Like A Shooting Star.

My heart is still beating.

My head is still thinking.

I am still alive.

But, why?

What does it mean to be alive? As I mentioned on my previous post, about how Love could be nothing more, is nothing more than a chemical reaction happening with my brain, my body.

Then I’ve come to realize that all happiness is, all sadness, and whatever emotion that has grasped my brain and mind; they were more or less just chemicals and hormones, all reacting together to form an end result.

So Why should I care?

Or better put, Why do I still care?

Chemical reactions are meaningless to me. They are not precious, they are nothing to be cherished.

My brain has reasoned and concluded to what is a fact.

So why can’t I accept this fact like all other facts that reside in my brain? It’s not a matter of whether I want to it to be this way, or anything else.

It just all feels like I am proving myself wrong, with something I wanted to use to prove myself right, to prove myself worthy and continue to trudge along.

After what was over 3 weeks of absences on the blogosphere, it is my pleasure to inform you that, Like A Shooting Star is back and is fully operational.

My most sincere apologies go to my readership that visited my blog with som sort of light anticipation, but was forced to leave with a great sense of exasperation after realizing that the latest blog update was done on the 9th of March.

So I hereby announce my return.

Okay, so with that done now, I want to divulge something else with you all.

I like writing romantic fiction.

Save the laughter, I already get that alot from my peers. But it’s the honest truth.

The thing is though, I almost get as much cynicism from the older individuals as I get the laughter.

Not many people has read my stories, but I would assume they would be cynical as I can always rely on the unfair question of “how much about love or relationships, would a sophomore at high school know?” to pop up indefinitely.

And my answer to that is: I definitely don’t know much. I don’t know what love is for that matter.

Even though my limited knowledge is unfortunate, I still know one thing though, and that is ‘this thing I am not supposed to have a clue about,’ just because I go to high school, is not done or carried out any better just because one ‘knows’ more about it.

If it came from knowledge, there will be instruction guides published and being sold on Amazon.com or the Borders near by, won’t it?

And I don’t mean any of those, “How to pick up girls at a club” handbooks.

I mean “How to love truly” or “the perfect guide to being in love and loving someone else”.

Or better still, if it was all based on knowledge and experience, there won’t be any divorces, break ups or just tears of heartache.

Thus, I hereby announce the beginning of a romance on this blog.

photo credit: Welcome Back dudes!     by Adam Bognar

This was one of my first blog entries I wrote when I first started up this particular blog.

But sadly it did not receive the attention that the post deserved so I’m giving this blog entry another chance in attracting some comments.

Cornell University, in the summer of 1999 has published an astonishing research: ‘Love’ is a form of a drug.

A mixture of a number of chemicals such as dopamine, phenylethylamine and oxytocin pumping through the the bloodstream that creates such…”passion”.

It is argued by Cornell researchers that ‘Love’ is nothing more than a chemically induced form of ‘insanity’. Such conditions would only last until, your body creates the necessary immune sources against the substances involved. It is estimated to last just long enough for us to ‘meet, mate and raise the child to early infancy.’

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines the word, ‘Love’ to be: “an intense feeling of deep affection,” a very dictionary-like definition, don’t you think? And say we follow this definition sort of definition, then ‘Love’ is not limited to human beings. For that matter, it is not limited to any organic life or inorganic, synthesized naturally or artificially.

Yet a human part of me was slightly offended by this definition. The fact that an emotion of such indescribable importance, something I can openly label as ‘everything’ that matters in my life, is a mere concoction of strange chemicals, frankly  it annoys me. A voice inside of me,  just wishes it to be something more.

I hold my girlfriend’s hand and that tingling sensation still comes to me, just like the very first time my hand touched hers. I seem to end up with a grin on my face whenever I think of this girl. Yeah, it all sounds like symptoms of insanity or something along those lines. But to hell with that, I am not insane because of some chemicals.

Discussion anyone???

Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally recognized expert in the field of integrating creativity and innovation in businesses and education. He earned his PhD at the University of London and is now a Professor Emeritus at Warwick University in the UK.

Well, he sounds like a very smart guy and I bet you that he knows what he is talking about, just by watching his presentation at the TED Talks Conference which by the way, was tremendously moving.

There really isn’t much for me to say in this entry to be honest, except for the fact that I really recommend anyone who is reading this particular entry to take out just 20 minutes of their time and watch this video.

I couldn’t help myself but to wonder about how things were and I’m sure it will be same for anyone else.

Oh and I would appreciate any comments and thoughts about this video.

