English

May be some will say that it is just a matter of time before Chinese replaces English as the international language. However, English is still the international language, a common language used to communicate with each other, when the two parties are from different country.

The Japanese students, who joined us in the UNESCO activity, said out their desire to learn English during the discussion session. Well, they found it very hard to use English to communicate with the foreign students. It is a good sign, I think. If they were not given the chance to join this activity, I have my doubts they may never discover that desire. Ok, may be they will find it out one day, but that might be too late already, isn’t it? We used to say that the standard of English of Japanese students is quite low. Well, we don’t have to say much about this. From what I saw before, they seemed to be having no confident at all whenever they are asked to say something in English. Is it the problem of lacking confidence?

Yet, they are marching in front of the high technologies. They use Japanese to educate, and to learn. Low standard of English doesn’t seem to be a problem for them to be among the top. So, what is the secret for that? When many youngsters express that they feel worried about lacking of English, many from oversea come to Japan to search for knowledge. So, mother language should always be the best way to learn? Oh, I am not here to debate about the English for Science and Math in Malaysia…

Well, from what I have been through along the activity, I myself really need to power up my English. It is still hard for me to express my opinions in English. The problem is, it is very hard to get a chance to speak in English here. So, what are we going to do? And may be i should add up another question: What really is the best way to improve our student’s English standards?

Fireworks

Ever since I know that a single firework costs a lot of money, I never really enjoyed seeing fireworks. Every time there is a fireworks display, others will get excited and can’t wait to see it. But for me, I can just accompany them, and think about how much money have been spent, how many things can be done by the spent money, while I put up my head to see those fireworks. Rural poverty, children having not enough food…and the fireworks just burn it all in a moment.

Then that day, I asked my teacher about this. Well, the Japanese have been doing fireworks display since 100 years ago, during the summer season. And according to my teacher, the money for the fireworks is from the people itself. It is the tax that they have paid. So, for them it is not a big matter to spend on it by displaying fireworks. Instead, it is also a time for every member of the society to be together in a harmony event. By the way, only then I know that actually fireworks won’t bring much harm on the air.

But he didn’t really answer my question about using the money in other ways instead of fireworks. As I turned my eyes back to the fireworks, no doubt they were indeed beautiful. The explosion was so big as it beat my heart strongly. I was thinking that it might wake up my sleeping motivator. But yet, what I was thinking, what I am still thinking, is the other ways to use the money. Sorry for being the one who couldn’t enjoy fireworks like you all.

29th July - 6th August

从大阪离队赶回函馆，就是为了参与学校与UNESCO联办的一个交流会。这交流会邀请了八位分别来自泰国与寮国的学生前来日本，而函馆则是他们的第一站。长达一星期的交流会，我们还走访了北海道另一个大城市——旭川。虽然我没能与朋友们继续编织一起欢闹一起走天下的回忆，但我也不得不承认，这交流会让我学到不少东西。至少，让我这个本是没机会碰到机械人的化学系学生，制作了两个机械人，还充分了解要控制一个机械是非常不简单的。你输入了电脑程序，他却不一定能如你所愿般完成任务。最终，我们是成功控制机械，还是会反被他们牵制呢？

我们参观了函馆附近的未来大学，是座以玻璃为主的大学。身在其中，仿佛身在温室，非常热。不过，使我大开眼界的是她如下图般的开放式校园，并非传统式全都是在室内进行研究、讨论。连发表演说，或呈现研究报告，也是在上图那三个圆圆圈中进行。而讲师们，学生们就围在圆圆圈四周聆听观看。

百闻不如一见，见证科技发展的结晶品——电子狗。

有幸参加了函馆的港口祭，还随着如下下图般的机械章鱼游行了整个晚上。这可是我第一次随着人潮在街道上跳舞呢！

函馆之后，是旭川。上图是路途中经过的向日葵园。绿油黄澄澄，可惜没能停下来置身花群中，甚可惜。

在旭川，也遇上了她的文化祭。男女老少，普天同庆。不禁佩服他们对自身文化风俗的执著，投入全副精神，就为了呈现最动人靓丽的一晚。回头看，请恕我孤陋寡闻，我看不到如此镜头在祖国上演。有的只是倒数活动上，不见本质意义的喧哗玩闹。。。

