Post 77 To strike the right note
I attended a wedding dinner recently when the lady master of ceremony failed to strike the right note. Instead she sounded a false note that caused a great dent to her seemingly well-cultured character and an embarrassment to the discerning guests. Apparently she was not experienced enough to know that there are certain words of insinuation which should never be uttered, let alone at such a joyous grand occasion of which she anchored.
When one weighs one's words, one is careful with the choice of words in speaking or writing. A word well spoken at the right occasion and at the right time is ‘like apples of gold in settings of silver’. The linguistic skill of being able to use words appropriately, effectively, and imaginatively comes with reading widely and writing extensively.
When I was a little boy, I used to hear adults saying, “Children must be seen and not heard”! This is true if it helps to prevent children who do not weigh their words from innocently divulging a family secret in front of visiting guests and relatives.
11 January 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Gossip
Post 76 Grapevine
Grapevine is used to denote information or gossip, passed unofficially from person to person, that is difficult to trace. It starts and climbs in all directions like a grapevine. For example one may hear about the promotion of one’s colleague through the grapevine.
There is a Chinese idiom on roadside gossip. (dao ting tu shuo道听途说)
Two men, Ai Zi and Mao Kong, were gossiping. Mao told Ai, “There is a duck which has laid a hundred eggs in a day.” Ai did not believe and Mao said, “There could be two ducks.” When Ai still had doubt, Mao quickly added, “The eggs could possibly be laid by three ducks.” Mao topped up the number of ducks to ten but Ai still would not believe him.
Some time later, Mao told Ai, “A big slab of meat was dropped from the sky last month. It was 300 feet long and 200 feet wide.” Ai cast doubt on Mao who then said, “It was 200 feet long.” Again Ai did not believe him. When Mao said, “May be it was a hundred feet long”, Ai asked him, “Whose duck is it that laid the eggs?” Where did the meat fall?” Mao told Ai, “I heard them on the road from others.” Ai then told his accompanying students not to be like Mao who passed on roadside gossips.
The Chinese saying of “Rumours would stop at the wise” teaches us not to gossip.
4 January 2011
Grapevine is used to denote information or gossip, passed unofficially from person to person, that is difficult to trace. It starts and climbs in all directions like a grapevine. For example one may hear about the promotion of one’s colleague through the grapevine.
There is a Chinese idiom on roadside gossip. (dao ting tu shuo道听途说)
Two men, Ai Zi and Mao Kong, were gossiping. Mao told Ai, “There is a duck which has laid a hundred eggs in a day.” Ai did not believe and Mao said, “There could be two ducks.” When Ai still had doubt, Mao quickly added, “The eggs could possibly be laid by three ducks.” Mao topped up the number of ducks to ten but Ai still would not believe him.
Some time later, Mao told Ai, “A big slab of meat was dropped from the sky last month. It was 300 feet long and 200 feet wide.” Ai cast doubt on Mao who then said, “It was 200 feet long.” Again Ai did not believe him. When Mao said, “May be it was a hundred feet long”, Ai asked him, “Whose duck is it that laid the eggs?” Where did the meat fall?” Mao told Ai, “I heard them on the road from others.” Ai then told his accompanying students not to be like Mao who passed on roadside gossips.
The Chinese saying of “Rumours would stop at the wise” teaches us not to gossip.
4 January 2011
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Logical thinking
Post 75 Love can be blind
Logic is the study of arguments. One who is logical is good at critical thinking. In any argument, one must use one's logicality to convince one's opponents. Nevertheless, at times a logical explanation is not needed and is conveniently overlooked.
A boy wanted to date his girlfriend out for dinner. She was to answer his question correctly before they would go out together. He put out his closed palm and asked her to guess what was inside the palm. The girl without thinking much said, “An elephant!” The boy thought for a moment and said, “Well, the answer is quite close. I shall buy you dinner.” This was glaringly an illogical answer! However, the flaw in her might not have seemed to be too great to the boy at that moment and he took no pain in correcting her.
On another aspect, parents who spoil their children without correcting their mistakes on the spot have overlooked the importance of discipline and that a stitch in time saves nine. The over-indulgence of parents on children breeds spoiled brats with behavioural problems. By not disciplining their children when there is a need to do so, they fit in well with the proverb: “Spare the rod and spoil the child”.