Being able to carry out your passion on to your walk of life is certainly a blessing.

That is why we are always told to follow our own directions, whatever that direction may be.

Along the way, we cringe through the sour slips, struggle through the bitter turns and savour the sweetness of success. But all in all, we enjoy every step of the way because we are chasing our dreams, because we are living out our passions. And one day, one fateful day… that dream will unfold before our eyes and the one standing in the middle of it all– each and everyone of us who had faith in ourselves.

Now, that is one sloppy motivational speech right there.

We hear the above being reiterated into a speech, a book or a documentary that are somewhat fancier than mine, but it is still all the same, old content.

If the above held true however, that would mean one’s determination to reach that summit would be the exclusive factor that dictates the outcome of our dreams and every fibre of my body desire this to be the reality of things.

Then we would be able to create our own destinies.

But unfortunately, that would be too good to be true.

For one Korean-Japanese athlete, he was forced to make a decision: his passion, his dream or his nationality.

This is his story and also my second installment of the 3 part blog series on our indifference in accepting differences.

His name was Sung Hoon, and his love for judo originated at the age of three, being influenced greatly by his father who was an ardent judoka (an athlete that practices judo). The very first time he wore his judogi (judo uniform) he knew his passion, his life, his soul remained on the mats. By blood, Sung Hoon was undoubtedly Korean. Both his father’s and mother’s side of the family were of Korean origin, and both parents retained their Korean nationality. In fact, ever since when Sung Hoon’s grandfather 4th generation prior, the family did not convert their nationality once. They were Korean by blood and Korean in the heart. He was no exception to this.

Be that as it may, he also faced his first obstacle: he was not Japanese.

Having been scouted into an elite judo high school in Osaka, Sung Hoon had no problem in entering the interschool tournaments. He was good enough, skilled enough. However, the biggest tournaments did not lie between the schools but in the National Representative Selection Trials. As its name suggests, it was a tournament for the most able high school judoka, yet he did not qualify whether he was the very best of the lot or not. The tournament was for the selection of Japanese representatives.

This ‘failure’ or better put, the denial of the opportunity to prove himself, only ignited a flame that allowed him to push himself and challenge bigger, greater heights.

So he decides to move to Korea and challenge himself for that judogi or ‘dobok’ (Korean for judogi) with the Korean flag stitched on to it. Sung Hoon arrived in Pusan, South Korea in search for his dream.

He signed up with the Pusan City squad, and started his long and difficult journey towards that dobok with the Korean flag.

Maybe the word, ‘difficult’ was not right word to describe his journey.

Because if it was the difficulty that came with what people call, ‘fair’ competition on the sporting arena, then this athlete would have overcome that obstacle.

After all, our love for sports relish on that basis of fairness and equality. The deciding component of a winner, or a better athlete should be solely dependent on the skill and mastery of one’s sport, not the colour of their skin or their own respective creeds.

Sung Hoon was constantly denied the title of a national representative in Korea.

The way in which National Representatives are chosen in the sport of Judo in Korea is that, a selected number of judokas have a try-out in a tournament basis. And the winner of this tournament represents his or her country.

This athlete was eliminated by a questionable call every time he entered this National Rep trials.

Was this his inadequacy as an athlete?

He was eliminated even after winning gold in the All-Asia competition.

In an interview, he once said this, “I was a Korean in Japan, but in Korea, I am neither a Japanese nor a Korean.” He came to Korea to fulfill his dream as a Korean, ironically Korea denied this to happen. 4 generations, over 100 years of Korean nationality that Sung Hoon’s family retained over in Japan came to an end after Sung Hoon stayed in Pusan for a year or two.

He chose his dream, his passion over his nationality.

Moving back to Japan, he applied for Japanese citizenship. He then worked towards attaining that Judogi with not the Korean flag, but the Japanese one. He won his National Representative Selection Trial for the first time in Japan.

And Fate would have it, the venue in which he was to represent Japan was none other than the city that was Sung Hoon’s home for the past year, Pusan. He was to represent Japan in the 12th Asian Games hosted in Pusan, South Korea.

Sung Hoon Chu took gold in the Pusan Asian Games, but you won’t be able to find his name in the record books if you looked up the name, Sung Hoon Chu. Akiyama Yoshihiro would be name one would need to look for.

As the national anthem circulated the arena and the flags were raised, he could not stare at the Japanese flag…

Yoshihiro lived his dream on that day, and Japan smiled.

