Post 92 A relaxing break
In 2005 my visit to the Isle of Wight was a day trip to explore its natural beauty. The journey from Southampton by ferry gave me the pleasure of being closer to my two grandchildren who are residing in the foreign land with their parents.
The Isle of Wight is the largest island of England and has been a holiday destination since Queen Victoria's reign from 1837 till 1901. It was an era of prosperity for the British people who had had the pleasure and leisure to enjoy life. Queen Victoria even built her summer residence and final home Osborne House on the island.
I particularly took notice of the name Lord Mountbatten who was the island’s governor from 1969-1974. This outstanding statesman of the British Empire had spent part of his career in Malaya before. In the 1960s there was a Mountbatten Road in Kuala Lumpur. It is now known as Jalan Tun Perak (Tun Perak Road).
The Isle of Wight was home to the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) whose famous phrases that have become commonplaces of the English language include “Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die” and "Knowledge comes, but Wisdom lingers".
When you are surrounded by the natural beauty and serenity of the island, inspiration abounds.
26 April 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
People who live on trees
Post 91 Ignorance knows no barrier
I bought a set of Child Readers in the 70s for my daughter. One of the articles has this introduction written: “Some people in a land called Malaysia live high off the ground in tree houses....” If one thinks knowledge is not important, try ignorance which knows no barrier. As the writer of the passage was from the first world, his ignorance could be the offspring of arrogance. In this case, arrogance fortifies ignorance. As such there was no necessity for him to verify the fact.
The story of "Yelang thinks too highly of itself" (夜郎自大Yelang zi da) in the 120s BC best describes the extent of ignorance of people like the king of Yelang. His kingdom was very tiny as compared to the kingdom of Han. The king of Yelang thought that his kingdom was the greatest in the entire world. Once he inquired rhetorically of the Han emperor’s envoy, “Which is greater, Yelang or Han?”
When the citizen of a country of 20 million asks, “which is greater, my country or India?”, he is “Yelang zi da”, thinking too highly of his country in total ignorance.
People,who do not read, harbour and magnify their ignorance.
19 April 2011
I bought a set of Child Readers in the 70s for my daughter. One of the articles has this introduction written: “Some people in a land called Malaysia live high off the ground in tree houses....” If one thinks knowledge is not important, try ignorance which knows no barrier. As the writer of the passage was from the first world, his ignorance could be the offspring of arrogance. In this case, arrogance fortifies ignorance. As such there was no necessity for him to verify the fact.
The story of "Yelang thinks too highly of itself" (夜郎自大Yelang zi da) in the 120s BC best describes the extent of ignorance of people like the king of Yelang. His kingdom was very tiny as compared to the kingdom of Han. The king of Yelang thought that his kingdom was the greatest in the entire world. Once he inquired rhetorically of the Han emperor’s envoy, “Which is greater, Yelang or Han?”
When the citizen of a country of 20 million asks, “which is greater, my country or India?”, he is “Yelang zi da”, thinking too highly of his country in total ignorance.
People,who do not read, harbour and magnify their ignorance.
19 April 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Swansea, Wales
Post 90 Voices of the Welsh
My one-month stay at Swansea while attending an educational management course there in 1996 had me delighted at the scenic and beautiful Wales. Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales and is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. It is the second most populous city in Wales after Cardiff.
As a music lover, I found the Welsh having a very strong compassion for music and dances. No wonder Wales is traditionally known as “the land of songs”. Indeed it has a history of folk music related to the Celtic music of Ireland and Scotland. One just needs to go to Youtube “Choir of Wales” to enjoy watching and listening to the best musical repertoire, depicting Wales’s rich culture.
I was told by my Welsh friend that there were many international music and dance festivals in Wales throughout the year. He even took me to a school hall where his daughter, who also gave Harp lessons, was practising the stepping dance of Wales with a group of friends. Besides music, songs and dances, the Welsh are also rugby enthusiasts. Their annual encounter with the English team is a crowd puller.
The Welsh are generally bilingual being proficient in both Welsh and English. One can see road signs being written in both the languages.
Wales is charming and picturesque indeed.
12 April 2011
My one-month stay at Swansea while attending an educational management course there in 1996 had me delighted at the scenic and beautiful Wales. Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales and is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. It is the second most populous city in Wales after Cardiff.
As a music lover, I found the Welsh having a very strong compassion for music and dances. No wonder Wales is traditionally known as “the land of songs”. Indeed it has a history of folk music related to the Celtic music of Ireland and Scotland. One just needs to go to Youtube “Choir of Wales” to enjoy watching and listening to the best musical repertoire, depicting Wales’s rich culture.
I was told by my Welsh friend that there were many international music and dance festivals in Wales throughout the year. He even took me to a school hall where his daughter, who also gave Harp lessons, was practising the stepping dance of Wales with a group of friends. Besides music, songs and dances, the Welsh are also rugby enthusiasts. Their annual encounter with the English team is a crowd puller.
The Welsh are generally bilingual being proficient in both Welsh and English. One can see road signs being written in both the languages.
Wales is charming and picturesque indeed.
12 April 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
An eye-opener
Post 89 Demonstration for the least expected reason
In 1991 I was at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada for a short post-graduate course. I learnt a lesson on what could be considered to be an issue warranting a placard demonstration by students while having lunch one day at the dining hall of the university.
There was a group of about 30 undergraduates who walked into the dining hall carrying placards. The students were not satisfied with the ventilation system in the university and demanded that action be taken to rectify it. It was just a small scale peaceful demonstration asking for more fresh air in the building. The protesters wanted their voices heard.
This incident reminded me of the many demonstrations happened in the USA in the
1960s. The young generation at that time protested over other issues in their campuses at a time of social unrest. It was a decade that saw many Civil Rights and Anti- Vietnam War demonstrations; and changes in social norms that were against traditional moral values with the introduction of contraceptive pills. It was the Swinging Sixties of pop music and mini-skirts that swept the world and the placard carriers at Toronto were not born yet.
The Toronto experience was an eye-opener to me. It was never expected of me that stale air in campus building could also trigger off a demonstration!
5 April 2011
In 1991 I was at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada for a short post-graduate course. I learnt a lesson on what could be considered to be an issue warranting a placard demonstration by students while having lunch one day at the dining hall of the university.
There was a group of about 30 undergraduates who walked into the dining hall carrying placards. The students were not satisfied with the ventilation system in the university and demanded that action be taken to rectify it. It was just a small scale peaceful demonstration asking for more fresh air in the building. The protesters wanted their voices heard.
This incident reminded me of the many demonstrations happened in the USA in the
1960s. The young generation at that time protested over other issues in their campuses at a time of social unrest. It was a decade that saw many Civil Rights and Anti- Vietnam War demonstrations; and changes in social norms that were against traditional moral values with the introduction of contraceptive pills. It was the Swinging Sixties of pop music and mini-skirts that swept the world and the placard carriers at Toronto were not born yet.
The Toronto experience was an eye-opener to me. It was never expected of me that stale air in campus building could also trigger off a demonstration!
5 April 2011
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