Karen


black sesame snow skin rum raisin lin yoong

has a very mellow sweet taste that is both cooling and refreshing.

Almost taste like ice-cream, the centre filling goes excellently

with the seasame seed 'cold skin'. One of the best for new

mooncakes.


 

'Salt' moon cakes (suyan yuebing) is the one on the top right hand corner,

which has a delicate sweet, salty and clean taste that is like no other.

You'll have to taste it to understand. It doesn't bear with the extra rich

taste like a lot of other traditional mooncakes. Yet it has a classic

taste and bite that will linger in your mouth even after a long while.

 

 

black diamond mooncake bamboo charcoal

has a single yolk in the centre with lotus paste and a little mix of nuts.

Covered in edible bamboo charcoal, the taste bears contemporary flavour that

is now considered as one of the most popular mooncakes in the market.

 

 

 

5 kernel moon cake (wuren yuebing)

is healthy as it is delicious. As the name implies, the mooncake consists of 5 differnt kinds of seeds

and nuts chopped into finer pieces. The mixture is then mixed with maltose to hold them up together in a paste.

This mixture can differ from dialect groups in the Chinese race. Some add in delicate pieces of jinhua huotui (ham)

and further sweeten with wintermelon. It is usually the best among the traditional mooncakes

and it is usually the most expensive too.

 

I didn't have a lot of time enjoying the Moon cake festival this year.

But it seems that I have a few very nice surprises for mooncakes that

cheer my days up. --- Karen Fu

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Karen

black diamond mooncake bamboo charcoal

 

black sesame snow skin rum raisin lin yoong


Hainan - 5 seeds moon cake (wuren)

Hainan - Salt moon cakes (suyan)

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Karen
The post on 3 September about Education in Singapore was autoposted to all my four sites that were registered with Posterous; though I had specified it was for private.... It is still in draft mode but anyway, I probably will not use Posterous as much as I have done so far. Something seems to be wrong with the system. Or maybe its just me and my own posterous??

However, I've decided to leave the post to this blog intact as a record. I have also keep a record elsewhere... 

So this post on 'Thoughts on Revised Education System' is void...
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Karen
Highlights of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's speech in English

By Lee Jia Xin and
Amanda Jayne Lee

(Continued from National day Rally Part 2)

(8.59pm) - PM LEE announces the setting up of a new Population and Talent Division in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The new division will manage our immigration, talent and population policies.

He gives assurance that Singaporeans will benefit from the policies. The new division, which will be on a ministry level, will be overseen by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng.

It will be similar to the Public Service Division.

Education

(9.01pm) - PM Lee acknowledges that immigration will be a continuing issue for Singapore and that there will be problems along the way. However, he says that we will have to manage, monitor and adjust as we go along. 'But remember we ourselves are all descendants of immigrants.' he said.

If our ancestors had not come to Singapore, said PM Lee, we would not have today's Singapore.

(9.03pm) - PM Lee begins speaking on the importance of education for Singaporeans. 'We already have a very good education system,' he says, and the system gives students a strong foundation, especially in Maths and Science.

However, he says Singapore can do better. Instead of a system that caters to top students, Singapore has one that caters for all. Students should have a 'tailored, holistic education that includes academic, moral, physical, art, a sense of belonging and identity'.

'We are realising this ambition', PM Lee said. Schools in Singapore should be equipped with modern facilities and staffed with good teachers.

(9.05pm) - PM lee shares some interesting programmes in schools from all over Singapore.

For Art, Haig Girls' created a Wall Mural with sketches conceptualised by students, Maha Bodhi's Visual Arts Programme teaches students how to create Batik paintings (he shows a picture of a little boy very pleased with his painting) and Naval Base Secondary received the third prize for a floral display in the Singapore Garden Festival.

In music and dance, South View Primary held a concert musical, 'Mulan' and Zhenghua Primary brought students to Hong Kong Disneyland for a cross-cultural dance experience. Riverside Secondary also integrates hip-hop dance with PE.

