Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in funyuenchang's LiveJournal:

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Saturday, June 10th, 2006
12:00 am	Graduation To Fun, Hey, Fun, Guess what, tomorrow is my graduation. To be frank, I am a little bit nervous. Wish me luck. FUN Current Mood: accomplished (Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 7th, 2006
12:00 am	Education Reform in Taiwan, Personal Impression towards History in China and Japan, and What the Co- FUN Education Reform in Taiwan, Personal Impression towards History in China and Japan, and What the Co-Relation between the Two Education Reform in Taiwan Education is an important pathway to understand life and to make a living in a capitalist society (which most of the societies had adapted to). Although money is the ultimate goal in our lives, the social norm is that before making money, or to make more money, we need education. One interesting fact that is not significantly related to the subject at hands is that the process of learning and teaching knowledge had always involved the use of writing – rather it be writing on woods, fabrics, leaves, or papers. Thanks to the improvement of the ways humans note things down, knowledge can now be taught not orally, but through better storage of written notes. As time evolves, piles of papers turn into textbooks and are systematically organized into different levels, are updated every year with new information and facts, and are being published by different publishers. But then how did these wonderful textbooks become the core reason of debate and transformed into a kind of money making tool that made kids in Taiwan today suffer as they are left in deeper confusion with the input of different knowledge from different versions of textbooks and not knowing which textbook is right? First and foremost, when the discussion of the textbooks used in Taiwan came into place, and before any further output of arguments on who is to blame in this situation takes place, the future generations and current parents have to realize that we are digging our own graves. The making of what we now face today perhaps was not done by us, but it is our responsibility to make it right when we have the chance. We must change things before it is too late. Solutions may include sending kids to cram schools where they use another different version of textbooks that focus mainly on the standardized examinations (required test for every junior high and high school students before entering high school or college), or sending our kids to a foreign country where they get to study the material, such as history, from a better judged and researched third person perspective. But what in the content of our textbook has changed? Accordingly, the R.O.C. also utilized the use of the approval system, which, similar to Japan, private sectors may edit or publish any textbooks but they must be approved by the Ministry of Education (M.O.E.) directly before the actually publishing. In 1968, the unified edition system in Taiwan came into being (Chen). The National Institute for Compilation and Translation (NICT) carried the responsibility and the only right, to check and edit textbooks that were to be used in public (other than English textbooks and “technical high school texts”). But the trigger that had caused Taiwanese parents and students to have a variety of choices of different versions of textbooks that are not only printed from different publishing companies with very vague or sometimes opposite views of judgment or descriptions on the same subject, and are also not standardized among the schools in Taiwan, was the legislators we selected from our own election. Especially after the lifting of the Martial Laws, in other words, after the old KMT party began to lose power to the pubic as the government decided to form a democratic country, the governmental system had since given people-chosen legislators a lot of power to vote to change laws. From the year 1980 and for the next seven years since then, legislators urged everyone to change the content of texts and to apply textbook de-standardization (Chen, J.). Their seven years of struggles finally paid off. Different versions of textbooks took place then. With public opinion that triggered legislators to make their move on the government, which then announced the lifting of martial laws, we could say that the Martial Laws led to the participation of the private sector in publishing texts. “Textbook Commercialization: Choosing What Children Learn” backs up the argument above on the factor that took away the editing privilege, if you will, by the NICT – the public: “Public opinion influenced the decision to open up Taiwan’s textbook production to private publishers,” and according to Chou Shu-ching, a Ph.D. from NTNU whose words had been quoted in this article, said that “With the abolition of martial law, political pressure form the public was a key factor (in the decision) [of opening up textbook production to the public]” (Chen, J.). This is not the only major change that has taken place after the lifting of the Martial Laws. Since the NICT no longer governs the editing and publishing of every textbook, private sectors that now hold the right to edit and publish textbooks had let in other people to be involved in the making of textbooks. Contend of new texts are now written by primary and middle school teachers, instead of university professors. “The Textbook Revolution: Deciding What Children Learn” states that “Textbooks used to be mainly written by professors in the relevant field. Today, most are written by primary and middle school teachers” (Chen, J.) Political symbolism separates views on two sides of Taiwan Strait. And the mentioning about Taiwan and its liberty from China is a sensitive issue. Jackie Chen and Anna Wang pointed out in “Opening a ‘Window’ on Ideology” that Hong Kong, before its “reunion” with mainland China, avoided such mentioning in its textbooks. Different ideology in textbooks affects the picture of our history. And as different political party has taken place, contend of the textbook also changes. When the KMT is still in power, some examples from the History textbooks at that time could serve as good examples as to show how the modification on contend of textbooks could become political after all: “Textbooks Get Deregulated Too” directs the research back into History textbooks in Taiwan with two examples that were politically influenced that taught students abstract or not yet proven facts: One of the textbooks had written that Chinese immigrant came in the Sung Dynasty. Second example from History textbook stated that Aborigines of Taiwan came from mainland. According to the writer of this article, this fact is not yet certain. These two examples point out that at that time, doing so was because the ruling party, the KMT, wanted to stress closeness with China (in that KMT’s original motive and objective since reestablishing to Taiwan was to return to mainland China (but with Chiang as the ruler instead of Mao)). As the article, “The Textbook Revolution: Deciding What Children Learn” has mentioned, our older textbooks in Taiwan “stressed greater Han Chinese nationalism, and ignored unique features of Taiwan’s own history, culture, and people. Now the situation is reversed” (Chen, J.) as this has all changed as the ruling political party changes. And there is still hope after all, hope from the same people we entrusted our powers upon – our legislators, who also acquire the power given by the law to make things better. Marlene Chen and Chang Chin-ju pointed out from “Taiwan History and Society Textbooks Spark Ideological Debate” that some legislators helping the public by pointing out the faulty errors and opposing the use of textbooks with unclear and mistaken contend: “Legislator Li Ching-hua points out that the book favors Western over Chinese expressions, stresses the accomplishments of Japanese rule, and takes the position that less attention should be paid to historical developments related to Han Chinese in Taiwan.” The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) favors in the Independence in Taiwan, and its “nativist” ideology influences contend of textbooks. From the above we can conclude and presume that our parents and people of our parents’ generation probably knows more about mainland China, when children of the current generation are fed with information mainly about Taiwan while becoming more and more ignorant (unintentionally) about other countries, especially China. Sadly, due to this “nativist” ideology, Taiwan had been using the same textbook until the “nativist” idea of putting “Taiwan first” changed the situation because with reference to Elaine Chen’s “The Rise