Religion

Let's talk religion today. If you ask a Japanese what their religion is. You will surely get a very obscure answer. At best you may hear them say that they are Buddhists, at worst, you may be surprised to hear that they have no religion at all. The average Japanese might not think too much about their religion, but they are surely steadfast about discipline, being on time, and team work.

Officially, I am a Buddhist. That's what I will write on a form if this information is required of me. But I am not a real Buddhist at heart. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a devout Buddhist, I think I am hovering somewhere between 0.922 and 0.931. At home, I pray to my ancestors, the Earth God (土地公) and Celestial God (天公). When I was a child, usually I take turns with my elder sister to do the morning and evening prayers. Its a simple process where we burn joss sticks and ask for good health for the family. And if exams are coming, then we spend a little bit more time praying.

The great thing about my family is the multi-religion tolerance. My mom is a Catholic. But she has no problem whatsoever with with an altar in the house. Who can ask for a cooler mom. Dad's a diligent Taoist. He never misses any important events on the lunar calendar that means celebration and simple offerings to the gods. Maybe it's the businessman in him that motivates him. When we were young, my sister, two younger brothers and myself would help with the preparations of offerings for the prayers. Looking back, I am proud of this tradition and hope to continue it in my future home too. My wife and her family turned to Buddhism for comfort when the eldest boy in the family died in a freak accident in the sea. She used to abstain from meat on Fridays until MacDonald's appeared in her hometown. She still does unless there is other no choice. I think practicing religion is a good way to self-discipline.

God of Heaven

Some of the Japanese homes that I have visited have a special room Japanese style room where an alcove (床の間) is present. This place is decorated with ornaments and cloth paintings and words of wisdom. Come Mar 3rd, when Girl's Festival (雛祭り） is celebrated across Japan, these alcoves will be decorated with elaborately-dressed dolls. One thing great about Japanese is their tolerance for multi-religious celebrations. Christmas as with Valentines are celebrated without hesitation (with full fervor thanks to the department stores of course). I hear that young Japanese can be born in Japanese tradition with the blessings from Shinto shrines, gets their marriage solemnized by a pastor, and die as a Buddhist. What a way to live a life wouldn't you say. My Japanese teacher used to tell me that if Islam were to be introduced in Japan, it might have been adopted and assimilated into Japanese culture are well.

Hina doll set

What is religion but a guide to one's life. Each religion come with teachings (a manual?) about the wisdom that it has to offer, but ultimately it is up to us to interpret those teachings and let us live a life as we see fit.

Job Search

Starting this year, in Japan at least, since the economy has started picking up again, recruitment drive for new staff is also heating up. Looking for a job in Japan can be very different from how you are used to. University students in the bachelor and master's level usually start looking a full year before graduation. PhD students are a little different, while some do look for jobs pretty early, there are those who take are constantly on the lookout for a good match between their skills and the job requirements. A lot of jobs can now be applied on-line. Compared to 5 years ago, recent candidates find themselves inundated with plenty of options for on-line job applications. The other thing that is different about job search in Japan is their resume. A standard form (履歴書) is available in most bookstores (bet you didn't know that! Me neither). You just need to fill in your personal particular including photo, education, work experience, certification all in a chronological fashion. Other misc information like major, interests, work preference, and marital status are also required. My own experience in producing a resume (in English) has been a mixture of creative layout and ideas to spice up the information contained within. Nothing of that sort is required in Japan, as far as I know. Perhaps it's better that way since, we are not applying for a job in the Creative Arts department anyway. On the other hand, no sloppiness is tolerated. That is not to say that you can get away with carelessness and mistakes in the English version. One thing that is absolutely necessary when working in a Japanese company in Japan is proficiency in Japanese, what else! Although I have been toying about that idea for sometime, I am revisiting this option of a working in Japan. Let's see how things go. This is my barebone dual-language resume.

