La Belle Verte is a french film invokes reflection on the modern system. One of the things is about hierarchy. In the movie, the modern society hasn't outgrown concept of hierarchy. I can't help relate to the comment made by one politician on the UCL contract with chief executive. He said when the former CE came out guaranteeing the integrity of the issue, we should pay respect to him and let the matter settled. It seems that we have fallen back to the chiefdom in tribal villages. The old wise man in the village should be the tribunal of any dispute where no laws or logic should be adhered to.
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We are all addicted at this time of civilization.
Dr. Gabor Mate, I bet this is not a well-known name in Hong Kong. When I bumped into his Tedtalk speech, The power of addiction and the addiction of power, I was captivated by his deep insightful voice. I have a personal pursuit on understanding addiction which pushes me seek after his findings. As I watched along, to my surprise, his tone, however cold, reveals a world of compassion. The way he deals with addiction through the lens of human vulnerability and biologically psychological development has answered a big deal of quest in life. Starting from addiction, he spent 12 years in Vancouver's downtown Eastside where is populated with drug addicts, to understand the causes of addiction which has opened up a world of self-understanding on how trauma in infancy and childhood jeopardize the brain development which later impair the coping mechanism in life. For all the addicts he encountered, none was spared from abuse or neglect in their childhood. From there, he stretched his theory to all kinds of addiction, alcoholism, shopaholism, workacholism... What is the reason for that? Everything stems from parenting. Since the birth of a baby, they crave for human contact, they pick up emotional signals in order to build their connection with people and the world. However, to different degrees, parents are subject to all sorts of pressure which silently passed the stress on to their children. Inevitably so, parents are not to blame. They are the victim of stress too. With all the good intention of parents, unless they have circumspect themselves thoroughly and are able to manage their rooted stress, they will involuntarily pass on their stress. There are two revelations to me. First, addiction is omnipresent because everyone is to a certain degree neglected or stressed in their infancy. The sort of addiction a person picks up depends on what is available and what is soothing. It can be work for a person who has the opportunity; it can be drug if that is the most accessible. To help the addict is not to condemn them but to recognize their vulnerability and their impaired emotion life. Indeed, they have to make the effort to face the pain and live with the pain but it takes time and connection for them. Second, the shaping of a person starts from the birth of a baby. The child who develops ADD/ ADHD has parents under stress. This is a turning off mechanism for a baby to cope with a stressful situation while no alternative is available. As the brain is developed, this mechanism expands and stretches and shapes the structure of the brain. Unavoidably, the child grows up with such deficient. For an ADHD kid, the turning off of attention is a manifest of insurmountable stress in life. Is it that the root cause of all-Parenting? The answer is no. Parents are not to blame because an individual is not very much in control over the situation around us which give us stress. The modern industrialized lifestyle doesn't ensure our better quality of living instead a more competitive stressful environment. Child, most of the time, is under the care of a maid in Hong Kong. The free time is stuffed with extra curriculum activities. How much time they have left for the face-to-face time between child and parents, both parents? Indeed, parents have earned a decent living but that is materialistic. The emotional connection is again replaced by the urge of completing homework and study. How much quality time is left for the family? Why is our school so competitive but turn out not guaranteeing our kids a happy and successful life? It sounds like moaning, fretting and grumbling but it is true. Our system is flawed and our mind is so programmed by which hypnotizing us into fueling the spinning wheel of industrialized capitalism ironically rendering us a vicissitude of life. Just a single question-are you happier by having all the materials you have with your hardworking effort? Aren't we addicted to the current system? Perhaps, digging into this book will open a door to an answer. Since the day I appeared to know something about the world, I have started pondering my purpose of life. For all those years, I haven't found the answer. There is only one thing I know; money is ancillary. If anything drives me into a wrong direction except the little fault in life, I don't mind to commit, there won't be any price for me. I am not so moral but I only know my vulnerability as a human being to get deeper into the mud if I take that path. I am in fact afraid of unleashing the greedy or ruthless side of myself but I have a choice. I harbour myself in education. Along the way, I have seen so much unbearable sights under HK education system. The system simply doesn't work. It suffocates our children; it stubs the curiosity of our children; it empties the compassion of our children. I have started to grow a sense of mission to deliver my insights to everyone. I am not confident or ready yet but I know I will be one day, soon.