and Fall of ‘China,’” “The last time that Taiwan rewrote textbooks was in 1975.” There is also a negative side to having unified editions. According to Chen, J., problems with unified editions may make our education a stultified education, teachers may lose passion teaching, and most importantly, students may lose free thinking since textbooks became simplified and become only means for getting good grades (passing standardized examinations). Textbooks are forms of written facts and history taught to the next generation. But are they influencing and changing the way people and students overseas think about history? Below I have written some of my further opinions on the government in Asia and their doings that proved the change in history in their published textbooks. Personal Impression towards History in China and Japan In my impression, things are always mysterious and dark about the oriental. There is an old saying that goes, “some things are better left unknown.” Asians tend to be obedient to the power above and are afraid to strike back against their Emperors, or the ones who were connected to or represented God, and are, shall I say, easily manipulated by textbook answers and calls from the higher power. Especially during wartimes or before stability of a nation’s government system is established, the group or head leader with the most threatening military power usually has the final call in most major issues; on the contrary, us people, or, excuse me, peasants, have not much say against the government when the government intended to conceal the ugly truth from the people. For political benefit, national pride, or one country’s international image, the truth marked in history of mankind could be changed. In the writing below, I would like to discuss and compare the secrets that were once distorted and concealed by governments of China, Japan, and Taiwan. In recent documented media reports, the Tiananmen Square incidence that occurred in Tiananmen Square, China, in 1991, was shocking news to the world. Not only did the bloody graphics of a student being rolled over by a military tank get translated and interpreted into labeling China as a country that disregarded human rights, this incidence, (what was purpose of the strike) worn the world to reconsider (reforming new educational system? Ironically, the communist China often sends its people with the “wrong ideology” to be “reeducated and to be corrected”). However, much of this history was concealed by the government. According to (example), the record of Tiananmen Square incidence had not been included in History textbooks in China. Taiwan, an island stills struggling to get its voice heard by the United Nations and waiting to receive its recognition by the world, also had conflict between the people and the government, which was led by Chiang, leader of the KMT party, who retreated to Taiwan for reestablishment of his troop, caused what was later called the 228 incidence that led to what locals called the White Terror incidence that, when resolved, was remembered by the government as it built the 228 Memorial Park as a way to confess to the people its apology. However, many parts of it had not been mentioned in history, and my guess is that people did not have much education (military power in control). The good thing is, as private sectors now gain more publishing rights, and as the political party changes power, the ministry of education now demands to “give Taiwanese history a more prominent place in the education of students and place less emphasis on Chinese history,” according to Chang Yun-Ping from online article, “Scholars Press to Rewrite History.” We are all living history that comes from history, lives history, and makes history. History, while being the making of mankind, is taught to us people by the government, which always has an edge over the people they are governing. History, which is piled up by us and is always taught with reference and relation to our daily lives when the topic intrigues or is making pros and cons comparison between the now and the past, could be taught differently, depending on the governing body. My eldest aunt is already 80 years old (I was born late, really late), and she underwent her childhood life and only had elementary education (since she had to help out a family with eight children) when Japan took colonial control of Taiwan, unintentionally got the chance to learn how to speak and write in Japanese, as well as in Chinese. And she learned her history with educators from Japan. The Japanese government proudly praised their country and forced the Taiwanese residents to work for the Royal Japanese Army at the time. This part of history was taught in Taiwan and textbooks reflected the Japanese government at that time negatively. Perhaps because the newly developed Taiwanese government and their people were ashamed of being governed by the Japanese Empire (then) as colonial slaves, or maybe the Taiwanese government thought it was an undeniable fact and must be documented on textbooks. On the other hand, parts of this history were concealed and more of it was exaggerated with positive thinking. (Example here) The ruling Japanese government was nothing but good because it was powerful and was ruling others. To us Taiwanese at that time, we were people of the lower class. We mankind creates history. We also document history and teach history. Thus, whether or not history is recorded properly without exaggeration or is hidden by decision makers of the ruling government that is “given” the control and the responsibility to overlook the teaching of history to its people, is sometimes hard to know, especially when debatable issues on hands occurred more than a hundred or more years and became difficult or no longer traceable. But when the truth of recent history is discovered and a country is accused by live witnesses to have distorted history, we know that history can be forged. Japan, for example, twisted the fact and lied about the history of its country to its people. Even worse than paid concubines, media reports from China, Korea, and Taiwan retell sad stories that occurred only not too long ago during the second world war (50 years makes subtle difference in the repeating and brutal history of mankind), saying many women served as prostitutes to Japanese soldiers established in Northern China (Manchuria), Korea, and Southeast Asia that included Taiwan. But the promising generation in Japan is not aware of it, nor is it so much in concern or caring for a history belonged not to them but to the previous generation. But this is a shocking fact purposely concealed from Japanese people by the ruling parliament that, when exposed, had brought Japan Prime Minister to bow and apologize for his parliament, for a history not of his own, to the mistreated and the forgotten women who were inhumanly served as sexual tools. In addition to the issue of Japan concealing the fact of shameful events happened during the Second World War, I have a personal experience that I think would serve well as an example to show that history was in fact distorted by the Japanese parliament. When studying in Boston, I hanged out in an Asian group formed with a South Korean guy, a half-Taiwanese and half-Japanese guy, and a Japanese girl. To us four, history was a class we went to merely to earn credits to fulfill our liberal arts criteria in order to graduate. But history was proud and positive to my Japanese friend, who had the impression, that her country, Japan, now modern in terms of technological development, polite in terms of its unique use of language, and colorful with its fascinating and indirect culture, was as good as she always thought it has been. She, who happened to be the only one who did not know about the awful deeds and the ugly side of her country during the Second World War, did not learn the truth until she looked into the words printed in our Asian History textbook written by American scholars. It is a sad truth and horrible truth that even today some people are ignorant of the real history (or is the history we know actually real in the beginning?) We are making history everyday. Sometimes it is not the documented history that is important, but it is the motive and the heart and the effort we put in to make a better history tomorrow that is more important. The rest is just secondary. Chronological Order (According to selections of Sinorama Magazines): • Since R.O.C. came to Taiwan – approval system like the one in Japan • 1968 the unified edition system came into being NICT (National Institute of Compilation and Translation) had too much editing workload, it wanted to open up edition to the public. • 1980 – 1987 After 7 years of the work from the Senators (after lifting of Martial Laws), textbook de-standardization (changing content) took place. • 1975 Last time Taiwan rewrote textbook. • Political tides affect textbook (viewpoint from most of these writers researched) • 1978 Senator Lee pointed out the faulty error in one of the new textbooks for being bias and favoring the Ideology of putting Taiwan at the center Bibliographies Chang, Yun-Ping. (October 2003) “Scholars Press to Rewrite History”, Taipei Times. Chen, Elaine. (May 1995) “The Rise and Fall of ‘China’”, Sinorama Magazine. Chen, Jackie. (September 1989) “Textbooks Get Deregulated Too”, Sinorama Magazine. Chen, Jackie. (September 1997) “The Textbook Revolution: Deciding What Children Learn”, Sinorama Magazine. Chen, Jackie and Wang, Anna (May 1995) “Opening a ‘Window’ on Ideology”, Sinorama Magazine. Current Mood: cynical (Comment on this)
