Chinese New Year...

Just finished my 10am-12pm class. Now waiting for my 5pm class. Geez, what a way to arrange time table. But doesn't matter. The internet at the Chemistry Department is 10 times faster than the internet at my own home....can online...



I have just looked at my transcript. Felt terrible that I did not score better. There are a few expected results, but there are also a few unexpected ones. Now I am already in my final semester. What should I do to ensure a nice full transcript??



This semester is quite free and easy. I have full classes on Tuesday and Thursday, and one hour class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I have lab though...so for the first 7 weeks, my Wednesday will extend to 5pm, and for the next 7 weeks, it will be Monday instead. I took a Chinese Painting co-curricular course, and I took an elective too. It is called Introduction to Peace and Humanities, taught by Dr Wendy Yee. The lecturer is a personal friend, but it is the first time I have seen her teach.



It was fun...hahaha. Very different from other classes...where the exam of this course is only 20%!! Where is the other 80%? It comes from attendance to classes, participation, individual assignments, group assignments, final project, and working voluntarily with an NGO (I am already in an NGO anyway...). It was just the second class today, and I have handed in an assignment and already planning a group assignment. I read a whole book about Gandhi, because we were required to write about his non-violence practice. Owed really, because I probably won't even bother to read that thick and old book (written a year after Gandhi's death) if it is not because of that assignment. I found I don't really know as much about him as I thought I did. His ideals are superb, but those who practicised it are even more superb. In this society that is so used to violence, some might even thought him stupid. But I find him fascinating...

Gandhi introduced satyagraha which is a name he placed for his passive resistance movement. The reasons why he did not use the word passive resistance is because he found some major difrerences between those two. Here I would like to share a few with you guys...

-If we continue to believe (and let others believe) that we are weak and therefore offer passive resistance, our resistance will never make us strong, and we will instead give it up as a weapon of the weak. However, by offering satyagraha believing ourselves to be strong, we will grow stronger everyday and we will never cast an opportunity to give it up.

-There is no scope of love in passive resistance, but in satyagraha, there is no presence of hatred

-In passive resistance there is a scope for the use of arms if needed, but in satyagraha physical force is forbidden even in the most favourable circumstances

-In passive resistance there is always an idea of harrasing the other party, but in satyagraha there is no remotest idea of injuring the opponent.

The above points are only some explanation of the 'weapon' Gandhi used to fight for Indian rights in South Africa, before he returned in India. He has won many battles there, and gain the trust of the whites and blacks alike, for he hated their policy, not the persons. Even the white government of Africa had mentioned to him that they rather he took to violence, because by then they would know how to get rid of him. But his practice of not even hurting his enemies has in turn make the government helpless and give in. What a way to win.

Tomorrow is final day of uni before our CNY break. Geez, finally, a holiday. Want to have some serious rest, sleep, and dialogues. Of course, have to settle some homeworks and stuff. But I think I should enjoy this year long CNY holiday compared to the shorter ones we have in the past 3 years in UM...

Hehehe...till we meet again