It's a bargain

Malaysia, unlike Japan, is a country where lively bargaining was promoted to an art form. From a tender young age, children taken by their mothers to the wet market learn unwittingly the art of bargaining. Until a few years ago, before the government decided to 'help' consumers who lack this survival skill by making shop owners display pricetags on all goods, some people actually enjoyed their shopping. Such a conversation would go something like, "10.45" says the shopkeeper, "wah! so expensive, 5 lar" comes a reflex response from mom, "5 cannot lar, tell you what, round to 10 just for you-lar" replies the shopkeeper instinctively, "like that dun wan-lar". "OK, auntie, 8, final offer?, And mom would reach for her purse and the deal is sealed. Usually, the bargaining process can extend longer that that. Then it would be a power or stamina struggle. To see who gives up first. It can be quite fun watching the process.

Nowadays, lively conversation like that is nowhere to be found. Of course, you hear stories about customers from hell that bargain with street peddlers just for the sheer fun of it, but I think there is a lot to be learned by knowing how to making your verbal-sparring partner agree to your point of view. I know that bargaining is still pretty wide spread in some other Asian countries. Thailand and China for example where you can practice your persuasive skills. In countries where shopping are done in supermarkets and huge hypermarkets, you get a bargain only when there is a sale going on. Come to think of it, bargaining may not be a lost art form. In Japan, I heard that big deals still go through some form of bargaining. But then, they call it business negotiation.

You can't handle the truth!

Today, allow me talk about something different. About politics that is. Having no direct confrontation with this strange concept before, I found myself mysteriously drawn to it quite recently. In this one particular aspect at least, Japan and Malaysia are not so much different from each other. And that is, to deny their citizens the right to know the truth. There are obvious reasons for this. Mostly selfish, I think.

History may not always be what is seems. Propaganda from the ruling government to self-propagate often put them in the best light to the common citizen (voters). What ever the cause maybe, the interest of the disadvantaged are ignored or often trampled-on because of someone else's selfish agenda.

Take for example,
i) The lies that are being told of the rioting incident in Kuala Lumpur during that faithful day of May 13, 1969. Fortunately, we have blogs that gives us a second account of the real version.

If you tell one lie, you will have to tell another lie to cover that first lie, and so on. Pretty soon, your story will collapse under an Everest of lies. Those who know the truth but choose to remain quiet are just as bad as those protecting their own sick interests. Why, because as Thomas Jefferson remarked, "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."

ii) Corrections upon corrections of the official version of the atrocities of Japanese troops during WWII.

Sometimes, the hardest things to do is to admit ones' mistakes or the mistakes of our forefathers. If the reason for seeking forgiveness is difficulty in swallowing ones pride, then I say the bitter pill of pride is just the medicine needed to sow friendship and trust. I believe that when children are exposed to a wrong, they can learn from that lesson much more than just being ignorant about it.

Having said that, without the privilege of knowing the whole story. I realize that my comments are just as shallow as my knowledge. Perhaps like Jack Nicholson as Col. Jessep barked in A Few Good Men, "You can't handle the truth!"

One way to visualize the dilemma faced by politicians would be conjure a fake scenario. Suppose that the world is being threatened by an imminent deadly and contagious disease (bird flu, maybe). The government in all its earnest efforts wants everybody to stay indoors and, to reduce pandemonium, be ignorant about the current situation. Everything is on a strictly need-to-know basis. The government then diverts the peoples attention by staging a disaster to encourage people to stay indoors while taking care of the real outbreak. Finally, with the disease under control, the government then issues a statement that it is safe once more to come out, hence saving millions of lives instead of the thousands that died due to the outbreak. (Story adapted from http://www.slate.com/id/2126479/). However, what if the government couldn't contain the outbreak and the masses finally found out about the lie, or even if everything was OK but soon the information about the disease got declassified. What would happen? Would people be better off being ignorant?

I think that these are some of the dilemmas that politicians have to face everyday. They are controllers of information. Filters if you will. Good filters do their jobs unbiased. But how many Solomon-type filters are there to fill up all the politician jobs? I understand humans have feelings and feelings control our actions more than thoughts. Politicians face a lot of daily pressure and when they make a decision that pushes them into the limelight, they are assaulted by critics and supporters alike. Boy, I am just glad that I am not in that line. Otherwise, I don't think I can sleep soundly every night.