In the Science department, Dunman Secondary includes DNA testing as part of their Life Sciences programme, and Lian Hua Primary holds Robotics classes for students.

PM Lee mentioned speaking to a certain principal of a school that employs such creative measures, when he asked the principal on why he employed such creative methods, the principal replied, 'Give us a chance to show what we can do for you children.'

(9.09pm) - PM says while maintaining traditional strengths in Maths and Science, the education system must also develop and strengthen 'soft skills' like oral expression and instill confidence in pupils speaking both in English and mother tongues. Help students give a good account of themselves.

More teachers will be recruited for PE, Art and music, hence improving teacher-student ratios and giving more attention to PE, Art and Music.

(9.10pm) - PM Lee also raises another concern, the PSLE hurdle that students have to go through at Primary six. While important, it is not meant to be a 'do-or-die test that determines the whole future of a child'.

If students do less well than he hoped in PSLE, they will still have opportunities to catch up in secondary school.

(9.13pm) - More schools will offer programmes that students want, and more paths will be created for students to move within the system. The Integrated Programme (IP) will be extended to seven more schools, up from the initial 11, for express students.

This is for students confident of making it to university and will allow them to go straight to the A-levels or International Baccalaureate (IB), skipping the O-levels.

All these new 7 schools will have a dual track, both IP and non-IP tracks allowing students to switch in-between.

(9.14pm) - Less academically inclined students will not be left behind, says PM Lee.

In fact, Secondary education will be enhanced for them. The enhanced Normal Technical (NT) programme will begin in three schools, Bedok Town, Shuqun and Si Ling Secondary Schools.

The programme will see more practice-oriented curriculum, industrial attachments and internships.

Based on the feedback from NT students, who say that they prefer the ITE approach and environment, PM Lee says that it is hoped that students will be more engaged and motivated, with lower absentee rates.

Also, based on the success of the Northlight School and Assumption Pathway School - both which cater to the small number of students who do not pass PSLE - PM Lee says that two more specialised schools will be set up for NT students.

(9.17pm) - It is important to ensure that students graduate with relevant skills, says PM Lee. Which is why there are many routes for students to take at post-secondary level.

PM Lee says with the five polytechnics doing well, and with more 'high quality' students applying, $700 million will be spent to expand the existing polytechnics and upgrading the older ones.

A through-train programme will be started for Normal Acadamic (NA) students to go to polytechnics. Students who do well at N-levels can opt for a one-year Foundation Programme at Polytechnic instead of the O-levels. 'This is something Normal Acadamic students should strive for.'

Polytechnic Students will also be able to pursue good degrees from overseas universities. Singapore Institute of Technology, which started this year, is offering 500 places.

Degrees will also be offered for young Singaporeans with talents in the arts, media space and design through NAFA and LaSalle who will team up with good overseas institutions.

(9.20pm) - With more Singaporeans being able to make it to universities, it is important to offer top students excellent local options for tertiary education.

PM Lee says that students should spend their formative years in a top class local university to create bonds with their peer group.

PM Lee gives an update on some of the new education plans.

Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), a collaboration with MIT and Zhejiang University, is currently recruiting and classes will begin in 2012.

A NUS University Town is being developed into a 'college system' like Cambridge and Oxford. PM Lee says it will be a 'beautiful, well-equipped campus' where students can come together to learn and interact better. (PM Lee shows an artist impression of the new University Town)

A third medical school will be set up in NTU. It will tie up with top university, Imperial College to train more local doctors.

'We need them.' PM Lee says, 'because we have an aging population.'

Also the new medical school will create more places for Singaporeans who want to study medicine.

(9.23pm) - The new programmes will be expensive, says PM Lee, explaining the need to build up donations and endowments.

The donations will go into funding students who need financial support, scholarships, bursaries and loans for promising students. Fees will be kept affordable for everyone.

PM Lee encourages alumni from all tertiary institutions to donate to their Alma Maters to help build up endowments for schools. This is for all universities, polytechnics and other institutions.

