Horizon

“I can say no more because she was she, and I was I.”

A beautiful line that I came across in a drama lately. In my opinion, it means loving someone needs no more reason than you love him/her. Love is a feeling. Feeling is something that comes from heart rather than from brain. It is not something which should be put on a balance and weigh its advantages and disadvantages. Neither should we measure the net gain like income minus expenditure. Though many a time we say that we reap what we sow, this may not always be true in the matter of love.

When we talk about love, most will think that romantic love is being discussed. I think Eastern values do not promote much of love among family members. The ancient Chinese values mostly stress on filial piety towards one’s parents, instead of loving them. Maybe it’s just the difference in words and language that the word “love” wasn’t applied. Continue on romantic love, it’s always related to relationships: the male-female type. Again, the cultural values imply that love leads to relationship and devoting one for another, and eventually lead to starting a family and etc.

This situation differs a great deal in the Western (mostly U S of A). Their teens treat love as a type of physical expression, and it’s most natural for everyone to make it to one another. I think it’s a good practice to spread love but not in a random and superficial manner. Somehow I think that we Asians should try to open up a little more to that kind of culture. I do not ask our teens to behave like the American does. But our youths should not think that love is restricted only to a single life partner. Open up yourselves to give and receive. Maybe then, you will be able to discover much more…

Have you ever got lost in your house? Never, most would say. What if you have a house so big that it has hundreds of rooms? Maybe you may not find your bedroom one day. This is an extract from a psychologist in a drama, giving an instance of a forgotten memory. Our brain is like a house with hundreds of rooms, he said. Some of our memories may be stored in our brain but we may not be able to find them.

Memories… They are the most important part of a person’s life. In Heroes, there’s one who can manipulate memories and make you forget things. And he threatened someone to tell his secrets or to lose his memories of his family members. And he succeeded. I’m not surprised; I would give up anything to retain my memories of my loved ones. That has somehow made me realized how memories become part of our lives; our memories of others and others’ memories of us, without which our existence wouldn’t have meant anything.

Does anyone remember his Standard One classmate who sat beside him? (Or better still, keep in touch with him?) I definitely can’t, no matter how hard I try. Maybe he wasn’t my good friend then. But then, I can hardly recall any friends whom I’ve befriended in Standard One. So, human is a forgetful being after all. (Or is it just me?)

"And they lived happily ever after…" is the most wonderful and beautiful phrase in my opinion. It gives a story the best ending that anyone could wish for. But most of the times, we only find it in fairy tales.

Talking bout fairy tales, I’ve been wondering why are the main characters always ladies. I did not perform a statistical count but I always recall Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and other princesses when anyone talks bout fairy tales. Maybe it is the influence of Disney’s Pictures. They always seem to pick princesses’ story for animation. Even the first Chinese character they worked on is Hua Mulan (why not Hua WuQue or maybe Huang Fei-Hong, hihi…).

When we were small, these fairy tales were the favourites of our bedtime stories. Then, we have fantasies of ourselves being princes and princesses in our imaginative fairyland. And I believe some of us still have that kind of fantasies; guys would like to stumble across sleeping princess in the wood, while gals with their prince charming riding to the rescue. But for most of us, these are nothing more than daydreams or false hopes. I myself have doubts if "happily-ever-after" has or will ever happened to anyone in reality.

However, no matter how pessimistic one is, I believe everyone does have that touch of naivety hidden deep inside us. Living in this realistic world, fairy tales can be a sanctuary to the soul. After reading dozens of sorrowful news daily, wouldn’t it be a relief to turn over a page of dreamy fiction anticipating the dragon to be slayed, the princess saved and the tender kiss… Sweet!

Here I would like to encourage everyone to read a fairy tale or watch a Disney picture, and dwell in fantasies once in a while. Don’t be too harsh on yourselves as life is difficult enough without our pessimism. Be naive and have one or two false hopes, and the world might be a better place altogether. May "happily-ever-after" lives on…

I personally found that the following thought coincides with my own. Hence, I would like to share this with those who have not read the book. However, I propose to my religious friends to ignore this post as I do not wish to discuss religions here. For my non-religious friends, you are welcome to share your thoughts and comments here.

I cannot prove that gods do not exist. Nor can I prove that the world and everything in it was not created by an entity or entities in the distant past… we have studied the nature, we have never witness an instance where the rules that govern the world have been broken. That is, we have never seen a miracle. Many events have defied our ability to explain, but we are convinced that  we failed because we are still woefully ignorant about the universe and not because a deity altered the working of nature…

Death, sickness, poverty, tyranny, and countless other miseries stalk the land. If this is the handiwork of divine beings, then they are to be rebelled against and overthrown, not given obeisance, obedience, and reverence…

We give credence only to that which we can prove exists. Since we cannot find evidence that gods, miracles, and other supernatural things are real, we do not trouble ourselves about them. If that were to change, if *** were to reveal himself to us, then we would accept the new information and revise our position…

It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our own actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.It is far better to be taught to think critically and then be allowed to make your own decisions than to have someone else notions thrust upon you…

~excerpt from page 542-544 of Eldest, Book Two of INHERITANCE (Eragon is Book One) by Christopher Paolini.