A fine country she is

You know what they say about Singapore being a fine country. Well I have got a picture which says it all. It was taken inside the MRT train. To be fair, Malaysia is also a fine country. In comparison, in Japan, warning signs, be it no smoking or no littering, do not come with an offensive deterrent.

I was just talking to my wife about civic-mindedness in Singapore the other day. I think that Singapore will need to work harder to get rid of the stigma of fines and concentrate on the real problem that they are trying to address. The government are taking many positive steps, of course, like public awareness campaigns to educate their citizens to be more civic-minded. But why do you think the results are less than desired. I guess if one cannot see beyond a direct cause-effect scheme to things, there will be less incentive once the effector is no longer around.

Why is it then that Japanese are so successful in getting their act together. I suspect that it is ingrained in their culture as much as their language. Everyone here is so considerate about the feelings of others. It is so apparent in their language. Try to count the number of すみませんs (I am sorry/excuse me) you get when you next meet a Japanese, or, the number of "I am so sorry to have troubled you". You will be surprised. Japanese are even sorry when their name seems hard to pronounce. All this high-level empathy just makes it easy to be civic-minded. Think about it, if people feel that when they litter, they would inconvenient others. When they smoke, speed, or behave irrationally, others will be annoyed, endangered or honestly concerned, then everyone would practice self-restraint. Isn't this much better than mere punishment or fine. I am not questioning the effectiveness of punishment as a deterrent, but then, an enforcement agent is needed. Whereas, civic-mindedness just takes care of itself and the problem.

While we can definitely learn from the Japanese, short of being a Japanese, how can we install civic--mindedness. Some examples I think which promotes such a desirable quality are religion and education. Civic-mindedness is indoctrinated in most rational religion and this is where religious institutions can help. The other being education. I believe, most educated people have the propensity to be level-headed enough to be civic conscious. If, when next I see a warning sign without a fine tagging under it in Singapore, I would finally agree that she has reached a higher class of social maturity.

A sign pasted inside the MRT train

A sign pasted at the Putra LRT station

Bento lunch-box

Recently, my bento lunch boxes has grown in number. From 2 to 4. Previously, it was just a rice and one-dish stacked box. Now, it's a super combo meal which includes, 2 side dishes, rice, and snack/fruit. With that kind of combo meal two things generally follow. Great urge for afternoon siesta and bulging tummy. Let's talk about the bento and leave out the side-effect for next time.

Although getting no less popular nowadays, the bento has been traditionally prepared at home and brought to school or work. With advance in food-packaging technology and catering services, more and more bentos are bought elsewhere or ordered and delivered. I once read an article on the newspaper that mentioned about the additives that is put into the bentos sold at convenience store. In that article, the author, who has worked for many years preparing bentos said that he wouldn't let his family eat the bentos, for they contain so much presearvatives, it would make it to the world record for the most amount of preservatives used to keep the food looking fresh. So be extra careful when where you buy your bentos next time.

When I was in Malaysia and Singapore, I wasn't really acquainted with the concept of lunch boxes. Food was pretty much available everywhere and cheap too. I guess the hot weather there will make your rice with 汁 (broth?) into anything but palatable food by noon.

So what did I have for lunch today? Take a look at the picture. Rice with furikake (an assortment of minced fish, sesame seeds, seaweed), siew mai, pickles and kacang kuda. Needless to say, after this hefty lunch, I needed a lengthy workout.

2nd hand (recycled) goods shop

All the talk about waste management got me thinking about recycling in Japan. And where else can you find 2nd hand goods with such good quality but Japan. In Malaysia, about the only recycled stuff worth buying is probably a motor vehicle. But even then you'll have to be careful with kereta potong (literally, cut-up cars).

