A few work colleagues thought it was just the festive Santa in me which drove the provision of gifts in the run-up to the most recent Christmas. What underlies the real spirit of giving?
Gifts, when shared or made, are best from the heart and obviously need not be material. They can at least be gestures and tokens of the feelings they try to express, at most are true sacrifices of time, sweat, concern and effort and, at best, be unseen and anonymous. Some of the fellow beings I am surrounded with have me amused, suggesting a myriad and complex framework of obligations that gifts must only be amongst family and those who decide or support their pay packet, or only when the giver gets something tangible in return, with the bathwater thrown out with the proverbial baby for others. This makes culling easier for most, but to me is very short-sighted.
I feel strongly in making an expression to show appreciation for those who have been kind and helpful to me in the past year, especially to those I do not have to or those who do not expect anything, and to send a strong and clear mesage to those who fall in the opposite dimension. It is not a gift, in my view, when one can authorise and/or organise a paid another to do the work and arrangements in one's name. A gift is making time and effort for another in a personal way.
To acknowledge thanks and recognition to a well deserved person only once annually, and near the commercialisation of Christmas time, can be just in bad and insincere taste. How have I been treating the person the whole of the year, and have I surprised such recipients of a gesture in a smile, a word of grateful expression or some unexpected act of reaching out, especially when it is least expected, at a point of time before the annual holiday season? Has this person reciprocated likewise? Gift giving at best can be a mutual exercise, a real process of give and take and enhancing the magical circle of enjoying each other's company in simple understanding.
Gift giving is not linked to a chain of outward expectations. The nature of gifts can be especially delightful when it reflects an innate understanding of the both the recipient and the giver. True gifts can outlast temporal vibes and be appreciated even if given only once. They are not subject to trappings, diverting appearances and need not be wrapped in glittery paper. Gifts are essentially tokens of conduiting and reflecting larger feelings. A gift that nurtures positive things in recipients beyond the seasonal hype lives up to the original meaning of the action. True gifts accentuate what is already encouraging in the recipients and make their star shine even more. They never pose a further problem but help to resolve partly what the recipient may be looking for. Reflect on this, you may have actually received a more valuable and unique gift, even when it was not obvious, not initially tangible and when it was not even Christmas.
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Monday, 18 January 2010
Monday, 11 January 2010
The Migrant
It is said that each of us lives on a so-called island, that the grass looks greener on the other side and a man's home is his castle.
The quest for improvement - personal, family and community - never ceases to flow strongly in the human bloodstream. With better technology and movement across borders, human migration patterns have become more intense, frequent and much easier. Human community conflict - whether they be outright wars, incessant discrimination or religious beliefs clashing against each other - are the source of dissatisfaction, physical and/or mental suffering and the stirring of anguish. No one wants to leave his or place of origin, where childhood memories develop and where the senses of a rooted anchor begin. There may come a time when the three questions are confronted, even if one does not want to uprooot one's self - should we fight the injustice, or should we tolerate it, or should we flee?
Recently, Tamils from Sri Lanka were seen in detention in Lenggeng outside the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Ghanaians were taking bus to Libya overnight. the more things seem to change, the more they actually they can remain. In my youth, I read the experience of refugees from a Vietnam divided into two, where brothers and sisters fought each other in the name of different political and socio-philosopical regimes. How different these are from the experiences of a Londoner coming to Sydney to work and talk of aspirations in an affluent, protected channel of existence? How different are these from the experiences of a China national settling into a Western nation, where capitalism, morality levels and sensations of individual freedom are of another dimension?
When one arrives in a new land, are expectations met and fulfilled? Reality usually has another shade from the hype, imagination and hear say. Challenges are the flipside of opportunity. Comparisons run automatically in the subconscious of the new arrival. Reaching out and pondering within happen concurrently. What have I given up to come here, and what have I gained for overcoming settling in hurdles? There is no white and black, only a stream of maybes, compromises and occasional delights. What is certainly liked int he new environment helps to relive the pain of giving up the familiar and in adjusting to adopting the new. One has to build new attitudes, habits and parameters. One has to also let go of what was once dear or still is close to the heart at times. It helps with networking and diving into positive diversions but the grass is just different, not necessarily greener.