Education is supposed to be the most foreseeing sector. The educators are obliged to nurture our future pillars. However, the one I am facing is the most stagnant one. Most educators are conservative and backward thinking. They adhere to competitive than collaborative teaching model. The world is not about competing; it is about collaborating. More than scary, most of the parents are compliant with the current system. They are so afraid about the future of the kids. Even if they are doing the wrong thing, they follow the crowd nevertheless. What is the future of our children? Our children are living in the fear of the parents' perspective of the world. Allow me to say it frankly, their perspective is ignorant; I must admit, so as mine. The kids are stuffed with the message, knowledge and information from us but their world is different. We think we are preparing them for a better future; we are wrong. We are depriving them of what they deserve for a better future. We have taken away their creative mind and rebellious courage to change the world as they like. We force them to accept what is being done by telling them from our own experience, however painful or joyful, that the world is supposed to be like this. We have limited their vision by forcing our sight on them. That's how we limit their future. To educate them, I think the traditional way is no longer sufficient. I am finding a way to bring the world to them. Students in Hong Kong display an interesting phenomenon-good grade but low calibre. In fact, throughout history, it has been so. Many great minds bore a profile of mischievous or failing students. What brightens a person is not their competence on studying, neither their certificates. So what should we teach our young ones?
Instead of quoting or discussing the western scholar of education, I would like to bring up Confucius, our Chinese guru on philosophy. He said, "Junzi, (Gentleman) is not a tool." Indeed, he was discussing this under the political context. His point was that to be a great politician, you have to be versatile and sagacious. In this modern context, when political pursuit is not the main pursuit, how do we interpret this quote? To be a Junzi in a broader sense is to pursuit justice. There is justice in every field. Instead of merely being a tool for the institution, our intellectual chamber is the key to demonstrate our character as a Junzi. Intellection is like another activities which demands practice. Under HK education system, how much a hardworking student pursuing academic excellence can preserve this chamber without void? Less is more is my mantra. Funny enough, the more you study for exam, the less time you enrich yourself. Less is more is adopted as an advertisement slogan for commercial products but the consumers do not realise that is the basic principle for life. More than often, a successful product doesn't rely on its merits but the charming belief it cast on you. By the same token, a young one doesn't blossom because of the 'A's he has but the passion he bears and displays in life. But look at the schooling system, bit by bit, the schools are not instilling passion inside the hearts of the students but the other way around. With a herd of indifferent children, how do we expect the success of them? We take away their curiosity and passion at young age but require them to do their best at what the society asks for. They are not machines. They aren't born for satisfying the society. They are alive individuals who have mind and sentiments. Have we cared enough for them? Having engaged full time in education for almost 6 years, I am at the verge of enlightenment or fall-out. There are many students being retarded by the schooling system but without comprehensive solution in sight, they have to go with the crowd. I moan at times that parents in Hong Kong are sheepish but have I done enough to allow them to realise the alternative. The answer is affirmatively no. Myself to blame, I could have done better than what I have done so far. Along the way, despite the resistance, I picked up gems of lessons in education. In my mind, I have mapped a curriculum combining academic rubrics and essential language skills. It is a matter of time to put into practice. With that, I believe I can trigger a ripple to the current landscape of education. The irony comes from the split of belief and action. Circumstances change swiftly as the world evolves, where our belief swings accordingly; behaviour is the adherence to old practices, where traditions ensure security. I have seen a lot inside myself as well, is it the program of studying which corrodes our rebelliousness and resulting in stagnation? If the new world is about creativity and harmony, is it time to give up traditional obsolete systematic mode of study and embrace something else boldly? Let's see. I have stumbled on a video about fair trade. The memory flashed back on how I first came across this. It was almost 10 years ago. When I was just out of secondary school, being very eager to acquaint with the world, indiscriminately I chewed on every single issue on social justice around me. I was definitely far from understanding the injustice perpetuated around me. Who would know all I have read these years without structure, without agenda, they have formed a network to help me understand the world as well as local issues in HK. More than often, I have a more extensive view and analysis. More importantly, I have displayed a more open mind and encountered less awaited breakthroughs. Once again, this throws me into an intellection-the truth of schooling.
