过而不改·Unrectified

子曰:“过而不改,是谓过矣。”
孔子说:“有了过错却不改正,这才是真正的过错啊。”
- 《论语》 15.30
Confucius said:" To have faults and not to rectify them - this, indeed, should be pronounced having faults.
- Analects of Confucius, 15.30

Friday, January 14, 2011

母親崩潰一度拒收慰恤金 「我不要錢,我只要孩子」(东方新闻网,9/1/2011)

母親崩潰一度拒收慰恤金 「我不要錢,我只要孩子」

(太平8日訊)「我不要錢,我只要我的孩子」,一句簡短的話,反映了一名母親喪子的錐心之痛,令聞者心酸。
霹州行政議員拿督馬漢順今日代表州政府前往暹樾,慰問者家屬,並移交州政府的5000令吉慰恤金,一度遭泰裔母親安妮拒收,隨後在馬氏的開解下,始收下有關款項。

鐵滑輪砸死童軍‧60人童軍隊送別瑞欽‧母靈堂哭成淚人(星洲日报,9/1/2011)

鐵滑輪砸死童軍‧60人童軍隊送別瑞欽‧母靈堂哭成淚人

  • 校方及董家協成員在靈前致祭,右起為黃厚賜、鄭東旺、林榮華、陳佛康、黃昌良及黃慶義。(圖:星洲日報)
  • 華聯國民型中學童子軍向死者致予最后的敬意。(圖:星洲日報)
  • 死者母親安妮在孩子舉殯時傷心欲絕,親友及姚天和在旁安慰。(圖:星洲日報)
  • 死者吳瑞欽(圖:星洲日報)
  • 華聯國民型中學銅樂隊在靈前奏起《友誼萬歲》,象征與死者的友誼長存。(圖:星洲日報)
  • 親友及師生同學們,送吳瑞欽走完人生最后的一程。(圖:星洲日報)
  • 死者父親吳正華(右)目睹兒子遺體被焚化,神情悲痛。(圖:星洲日報)
  • 目睹案發過程的童軍,被召集到學校接受心靈輔導。(圖:星洲日報)
1 of 8
(霹靂‧太平9日訊)遭鐵滑輪挂擊中不幸斃命的太平華聯國民型中學童軍吳瑞欽,其遺體今日在接受學校童軍、同學、董家協、人民代議士及政黨代表致祭後,移至甘文丁阿逸布爹焚火場焚化。
在送死者最後一程時,死者的母親安妮仍無法接受愛兒已亡的事實,在靈堂上哭成淚人,親友則在旁安慰,而一些同學在致祭時也難忍心中悲痛,流下傷心淚水。
童軍隊派最大陣容
死者參加的童軍隊在舉殯時派出了最大陣容,出席致祭的童軍超過60名,他們在死者靈前列隊,然後向死者致最後敬意,永遠告別了這名表現傑出的童軍。
當祭拜儀式結束,華聯國民型中學銅樂隊在靈前奏起《友誼萬歲》樂曲時,出席者低下頭默哀,場面一片肅穆,想起將與良朋永遠分手之際,心中難忍那份難舍和傷痛。
死者遺靈過後被抬上棺車,由校方及各學校制服隊伍相送至暹廟大門,然後目送棺車駛往焚化場。
在抵達焚化場後,死者遺靈被送入焚化爐焚化,死者父親目睹愛兒的遺體被焚化時,神情悲痛,默然無語。
死者的骨灰將在較後被移至太平寶地山莊安置。

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Confucian Private Secondary School----To Restore Its Former Glory?

要看华文版,请点击这里
(Sin Chew Daily, 4 January 2011)


As an alumnus of Confucian Private Secondary School, I was, of course, ecstatic when I saw this newspaper article.  Even though Confucian doesn’t seem to make it in newspapers as frequently as it did before the replacement of the headmaster, this newspaper clipping about the new school year was enough to prod me to start writing an article for my blog.  

A thought occurred to me when I saw the four Chinese characters “重振雄风” in the heading of the newspaper article…But it would not be wise to speak (or write) of something you are unsure of, so I searched online and found that my previous assumption wasn’t far from the truth: “重振雄风” can be roughly translated as “to restore its former glory after a period of backwardness, decline and stillness”.

The first conception that got into my head was, since Confucian is now going to “restore its former glory”, doesn't this mean that Confucian has been “backward”,” declining” and “still” at some time in the past?

Sunday, January 9, 2011

尊孔独中----重振雄风?

For the English version of this article, please click here.
(星洲日报,2011年1月4日)


“新学年新目标尊孔独中要重振雄风”?

身为尊孔独中的校友,我看见这篇报导当然是开心得不得了。虽然最近换了新校长之后,也没像以前一样动不动就看见尊孔上报纸,但是这小小的一篇关于尊孔新学年的报导,也足以激起我在部落格写文章的“斗志”。

报导标题中的字眼“重振雄风”,不禁令我有一个想法。。。但又不敢这么快下判断,因此上网找了找,发现我对“重振雄风”四字的理解并没有错:“重振雄风”,指的是“在一度落后、衰退、沉寂之后,重新发达兴旺起来”。

我看见报导时的第一个想法就是,尊孔独中现在要“重振雄风”,是不是表示它曾经是“落后”、“衰退”、“沉寂”啊?

