Where to eat for free in Singapore

Nothing is free in Singapore. You even have to pay for the water that you order with your food. No, they do not serve normal water here. Only mineral waters that cost a minimum of $2 are available. So I was pleasantly surprised when I happened to come by this place which serves free food on one of my spiritual pursuits. Here is the address:

Buddhist Lodge,
17 Kim Yam Road
Singapore, 239329
Phone: 6235 8564

This place has been serving free food four times a day for the last 20 years and is still doing so. Since it is a Buddhist charity, only the vegetarian meals are served.

Recently, due to economic recession the visitors to this place have increased. Many Buddhist worshipers and also some unskilled workers visit this place. So if you are down on luck in Singapore then it may be good idea to visit Buddhist Lodge. Besides, this place has huge statues of Buddha and you can join in prayers or meditation there. It is just about 15 minutes (by walking) from Orchard, the main center in Singapore.

1000,000,000 Hungry People

This poster below is a good summary on hunger in the world. Of the 6 billion world population, 1 billion are hungery. Yes, that is right: 1,000,000,000 people are hungry in the world. That is one in six people on the planet are hungery. This WFP report also states that on average one person dies every second due to hunger alone.

In the same world there are indviduals who own private jets. In fact, a small percentage of the people own more than 90% of the world's money.

The nauseating disparity between people may the clearest proof that earth may not be created by God.

Characteristics of Modern Woman By Caroline K. Sherman

It is well known that the condition of woman in the early periods of the world's history was inferior to that of man. During the Middle Ages the tendency was to treat her as a being "enskied and sainted, and to be dealt with in sincerity as with a saint." The disposition in this modern time is to treat her neither as an inferior nor superior to man, but as a being having a status of her own, and not necessarily to be judged in comparison with man. In this paper I speak, therefore, of the condition of woman at the present time, the causes which led to that position, and the possibilities which may result from it.

So long as the political conditions of a country are insecure and its resources limited, woman is obliged to accept the position allotted her, whether it be the low position assigned her by the Orientals and Greeks, or the higher one granted in the Middle Ages. In either case what privilege she enjoyed was not granted as a right, but conceded as a favor. As civilization advances, however, and political conditions become more stable, material resources at the same time being easier of access, woman naturally occupies a place quite different from any she has known hitherto. Those manifold events which mark the change from the mediæval to the modern era, necessarily affected the status of woman. The invention of printing, and with it the diffusion of learning, the discovery of gunpowder, and the changed modes of warfare, the Reformation and its emphasis on the rights of the individual – each of these was significant in opening larger and freer opportunities to woman. The invention of printing meant liberal means of culture for all, woman as well as man, greater range and freedom of thought and, naturally, greater freedom of expression. The discovery of gunpowder meant a death-blow to feudalism – to that system of helpless dependence by which the masses were held as serfs and servants because of the necessity for military protection. The improved modes of warfare gave to the lower as well as to the upper classes opportunity for other occupations, while at the same time the peculiar sentiment of chivalry, as it prevailed in the Middle Ages, died a natural death, since women were no longer to be protected by the right arm of valiant knight, but by the cannon, the musket, and the shell.

The influence of the Reformation was to set a higher value on the good things of the world. Hence the impetus to modern science and the fruitful discoveries and inventions resulting from it, which, perhaps more than anything else, have contributed to the freer and, as we hope, better condition of woman. While, to the praise of the Mediæval Church, it recognized the fact that we must look to spiritual rather than to material discoveries for the highest welfare and happiness, it sometimes neglected the other important fact that spiritual well-being is dependent on physical and intellectual agencies, and that only by the proper use of these can the desired spiritual attainment be made. Protestantism recognized this neglect and directed itself at once to these forces which have reference to the physical side of life, to whatever would increase the sum total of human pleasure and decrease the amount of pain, and the results are, as we all know, marvelous beyond expectation. It is true that in avoiding the mistake which the Mediæval Church had made, Protestantism incurred the danger of going to the opposite extreme, and of regarding physical and intellectual comforts as most important so far as this world goes, while spirituality too often is thought desirable only as a preparation for death.

If this were the necessary and veritable outcome of modern science, we might well question whether the loss were not greater than the gain, especially to the women who partook so fully of the best which the mediæval life had to offer; but every thoughtful person knows that the largest means are best for the highest ends, and that it is only irrational souls who lose sight of final purposes to rest satisfied with what are only means to an end. As it is, all these developments of physical science will, in our opinion, eventually lead to the best results. This being admitted, women can look upon the achievements of science as the important factor which has brought about for them the great changes from a state of helpless dependence to one of desirable self-reliance and more efficient activity. So long as women were compelled by necessity to spin, weave, sew, care for their households and attend the sick, so long their time and hands were fully occupied, leaving little opportunity or strength for other pursuits. This certainly was the case with wives and mothers, while the condition of unmarried women was even less desirable, compelled, as they often were, to suffer the humiliation of receiving a precarious living from strangers, or possibly worse yet, of accepting a humble seat at the table of kindred, for Protestantism did not, as Catholicism did, offer a refuge and a vocation to unmarried women.