The proliferation of recycled shops in Japan, I believe, all started with the annual winter/spring flea-markets. Then someone must have thought of the cool idea of making it a permanent event, in the like of shops. Now recycled shops are the next big hit after the 100yen Daiso. Just google 中古 or 創庫 with your local area name and you'll bound to come up with in inexhaustible list of links. Some of my favorite ones are See You, Book Off, and the local favorite on route 163. When I first arrived here in Japan, and couldn't afford the outlandish prices for brand new electrical appliances, these are some of the places that I looked at. If you can find the things that you want, and don't mind that it's not new, you will surely get a bargain at these shops. I once sold a baby stoller (ベビーカー) for a handsome profit there. Of course, these shops do keep their standards. The other day, after spring cleaning, we wanted to get rid of an old computer but the shop refused since it has no resale value. It was understandable.

So if you are in Japan, do consider these recycled goods shops. You never know what you may find.

Waste management in Japan

Rubbish is big deal in Japan. I only realized how I missed the waste management in Japan when I visit other countries. In Japan, different municipals have different management styles, but generally, rubbish are sorted by 2 categories at the-point-of-disposal. They are burnable and non-burnable waste. These categories are further divided into categories such as PET bottles, cans, foam (polystyrene) packages, paper cartons, etc. If you had visited the 2005 World Expo at Aichi, Nagoya, you would be surprised at the number of categories that were available.

I can understand how this came about in Japan. First of all, Japanese are crazy about presentation. Everything must be presented such that they are pleasing to the eye. You won't believe how many layers packing goes to gift-wrap something. And once you open the gift-box, you are presented with even more packaging before you even lay your eyes on the gift. You can say that the power of anticipation is brought to a new level here in Japan. With so much packaging materials to dispose of, you will need to have a good way to handle all that.

Also, Japanese are generally pretty civic minded about the environment. I believe this happened after WW2, and after Japan became industrialized. I once watched a Japanese movie, I believe it's called Hula Girl (フラガール) about this soon to be bankrupt mining company that tried to reinvent itself. It then occurred to me that the developing Japan was just like the developing China, or Taiwan or Singapore. During the time of economic boom, money is always first, while the environment takes second place. But the general public will sooner or later realize unchecked pollution and contamination due to improper waste disposal will only lead to more problems in the future. That is why the Japanese has a great system for garbage disposal. I think it is something other city municipals should really learn from. All this talk about rubbish reminds me that it's take-out-your-rubbish time today. Yes, we are limited to just twice weekly for disposal of burnable waste here in Nara-shi.

Theft in Japan?

I have parked my scooter next to this superbike at the school compound for the 2nd day. And this guy just left his keys stuck to his bike all this time. I think in some other parts of the world (Malaysia?), this poor chap would be at the police station crying out his eyeballs while reporting his lost bike. Theft cases in Japan are extremely low (I think). It could be that everyone (well, almost everyone) are contended that they don't touch other peoples' stuff. Or it could be that their are too chicken to deal with the consequences of their actions be it mental anguish or just plain physical torture when he is confronted by the owner with a steel pipe.

A friend that came by to visit me in Japan noticed all those nice umbrellas stacked up at the bus stop. "Doesn't anybody help themselves with those umbrellas?" he asked. The truth is I hadn't noticed them before that. So I just made a passing remark that those umbrella's were for good people with good intentions who will use and return them. Or it could be that the owner left it there for a rainy day. In anycase, if you don't want to loose any of your belongings, leave them in Japan. I think there's a good chance you'll find them at the Lost and Found.

All this reminds, me of my own experience about lost and found. I was maybe 7-8 years old then. Walking back home, minding my own business when I saw a guy had accidentally dropped a MYR50 note on the floor. Without hesitating, I took the money and handed it back to him. There was a witness nearby. An old lady selling bean curd. She related the story to my mom and she keeps reminding me of this up to today.

And yes, the last time I checked, the bike was still there, minus the keys. Only in Japan I suppose.

Cortisol and Stress

I talked about my stress induced sickness sometime ago. And recently I just read about how stress can change ones brain literally. It seems that stressed-up people are not normal. OK, we all knew for a fact how our stressed-up spouse should not be called upon to sharpen that blunt kitchen knife. Or iron our favorite shirt. But how abnormal can stressed-up people be?