We had an experiment last night-Shadow Legislative Council. Having prepared for the debate, I had researched on the European situation. Surprisingly, Europe is planning for an exit strategy for incinerators and landfills for its hazard; while Hong Kong is preparing to embrace an obsolete technology. What is wrong with our government?
The current plan focuses on building incinerator near Lantau Island in Shek Kwu Chau and expanding the landfills on 3 sites. Before passing the proposal, we have to consider a few questions. 1. Is it necessary for building incinerator? What data does the government based on to estimate our need for incinerator? Many countries, they have incinerators after having laws to compel recycling and sorting as to reduce the rubbish. Also they have comprehensive set of laws to monitor the pollutants index and deterrent punishment for any breach of law. Without recycling and sorting, we are in fact adopting a 'burn-it-all' strategy. It is a very backward mindset comparing to other countries especially Europe where they are looking for exit strategy for incinerators and landfills since both emit greenhouse gases. The government is not putting effort to educate and facilitate recycling in public for one simple doctrine-it doesn't effectively feed the government-business collusion in one dose. Even if recycling industry is profit generating, its sum is not lucrative enough for the government to take a glimpse on it. The practice doesn't benefit any parties in the current system with vested interests, so at the end, who cares?! However for the incinerator, a consultancy company Aecom had announced the consultancy contract one month before the official announcement of incinerator plan by the government. Let alone the problematic procedure, another more curious question irritates the back of my head-Aecom on one hand claiming incinerator is the solution over plasma gasification for the immaturity of the latter technology; on the other hand, it starts to develop a plasma plant in USA. What makes Hong Kong so unsuitable as to adopt the first class world technology over waste management? If the technology is expensive, HK has no problem over capital-Hong Kong government has nothing except money. If rubbish in HK is too huge, HK still have room to reduce waste by promoting waste hierarchy-an experiment I have witnessed. HK is such an affluent city that a professional scavenger can make half a million a year which requires stringent consumption reduction; In the provision station, import of bottled water is banned and proactive advice on consumption alternatives and around 90% of 'rubbish' was saved. They are re-streamed them back for reuse (people throw away raincoats and towels after using for once), recycle (Paper, Plastic, Metal, Glass, Styrofoam, Battery, leftover including peels, husks and non-consumed food) and up-cycle (using the ruined umbrellas for artworks e.g. shopping bags). After sorting and recycling, not much real rubbish has to go to landfill. If this deduction is correct, is plasma gasification really unsuitable in HK? This is that main doubt overcasting my mind. 2. According to British Society of Ecological Medicine, the incinerator will produce dioxins and PM 2.5 which are inevitably harming the lives of people, i.e. Higher rate of asthma, higher infant mortality and higher cancer rate. Based on this condition, how does the government ensure legally and contractually our health and safety? Currently, we don't have legislation targeting at incineration. If there is no statutory law, the danger is if there is a surging amount of particulates or other toxic gases or residual, citizens will be placed at a helpless position because the act will render as merely breach of contract which only involves the contractual parties, i.e. the government and incinerator contractor. At this stage, it is hard to believe the government without any statutory protection based on my however bigoted belief of government-business collusion. I must get a hold of concrete protection of my own right to health and life. However, so far, the government only brags about their adherence to the highest standard of European emission benchmark. Sadly and sarcastically, the European Commission has issued the latest direction on waste management based on the scientists and physicians reporting ambiguity and doubt over the health standard or benchmark on different particulates in the air emitted by incinerators. 