Saturday, January 8, 2011

不懂裝懂(东方新闻网,8/1/2011)

不懂裝懂
 
鄧章欽

為什麼社會好像越來越亂? 其中一個原因是不懂裝懂的人太多。
什麼是「不懂裝懂」?用成語說得文雅一點,但恐怕很多人不瞭解的這句「成語」, 就是「大愚若智」;坊間不標準的華語就叫做「假會」。
假會的人,往往以他們有限的知識,去詮釋他們知識範圍以外的問題,就因為這樣,問題就更大了。

Monday, January 3, 2011

新年洗心革面(东方新闻网,2/1/2011)

新年洗心革面

 鄧章欽

人人都會希望,新年伊始,萬象更新。萬象更新人人都會說, 都會期望;但是,萬象是否能更新,不是說了就能更新,就能實現;萬象能不能更新,全得看腦袋有沒有改變。
有一句成語非常有意思,那就是「洗心革面」,在我看來,萬象能不能更新,全得看大家願不願意洗心革面。
洗心革面不只是壞人該做的東西,所謂的好人也必須要定時洗心革面,最好的時機當然是新年的時候,大家一起來洗心革面,就好像定時去洗頭美容那般,換一個乾乾淨淨、漂漂亮亮的臉孔。

Sunday, January 2, 2011

言必信!(English version)

要看华文版,请点击这里

子贡问曰:何如斯可谓之士矣?子曰:行己有耻,使于四方,不辱君命;可谓士矣。曰:敢问其次?曰:宗族称孝焉,乡党称弟焉。曰:敢问其次?曰:言必信,行必果;硁硁然小人哉!抑亦可以为次矣。曰:今之从政者何如?子曰:噫!斗筲之人,何足算也!

Zi Gong asked, “What qualities must one possess to entitle him to be called an officer?” Confucius said, “One who conducts himself with a sense of shame, and when sent to any quarter will not disgrace his prince’s commission, deserves to be called an officer.” 
Zi Gong pursued, “May I ask who may be placed in the next lower rank?” and he was told, “He whom his clan calls filial and his fellow villagers and neighbors call fraternal.”
Zi Gong pursued, “May I ask who may be placed in the next lower rank?” and he was told, “They who keep to their word and follow through in their actions.  They are obstinate little men, yet they may make the next class.”
Finally Zi Gong inquired, “Of what sort are those who engage in government of the present day?”
The Master said, “Pooh! They are men with little tolerance, why even take them into account?”

- Analects of Confucius, 13.20

During my days in Confucian, the term “eClass” was frequently heard.  eClass is our “online school”.  School staff and students have their own eClass accounts.  Before I left the school, I would login to finish the online exercises and assignments our teachers prepared, or to check out the school’s latest news, or just to check my iMail inbox or send iMails (an ‘iMail’ is similar to an e-mail, but it’s sent and received through the eClass system).  As far as I know, many other schools also use the eClass system, such as Tsun Jin High School and Chung Hwa Independent High School.  This is the login page for Confucian’s eClass:



My apologies – I am unable to show you screenshots of what the system looks like after one logs in, due to the fact that my eClass account has been deleted…or, I don’t know, after trying repeatedly and still failing to login means that your account has been deleted, right?

Saturday, January 1, 2011

言必信!

For the English version of this article, please click here.

子贡问曰:何如斯可谓之士矣?子曰:行己有耻,使于四方,不辱君命;可谓士矣。曰:敢问其次?曰:宗族称孝焉,乡党称弟焉。曰:敢问其次?曰:言必信,行必果;硁硁然小人哉!抑亦可以为次矣。曰:今之从政者何如?子曰:噫!斗筲之人,何足算也!

子贡问道:怎样才可以算作士人?孔子说:一言一行自己要有羞耻之心,出使别国,能很好地完成君主的使命,可以算作士了。子贡又问:请问次一等的 呢?孔子说:本宗族的人都称赞他孝顺,乡亲们都称赞他敬爱兄长。子贡又问:请问再次一等的呢?孔子说:说话一定算数,办事一定完成,尽管 是一个浅薄固执的小人物,也可算作更次一等的士了。子贡又问:现在那些掌权的怎么样?孔子说:唉!那些器量狭小的人,算得了什么!

-《论语》13.20

我在尊孔独中求学期间,常常会听到 eClass”这个字眼。eClass 就是我们的“校园电子教室”,教职员、学生等都有各自的eClass户口。退学之前,我登入eClass的目的,不是为了完成老师在eClass给的网上习作,就是去看看学校有什么最新消息,或是检查和发送iMail(即eClass里面的e-mail)。据我所知,其他学校如循人中学、隆中华独中等等都有使用eClass系统。以下是尊孔独中的eClass登入页面:



但是非常抱歉,我没有办法让各位读者看到登入之后的截图,因为我的eClass户口被删除了(试了很多遍都无法登入,就应该是被删除了吧?)。