The governement will match all donations 3-to-1 to endowments for new projects and 1.5-to-1 for existing universities and polytechnics.

PM Lee says government will commit $4 billion over the next 20 years to build up endowments. A Singapore Universities Trust will also be set up with $2 billion to be set aside in the Trust to ensure financial support through economic downturns.

'We want the best for our kids,' says PM Lee, and that the endowments will go to ensuring that students will get a good education wherever they go.

The Singapore Spirit

(9.25pm) - PM Lee says that besides education, we have to instill the Singapore Spirit into future generations as well.

The Singapore Spirit is based on 'shared values like multi-racialism, meritocracy and respect for every talent', says PM Lee. It is a shared loyalty and commitment to Singapore.

PM Lee recites statement written by the late S. Rajaratnam, who drafted the National Pledge: 'Being a Singaporean is not a matter of ancestry. It is conviction and choice.'

PM Lee says that we must maintain a Singaporean core in our society and gather talent and resources around this core to build a better Singapore.

He likens this to a kernel. 'Protect the kernel, but adapt and extend the system as circumstances change'.

(9.28pm) - PM Lee says Singapore youth must be exposed to such a spirit, and develop a social conscience.PM Lee shows some examples of yoths releasing horseshoe crabs back into the ocean.

PM Lee cites the example of Mr Alvan Yap, who has hearing impairment but graduated from NUS and now works in the publishing industry. He is active as a volunteer and went on SIP's Singapore Volunteers Overseas programme to Dili, Timor Leste. He taught deaf children proper sign language as well as basic literacy.

A video was shown of Mr Yap's students and him wishing Singapore a happy birthday. PM Lee commends Mr Yap and hopes more young people like him will venture forth.

(9.33pm) - PM Lee worries that Singapore youth are not tough enough as Singapore has created a 'safe cocoon' for the youth. Youth not being tough enough was also a worry of the late Dr Goh Keng Swee.

A video was shown of Dr Goh making a speech in 1984 about the new generation that has committed some gross misdemeanour in not facing hardship.

PM Lee says that the younger generation knows too little of what Dr Goh has done and how much Singapore owes him.

(9.34pm) - To honour Dr Goh, who was instrumental in building up the SAF, the Singapore Command and Staff College (SCSC), which is the highest institution for training senior officers in the SAF, will be renamed the 'Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College'.

Also as the Education Minister in 1979, Dr Goh revamped the entire education system creating the 'first class education system admired around the world'. PM Lee says that he was the foundation for all the new plans mentioned earlier for education.

(9.35pm) - A new Academy of Singapore Teachers and specialist academics for English Language, PE, Sports and the Arts will be set up as well. It will be named 'Goh Keng Swee Centre for Education' in honour of Dr Goh. The new centre will help upgrade the professionalism of teachers, says PM Lee. And it will be the 'nerve centre' of Singapore Education.

(9.39pm) - Sharing more about Singapore's history, PM Lee says that Dr Goh did not make his contributions alone, he was part of a team of founding fathers who build the nation and that through this multi-racial team Singapore has scaled new heights and taken steps towards becoming a global city.

PM Lee says it is important to remember Singapore's founding fathers so as to stay true to their ideals to to continue to strive to be 'one united people, regarless of race, language or religion.'

He then looks to the future and says Singapore has indeed 'scaled many new heights'. Citing examples such as the new city centre taking shape at Marina Bay.

(9.41pm) - On the just-concluded Youth Olympic Games, PM hails Singaporeans for taking part in the inaugural YOG with enthusiasm, and gives the volunteers top marks for a magnificent job done.

(9.45pm) - 'The IOC, youth athletes and vistors were all impressed' said PM Lee.

(9.47pm) - PM Lee winds up speech by saying that even though Singapore is a young nation, it has distinguished itself by looking forward, and daring to transform the city again and again.

'Our future is bright,' he says. While he cannot promise an 'effortless cruise', he says Singaporeans can expect good leadership, and a close-knit team.

