生活原来可以这么简单

生活原来可以这么简单

三个纽约女孩，在厌倦了忙碌的都市生活之后，决定给自己一点不同的人生体验。

她们放下了工作、家人还有情人，用尽所有的积蓄，要去走一趟也许一生只有一次的旅行。她们一路上用最经济，最简单的方式生活，走入最原始简朴的人间，一点一滴地为自己的青春写下了永恒的回忆。

离开繁华的纽约，她们走过世界最贫穷的地区，在最俭朴的生活里，见过最真诚的笑容，最快乐的孩子。她们在旅途中克服了重重障碍，每一天都是一个大丰收，而她们最难忘的是在印度，与数量惊人的蟑螂共处了一夜。

一年之后，她们终于来到了旅程的最后一站澳洲。准备打道回府之际，她们说，经历了这么多事情，她们终于体会到，生活原来可以这么简单。而且，克服了旅程中的重重障碍之后，再也没有什么困难可以难得倒她们了。

这是我最近在《文茜世界周报》看到的一个感人的报道。

我的朋友因为工作关系，不久前也拜访了异国一个偏僻的穷乡。她回国以后同样感慨地说，她在那生活极端贫乏的农乡里遇见了许多纯朴并且乐天知命的人。他们生活俭朴、物资贫乏，但对生活却充满着热情，脸上时常带着灿烂的笑容。跟这些人交谈后，让她深深感动的是，她们并非不知道外面世界的繁华，只是生活在穷乡的他们如同与世隔绝，外面的生活便不再对他们有吸引力了。

我的朋友感慨地说，贫穷与落后似乎成了一道天然的保护屏障。相较于他们与商业隔绝的生活，我们却每天都得面对促销广告和精致商品的团团围攻，常常不自觉地变得贪婪。家里就莫名其妙地堆积了许多用不到又丢不去的杂物，徒增烦恼。

朋友说，她从不知道生活其实温饱就足够了；生活原来真的可以如此简单。在穷乡里生活的那几天，她觉得自己的心思突然清晰起来，仿佛受到了洗礼。于是决定在走时把所有物资都留下来，只带走自己身上穿着的一套衣服。那一刻，她自认从未感到如此潇洒和轻松过。

我能体会朋友的心情，但是生活在这个商业城市里，人很难拥有绝对的洒脱。也许她能够坚持一阵子的纯朴，但是一年举行好几次，不同名目的热卖会，总有办法让人身不由己。生活本来是可以很简单的，但是要坚持简单却很不容易啊!

原文刊于8月24日《我报》

SUNSET AT THE NORTH POLE

SUNSET AT THE NORTH POLE

A scene you will probably never get to see,

so take a moment and enjoy God at work

at the North Pole.

This is the sunset at the North Pole

with the moon at its closest point.

And, you also see the sun below the moon.

An amazing photo and not one easily duplicated.

Sunset At The North Pole

Why I love Singapore...

why I love Singapore....

In Singapore, living in Highly Dangerous Buildings (HDB), most people? have already got used to Paying and Paying (PAP).

Not only do you pay, you Pay Until Bankrupt (PUB). If that's not enough, somebody still Purposely Wants to Dig (PWD) more from you.

So what more can you do when you are in the Money Only Environment (MOE)?With the current Mad Accounting System (MAS), you are forced to Pay the Sum Ahead (PSA), which left some people Permanently Owe Some Banks (POSB) and live on Loan Techniques Always (LTA) system.

When you are sick, you might be able to use your Cash Prior to Funeral (CPF) fund, if you happen to be admitted to the Money Operating Hospital (MOH) one time. If you are out of luck you may meet doctors who Never Use Heart (NUH) to treat you and you will be Sure to Give up Hope (SGH).

To help ease the traffic, motorist have to pay Cash On Expressway (COE). If that doesn't help, they can always Eternally Raise Prices (ERP) on the roads until new expressway known as (DIE). If you don't own a car, you can always make a Mad Rush to Train (MRT) or get squashed in a bus, Side By Side (SBS).

