Cocktail For Overseas Chinese

The Office of Tibet, Washington D.C hosts a cocktail party for overseas Chinese. It was intended for Chinese outreaching efforts. The guests invited are predominantly Chinese intellectuals, activists and writers and journalists. Other distinguished guests include representatives of various campaign organizations and human rights activists of capitol hill. It was a  night of empowering speeches, entertainment, networking and revelry.

Kydor Auktsang in his welcome speeches stressed the office's outreach effort with the Chinese dissidents and this gala evening is the first step of much more in the offing. He outlines the nature and critical issues of Tibetan struggle, by stressing on the common ground of the Tibetan people and Chinese.  The evening is intended to bring together like-minded people and to deepen the rapport and good will amongst Tibet supporters, and it serves that purposefully.

With the departure of  Chinese liaison officer, the Office of Tibet is left with a vacuum. The Chinese outreach initiative suffered owing to this significant figure as a go-go person in strengthening and expanding people to people contact with the overseas Chinese. To a predominantly Chinese guests, the best way to communicate with them might be their mother tongue Chinese. Kydor la's  well-meaning speech on the significance of middle path and the policy of CTA is all delivered in English. Thus, the impact of it might not be felt as strongly as it would have for the Chinese only speaking if parleyed in Chinese.

Present at the meeting is another prominent Chinese dissident, Wenjing Chen, the father of Chinese democracy or Nelson Medal of China. His speech delivered in Chinese and translated into English consecutively was very critical and provocative. He stresses the importance of having a plurality of thinking and views and political ideology in exile Tibetan democracy. Such a well-represented democracy that is tolerant of other views will be a tremendous example for the Chinese democracy activists.  I believe he is among those few Chinese who indeed support Tibetan people's right to self-determination and freedom. He bashed against those who emphasizes on conformity and uniformity of approach and thinking.  The speech has a strong element of dissatisfaction at the state of affairs in regarding the Chinese and Tibetan.  Mr. Wen blasted Chinese President Xi saying that under his leadership, the rights of Chinese and Tibetan people have gone down the hill.   He busted the myth of Chinese President Xi's leniency and progressiveness and bold reform initiatives.  He made it a point that there is not telling sign of such a change shortly.  


It is a fun-filled event, with all the representatives of Tibetan communities and NGOs, and such exchange of Tibetan and Chinese should be organized more frequently.


 

Good People

 The Righteous Mind:
 Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt.

Over All Impression.

This is one book that I have read and find difficulty in understanding the themes thoroughly. When I sit down to reflect and write on my interpretation of the book's crust of the matter, all I have is a muddled up and vogue thoughts on the central points of the book. Nothing coherent and concrete to help me to clearly articulate any useful points. So be warned that what  you read here will coupound that confusion;

Anyway it seems the author is pointing out how our mind is made up. What determinates the righteous mind from the perspective of a moral psychology, and thus dwelling further by taking us on a tour of human nature and human history.  The author unequivocally stresses that moral psychology is the key to understanding politics and religion. Why people are divided by these ideas.

I feel this book would be a good supplementary teaching aid for psychology class.  As for me it takes a while to completely dissect and digest the points made /raised in the book. It requires careful reading and reflection to fully absorb the theories and principles of understanding human psychology for an average reader like me. Except that I can not unlock the intricacy of the new knowledge and research presented, the book is indeed a treasured repository of knowledge and understanding of moral psychology, but too mysterious and metaphysical and far fetched to my mind.

 The one thing that brings some clarity of thoughts is in the following analogy:

The righteous mind is like a tongue with six taste receptors:
"morality is like cuisine, it is a cultural construction, influenced by accidents of environment and history, but its not so flexible that anything goes. You cant have a cuisine based on tree bark, nor can you have one based primarily on bitter tastes.  Cuisines vary, but they all must please tongues equipped with the same five taste receptors. Moral matrices vary, but they all must please righteous minds equipped with the same six social receptors" (p. 114).

The six moral foundations based on which we cling to our idealogy are : Care/Harm, Fairness/cheating, Loyality/betrayal, Authority/subversion, Sanctity/degradation.

But  again these theories may not be the absolute truth and have different application.
"In  Physchology, theories are cheap. Anyone can invent one. Progress happens when theories are tested, supported and corrected by empirical evidence, especially when a theory proves to be useful- for example,if it helps people to understand  why half of the people in their country seem to live in a different moral universe...(p.127)

The Flame of discourse burning

 "There are thus at least three Tibets-one recognized by China as the administrative area ruled by the Dalai Lamas until 1950 and limited to the western and central parts of the plateau, another referring to the common cultural and historic heritage found throughout the plateau,[ethnographic Tibet] a third implying a single political entity covering all the Tibetan areas"(p.18)-    

                                                                a quote from  Robert Barnett’s master piece introduction 

 On the wake of Virgina declaring a state of emergency ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Joaquin, the streets have been awashed with the ceaseless rainfall for the entire day. As a gloomy evening descended upon us, it is all wet and windy.  But several of D.C Tibetan book club members braved the ferocity of the weather and converged at the house of the host for Friday’s book discussion. It was a sheer determination to keep the flame of book discussion burning, come rain or shine. 