身在旭川科学馆， 再次被科技征服——电子狗足球赛。由小孩操纵的电子狗对垒自动化的电子狗，比赛结果是，4-0。小孩输了。

旭川旭山动物园，是日本如今最有名气的动物园。其中最吸引人的，肯定是来自北方的北极熊。从你身边贴身游过，几乎没有感觉到他一丝丝的凶性。北极熊，身躯庞大，却让观者们以可爱赞美之，日本人难道就没有别的形容词吗？

茶道，我至今仍不明白为何喝茶也得费心费力的日本文化之一。不就是喝茶吗？竟然还要各种步骤，还要把茶碗转两个圈，惊叹它的美丽雕饰。。。抱歉，我实在不会欣赏茶道。

就如上图的插花，整个过程，几乎是老师一边说一边帮我弄。而我就只是点头，再点头。亲手制作的机会，被她的标准，她的要求，弄得消声灭迹。结果，桌上摆着的，是老师的成绩。当然，也少不了我点头的努力。
泰国及寮国的学生的下一站是Toyota城市。而我们则“功成身退”地回到函馆，结束了我第二个星期的假期。


有得也有失，又何必让自己的眼睛死盯着失不放呢？来自同是东南亚国家的朋友们，有缘再见吧！

20th July - 28th July

七月二十号，星期五，终于等到这一天的到来，终于可以与久违了的朋友相聚。然而，相聚前，还得坐上四小时的渡轮，九小时的夜行巴士，及不知多少小时的电车兜兜转转。犹记得，我是下午五点半从函馆出发，第二天的下午五点半，才让我抵达和歌山的御坊，见到伟健与赐利。整整一天时间！想起那一段时光，还真是有点佩服我自己。毕竟，函馆与御坊之间的距离，可是很远很远的。

这就是我乘坐的渡轮内景。大大的空间任你休息，除非适逢人多。四小时，除了躺着休息，还真不知道能做什么。不过，这可是前往东京最便宜方法之一，时间也不需消耗如此多。四小时渡轮到达青森，再坐九小时的夜行巴士抵达东京的渋谷，只需9700日元，算是便宜了。也许将来我都会使用这方法去东京。

前往御坊前，我一个人走了走横滨的中华街。可惜，天不作美，雨滴使我的足迹不能留得更深，转了两个圈，就不得不踏上去御坊的旅途。不过，我还是捉紧时间，在附近的山下公园吹吹海风，不放过哪怕只是一点点的横滨海域美。“有机会，我定会再来看你。”

终于坐上了所谓的子弹火车，果然是快！而钱，也去得快！为了省时间，也没办法了。下一次，应该不会有下一次了，除非是迫不得已。毕竟，谁喜欢钱去得如此快的感觉！要去得快，就让悲的愁的忧的去吧！

经过京都时，我及时拍下了市景。这一次，我因为必须回到函馆参加学校的活动，而不得不中途离队，而与京都擦肩而过。除了广岛，我最想走访的地方就是京都。那些古迹，那些世界文化遗产，以及那股古城气息。听说，走访京都最好的时刻是秋季，尤其是秋叶化红纷纷下的时候，最是美。可惜，咱们学校没安排秋季假期。难道我得把目标设为京都大学，好让我以后能慢慢走进京都各个角落？

神户的第一站是神户的中华街。不过，我们只是在那填饱了肚子就匆匆忙忙地离开了。也不是没有印象深刻的地方：餐馆里那一直申诉不停的中国员工，及那一点都不好吃的所谓中华料理，有点不光彩的打开了我们关西之行大门。

神户，很美。抱歉，我字乏词穷，只能如此形容神户的美。海口旁的夜景也好，山上的夜景也好，都俘虏了大家的心，使大家爱上了神户，也无虑地写下了必定重投她怀抱的誓言。看来还是伟健形容得好：文化气息浓而不腻的神户，繁华却不凌乱。。。