3. There are alternatives, anaerobic digestion and gasification, which are tried and tested, also being embraced by the other countries. Why can't Hong Kong adopt such state-of-art technology for Hong Kong environment, instead, we have to embrace an obsolete and hazardous technology? Hong Kong government has planned this construction of incinerator since 2000. At that time, I wouldn't deny it might be a state-of-art technology. But 14 years passed, with a handful of new technologies, what is the reason for the government to adhere to this obsolete technology-with my very narrow mind, only two conclusions I can come up with-either their laziness plus their lack of enthusiasm to work for the general public or the hidden interest driving the government desperately to support the project of incinerator. Plasma arc gasification was developed in 1980s, until now, it has been 30 years. One of the biggest challenges is local laws and planning. Another challenge is capital, however this is not the concern of Hong Kong at all. In simple words, plasma gasification reduces waste without creating no ash or emitting high carbon emission. For more benefit of plasma gasification: http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/print/volume-11/issue-1/features/pg-rated.html I have little knowledge over plasma gasification, so as a citizen, I demand the government to explain thoroughly to me why it is not suitable instead of waving the whole point off and ask me to trust her! 4. Hong Kong shut down the incinerator in 1997 which was supposed to be a visionary step, why we have to pull ourselves backward and which is potentially dragging our advancement on waste management back to the Stone Age? Hong Kong government knows that European benchmark is the highest among the world; they never forgets to brag about following so. Logically, the government would brag about their high-profile extravagant $44000 per-head-per-day visits to Europe for this technology. They went to Sweden, Denmark (which is behind HK in term of recycling), UK for the incinerators and related technology but they declined the invitation by Teesside to site-visit the plasma arc gasification plant. Why the government didn't even give a chance to the latest technology for dealing with waste, instead they only adhered to what they had planned for 14 years which can easily become obsolete under the pace of technology advancement. Does our government truly wants to embrace the best solution or fulfilling their own agenda? To understand what is up-to-date, we can look at the European Commission decision and strategy. Europe is arming up for an exit strategy to incinerator. They have come up with a resolution in European commission to implement zero waste management. One of the main reason why they have to wait until now for implementing zero waste strategy is for the contractual burden of incinerator which usually lasts for more than 20 years. Outside the European Union, Denmark, the first class waste to energy country with clean rubbish, is rethinking their over reliance of burning 'rubbish'. Is our government being genuinely ignorant in thinking they have gained the holy grail of waste management or they want HK people remain ignorant under their governance? I am afraid I have to stop second guessing, otherwise I have to offend a majority of Hong Kong citizens. Is having a conscientious Hong Kong official too high a standard? Why can't our Secretary of Environmental Protection Department use his own professionalism to ensure our future? In Demark, the Minister of Environment Department Auken would at least voice out her vision to aim at zero waste despite it was pressured by Financial Minister since he was elected in Esbjerg, the headquarters of the company build incinerator. When can we have such a conscientious Secretary in our Government offices? This is my research from the preparation of this shadow legislative council; indeed, there is much more information to be discussed. One thing I am certain; we have to learn the art of democratic debate-what is justice; what is the right thing to do? Occupying Central started involuntarily earlier. A group of students attempted to occupy the square outside the Government offices which was supposed to be a piazza for citizens. To rid the weaponless protesters, Hong Kong Police threw tens of tear gas canisters. The news went viral and triggered tens of thousand citizens rushing to claim the street. Being insensitive to news, inevitably I learned the news in the street. There was no more buses passing Mongkok because it was taken. There had been minimal disturbance to me, instead it brought me to the street that night after work. I was amazed to see so many people. Everyone looked close and friendly for their common goal on general election.