Nestled in the cozy and comfort of the host's immaculate house, four of them eagerly awaited to engage in a discourse on reading, “My Tibetan Childhood" by Natsang Lulu. The moderator Jigme la opened the discourse by skillfully summarizing the gist of the story.

In summing up, the memoir has several broad sections: Featuring the nomadic life prior to Chinese arrival in Eastern Tibet, the arrival of the Chinese soldiers on the scene, the struggle of survival, and failed second flight to Lhasa, followed with imprisonment and finally the release and rehabilitation of Natsang. Ones the moderator, opened floor, it was like opening the gate of a flood water. Nonstop, the discussants weighed on the various talking points, which the moderator mooted for further discussion and analysis.

 To give you a little background, Natsang Lulu,The author's birth place is Madey Chugama, in  Machu county,  Ganan prefecture. He was being captured and imprisoned in Chumarleb [in Yushul county, Qinghai province] in 1958 along with his brother and father, who managed to cover on horseback in their desperate forty-eight -day flight from  Chugama (p.20). The narrative is the unvarnished evidence of a young- child-what he saw, what he heard, and what he thought. (p.59).  On the following,  you get a taste of some of the major issues we discussed in relating to the book. 

 General Impression:

 The readers have felt that given the popularity of the book, it must be interesting and worthwhile for reading. Consequently there are many important takeaways from it.  The book has shed light upon the carefree life of a child in the vast pasture land of the Tibetan plateau with its up and downs. But the depiction of the life and the society of the old Tibetan were not as rosy as some readers expected. Such as one particular scene where a monk peeing on someone's head and the father of the author, was flogged with hundreds of lashes for showing disrespect and on the flimsy excuse of carrying weapon in the vicinity of the monastery by the head disciplinary of the monastery. These took place in 1950s at eastern Tibet. “The Golok area that time saw little penetration by outside forces, Tibetan or Chinese, apart from occasional military raids, until the PLA finally established its authority there in 1950s "(p.19). The author's experience in his first visit to Lhasa was no better, "The government's executioners know all kinds of tortures: burning, skinning alive, and beheading. There are more punishments than the world knows."  Lhasa was a place of both joy and sorrow.  " Here joy is intense and sadness deep. The strong are too strong and can do whatever they want. The weak are too weak and have no protection. The rich are too rich, and their butter and meat are rot uneaten. The poor are too poor and eat plants beside the road...it  is our karma".(p.183)

 The Ruling Class:

 The monastery and chiefdom is the ruling class. When discussing about the particular incident of monk's cruelty, some thought provoking exchange occurred. Readers pointed out on the strength and weakness of Tibet's theocratic rule. That political system in the past has provided room for abuses. It is also come up that the Tibetan society never had a overhaul of its governing system.  Such a lack of true reform has stunted the Tibetan people's intellectual and political awareness. As all the western society has been revolutionized and started a new, Tibet society lacked that sophisticated transformation, despite numerous efforts including by the 13th Dalai Lama. However a real revolution is unfolding in exile initiated by the His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama's voluntary devolvement of the political authority to a elected political leader.

But questions raised again that in the absence of the Dalai Lama, can there be an united front movement for all Tibetans inside and out. 

Scar literature:

The reader also has mixed reaction to the content of the book. The book has merits and also seemingly downfall in its narrative style.  In terms of the literary value of the book, it doesn’t have the intellectual prowess of a robust literary work. Narration at some points drag on and rambling nonsensically and overall fail to sustain readers’ interest. But the work fits in what is known as scar literature. The English version of the My Tibetan Childhood is a bridged from its original Tibetan language publication. So the translation might have lost some of its nuance and precision of meanings that is why the reader find some part of the book pretty dry and dull. But Robin Bernette’s long introduction have strategically put the story into context and it added much value as well as the His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s forward buttresses its credibility and significance. 