神户的关帝庙

神户的凑川神社

我在凑川神社

世界文化遗产 – 姫路城堡

离开神户前，我们登门造访布引瀑布。这瀑布还有分雌雄两个呢！不过，我还是把李白的飞流直下三千尺，疑是银河落九天留给霹雳州打巴的瀑布。那是至今为止我亲眼看到的最壮观瀑布。或许有一天我有机会去到九塞沟，我才会改变想法吧！

接着是大阪。一定不能错过走不尽的难波街。照片中的大螃蟹，大概是难波街的标志之一吧！当然还少不了下面照片中的人山人海。没错，整条街，无尽头似，都是人潮。走不完，逛不完，是不错的购物胜地。我只想说，这是一条很长很长的街。。。

当晚，刚好是大阪市的烟花大会。从电车站走出来，就看到人潮汹涌，整条路都挤着人群。终于明白，何谓沙丁鱼似的拥挤，简直喘不过气，恨不得有双翅膀能帮我逃离人潮。君不见，照片里的道路上都坐满了市民。没有尽头似的坐满了人潮。而这还不包括公园里，其他道路上，各处可以让人们坐着或站着的地方。我暗暗对自己说，这种盛会，一生人一次已足够。。。

大阪也有个城堡，但并非世界文化遗产，而且内部已经改建成展览厅。比起姫路城堡，她失去了城堡的味道，更别说那历史的气息。如何保护历史古迹，还真是一门不简单的学问。至少，我在这里，看到他们的用心。

这是坐落于大阪的水族馆。就我而言，这水族馆是至今为止我去过之中的最棒的一间。数量之多，品种之多，可称世界级！那一天，我和朋友不顾一切就坐在那大鱼缸前，静静陪伴各种鱼儿游来游去，煞是爽也！但是我不禁想到：我们把它们装进这里，满足了我们的好奇心，开阔了我们的视野，却让他们失去了自由，离开了深深蓝海，是对是错呢？

大阪最大的摩天轮。我应该感谢耀强吗？让我在第一次的摩天轮，留下心惊胆跳的美好回忆。

Universal Studio of Japan，据说是比迪士尼乐园更令人流连忘返。我没去过迪士尼乐园，所以无从作比较。但那一天的确是玩得痛快不已！可是，排队消耗了我们不少时间，造成有几条漏网之鱼，未能尽情玩完整个乐园。ET，Spiderman，Terminator，Back to the Future，Jurassic Park，Water World，Jaws等好莱坞影片一一由我们通过各种玩乐亲身体验，除了爽，还真是想不到别的字眼来形容。而那一晚，我再次淘气地不告而别，踏上回去函馆的归途。对于我的不告而别，虽然是迟了，但还是想在此说声对不起。

从忘了多高的高处冲下来的感觉是什么呢？照片，说明一切。

我最喜欢的表演之一 – Water World真实呈现眼前，震撼无穷！只有看过的人才能明白其衷！实在想重临现场，再看几回！

如果我能回到从前，我最想做的事情是什么呢？

中途离队，心里还真不好受。尤其回程路上，百般无聊，左思右想，就只是跌回一星期来与朋友的欢闹声中。下次的欢闹声，会是几时呢？但愿，我不再会中途离队了。

各位，加油。

Back

Well, i am back. Back from my one month of holidays, as i started my school yesterday. It is really hard, with my mind still playing all those great moments i have spent with my friends. They are the best, as i always say. I can't complain anything. This is my choice to be far away from others. I just have to come over it no matter how. Time will bring us go through all these.

So, what did i do during the holidays? Or should i say, where did i go during the holidays? Wakayama (though just around Gobo), Kobe, Osaka, Nara (though just stayed a night in Nara Kousen), Kyoto (though just passing by, at least i could see the famouse temple from the train), Asahikawa (where the Japan No1 zoo is located), Tokyo (just a few places of Tokyo), and then Taipei. Seems that i have gone through a great holidays. And of course it is! Only if i forget about the total money that i have spent...

