Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Chapter 3: Actual Reality vs Apparent Reality.



24 December 2010 ·  · 

  • You and Kec Crownclown like this.

    • Vienna Looi Dear AhYap, where would this be? It has a mesmerizing and calming effect to me. The image plunged me into deep thoughts.
      3 hours ago · 

    • AhYap.com Myanmar, a place they said without democrazy, without freedom and yet they are free in their mind. We are the opposite. Proof - they feel nothing when a camera is pointed at them, try to point a camera at a city man and see how uncomfortable he is. We have so many things to hide and always need to pretend to be something. They are just them, their real being.
      2 hours ago · 

    • Vienna Looi 
      My reserved guess was right - that this is Myanmar.
      Ah Yap, I understand where you are coming from. I value authenticity as the most important value of a being (alongside wisdom and compassion).
      Having studied in Washington DC for a year, I've came across many unreal being you spoke of - pretentiousness and superficiality.
      I think this is caused by the conventional societal perception and definition of a nation's growth - economy - the amount of goods and pretty buildings you have.
      Economy is supposed to serve people; not the other way around. Emphasis of goods over people, superficial beauty over substantance/substantial beauty, and apparent reality over actual reality imprison people's mind.
      All this promise of democracy are lies, fallacies, fake realities that many are deluded into believing,
      when in actuality it is constructed through mutual fear and mutual military threat with only ever increasing annual budget on defense technology and armed forces from every nation in the world.
      We are not free, never will we be free that way.
      Also, never will individuals be free when their minds are imprisoned and entrapped.


      Having said that, I find still a ray of hope in the world through my own actions and research.
      I find direction of what I think is the benchmark of real progress for any nation including Malaysia in Bhutan's Gross National Happiness (GNH) economic model.
      Also, like Aung San Suu Kyi commenting on her long confinement and isolation, during which she was not allowed to meet her dying husband, “Isolation is not difficult for me. Maybe it’s because of my Buddhist upbringing” and Vipassana meditation practice.
      I think Buddhism and meditation has freed my mind quite a bit :)
      But like Aung San Suu Kyi on Myanmar, I will not give up on Malaysia and its people. I hope you too :)



Thoughts:
1) That image still mesmerize me. I am drawn to such calm and tranquil image. Such calmness and tranquility is the exact feeling I got during or after meditation. 
*smiling from my heart*
2) I value the old, the cultural, the vintage. I treasure a place which its people are true to themselves, and their cultural heritage without being engulfed by 'modernization' or capitalism. (Ie: Bhutan and India are on my travel checklist - if I will ever travel soon.) I have tried to plan a family trip to India to volunteer in the past; alas, my efforts were to no avail. While my family and I drove past one of the old historical town near Teluk Intan this weekend, I was immediately drawn to those colonial-age building, verbalizing "these are so beautiful :)" The KLCC might fascinate me for 30 minutes, but I admire, appreciate and am deeply fascinated by beauty these buildings for a lifetime - falling for it over and over, time after time again.
3) While writing the Facebook comment on the picture, I was reminded of my thoughts before attending Bersih. I never intended to be brave, heroic, etc, I merely want to support and stand up for what I believe in. I don't know what I would achieve, but I was also not oblivious of potential consequences, that of which includes getting arrest, detained, injured or even death. :) I accepted that there is a possibility that I might get detained under ISA to Kem Kamunting. But I think many have little acquaintances with Vipassana meditators :) Like Aung San Suu Kyi, personal isolation should not a big problem for me - at least I know it would not be for a good 10 days. I have meditated 10.5 hours a day - that's about 100 hours in 10 days - without speaking to anyone (except a 2-10 minutes session asking the teacher questions to clear doubts) for 10 days. What better joy to be able to practice to understand, experience, and improve our mind than in solitude - while getting feed (I hope)?
After contemplating and accepting potential worst case scenarios, I decided to proceed with my plan. I do advise anyone who cannot accept the potential consequences (or anyone who has little control of their mind while facing adverse conditions) to not make rash decisions - just in case things go wrong. But my decidions are never blind; any decisions that one make must never be blind. But it is just natural for me to never extrovert these thoughts and worries to anyone.
Who does it benefit? I am not convinced that me or any other individual will benefit from these worries; one exception, I might share with individuals who I think are ready/mentally strong enough, and that sharing my thoughts and worries with such individuals would benefit and better prepare them :)

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Chapter 2: On Death. Organ Transplant.