The various organizations at the present time afford splendid opportunity for the wise use of surplus time secured by the introduction of machinery, and women are not slow of availing themselves of it since they have learned, what it was not possible for them to know before, the value of organized effort. The worth of organized activity is seen in the various reformatory methods introduced into our hospitals and prisons, by which more humane and refined influences are brought to bear in the treatment of criminals and the insane. It is seen in educational matters where women occupy positions of trust, not simply because of the desirability of having women to co-operate with men in public affairs, but because in many cases these women represent the sentiment of a large body of thoughtful women whose opinions it would not be politic to ignore. Nor is it only among the so-called leisure class that there is the disposition for self-improvement and for these advantages that come from wisely-organized effort. I have been surprised as I have talked with members of the Knights of Labor, and others of the wage-earning class, women of comparatively little culture, perhaps, but with an earnest purpose to make the absolute best of themselves and of the circumstances which too often dwarf rather than develop them. They, too, are disposed to let the old routine of personal matters and petty gossip give place to questions of wider scope. They, too, are taking an interest in public matters, knowing by painful experience how closely the decision of these questions may affect them, their homes and especially their children. And already their interest in these broader affairs has obtained results in a practical way. Their demand that children born of the abject poor shall not be defrauded of their childhood, but that they shall have opportunity for education, is meeting a response all over this country, not only from public sentiment, but from public sentiment as expressed by law. In these, as in so [Page 766] many other philanthropic aims and purposes, intelligent women of all classes are heartily engaged, and the unity of aim, the common purpose in public matters, especially in matters which bear directly on the home, is one of the happiest results of the enlarged opportunity which this modern time affords. It not only promises benefit to all classes of women by giving to each the moral support of the other, but it tends also to do away with the artificial system of caste among women, which is almost inevitable where there is a division of interests, and an inability to recognize the principle that the good of each is bound up in the good of all.

The strength which comes and shall come from this wider union of interests and influences can hardly be estimated. We know that the power of woman's influence has been acknowledged in all times; that poets have sung it, and men have delighted to echo the song. Again and again the refrain comes: "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that moves the world," but that was the influence of individual women and of woman in the abstract. It was very intangible, very indefinite, limited in the main to a narrow circle, or affected a wide range only through narrower, naturally losing force, as all power does, by the greater number of media through which it is transmitted before reaching the desired end. Now for the first time that influence is taking on a more definite form, is more surely felt. That it will increase instead of decreasing is but natural, since "it is not the genius of civilized institutions to take away social or political rights that have once been granted." That woman's influence will radically change the character of public affairs is not to be anticipated, since the intellect of woman does not differ essentially from that of man, and it is these two forces, the intellectual and the moral, which are to be the controlling forces in the future. The greatest changes and the greatest advantage arising from the new order of things will be to woman herself. The enlarged opportunity of the present time means for her, first of all, the privilege of gaining an independent livelihood, or, in other words, of deciding for herself the direction of her life. How much this signifies, and what a unique privilege this has been hitherto, they know best who are most familiar with the social condition of woman from barbaric times to the present. There was no choice, so to speak. Marriage was almost the sole opportunity of gaining or obtaining a desirable living, and even then the decision was usually made by parents, brothers or near kindred, and not by the person whose fate was the most concerned. If, as in more recent times, the woman was allowed the choice, it was often necessity rather than free choice which directed her, and too often she was compelled to be governed by motives of prudence rather than inclination.

The narrow means and necessarily contracted habits of the woman who remained unmarried made her an object of silent contempt, not from any fault of her own, but because outside of wedded life and the interests of rearing a family there was no industry that offered a worthy compensation for her work, and her whole thought was necessarily bent on a narrow economy that could save where it could not earn. The manifold employments that are now open to women, employments that are rapidly increasing year by year, offer for the first time the glad opportunity of avocations that in their way command respect as marriage commands respect. We have only to call the names of Harriet Hosmer, Clara Barton, and others, and proof is at once given. Many less widely known testify to the same effect, and the day is fast passing away when women will be obliged to accept marriage either for the sake of support or to avoid the contempt once attached to the unmarried. This freedom of choice naturally increases the respect given to woman, whether the choice she makes is in favor of marriage, or whether she decides to follow a profession. The woman who accepts a husband out of pure and free inclination, conscious that this union is for her the surest opportunity for happiness and usefulness, must stand much higher in the estimation of the husband than the one who marries simply because there is for her no other alternative, while the woman who is wedded to her profession in the thought of bettering her own and the world's condition must gain the respect which is naturally accorded to those who have an earnest purpose in life and steadfastly adhere to it.

I know it may be said that this large opportunity for women does not necessarily imply greater improvement on their part. It may be said that women in the future as in the past, will still continue to live in the narrow routine of a circumscribed life or, if their ambition takes a wider range, it is in the direction of richer apparel, daintier food and costlier living. It may be claimed, too, that in many cases the great advantage offered by the so-called modern improvements have only led to greater complexity of living and still greater perplexity, and that the added leisure furnishes opportunity for added frivolities. The justice of the claim is admitted, but at the same time I am right in refusing to admit that the latter class of women are the representative women of our time. On the contrary, it is the women who are making the absolute best of themselves and of their fortunate surroundings who are the truly representative women of our time. These evince the latent bent, the tendency of the masses, and the success possible to all. A tree is to be judged not alone by its fruits, but by its fairest fruits, because these show its possibilities, these show what the others might have been if earth and air and sunshine had been graciously disposed, and the noble-minded women who are availing themselves of the glad privileges of the present time are the truly representative women because they are those who are shaping the influences which are affecting the masses beneath them, and they are representative women also because all other women would desire the higher rational life if they only had a consciousness of the joy which the rational life alone can give.

If there be any fear lest this higher life, as we are pleased to term it, and these broader opportunities for women may lead them in time to the extreme of ignoring limitations of family life, and of preferring the more public career of business or a profession, so that family life would become distasteful to the extent that the welfare and perhaps even the existence of the race would be in danger, we can reassure ourselves with the fact that nature will take care of all that without any anxiety on our part, for "nowhere is she so sensitive to encroachments as in those matters which lie at the foundation of life." We may cheat, distort and circumvent her in other respects, but nowhere is she so keen, cunning, so absolute and imperative as in this determination for life, this will to live, as Schopenhauer expresses it. Nor need there be any fear lest these higher opportunities open to women shall take away their tenderness, their confiding trust, or any of these finer qualities which are usually termed "womanly;" for the grace which comes from strength is far more graceful than that which comes from languor; the tenderness which comes from efficient sympathy is no less tender because of its efficiency, and the trust which is based on a full recognition of all that love and trust and self-surrender imply is certain to be more permanent than the trust that is based on ignorance.