Some Koreans were furious and wrongly labeled Yoshihiro as a traitor, and some wept in disappointment.

The above is a snippet of the show is a more jocular equivalent to the Tonight Show on Korean Television. Chu Sung Hoon or Akiyama Yoshihiro appeared on this show a month or so back. (the language is in Korean)

It is always that ‘top layer’ of a human-being that people cannot seem to look past: Racial Discrimination

The bitter, undeserved and needless cruelty– something more bluntly labeled as racism– was recounted faultlessly by 2 of the most interesting teachers I had in my schooling career so far.

This will be my first installment to my 3-part blog exploration of our indifference in accepting differences.

In year 7 (the equivalent of 7th grade in the US) students in New Zealand move up the ladders of school education into the slightly upper echelon of what is called an ‘intermediate.’   It is a two year long tier of education before you head off to Secondary School–high school in more familiar terms. Those two important years of my school life happened in a private institution in Central Auckland called King’s School. This school is located right in the a suburb called Remuera, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the largest city of New Zealand.

That is where the first bit of my 3-part blog entry begins, within the depths of my intermediate classrooms.

First of all, let me introduce you to one of my year 7 teachers, called Roger Fraser. A South African, he immigrated to New Zealand after completing his tertiary education in Johannesburg and has held the position of Housemaster of Averill House by the time I arrived in his class as a student. He was a well-built man that enjoyed his cricket, rugby and applied mathematics. His strong South African accent was my first and I had a tough time adjusting into his classroom, but other than that he seemed to be the same old caucasian teacher at any regular institution.

And I was completely right. He was just a regular bloke from South Africa. That was until he started telling us stories, stories about Apartheid.

He helped me open my eyes to what was reality, to what was arguably the most shocking remnants of human history.

Even with a limited knowledge in world history, most of us have heard about the Apartheid policies. These policies were legislations passed by the South African government that was active over a period of around four decades, since the late 40s to the 90s. The word ‘Apartheid’ derived from a word in Afrikaans meaning, ’separation’. In a nutshell, the South African government tried and succeeded in separating the nation of South Africa into ethnic groups labeled according to skin colour.

The Whites, the Blacks, and the Coloureds.

To achieve the vision of a more stable, a ‘better’ South Africa; the leaders at the time, solemnly believed division was a necessary step in reinforcing the nation’s society as a whole. The passion to build a better nation ever so slowly perverted into what was a monster that would take root into the very soul of South Africa and to this day, the world cannot completely rid of those damned roots.

Here is an incomplete list of legislations that I found the most shocking; all of the following were passed and put into effect by the South African government, in the respective years.

• An amendment to The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 prohibited marital union between persons of different races.
• An amendment to The Immorality Act of 1950 made sexual relations with a person of a different race a criminal offence.
• The Population Registration Act of 1950 introduced an identity card for all persons over the age of sixteen, stipulating their racial group on the card.
• The Unlawful Organisations Act of 1960 outlawed certain organisation that were deemed threatening to the government.
• The Sabotage Act was passed 1962, the General Law Amendment Act in 1966, the Terrorism Act in 1967 and the Internal Security Act in 1976.
• The Group Areas Act, passed on 27 April 1950, partitioned the country into different areas, with different areas allocated to different racial groups. This law was the basis upon which political and social separation was constructed.
• The Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 created separate government structures for blacks. It was the first piece of legislation established to support the government’s plan of separate development in the Bantustans.
• The Reservation of Separate Amenities Act of 1953 prohibited people of different races from using the same public amenities, such as restaurants, public swimming pools, and restrooms.
• The Bantu Education Act of 1953 crafted a separate didactic scheme for African students under the aegis of the Department of “Bantu” Education.
• The Bantu Urban Areas Act of 1954 curtailed black migration to cities.
• The Mines and Work Act of 1956 formalised racial discrimination in employment.

The hardships that were felt by millions, produced men of exceptional leadership however. Some would say they are the heroes that should be, and will be, remembered in the years to come–Nelson Mandela for example. He was an anti-apartheid activist that eventually ’succeeded’ in steering the nation of South Africa away from the hideous memories of the apartheid era as the first black President of the nation. The world recognized his triumph over injustice and repression with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. de Klerk, Mandela’s right hand man in the dismantling of Apartheid policies in South Africa.

Before leading India in the Indian independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi was already on the forefront of the struggle in regaining the civil rights for the Indian community in a completely different nation. The Indian people were an ethnic minority in South Africa, classified as coloured people. Yes, Gandhi was already out to reclaim civil rights in South Africa way before doing so in his home country.

