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Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts

Thursday, April 05, 2012

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

I enjoyed a lot of good speeches and excellent talks from TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) for years, and I think it is a sites many readers would enjoy!

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

"On TED.com, we make the best talks and performances from TED and partners available to the world, for free. More than 900 TEDTalks are now available, with more added each week. All of the talks are subtitled in English, and many are subtitled in various languages. These videos are released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license, so they can be freely shared and reposted."

Our mission: Spreading ideas. "We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we're building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other."

From: http://www.ted.com/pages/about

Here are some talks that set me thinking on various issues lately:

Peter Saul: Let’s talk about dying
http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_saul_let_s_talk_about_dying.html

To talk about end-of-life wishes is not easy, yet Dr Peter Saul an ICU Specialist from Newcastle, Australia, have a profound talk on the topic and introduce the concept "occupy death".


Ayah Bdeir: Building blocks that blink, beep and teach
http://www.ted.com/talks/ayah_bdeir_building_blocks_that_blink_beep_and_teach.html

"Imagine a set of electronics as easy to play with as Legos.  Ayah Bdeir introduces littleBits, a set of simple, interchangeable blocks that make programming as simple and important a part of creativity as snapping blocks together"

It is like a growing library, and I know a growing library will work in a creative way beyond our imagination!


Martin Jacques: Understanding the rise of China
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imhUmLtlZpw

"Speaking at a TED Salon in London, economist Martin Jacques asks: How do we in the West make sense of China and its phenomenal rise? The author of "When China Rules the World," he examines why the West often puzzles over the growing power of the Chinese economy, and offers three building blocks for understanding what China is and will become."

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Dream, dealth and how we see things

Anais Nin has the following sayings that I like:

* And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

* Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living.

* People living deeply have no fear of death.

* We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/anaisnin131904.html#ixzz1iOkDlZg3

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Bukit Brown Cemetery vs 心中的坟

I think for those who follow the Bukit Brown Cemetery's walk this few months may like to read the following poem written in Chinese.

The poet is Ms Lim May Lang, an ex-higher Chinese teacher from National Junior College.  Though she did not follow the BBC's walk with the group, her poem captures the spirit of life after death, and reflects the same thought some of us have after the walk.

If we are not able to have Bukit Brown Cemetery kept in physical form, many suggested to use modern technology and create the same in virture reality. 

In whatever form it maybe, the most important is what one holds in one's heart!

=====
心中的坟 by Ms Lim May Lang on 2011/12/09 at
http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/yongyala/article?mid=611&next=610&l=d&fid=5

生命如蜡烛,
只要曾经点燃
只要曾经照亮他人,
长短并不重要。

坟未必是立体的
也无需有浓荫或香花相伴。
它就是不见形体,
也能永驻心头。

这一生长长短短
曲曲折折的路
走完了的时候
如果还能脸带微笑
如果不再有所期待
就算没留下什么
也就心满意足了。

要做的事不过是
为自己找个清静的地方歇脚
可以在香烟缭绕的寺庙
可以在大树的脚下
可以在浩瀚无边的海洋。

记得或者忘记
一点也不重要
因为那时候
我的记忆早已尘封
而我的知觉
也已经烟消云散了。

=====
Here is my translated version, embedded with some of my own thought:



Life is like a candle!
As long as the light once illuminated,
Lights the path of others,
Length is not important!


A grave need not be three-dimensional,
Even without shady old trees and prayer flowers,
Even intangible,
It will live in the heart of the beloved, forever!

Life may be long or short,
Journey twists and turns,
When we face the end
If with a gentle smile,
And satisfied with no lingering thought,
We can let go!

When the time comes,
Find a quiet place and have a good rest
Incense smoke in the temple
At the foot of a big tree
Or ocean that frees your soul!

Remembered or forgotten
It’s not important!
Memory is like ash to ash, dust to dust!
Perception and consciousness,
Like clouds, once free
Will have no attachment!


Notes: Translation revised on 9 Jan 2012, and I would like to thank my friend, Susan Chua from Heinemann Southeast Asia, for her advices on grammatical etc...  Good writing is always re-writing, and good translation, goes the same way! Thanks! Susan!


Dexterine Ho Soo Miang