I know the sweet illusions that still adhere to the idea of chivalrous devotion on the part of man, and of clinging dependence on the part of woman, and this might be well perhaps if men were always strong and women always young and beautiful; yet even here it is questionable whether it were possible for a woman to find lasting happiness merely as a passive recipient of loving admiration, however ardent, for so long as a woman has a rational and spiritual nature, so long she fails of highest happiness if these are lost sight of. And further, grant that these conditions of devotion upon the part of man and clinging dependence on the part of woman could be permanent, it is questionable whether such a state would be healthful to either mind or body, since this form of selfishness, like any other, is liable to die of its own excesses. Furthermore, the fates of the Juliets, the Ophelias, the Desdemonas, and of countless hosts of other women who were all that is gentle, sweet and confiding, does not lead to the belief that the fate of such women is at all enviable. On the other hand, the tragic consequences of all this emotional fervor, this unrestrained expression of feeling, especially when combined with artless simplicity and utter ignorance of what is worthy to be loved, which, strange to say, men and women are so slow to learn; for this frenzied emotion and intensity is still hallowed with the name of love, its dicta are regarded infallible, and that too in the most important concerns of life.

If the privileges now afforded to women shall lead them to more realistic views in regard to the affections, incalculable results for good must in eviably follow; for there is no truth that men and women need to see more plainly than the fact that the emotions and the affections are to be kept under wise control, and they are of value only as they are under control, and that the infallibility of love is not in proportion to its intensity, but rather in proportion to its clearsightedness. How plainly Dante saw this truth, and how firmly he was guided by it is evident from what he says in the "Vita Nuova," after describing his first meeting with Beatrice: "I say that from that time love quite governed my soul, and with so safe and undisputed lordship that I had nothing left for it but to do all his bidding continually. And albeit her image that was with me always was an exaltation of love to subdue me, it was yet of so perfect a quality that it never allowed me to be overruled by love without the faithful counsel of reason whensoever such counsel was useful to be heard." I know the tendency of women is to live in their feelings; still this tendency need not be abnormally cultivated, as it has been in times past, and above all things this emotional state should not be considered the ideal condition for woman, for in whatever way we may regard woman, whether as an individual of and for herself, or whether we regard her as a helpmate for man, in either case it is the rational life that gives a permanent worth to the emotional life. Desirable and indispensable as the latter may be, its best significance is in its subordination to the rational. Shakespeare knew this well, and while he has portrayed every phase of the emotions with all the allurements and attractions which undisciplined ardor knows how to offer, he has not failed to show the evil results which are sure to follow when reason fails to obtain control. The Juliets, the Ophelias and the Desdemonas perish, the victims of their own impulses, but women like Portia, whose wealth of feeling was not under the sway of caprice, loved, not only to their own advantage, but to that of their households. No submission is more womanly than that of Portia to her husband, but it is the submission of strength and not of weakness.

Of the many old superstitions in regard to woman there is one which has not entirely passed away, and that is that women by a kind of intuition or divination have a feeling for truth, which is an easy substitute for the unremitting labor and continual mental activity that is essential to the logical comprehension of truth. Hence the inexactness of women and their inability to tell the truth, not from lack of moral sincerity, but because they do not recognize the fact that a clear apprehension of the truth is not a free natural gift, but is an acquired ability, that is gained only by the most rigorous mental discipline. It would be quite as easy to gain strong physical power without continuous exercise of the muscles as to gain intellectual and moral strength without the constant activity of the moral and intellectual faculties, and women can never expect to arrive at an accurate knowledge of any subject so long as they are willing at a moment's notice to give hasty answers to the most profound problems, social, economical, religious or philosophical, merely to follow some impulse that with them takes the place of intelligent conviction. So long as this is the case, so long as feeling takes the place of accurate thinking, women can not have that subtlety of analysis and sustained power of reasoning which is absolutely essential to the correct investigation of any subject, philosophical or scientific.

And so of those other mists of feeling which obscure the problems with which women of today have to deal, especially the disposition to let personal matters decide rather than the consideration of broad universal principles. It is not strange that this is the case, since women have been governed so long by motives of personal considerations. Yet if they will share in the larger life of today it will be by a recognition of the value of underlying principles, and not through the old-time artifice, intrigue and use or abuse of personal influence. Is it not a little singular that while patience, one of the most significant virtues in the Middle Ages, and one considered essentially feminine, that in the modern time women are restlessly impatient? Here I should make a distinction and say that they are patient under inevitable physical ills, but are [Page 769] exceedingly impatient under moral wrong. At first thought this may seem a virtue rather than otherwise, for so long as the bad can be made good, and the good made better, no one has a right to be passively indifferent.

The difficulty lies in women failing to perceive that the process of the universe can not be violently hastened; that the moral world as well as the physical has its laws which must be regarded if success is to be attained. It is not easy for women to see that what ought to be may be practically impossible at present, and, indeed, in many cases can be reached only by the slowest processes, but this impatient haste on the part of women will brook no delay. They have a restless, feverish desire for activity, and inability to stay quiet, an irritable impatience to accomplish something and to see immediate returns for the amount of energy expended. Increased opportunities for philanthropic and reformatory effort have added to the intensity of this impatience. Seeing, as they believe, the Kingdom of Heaven to be within reach, they are ready to take it by violence, and so defeat the object in view. It should be said, however, that within the last few years there is evidence of decided change in this respect. Already the disciplinary power of systematic thought and study is making itself felt among women who have availed themselves of it, and instead of bending their energies exclusively in trying to alleviate poverty, squalor and degradation, we find many of them making earnest inquiries as to the cause of all this poverty and vice – trying to find out the underlying causes which bring about the need of charity and almsgiving, for that there should be continued poverty among men and women sound in mind and body proves a radical injustice somewhere. And women as well as men should make it their duty, if not pleasure, to know where the evil lies, and apply the remedy there instead of resting content with the system so long in vogue of almsgiving out of ignorant pity and useless sympathy. It is a question much discussed at the present time what effect the increase of thought and study will have upon the health of women. Doctors disagree upon the subject, but meanwhile women are going right along solving the problem in a practical way. Whether the answer will be in the negative or affirmative is not yet apparent, but this much is certain, as Professor Morris has so aptly put it, "Patient thought and study are not half so perilous to one's nerves and brains as are the fret and worry incident to the strife for the possession of the thousand and one now alleged necessaries of decent living. Genuinely patient thought and study are as much a sedative as an excitant, for they bring the repose of strength." So far as my own observation goes, it is not the stimulus of thought and study which works the ills of which physicians complain today as it is the irrational life which women are disposed to live, simply because material productions have increased so rapidly that it is comparatively easy for nearly every home to have an excess of luxuries, which, instead of adding to the well-being of those who possess them, are often an increased perplexity and aggravation.