Lastly, under all these pressure, there are not many places we can relax, not even the good old place we used to go because it has become So Expensive and Nothing To See Actually (SENTOSA)!!!

朋友寄来的电邮很有创意，收录在此只为了博君一笑，别无他意。因为，我是真的很爱新加坡.....

True Story

True Story

This is a true story of something that happened just a few years ago at USC.

There was a professor of philosophy there who was a deeply committed atheist. His primary goal for one required class was to spend the entire semester to prove that God couldn't exist. His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his impeccable logic. Sure, some had argued in class at times, but no one had ever really gone against him because of his reputation.

At the end of every semester on the last day, he would say to his class of 300 students, "If there is anyone here who still believes in Jesus, stand up!"

In twenty years, no one had ever stood up. They knew what he was going to do next. He would say, "Because anyone who believes in God is a fool! If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking Such a simple task to prove that He is God, and yet He can't do it."

And every year, he would drop the chalk onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into a hundred pieces. All of the students would do nothing but stop and stare. Most of the students thought that God couldn't exist. Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped through, but! For 20 years, they ! had been too afraid to stand up.

Well, a few years ago there was a freshman who happened to enroll. He was a Christian, and had heard the stories about his professor. He was required to take the class for his major, and he was afraid. But for three months that semester, he prayed every morning that he would have the courage to stand up no matter what the professor said, or what the class thought. Nothing they said could ever shatter his faith...he hoped.

Finally, the day came! The professor said, "If there is anyone here who still believes in God, stand up!" The professor and the class of 300 people looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at the back of the classroom. The professor shouted, "You FOOL!!! If God existed, he would keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!"

He proceeded to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleat of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe. As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away unbroken. The professor's jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk. He looked up at the young man, and then ran out of the lecture hall. The young man who had stood, proceeded to walk to the front of the room and shared his faith in Jesus for the next half hour.

300 students stayed and listened as he told of God's love for them and of His power through Jesus.

不信神的人，总试图用似是而非的判断去证明神的不存在。其实，神的存在，无法用人的智慧去判断，只有相信的人，才会知道神是无所不在，无所不能的。

不是谁高谁低的问题

不是谁高谁低的问题

什么是“教养”？前些天在一个评论节目里，有位出席者给了一个不错的注解。她说：教养是人内心的一个行为标准，是知不可为而不为。意思是每个人的内心都有一个道德与行为的标准，一个人的教养，是发自内心而行之于外的。

当然，教养不是与生俱来的。师长的教诲、社会的共同价值观、传统与道德都能够建构一个人的本质。所以人要受教才能有教养。

不久前我在一篇文章里提到，有个朋友爱狗胜于爱人，明知狗儿具有攻击性，却不肯在客人到访时把狗儿拴起来，让我这个怕狗的客人担惊受怕。其实我那篇文章是想说，有些我们认为绝对的坚持，可能只是个人思考的盲点。稿子发表后，有位爱狗的年轻读者跑到我的新浪部落格去把我教训了一顿。

她洋洋洒洒一大篇，大意是说我只站在自己的立场看事情，没有站在朋友的立场想；对于爱狗人来说，狗儿如同家人。她还说没人会因有怕小孩的客人到访而把自己的小孩关起来。叫我不要因为人会装扮和立着走路，就把人看得比狗还高。她理直气壮，但道理似是而非。

我的确不爱动物因为我无法与它们沟通。我虽不爱动物，却尊重它们的生存权。我反对虐待动物，认同饲主对宠物应有疼爱与照顾的责任，不能弃养宠物。但我认为尊重生命不表示本末倒置地纵容它们。

我认为，爱和尊重是两回事，人和狗也是两回事，这实在不是谁高谁低的问题。当然，小孩不是狗，而即便我非常疼爱孩子，也会教育他明辨是非，也会让他知道自由不是绝对的，是在有所约束的前提下才能够成立的。