Day 1 Walking across New Century Plaza, a newly renovated shopping mall, I entered the area of protest. From the footbridge, I saw sea of people strolling, sitting in and clamouring. It was unprecedented. Without delay, I put myself amid the crowd. Watching and listening to the cheers from distance, we acted as a resonance or echo simply on a belief that we are united. This is passion, a kind of virtue not commonly seen in Hong Kong which is different from the fad of IPO, which is greed. Without hesitation, I spotted a 'vacancy' at the very edge of the crowd with lines of men standing and sat down. Other than scattering noise, I was unable to hear anything from the 'headquarter'. An old man from Tuen Mun sat in front of me saying incidentally his grievance towards this government. Most around me were youngsters, gathering but not discussing anything about the governance. Instinctively, I wondered if they realised their purpose of being here. Being my first moment to closely observe the movement, I buried my head in a book instead of engaging with citizens around. I felt like a beginner who should listen attentively first. As the time tickle. I succumbed to fatigue and left to home. Before I stood on my feet, my mind was made to come again. Day 2 I returned to MongKok. There was again a crowd sitting-in but this time a central point was created for public speaking. It was a very impressive. Everyone was allowed to speak and to a large extent respected. After a couple of hours listening to the speakers, it was time to move to the origin of the movement-Admiralty. The MTR was busy, the exit was crowded, the entrance was queued, I was confused. Unlike the experience in Mongkok, I felt something was missing in Admiralty. I was the few lone protesters. Many people went in a group or at least with a companion. Is it good or bad? My concern was how many of them came for knowing exactly what they wanted or at least coming to find out what they want. Along the road opposite Admiralty Centre, I couldn't help wowing. It was amazing. Thousands of people in black sitting or lying under the moonlight and phone light against the dark which extended from the bridges of both sides. They were calm, peaceful and well-organized. I was pushed further by the crowd until the end of the drive where I sat down and started to pen my experience. I had assumed an outsider position to savour the whole movement, being a bit criticizing against the people of their indifference to the voice of people, thinking their sit-in was more passionate and constructive. However, my tiredness started to crawl on me, to keep awake, I turned around to some secondary schools and talked. Through the talk with them, I started to realise they came to support for mainly 2 reasons- having witnessed the tear gas clearance and support true democracy. The cause is noble. As I threw more questions to them, it appeared more difficulty to frame the answers. This got me worried but my journey was transformed accordingly. That night was ended with a torrent of rain and my fatigue in a crowd of noise snorting at CY Leung instead of discussing common way out for HK people. Day 3 The dawn broke after the torrent rain, the daylight was my alarm clock. I found myself outside the Legislative Council. Most of the people were awake as I gathered myself to leave. I left to restore myself for return in the afternoon. Being in and out, my home seemed to be a mere shelter while I was busy with two different things-work and democracy. They forms the clash between ideal and reality. Different generations seemed to have different even opposing views of the story. I didn't realise how serious it was yet since I had not seen my parents so far except a few line of whatsapp. After a relaxing all day breakfast, I took my bag without any book and set off to Admiralty once again since I thought that was where I had to go, perhaps I could change something. In fact, I was confused as I said. I was first stopped by the mobile democracy classroom. What attracted me what the attitude Margaret Ng radiated with. She understood and expressed that it was not important if we had to be cleared since it was a long term struggle. However, what turned my stomach was everyone was sitting on the ground listening only while they only concerned the answers to how this would end. Shortly, I left. I made my advance towards the foreign press to find out more. I had talked to the press in US, Japan, Sweden and foreigners in HK from Australia, Britain. In the eyes of the press, this is a noble movement, peaceful, organized and united. Therefore I realized this is what have been protecting the protesters from the clearance. The world is watching. The government is refraining in a way. The more I asked about, the more I felt worried about the impulsiveness of the students. Peace is their weapons as well as their shields. If anyone ever collapse in front of provocation, the balance would shift. The government was trying to stir up the conflict between citizens especially the Post-80s/ 90s and Post-50s/ 60s. Most of the older generation go against occupying central. The government wished to destroy the movement by destroying the goodwill. Most of the main media were in line with the government's strategy to echo with the negative impact. Loads and loads of positive and warm images were not even mentioned in the news. The worry drove me around and at last settled with a foreign journalist. He projected a picture of this non violence movement, however pessimistic, it was a beacon to the democratic road in the future. Day 4 Having slept for 4 hours, I have to start working again. I couldn't feel myself. I was dozing off every single moment in front of the students. It was almost tortuous. After