And then one builds the castle again. Dreams and hopes are articulated and realised. Love and friendship ease the path. Sometimes, new mates are never the same as those from younger days and who still keep in touch, and sometimes they are better. We may hop from isle to isle, but at times we have formed a chain of pearls along the way. A sense of adventure helps, even if there has been sacrifice and loss along the way. The future is never certain and always changing - the children of first generation immigrants may migrate themselves. The new island of hope many years ago may have changed as well. Improvement may not only be seen through materialistic ways, but also in the enrichment of heritage, the inner soul and in personal happiness.
The quest for improvement - personal, family and community - never ceases to flow strongly in the human bloodstream. With better technology and movement across borders, human migration patterns have become more intense, frequent and much easier. Human community conflict - whether they be outright wars, incessant discrimination or religious beliefs clashing against each other - are the source of dissatisfaction, physical and/or mental suffering and the stirring of anguish. No one wants to leave his or place of origin, where childhood memories develop and where the senses of a rooted anchor begin. There may come a time when the three questions are confronted, even if one does not want to uprooot one's self - should we fight the injustice, or should we tolerate it, or should we flee?
Recently, Tamils from Sri Lanka were seen in detention in Lenggeng outside the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Ghanaians were taking bus to Libya overnight. the more things seem to change, the more they actually they can remain. In my youth, I read the experience of refugees from a Vietnam divided into two, where brothers and sisters fought each other in the name of different political and socio-philosopical regimes. How different these are from the experiences of a Londoner coming to Sydney to work and talk of aspirations in an affluent, protected channel of existence? How different are these from the experiences of a China national settling into a Western nation, where capitalism, morality levels and sensations of individual freedom are of another dimension?
When one arrives in a new land, are expectations met and fulfilled? Reality usually has another shade from the hype, imagination and hear say. Challenges are the flipside of opportunity. Comparisons run automatically in the subconscious of the new arrival. Reaching out and pondering within happen concurrently. What have I given up to come here, and what have I gained for overcoming settling in hurdles? There is no white and black, only a stream of maybes, compromises and occasional delights. What is certainly liked int he new environment helps to relive the pain of giving up the familiar and in adjusting to adopting the new. One has to build new attitudes, habits and parameters. One has to also let go of what was once dear or still is close to the heart at times. It helps with networking and diving into positive diversions but the grass is just different, not necessarily greener.
And then one builds the castle again. Dreams and hopes are articulated and realised. Love and friendship ease the path. Sometimes, new mates are never the same as those from younger days and who still keep in touch, and sometimes they are better. We may hop from isle to isle, but at times we have formed a chain of pearls along the way. A sense of adventure helps, even if there has been sacrifice and loss along the way. The future is never certain and always changing - the children of first generation immigrants may migrate themselves. The new island of hope many years ago may have changed as well. Improvement may not only be seen through materialistic ways, but also in the enrichment of heritage, the inner soul and in personal happiness.
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Monday, 4 January 2010
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Life and Cinematic Art
From A Few Good Men to the 2009 remake of Sherlock Holmes, I look back at twenty years of watching cinematic movies.
It all started in a Christchurch, New Zealand cinema, when I saw The Last Emperor on a nippy autumn night.Thoughts about dynastic troubles in an agricutural community as far as you can get away from the stiffness of the Forbidden City! It was a sign of the future, though, for Kiwiland was to become the favourite choice of location shooting in in the years to come.
Cinema Paradiso was the first non-English and non-Chinese work of cinematic art that I fell totally for. I was overwhelmed by its nuances, its tones and its message. Toto the child, with all his enthusiasm for screening projector movies, was portrayed so emphatically in this film it spoke of a universal longing for home after a life time spent away. The Mexican production Y Tu Mama Tambien spoke too of unbridled youth, but in another place and time. Life is Beautiful from Italy brought the cinema art form of ironic humour to handle the unbearable life in a World War 2 prison camp. Amelie and Chocolat were magical insights into the apparently ordinary journeys of individualistic women actually determined to make the most out of life.
Hollywood still ruled and Bollywood was not that influential in my choice of movies, but so-called art cinema became accessible. I was swept away by the unique wave of film art from an emerging China trend, fighting hard against the Hong Kong genre that dominated my teenagehood. SBS channel in Australia opened my eyes to the frank nudity of Euro movies; the style of Japanese cinema, especially its enchanting and engrossing manga movies; the dryness of new wave cinema in Taiwan; the exciting vibrance of Spanish movies; and the power of effective and yet controversial subtitling. The long continuing James Bond genre was significantly refreshed by the arrival of actor Daniel Craig.
