Naw Rúz，新年的意思，根据巴哈伊历法，每年的3月21日是新年的第一天，也就是从冬天转到春天的第一天，这一天也是The Bahá’í Fast（March 2 to 20）的最后一天。今年新加坡的Bahai New Year dinner是在Meritus Mandarin Hotel举行，偷偷的说一句，根据环境判断，这个dinner是俺有生以来参加过的“最高级别”的一个dinner。我是作为Melic和Lalitha的客人坐在第10号餐桌，这个位置几乎是最好的了，就在舞台前侧边，总共有48桌。据说有许多人要票都没有，估计明年会扩大规模，每张票大概65新币左右吧，我的是Melic请客。印象比较深刻的是其中由Roger Jenkins说的三个故事，第一个是在森林中几个动物的故事，引申出巴哈伊教的一个关于one humanity的教义；第二个是从一张纸两面涂有不同颜色引发出要尝试着从他人的角度看问题，而不是一开始就争吵；第三个故事是从“渔夫与金鱼”框架中换成现代的场景，一个人的开心与否是内心决定而不是身外物。

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The struggle between happiness and unhappiness is the story of human existence. The struggle between peace and war is the history of the human race. The power that leads us to eternal victory amid these struggles is the power of good within us. — Daisaku Ikeda

星期天（Mar 16）赶到Expo Hall 4去看一场演讲，主题是”Humanizing Religions, Creating Peace”。主讲人是Mr George Yeo (Minister For Foreign Affair)。能有这个机会去看看这样的活动，当然是Melic帮忙拿到门票给我。既然是”Humanizing Religions, Creating Peace”，那么新加坡的主要宗教都派了代表出席这个活动。虽然大部分的演讲辞都听不懂，还是能够感受到要达到不同信仰相互了解相互包容的努力。会上也发布了一本书，名字叫《180° Yearnings for Peace - self.family.community.PEACE.youth.education.humanity》，书中摘录了各个宗教的一些短句，分成self，family，community，peace，youth，education，humanity各篇。除了讲话，参插其中的文艺表演也是超赞的，比如Masjid Ba’alwi Mosque的那首非洲歌曲和Central Sikh Gurdwara Board的民族舞蹈。

《180° Yearnings for Peace》

Foreword

Everyone wants peace but peace is not easily achieved. Peace does not come without struggle. Sometimes it has to be fought for. In Singapore, all young men have to do National Service and bear arms. To have peace, we must be prepared for war. That is the hard reality.

Defence and foreign relations can help to create an external environment favourable for peace. Internally, however, we must also be at peace among ourselves and within ourselves. Very often, it is internal discord which invites external interference. When a person is not at peace with himself, it is difficult for the famly to have peace. When a group is unsettled for whatever reason, its relationship with other groups gets affected. Racial and religious harmony in Singapore cannot be imposed from the top by the government although the government’s role is important. It has to be built from the bottom up, starting with the individual.

This Symposium brings together youths belonging to different races and religions in Singapore. The values and beliefs which divide us are not superficial. We will fail if we try to homogenize them. While we should seek common ground, we should never think that all the differences can be bridged. Therefore, the first condition for peace is an acceptance of diversity. If we can find it in our hearts to celebrate diversity, that will be very good but it is not always possible. However, we are united by a common yearning for peace and that is a good starting point for our interaction.

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Do you believe in God or not? Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know what the God it is. Just enjoy the funny story below:

Origin of the Human Race

A little girl asked her mother, “How did the human race appear?”

The mother answered, “God made Adam and Eve and they had children and so was all mankind made.”

Two days later she asks her father the same question. The father answered, “Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race was developed.”

The confused girl returns to her mother and says, “Mom, how is it possible that you told me that the human race was created by God, and Papa says they were developed from monkeys.”

The mother answers, “Well dear, it’s very simple. I told you about the origin of my side of the family, while your father told you about his side.”

And I started a new page in which I will collect the materials of the Bahai Faith.

昨天跟Melic说我在这里对方向感一点都没有是因为在客家话里面一般去市区都是“上”的方向词在前面，而现在我住的地方去乌节路其实在地图上是往下走，因此就弄混了，另外一个这里道路方向在左跟国内相反也是一个因素。刚才收到他的一封邮件，就在下面。另外前天还有一封主题是storytime的邮件，我还没有开始看呢：http://www.fln.vcu.edu/struwwel/bubeng.html。之所以这么快将这个内容贴出来是因为可以在my dame room上网了，不过不知道是不是临时的，刚才只是check了一下，竟然有一个可以连上（update: 事实证明，只高兴了一会，正奸商）。OK，废话不说先，请enjoy：

An interesting piece on the English language!

(1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

(2) The farm was used to produce produce.

(3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

(4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

(5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

(6) The soldier decided to desert his desert in the desert.

(7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

(8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

(9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

(10) I did not object to the object.

(11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

(12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

(13) They were too close to the door to close it.

(14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

(15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

(16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

(17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

(18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

(19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

(20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let’s face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

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At the end of module 12, which is also at the end of the Cutting Edge Intermediate book, there is a song lyric named Out of Reach. But there are some missing words between the lyric, we need to listen the song and fill the missing words in. It seems that I have known this song for a long time, maybe I had heard it before. There are some scenes come from a movie which has the Huge Grant as the main actor when I watch this song’s MTV in Youtube, this song must have been one of the movie’s soundtrack. So I unlocked my DOG to search the connections between the song and one unknown movie. You know, in China, we call the Google as DOG just like a nickname. I couldn’t found the relations according to IMDB, however, there is another song which was mentioned by David while he was playing a Charades game with us. Its name is Can’t get you out of my head.

Gosh, I got it. Out of Reach was the soundtrack of Bridget Jones’s Diary, and Can’t get you out of my head was for Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (Bridget Jones’s Diary 2).

Gabriellle - Out Of Reach

Knew the signs, wasn’t right
I was stupid for a while
Swept away by you
And now I feel like a fool
So confused, my heart’s bruised
Was I ever loved by you?

Out of reach, so far
I never had your heart
Out of reach, couldn’t see
We were never meant to be

Catch myself from despair
I could drown if I stay here
Keeping busy everyday
I know I will be OK
But I was so confused, my heart’s bruised
Was I ever loved by you?

Out of reach, so far
I never had your heart
Out of reach, couldn’t see
We were never meant to be

So much hurt, so much pain
Takes a while to regain what is lost inside
And I hope that in time, you’ll be out of my mind
And I’ll be over you

But now I’m so confused, my heart’s bruised
Was I ever loved by you?

Out of reach, so far
I never had your heart
Out of reach, couldn’t see
We were never meant to be

Out of reach, so far
You never gave your heart
In my reach, I can see
There’s a life out there for me

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