'We will seize the opportunities around us' and 'take our nation to the next level,' says PM Lee.

Tags: , ,

Am listening as I extract this National Day Rally Speech here. I have some thoughts as I have been through a unique case where I've been to top schools and been through the non-conventional route to do what I really enjoyed doing -- creative design, teaching and writting; which not a lot of people would have dared to take up during my time in the early 90s. Everything then was still very much the formulated way and to do anything outside it was somehow discriminated. And there are still a number of prejudices alive. And for that very reason, I made my own life career that I think still has room for improvement. I have scored top grades and I have also did lack lustre ones. I know grades do not mark a person's ability. But somehow grades are usually being tracked back. Today I may score an 'A', but tomorrow if I am unfamilar of the playing grounds, I may score a 'C'. But people usually do not see in that light. They only see it in a fixated view that an 'A' will always be an 'A'. Someone who is an Oxon or Cantab grad/Harvard/Stanford garad will always make the right solutions. Those in red-bricks, new universities, non-Ivies are the 2nd or 3rd class schools. And they are usually 'graded' as a whole.

In any case, it sounds like great news from what PM Lee has mentioned for education, mainly in these areas:
1. exams are not the ultimate guide to various students potential;
2. everyone has a talent we can groom.
3. different types of schools and systems set up to cater different abilities; grooming not only the cream de la creme academically brilliant students; but to groom arts and technical students.
4. an education system that meets the challenges of the world.

The 3rd point is by far, in my opinion, the most concerned. People tend to regard graduates to these fields academic failures and rarely see this group as smart. Arts / technical studies are usually taught at non-ivy schools and ironically at establishemts that are usually have a raw reputation for other subject areas and suffers from the generalised ranking which covers up the real quality of individual apartments.

I hope all these will soon be realised like what the Prime Minister Lee has promised. I hope the long term stigma against graduates who do not fit into the steoreotypical formula of success would go in the near future; since the definition of 'talent': go to the top academic school, go to the so-called top universities listed on the what may well be a subjective list of 'recognised colleges of higher learning'.

I feel this stigma of subjective classification needs to be eradicated, if we were to progress as a truly open and creative society that is adaptive to different game rules of the world. The world is constantly changing and the game rules are different in various parts of the world. We need to have skills and more importantly a nimble and receptive mind to learn and adapt. How else can we progress if we have rankings and discimination of schools and ideas? We are in a knowledge based economy where learning should not go by fixed formulars like preprogrammed formulars on a computer.

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Karen
There should be no retirement age: MM Lee
By Imelda Saad | Posted: 28 July 2010 2230 hrs

 

 Video
There should be no retirement age: MM Lee

SINGAPORE: Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has said that there should be no retirement age for workers.
He made the point at a dialogue session with over 900 senior managers, government officials and unionists on Wednesday.
The session was held in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).
Minister Mentor Lee got the audience in stitches when he made the bold suggestion - no retirement age for Singapore.
He said: "You work as long as you can work and you will be healthier and happier for it. If you ask me to stop working all of a sudden, I think I'll just shrivel up, face the wall and just that."
The 86-year-old said old people should be more productive.
Mr Lee was responding to a question on challenges Singapore may face with an aging population.
He said that at his age, he may have aches and pains but he can keep going.
He said: "Many of our workers have a preferred retirement, and then they die early! It won't be long before the message sinks home that if you keep doing what you're doing for almost the whole of your life, the chances are you will stay interested and engaged in life, there's something to do tomorrow and you keep going. If you start saying,'oh! I'm old!' And you start reading novels and playing golf or playing chess, well, you're on the way down."
From 2012, employers in Singapore will have to offer workers re-employment when they hit the retirement age of 62.
Mr Lee said older workers will need to come to terms with the psychological switch - that is, working for less pay and very likely for a younger boss.
He said: "That's life! You know American Generals - they don't do well, they get fired and they give them a medal, they send a new general! I think we have to develop that approach to life. (When) you have reached the maximum you can do at your age in that position, you move sideways and you take less pay and you move gradually, (getting) less and less pay because you are moving slower and slower, especially when you're doing physical work."
Mr Lee stressed the need to continue learning even as one gets older, adding "I'm still learning."
Attracting talents was another hot topic at the dialogue session. Mr Lee said foreign talents come to Singapore because of the opportunities it offers.
Their numbers will add to what Mr Lee called a growing "intellectual class".
Mr Lee said: "We are going to have an intellectual class, about maybe three times as big as what you have now and that will give us the dynamism, the powerful engine to carry us forward faster."
Mr Lee added that Singapore's attraction as a liveable, safe city with good infrastructure will support its push to enhance productivity.
The 45-minute dialogue was engaging and peppered with personal anecdotes. For example, Mr Lee shared how many of his ideas were gleaned from his travels.
He noted how a lot of policies in Singapore were the result of his experiences overseas. For example, deciding on having an underground train system over a network of tunnels for buses.
- CNA/ir