I’ve kind of abridged it. Therefore it may not sound complete to you. For those who are interested to read the original version, I’ll be more than happy to lend you the book.

Do you believe in luck? Some people say that there’s nothing as important as luck; you can toil all you want but you may not get what you want if luck is not on your side. Others are of the opinion that luck only accompanies those who make an effort or those with ability. While, a handful thinks that there is no such thing as luck, only one’s competence affects his fate.

Me? I’m a believer of luck. I’ve always thought that I’m a blessed child (blessed man now?), possessing mostly everything that one could possibly wished for. A loving family (caring and dedicated parents, "cute and obedient" sisters), fun and loyal friends, supportive extended family members, and all those around me who have been so kind and helpful (teachers in school or tuition, neighbours, acquaintances…). If it’s not luck that brings them to me, or me to them…

Oh ya! For those who have yet to know, I’m now in Korea. I’m under an exchange programme between UM and Inje University, Korea. I’ll be here for two and a half months, joining their lab. So, this will be my industrial training. And I believe it’s luck that brings me here too. Out of so many faculties in UM, it’s the Engineering Faculty (and Medicine Faculty) that are participating in this programme. And out of the ten departments in Engineering Faculty, my department (Biomedical Engineering) is chosen. My, my… Without striking occurrence of all these conditions, I guess I’ll have to wait for quite some time to be able to travel overseas.

I would like to post some of my experiences here but they do not seem relevant to my topic. So, back to luck. Is anyone thinking that I’m showing off here? Not you, I hope. Those who read my blog should be someone who knows me well and cares for me. Aren’t you? *wink* (or at least I hope so; you need not leave a comment on this, I assumed so on my own =D)

Actually, I’m just wanting to express my gratitude for everything. During the preparation for this trip to Korea, I’ve received much favours, attention, concern and financial support from all around. So, I would like to take this chance to thank everyone; from my ever-so-supportive family to acquaintances who have wished me a safe journey ere my departure. A great, heartfelt thank-you to everyone…

For "luck-believers", I wish all of you good luck; for non-believers, may you get what you want through your effort. Of course, there won’t be free lunches lying around in this world. But sometimes there may be one by invitation. May everyone have a chance to be invited…

Yours sincerely,

~wwf

Everyone dreams; daydream, sweet dream, or even nightmare… There are many explanations on why do we dream. Some say dreams are left-over thoughts of our conscious mind that playback in our sleep, some are of the opinion that dreams are actually visions of the past or future, others just wish that they will have a good night sleep undisturbed.

However, the dream that I would like to share here isn’t the kind of dreams we get in sleep. It’s something that we wish for. In Encarta, it’s defined as “something that somebody hopes, longs, or is ambitious for, usually something difficult to attain or far removed from present circumstances.” Yes, that is something difficult to attain or even far from reality. That’s why it is synonymous to “dreams” of which we have when we are asleep.

I believe everyone has dream(s) since they are young. May it be an ambition (i.e. being a doctor) or a just wishful thought (like climbing the Faraway Tree *those who do not know what is that, can look for Enid Blyton in the children department of your nearest bookstore*). Yet, as we grow, we always get to find out that dreams remain as dreams. Many a times, we will have to compromise our dreams, giving them up to make way for the cruel reality.

Realists will denounce dreams as unrealizable hope or fantasy, while idealists hold dreams highly and make them their purpose in life. In my opinions, both are right depending on how they define “dreams”. Where is the boundary between “realistic goal” and “idealistic thought”? How far-fetched is “far-fetched”?

For example, is the wish of achieving world peace just a dream? If no one believes in it, of course it will stay as a utopia. On the other hand, wouldn’t it come true if everyone believes and works for it? At least, I wish to believe in it. So who is to judge that?

God knows…

Since the ancient time, the philosophers have been seeking to find the ULTIMATE TRUTH of who are we and why are we here: the reason of human’s existence on Earth.

From the biological point of view, every organism has its roles in this world. From insects to mammals, planktons to whales, even weeds that grow wild by the roadside, they are all components in the food chain that serve to balance the ecosystem. But humans are at the top of the pyramid, end of the food chain most of the times; is our existence crucial to the system?

Personally, I feel that humans are destroyer of the nature. We are always thinking of building a world for ourselves, developing science and technology for our own comfort and upsetting the balance of Earth. Instead of living in peace with nature, we are exploiting it to our own advantages and oftentimes, neglecting the welfare of all other living things.

National Geographic Channel claims that humans are to be protector or guardian of the nature. We are to ensure the survival of other creatures, but how many of us are doing that or how many even cares to give it a thought?

Going back the basics of living things, scientists have defined seven characteristics of which a thing can be claimed as living. One of them is having the ability to reproduce. Reproducing can be assumed to be the main “objective” of all living beings. Most develop their physical structures, living habits, physiologies to be able to reproduce more successfully. Each life form strives to produce as many offsprings as possible to ensure the continuity of its species’ survival.