Until our homes are simpler and less an object of care and anxiety, until our dress is determined by beauty, health and utility rather than by fashion or caprice, and until our tables are ordered with regard to physical well-being, we do wrong to lay the various forms of nervous prostration to the account of thought and study. Even in cases where household luxuries are not an occasion of fret and worry there is danger of pernicious influence from them, since they lead one to rest content with the lower forms of happiness rather than to seek the higher. The sense of vision is the most tyrannical of all our senses, and few women have it under wise control. I would not wish to advocate stoicism and puritanism in the home, but this love of luxury, this gratification of the senses tends to enervate and make us satisfied with ourselves and our surroundings, forgetful of the facts that it is in the activity of our powers rather than in the passive gratification of them that we eventually come to that real satisfaction which alone is the object of highest desire.

In reflecting upon the broader opportunities open to women, the question arises as to what effect they will have upon religion and the church. Hitherto women have been the conservative element in the church and its chief support. Evidently a change [Page 770] in this respect is going on, and remembering the effect which the logical keenness of the Mary Shelleys, the Harriet Martineaus, the George Eliots has had upon their religion, it is not strange that there is serious questioning as to what will become of the church in the future, and whether religion is to be thrown aside as a thing of the past if women are no longer to be its chief supporters. But to my mind there is little cause for apprehension on this score. So long as there is in humanity a spirit that impels one to the knowledge and performance of practical duties, so long as there is a desire for such an explanation of the universe as shall give life, aim and meaning, so long as there is a love for the truth which shall make one free, so long there need be no questioning but what religion in some form will claim the deepest interests of humanity, and whatever form that religion may take, women in the future as in the past will give to it loyal fidelity and faithful service.

In conclusion, let me add that if in my paper I have said some things of women that seemed ungracious, it is not because I do not appreciate women or because I do not know them – for I know woman well, the good, the bad and the indifferent, and have hope for all. If what I have said shall lead any to the higher rational life of which I have spoken, the object of my paper will be accomplished.

So why should you go to Bhutan? By Watashi

“So why should I go to Bhutan?” I have been asked this questions several times during my stay outside Bhutan. In fact, if I got a dollar every time someone asks me this question I think I would be a rich man by now. So here I will try to reason out why you should go to Bhutan.

Bhutan is a tiny country (only about 46,000 sq. km) with about 1 million people. It is situated in the foothill of the world’s greatest mountains, the Himalayas. It is bordered on the north by Tibet (now part of China) and on the other sides by India. Bhutan is a very INDEPENDENT country. It became a kingdom in 1907 (i.e. 40 years before India got independence from British rule). Before that different parts of Bhutan were ruled by different local governors. I am so happy to point out that Bhutan was never colonized either by British or Japanese. Although small, Bhutan has lot to offer the travelers. Some of these reasons why you should visit Bhutan are listed below (not in any particular order though):

1. Bhutan is great place but you must love mountains. If you love nature and wilderness, then there is no country better than Bhutan for you. Bhutan is not at all industrialized and the wilderness will just take your breathe away. About 60% of Bhutan is covered with forests. It is the government’s policy to keep it that way at all times to come. Due to the strict environmental policies of the government, many rare plants and flowers are found in the Bhutanese forests. Recently, Bhutan has been ranked within top 10 in biodiversity in the world.

2. If you are looking for a happy country then you have to go to Bhutan. Bhutan acquired 13th position in Happiness Index (in a survey conducted by the New Economics Foundation). With it number, Bhutan is formally the happiest country in south Asia. This is no surprise because Gross National Happiness (GNH) is the official policy of the government of Bhutan. In fact, Bhutan is the only in the world where the happiness of the citizens are incorporated as part of the government policy. So do not be surprised if you see all smiling and happy people wherever you visit in Bhutan.

3. If you are searching for inner peace or spiritual enlightenment, then Bhutan is the right place for you. About 90% of the people in Bhutan are Buddhists. There are many monasteries, where you can spend some time to find peace and inner strength. If you belong to other faiths you have nothing to worry, the Bhutanese constitution grants equal rights for all religions. So you are free to practice whatever religion you want in the peaceful mountains of Bhutan.


4. If you are a physically adventurous type then Bhutan is the place for you. The Bhutan travel guides especially mentions that Bhutan is not for the “faint hearted”. This is true because most places in Bhutan are above 2000 m above the mean sea level with harsh climate and rugged terrain. However, if you like mountain trekking then you are in the right place.

5. Bhutanese government is very careful about environment pollution and that is why you will surely enjoy pollution free environment no matter which part of the country you visit.

6. Currently, well developed infrastructures are limited in Bhutan. In addition, Bhutan believes in sustaining the environment. Hence, the number of tourists is restricted. On the plus side, this has resulted in low volume but high quality tourism. Bhutan is not over run by tourists.

7. Bhutan is a safe and politically stable country. In Bhutan, riots and vandalism are unheard of. The government goes to great lengths to ensure the safety of the foreign visitors.

8. Bhutan is a great healing place for the wounded hearts. Demi Moore traveled to Bhutan after divorcing from Bruce Willis. Senator John McCain also visited Bhutan after losing the election to Obama. I also heard that Richard Gere went to Bhutan after splitting from supermodel Cindy Crawford.