An article from Time magazine talks about stress and how it affects our body. It seems that stress causes a certain chemical (cortisol) imbalance in the bloodstream. And the higher the stress level, the higher is the amount of cortisol found in the blood. Our brain is equipped to handle a reasonable amount of stress. When the hippocampus part of the brain senses excessive cortisol level flooding into the cerebrum, it sends out signals to shut down that cortisol cascade. In other words, its our feedback control system to reduce stress. However, beyond a certain threshold level, damage-control should be the next course of action. Try a long-vacation, or a guilt-free trip to the masseur. One thing is for sure, constantly elevated cortisol levels can only mean one thing, bad mojo. Health related illnesses like accelerated aging (read: wrinkles), unresponsiveness, and withdrawal syndromes. So try to keep that stress level low. For me, some quick aerobic exercise like jogging helps.

Pornography

I always wonder about the social impact of censure and control of pornographic materials on the general public. In Japan pornographic materials are within easy reach, as even local convenience stores carry hordes of softporn manga and magazines. When I tell my friends here in Japan about how closed the society is in Malaysia and Singapore, I often get raised eyebrows from them. Pornography is outlawed in those countries. Anyone caught in possession of pornographic materials there can be fined. But the internet is changing all that. The once exclusive distribution channels for porn has been evolving so much so that anyone with a hand phone may be deluged with indecent and suggestive materials almost daily. And if you have an internet connection and an innate adventurous spirit of the unknown, you too will soon discover the world of porn. Just be careful of trojan horses, malware and spamwares. If unsure, always use your friends computer to surf for porn.

I don't want to go into issues regarding pornography and sexual related crimes here, but from casual observation it seems that there maybe an inverse relationship between the two. I am sure more thorough investigations may come up with actual numbers. But, let's digress and talk about some thing I find really funny. In Malaysia recent news about social politicing have again reach the lime light. There are suggestions by religious leaders that 'Mat Skodengs' and 'chastity belts' be enforced to lower sexual crime. How backward in thinking can these people be. This must be the epitome of moral policing being taken to the hilarious levels it sounds like some kind of mental-illness. Are you going to tell an adult how to behave? And for how long can one keep this up? Although I think that sexual crime and abuse is nothing to laugh about, there must be a better way to deal with erosion of morality and sexual criminals. What do you think?

I may be wrong, but why is it that the religious leaders are the ones most vocal on subject of this nature. Could it be that they are the ones needing the most help, and not the other way around. Or maybe they have figured out what pornography producers knew all along. Sex sells!

Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)

I just got word that I passed my JLPT Lvl1. Now that's cheerful news. Both me and my study companion, my wife, have been struggling with the preparation for this test for the past year. Actually I only started 3 months before the test. But it was pretty intense mind you. The test as well as the preparation. Early mornings, hectic lunches, busy weekends. Phew! That was some ride. I'm glad that's over.

Now, back to my original objective. Must get rid of my stupid Kanji-phobia. I have this phobia ever since I started learning Japanese. I really would like to be able to read a Japanese book or newspaper without sweating it out with the dictionary. Maybe I should start with manga. But for now if you'll excuse me. It's time to open that expensive champagne and party!

My proud certificate. BTW, passing mark is 280

Melbourne

I am on a one week trip to Melbourne courtesy of NICTA. My first impression of Australia is the wide and expansive landscape. From the airplane, you can really see up to the horizon and to the clouds where flat land and sky meets.

Melbourne city itself is a very pleasant city. There are so many foreigners here that I am sure a that a local might find himself being the foreigner (a joke that a friend shared with me when he was told by a local Californian how he felt about LA).