Many things to share, but seems like a mixture, have to take some time to arrange it properly. Yet, there are things that i can't express it very well. And it had been quite a long time since i worked out my mind to come out with some words. Wondering could i write as well as before anymore or not. Nevermind, no harm done to give it a try.

Ok, where shall i start? Any suggestion? haha...

Thinking in the park

見晴公園, located not far from my kousen, but only until last weekend, i finally went to Her. It is just a park, full of trees, and just trees. Of course, there are paths for us to walk around, and some places for us to rest in the middle of green. Overall, it is just a ordinary park, with the amazed green, filled up your eyesight.


Imagine you walk in the green, without thinking the direction, but just walk and walk, yet you come back to your starting point in the end. Well, I did that that day. Just following the path in front of me, with my own pace, very slow pace indeed. What was i thinking along the walking then? Please forgive me for thinking about our country again. This time, i thought about the park in Malaysia.

Well, almost every residence area has a park. And sure there are trees in those parks too. Take KLCC as an example, many trees in the city park, right? But then, when i was walking that day, i had a question in my mind: When a park is built, do they replant the trees? What i mean is, the trees which we see today, were they taken from other places and replanted in the park? I'm not sure about it, that's why I can't be so sure about this. Yet, i think they are replanted trees. So, what's wrong with replanted trees?

Malaysia is well-known for her natural beauty. Every year, lots of tourists come to enjoy the beauty of Mother nature of Malaysia. Make yourself proud with it! Ok, what i am trying to say is, we can do better with the trees around us. Not cutting down them, not taking them to another place to be replanted, but just keep down and make it a natural park for everyone of us. Yes, we do have National Parks. However, how many people have a chance to go there? From what i saw last time, most of the tourists in the National Park were foreigners. Where are we, when many from overseas saying that they will come again to this beautiful green land?

Why can't we keep an area to be a green park, when we are buiding houses for residence area or other uses? Isn't it better than redesigning and rebuilding a leisure park? From that, we can easily get ourselves into the green, and at the same time buiding up a greenness city! That is what the government always wishes to accomplish, isn't it? So, may be we should learn from Japan, the ways they stay harmony with the nature.

"Today an estimated 59% of Malaysia remains forested. The rapid expansion of the timber industry, particularly after the 1960s, has brought about a serious erosion problem in the country's forest resources. However, in line with the Government's commitment to protect the environment and the ecological system, forestry resources are being managed on a sustainable basis and accordingly the rate of tree felling has been on the decline." - Wikipedia.org

We can, and should do better with the priceless assets that we have. It is not a job for government only, but everyone of us should take our own part in it. Don't underestimate one effort, it may change it all. At least, it will help our children.

There is only one Malaysia, one Earth.

I have a dream.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" ___________________________________________________________________
This is the famous speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, when he spoke of his desire for a future where blacks and whites would coexist harmoniously as equals. Here i am to share this speech with all of you, after i was asked a question from one of my friend: What is your dream?

I couldn't remember when was the last time i was asked by someone or by myself, the same question. Or may be i should say in this way: i didn't think about 'dream' for a very long time already.

"Don't you have a dream?"
Yes, of course, i have. But, i can't see it clearly now.
"What did you mean by can't see it clearly now?"
I am not sure.

Education reform? Oh, it can't be done unless you do something on the politics. So, no choice but to step into that field? But can I stand with the sacrifices? What i know is that, I can't help myself but only wondering about the future of our country. Especially when i read the comments, the words, the policys, given by the one who are sitting on the Kerusi(remember the Form 5 sastera?) Things are not going as well as we wish. What can we do? Am i just over reacting on the not very big matters?

I don't know. That's why, i can't see my dream clearly. I am not sure about my path yet, though i am on the so-called bright road, which many can only dream of. In the mean time, i only can be sure that, i need to finish my degree here no matter what. After that? Only time can tell.