' with the changing world economy characterised by 'major restructuring of industries and the transitory nature' of jobs."
Lordy.
Over a quarter century ago, a letter to the editor of the same Straits Times argued to the same effect. An eager Singapore student in an American college argued the case for a broad liberal arts college education, warning against the risk of "becoming a specialised vocationalist inflexible in a world of fluid opportunities." The callow youth imagined that "in positions of high leadership, where complex situations and unpredictable circumstances abound, where no amount of special education can adequately prepare a man for the many contingencies of the job, the general-educated has an edge over the special-educated." Importantly, the writer of the letter wished it be known that financial aid was available from American colleges for indigent Singapore students to pursue a liberal arts college education.
Lordy.
Over a quarter century ago, a letter to the editor of the same Straits Times argued to the same effect. An eager Singapore student in an American college argued the case for a broad liberal arts college education, warning against the risk of "becoming a specialised vocationalist inflexible in a world of fluid opportunities." The callow youth imagined that "in positions of high leadership, where complex situations and unpredictable circumstances abound, where no amount of special education can adequately prepare a man for the many contingencies of the job, the general-educated has an edge over the special-educated." Importantly, the writer of the letter wished it be known that financial aid was available from American colleges for indigent Singapore students to pursue a liberal arts college education.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
溫家寶 2010 政府工作報告
必須堅持發展經濟與改善民生、維護社會公平正義的內在統一，圍繞改善民生謀發展，把改善民生作為經濟發展的出發點、落腳點和持久動力，着眼維護公平正義， 讓全體人民共享改革發展成果，促進社會和諧穩定。
改善民生是經濟發展的根本目的。只有着力保障和改善民生，經濟發展才有持久的動力，社會進步才有牢固的基礎，國家才能長治久安。
改善民生是經濟發展的根本目的。只有着力保障和改善民生，經濟發展才有持久的動力，社會進步才有牢固的基礎，國家才能長治久安。
Sunday, February 21, 2010
On Life and History
Spore Sprout's six-year-old was tasked to produce for her teacher a log of what she read over the CNY school holidays. She could pick her reading materials but would need to read aloud to a parent. For each chunk of reading that she chose to do, she had to "tell a fact you learned" in her log.
Today being the final day of the holidays, Small Sprout enlisted my help to get the project started and finished on time.
She wanted an important book, and chose a dictionary (ed. The Cat-in-the-Hat). After wading through A and B and noting that "Many words start with A," she decided that My Bible Story Book would be a better choice.
We agreed that given the heft of the tome, a sensible approach was to tell a fact for each chapter of the book. We rested soon following the fall of the Tower of Babel, after she decided that she had done enough. Despite the brevity of the effort, I was impressed by the keenness of her insights and pithiness of her observations, which I set forth below:
Overall observation: "There are many chapters in the Bible."
On the Creation: "At first, the water and land were mixed together."
On the Fall: "At first, Adam had fun."
On the Flood: "People became bad."
On the Tower of Babel: "The silly people thought they were strong."
Today being the final day of the holidays, Small Sprout enlisted my help to get the project started and finished on time.
She wanted an important book, and chose a dictionary (ed. The Cat-in-the-Hat). After wading through A and B and noting that "Many words start with A," she decided that My Bible Story Book would be a better choice.
We agreed that given the heft of the tome, a sensible approach was to tell a fact for each chapter of the book. We rested soon following the fall of the Tower of Babel, after she decided that she had done enough. Despite the brevity of the effort, I was impressed by the keenness of her insights and pithiness of her observations, which I set forth below:
Overall observation: "There are many chapters in the Bible."
On the Creation: "At first, the water and land were mixed together."
On the Fall: "At first, Adam had fun."
On the Flood: "People became bad."
On the Tower of Babel: "The silly people thought they were strong."
Monday, February 1, 2010
Do Chinese Muslims concern us?
There was an Al Jazeera video on the subject of Chinese Muslims posted on theonlinecitizen, a popular Singapore website. One of its readers complained that the subject had no relevance for Singaporeans.
Spore Sprout feels differently.
To me one of Singapore's defining traits is its multiculturalism. It is an article of faith. Indeed when Singaporeans give vent to their resentments of those newly among us, the complaint is often that the newcomers speak no English and keep to themselves. In other words, they are not "multicultural" like us -- not Singaporean enough. A Malay friend mentioned how he felt a stranger among the new Chinese immigrants in his HDB estate, who form a tight group among themselves and speak a different language. All I could think of at the time was to remind him that it may well be part of the Singapore condition ("My neighbor is another language" -- Edwin Thumboo).