12:00 am	NBA Finals (The Real Finals) Fun Daily Journal June 7, 2006 NBA Finals (The Real Finals) As I myself has predicted, Dallas, with new coach Avery Johnson, reached the NBA Finals for their first time. The Dallas Mavericks will face strong opponent Miami Heat, which team also stepped into the final stage of this game for their first time. This should be an interesting series. Defense is one big factor that affects the game play and style in basketball games today. Dallas coach Avery Johnson is a defensive minded coach. Johnson has only just retired from his career as a player before he joined the coaching staff in Dallas three years ago. Compare to other currently famous coach such as Larry Brown and Phil Jackson, Johnson is the only coach among the league who has ever gotten the closest look at players on the court, and not from the sideline. As a player, Johnson last played for the San Antonio Spurs, and helped the team won one of its three titles in eight years in the 99-00 season. The Spurs has always been a defensive team and a lot of outside shooting. With a similar style, when Johnson entered an already very offensive minded team, he was able to transform the team by inputting the importance of defense into their players’ minds. Led by German superstar Dirk Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks also has one of the best sixth men, Jerry Stackhouse in the lineup, who can provide the needed scoring and energy whenever needed. Josh Howard and Marquise Daniels are two talented and young players who are good at the defensive end. Keith Van Horn can play both forward positions and can help the team with his 6’10’’ size from the arc by hitting three point jump shots that are hard to block by smaller defenders. Jason Terry is a must mention factor. Terry, a great two guard, can trick players with his dribbles and make shots from the arc. On the other hand, the Heat is led by Shaquille O’Neal and young superstar Dwayne Wade, whose dominance in the paint and physical play contribute most of the scoring for the Heat. The Heat was once an offensive team until their new coach, and ex-General Manager, Pat Riley (who has been a famous coach, manager, assistance, or scout in the league in the past twenty years), inputted defense mentality into the Heat players. With veteran guard Gary Payton, so called the “Glove” for his great stealing ability and experience, and with Alonzo Mourning, who has been around the league for ten years while fighting kidney disease, underwent kidney transplant, and is now still fighting for that one ring before retirement (and is very good at blocking shots), the Heat does not lack great defensive players to lead the team on the other side of the court. The big question is who is going to win when the NBA Finals tip off on Thursday (American Eastern Time)? My guess is that the Heat should come up strong and snatch away the trophy. But with Dallas Mavericks’ more energetic game play (the Heat has got more veteran players who are still skillful but not as fast), it is still pretty hard to tell. Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 30th, 2006
12:00 am	News of the Day Fun Daily Journal May 30, 2006 News of the Day News 1 Once again, our senators have proven us wrong to have voted for them during senator election by showcasing ugly dispute in front of live camera at our house of senate. The dispute started when the discussion and the voting of opening direct flight from Taiwan to China was brought into place. Senators of the opposing party who disliked the idea of opening direct flight from Taiwan to China literally blocked the voting process by gathering together in front of the senate leader, Wong, who, after seeing it, decided to postpone the voting process until June 9. This is the third time the senate has failed to bring into conclusion the possibility of opening direct flight from Taiwan to China. These senators we selected are all people of high education, amazing backgrounds, and great networking skills. They represent us from different districts, for heaven’s sake. And now we have them here at the house of senate spitting at each other, yelling at each other, and throwing newspapers at each other. Their behaviors are like those of barbaric savages. Seeing what they are doing, they cannot possibly be the great leaders we input our trust upon. This I do not believe. Their behaviors are shameful: adults especially highly educated and well mannered people, spitting at each other either shows how incorrect our choices had been, or how bad our senators are. News 2 The President’s son-in-law, Chow, who is now arrested with charges of possible insider trading, now has the help from famous lawyer, Go. Go has assisted President Chen in cases such as the 2003 election. When Chow was arrested, he was accompanied with seven lawyers. Hiring these many lawyers had cost Chow twenty thousand new Taiwanese dollars per day. So, presumably, if Chow was involved in insider trading and had gained illegal sum of profit, he is now using those unlawful money to hire the best lawyers in Taiwan who can now help him get out of the civil trails and charges. How ironic is that! Chow now pleads to see his wife, who is about to give birth. But if such “criminal” like Chow gets to have lawyer like Go appointed by President Chen to help him, and now gets to have special treatment to see his wife, then the whole justice system would be unfair. But when it really happens, we people can do nothing but to wait for our senators to accuse them government officials for us – yes, the same senators who have been spitting at each other in front of the camera. News 3 Another familiar face we now see everyday on television is one of Lee’s. Lee, who has been released without charge in the first trial, returns home with ease until the local district government at Ping Dong successfully appealed for a second trial. I guess they just really want to nail someone. After all, “someone’s got to go to jail.” Lee’s case has now been a famous case that has attracted everyone’s attention because it is being shown on screen everyday. This case, especially, also makes great contrast when being compared with Chow’s insider trading case. One is a possibly innocent person who is accused of killing his former wife for insurance fraud; one is the president’s son-in-law who was involved in insider trading case, and is now accompanied by famous lawyer Go. When the two are being put together, I personally believe Lee is not guilty and that Chow is, just from the impression I have of President Chen and his family. Would someone please have the balls to nail the bastard? Note: Senators of the opposing party have now gathered to propose to get rid of President Chen. Although it needs more than 2/3 of votes from the house of senate to abolish the President, I do not think it is likely to happen when considering who is taking the President’s place for the remaining time until the next election in 2008. Current Mood: embarrassed (Comment on this)
Monday, May 29th, 2006