The Nomadic Life:

 One reader eagerly shared how he was mesmerized the by sights and sought of the nomadic life and the contour of depiction of a Tibetan life prior to the Chinese arrival. it drives home a point that the nomadic life was sustainable and successful in its own term. A considerable time is spent on the Tibetan's nomad in the context of the current China's policy of resettlement. The readers agreed that Tibetan nomad need to adapt to the modern life of way, by educating their children and improving their life style and hygiene, while maintaining their profession of nomadism. The Chinese forced resettlement policy over the excuse of the overgrazing is not a valid argument. This policy has been counterproductive, by uprooting the nomadic life and decimating their very source of livelihood that is the livestock and herds. It is also opined that this forced nomadic resettlement is a political strategy aimed for easy controlling of the Tibetan nomad, who is known to be “ferociously independent nomads, ruled by local chieftains and often associated with banditry and violence"(p19).

Unlike in the past, the Tibetan nomad today has to bear the brunt of Chinese modernization, by integrating and assimilating with the town people, where they have little nor skills for survival, such as Chinese language competency.

Destruction and Denial:

The suffering the author has under gone through is a reflection and reminiscence of all the suffering of Tibetan under Chinese colonial rule. Both Tibetan male and female are imprisoned "there are 2300 male prisoners and 1600 females"(p.304).The starvation of the kids is heart wrenching, where the author has saved many by killing pikas to feed them.  In the prison, the author shared little piece of his dough Tsampa ball, which the elderly Tibetan touched on their mouths, forehead and sniffed, to stay alive with a smell to fill their stomach. “it makes you feel wonderful when you smell it, even if you dont eat it. That feeling is enough (p.282)

Even though, the majority of the story is attributed to life in 1950s, but certain Chinese solider forced monastery monks, in dismantling statues and other destruction and denial are no different from what was unleashed during the Cultural Revolution madness in 1966-1976. The author is nonjudgmental in his narration of the personal memoir. The true depiction of the audacity of the Chinese solider and their merciless attitude toward Tibetan people's religious sentiments is a powerful reminder of Chinese atrocity in Tibet. The stories we hear here is comparable to that of human suffering in Nazi’s concentration camp.

Record and Recovering:

 As the author stated in the beginning that he wishes to leave a legacy for the future generation to recollect what has happened. This book has indeed fulfilled that goal and beyond. “Writing these stories in the form of a book has its disadvantages, but if they are not persevered in print, no one in the future will know what happened.  if they want the next generation to know what happened in the their lifetime, the previous generation must write down and hand it on to the next one”.(p.59)

 Finally, on this soggy evening, we are really fired up, by the content and hospitality of the host. the passion of the readers have kept us warm with lots learning and  Ah ha moment. But what we were able to present here is a just the tip of an iceberg. For greater appreciation of the work, the readers have to imagine or read for themselves.  As the discussion is wrapped, with a delicious meal on the table, we clinked  late into night defying the Virgina’s state of emergency.

 

Back To School Night

My wife elected me to attend the Back to School Night at our daughter Kunsal's elementary school.  She is just entering Grade I, and it is impressive as how much is taking place in terms of her learning and the people involved in it.

All parents have come to hear and see what their kids have been doing.  At the beginning of the 30 minutes session, the Principal of the school gave a speech on the school budget and urging parents to speak out to state representatives for full funding of the school.  She gave an overview of how the school is operating financially, a breakdown on the funding allocation and so on.

The gist of the presentation urges parents to take active role in helping the school to run smoothly through every possible help.  The school has grown exponentially in enrollment, and the funding has not increased proportionately. The contrast and comparison drawn between different public school and FCPS, where FCPS is lacking behind in teacher's salary competitiveness, and the school renovation.  So hearing all those details of the school, make us feel, that the school really needs some big funding and renovation.  As the school building structures are running well hehind the projected renovation time.

Aids Epidimic in Tibetan Region

"A love, pure love will never return void"

In this movie that I was watching while doing cycling at the gym, several couple stands up on a makeshift stage at a beach-side to share why they were married. All the couples tied the knot for over a decade, and they all go through life's many ups and downs.

 Particularly some of them are facing insurmountable obstacles, and that their relationship has reached the verge of collapse.  Amongst those couples who stand-ups to share their stories, everyone's story was very touching and moving that, make goose bump on them. The last couple who stand up to share the stories was an elderly couple, who have reached their life's final stage.  Even that old pair had a relationship that was marred with intrigue and romance and fiasco.
The old man's message to the rest of couple attending there was this " love, pure love will never return void".

I hope this wisdom will apply to another romantic love story that I have seen unfold in front of my eye.

A girl and boy developed a  friendship for over a year. Each one is treating the other in a special way. They both feel there is room for them in each other's heart.  However, this particular friendship never went beyond their normal friendly relations. After many nights of date and intimate conversations, both of them have not honestly articulated in what direction that their friendship should move.