28 December 2010
Logic is the study of arguments. One who is logical is good at critical thinking. In any argument, one must use one's logicality to convince one's opponents. Nevertheless, at times a logical explanation is not needed and is conveniently overlooked.
A boy wanted to date his girlfriend out for dinner. She was to answer his question correctly before they would go out together. He put out his closed palm and asked her to guess what was inside the palm. The girl without thinking much said, “An elephant!” The boy thought for a moment and said, “Well, the answer is quite close. I shall buy you dinner.” This was glaringly an illogical answer! However, the flaw in her might not have seemed to be too great to the boy at that moment and he took no pain in correcting her.
On another aspect, parents who spoil their children without correcting their mistakes on the spot have overlooked the importance of discipline and that a stitch in time saves nine. The over-indulgence of parents on children breeds spoiled brats with behavioural problems. By not disciplining their children when there is a need to do so, they fit in well with the proverb: “Spare the rod and spoil the child”.
28 December 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
What price a glance?
Post 74 A glance of honour (一顾之荣 yi gu zhi rong)
There was a man who was an expert in judging horses. He was affectionately called Bo Le (伯乐), the name of the star in charge of heavenly horses in ancient Chinese mythology.
Once there was a person who tried to sell his horse at the market but there was no buyer. After failing to strike a deal on three attempts, this person went to see Bo Le for help. He requested Bo Le to just cast a glance at his horse and, before leaving the market, turn back to briefly glance at the horse again. Bo Le followed the instruction of the man. Soon after Bo Le had left, there were many interested buyers who offered to pay ten times more for the horse.
Initially this metaphor was for someone who had gained more status after having some social graces with a famous personality. It is now used to describe the honour of having a distinguished guest gracing an occasion or visiting a place. When a distinguished guest like the Prime Minister visits a school, that school is being honoured by a glance.
21 December 2010
There was a man who was an expert in judging horses. He was affectionately called Bo Le (伯乐), the name of the star in charge of heavenly horses in ancient Chinese mythology.
Once there was a person who tried to sell his horse at the market but there was no buyer. After failing to strike a deal on three attempts, this person went to see Bo Le for help. He requested Bo Le to just cast a glance at his horse and, before leaving the market, turn back to briefly glance at the horse again. Bo Le followed the instruction of the man. Soon after Bo Le had left, there were many interested buyers who offered to pay ten times more for the horse.
Initially this metaphor was for someone who had gained more status after having some social graces with a famous personality. It is now used to describe the honour of having a distinguished guest gracing an occasion or visiting a place. When a distinguished guest like the Prime Minister visits a school, that school is being honoured by a glance.
21 December 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
A wheeler-dealer
Post 73 To be professional in one’s dealings
A wheeler-dealer is an Informal term for one who bargains shrewdly or advances one's own interests by aggressive or unscrupulous behavior. There is a lack of professionalism in one’s business dealings. Hence a successful sales person always steers clear of the wheeler-dealer mentality.
Fan Li (范蠡) was an ancient Chinese advisor of ministerial rank. He later resigned, renamed himself Tao Zhugong (陶朱公) and became an icon in business management. His book on “Golden Rules of Business Success" (经商宝典) which includes Twelve Business Principles and Twelve Business Pitfalls remains relevant till today.
Tao Zhugong, a tycoon himself, was a man of principle who was against those who wheel and deal in a selfish and unscrupulous way. His first golden rule states that one must have the ability to know people’s character. A wheeler-dealer is easily detectable because he can fix anything for a price.
Tao also gave the advice that one should not give in to herd instinct which is the instinct to think and behave like the majority of people. This herd instinct is common in share markets.
A wheeler-dealer who is over zealous and canny in his business dealings may ruin his character.
14 December 2010
A wheeler-dealer is an Informal term for one who bargains shrewdly or advances one's own interests by aggressive or unscrupulous behavior. There is a lack of professionalism in one’s business dealings. Hence a successful sales person always steers clear of the wheeler-dealer mentality.
Fan Li (范蠡) was an ancient Chinese advisor of ministerial rank. He later resigned, renamed himself Tao Zhugong (陶朱公) and became an icon in business management. His book on “Golden Rules of Business Success" (经商宝典) which includes Twelve Business Principles and Twelve Business Pitfalls remains relevant till today.