12:00 am	NBA Finals Fun Daily Journal May 29, 2006 NBA Finals The NBA Final Four has come down to the Phoenix Suns against the Dallas Mavericks in the West, and the Detroit Pistons against the Miami Heat in the East. The final four teams in the NBA playoff are the same as last year’s except for Dallas Mavericks, who has come up strong and beat the San Antonio Spurs, the Championship team last season, to advance into the final four. The Phoenix Suns has amazed everyone this season. Last year they were beat by the San Antonio Spurs, and they were that close to winning the NBA title with Forward Shawn Marion, Forward Amare Stoudamire, and Guard Steve Nash on the roster. This season, star Forward Stoudamire underwent knee surgery and could not contribute for the team. This was a very strong forward who can pile up 20 to 30 plus points per game (kind of like Shawn Kemp ten years ago). Losing him for the entire season almost decided the Suns fate. But the Suns amazed everyone again with new all-round player Boris Diaw (from France) a 6 foot 8 skinny player who once played in the guard positions, now plays Stoudamire’s position as Center. And his quickness has provided the lack of strength in the paint. Don’t forget their Italian coach Mike D’Antoni, who was a great guard himself in basketball history, has coached the Suns into a fast pace, quick moving team that will wear down opponents. Of course, such speedy transition cannot be done with out MVP guard, Steve Nash, Canadian born in South Africa, who had won season MVP for two straight seasons. And the reason of winning MVP is that when Nash is out of the game, the Suns usually lose. The Dallas Mavericks, own by Mark Cuban, a rich boss who believes in purchasing expensive star players and hoping that by putting amazing talents together something great will happen (sort of like what the NY Knicks is doing now, thanks to their new GM Isaiah Thomas, who also decided to bring in Larry Brown to coach the team, made the team into a total disaster with the worst team record this season), transformed into a great team with their new coach, Avery Johnson, who is also recognized with Coach of the Year this season. Johnson input defensive idea into the already offensive Mavs. And with German Forward Dirk Nowitzki, who is always double teamed and can create more open shots for his teammates, the Mavs are a force to be reckoned with. High-flyer Jerry Stackhouse, veteran Forward Keith Van Horn, talented guard Jason Terry, plus young defensive player Josh Howard, the Mavs are now great in offense as well as in defense. The Detroit Pistons had been literally unstoppable. Out of a total of 82 season games, the Detroit Pistons finished with 60 some plus wins for the season, earning title of the number one seed in the East. They were the champs two years ago, but gave away the title last year to Tim Duncan’s Spurs. The Pistons are a team of underdogs, but hard working ones. With the coaching of Larry Brown (who has brought the Pistons to their first NBA title after thirteen years), the Pistons are a defensive team with talents such as Rasheed Wallace, bad-tempered Forward who can play both in and out; Defensive Player of the Year Ben Wallace, who was not drafted directly from the NBA lottery but worked his way up toward the NBA from the CBA with his athletic ability and hard working attitude to chase after every rebounds and stop every jump shots; and Chauncey Billups, a young guard with veteran skills who had been traded to many teams until Larry Brown transformed him into a great pass first, shoot second guard who always steps into the game and makes great three point jumpers in the 4th. Now that Larry Brown has went to the New York Knicks for a higher salary (the most so far for an NBA coach to earn a million a year in NBA history), new Pistons coach Flip Saunders has given the new Pistons more opportunities and more freedom to make their own shot selections, while still focusing on team defense. For the Miami Heat, Center Alonzo Mourning would be a decisive factor who could determine the outcome of the game after Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Wade. Mourning underwent kidney transplant and had returned to his home team to compete for that championships. His eagerness to win will help boost the spirit for the Heat. With great addition of veteran Guard Gary Payton and Forward Antoine Walker, the Heat has great experienced players to take control of the tempo of the game when needed. Now the Mavs seem to have an edge over the Suns; on the other coast, the Heat is very likely to defeat the Pistons to advance to the final. I do not have a favorite team, but, I think the Heat will do it this year with Shaw and Wade (although the Mavs have a high chance, too, do not forget the amazing Suns lead by Nash, who can always outrun the opponents in the most unlikely situations). Current Mood: crazy (Comment on this)
Friday, May 19th, 2006
12:00 am	Give em' a Break! Fun Daily Journal May 19, 2006 Give em’ a Break! Ever since March 23, 2006, news about the train accident in southern Taiwan has been continually unfolding with more and more shocking titles relating to the death of an ex-employee at the train station, Lee, whose third wife passed away during the accident, was so “guilty” of being accused of insurance fraud by others, that Lee committed suicide three days after the train accident that took away the life of his third wife and brought looming negative vibes into the Lee’s. Now the focus of the media has shifted to Lee’s elder brother, who has been the main suspect of the entire suspicious turns of events that, news and related reports about the Lee’s have been showing on local news in Taiwan for almost two months. I mean, give em’ a break, reporters! If it were not for you who displayed news of what should had been “just another train accident” with additionally unnecessary comments that easily distort the public’s view and had since heated the subject even more seriously by questioning and confirming the validity from the chief of police, the police would not had felt the unexpected intensity from the media that forced them to had to do something, or at least, act like they are doing something and investigating the matter, for the public. What is even more shocking and interesting was the ability of the media to discover personal information about Lee, and his suspicious brother. Lee’s second wife was also from Vietnam like his third wife, died of snake bites. She was insured with high amount of money just like Lee’s third wife. The police did not have the chance to interrogate Lee as Lee already committed suicide three days after “insurance fraud” was discovered by the media (not the police), and the death of his third wife was announced. The now targeted suspect, Lee’s brother, has been closely watched by the media, and not the police. The police in Taiwan have no networking nor the connection as amazingly large and great as the media does. Not only did the media find past insurance record of Lee and Lee’s elder brother’s, they have also found personal information like Lee’s brother’s travel status. These could all be supportive evidence, but when this information came from the media, it only proves to show how bad and weak our police force is. What is more important is that the media seemed to have turned this incidence into a soap pop program. Everyday there’s some kind of a new suspicion and discovery about Lee’s and his brother’s personal information. But I think Lee and his family have went through enough already. Give em’ a break, you media devils. Current Mood: nauseated (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 18th, 2006
12:00 am	Typhoons Fun Daily Journal May 18, 2006 Typhoons Whenever we face typhoons in Taiwan, Tao Yuan County will be short of water, and the south of Taiwan would be flooded. Not to be mean or anything, but when the Tsunami occurred in Indonesia last year, Taiwanese government has donated great amount of money in order to establish better international ties with South East Asian countries. But when flood occurred in the south of Taiwan, the government did so much as to order the troop to help stop the flood and help deliver necessities such as food and clothing. Although it apparently seemed like there was something being done, flooding problem in Tao Yuan County occurs almost every time a typhoon comes. The essential problem to this is that we need to urge our government to really consider the problems and the effect natural disasters bring. Otherwise, not only do we have to deal with social problems such as seeing stray dogs everywhere in Taipei (strangely stray dogs are so rare in areas like Shin-I district and around Taipei 101), we will also have to spend a lot of effort on dealing with the aftermath after every flooding. Current Mood: quixotic (Comment on this)
Monday, May 15th, 2006