9. If you are a famous celebrity and you want to escape from the limelight and live a normal human life then Bhutan is the place for you. Unless you are some rebirths of a great Buddhist leader (like Dalai Lama), no one will bother to take your picture or ask for autographs in Bhutan. This was the reason why two super stars of the Chinese cinema, Tony Leung and Carina Lau tied their knots in Bhutan.

10. Bhutan has recently become the world’s youngest democracy. The fundamental rights of a democratic nation are all uphold in Bhutan. Although Bhutan became democracy in the last 2 years, the ideals of democracy you see in action in every village and town is highly admirable.

Having visited quite a number of places around the world and comparing those countries with my own nation, I have come to the conclusion that the main reason that you (as foreigners) should visit Bhutan is that the “Bhutanese people love foreigners”. Bhutanese people do not see foreigners as job snatchers, thugs, sex tourists, religious propagandists, inferior beings, etc. However, I cannot say the same thing about many countries that I have visited. Bhutanese will welcome you wherever you go, with curiosity, sincerity and some degree of innocence. I am certain that this is something that only happens in remote Bhutan. I think we all want to travel to places, where we are welcomed. It would be futile and meaningless to use one’s hard earned money to travel to a foreign place with finest of foods, tallest of buildings and grandest of fashion, if the locals in that country frown on you like you are a leper.

Many tourists who visit Bhutan are regulars. They keep coming back year after year in spite of the limited tourist’s facilities in Bhutan and high tourist’s fees. I think the main reason why they come back is the sincerity, simplicity, innocence and the smiles of the Bhutanese people that have captured their hearts.

Hypocrisy, the ultimate turn off for me

I am turned off by arrogance, ignorance, inefficiency, greed, impoliteness and racism. But nothing pisses me more than hypocrisy. Ultimately we are all human beings and we all bleed the same color. On the physical level, we all need the same basic food, clothing and shelter. On the emotional level we all need to be loved and accepted regardless of race, creed, religion or economic status. Yet, we all play different roles in our society, (hopefully) determined by the contend of our character and our capability. So some of us are bound to be leaders while some take on the roles of followers. Thus, I think it is of utmost importance that the leaders (especially, the public figures) ought to have unquestionable integrity and honesty. But this is often lacking in the so called developing nations. In its place, hypocrisy is a common trait commonly seen in these leaders, who do not respect the public. Hypocrisy, when found out, not only robs the people’s confidence in the hypocrite but also kills the hopes and dreams of good citizens.

Shiny Happy People

Bhutanese Marriage Act

According to Bhutanese Marriage Act (2009), a father at fault in a divorce case should pay full child support allowance of 20 percent of his income until the child reaches 18 years. Child support allowance can go to a maximum of 40 percent of the father’s income for two children. If the mother is at fault both parents pay 50 percent of the allowance.

The above paragraph is from the Kuensel (November 2009). It makes no sense whatsoever. It is a bullish law that any law abiding citizen can see the hypocrisy of it all. Where is the equality in that law? Seeing that rule you would think that Bhutan has more rights for women than men. What a wonderful country of equality!

Now read this. "A child born to Bhutanese father and foreign mother is a citizen of Bhutan. But a child with foreign father and Bhutanese mother is not a Bhutanese citizen."

Who are these people making these rules? Absolute nuts!

A Rural Lifestyle By Jeff

[This article is obviously written by a Chilip married to a Thai girl and living in a Thai village. The story depicts a rural setting similar to that of a Bhutanese village. That is why I posted the articale here. ]

Well, I just want to stay in touch and let you know how I am and how you can get a hold of me to let me know how things are there. To start, it's HOT here, and humid. My first 3-4 weeks here it was 100+ and humidity near that, but lately we've had rain enough to cool things off into the 85-90 range, although it does cool off nicely at night. I do live in a jungle, so what can I expect. I live in Northwestern Thailand in a small, rural village where they grow rice and raise chickens and Brahma type cattle. You know, with the humps on their backs. On a map just find Chiang Mai, the largest city in Northern Thailand. We're about 150 miles south of that. If your map is detailed enough, find Phrae, or Lampang. We're close to those.

People are very poor here, living on a subsistence level, but we have built a very nice house, and thanks to my retirement money and savings, have everything we want, mainly because it is quite inexpensive to live here. I could never have retired and stayed in the states. I live with my wife and her two children, a boy and girl. Thom, the boy is 16 and Thai the girl is 10.

There's not much to do here, in our village of Pah Mo, but we can drive about 20 minutes to a small town that has a market and about a 6 block long main street holding bank, and a number of small stores. About a 40 minute drive takes us to the next larger town which has many more stores. It probably has about ten to fifteen thousand people, and has pretty much everything. including a fairly modern looking supermarket, a department store, a business district of about 10 - 12 square blocks, and a few schools. If we want to travel an hour and half, there is a pretty big city with a movie theatre and mall complex that has a few restaurants, including a Burger King and a store called Big C which is like a Big K-Mart.