Gems appeared like gold gleaming on a clear river bed - Forrest Gump; Slumdog Millionaire; a revamped Caprio-inspired Romeo and Juliet; Wall-E; The Da Vinci Code; The Wedding Banquet; Billy Elliot; Lovers of the Arctic Circle; Sleepless in Seattle; Hero; Indochine; The Crying Game; The Pillow Book; Saving Private Ryan; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Motor Cycle Diaries; and Monsoon Wedding.
The most impact an Australian movie made on me came from Strictly Ballroom, with its liberating tale and moves set in my adopted city of Sydney. Australian cinema halls seemed rather empty for most of the time, with popcorn and drinks costing almost the same price as the value tickets paid in advance.Prescilla, Queen of the Desert, left inner city Sydney on a bus, but in the end, made more impact on its reflections of a part of the current Australian community, more than the musical Moulin Rouge and the so-called epic Australia.
Echoing my cultural heritage, I can still visualise the cool vibes from Hong Kong's Days of Being Wild and China's Raise the Red Lantern. Movies were even made in my birth hometown of Penang, especially Anna and the King and Beyond Rangoon. The past two decades also saw the transformation of the Singapore industry through its colloquail Singlish language films and its growing examination of its unique demographics. Asian films moved more away from physical violence to the subtleness of our inner souls, the underlying unspoken message behind the reality and the liberation of public nudity.
The American movie Superman Returns was shot in New South Wales, so I could recognise the location shoooting venues. The start of the Millennium was agog about the latest version of the Titanic and the close of the first ten years thereafter saw Avatar, both brought to you by James Cameron. The remake of South Pacific the musical with Harry Connick Junior did not detract my fascination with the original made in the late fifities. It took a certain level of patience, fascination and obsession to go through the serial movies - whether they are Lord of The Rings, Spiderman, Shrek, The Matrix, Harry Potter, Batman, X-Men, Saw, Home Alone, Transformers, Narnia or the Tom Clancy action thrillers.
Disney Studios had a good run in the nineties with traditional animation work to be seen by audiences of all ages, like The Lion King and Beauty and The Beast. With Pixar, the writing was already on the wall for the arrival of sophisticated graphic works with complex special effects, as illustrated by Jurassic Park, Independence Day, the Incredibles and The Dark Knight, with work done by several support teams based across the globe, coordinating in creative unison to somehow produce remarkable outcomes - and whose team member names are listed in detail in the rolling credits at the end of such movies, accompanied by at least three audio tracks to cover them all.
The more things seem to change, they more they remain the same. Just like the apparent daily routine of life, it is amazing to know that we still sit in a darkened hall; can still have the sugary laden popcorn and coke; get charged more for putting on 3D glasses; and have emerging addicts feed into this type of media, despite competition from the internet, electronic games and mobile phones. Like the great classics of the past, whether in print, song or stage, the cinema still churns out pieces to enthrall, entertain and remind us of hallmark moments in true life.
Does life imitate art, or the other way around? Maybe it's both. We can have cinematic releases at the touch of a button and need not make a date out of it; books however continue to form the basis of flim scripts; and the commercial temptation of making sequels underline the reality of required funding to make this form of essentially what is entertainment. Movies have always made each of us dream and imagine, whether it be the lot of socio-economic disadvantaged villagers or the pampered teenager in advanced economies - how the genre will take us next is one of fascination itself, while providing us the romanticised sentiments from personal experiences watching movies in childhood with our parents or sitting next to our first real courtship love.
It all started in a Christchurch, New Zealand cinema, when I saw The Last Emperor on a nippy autumn night.Thoughts about dynastic troubles in an agricutural community as far as you can get away from the stiffness of the Forbidden City! It was a sign of the future, though, for Kiwiland was to become the favourite choice of location shooting in in the years to come.
Cinema Paradiso was the first non-English and non-Chinese work of cinematic art that I fell totally for. I was overwhelmed by its nuances, its tones and its message. Toto the child, with all his enthusiasm for screening projector movies, was portrayed so emphatically in this film it spoke of a universal longing for home after a life time spent away. The Mexican production Y Tu Mama Tambien spoke too of unbridled youth, but in another place and time. Life is Beautiful from Italy brought the cinema art form of ironic humour to handle the unbearable life in a World War 2 prison camp. Amelie and Chocolat were magical insights into the apparently ordinary journeys of individualistic women actually determined to make the most out of life.