12:00 am	Senators Fun Daily Journal May 15, 2006 Senators Taiwan’s senate is a disgrace to the world, or shall I say, amazing. Look at how many scandals we keep on seeing on TVs everyday, and how these senators we elected can somehow, always, know about it beforehand and sometimes earlier than the most annoying paparazzi, and reveal shocking news about our president. Taiwan has this unique political division that the KMT, original governing party in Taiwan, seeks to find out ugly scandals about President Chen and his crew, in order to draw negative impressions of them to the public. And oh-my-god amazed was I not by the content of the news but by the capability and the connection of these senators to find out about news. Taiwanese senators are famous celebrity loved by the media: they give out amazing scandals even about the President, they scold at each other with their amazing bank of curse words, and they fight against each other with their bare fists right in front of the media under the most respectful founding father shared by both the PRC and the ROC, Sun Yat-San, for small issues such as how much money these government officials, of all of whom I think did nothing great to the people, should take from the taxpayers’ money. One cab driver in Taiwan once told me that although the Taiwanese government established the governmental system base on a democratic system like the United States, Taiwanese senators are, by law, given way too much freedom to express their opinions. And given their power in the court and in the senate, they, “for the people,” bring up any kind of issues to discuss in court. Many of these issues discussed always involve money the government owes the people. And there is always another new issue or scandal coming up the day after, and we the audience will never be bored with so many ugly truths to know about. I see them senators as soap operas actors and actresses, paid by us to perform daily. I mean, once in a while, just like Hollywood celebrities, they have to do something stunning to remind the audience of their existences. After all, we elected them and there is not much we can say to change the fact that these senators could be abusing their powers. How ironic. Current Mood: infuriated (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 13th, 2006
12:00 am	National Anthem Fun Daily Journal May 13, 2006 National Anthem One news today reports that President Chen was angry at Taiwanese local officials for not knowing how to sing the national anthem of the Republic of China, also pointing out that other countries he visited just recently during his trip to Lebanon and Indonesia are strongly patriotic and sign their national anthem passionately with all their hearts. Keep on scolding us, Chen, for doing so not only proves our elected officials and senators immature, as you have already ushered a different position as the “correctional officer” like those at military schools, doing so also reflects immaturity of our people. Who really knows how to sign the national anthem anyway? Politically, it may have been a debatable issue that that will lead to another discussion. Putting political argument aside, children at schools were forced to learn and sign the national anthem everyday. But how come once we make the transition out of high school and into college or the society, national anthem is no longer a requirement? I remember ten more or so years back in Taiwan, that in cinema all audience must rise to the playing of the national anthem before the movie rolls on the big screen. I remember vividly in the dark theater that some people sat motionless, with expressions that said “hurry up and play my damn film!” but some stood straight and strong like a skyscraper, blocking my view toward the screen. They placed one hand on their chest and sang until the end of the playing of the national anthem. Was the political situation more intense ten years ago that the identity and placement of Taiwan becomes so important that even when just having fun, the government had to ruin our lives by forcing the lyrics and the images of the national anthem into our impressions so that we citizens can better remind ourselves the importance of our country? This could have the desired effect on the elder citizens who came from families that were closer influenced by war and underwent the happenings of unforgettable movement like the Tiananmen Square riot, for example. But it does not necessarily always apply to us the younger generation. I recall from that playing the national anthem prior to football games in America was once an issue brought out by a father and a son who were both on the band but refused to perform the national anthem. Perhaps it is not so intense an issue as it once used to be anymore, and we still get to hear the national anthem in the middle of the playing of a baseball game. To a point, national anthems need to be played in order to remind the public where and who we really are. But to a point where the national anthems do not disturb the fun and the entertainment we enjoy. Current Mood: irate (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 7th, 2006
12:00 am	NBA Playoffs Fun Daily Journal May 7, 2006 NBA Playoffs Yes, the most exciting time of the year has come – the NBA playoffs. As I have predicted, the San Antonio Spurs, the champs last year, has fought through obstacles and gotten into fighting for the final four spots in semifinals with other seven teams, them including Dallas Mavericks, which is in the same division competing against SAS; Los Angeles Clippers fighting against Phoenix Suns. On the east coast, the Detroit Pistons, NBA champs two years ago, faces challenge from the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by NBA prodigy LeBron James; Miami Heat confronts the New Jersey Nets like they did in the playoff last year, only this time, they are playing against each other in the second round. According to Steve Kerr, ex-NBA player who played with Michael Jordan in the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs in 1999, winning championship rings with both teams in different years, the first round of the NBA playoffs was amazing made most fans nervous as teams fought with all they had to advance to the next round. In the NBA playoffs, teams play for best of the four out of seven games. Whichever team wins four games in a series advances. Usually, when the number 1st seeded team play against the number 8th seeded team, the result is a lop-sided situation that usually results with 4-1 or a 4-2 record. However, this year, even in the first round, teams had fought almost endlessly until the 7th game for a chance to advance. And think about how much more money both the league, and the team can make during the playoffs as playing in playoffs guarantee even more revenues than say teams which did not get into the playoffs and could only make profits out of the 82 games played during the regular season. However, players like Allen Iverson from the Philadelphia 76ers, Kevin Garnet of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and perhaps Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics, have been the players currently still playing in the league to be the players we fans want to see win a ring, especially after all of their hard works: as their team leaders, they had helped their teams achieve division leaders, and even achieved good record and amazing agility that helped their teams advance into the semifinals, not to mention their own improvements in points, field goals percentages, and their all-round skills that promoted their teams into another level. But that is about all they could do. Somehow, they just cannot win championships after playing for ten years on a same team. Bad management could’ve been the cause. Many say that Michael Jordan could not have easily achieved six championships in eight years without the help of Scottie Pippen and other great complementary players, who had been recruited by great team managers. But with all they did to the team, Iverson, Garnet, and Pierce had become heroes in their cities. Leaving the team for a ring would seem selfish. Current Mood: hopeful (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 6th, 2006
12:00 am	Baseball Tonight Fun Daily Journal May 6, 2006 Baseball Tonight About a couple of days ago, news from the ESPN channel reports that MLB player, Barry Bonds of the Giants has achieved his 712th career homerun, 2 homers away from breaking Babe Ruth’s 714 career homers, and a few more marvelous concentration and focus on the batting stance and great swing against fast pitches from achieving Aaron’s record. They say that records are made to be broken. Look at how the media has always made sports players hero and idles to the public. And boy, can you imagine the great augmentation of imagination piled up in such a short period of time when a man is about to break another man’s record? Thanks to the media and high speed Internet access, news about another man’s story can be known and then be sung by the world in an instance. As our world evolves into a much more peaceful and more civilized place to live in, much more of us men’s innate savageness to compete and conquer has been transformed into the sports field. And to most countries not at war, sports would at first seem like a method to achieve pride and glory for the country, but sports is actually a way of containing us men’s competitive nature. As the world changes, those great leaders on the battle field today are praised MVPs with his/her headlines all over the news. Fans bow down to them in a much more free and selective way. No more dictatorship is seen on the sports field; instead, these natural born hero who struggled with countless practices to get to where they are draw fans to them with their records – a mean of representation of one’s greatness. But why to we care about breaking records on the sports field, anyway? Too much of it has been due to men’s expectation to see phenomenal things happen: much like seeing alien sausages in the sky – something that would only happen once in a life time and people would want to be part of it, or at least be witness of such event. Well, the hell with it and all the other babbling above. Just sit tight and watch Bonds break Ruth’s record this season. Current Mood: high (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 30th, 2006
