No pain, No gain or lots of Pain with no gain?

We all used to have a lot of sympathy for Jewish people, given what they had suffered during the second world war, which nearly put the whole race under extinction. And we all have a lot of respect for them too, given the fact they are very talented and hard working people who have contributed tremendously to the world. And personally, I think they share a lot of similarities with Chinese. And we at somepoint all braced the idea of giving them a home - establishing a Jewish state.

And it is absolutely right for Israel to defend their country and its people from terrorist attacks. However, self defence should have guidelines which says they should seek best possible ways to avoid casualities of civillians and help the affected in whatever way they can.

Lebanon didn't support the hizbollahs and they didn't choose to be the base for the hizbollah guerrillas. And yet, the people in southern lebaonon are forced to leave their homes and their businesses which they have relied on for a living and go on to seek refugee somewhere. "We have given you ample time to leave, and you stay then you will be treated like terrorists.". That is the voice from the people whose grandparents had been forced to the concentration camps. But why I should flee my own country and end up in a refugge camp (if I am lucky) or end up on street begging for a living? My home is the only thing I have and there is no possibility for me to make a living elsewhere.

Well, tough life, if you don't want to be killed in the air raid, you better leave, cause whe we drop bombs even UN observers might be killed. So no one is safe to stay there.

Theoratically, whoever starts the war and make the damage should be responsible for reconstruction and providing aids as well. You can't just throw people out of their own homes and don't care about their well beings. All lives require same respect.

Unfortunately we can't count on the Israelis because they are too busy defending their own state. So here comes the UN, the organization set up after the second world war to safeguard peace in post war era. Although as a weak, bureaucratic and probably corrupt organization who have failed to do anything to prevent war or promote the diplomatic corridor for peace, the only task he can take on is providing aids. Pathetic!

I am still puzzled by what is going on there. So it seems self defence is a justified cause even it means flattening out half of a sovereign country. If we follow this logic, then whenever there is a conflict, we don't go out and seek help from internaltional community we just go in and do our own job and let the UN and international community clean up the mess and take care of post war reconstruction. Because we don't believe negotiation and diplomatic means could lead to ceasefire and avoid humantarinian disaster.

I am worried, if this simple logic applies, then we can abandon police force in every country and just let the victims or their relatives try to catch the criminals by themselves, even that could mean a lot of irrational act and unneccessary damage to other people's lives.

Something has gone very wrong here.

And do I believe this single minded military act will root out Hizbollah completely? No, I don't. On the contrary, I worry this will provoke more hatred and violence in the middle east. This might be a war with not much gain. And it certainly doesn't help Israel's image in the Islamic world.

Roman Holiday

It is a city embraced by the history, a place where you stand in the ancient ruins and fascinated by the past glory. Yet the modern Romans have a life style that I admittedly envy. I was certainly overwhelmed, after walking for two hours in the 36 degree heat, and all of sudden, in the middle of the busy road, I saw this giant amphitheatre there. The sheer scale catches your eyes, but it is the complexity of the building and the thoughts what had happened here make you really wonder. The fearless (or rather frightened) gladiators, the fearful and agitated animals were set on the stage and the privileged crowd were sitting there and being entertained by the fight between the live and death. That would have been such a visually disturbing scene. The forum, with arches, temples and monuments built in a square stretching for a mile, and sadly it is only ruins. When I was there, it was sunset and I was truly amazed by what I saw. The ancient ruins, painted by the warm glow of sunlight, looked stunningly beautiful and surreal. For a moment, I was deeply indulged.

That was definitely the highlights of my day two in Rome, but I was also very delighted by the riverside Trastevere too. It is a fashionable residential area, a lovely blend of old buildings, small squares, local shops, restaurants and cafes. Having stuffed myself with lots of gelato, pasta, cheap but fine house wine, I took a stroll in the neighbourhood, all restaurants and bars were busy, people sat outside enjoying the summer evening blessed by nice cool breeze. And then in a little square, where they had set up some books stalls and a small stage, there was a guy playing electronic guitar. Very nice acoustics, I thought, and noticed there were a big screen set up on the stage and it read “La Notte di Q”. I wonder if it is a movie or a musical… Very vaguely I remember Notte means night in Italian, so it would be “The night of Q”. I was quite intrigued and tempted to stay and watch but then it was late in the evening and I was exhausted from the 8 mile walk during the day.

I found Spanish steps a bit disappointing and trevi fountain too crowded. Although I do love the fountains they have all round in Rome, such a nice treat when you splash some cold water on your face during a hot summer day in Rome. The Sistine Chapel inside Vatican museum is a real gem but moderated by other treasures in the museum. I just love Michelangelo and his devotion to the ceiling paintings. In some way, I always think artists (painters, musicians alike) live in a wonderful world that none of us boring corporate people could experience. It is a never land built for the pure mind and sensitive heart.

It is 7th of July

It is 7th of July, I am on a tube to Wimbledon to see men’s semi finals. There is a two minutes silence in the office to commemorate the ones who were killed in last year’s bombing in London. Across London, there are various of memorial services to remember the death and injured.

There are some light showers during the day, as if it knows the pain the city and the nations suffered one year ago. The matched are delayed due to the rain, but when it finally starts at 3 pm, the stadium is absolutely packed. During the breaks, people walk around and have their favourite summer drink “the pimms”. It looks just like an ordinary day. I am impressed by the resilience and upbeat spirits of the people here, and indeed this is what we need for this great city that should never be let down by any terrors. This is a city that has been through a lot. It survived horrendous bombings during the second world war.

I have to admit this is just kind of the attitude that I like about the people and the nation. It is important to remember the death, the existence of terrorism, but more importantly, for the people who are living, life should be cheerful, fun and most importantly worry free. When I was at the USA during the post 9’11 period, I often felt the government is intimidating the nation and its people by the propaganda on the war towards terrorism – we are at war, and it is inmiment, look at our enemies, they are using all kind of mass destruction weapons against us. The anthrax thing was unfortunate amid of all the after shock. It is by no means a normal life if people start reporting white powder popping up everywhere, which later on all turn out to be either baby powder or just coax. Mentally and psychologically, this kind of propaganda only pushes the nation down to a very unhealthy and depressing situation. And I am not convinced that what the people needed at that point.

Life, as the way it is, is in the hands of people who are alive, and we should never live in fear. I agree as the government needs to do for national security but the blasting of terror and war every day is not needed. Put the shadow behind us, remember the death and the pain but move on to a hopefully better future.

Wimbledon is nice, the stadium is massive and I also enjoyed my walk to southfield.

Swedish countryside

Spent last week in Sweden, a city in the south with only 45 minutes on the train to Demark. Have been there for so many times, I rarely feel that is an exciting place, and after two gloomy days, I was getting very bored there. Then on the last evening there, the sun started to come out and I decided to take a walk in the woods near my hotel. Then slowly during my walk I started to appreciate the peaceful and green Swedish countryside. It is the tranquility that really strikes me and the simple style of farm houses, nothing showy but has its charm as well.