Tao Zhugong, a tycoon himself, was a man of principle who was against those who wheel and deal in a selfish and unscrupulous way. His first golden rule states that one must have the ability to know people’s character. A wheeler-dealer is easily detectable because he can fix anything for a price.
Tao also gave the advice that one should not give in to herd instinct which is the instinct to think and behave like the majority of people. This herd instinct is common in share markets.
A wheeler-dealer who is over zealous and canny in his business dealings may ruin his character.
14 December 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
A pipe dream
Post 72 Dream of Southern Branch (南柯一梦)
In the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907), there was a man called Chunyu Fen who became drunk and dozed off under a scholartree on the southern part of his house. He dreamt that he was chosen to marry the princess of the King of the state of Scholartree. He became a governor for twenty years enjoying his glory and riches with his seven children who also did well in life. Unfortunately he lost everything when the King did not trust him anymore.
Chunyu Fen woke up to realize that he just had an illusory joy in his dream. He tried to look for the country he had been in his dream. He found that the so-called state of Scholartree was just an ant hole under the Scholartree on the southern end of his house. It was a pipe dream. What had happened to him in the dream was near impossible to achieve in real life.
One must learn to be positive, realistic and down to earth. It is wishful thinking to assume that one can be successful just by dreaming.
7 December 2010
In the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907), there was a man called Chunyu Fen who became drunk and dozed off under a scholartree on the southern part of his house. He dreamt that he was chosen to marry the princess of the King of the state of Scholartree. He became a governor for twenty years enjoying his glory and riches with his seven children who also did well in life. Unfortunately he lost everything when the King did not trust him anymore.
Chunyu Fen woke up to realize that he just had an illusory joy in his dream. He tried to look for the country he had been in his dream. He found that the so-called state of Scholartree was just an ant hole under the Scholartree on the southern end of his house. It was a pipe dream. What had happened to him in the dream was near impossible to achieve in real life.
One must learn to be positive, realistic and down to earth. It is wishful thinking to assume that one can be successful just by dreaming.
7 December 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Learning is the only way up
Post 71 Digital devices – a double-edged sword
Thomas L. Friedman wrote on 24 November 2010 that the most frightening news published in the Times on Sunday (21 Nov) was an article about how American kids are stepping up their use of digital devices. The following excerpt may be the epitome of many teenagers around the world:
“Allison Miller, 14, sends and receives 27,000 texts in a month, her fingers clicking at a blistering pace as she carries on as many as seven text conversations at a time. She texts between classes,......... while being driven to and from school and, often, while studying. But this proficiency comes at a cost: She blames multitasking for the three B’s on her recent progress report…. ”
I have seen many students who play video games, watch film shows, and texting during their waking hours every day when they should be concentrating on their studies. They do poorly in their examinations as the logical consequences of being off-tangent. They then make use of the defense mechanism of escapism by wasting more time on digital devices because they know they cannot not cope with their school work anymore. These students who lack good parenting and motivation to study pay heavily the price of not learning seriously when they fail in university entrance examinations.
The zeal in learning to acquire knowledge and critical thinking is the only way up in this competitive world flattened by globalization.
30 November 2010
Thomas L. Friedman wrote on 24 November 2010 that the most frightening news published in the Times on Sunday (21 Nov) was an article about how American kids are stepping up their use of digital devices. The following excerpt may be the epitome of many teenagers around the world:
“Allison Miller, 14, sends and receives 27,000 texts in a month, her fingers clicking at a blistering pace as she carries on as many as seven text conversations at a time. She texts between classes,......... while being driven to and from school and, often, while studying. But this proficiency comes at a cost: She blames multitasking for the three B’s on her recent progress report…. ”
I have seen many students who play video games, watch film shows, and texting during their waking hours every day when they should be concentrating on their studies. They do poorly in their examinations as the logical consequences of being off-tangent. They then make use of the defense mechanism of escapism by wasting more time on digital devices because they know they cannot not cope with their school work anymore. These students who lack good parenting and motivation to study pay heavily the price of not learning seriously when they fail in university entrance examinations.
The zeal in learning to acquire knowledge and critical thinking is the only way up in this competitive world flattened by globalization.
30 November 2010
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