Hollywood still ruled and Bollywood was not that influential in my choice of movies, but so-called art cinema became accessible. I was swept away by the unique wave of film art from an emerging China trend, fighting hard against the Hong Kong genre that dominated my teenagehood. SBS channel in Australia opened my eyes to the frank nudity of Euro movies; the style of Japanese cinema, especially its enchanting and engrossing manga movies; the dryness of new wave cinema in Taiwan; the exciting vibrance of Spanish movies; and the power of effective and yet controversial subtitling. The long continuing James Bond genre was significantly refreshed by the arrival of actor Daniel Craig.
Gems appeared like gold gleaming on a clear river bed - Forrest Gump; Slumdog Millionaire; a revamped Caprio-inspired Romeo and Juliet; Wall-E; The Da Vinci Code; The Wedding Banquet; Billy Elliot; Lovers of the Arctic Circle; Sleepless in Seattle; Hero; Indochine; The Crying Game; The Pillow Book; Saving Private Ryan; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Motor Cycle Diaries; and Monsoon Wedding.
The most impact an Australian movie made on me came from Strictly Ballroom, with its liberating tale and moves set in my adopted city of Sydney. Australian cinema halls seemed rather empty for most of the time, with popcorn and drinks costing almost the same price as the value tickets paid in advance.Prescilla, Queen of the Desert, left inner city Sydney on a bus, but in the end, made more impact on its reflections of a part of the current Australian community, more than the musical Moulin Rouge and the so-called epic Australia.
Echoing my cultural heritage, I can still visualise the cool vibes from Hong Kong's Days of Being Wild and China's Raise the Red Lantern. Movies were even made in my birth hometown of Penang, especially Anna and the King and Beyond Rangoon. The past two decades also saw the transformation of the Singapore industry through its colloquail Singlish language films and its growing examination of its unique demographics. Asian films moved more away from physical violence to the subtleness of our inner souls, the underlying unspoken message behind the reality and the liberation of public nudity.
The American movie Superman Returns was shot in New South Wales, so I could recognise the location shoooting venues. The start of the Millennium was agog about the latest version of the Titanic and the close of the first ten years thereafter saw Avatar, both brought to you by James Cameron. The remake of South Pacific the musical with Harry Connick Junior did not detract my fascination with the original made in the late fifities. It took a certain level of patience, fascination and obsession to go through the serial movies - whether they are Lord of The Rings, Spiderman, Shrek, The Matrix, Harry Potter, Batman, X-Men, Saw, Home Alone, Transformers, Narnia or the Tom Clancy action thrillers.
Disney Studios had a good run in the nineties with traditional animation work to be seen by audiences of all ages, like The Lion King and Beauty and The Beast. With Pixar, the writing was already on the wall for the arrival of sophisticated graphic works with complex special effects, as illustrated by Jurassic Park, Independence Day, the Incredibles and The Dark Knight, with work done by several support teams based across the globe, coordinating in creative unison to somehow produce remarkable outcomes - and whose team member names are listed in detail in the rolling credits at the end of such movies, accompanied by at least three audio tracks to cover them all.
The more things seem to change, they more they remain the same. Just like the apparent daily routine of life, it is amazing to know that we still sit in a darkened hall; can still have the sugary laden popcorn and coke; get charged more for putting on 3D glasses; and have emerging addicts feed into this type of media, despite competition from the internet, electronic games and mobile phones. Like the great classics of the past, whether in print, song or stage, the cinema still churns out pieces to enthrall, entertain and remind us of hallmark moments in true life.
Does life imitate art, or the other way around? Maybe it's both. We can have cinematic releases at the touch of a button and need not make a date out of it; books however continue to form the basis of flim scripts; and the commercial temptation of making sequels underline the reality of required funding to make this form of essentially what is entertainment. Movies have always made each of us dream and imagine, whether it be the lot of socio-economic disadvantaged villagers or the pampered teenager in advanced economies - how the genre will take us next is one of fascination itself, while providing us the romanticised sentiments from personal experiences watching movies in childhood with our parents or sitting next to our first real courtship love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)