The girl finds it weird that even after year's of intimate conversation and care for each other, the boy has not still indicated any clear sign of their future.  Except fostering a kind of usual friendship through the expression of concern, such as constant call and text in inquiring the girl's well-being, the boy has not made any advance to the girl. Even when he took her to his apartment, he slept on the sofa and her on his bed.

The girl finally determined to bring up the conservation with him in their relationship at a follow-up date. After a long night dinner date, they still could not touch on the subject matter, and again parted their ways after the boy took her to where she stays at friend's house. He returned to his apartment. 

The next day, at the insistence of the girl, they finally managed to have a conversation. Where the girl, expressed her desire for living together as a couple, or long for the boy and girl relationship. At that point, the boy told her, he never wish to get married in this life.  If he wants to, then he sees in her all the qualities of an exceptional woman.

This revelation devastated the girl, beyond belief. She cried and felt the world is upside down. The boy, wish to maintain a healthy friendship with her, as his best friend, no more and no less than that.

The poor girl's genuine love for the boy was not reciprocated. After that eventful night. The boy still tries to keep in touch with her, and at her threat of cutting off all communication, he earnestly requested against doing that.

This is a freaky weird love story, and I don't know if the wisdom that "love, a pure love will never return void" still valid in this case.  Will the boy ever come to his sense and reciprocate the girl's love eventually?

Best Gift

The 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who issue the Emancipation Proclamation abolishing slavery once said, "My Best Friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read". Of all the gifts that I have received from friends and relatives this year, I treasure the gift that I received yesterday the most. It is a Chinese book with easy to follow stories. My desire to read Chinese and study the language has rekindled with this valuable gift. 
 

Chinese reader for 5th grade

The book is actually designed for young Chinese national staying overseas and fitting for a fifth grade level. I feel this level is perfect for me. It is not too hard, and nor too easy. Even without assistance at hand, I can still move along the stories and chapters with good comprehension. Many of the words, expressions and sentence are refreshing my past memory of studying Chinese.  The fact is I have studied Chinese up to middle school. Even though it was not the subject I have excelled, still my standard of the language is in par with mediocre Tibetan students or even little better. But after leaving Tibet in early 1990s, I hardly have a chance to brush up my Chinese language skill. My schooling in Tibetan refugee camp and later in college  in India deprived me the opportunity of pursuing Chinese studies.  Consequently what little I know have been faded away and lay dormant owing to lack of its usage.  As the saying goes, use it or lose it. So my competence in Chinese language has not only deteriorated, it has reached to verge of extinction or total self annihilation. 

Thanks to my work at RFA, my interest, as well as the language demand coupled with plenty of exposure to Chinese culture, has reignited my yearning to improve the language and an opportunity arrived to revive it. 

As  I have firmly established the worthiness of studying this language in the U.S. then I have not given it up.  Despite of tremendous challenges and time constraint and resources availability, I have slowly and steadily aimed to improve the language through all possible means in my daily life. 

The social network sites, and all the language apps, including Chinese dictionary is a added advantage for a language learner ardent like me.    So far I have been trying to have a routine study of the language. But my enthusiasm and passion did not march with the existing learning environment and resources availability.  My progress was slow and the frequency of the effort and time spent on the study was not consistent and regular.  Therefore, my language skill in Chinese mandarin remains stagnant and not to my satisfaction. 

Fortunately, this book a friend  brought me is the perfect launching pad for me to study the language on a systematic and consistent way.  At a summer reading class program for my daughter Kunsal, the teacher emphasized  on the importance of choosing books that fits with the kid's level of understanding and ability. I totally agree with that insights on effective reading and learning. So this book that my friend gifted fits me  like a glove . I immediately fell in love with it and after reading several chapters and doing all exercises, I couldn’t believe what I will be able to achieve with so much excitement and love for it. 
 . 

This book opens the gateway for my successful communication and comprehension of ancient language and language that is rich and beautiful and spoke by one fourth of the world population. 

 I wholeheartedly appreciate the thoughtfulness of my friend for picking such a treasure, and particularly the sincere motivation to help with my mandarin studies, which  has deeply moved me. 

The simple reason for my interest in Chinese language is that I have a good foundation, that the language is in demand and it makes me more marketable in the world of work, and that  knowing the language is the best way to know the culture and mind set of the Chinese people. Besides it is the language by which a true Tibetan Chinese dialogue would be possible.

With this auspicious gift of wonderfully illustrated reader friendly Chinese text book of my level, I am committing and pledging to study hard, without any excuses. This is a god given opportunity to reinvigorating my studies of Chinese language with a strong conviction that I can do it. After all, the best way to repay my best friend who gift me this book that I have never come across  is to maximize its uses to further improve my proficiency in the language.