I wonder if my friend knows that China has a long history of engagement with Islam, which is welcome by Muslims inside and outside the country. By some accounts the first Muslim envoy to China, led by Sa'dd ibn Abi Waqqas, the maternal uncle of the Prophet Mohammad, was received in 651A.D. by the emperor Gaozong of the Tang dynasty, who ordered the construction of a memorial mosque in Canton. According to the Arab historian Tabari (deceased 923 A.D.), al-Mansur (754-775 A.D.), the second of the Abbasid caliphs, had declared that in laying the foundations of Baghdad by the Tigris "there is no obstacle between us and China. Everything on the sea can come to us."
Contributions by Chinese Muslims are felt everywhere in China, and as far as Singapore. The first governor of the province of Yunnan, the first designer of the city that would be Beijing, eminent scholars of astronomy and mathematics, important officials of finance and tax... The Ming dynasty fleet that brought the first Chinese settlors to Malacca and visited Sumatra, Java and in all likelihood Singapore in the early fifteenth century was commanded by a Chinese Muslim, Hajji Mahmud Shams, better known as Admiral Cheng Ho, or Zheng He. Nearer our own time, Baiderluden Omar, better known as General Bai Chongxi, was widely regarded as the best strategist in the Chinese army during the second world war. And closer to home, Mrs Spore Sprout was raised by her maternal grandmother in a Muslim household.
I will console my friend as follows. This strange tongue that you sometimes hear around you, that makes you feel that part of your house is not your home, should remind you of the kind of people we are. It celebrates what is best about us. And though at first it may sound jarring, I hope you will not feel as estranged knowing that Allah is also praised and worshipped in this language.
Spore Sprout feels differently.
To me one of Singapore's defining traits is its multiculturalism. It is an article of faith. Indeed when Singaporeans give vent to their resentments of those newly among us, the complaint is often that the newcomers speak no English and keep to themselves. In other words, they are not "multicultural" like us -- not Singaporean enough. A Malay friend mentioned how he felt a stranger among the new Chinese immigrants in his HDB estate, who form a tight group among themselves and speak a different language. All I could think of at the time was to remind him that it may well be part of the Singapore condition ("My neighbor is another language" -- Edwin Thumboo).
I wonder if my friend knows that China has a long history of engagement with Islam, which is welcome by Muslims inside and outside the country. By some accounts the first Muslim envoy to China, led by Sa'dd ibn Abi Waqqas, the maternal uncle of the Prophet Mohammad, was received in 651A.D. by the emperor Gaozong of the Tang dynasty, who ordered the construction of a memorial mosque in Canton. According to the Arab historian Tabari (deceased 923 A.D.), al-Mansur (754-775 A.D.), the second of the Abbasid caliphs, had declared that in laying the foundations of Baghdad by the Tigris "there is no obstacle between us and China. Everything on the sea can come to us."
Contributions by Chinese Muslims are felt everywhere in China, and as far as Singapore. The first governor of the province of Yunnan, the first designer of the city that would be Beijing, eminent scholars of astronomy and mathematics, important officials of finance and tax... The Ming dynasty fleet that brought the first Chinese settlors to Malacca and visited Sumatra, Java and in all likelihood Singapore in the early fifteenth century was commanded by a Chinese Muslim, Hajji Mahmud Shams, better known as Admiral Cheng Ho, or Zheng He. Nearer our own time, Baiderluden Omar, better known as General Bai Chongxi, was widely regarded as the best strategist in the Chinese army during the second world war. And closer to home, Mrs Spore Sprout was raised by her maternal grandmother in a Muslim household.
I will console my friend as follows. This strange tongue that you sometimes hear around you, that makes you feel that part of your house is not your home, should remind you of the kind of people we are. It celebrates what is best about us. And though at first it may sound jarring, I hope you will not feel as estranged knowing that Allah is also praised and worshipped in this language.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Garden City
Time magazine's top 25 authentic Asian experiences span the continent from Malaysia to Mongolia, but find no room for any thing that you can do in Singapore, Time magazine's top business city in Asia for five years running (before the competition was, I guess, pulled in 2006.)
Glancing at the list, I suspect this omission results from the authors' emphasis on what they find "authentic."
In a sense, the authentic is the opposite of what is artificial, or human-made.
And what we offer our visitors is often a human-(however well-)made experience...
The Garden City (what is a garden if not a small piece of nature fashioned by humans). Instant Asia. The Night Safari.
And the Merlion?
Glancing at the list, I suspect this omission results from the authors' emphasis on what they find "authentic."
In a sense, the authentic is the opposite of what is artificial, or human-made.
And what we offer our visitors is often a human-(however well-)made experience...
The Garden City (what is a garden if not a small piece of nature fashioned by humans). Instant Asia. The Night Safari.
And the Merlion?
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