很可惜，现在很多家长把爱和尊重、自由和放任混为一谈。因为爱孩子、尊重孩子，而忘了在爱和尊重里应该包括教育给下一代正确的价值观。因为尊重孩子，而忘了教导孩子约束自己也是一种责任和对别人的尊重。很多人爱孩子，却忘了教导孩子尊重也是一种爱。

记得读过旅美作家刘庸的一篇文章，写他因为没有修剪花园里的杂草而被邻居投诉；理由是他家杂草丛生的花园有碍观瞻，影响了居住社区的容貌。我在好多年前读这篇文章时，对于美国式的民主作风是啼笑皆非的。但现在想来，这不也是自由与约束的最佳写照吗？再想想我国近日频创新高的骨痛病例，我们是否真的该反省一下了。

原文刊于8月10日《我报》

不是一毛钱的问题

不是一毛钱的问题

我以为环保的课题，不论是国际之间或者新加坡政府，都已经作了许多传达讯息的努力。但是日前，对于职总合作社给自备购物袋消费者一毛钱回扣的善意，居然还有人以“没有吸引力”来评价。

很多年前，环保概念没有现在普及，环保运动也没有那么急迫，我到欧洲旅游时就已发现当地超市大多不供应塑料袋了，居民也养成了自备购物袋购物的习惯。由于我只是个游客，来去匆匆，自然也没有多了解，更不清楚，当收银员不情不愿地拿出质地超薄的塑料袋让我们把物品带走时，有没有多收费。

前两年我到中国昆明，在游人熙熙攘攘的景点和古城购物街，发现商贩用的大部分是再循环纸袋。还有去年在成都小食街，那里的美食大部分是盛在纸盒里贩卖的。

因此，对于样样争取第一的新加坡人，我实在不明白为什么有人对这项正在如火如荼展开的全球环保运动毫无认识。职总的善意是可以理解的，因为娇惯的新加坡人，真的没有自备购物袋上街的习惯。

好几回我也是走到商场门前，才猛然想起自己没有准备购物袋，因而觉得羞愧非常。对于职总合作社用一毛钱作为善意的提醒，我是心存感激的。部分民众“嫌一毛钱太少”，实在令人感到非常泄气。

其实，说到环保，我的婆婆真的是个最好的典范。她虽然不知道环保是什么，也不晓得绿色地球的概念，但我觉得她的生活习惯就是最好的环保模范。

和许多老人家一样，婆婆收藏了许多玻璃罐子。她总说这些罐子的密封功能极好，所以偶尔会买几公斤的江鱼仔，处理干净以后配着花生炒香，再分罐装好，给孙子们带回家当零嘴。过年时，这些玻璃罐子就会列队在客厅的桌子上，里头装满了各式各样的传统小吃，谁回家都会去摸一两样来嚼一嚼。

家里的垃圾桶踏板坏了，失去了控制盖子打开的功能。婆婆找来一片图画本垫后的硬纸板，照着尺寸剪下一小卡片，往脚踏板原来的位置一塞，居然也可以用上好些年；奶粉罐里那层铝封，也能为一个坏了把手的铝锅盖子贡献力量，成了它的新盖把；蛋糕垫底的厚纸垫洗干净以后，总在热锅热盘底下继续效力。还有，婆婆不吃虾头，认为它不健康，买虾回家一定先把虾头摘下，然后用石锤把它捣碎，埋在后院的木瓜树下。那些木瓜长得肥肥大大，成了多少个周末，儿孙们的饭后水果。

婆婆没有环保知识，她有的只是节俭不浪费的生活意识。相比之下，我们似乎徒有环保知识，却没有环保的生活意识。不管再举行多少次环球性的环保演唱会，再卖多少个叫做“ I am not a plastic bag”的名牌购物袋，都无助于提升人们的环保意识。

环保，真的不是一毛钱的问题。

原文刊于8月1日《我报》