I'm slowly picking up the language with the emphasis on s-l-o-w-l-y. It's a hard language to learn, especially hard to write, since the characters are totally different from ours. Here's a sample: ???? Very cool looking, I think, but, hard to learn. As for the food, that's just as difficult. In the village here they gather, fish or hunt a great deal of it. I have personally eaten food containing snake and snails, mostly because I want to try everything, but I stop at raw meat in a bowl of blood and the occasional dog that gets eaten. Two entrees that my wife does not eat or prepare, thank God. Much of what she makes is quite good, and there is a small local restaurant that prepares a few really good noodle dishes. It's a stretch calling it a restaurant. It is open on three sides , has a concrete floor, picnic type tables and benches. Chickens stroll through as you eat. The cook often has to shoo them off the counter, and I eat with one hand and shoo flies with the other, but.. the food's pretty good. Thai cooking usually combines sweet, sour, and HOT! I'm talking 5 alarm fire here. I literally cannot touch some of the dishes to my tongue. Some of the fruits are very exotic and delicious, but many of the vegetables, leaves, stems and roots they cook with are very different flavors from anything I have ever experienced. Oh, did I mention rice? Well, there's plain white rice, and sticky rice, which is eaten with your hands out of a community basket, rolled up in a ball and dipped into various bowls of food. There's rice in the morning, rice at noon and rice at night. Like westerners, they eat three times per day, but make no distinction between the three meals in what they eat. There's nothing like eggs or cereal for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and meat and veggies for dinner. You could just as likely have a bowl of fish head soup, sticky rice, and a plate of leaves and stems for breakfast as for lunch or dinner. It's all dinner to them! By the way, I've started preparing some of my own food. I buy a large can of Quaker oat's at the supermarket when we go into town, and eggs are abundant, all "free range"! Chickens are running all over, and I can make western style meals from some of the same ingredients used in Thai cooking, except for the snakes and dogs. We were driving home from town one day when a rather long snake, I would say about 6 foot, was crossing the road in front of us. My wife, Thom and Thai all pointed excitedly at it shouting "gnu, gnu" or snake, snake. I didn't know if they wanted me to brake so I wouldn't hit it, or if they just wanted to make sure I saw it, until my wife said "can eat", "aroi", delicious. They wanted me to run over it. I did, no preservation of wildlife here, and Thom leapt from the car practically before I could stop, in order to capture it. Unfortunately, yeah right, it got away into the jungle growth alongside the road, sporting a new set of tire tracks.

Many of the local women bathe and wash clothes in the river. We are without water about 1 day per week for about 6-10 hours, and electric has gone out on us twice now in the 6 weeks I've been here.

I know some of this sounds a little crazy / dismal, but the benefits far outweigh the negative.

To get away, we can go to Chiang Mai, which is about a 3 hour car ride on a decent road, or a 6 hour train ride on a train circa 1930, that stops at every little village on route. Chiang Mai is a pretty large city, with a good selection of very nice hotels, to downright 5 star and a zillion restaurants. It is a real cultural hub for northern Thailand, mixing Chinese, Laotian and Burmese cultures. Maybe you've heard of the "Golden Triangle" notorious for it's drug smuggling. Well, this is it!

Bangkok is further, about a 10 hour train or 11/2 hour flight, but is a city of 8 million and as you might guess has everything you may desire, and then some. It's a very fun place to visit with Moo Thai boxing, floating markets, Buddhist Temples, Thai massage, movies, malls, commuter rail system. It's sort of an Asian New York or Chicago.. We can eat at small open air restaurants for about 85 cents a piece to rather nice restaurants for about $3 to $6 per person. In other words, a very reasonable holiday getaway can be had.

Southern Thailand is surrounded by the Bay of Thailand, the Andaman Sea and the South China Sea, and has a plethora of beautiful tropical islands and beaches in resort type settings.

Thai people are, by in large, a very happy, open, loving people. They don't call this "The Land of Smiles" for nothing. As a matter of fact, Long, a local lady who sells the lottery tickets stopped by the other day, and my wife, Pin, who she had stopped to see, was working in her sister's rice field. That didn't bother Long one bit. She sat down with a big grin on her face and we spent an hour smiling, laughing, and trying to speak to each other. She doesn't speak a word of English, and my Thai is severely limited, but we did a lot of smiling, nodding, and laughing at each other's attempts at communication. I finally showed her the flash cards I had made to study Thai from and she had a ball showing them to me one at a time and correcting my pronunciation. You try pronouncing a word that starts with "ng" !!

Note: This was a letter written to me by my good friend a few months ago. I went to his wedding last January in this hill tribe area, and it was insane, and I wondered what he was doing. He is now staying with me in San Diego for 6 weeks, taking care of business. When he showed up I couldn't believe how thin he had gotten. He just couldn't stand the crap they were gathering in the hills to eat, and didn't have the nerve to tell his wife that either he or she had to start cooking some other food. He's been grocery shopping every day here, and gained over 15 pounds his first 3 weeks here and is back in good health.

I'm going to his village to visit him in a couple months, and promised I would go shopping before I go up into the hills and bring something that wasn't gathered in the forest. Just a reminder folks, you don't have to lose yourself or your personality when you are in Thailand. Don't depend on the woman to make everything you like all the time. You can shop and cook your own food when you want. And for God's sake learn the language. My friend feels like such an outsider in his village and losing his personality, because he can't joke around and participate in the conversation. Thailand is lovely, but don't lose yourself there.

Top 10 Japanese universities

I have often been asked to name good universities in Japan. Here are the top 10 Japanese universities. While University of Tokyo (UT) is usually ranked as #1 in Japan and also in Asia, Kyoto University has produced more nobel laureattes than UT. There are also some other good universities, which are not in the ranking due to their small size compared to those given below, but offer good education. Hitotsubashi is on such university.

1 University of Tokyo
2 Kyoto University
3 Osaka University
4 Tokyo Institute of Technology
5 Tohoku University
6 Keio University
7 Kyushu University
8 Nagoya University
9 Hokkaido University
10 Tsukuba University

Why Third World countries are poor (By Luc Loraine)

[This article tries to reason why some countries are rich while others are poor. This map is very interesting. It may serve as a basis of racism .]

Most rich countries are in the North of the globe, and most poor countries are in the South, but it’s not geography that causes wealth or poverty. After all, Australia and New Zealand are part of the Southern hemisphere, and both are doing fine. You couldn’t say this of Papua New Guinea, which is the Asian country closest to Australia and New Zealand.

A superficial view is to blame racial differences. Black Africa is the poorest and most disordered part of the world, and Haiti, with an almost entirely black population, is the poorest country of the Americas. But the coincidence is accidental.

What makes some countries rich, and others prone to poverty is not related to skin color or racial factors. Many immigrants from poor nations do very well in the US and Canada (though one has to admit that both countries are likely to make immigration easy only for the best and the brightest of those who hail from Third World countries).