After being used to the clockwork transportation system in Japan I was a little bewildered when I reached Brisbane international airport. Being a bumbling idiot like I am, I almost miss my connection flight. I was really glad when I found my seat on the domestic plane to Melbourne. I wanted to tell how all that running was the best exercise that I ever got in a year but the guy sitting next to me promptly changed seat when the seatbelt sign was turned out. Go figure. I mean, I was huffing and puffing and that might put some people off, I thought he just went to the toilet but he never came back. That wasn't the best of it. It seemed that my luggage was stuck in Brisbane when I arrived in Melbourne. I had to make 4 calls to get my bag back and it was 1 day late. Not bad huh for my second trip to Australia. I had an exciting day in Melbourne yesterday evening. I locked myself out of my apartment and the key was left in the office which I had no access to. Talk about being a perpetual bumbling idiot. You know that was not the only airport drama that I had while traveling. Did I tell you about the time I forgot about my poster while on the way to my New York flight at Narita airport last September. Which reminds me, I should document that trip on this blog soon.

Anyway, back to Melbourne. There's a lot of things to like about this city. The buildings, the attractions, and most of all the food. I had no idea I would be having claypot chicken rice with Chinese ginseng soup for dinner. It was after dinner that I found out that I was near Chinatown. The tram ride was cool. Just like the tram ride in Frankfurt. These electric trains share the road with cars and they run in the middle of it. What more can I say about this city. It's pretty clean. No, not squeaky clean like Singapore but fairly clean. There are giant vacuum cleaners on the walkway in the city that keep it that way. And I am lucky to be experiencing mild weather during this summer period in Melbourne. I heard it can get a scorching 40degC sometimes here. Boy am I glad that's not happening right now.

OK enough talk. Here are some shots of the city and the university. I wonder if I will have time to see more of it before I head back to Nara this Saturday.

somewhere from Brisbane to Melbourne taken from the airplane

Visitor Center at Federation Square

St. Paul's Cathedral (opposite Flinders St. Station)

Outside the Claypot King restaurant at the end of Chinatown along Swanston St.

Old Quad Upper Theater in the University of Melbourne (looking from the South lawn)

Life is like a used towel

Do you ever get the tired feeling that, you are so wrung-up that you don't have anymore to give. Do you ever feel like a used towel? Well sometimes I do. Which lead me to think that a person can be just like a towel. I just came out with this interesting analogy and decided to pursue it further.

Now, let's assume that a person IS a towel. Just like there are an infinite variety of people and their characters, there will be many types of towel too. Here's my version of it

Novice: like a new towel - can't absorb much.

What goes out is exactly what what comes in. There are many juveniles out there that are very impressionable and can be colored by their environment. Once dyed to a certain color, you can bleach all you want after that but stains and faint color remains. So remember why youngsters are so impressionable and why it is so important to teach youngsters the right from wrong before they are stained to the color that you don't want be.

Intermediate: used towel - absorbs a lot.

What goes out is what comes in with some extra flavor and minerals. These are the matured lot. They have been stained by the colors of life. And they contain enough colors to rub on the novices should they wish to. Seeking advice from these people are good. But just like the multi-faceted people around us, there are totally soot-blacken ones that should be avoided and there are rainbow colored ones to which advice should be seek from.

Expert: water fountain - source of mineral water.

A role model for all the others. These are wise people. They have liven their lives to the fullest and now due to physical conditions, they are constraint to stay at some place. Young people should come seek advise from these people are they are a source of wisdom. Sometimes, history can teach us a lot and through history we learn not to repeat the same mistakes again.

I have been searching for my role-model for as long as I remembered. I have looked up to leaders, scientists, and practically any older people that I can find. But I have yet to find anyone who is willing to commit themselves to spend time talking to me. Maybe technology will be my saviour. I would use the immense pool of knowledge from the internet for advise. What about you, do you have a mentor?

Japanese women

The worlds' perception of Japanese women must have been further distorted with the recent premier of Hollywood's Memoirs of a Geisha. I have not seen the movie myself apart from the cinema preview, but I think the mass media simply doesn't do justice to Japanese women by putting the wrong images forward.

I present my own views of Japanese women and I realize that they are not a generalization of the entire Japan demography nor should they be treated as such.

