The Colours of Tibet

Written by Shi Ronghua

Tibet trip was really an eye opener, the scenery are so unforgettable, and the people so simple and interesting.

Mount Trola and Yihun Lhatso, the holy lake of the plateau
As we watch our host's nephews run care-freely along the stream (though dirty and littered)on the grassland (full of cow dung) skipping stones and fearlessly hurling stones at yaks(hairy cow), we can't help but unanimously agree that this is how a child should spend his/her childhood.

The two nephews
You might have thought they are better off studying, fighting for a better life. But who is to judge a better life for them? they are happy, and i don't see how a life can get better than that. i think people are always slogging it out for that future happiness, when it come to that future they work for the further future. to really live a life, we must have some moments where we take our eyes off the future and look at the present, to appreciate how far we have come from the past and enjoy some fruits of labour (fruits rot if you leave them in the basket too long). but of course it is really easier said than done.

Cowboy baby

Baby and Mummy
As mentioned, the tibetans are simple and interesting people. Most of them are really friendly, and very sporting for a photo. it took me quite a while to get started snapping as it would have been some sort offensive in singapore. when they see the photo they always either give you a heart warming big smile or a thumbs up. they make really good photos with their toned skin, colourful clothings, and radiant personality.

Nomad family (photo from charles)

Nomad kids
Tibetans are not devoid of the emotion of sadness. on the way to Yihun Lhatso, we met a nomad family, and there were monks in and out of their tents. someone in the family (grandfather if i remember correctly) has passed on, and there was a wake going on. the head of the house still warmly greeted us, gave us directions for our journey to Yihun Lhatso and invited us to join him later in his tent for tea when we trek back. the head was proud of his family and was not afraid to introduce his family to us.

delicate adjusting of photo light/dark to present the best
A balance of striving for better and being content is very delicate, just as balancing the light and darkness of photo. more isn't always more, and less isn't neccesary best.
Something to think about, introduced to me by Mr Khoo(my history teacher), The Paradox of our age by Dalai Lama

The Paradox of Our Age
by The Dalai Lama
We have bigger houses but smaller families;
More conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
More knowledge, but less judgment;
More experts, but more problems;
More medicines, but less healthiness;
We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We build more computers to hold more information to
produce more copies than ever but have less communication.
We have become long on quantity,
but short on quality.
These are times of fast foods but slow digestion;
Tall man but short character;
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It's a time when there is much in the window,
but nothing in the room.
For anna the beaver.

Ronghua
Nil Sine Labore

More about the writer:

Ronghua was a VJC schoolmate of mine. In Victoria School and VJ, he represented the schools for cross-country running competitions. I met him on the first few days of school and thought him to be crazy. He, together with VS gang, completely spoke a different lingo from me. And soon, they created a nickname for me, Beaver. (Oh well, at least beavers are cute.) Ronghua will go on to study mechanical engineering in NTU, after having completed his hellish (officer mah!) 2 years in army.

Being a greenie, part II

Why Vegetarian?

2 weeks ago, I blogged about being a greenie, about making choices even when they seem insignificant. Choices such as wanting to turn vegetarian is almost laughable in Singapore because some people say that this is a food paradise, and apparently in food paradises, you can't just have veggies.

Some cold facts about factory farming and industrial fishing:

- Modern industrial fishing lines can be as long as 75 miles - the same distance as from sea level to space

- Animal agriculture is the no. 1 cause of climate change; it contributes 40% more to global warming than all of the transportation in the world combined

- 26 pounds of sea animals are killed and tossed back into the ocean for every 1 pound of shrimp caught

But what caught me most were the philosophical arguments and questions posed against animal eating. Because today's factory farming is industrialized and modernized, it's all about efficiency, technology and cruelty. (Read the book!!! Eating Animals by Jonathan Foer) I love God and I've been taught all my life to be pro-life, not just pro-human lives but in all I can, to not to put any creature through intentional suffering. That's why even though I hate vegetables and love meat, I decided to take a tiny baby step toward vegetarianism: To be vegetarian twice a week (Tues & Thurs) and that entails no meat or eggs. As of now, I'm okay with cheese and milk, which I hardly eat anyway. As I told my friend, I'm sad to say I'm not a purist. I'm fine with cakes that have eggs in them.

The Semi-Vegetarian Journey so far..

Josh and I just watched Shrek 4, and were wandering around at AMK Hub looking for a late dinner. At almost all food places we stopped at, we would only stop for a mere 2 seconds before we moved on. In exasperation, I said let's just go home, I could fix myself a salad at home. But Josh insisted we look around more, finally we settled at a HK cafe because we thought we spotted dishes that looked vegetarian enough.

Before ordering my mee sua (noodles), I asked the waiter if the dish was vegetarian, he said no. I asked, could you make it vegetarian? He said ok, and Josh did likewise. 5 minutes later, he came back, he asked, do you want an egg added? I said no. 20 minutes later I left the restaurant happy.

What did I learn? I learnt that you can request for vegetarian dishes, and that contrary to what I expected, no one's going to laugh at you. I guess it helps that in Singapore, there is a sizable group of people who are vegetarian for religious reasons, and meat-eaters have learnt to respect that. But I also learnt that Singapore is not a vegetarian-friendly place. While it is manageable to turn vegetarian in Singapore, it's hard to be pure vegan. When I told Ann that I usually go for yong tau foo or cai fan during my vegetarian meals, she said most veg dishes in cai fan have meat in them and yong tau foo's soup is boiled in fish stock.

Initially I started out to be a Sunday vegetarian, but it got my parents slightly upset. On Sunday, which is our family's only day of the week to gather together, my father will order many dishes of meat and just one plate of vegetables (probably cooked with egg). Food is not just food, it comes with stories and relationships. It's not easy for my family to understand why I must be a Sunday vegetarian because a meal is so tied to family relationships. And so I changed to become a Tues & Thurs veg. (And over the years, I hope to increase the number of days, with Sunday probably being the last day of conversion)

Is this just a fad?

I can't say for sure it's not. Who knows, maybe 3 months from now, I might give up? This sounds deeply philosophical, but there are only few life-changing decisions you can make. Marriage is one of them. PSLE, O'Levels and A'Levels aren't. I think probably turning vegetarian is one, for me at least, because this issue affects me on intellectual, moral and philosophical levels. And I hope you will try it out too. :)