It is also not the presence or lack of natural resources what makes a country rich or poor in the long run. Japan is a country with very limited natural resources, and it has been the richest country in Asia for a long time. On the other hand, it is easy to predict that some Third World countries that currently are rich because of immense reserves of natural wealth while not being burdened with large populations, will slide back when the natural resources are depleted.

But why are the people of some countries doing well, in spite of the destruction brought by lost wars, and in spite of the lack of natural resources, or an unfavorable climate?

It’s wrong to search for just one answer. There are many aspects that determine how well, or haw badly, a country will fare economically.

Some aspects relate to the attitudes of people. Other aspects are just of a matter of the political system (think North and South Korea). And I assume that in the coming world, with an ever higher degree of globalization, providing a favorable political and social environment will become ever more relevant.

Educational systems certainly play a role. Richer countries typically have better educational systems, and the discrepancy normally reaches back more than just a generation or two.

Furthermore, in some cultures, parents and the society put more value on education than in others. Societies that have been influenced by Confucian teaching, from Singapore to Korea, will likely feature more educational drill than, for example, Islamic societies.

I cannot, and don’t want to attempt to, list all the aspects that determine whether a country is relatively rich or relatively poor. I really only want to discuss some aspects that have come to my mind.

THE COMMON GOOD

One aspect that determines the likelihood of economic success in a given society is the emphasis, or lack of emphasis, that is put, on the common good.

A cultural mentality that emphasizes self-sacrifice for the common good has played a major role in the economic development of Japan and other East Asian nations in the second part or the 20th century.


From the perspective of the individual with advanced self-cognition, emphasizing the common good (and therefore solidarity) sometimes makes sense, and sometimes it doesn’t. When emphasizing the common good results in an advantage for the individual during his life time, it is philosophically sound for the individual to act in solidarity. When such an advantage cannot be derived during a person’s lifetime, or when such an advantage cannot be realistically expected, it makes better philosophical sense for the individual to emphasize his own good, an not the common good.

ETHNIC HOMOGENITY

Psychological factors depend, for example, on the ethnic fabric of a country. If a society is ethnically homogenous to a very high degree (as are, for example, Japan and South Korea), it will be more likely that individuals will strongly identify with the community, and thus be willing to emphasize the common good.

The lack of ethnic homogeneity, to a certain degree, explains why the economies of countries of sub-Saharan Africa fare so poorly. Africa is by far the ethnically most fractionated continent of the earth, and practically no country there has boundaries that match ethnic territories. The people primarily identify with their clans, and beyond their clans, they identify with their ethnic relatives (by and large those who speak the same language). People don’t identify with their central governments, and not even with the organizational structures of the town they live in. This creates an atmosphere that isn’t conducive to economic development. Hence, these countries are poor and will likely stay poor.


IDENTIFICATION WITH TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES

Countries with respected traditional authorities are in a better position. In countries like Thailand and Japan, where old monarchies are revered, they contribute to the identification of individual members of society with a common good, represented by the monarchy. By contrast, many of the poorest countries of the world are so-called republics where there isn’t even a respected presidency.

Yes, there are numerous other factors that determine economic success; but other factors being equal or just comparable, the degree to which the individual members of emphasize the common good reliably predicts how well a society will fare economically.

ROAD TRAFFIC AS INDICATOR

One can measure the degree to which, in daily life, the individual members of a society value the common good through a simple indicator: road traffic

When a large number of participants in road traffic are willing to give way because it makes sense for traffic flow overall, people uphold the common good versus individual advantages. The opposite is a me-first attitude, even at red lights. Traffic chaos indicates little respect for the common good, as well as the inability of the authorities to implement rules of the common good against me-first traffic participants. Either way, traffic chaos indicates a decreased likelihood for successful economic development, while countries in which road traffic discipline is observed will usually do much better.

Traffic discipline is excellent in Northern Europe and North America, which goes hand in hand with countries in these locations being the richest in the world. Traffic discipline is better in Bangkok than in Manila or Jakarta, which is in line with the development progress in the respective countries over the past decades. Traffic rules are largely ignored in much of sub-Saharan Africa.

OVER-EMPHASIZING THE COMMON GOOD

I have indicated above that societies are all the more likely to prosper the more its members are willing to emphasize the common good over individual advantage, even to the point of self-sacrifice, which, from the perspective of self-cognition, is wrong.

Unfortunately, Christianity and Islam have both heavily benefited from the willingness of its disciples to give their lives for the ideals of their religions.

Where the Third World is first (By Anonymous)

There are plenty of statistics about childhood in the Third World, showing that the struggle for survival is long and hard. But in the rich world, children can suffer from a different kind of poverty –of the spirit. For instance, one Western country alone now sees 14,000 attempted suicides every year by children under 15, and one child in five needs professional psychiatric attention.

There are many good things about childhood in the Third World. Take the close and constant interaction between children and their parents, relatives and neighbours. In the West, the very nature of work puts distance between adults and children. But in most Third World villages mother and father do not go miles away each day to do abstract work in offices, shuffling paper to make money mysteriously appear in banks. Instead, the child sees mother and father, relations and neighbours working nearby, and often shares in that work.

A child growing up in this way learns his or her role through participation in the community’s work: helping to dig or build, plant or water, attend to animals or look after babies –rather than through playing with water and sand in kindergarten, building with construction toys, keeping pets or playing with dolls.

Third World children are not usually shut up indoors, still less in highrise apartments. Instead of dangerous roads, "keep-off-the-grass" signs and "don’t speak to strangers", there is often a sense of freedom to wander and play. Parents can see their children outside rather than observe them anxiously from ten floors up.

Of course twelve million children under five still die every year through malnutrition and disease. But childhood in the Third World is not all bad.

What is love?

Love is that intense happiness that you feel when you are with the one you love or when you think of that person. It makes you want to be a better person. It makes everything around you and everything you do, pleasant. When you are truly in love, your partner is always there for you and will love you for the way you are and will not make unreasonable demands. Love overcomes all of life’s challenges. Trust and to be trusted are the true foundations of love. However, if your love lacks trust, then it is cancerous and it will die out very quickly.