At home

There are many virtues of Japanese women that deserve to be depicted or mentioned. Japanese people have been trained to follow a strict regime and guideline since young. Everybody has their roles. A father is the sole bread winner. The mother takes care of household chores. And that's how it has been ingrained by social pressures into the perception of most general Japanese. However, it is perhaps due to this ingrained image that every Japanese woman have that makes them ideal housewives. They are meticulous, unquestioning, and devoted. With virtually no questions asked, Japanese housewives goes about their daily chores like a carefully programmed robot. Everyone is supposed to know and follow the unspoken rules. And this probably leads to very little conversation at home. Recently, with more influx of Western ideas and thinking, a new wave of modern Japanese housewife has emerged. They demand their husbands to do their share of the housework, child rearing and other social activities. Is this a good development? Perhaps this will lead to a more solid relationship as the spouses have more in common when they perform the more activities together.

At work

Never in any other advanced countries will you see gender discrimination being so obvious as in Japan. I think Japanese men doesn't know what treasure they have living beside them. Japanese women are so taken for granted as if they were born to serve the opposite gender. Historically, this may be so, but in the modern society, people see this as unfairness and maybe even abuse of authority due to status or power. I had a brief conversation with a friend who has stayed in Melbourne for more than 10 years. And she remarked that she has not seen a single Japanese postgraduate lady student during all her travels. I agreed. Me neither. The status of Japanese girls take a sharp decline compared to their peers of the opposite gender upon graduation and when they finally start working. The future of Japanese women is to get married and take care of their home while the men are shown the way up the career ladder. Of course it doesn't make economic sense to train someone only to loose them when they tie the knot. But it's a social dilemma, employers are taking huge risks when they promote a women only to loose them when they start a family. But I don't disagree that women can't be more capable than their male counterparts. So unless science can come up with a solution and tip off the balance, as in Arnold Schwarzenegger in Junior, in the future, women may be continuously discriminated upon.

So, I think that Japanese women are extremely well educated and can be very independent if they want to. But at the end of the day, they would have to stand up for what they believe in and not submit themselves to general views.

Love hotels, a special place for love

My wife and me, we had our first love hotel (LH) experience the other day. I find it rather amusing that there is a special place where you can you know, get cosy without the kids. Do love hotels exists in Malaysia and other parts of the world. Probably do. But it will be so bland, you might think its a tailor shop or a unisex salon, Heh heh. Not in Japan will you ever find a bland love hotel. These places are about as outrageous and loud (in terms of decoration) as they can get. Imagine the costumes that samba girls wear. Now replace that girl with a hotel. Guess what, the rooms inside hold even more surprises. In order to attract customers, LH operators must be running a theme-park side business too. I mean, the attractions inside are equally outrageous sometimes. Of course, you have your usual karaoke, PS and AV. But then I heard that competition has driven up the standards in some places and you can get all sorts of toys and costumes, on demand. As these places are not exorbitantly prices, any couple looking for a nice place to stay for the night can really pamper themselves at these LHs.

During the peak summer season in 2005, there was this World Expo near Nagoya. We couldn't find any reasonable hotels and we almost wanted to book into a LH with the kids. Thank goodness we didn't. Even if we could get past the watchful eye of the hotel people with their CCTVs who probably have driven us out, there will be plenty of questioning by those impressionable kids once they get into the room. So if you wanted to go in with kids, Don't. Trust me, it ain't worth it. So what did we do? We slept in the car. All four of us. It wasn't pleasant, but I guess it was better than having to explain about the birds and the bees to a 3 year old.

Self promotion

OK, I thought I should do some self promotion today and post a little speech that I made some time in March. I made it during my graduation day. It was my graduation speech so to speak. It's not every day that you can make a speech in front of the university president, as the student representative. To be fair, I didn't write this myself. A close friend Dr. Furumiya Tetsuo helped me draft this. So most of the credit must go to him. The speech is reproduced below but is officially located here.