I wonder how people will read this. 
They probably were having butterflies fluttering in their stomachs, when MM Lee suggested that there should be no retirement age. For most people work is a dreadful course of life where one has to escape the clutches of their bosses and perhaps their colleagues. Many would tell you that they have to deal with different kinds of problems daily to make their businesses work; that they'd wish they could just strike the lottery somehow and go into early retirement.At least for many, they would wish they could make a lot of money when they are young, and retire as soon as they hit their targets. 

I also did some snoopying around online, reading various comments from many sources with regards to the above post. I suspect this would not be stomached in  very well.  It really depends on individual's situation: For people who love their work, their work are their lives. Not working at all could mean the end of their lifelong careers & also their health*. He cited a Chinese proverb: ' 活到老,学到老' [ huo dao lao, xue dao lao] meaning that as long as one lives, one should embrace learning throughout their lives. His notion wasn't wrong at all. It is true that when one stops working, their health deteriorates. And often people don't live that long after they retire - they usually kick the bucket soon or their health takes a nose dive. These are true facts. But I think for a large majority, many of whom are not making a 6 figure income, the idea of continue-working is a pain, especially when they also need to struggle to make ends meet. This is also a true fact as costs are rising and pressure mounting from all facets of life for the commoner. Also especially true are those whose careers are not exactly what they would have liked to do. So this idea of working for life is going to hang them right in there. Hence this notion isn't really palatable. In fact, it would be almost unthinkable to them.

The intellectual class idea of taking in a lot of both China's and India's youngsters into our educational system could act as a double edged sword. Why? In theory, when we focus on taking the bright Chinese and Indians in, they should add to our intellectual pool. That is only possible if they will stay in the country. It would not be true, if they 'jump ship' elsewhere. Malaysians who flocked to Singapore also contributed to a lot of added talent. The talent pool is unrestricted to just from China and India though the possibility of getting a top talent from a larger population is higher.
I can see what MM Lee's point of view. But I also know from a great pool of the common public and others, that this might not mean well. People may not welcome foreign competition, especially true if it has a threat / is being perceived as taking the local's opportunities away. 

We have a lot of local talent who are located abroad. I think they are valued elsewhere as fine talents whose billingualism and discipline are very well taken in. I know a lot of them are not willing to return as they have formed close ties there. So a small population may not exactly mean a limited talent pool. It could well question on our abilities to retain good and very able people to stay or at least return more frequently to contribute to our intellectual class here. If we need to progressively move on to create a large healthy intellectual pool, taking in foreigners is a must given if they will stay here and not elsewhere. Their loyalty must be towards the new country that spends time and effort to groom them by offering opportunities that make them whom they are now.

I often like to study MM Lee's policies and his ideas. Regardless of his many controversial ideas, he really shows his intelligence. Despite many negative feedbacks on certain forums, he is  recognized worldwide as an Asian giant, whose mind doesn't framed around with just one context & is often able to solve any problem very effectively. Many come to oppose his ideas, yet many also applauded his ideas. A very interesting person to study when it comes to reading his mind/ideas. 

