旧日地平线

从小听家里人给彼此指路时总是二马路前四马路后的，二十年来一直都搞不清哪儿是哪儿。

难得»《华文？谁怕谁？》出了这样的一道题，我今晚终于花点时间搞懂了:

原来新加坡河的南边叫大坡，北边叫小坡，而我一直就在大马路上班。

有兴趣的话，»新加坡文史工作室的旧址还记载了许多本地街名的历史，很有意思。

Osel

Mr B first mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago about a chosen monk who has decided to renounce. I didn't follow up on it, but stumbled on the »sensationalist Guardian article a week after. The unfortunate article was replicated in several other news sites.

The tulku system of identifying a reincarnated lama is a feature specific to Tibetan Buddhism (as opposed to being part of core Buddhist philosophy). I appreciate the criticisms out there of the tulku system; I too have personal reservations about plucking a child from their childhood* and anointing them a special status. Yet, despite the shortcomings of the tulku system or even Tibetan Buddhism as a whole, I think it is only fair to present a balanced view of the Osel story by offering the other side of it.

I have not researched in too much detail, but it seems that the Babylon Magazine in Spain was the first to have interviewed Osel and all the rest picked up the story. If you have read the Guardian article, take a moment to read the Babylon article below as well. I thought it was considerably more thoughtful, less black and white. Read also »what Osel himself says.

»BabylonMagazine May/Jun 2009

In all organized religions and perhaps organizations and systems in general, size breeds politics. Original intentions become forgotten and perfectly well-intended processes become blindly ritualized. Some people have advocated practising a Buddhism that not culture-specific. It is sound advice, but to the extent that organization exists as a necessary evil in every facet of human society (religion included), I am not sure if it is attainable in reality.




*A great deal has also been made of the harshness of monastic life and that Osel did not enjoy it. Indeed, monastic life in any religion is not an easy one. It perhaps should not be a decision that one makes on behalf of a child. Yet in Asia, poverty is also a reason (actually, probably the key reason) why children are sent to the monastery. Should abbots of monasteries then turn them away? I don't have the answer. The best we can do is not to make life difficult if they decide to renounce later. P.S. Buddhism does allow for renunciation of monastic vows.

Disclosure: I am a Buddhist. As a student in the midwestern US, I used to go to a small Tibetan Buddhist temple headed by compassionate and unpolitical people. I have been exposed to other Buddhist traditions as well. While I do not regularly go to any temples now, the Tibetan tradition remains the one I have most affinity with.

Ms Y at Empress Place

Happy birthday and gallivanting in London, Ms Y!

Lotus at HortPark

The highlight of the 5+ km trek through the Southern Ridges today was undoubtedly »HortPark. I highly recommend a wander around there if you have not been. There is a cafe, a Thai restaurant, a butterfly enclosure (open 3rd Saturday every month) and plenty of uncrowded green space on a Sunday.

Thou shalt not hunt

Thou shalt not feed the monkeys, thou shalt clean up after your dog's poo... Our civic mindedness still has some way to go.

Please don't call the bluff

What was peculiar, and what was quite startling to me, is that it turned out that nobody ever did any scientific test on Van Meegeren, even the stuff that was available in his day, until after he confessed. And to this day, people hardly ever test pictures, even multi-million dollar ones. And I was so surprised by that that I kept asking, over and over again: why? Why would that be? Before you buy a house, you have someone go through it for termites and the rest. How could it be that when you’re going to lay out $10 million for a painting, you don’t test it beforehand? And the answer is that you don’t test it because, at the point of being about to buy it, you’re in love! You’ve found something... You want it to be real... The forger wants the collector to snap it up, and the collector wants it to be real. You are on the same side. You think that it would be a game of chess or something, you against him. “Has he got the paint right?” “Has he got the canvas?” You’re going to make this checkmark and that checkmark to see if the painting measures up. But instead, both sides are rooting for this thing to be real.

- Bamboozling Ourselves, New York Times blog

The next time we ask in despair of the financial mess, of love, or of life, "What were they thinking?", this is why: everyone wants the musical chairs to go on.

A fascinating story about Nazi-era forgery by the way. Read it »here.

Born free

Today, I am pleased to declare, is the last day of my indentured servitude!

调情，heartland-style

大热天，站在大街上等着过马路。我抽出一张泛蓝的吸油纸，轻轻拭着脸蛋。

路边摊的年轻小伙子说道：

“小姐，给我一张可以吗？”

回眸一笑（尤其是看见那年轻小伙子脸上毫无汗迹），我应道：

“我看不用啦！”

“一张而已，可以啦..."

Ms C 感言，原来今日的吸油纸就是当年的手帕哩。

Tara two weeks ago

She must be prettier than ever by now.

The hukou system in China

China tends to polarize sentiments. First, you have the gushers - those who are misty-eyed by her economic growth, her Olympics opening and and for whom she can do no wrong. Then, you have the bashers - those who can only see the spitting, the cheating and in turn cocoon themselves in a lifestyle of chauffeurs and champagne brunches.

Occasionally, there comes along someone who tries to bring an educated, considered view into this picture through an individual effort. (As opposed to self-professed China experts who make empty proclamations of how "China is really complex" without saying what the complexity is.)

I have been reading »Wangjianshuo's blog for a few years now and have just cleared his recent posts from my Google Reader. I highly recommend his two posts on the Chinese hukou system - »this and »this. For the profound impact it has on the day-to-day lives of Chinese, the hukou system seems to be relatively unknown to outsiders. I still recall my surprise when a Shanghai colleague had to miss a Hong Kong conference because his transit permit didn't reach him in time from his hukou in Shijiazhuang. Another told me matter-of-factly that her application to move her hukou to Shanghai took all of four years.

Dune daybed

The dune daybed was designed by renowned mid-century furniture designer Vladimir Kagan. His iconic furniture created a new look in furniture during the 40s, 50s and 60s.

I am so enamoured.

Chi Na Post

In a taxi, on the familiar road out of the Pudong airport.

The truck is from Henan by the way. You can tell from the 豫 that precedes the plate number at the back. Every province or autonomous area in China has a »single-word abbreviation, and they are often literary characters. This is the »etymology of 豫 and how it is not about Henan being where elephants were found.

Camera-phone series #14.

Footsie

Camera-phone series #13.

Le basier

I wonder why no one has thought of it except Ms M. Lion dances are such great fun for a wedding!

Camera-phone series #12.