物質創成科学研究科修了生を代表して、ご挨拶させていただきます。

本日をもちまして、私たちは奈良先端科学技術大学院大学物質創成科学研究科博士前期課程および博士後期課程を修了します。今日の日を迎えるまでに、安田学長をはじめ、先生方、事務局の皆様方に多くのご支援を賜りましたこと、修了生一同心から御礼申し上げます。同時に、日頃お世話になった研究室の皆様、暖かく支えてくれた家族にも感謝の意を表したいと思います。

思い起こせば、私の大学院生活は人との出会いの場であったような気がします。4年前に博士後期課程に進学するためにマレーシアから来た当時は、研究に対する期待や不安より、まず「環境に馴染めるのだろうか?」という不安を感じていたことを覚えています。しかし、いざ本学に入学してみると、素晴らしい先生方や仲間たちに恵まれたお陰で、それらは杞憂に終わり、研究に打ち込むことが出来ました。本学は、留学生や異なるバックグラウンドの学生を積極的に受け入れるという、素晴らしい特色を持っています。このような環境の中で、私は多くの人々と知り合い、議論しながら研究を遂行してきました。私の母国語の諺に「Jauh perjalanan, luas pengalaman」というものがあります。これは「旅をすれば人生の糧となる」という意味です。私にとってこの経験は、何物にも代えられない貴重なものだと思います。

私たち修了生は、様々な思いを胸にそれぞれが選んだ道へと旅立ちます。その前途は決して容易なものではないでしょう。今、社会は国の垣根を越え、グローバル化が一層進んでいます。そのような中で私たちは単に国という枠にとらわれず、視野を世界全体へと拡げ、国際人としての資質を身に付け、各々の課題や責務に対して積極的に対処していかなければなりません。しかし、私たちは本学で学んだことに誇りをもち、広い視野と研究で得た知識と経験を発揮し、社会の発展に広く貢献して行きたいと思います。

最後になりましたが、本日お集まり頂いた皆様方の今後のご健康とご活躍、ならびに本学の益々のご発展をお祈り致しまして、修了生一同の感謝の言葉に代えさせて頂きます。

平成18年3月24日
物質創成科学研究科　修了生代表
David Ng Chee Keong

p.s. For the record, I forgot to finish the speech by saying my name and my department. Must remind myself to do that the next time I make a speech.

Toilets

Today, I'd like to talk about toilets. Toilets are used many times during the day. In Japan, toilets are free for use. That's not the case in Malaysia. Foreign visitors to Malaysia will be surprised to find out that they have to fork out 20 cents for entry. Once, I met with a group of Japanese students. And when asked about their experience in Malaysia, most of them agreed that it's their first time being charged to use the toilets in Malaysia. I hope they don't ever have to use toilets that are free for entry like those in gas stations, public schools etc.

Why Japanese can't seem to master English

I think it's the perfectionist character of most Japanese that is their downfall in trying to master English. Japanese can't learn English because of their culture of being a 'perfectionist'. This, coupled with the 'hazukashi' feeling when they make mistakes, make it very difficult for them to learn the language, as they keep on apologizing over every little thing. Those who mastered the language probably did away with those barriers.

Recently, I heard a distinguished speaker in the 15th anniversary celebration at NAIST say that, Japanese as with other non-native speakers, are actually communicating in 'broken' English with each other. So there should be no feeling of inadequacies when they speak the language.

I know that Malaysians with their Manglish and Singaporeans with their Singlish may be taking things a little too far. Native English speakers may have a hard time trying to understand words like 'cannot meh', 'so, so lar'. Similarly, if you study Japanese, I am sure that you will come across many borrowed words like ケーキ(cake), of テレビ(TV) etc, that may be confusing to English speakers.

But then again, I may be wrong. I see many examples of Japanese people trying really hard to master English. Let's hope that the people who make fun of them, are kind enough to correct these errors.

Mama in the papers

We are all very proud of mama. She was in the papers the other day (Asahi Shimbun, 2006.6.26).

We know it's not easy to take care of the kids (big and small), clean the house, fix a great meal, do the laundry, and work at the same time. And all these hardwork are being done in a foreign country, with little support from family. Now, if you look at it from that perspective, no wonder mothers are often referred to as superwomen. Now top that with getting published in the newspapers, now I call that a feat that should easily earn her a PhD in social interaction.

Hurray for all the mothers of the world! ママ達、万歳！