Also is the fact that a tiny country usually faces several challenges when it comes to growing a sizable intellectual pool. It is far harder to keep talent compared with other much larger countries where living quality / unique opportunities are the same or better than us.
Although I cannot agree with all his ideas, I must admit that his brains are some of the finest and his credibility belongs to one of the highest - when he means something, he does it in full force and usually excels in it.
Health*
  1. http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2009/10/16/study-delay...
  2. http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/10October/Pages/Health-after-retirement.aspx
  3. http://ftp.iza.org/dp4253.pdf

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Karen
I have come across an 11 year old who is really bright. He read about metaphysics at his age and asked questions about time travelling. Not the usual kid but he also had a heart that was so evil that it made my eyes pop: he basially thinks that people can only survive long by attaining both power and longevity, which includes getting rid of anyone who blocks his path. He doesn't want to die since dealth would take away all he has. This kid appears to look up to me for answers. He said he basically wanted immortality and be powerful and he wanted to know how to have this power. To add to his list, love was to him an evil thing that made people weak and too vulnerable for any kind of success.
His intelligence on many scientific concepts was astounding for his age. Equally 'astounding' was his selfishness in life and the fear for mortality.I was both terrified and angry. But as you start to learn about his background, your anger would simmer down.
I gave him my heartfelt feelings about life. He seemed to be tinkered somewhat towards the brighter side. But appeared to still remain in his negative mode because his parents' lives overshadowed him with all the bad sides of life -- monetary greed, extramarital affairs, deceit and discrimination.
So what did I tell him?
** Longevity is dependent mainly on a healthy thought for people and oneself. This includes how you want to live your life. It all comes in a cycle. The mind, I feel, is the most crucial. People, who tend to be really kind harbour few or no negative thoughts, are usually healthier in both body and mind. When the flow in your body is fluid and less stressful, your health will be in an optimal state of balance.
**Wealth also doesn't guarantee you a long and happy life. I have seen a lot of wealthy people consuming lots of tonics, spending huge amounts of money looking fit but none could really compare to those centenarians whose lives are simple and pure. It sometimes doesn't even have to mean you eat healthy organic foods every day such as this longest living centenarian whose life defies almost all orders about healthy eating. But she didn't defy one order: that is to lead a simple happy life free of negative stress.
**Being mean could get you to power. But no one's an idiot. Everyone knows how to spot the negatives. And when you step over people's toes, one day they will come back to you. If they don't, life will sort you out somehow, usually via health issues since your mind is always in an imbalance of complexity. (plotting to harm is unbelievably complicated; if you start to think about it, thats added stress that is un-needed.)
** regardless of whether you are religious or not, the bad habits don't pay. It doesn't pay well scientifically, social-economically, artistically etc.Tell me and give me examples of any bad minds of thoughts give you a truly sustainable solution ? (he couldn't give me any. Maybe he was too young. But can anyone here tell me ?)
** the more you are scared of death, the more likely you'll going to die sooner. Fear is a poison to good health.
Got to pop in to bed now. Life may not be a bed of roses. People can be somewhat crazy but as long as you know how life rules in the long term, I bet you'd choose to be simple and be plain nice. I've got plenty to learn about simplification of life and I am still learning everyday.
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[pic source: www.macmothership.com]

@GreatestQuotes: "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Albert Einstein

Just retweeted it. Thought I add a few thoughts about the perplex layers of the human mind. We've come across great men and women whose paths have been obstructed because they have been different. Einstein was not alone. Together with many other great minds in innovation and invention, politics and literature; thinking different often means opposition. And its true even today when we are supposed to fully evolved and morphed into this new kind of cacoon which it should be born a free and beautiful butterfly.


The type of butterfly that is supposed to be from the new age, new born, new minds that are big and open.


But are we?