Singapore, the Ranked City

Everything is ranked in this tiny-island-city country called Singapore. There is nothing random here.
 Singapore’s airline is ranked No. 1 in the world in 2008.
 Singapore city (the Garden City as it is popularly known) is ranked as one of the greenest cities. There’s a strict cap on the number of vehicles allowed on the island, and there are fees for driving in downtown zones.
 Singapore city is ranked as one of the cleanest cities. Spitting is banned; first-time violators may be fined $611, while repeat offenders might find their picture published in the newspapers. Littering is also verboten ($611 or community service), as is smoking in public places ($611). The subway stations could pass for hospitals, and even restrooms are ranked by cleanliness. Remember to flush or, yes, you may get fined up to $92.
 Street food stalls are all graded. There are more than 120 centers—with a total of 16,000 stalls—all over the city. All the food stalls are again ranked and graded: A (for good food and hygiene), B (for okay) and C (for not good) and the owner have to display the grades on the sign board at all times.
 Singapore has been ranked as the world's third top convention city in 2003 by the International Congress & Convention Association (ICCA).
 Singapore is the world's easiest place to do business
 Singapore’s oldest university, NUS is ranked 20 and its faulty of engineering is raked No. 9 and MBA program ranked No. 30 in the world.

Learn to say “Thank You”

It seems to me that saying “thank you” is so hard for a great many people. The other day, a group of college students were shouting for the bus to stop, even though the bus had already passed the bus-stop. Actually as per rule, the driver could drive on. But out of goodwill, the driver stopped the bus and let in the students. To my surprise none of the students said, “thank you” to the bus driver. They simply went inside the bus without a single word of gratitude. This kind of attitude always upsets me. How much does it cost to shout out a little “thank you”? A simple “thank you” makes people feel good. It makes them feel acknowledged and accepted. On the other hand, not saying thank you (especially when the person truly deserves) can make a person feel rejected and ignored. So I ask you all wonderful folks: do remember to say “thank you”. Say “thank you” when other people point out your mistake because you can’t possibly know everything. Say “thank you” when people do things for you no matter how small it is.

Nothing is impossible for Obama

When Obama ran for presidency, I thought he could never win. First and foremost, he was black and he had such humble background traceable to a tiny village in Kenya. There had never been a black president in the history of America. But he proved me wrong. He proved that you could be anyone you wanted. A colored man becoming the head of the world’s most powerful nation is simply amazing to say the least. As a Fulbright Fellow, I am always grateful to this nation for giving me a chance to learn and study from the best. By electing a president based not on color but merit, this country has once more shown us that it is still the best. Good luck, Obama.

Gruesome graphic warnings on Singaporean cigarette packs

Since 2004 Singapore has mandated that all cigarette packs carry graphics of what smoking can do. The first graphics carried diseased lungs and bleeding brains. In 2006, new graphics of miscarried fetus and a cheek eaten away by cancer were introduced. Studies showed that warning labels become stale over time. These extremely gross graphics are meant to instill fear of smoking. Survey showed that 40% become fearful of smoking after seeing the graphics.

Recently, the government also introduced a TV ad of smoker cancer patient but the video was so scary that it frightened children and as a result the ad was taken off. These kind of pictorial message are very effective and I think it is a simple way to keep young people away from harmful effects of smoking. This approach has not been tried in Bhutan. Instead, we went straight for the ban, which does not seem to be working.

Upcoming topics

I intend to write on the following topics in the coming days, perhaps months:

1. First world comfort in third world countries
2. Third world life in first world country
3. Global injustice that no one seems to be bothered about

Thank you, Tony Leung & Carina Lau for advertising Bhutan

Living in a Chinese society, where hardly anyone seems to have heard of Bhutan, I wished I get a dollar every time someone asked me where Bhutan was. But that changed after Cannes best actor winner Tony Leung and actress Carina Lau got married in the Bhutan in 2008. They are to Chinese (HK, Taiwan, Singapore, China, etc) what Brat Pitt and Angelina Jolie are to Americans.

The other day I went to a dentist and she asked me where I was from. I said, "Bhutan" and waited for her to say the usual "where the hell is that". Instead, she went, "oh the place where Tony Leung and Carina got married". She said she was honored to have me as her first customer from Bhutan. Similarly, all of a sudden many other Chinese people when they hear "Bhutan" they don't go point blank anymore. So the HK couple made Bhutan famous.

Many Chinese people now know Bhutan, at least now they know that there is Bhutan somewhere. And what's more, they have this beautiful image of Bhutan because unless there was something special about Bhutan, this super rich and famous couple wouldn’t have gone there for their most special day of their lives. Who am I to meddle in what they believe? For me I am just happy that I no longer have to convince for most of the people at least that there is such a country called Bhutan using Himalayas and Nepal as reference points. The star couple from HK had promoted Bhutan in a few days what our tourism would have taken years. Thank you, Tony and Carina for choosing Bhutan, the God's own country.

Going Green Tea

I had been drinking a lot of soda (coke, Pepsi, sprite, etc) for last few years. I was so used to drinking them that I didn't even consider their health benefits, which of course turn out to be none. Americans are such good business men. They can mass produce drinks from mixture of plain water and sugar and market it world-wide and make people crave for more by adding caffeine. How smart of them and how stupid of us, the consumers! I am going to say no to this and start going green tea from today. Why green tea? Because it actually has some health benefits besides quenching your thirst. Research has repeatedly shown that green tea has the following benefits (listed in order I like):

1. Drinking green tea inhibits the growth of certain cancer cells.

2. Green tea reduces the risk of heart diseases and heart attacks.

3. Green tea increases metabolism and increase fat oxidation.

4. Drinking green tea regularly helps prevent tooth decay.

5. Green tea helps make your skin smooth.

There are many more benefits besides what is mentioned here. So try green tea. It is cheap and easily available. As for soda, I will rather pay for plain water than soda so that at least, I will have better teeth and no fear of diabetes.