This was not the serious and comprehensive post I wanted to write on the topic of death. But watching this video reminds me of some of the things I wanted to say. I might as well do a simple post first.

Just as death would grip us by the leg one day, there is no escape; never will there be an escape.

That was a truth that I have accepted long ago.

I remember contemplating about death while staring at a corpse being post-mortem (while at a hospital attachment in Hospital Kuala Lumpur), fully displaying the man's flesh, brain, lungs, intestines, skin infected with corpse-worm/maggots; I thought I would end up like that one day too.
Knowing that, when I picked up an organ donation form, I ticked off all the check boxes on my organs (heart, kidneys, eyes, liver, lungs, pancreas, intestine, and thymus) and tissues (including bones, tendons (both referred to as musculoskeletal grafts), cornea, skin, heart valves, and veins). They should go for organ transplantation when I die -- ashes back with the sea. I told my parents that its too simple of a choice - a choice between:
a) letting the maggots have the last bite and eat up every piece of my body, or
b) giving away my organs or tissues that I don't need any longer, as a "gift of life" for one (or two or more) person.


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

1.3 Inspiring Story: The Fruit from China story :)

Context: A friend of mine from China who I have stayed in contact with until today called me recently to get my house address to deliver some special fruit from China to me :)

I knew that his family background was not as privileged as I am - being born to a pair of peasant parents in a farming village, owning little more a land close to the size of a room. What I admire about him though is for his knowledge about China's current social, history, political, and economical situation. He was a very well read person despite being robbed off the chance to graduate from primary school.
There are so many things here that I wish you would pick up subtlely without having me to reiterate the "moral of the story".

(He also serve as my link to understanding China and "Communism"1 from an insider point of view :) Hahaha :D the marvel of friends from around the world - my little spies - that deepen my understanding far beyond the fear-stricken, panic-stricken, little substance news.)

I disregarded the need for the present because I have already received the more important present - his sincerity :)


Note:
1. Communism in China = Totalitarianism, not communism as laid out by Karl Marx.


Friday, August 12, 2011

1.2 Interlude: What is International Relations?

For your knowledge (especially those who seek answers from me), in theory:

International relations (IR) (occasionally referred to as international studies (IS))[1] is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and multinational corporations (MNCs). It is both an academic and public policy field, and can be either positive or normative as it both seeks to analyze as well as formulate the foreign policy of particular states. It is often considered a branch of political science (especially after 1988 UNESCO nomenclature), but an important sector of academia prefer to treat it as an interdisciplinary field of study.
Apart from political science, IR draws upon such diverse fields as economics, history, international law, philosophy, geography, social work, sociology, anthropology, psychology, women's studies/gender studies, and cultural studies / culturology. It involves a diverse range of issues including but not limited to: globalization, state sovereignty, ecological sustainability, nuclear proliferation, nationalism, economic development, global finance, terrorism, organized crime, human security, foreign interventionism and human rights.




In practice,
one of my mini assignment (this was one of the easiest and most interesting assignment out of the weekly 20 pages research or papers - you probably don't want to read my 10 pages thesis/paper) was to respond to an article from economist.com using multiple IR theories, lens, and paradigms. The choice of article was completely up to us. Being me, I naturally chose to answer the most pressing issues in a creative way. (Just sharing a realisation, where there is a higher risk/bigger hurdle, there is a higher fulfillment whether you succeed or not. Definitely not the most logical and safe step to take if we get down to statistics :) But You will be rewarded for attempting the unconventional - who can solve the North Korea problem/threat? - and taking risks of holding the bull by its horn. Other than that, I also attempted to "solve world issue" than to comment about it from the realist, liberalist, constructive, etc lens - as many of my classmates did; to me, papers like that are the standard but unconstructive and worth little. Apprehending that my professor wants us to respond, not comment on the article, I got a green light to take a step further. In the end, this assignment got me some praise from the professor and a full 10 out of 10 points.) So here's sharing some IR for your enlightenment, and to quench your curiosity.
*But I'm passing a lil note from my professor here: Grammatical mistake abound ;)*

Coping with North Korea


How do you solve a problem like Korea?






Wednesday, August 10, 2011

1.1 Interlude: Valuable reads




Less of politically motivated, dumbed down news, or justin bieber lady gaga, more of:

1) Wikipedia.org: The Free Encyclopedia
Or better yet: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (A Wikipedia run by academic experts. The encyclopedia is written and edited by academia from Stanford University and elsewhere; scholarly, more reliable and citable than Wikipedia :) Anyone can alter Wikipedia, but 120 leading philosophers & experts from around the world oversees contributions here. Text can only be published after being peer reviewed and approved several times. Read here for more differences. I secretly wish that you would check out Quantum Mechanics, eschew International Relations' Political Realism theory or at least think about Bioethics.