Everyday we could read from our papers (doesn't matter where the heck you are on this little blue planet of ours) there must be some kind of fights: from domestic violence to national disputes; from toilet politics to international politics; from simple words of simple thoughts blown out disproportinately into complex thought & fights. Some people appear to be able to just find fault in some people somehow. I often think we are all weird speices of the strangest kind. First off, we could see the bad in others. Next off, most of us fail to see the good in others and third off, we can't see the bad in us. Well maybe we do. Just that we forget all about it very soon after.

I think this is negativity in the worst form. Its venom seeps into the mind in making it far more complex than it really should be.Ever wondered why the crazy human mind has rarely evolved beyond being genuinely nice? And why there must be shades of grey in every kind of human relationship? I believe most of it comes from self defense - the kind of defense that links to the way one feels that they might be walked over, and hence must do a plot or a con in self defense, often in the name of 'survival'.

I think that is an excuse.

And we need to requestion about what is real 'survial'.

'Survival' actually really means to allow what is good for us to prevail. Great minds and ideas to flourish. Not there because of certain hidden interest.

Societal problems, like different kinds of discrimination, has never really eluded us. Most of the time, it has been haunting us. Kingdoms have formed and take over the weaker races / dynasties to create a variety of social classes. Its how one forms power. It has always been happening and I'm afraid it will continue to happen. In the many books I've come across, people do take sides. And often at a discriminative account. History has never been really fair in making 100% truthful accounts.Then again, history is written by us -- human beings.

For as long as the idea comes from a human being, I supposed it will not be 100% fair. It'll most likely be from Plant C (Complexity) where simple issues would be wired from one to another; into several volumes of history, rarely wanting to look just simple and clear.Which really would be the ultimate form of sustainable survival. Agree?

PS: CHANGE is actually about facing reality. To deliver the truth and admit flaws would be the real guarantee for the future.

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Karen

|.....Creativity.....|

There are many different kinds of creativity - from the way we take care of ourselves to the way we handle the world. Some forms of creativity may seem as unacceptble depending on the individual's preference, which is affected by ones culture and inborn qualities.

This just came to me while I was reading the various sources of news and have been thinking.

Singapore has started the IR (integrated resorts) 3 years ago; and it does seem to have worked very well despite concerns. Economy expanded far more than the expected 6% to a whopping double digit range of 12-15%. Banks are coming in to share the pie and it does look that people take up the positive economic sentiment to move to bigger and far more exlusive private residences that commands at least 3 times psf than your ordinary public housing. Prices for public housing on the other hand, has been rising very fast.

Creative thinking, as in innovative thoughts in education, health, arts, dramma and the sciences and technologies, are often more touted as being useful. Creative problem solving that sorts pollution problems are too. But it doesn't appear to me that as many people are thinking creativity on an ethical value, which is a little strange.

Creativity must bear some form of positive output else the creativity is nothing but graffiti.
Than again graffiti can also be seen as an art in its own right, which is true. Art in museums have their value too. So are art forms that the layman does for a therapeutic reason. The only creative sin I could see is to use negative lateral thinking to do harm to the environment / another living being with no good reason apart from mere personal interests via exploitation.

Creative thinking in solving problems is another. Everyone's creative. Its just a matter of quality and the direction that creativity is heading to.

Should we have preferences in creativity? What kinds should we retain, change and strip? I wonder. Or let certain acts of creativity eat us up?

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Karen

[pic source: www.gmtmag.com/en/]

I read this article: 'America is rotten and China is awesome?' by G.E Anderson at the Forbe's website just a while ago; and felt compelled to write quickly about my 2 cents on innovative & creative thinking. I'll zap it straight to the point.

We all know we need to know enough and have solid foundations in our subject areas. Yet we also need to know how to quickly think via various channels in different scenarios. From an outsider's immediate point of view, many American students seem to lack the former and the Chinese students lack the latter. Having taught both nationalities before as a teacher tells me that certain curriculums need to be changed. But that again, it has always been difficult to say how and why because I always feel difficult to put in my comments especially when I do not come from a big country. And that coming from a tiny young one makes everything all the more difficult.