the whole day of working, I felt relieved and I went straight to Admiralty. The community here radiated a power to attract people dwelling. That night I officially stayed over, I started my night in Admiralty. It wasn't without struggle. The night was windy and chilled. Sleeping in the middle of the square, I was curled up to reduce heat loss. I survived the night. Day5 Today, the life goes on as usual, the only difference is the place I woke up. I didn't wake up from my bed, I woke up in the street in front of the legislative council. It wasn't unthinkable. After the morning session, I went home to refresh myself and stock up for another night in Admiralty. I brought my sleeping bag. After years of not travelling, my chance to camp comes from umbrella movement. I was passionate and ecstatic. A strong sense of community is formed. Everyone is trying to do what they can contribute. Largely I sat idly discussing democracy and governance in Hong Kong. Many more nights I have stayed there but I haven't kept track of. Nothing is special as camping outside Legislative Council has become the norm for me. Every night, after work, I dashed back to Admiralty. Every time, climbing over the barricades, walking past other protesters, glimpsing at the artwork, I felt revived from the hard day of work. The community radiates a different kind of air which attracts me more and more. From worrying about the clearance and arrest from the government at the beginning, I have become more faithful to what I believe now and remain. Many outsiders especially anti-protesters think we are concocted and manipulated by the charm of political leaders or foreign influence, however, I must defend my capacity of independent thinking as well as other protesters. For many occasions, we tried to practise direct democracy and hold discussion within our small group to envision our future. Interestingly, we even evade the voting procedure and allow the people who take the job to be deputy Person-in-charge. So far, the recycling system under this management model has been operating well. Somehow, there are people willing to volunteer more than the others. Actively, we are exploring different model of a society and community. Lately, I have joined a few individuals plowing the idle land opposite Lennon Wall next to the Umbrella Giant. The whole concept is to raise the importance of agriculture in Hong Kong as well as the political message of civil nomination. More important is to contemplate what we can do as an individual or support any action they deem as meaningful. The movement is not a debate over which ideology or political system we should adopt; It is a matter of virtue. No one can shake me from defending human rights at the time of 'Chinesization' of Hong Kong. I do not oppose Communism, on the paper, it is the most ideal utopia. Sadly, it does not cater the desire of money and the thirst of power. Therefore, it is doomed to fall. The Chinese government is not practising the real communism anymore, in fact, that is totalitarianism which should have sent a shudder down everyone's spine. This is what I am opposing. Being in the centre of the occupation, I witnessed and heard injustice and ignorance every day. Under this situation, I am more certain to remain as to pose an interruption to people's lives in order to force them to think. A great number is ignorant and arrogant, they are hard-core bigots; There is a great potential of citizens who are just not ready to think and reflect yet, they are not mentally equipped to scrutinize the message from the media. Critical literary is one of the main skills they are lack of. How can I leave the place before a greater majority understands the dangers of falling into the manipulation of totalitarians. Another action I can take is to educate a great audience to think. Once I had given up Hong Kong as a place to stay; Now, I am determined to claim it back. This is my new pastime. Watching the programme done by BBC is delightful. Two Italians, Gennaro and Antonio travel around Italy to revisit their place of birth after migrating to Britain for decades. Italy is one of my favourite countries, for its nature and its culture. I am totally absorbed by this programme.
Two old Italians drove across Italy to rediscover the taste of Italy. From understanding the modern family value to school lunch, they went everywhere to re-experience the evolution of food and the society. It was fascinating. The causal way of cooking, the omnipresence of ingredients, the passion for food and at times their ridicule, the combination drove the whole recipe to its optimal. I enjoy every bit of the nature, of the cooking, of the ambiance. Being born in a city, bustle and hustle have been the core of life. Despite so, I am especially attracted to life of nature. We must admit to enjoy the nature in HK like in Italy is a luxury. Trying hard to keep my life simple in a metropolitan, I find it challenging but necessary to prepare myself to such a journey. It is my dream to explore the life in its most native form and the clock is set to countdown recently. Every day, at the wake of day, I am most excited to change the digit for my manual countdown. Ciao, italia, io vengo presto! per la natura e la cultura. spero di poter parlare bene italiano a quel tempo. Universal suffrage has been hotly debated by HK politicians since the founding of Occupy Central or even longer. The pro-establishment has been waving the flag for rational discussion which has labelled the pan-democratic as irrational. This is a very smart move. It touches the very fundamental of HK mentality, 'Having a bite of the pie is better than nothing." However, the issue is not about how much rights we have but the spirit of Rule of Law in HK.