2) Ted.com: Ideas Worth Spreading

3) Malaysiakini: News And Views That Matter (Malaysia)
Also see: Malaysiakini TV

4) LoyarBurok.com: This is LoyarBurok. Where Your Purpose In Life Meets Ours. The ONLY Community Blawg that cares. Your inbox will never be the same again. (Here, getting caught by ISA is the IN thing, will get you some pat in the back, and some cheering in the background)

Might as well join them live at: UndiMsia

5) Economist.com: World News, Politics, Economics, Business & Finance 
 

10) Propublica.org: Journalism In The Public Interest (Investigative Journalism/2011 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting)

10) Sign up for Malaysia Forum Kopitiam mailing list (where overseas Malaysian students meet & have intellectual exchange/discussion on issues - sometimes not so intellectual ;) still better than our domestic forums - but even better for the local students' mind)

Malaysia Forum

Selamat Datang!


 Also see Forum (Domestic Version): Forum Lowyat: Malaysia's Largest Online Community
Caveat for forum lowyat: I am critical about this one. Sure, it makes you more savvy, critical, business-minded but stay on your toes for the pervasive mediocre, lackluster herd mentality since its a user generated (very rarely users pop out from their typical domestic bubble of existence) forum for the masses after all. But, at least it gains some merits, in my eyes, to break free from your typical friend-friend only bubble of existence.



11) Unscientific Malaysia: Promoting Science, Scepticism & Free-Thought in Malaysia


Just sharing some of my reads - which I think are valuable - so we don't live in denial or ignorance :)
Share with me some of your valuable reads too, enlighten me!

(Image: Woods Wheatcroft)
















Saturday, August 6, 2011

Chapter 1: A New Beginning.


On July 9th, 2011, I wrote a blog post about a new beginning as to the direction of this blog.
From today onwards, this shall be a blog that will help others and me - to grow in wisdom and compassion. It is with wisdom and compassion that we will all enjoy a more blissful, more happy, or more joyful life.

I have grown past the stage where I need a blog for self satisfaction or self gratification. (My self satisfaction comes naturally from myself - not anything from you - from my ability to give and help)

There's absolutely no need to say "You inspired me" or "I salute you" to me (I don't expect or want anything at anytime). In fact, please do not waste time in all that praise and words. Truth is, they benefit you and me little (if any. Ie: If it makes you feel good that you've supported the cause through uttering some words.). Also, this is purely so that you have the right understanding of what is more important here.
Think through this: by saying that "you salute me", understand what you are implying here. You probably subconsciously implied that you think that: a) I may be more capable than you, therefore you are incapable of any similar actions, b) you would not take actions - even when others are doing it - and even if it is actions for what you think is right. That is some wrong understanding and wrong effort, that will not benefit you or others.

In this similar journey of life *we all walk on the same road*, in the end of the day, I am human, you are human, you die, I die, one day :) We all same-same. Me no have Superman powers.
So lets be comrades in becoming the best person that we can be, and lets not compare if 'I am less capable and you are more capable..I have longer hair and you have shorter hair et cetera.' Such are too minuscule and changeable conditions [emphasis added].

Perhaps, I may have some fortunate life circumstances (that is another reason I am sharing with you how I found my way to those experiences; if you think it will benefit you, reap it, Carpe Diem :D) I believe every healthy human being are capable of little "extra-out-of-the-typical-selfish-action-in-society" effort. I have not found anyone healthy who is incapable of such actions yet, can you suggest someone?

Now the right understanding of what is important here: The most practical, rewarding, and beneficial action you could do for mainly yourself (or me) is to start acting upon (anything you find inspiring in any individuals). After that, start sharing with me real stories of how you have treated others with wisdom, compassion, or other virtues.


Msg me with stories: Vienna Looi (FB) :) (I will so gladly share it here for the benefit of everyone)

Upcoming posts:
Inspiring Story 1: A Malaysian from Cambodia who have attempted to send me a Charity Gift Card after reading my wall post on FB.
Chapter 2: On Happiness.


Chapter 3: On the Self. What is "me"? Is there a true "me"?
Chapter 4: On Death.
(Not necessarily in this order but definitely on these topics)




Now, I need to work more efficiently and find time to convey my thoughts.