Therefore, can we deduce that the purpose of living itself is to produce more lives? Looking at some lower beings whose life cycles end once they have successfully reproduced, this is a point. How about humans then? According to the statistics, humans are overpopulating. This may be caused by us going against the nature, wanting only the best for ourselves and exploiting other livings to prolong our own lives.

So, are we born to live, or are we living because we are born?

What is our purpose then?

Have you experienced nature? If I ask you to close your eyes now and imagine yourself to be in nature, where would you picture yourself to be at?

I’ve had a most wonderful experience last weekend; floating on a running stream with some greenery around when it was drizzling lightly. The cold stream water flowing around me, raindrops falling on my face, a slight glare of sunlight pierced through the canopy of trees above me. With my ears in the water, I can only hear the sound of the stream flow. How tranquil and serene it was!

Being an urban chap, I’ve very little exposure to the nature. I have only read from books bout how trees whisper mysteriously, rivers gurgle happily, mountains stand majestically, caves echo scarily…
I wonder whether writers and poets alone have those colourful imaginations, or everyone has it but it just that they have not experienced them before.

One of my friends once asked me: do you think that you can live on an isolated island, where no technology can be found? “Maybe,” I said. Always having tv, computer, internet, shopping centre, cinema, bowling alley, even mamak stall around, I’ve never thought of a life without them.

Can running up and down a hill, lying in bushes, admiring how the flowers bloom, looking at sun-rise and sun-set, counting stars, wading in stream, swimming in the sea… replace all the exciting activities in city?

But thinking deeply, weren’t our ancestors all live without all our current technologies? Didn’t they survive? Had they no fun and happiness? Do we actually need all the modern luxuries to be happy and we call owning them as enjoying life?
Sometimes, I will think that things may be better if they are much simpler. Science and development might have made our work easier but I wonder if they’ve actually complicated our life.

Anyway, it does pay to blend into the nature at times. There is so much to learn.
Do stop to smell the flower…

It’s something that most are looking for, but I believe that some of them do not know what they are asking for. Ya, especially ladies. I’m not a sexist, but I reckon that I possess a tinge of old-fashioned thinking. But girls, I do think that the whole truth is not what you really want.

(Ok, the above is only my point of view; you may differ if you wish to.)

Anyway, this doesn’t apply only to Eve’s daughters of course; everyone, in my opinion, has this problem. Oftentimes, we ask others to tell us the truth and nothing but the truth. Have we reflected upon whether we can face the truth?

First of all, being truthful is not at all an easy task. Aren’t we untruthful to ourselves at times even? Sometimes, we do lie to ourselves. There are things that we believe or wish to believe in, and others that we don’t. When the “don’ts” appear, we tend to be confused. What is the truth and what is only our belief…

Then, to be truthful to others is another matter to be considered. How truthful can we be? Are we supposed to tell the truth all the time? Without fail? Even to the extent of hurting others? Where does the boundary lie? How can we tell the truth and expect others to accept it because we are telling the truth?

There is a friend who has once reprimanded me for being too frank. He said that in telling the truth, we still have to care for others’ feeling. It’s always easier to be said than done. But I understand what he’s trying to tell me. We can’t just throw the solid truth at everyone and expect them to digest it. We have to mash and filter it before trying to force it down their throat. *wink*

So, here comes the million dollar question: How truthful shall we be?

Don’t ask me. Tell only what you think you should. Hide the rest.

Happy? Of course not! How can we be contented with such an answer!

Anyway, it’s our choice. “To be or not to be.” That’s our question…

Forgive and Forget… How do they go about?

Have you heard of the difference between the two? It is said that males forget but don’t forgive, and females forgive but never forget…

Is it true? How true is it? If you ask me, I’m not a male then. (wink)

We’ve always been told to forgive and forget when we are wronged. How far does one forgiveness go? Why do we have to forgive at the first place? They wronged us; why should we forgive them? We should make them feel bad for what they’ve done to us, isn’t that justice? Only then would it be fair, or is it?

An eye for an eye makes the world blind. Agree? Hence, we’ve to learn to forgive.

How bout forget then? Fine! We forgive those who have wronged us, but why forget? Isn’t it enough that we’ve forgiven them and we even have to forget what they’ve done to us! Can we forget what they’ve done and treat them as if nothing has ever happened?!

Leave those who have wronged us aside…

It is said that we forgive and forget for our own good. It makes us happier if we manage to forgive and forget bad deeds of others. Keeping grudge and thinking of revenge would only bring hate. Hate to those who have wronged us and eventually towards people and things around us, the way everything goes, the world itself and our very own self. Not only love blinds, hate can too…

So, should we forgive and forget? In my opinion, NO, at least not if we don’t want to. After all, don’t we have the right not to forgive someone? However, I believe that time heals. Why should we keep someone we hate in the limited space of our mind? Isn’t it better if we can keep those we love in heart…

For my loved ones, family, friends… all of you will always be in my heart.

With love,

-wwf-