For a ‘rich’, Asian kid like myself, I lived just like what a rich, Asian kid would live like. Being exposed to only a certain type of society, growing up in only certain type of neighbourhoods, I had the most incomplete and flawed view upon this world. More the reason why I found Fraser’s narration of apartheid, epiphanic. And at one point, I didn’t want to accept the past I never got to see or feel. Yet it was all in all, the reality.

Baada ya dhiki, faraja is a Swahilian proverb, Mr Fraser shared with me once in class. It means No matter how hard it may get, a way out or eventual comfort will be provided. Amen to that.

Be in tuned for my next installment and even the tiniest of thoughts are welcome, just hit the comment button at the bottom of the page.

photo credit: apartheid museum by killthebird

[This is a cross-post from podcasts I published on the Project Global Cooling website.]

Listen to the podcast with Bill Farren here Download link.

Listen to the podcast with Lindsea Kemp-Wilber here.

Over the past few weeks, I have been trying to get in touch with people around the world, who share the same vision and also have that tiny bit of courage to make a difference.

A vision of a global, student-lead sustainability movement.

I was able to find these two through Clay Burell, a former teacher of mine and also a mentor in the field of Web 2.0 and how to prep up for what he calls education reform that is fitting for the 21st century.

The first podcast is an interview with a teacher in the Dominican Republic, called Bill Farren. He is the creator of a video called “Did You Ever Wonder?” For further info on this outstanding character, visit his blog: Education for Well-Being

The second podcast is also an interview, but this time it was with a student in Hawaii. Her name is Lindsea Kemp-Wilbur, currently attending Punahou School in Honolulu. Before being a superb student, she is a superb individual. Check her out at Love and Logic

I could not pull a more sheepish grin as I sat down on my chair.

My head wanted to shut down on me.

An inner voice inside my head, completely silenced my rationality screaming out the word, “No.”

I just sat there and quietly nodded.

In lead up to this point of mental powerlessness, we had a discussion between members of my group, trying to figure out what to do for our music project that we had to perform in front of our classmates. We knew we had to do something ‘exceptionally unique’ (ie. make a fool out of ourselves) or else we won’t be able to obtain the desired grade. This was a mini-major project after all. I mean, nobody wants a bad grade, isn’t that an obvious fact of life: high is always better than low.

And eventually our discussion ended with an agreement upon an idea.

That idea triggered my mind to split into two–a rational judgement saying the idea was ridiculous and humiliating while my other half, sweetly seducing my mind with her constant whispering of the letter ‘A.’

With a sigh of self-pity, I remembered a little article I read on the German legend called Faust, the very legend Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe based his most famous work on. Faust is the character that makes a pact with the Devil. Such pacts consist of the Devil’s service in exchange for the person’s soul. I made a pact along those lines when I nodded my pride away.

If a grade costs you your pride, your dignity; what will you do?

Is your grade(s) worth degrading your own self-respect? Is your pride worth your grades?

Is it really worth it?

“The tragedy is that those with the power to do something about it are least affected, whilst those who are most affected are powerless to bring about change. There’s a moral imperative on those of us who emit more than our fair share of carbon to rein in our consumption.”

Nice quote isn’t it? And I bet most of you have already caught on with what I will talk about in this blog entry.

But let me sidetrack a little bit here.

Here in Korea, the Wednesday before last, was the start of the Lunar New Year holidays. I was completly immersed with Lunar calendar that I did not notice the Christian calendar until a few days later. And unfortunately I missed one very important date.

The 6th of February marked Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

Wait a minute, what is Lent?

For the non-Christians out there, let me offer you an explanation on what is arguably the most important event(s) on the Christian calendar. Lent is the 40 day period in lead up to Easter, and it is very significant because it symbolizes the time Jesus Christ spent in the desert resisting and enduring Satan’s Temptations for 40 days and 40 nights. Christians of all denominations, spend this period called Lent, in fasting from food and festivities. Lent is followed by the annual commemorations of Holy week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, then culminated in Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In its essence, Lent is the practice of giving up something so that one can get closer to God.

Now, it doesn’t take a genius to see why it is such an important time of year for Christians all around. Being an Anglican myself, nowadays fasting is more of a choice rather than an obligation and much tend to do some volunteer or charity work instead of fasting on chocolate or candy.

Despite how fitting charity work is during Lent, as well as in preparation towards Holy Week, a senior bishop of the Church of England thought up of something very different and just as brilliant.