12:00 am	Discussion on Our Road Signs to English the Language Fun Daily Journal April 30, 2006 Discussion on Our Road Signs to English the Language No disrespect to all English speakers I know of, I am simply judging the subject in this writing as logically and fairly as I possibly can in terms of the discussion of the many “white elephants” our government make that simply, in the end, makes fools of themselves. Why are road signs in Taipei written in both traditional Chinese and English? Put aside English speakers and foreigners with English proficiency, most of the local people living in Taipei do not understand English. Then why are these road signs written in both languages? Our government officials and representatives from the Taipei City Government would probably say that this is for the convenience of English speakers and foreigners working in Taipei. But how many people in Taiwan, besides English speakers working or residing in Taipei, speak English? And how come in America, road signs are always written in English? I believe the government did it for the convenience of the foreigners working in Taipei. How about the amount of Chinese population working in the States? Should not the American government think about adding translation for their road signs to better encourage travelers to visit their country? Or, is it simply because English is a simpler language to learn and to understand than Chinese? But then I must ask, Taiwan might be trying to develop into a bilingual country like Singapore, but it is not even close to being a country similar to Singapore, besides, our senators are still arguing the fact that by forcing kids to learn English since elementary school, our future generation is lacking the basic proficiency in Mandarin speaking and writing ability (not to mention some “extremists”-kind of senators that urge the importance of Hakka dialect for its significance in representing the identity and culture of real Taiwanese, and other more traditional families that only speak the Taiwanese dialect – and these families are making their kids automatically responsible for learning Taiwanese at home and speaking Mandarin at school, and now there is another obstacle to overcome – English). English is now a school subject and is causing many people difficulties in learning it. The Taiwanese government tends to mend holes on the wall when it is too late (and it does not have spare hands to cover the gaping space). Our tax money has been taken to build new roads, and to make new road signs. But most of our kids whose parents’ tax money has gone to making bilingual road signs, do not speak English. Yes, of course, they are now forced to learn another language at school, while jeopardizing their proficiency in Mandarin, their original language. It is a good thing to make transition of our people’s understanding in languages, but it is clear that Taiwanese kids will not be like Singaporean kids in the near future. Current Mood: drained (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 25th, 2006
12:00 am	The Milgram Experiment Fun Writing Assignment #4 The Milgram Experiment April 25, 2006 The Milgram Experiment Well-known in the filed of psychological study, the Milgram experiment is, according to online article (http://www.steponline.com/everest/toolkit_week_five.asp) handed out and discussed in YMCA International College, Taipei’s Fall 2006 semester’s writing class teacher, David Sadoway, an experiment of shocking result that had once created heated discussion and speculation on the validity of human nature, of course, with accordance to modern and “civilized” world’s moral standards: obedience to authority and personal conscience. Power emerges from one’s appearance. Back in the days when we humans were cavemen, power emerged from physical attributes. Those with stronger and more advanced physical shape were in power. This can only be more than natural that the more physical advancement, the higher the power. In today’s world, where humanity has advanced with mental intelligence to utilize tools, power, and/or the representation of authority, has taken a different approach and is not easy to recognize. With the new structure of modern society, clothing now represents one’s identity and the power one could hold (actually, it is possible that even when we were cavemen and used animal fur as clothing, those with better, warmer, and thicker fur could had been the more physically powerful (and also smarter) individuals as they were able to take down animals for clothing and food). Apparel, outfit, and perhaps one’s shoes signify his or her position, even when not orally mentioning it. An individual’s identity, such as one’s title and social status, is best and foremost spotted, and presumed, from one’s clothing. During the Milgram experiment which it purposely placed a man of white robe in the same room with the test subject, the white robe signified a position of power. And this slight hint of revelation of power easily forced the test subject to obey the authority and ignore his own moral conscience. Similarly, scientists or doctors dressed with white robe represent knowledge; policemen dressed in uniforms represent justice; businessmen or politicians dressed in clean-cut suits represent power. There are of course other ways to show (or fake) one’s power. Making influential speech is one of the best examples that would make an individual the commanding leader in a group in a sudden. Nothing beats outer appearance, which directly shows others one’s power. Famous examples in modern human history reflect how human trait influences, or since it seems innate and natural to obey authority, we could say it makes people to become obedient to power. During war times or period in history when everyone was just as poor and hungry as the others, leaders like Napoleon, Adolph Hitler, and Fidel Castro were able to persuasively lead groups of people into the making of their goals – them being goals for territorial conquer, greed, or the wealth of his people (still, under what apparent looks like a system of fairness, in the communist society Castro was the decision maker and the one with power). Therefore, outer appearance might not necessarily be the only reason of power. The reason of these successful leaders could have been us humans’ own trait to easily give in. Ah! Blame the DNA. One could state that it is in our genes, that it is our DNA that is causing us to behave in such way. Then is obedience inheritable? Does it pass down to following generations? Does the inheritance of human characteristics appear in different generations or show up at a generation after as this trait of obedience sometimes skips and takes a precedence not yet figured out by our scientists like how apparent physical features skip generations: like having a grandfather and a grandson of the same family to have round ears, but having a father with pointy ears? Why is it that we humans (65% of the volunteered test subjects in the United States and a high 85% of the volunteers in Munich) would follow direct orders from authority? Was it fear, respect, or the unknown expressed by power itself? Is it also the fault of another human DNA trait to want to be belonged to a group? Our fear of not belonging to the majority/our fear of being the minority spun right into my mind as I realized how often the minority becomes so easily spotted and rejected by the majority (led by individuals with power, and the group itself being a larger representation of an overlapping power over power). We fear of being left out, so we give in, giving power to last and exist while leaving moral awareness to be forgotten. Rebellions, for example, took a long time to start and took a long time for the suffering minority (which group is usually with lower social status) to understand its position and fight back. People from different regions who experience and live in different cultures seem to react differently in this experiment (65% of Americans continued to play their roles “given” by the authority; 85% of people in Munich obeyed the higher power). If this experiment was held in Asia, I personally would predict and would strongly think that there would be a higher percentage of Asians who would obey to authority. Perhaps the DNA trait in Asians makes us more conservative and quite, making it possible for Asians to become shy and obedient to authority. In Asian history, God and the emperors were the focal point of the representation of power. No one dared to argue or fight back against them. Korea and Japan are good examples of Asians who have less of their own ideas (or have less right or less chance to express their opinions), labeling Asians to become the more obedient race to authority. From the Milgram experiment, we can conclude that human nature seems always obedient to power. Power, which is often times expressed with secrecy, mysteriousness, and the unknowingly coveted “mission” of importance, not only sends chills down our spines when it becomes vividly apparent to be threatening our lives, but will always exist in our society. We can only hope that the parts of our moral consciences can urge us to be aware of the situation and do what is right, or better, to the majority. Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Monday, April 24th, 2006
12:00 am	Pet Fun Daily Journal April 24, 2006 Pet I would love to get a pet in Taipei, maybe a dog. But whenever I visit the night market, I blame myself for not being able to take action against all of these illegal vendors who sell customers sick and ill dogs with no proper certification. So, if I purchase a dog from them, it could seem to be saving the dog from much more misery to come. But getting it out of that cramped cage would not help much since Taipei is not really the most desired place to raise a pet. Look at all the dirty pedestrian sidewalk filled with betel nuts spits, cigarette butts, trash, and leftover food by illegal street vendors. Also, consider the amount of stray dogs on the streets in Taipei. Some that are not eaten by those that literally eat dogs, which is illegal in Taiwan, usually stay hungry and wonder along the streets. Would purchasing a pet really be fair to those other stray dogs on the streets? If I really love dogs, I should be able to love all kinds of dogs. Okay, maybe not all kinds of dogs, but dogs in general. But how is it possible to help when there are so many poor dogs in need of our help? A funny thing about pet is that we humans make whatever animals we like to be our pets. Sometimes it is to maintain social status or to have something different from other people, but many ignore the fact that doing so could endanger the existence (or overpopulation in the case of stray dogs) of animals. Thirty to forty years ago, large number of pandas have become pets in America, and because no one understood how to really take care of pandas (no one knew about their habitats and et cetera), pandas almost became extinct. The same goes for some snakes and crocs. We have to deeply consider what we have to prepare (such as medical cost for our pets) if we get one. Let’s stop the amount of stray dogs by not purchasing a dog without deep consideration. Current Mood: cranky (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 19th, 2006
12:00 am	The Importance of English Fun Daily Journal April 29, 2006 The Importance of English Why is English so important? How come everyone in Taiwan is learning English? How come so many cram schools focus more on English than on Chinese? Was it due to United States’ success in World War II that had pretty much once and for all established an unspoken statement and standard, setting everything USA-related to be superior and important? It is very possible. Look at how many military bases the USA military force placed in countries (liberating) like the Philippines, how it performed good deed as it “led” Japan to reorganize its country after the war, and how the US is always so practical in expressing its care for international security in the Middle East? Geological and historical view on this question can lead us to new conclusions. Perhaps if we look into history, we can see that Britain, an English speaking country, was on many voyages and took control or was part of the governing of several colonial states, and Britain as a country sort of helped established the sprawl of the population that speaks English in today’s world since 400 or 500 years ago. Although it was the royal command of the Kings, and missionaries on voyages to teach Christianity in a misunderstanding fashion that waged wars between aboriginals and tribes against the British “Royal” Army and bishops, as these wars end and the countries became liberated, these new developing countries got their freedom but already were deeply influenced and started to speak English ever since. Countries like Australia, Canada, and the United States of America are all countries whose founding fathers and forefathers were people from Europe, especially the Great Britain. Can we now say that the sprawl of a language occurred as one dominating country influenced the others? It should be a-no-brainer that countries on the way conquering others had no original intention to teach their languages to another neighboring countries, in that these brave knights, although possibly more educated than peasants at that period of time in history and likely more opinionated and smarter, had to have very strong egos and had to be somewhat cruel and savage like – well, anyway they should be anything but romantic and poetic – to wage wars on others. Then who or what spread the language? My guess is that when a country or a state became colonial, in other words, when wars ended, stability in the market was also regained. This was when cultural influence began to develop and progress again, hence, bringing another language to another country. Current Mood: thirsty (Comment on this)
12:00 am	Writing Assignment #3 Death Penalty Fun Writing Class Assignment #3 Death Penalty April 19, 2006 For and Against Death Penalty Death penalty, life threatening capital punishment, can be controversial. People that are for death penalty believe that death penalty stops crime, it does not cost a lot of the taxpayers’ money, and it is morally correct. To people in support of death penalty, it is by law the last way to maintain protection. They also think that death penalty, although the cost is deduced from tax, would not be that much of a responsibility or financial burden once one realizes that every taxpayer’s tax has been part of the big money used on executing death penalty. To them, the cost of death penalty is spread evenly. In order to soothe the dreadful pain and suffering of those who had lost their loved ones to the hands of criminals, they believe in the old saying, “an eye for an eye” and they would do all they possibly could, within the legal boundary, to justify their loss and belief. On the other hand, people who are against death penalty would argue that death penalty does not stop crime, it is actually costing a lot of the taxpayers’ money, and it is morally incorrect. Death penalty does not necessarily stop crime. Look at the still existing neighborhoods filled with kids not being able to get a proper education and end up stealing and killing for money. No matter how many people are prosecuted, crimes will still exist in society. Death penalty is costly. Many states in the United States, a state like Texas that has the death penalty law, for example, require large amount of money on every criminals. When the accused prisoners are staying in prison (sometimes prisons for keeping more dangerous criminals require more of the taxpayers’ money to maintain them, not to mention the basic cost the prisons must take into account – providing proper food, clothing, privacy (one prisoner per single cell) and other basic living requirements that are respecting prisoners with basic human rights), prisons must take into account of every prisoners’ living and safety (which requires additional cost on training and hiring security guards, for instance) before, during, and after legal lawsuit trails, and bear in mind the possibility of accounting for additional cost from the taxpayers’ money on providing every criminals with legal lawyers (for providing legal lawyers to both the accusing and defending lawyers is only legal and fair, according to out current society’s moral and legal standards). Under the laws, death penalty to some people is a way to solve crime, but it is morally wrong as it is actually killing another human beings. Deep inside our hearts, we all know that prosecuting people, criminals or not, is wrong, which is the reason why the identities of officers that participate in the prosecution are never revealed. Current Mood: okay (Comment on this)
