liberty

today is the celebration of our nation freedom from colonial rule. so as usual, we recite back how the previous generations fought for the independence. but some say history is written by the group in power. history can be altered! but why only learn how they fight. for me, equally important if not more important, is the fact of how the previous generations mistakenly let the colonial get into our nation. and how some of the local people scandalously worked with the colonial.

think about it.

diary of a father IX - celebration

we're celebrating! my kids' faces are full of smile. even for the two-year old! why can't we, as adult, do the same thing?

Japan, the PM resigned

so the Japanese has a new prime. 5 in 5 years. what a record. from my perspective, that shows the high accountability of those politicians. for example the out-going Kan accepted that he had some problem in handling the huge post-tsunami event. but he still lead the country during the crisis and quit when the time is right. kudos Japanese.

diary of a father VIII - papa, I'm here!

I had a habit of reading a Saturday's newspaper early in the morning. sometimes when I'm reading, nothing can get my eyes off the newspaper. one day, I read the newspaper as usual. I put the newspaper on the floor. my son at that time still couldn't crawl. I heard some noise from the kid but I ignored it. but I knew he's looking at me. suddenly he started rolling and finally landed on the newspaper. he apparently succeeded in stopping me from keep on reading. it's time to play with him.

diary of a father VII - it's time to go!

every morning, before we went out to work, I would start my car and heating up the engine for only a few minutes. my son would usually already woke up and lied on bed. then we took the kid, bring in to the car and off we went. that process repeated every day.

one weekend, I did the same thing. but I heated up the car's engine a lot longer. then I heard my kid made a noise. then I realised that we didn't take him although the engine had started quite some time. sense of time! he understood the sense of time and event around it. what a miracle!

diary of a father VI - a story of integrity

yesterday I was driving alone when I started thinking about integrity. I was a staunch supporter of such attitude and I seek for the reason. suddenly I remember about a colouring contest I participated during my primary school. my father told me about this story:

there were two pieces of works finally made it to the top. which one of those was mine. each drawing bear the participant name. the judges wrote on a piece of paper and put it underneath each drawing. the paper wrote '1' or '2'. it simply meant whether the drawing was eligible for either first place of second place. when they counted the paper, the result was a tie. so my father, as a chief judge, need to make a final decision. he had not to chose mine. so I got no. 2 spot.

at that time what I felt was a proud feeling. yes, I'm at number 2. but it also meant that I'm not a number 1 just because I had an advantage. perhaps that's a reason for me to believe in integrity.

Libya - liberty II

it has been few days after Tripoli was taken by the rebels. the situation reminds me what had happened in Ivory Coast few months ago. the war erupted in the capital and some people said both sides commit crime. the people who were depressed and fight and win, eventually depress the other group of people.I don't know exactly what had happened after apartheid fell in South Africa. but I did watch a documentary about a Committee (Truth and Reconciliation Committee) which heard all grouses. and I really don't know whether the model is good. but  with all the experience that we had, from Nuremberg Trial to the Committee, can we learn something?