What exactly is Rule of Law? It simply means adhering to precedents but more important is to exercise our common sense to exert the rationality of an issue. There is room for discretion in the common law system as to veer between the rigidity of law and dynamics of the public. The disagreement between Chinese government and democratic in HK stems from their different mentality towards their acceptance of public opinions. For Chinese government, authority has the final interpretation of the words according to the convenience of their governance while HK government, authority has the final interpretation of the words according to common understanding and the welfare of citizens as we all believe that laws are there to protect the public instead of the otherwise. In the case of Universal suffrage, if the democratic fails to address the core difference between Chinese government and HK citizens, a lot of 'neutral' citizens will tend to support pro-establishment to stick to the proposal by the Chinese government. Many of the democratic are lawyers, who should be aware of the situation I've mentioned. However, their strategy seems far from educating the public the core of the issue. By merely expressing their views on the proposal or declaration of certain officials is insufficient to realise our right to universal suffrage. In the end, HK citizens will be petrified to accept the conditional universal suffrage after series of shock and panic of losing all. Will there be more HK citizens standing up to the shock or submitting on their knees? Reading is the most important step for acquiring a world view. That's where I have started. However, the irony lies there too. I had never read before 17 except for the summer book report. Well, whenever allowed, I exercised my liberty to produce my book report with the same book time and again. How on earth that I have started my reading?
I never read for fulfilling my duty. Reading for getting a better result doesn't stand a chance with me. Neither did my parents have time to guard me through anything like that. I have been quite liberal at what I have to do. If it's not my sense of obligation or encouragement from my parents, what was that magic portion? It's Curiosity! I still have trouble with reading. For the cumbersome and recondite text, I surrender most of the time. Well, at times, I feel uneducated or anti-intellectual but I'll try getting over it. Start in another way or even something else. No Big Deal. For example, Noami Klein, The Shock Doctrine, it is a neatly-written and well-researched book. For years, I have been struggling to finish it. Mainly for its brick-like size copy from the library which I couldn't keep it whenever I go unlike the other book of hers, "No Logo", for its size, I was absorbed and had done it within 2 weeks. But I am obsessed with this book. At last, I youtubed it and watched a documentary based on this book. Well, I have got what I wanted in an audio way. It's true that reading will be more enriching. However my point is don't kill the curiosity with a cumbersome block. That's what I guess the kids experienced as well. Knowledge is accumulative. If you start to collect the drip, you will result in a sea of it. Before a water puddle, you can't be a creek, let alone the river and the sea. If you are stuck with the idea being useless to accumulate a water puddle, the river will never been in sight. No matter in which form to obtain, knowledge is knowledge. Sometimes, we can take it a bit leisurely. Once again, we are living in an affluent era especially if you can read and understand what I am writing, why can we give the kids a break and let them unleash their curiosity? My curiosity of a subject or a topic doesn't end with the last chapter of the book. More than often, my curiosity interrupts me halfway of my reading when I spot a name or a term which sets me a journey of googling. This is how my knowledge branches itself into diversity. I know a bit of everything because I jot down names or terms everywhere. This is my reading list. What next to read is strongly related to the one I am reading or any of those which I have read. The frame of knowledge starts to take shape in this manner instead of searching for a well-acclaimed reading list. I decide what is 'useful' to read by which I mean to satisfy my desire of knowledge in place of the 'usefulness' in the modern world. On the search of knowledge or wisdom, we shall not be afraid of straying. On the strayed path, a treasure might be awaiting. Too many people read for practical reason, for exam, for promotion, for getting rich, or for self-help. They don't want to waste time, they want to obtain the message directly. Our world is becoming so thirsty of success and obsessive of possession, we don't want to spend time on the most-worthy-task, to examine our lives. If we slow down our pace and admire the world, give up unnecessities and create our lives, put down some work to travel with authors, will we enjoy more about life? For me, indeed. |
AuthorMs Jennifer, keen on funny things. Constantly, thinking of promoting unconventional education values under HK education system. Archives
January 2015
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