Friday, April 7th, 2006
12:00 am	Translation Fun Daily Journal April 7, 2006 Translation Many great American commercials, when being played in Taiwan in a translated language, become weird. The same thing happens to music, too. When some great K-pop music (Korean hip-pop music) is translated to Mandarin and is usually sang by new rise singers, many people are misled into thinking that these translated songs are new songs by that very new singer. Music companies do so to promote the popularity of these new singers by giving them already famous songs from overseas. Red Bull, beverage that “pumps” you up, becomes a sort of different commercial when aired in Taiwan. Its famous and catchy line, “red bull gives you wings” become so strange and not any more humorous when the same line is said in Mandarin. How then, does the Red Bull branch company in Taiwan expect to let consumers understand the humor in the commercial when they do not even try to re-make a different commercial? Famous Korean R & B pop song, “I Believe” by Korean duo, BrowneyeS, which right to be used by other music company has been acquired by the branch company in Taiwan, is now a different song sang by eVonne Hsu, an American-born Taiwanese singer who now returns to Taiwan to expand her career as a singer and mistaken most people into thinking that this was her new and original song. “Superwoman,” famous American song, has been translated into Mandarin and was given by the music company to Gary, a new singer from Malaysia, to sing. Originality is much more important than making money out of already used or no longer new commercial or song. Because of the fame and success these commercials and songs bring, overseas companies get the chance to re-package the same material and regain success. I guess it is all about packaging. Let’s study Marketing now (lol). Current Mood: sad (Comment on this)
Monday, April 3rd, 2006
12:00 am	Friends Fun Daily Journal April 3, 2006 Friends I love watching the American TV series, Friends. Just look how amazing the six have been together, and the special chemistry sparked by the six. David Schwimmer plays Ross, a historian whose favorite subject is always boring to his friends. Matthew Perry plays a marketing supervisor in a law firm who always makes snide comments. Matt LeBlanc, who plays Joey, is a great laugh who acts and eats a lot. He is also a great player, if you know what I mean. Phoebe, a character played by Lisa Kudrow, is perhaps the cutest role. Phoebe is a funky girl who makes kinky comments but loves her friends more than herself. Courteney Cox Arquette appeared in movies such as Scream, the wife of actor Arquette (who also appeared in Scream) plays Monica, a great chef who likes everything to be clean and orderly, is like a big mother who takes care of everyone in the apartment. Jennifer Aniston plays Rachel, a spoiled girl who has given up all of her past to become a better person (while pursuing her Mr. Right) by working. She is perhaps the most lovable character who is kind of stupid but is lovely. Oh, I just can’t resist the fun every episodes that Friends deliver. Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Friday, March 31st, 2006
12:00 am	"Hi, I'm an Airhead, and I Work at the Airport!" Daily Journal March 31, 2006 FUN “Hi, I’m an Airhead, and I Work at the Airport!” My return back and forth from Hong Kong yesterday and today had given me great knowledge of how people of different nationalities behave socially, especially at airports and on planes. Let me start from evaluating servicewoman from the front desk. She was nothing but unprofessional. When I told her that I would be visiting Hong Kong with my Brazilian passport, she acted as if I made a big fat lie. Instead of politely asking me to wait, which I thought would have been the proper procedure to react to situations of confusion that requires double checking with superior supervisors in the office, she bluntly left me there standing in front of the front desk, took away my passport with her without my agreement and walked straight toward her supervisor, who, while having a cheap plastic name tag across his chest, did not seem to know whether or not Brazilian citizens are admitted to Hong Kong with at least 90 days of stay without the necessity of applying for visiting visa. Let me tell you, they are simply unprofessional leaving me feeling mistreated. Like every other international airports that suddenly started to enhance their security on foreign guests and international travelers after several terrorist attacks these years, airport security would randomly (in fact, “purposely”) select non-local airport customers for extra examination. And even though all of these international airports (most of them that first suggest the enhancement of security being the nations that had had terrorist attacks) strongly claim that they only check security randomly, it was always the foreigners that were stopped for further examination the most. I myself was often selected and checked for security when I visited airports in the United States, under watchful eyes, because I am an Asian holding a Brazilian passport. At Osaka International Airport, Caucasian travelers were easily spotted and asked to be examined, but they were examined differently. From my own experience, I had seen an American traveler being stopped by airport security at Osaka International Airport in a very nice and respecting manner (they were only performing extra examination because they had to follow the new airport procedure). Airport officers and the international traveler being examined at Osaka International Airport would even exchange friendly conversation during the “proper” body check. The same thing happens at Hong Kong International Airport. It sounds rational and logical to put extra watch on foreigners coming into the country and cut some slack on local residences. Current Mood: disappointed (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 28th, 2006
12:00 am	Youth Day Daily Journal March 28, 2006 FUN Youth Day Youth Day is a day of remembrance and history. Or is it? What is Youth Day anyway? Is it a day for the youngsters to celebrate how young they are? Or is it a day for us grownups to rejuvenate youth into our aging bodies? Not much people of my generation know, or even care about these holidays. We are not so far away from our mother culture. We still know the actual meaning of Chinese New Year and we would never forget to ask politely for our New Year money packed in those attention-getting red envelopes. But when the East meets the West, things could change. Our ruling government has long recognized Christmas as a big holiday, while forgetting that a group of people in history actually donated food and presents to poor kids on what most people believed to be the Jesus’ birthday, and have now become a holiday reminding people to give. But how many people know that? I bet many elderly from traditional Taiwanese family are still having troubles adapting to this new culture. On the other hand, the younger culture mostly cares about the beautiful and expensive presents they would soon receive. Not to mention current businesses that are always willing to spend extra time decorating and planning to advertise and sell Christmas gifts. Do these people actually like experiencing Christmas? Or do they simply view it as an extra holiday? Downtown Taipei does not, and will never, snow. Perhaps this could be one of the reasons from stopping people thinking that, “in such cold day under the snow, we must remember to give to those who need the most of our care.” Now take a look back at other oriental holidays that attach more to our acknowledgment and cultures. To me, these traditional cultures bring nothing but crowds of mindless people who were there to enjoy the fiesta and trash. Temples and firecrackers are the two things that will always be attended and be used during any Taiwanese holiday. And did not the government ban the use of firecrackers and announced this new regulation just couple of months ago? Traditional holidays can hardly be changed under a democratic, or shall we call it, a modern government with “western laws” (for God’s sake, they wear suits and ties and have already adapted the way to live like civilized people (or is it just some mimicking acts?)). It is a bad combination mixing the east and the west all together into one piece. People in Taiwan need to know the significance of each holiday before they mindlessly accept two different cultures that impact with each other. Otherwise, it would be like seeing women with mustache – it is just wrong. Current Mood: weird (Comment on this)