An article from the Daily Telegraph covered the story about what is called the Carbon Fast.

And just as its name suggests, instead of giving up on chocolate or beer, it is about fasting on carbon during the 40 day period. The man responsible for this sheer brilliance is called Rt Rev James Jones, the Bishop of Liverpool, who developed the Carbon Fast last year.

Take a look at what Reverend Jones presented to his ministry. A few simple steps designed to help reduce Carbon dioxide emissions and carry out this Carbon Fast.

The list includes:

• avoiding plastic bags
• giving the dishwasher a day off
• insulating the hot water tank
• checking the house for drafts with a ribbon and buying draught excluders

Those taking part in the Carbon Fast will be asked to remove one lightbulb from a prominent place in the home and live without it for 40 days. On the final days of the Fast they will be asked to replace it with a low-energy bulb which over its lifetime will save 60kg of carbon dioxide per year and up to £60 (equivalent to around USD 117.70).

The newspaper also kindly added this statistic on to the article:

It’s estimated that in the UK each person is responsible for 9.5 tons of carbon dioxide per year; in Ethiopia the average is 0.067 tons and in Bangladesh 0.24. Yet the earth can only sustain an estimated 0.8 tons per person.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a Christian, Hindi, Buddist, Islam or Jewish.

The fact is we all live on the same planet. If individuals can change, the world will reflect those changes with ease. It really doesn’t take much to change. You only need to care.

If I asked you about ONE feature film that changed your life in some way, what would be your answer?

If I was asked the same question given above, at first thought I would carelessly say, “I don’t think a film influenced me much.”

After only the smallest contemplation, my answer would change into, “Oh, I know one documentary that is worth watching.”

Second semester, freshmen year I watched this documentary in class, spanish class in fact. I was expecting a normal start to a day and a normal class usually consists of lectures, worksheets and the frequent ‘eye-closing’ caused by the stimulating work done within the classroom. But it was nothing close to that. I noticed we had a substitute filling in and when we were all sitting down mentally prepared for the next hour and a half or so, we were informed of our lesson plan. It was a video. But the thing was, the video had nothing to do with spanish. It was a type of video that you would watch (forced to watch) in a detention to pass time. A politician blabbing on and on about the environment.

The worst thing however, was not the video or the class, it was that this substitute went around waking up students during the course of the documentary and I have to tell you, he was one tenacious bloke. He just didn’t know when to give up.

So reluctantly, sleepily and ‘inconveniently’ I watched it.

About two month after watching this documentary, during the summer, I was in a bookstore in downtown London, browsing through the shelves hoping to find a fitting book that would last a little while. After an hour or so I found a book I never thought I would ever lay my hands on. A beefy tome, much heavier than its looks, caught my eyes and did not let them go. The blurb had words like ‘groundbreaking’ and ‘passionate’ in it. So I got it and to this day, I am greatful that I picked it up.

I was talking about a documentary worth watching and now about a book I got in London. Well, the reason I am doing this is because these two items have a lot in common. It is by the same author, it is about the same topic, it has that initial boring tinge to it, but very rewarding nonetheless and last but not least it IS groundbreaking and passionate.

If you haven’t guessed already, I am talking about Al Gore’s documentary, The Inconvenient Truth and his one of his books called, Earth In the Balance.

“Forging a new common purpose.”

That’s on the very first page of his book. The former vice president has been nothing less than a warrior fighting for the good of earth’s environment. For years he worked tirelessly for the good of our mother earth and spread awareness to world, that we CAN undo the destruction we have caused to the planet, the planet that has been our home for 2 billion years.

I am glad to say that Al Gore has done one hell of a job. Because the world is responding.

The documentary itself was well received by the global community as well as being awarded an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

His prominence as an environmentalist was recognized by the Nobel Institute in Oslo, having been jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with the Intragovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a branch of the United Nations Environment Programme.

The United Nations are drawing up the follow-up protocol that will replace the Kyoto Protocol which will expire in the very near future.

The Global Green Movement has really and truly begun.

A viewing of a documentary, reading a mere book changed my entire view upon my planet. It can be the same way for anyone.

Our planet is on the brinks of passing the point of no return.

Let me emphasize the word, ‘our.’

It is our planet, our home, our civilisation. We are on the balance.

I will end this entry with 60 seconds of brilliance that puts the message out in a very straightfoward manner. It won the grand prize in a competition hosted by the Alliance for Climate Protection and Current TV for the best 60 second video message to raise awareness about climate change.

Enjoy and think about it. It is up to each and every single one of you.