xinjomecblog

According to a new law, people with blond hair are not allowed to go shopping in
Prague except from 3 pm to 5 pm everyday.[1] Have the Nazis returned? No. Do not panic. This is just a campaign in order to remind people of the years of Nazi occupation of the Czech lands.   

It is really creative for
Prague to use such a humorous way to encourage its citizens to talk and think about their history. Especially for the younger generation, the history in a text book can be so abstract and boring unless they have a chance to experience it themselves. This could make them truly understand their country and become a patriot. 

I hope
China can also use its own method to educate people. I always feel that while our country is concentrating too much on economic development, the whole nation’s consciousness of our own culture and history is not being raised at the same rate. It is hard for everyone to figure out what is the core value of Chinese culture, because they are too busy to think.   

Last year I was shocked when I saw so many British people wearing a red poppy in the street, ranging from grey-haired grannies to punk girls. On that day something united the country. I cannot help showing great respect to this nation. People who keep their history in mind deserve to be treated as noble.  

Money can help to win fame and power, but it is not enough to win heartfelt respect. It is time for us Chinese to look for our own way to build an awareness of the profound Chinese history and culture into the nation’s soul.________________________________________________________________References1 – News Statesman – February 19  2006

“Genius are made, not born”, this encouraging saying has driven a great number of parents to explore their children’s potential by all educational means. But what I believe is right opposite; I think geniuses are born, not made. 

Bright Sparks, an article in last week’s The Economist[1], was written to compare two kinds of educational systems used to cultivate geniuses. One is selecting natural born geniuses. Another is making geniuses.  

And the author tended to think the latter was more scientific. One reason was that a lot of time and money on trying to pick winners could be saved. But I would argue that making geniuses might cost more, not only time and money, but also children’s happiness.  

“Genius” is defined as “a very great and rare natural ability or skill”[2] by the
Cambridge dictionary. Attention, “natural” is one of the key words here. Then making genius means doing something unnatural. Fighting with nature has been never easy. It requires people to make extraordinary effort to approach the goal.  

Undeniably, there are lots of successful cases of enabling normal children to achieve greatness through compulsory education, like the author mentioned in the article.  

However, they are just a small proportion if comparing with the failure. In addition, most of these cases are based on the premise that parents are experts on some fields or able to invest enough money and time in extra teaching and send their children to best schools. Usually having parents as experts has more chances to create miracles.  

Meanwhile, for children who fail to be turned into geniuses after hard work, it would be a tragedy depriving their happiness and confidence.

References1 – The Economist – February 10 2007

The United States has lured North Korea back to the six-party talks again. It seems the Bush Administration has not been woken up by North Korea’s first nuclear test in October, 2006. This makes me really confused.  

Most people know how to draw lessons from their experiences of failure, but apparently not the Bush team. An article in last week’s Time magazine[1] fully explained Washington’s weak-kneed policy towards Pyongyang’s second nuclear test preparation: “zero-penalty” plus “additional goodies”. 

The U.S. has provided economic aid to North Korea since Pyongyang agreed to provisional freezing of the nuclear program. Even so, the aid alone does not satisfy Pyongyang’s ambitions. The only offer he is waiting for is the release of $24 million of North Korean funds in Macau’s Banco Delta Asia. Right now the money is frozen due to the suspicion that North Korea was counterfeiting U.S. currency.  

Obviously the first successful nuclear test has made North Korea believe it is in a stronger position now. The article predicted that once Pyongyang gets money back, he will be free to carry on with the nuclear project. The so-called six-party talks are just a cover for his real purpose.  

These on-going talks in Beijing have proved that it is hard to make big progress unless North Korea reduces its excessive expectations for energy aid.  

Does North Korea really have any intention of signing an agreement? No. But the U.S., who started the talks, will be reluctant to accept this answer. It seems that our world policeman has lost his way while trying to put the world back into order.

References1 – Time – February 5  2006