Americans, like many other Western countries, tend to have more creative minds that could twist and turn to create ideas of thoughts, innovative solutions etc. But having lack the depth in both Math(s) and Sciences is going to stunt them in the near term and we can start to see the effects even now, where a lot of foreign students who have graduated in the States are now working in the US developing niche products and services. All this new preference for the humanities and the arts by the Americans come from somewhat a natural distaste for numbers & physics. I also suspect that it has a lot to do with affluence where looking towards the arts where social sciences would be more interesting to learn than fomulas in math(s) and the sciences (especially Physics and engineering sciences). Natural sciences, however, doesn't seem to be much of this kind of problem. However the reality is many advancements in technology, typically with the ones that directly affect us in phyical life, requires one to be superior in these subjects.

Chinese students, on the other hand, are masters with numbers and logical thinking. Too again with many other Asian countries and typically with Russian students, where mathematics to them are like playing magic with figures.They are not uncreative but they do not appear to learn how to sit and think of other ways to come up with new solutions. Everything appears to have evolved from similar or the same common base. I attribute this problem to the way the society and economy works. When you are striving to get out from poverty to become extremely well off, the first thing you need to do is to just follow the path that will send you fastest to sucess. And that does not often allow you time to think and try. In certain instances, daring to think in a different path may be a personal economic risk, where your time and effort may be grounded to a far less profitable result. From another flip point, countries which are industrially established in the east, still tend to carry on the safe path of thinking where you focus on the safe path to climbing up the social ladder. Creativity is often set aside after you attain your financial freedom, which is exactly the formula to stunted creativity as it is better to start early and have it in our living surroundings.

In the States or indeed in the west as a whole (bearing in mind the different cultures in the west) have more accessibilities to innovation as far as the culture of free thinking / sources of various information goes. Free, also as in the freedom of not having to worry about the basic needs -- as in the society allows you the luxury of time and money to truly try different things in store.

Personally, I do not have a preference for whom is going to be the super powerhouse of the future. I think if you were to clear your minds a little, thinking a little far a little, the optimal that will keep the world sane and healthy is to actually not have any single super powerhouse in innovation. It simply isn't healthy. Creativiity, in my opinion, depends on a rich array of experiences that we can share under the common umbrella of the skies, where different creed, people etc will offer you various insights of true wonder that our own cultures may fail us in seeing what could be the best solution. We cannot be benifiting anyone, if we think true innovative thought must come from a certain part of the world.

Great brains, in my modest opinion, is one which is not only solid in the fundamentals of as many subject areas possible; but also in the way it develops over time to be fluent in the nth number of ways to come up with solutions despite under any circumstance. (politically, economically, socially etc). Innovative thinking has to make the world as one, where it shows sensitivity to the rest of the world and other people's needs. You can't do this when you start to brand one another, or trying to sit somebody off.

So in a way no one is exactly rotten and no one is exactly awesome. We have everything to share and learn from everyone. And the brain that has the ability to sort nth number of problems has got to be also a brain that is very open to all.

Quick draw at one go. Doubt a lot of people would read about it. But I thought I might as well hit the keys since I have been interested in such topics for a long long time. I don't believe in certain stigmas and a crazy few dogmatc thinking egos. My approach may somewhat look slow, but it has gained me a lot of invaluable insights and train me to think fast.

Got lots to say but I really need to pop into bed. Its 2.25 in the morning ! -- Karen Fu, some little nobody sitting on the equator, in front of her PC, smattering away from tiny Singapore.

Posted via email from Daring to Posterous-ly Change

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Karen
Just posted 2 posts on the blog topic and I think there are a few pointers that are important fundamentals to a thoughtful living - namely patience, positiveness and actually I should have added genuine receptiveness. What we do online is what we would actually do offline. Its basically our character.

Social media – the importance of patience and positiveness

Social media – the importance of patience and positiveness -2

Hope I have made sense here. It's actually a great lesson learnt.
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