Letters and Blogs

Be on your guard

Perhaps the greatest part of learning, if it is from the West, is what NOT to do.

There is an ever present danger, be it in a person, a business, or a nation, and that is that once a certain level of success has been attained, the acclaim for the success goes to the head like a drug, or strong drink.

You have heard the expression - 'drunk with success'.

This causes one to forget the ways, and to deviate from doing that which brought the success.

Be on your guard, China. Set a course, and if it is based on sound principles that are fair to most (we cannot hope to please everyone, at all times), then keep to that course.

Accept that many people are envious of success especially when it shows up their failings and weaknesses. They will deride you and attempt to throw you off course.

This is the true test of a leader - not to be pushed into any action that is designed to appease the critics, that will deflect you from that which has created your success.

Incidentally, success is not measured in just the strength on the economy. There has to be a balance with the quality of life.

Nature teaches us that BALANCE is the key to life.

Ray Newton

China Daily website

Freedom of press

The adversarial approach is part and parcel of Western life while in China it is more towards the consensual. However, China-bashing by the western press (the 4th estate - the fourth horsemen of Apocalypse) has taken to the extreme and this has permeated into the academia and its society at large. Because of this, of late the instances of racial vilification and abuse in western countries have risen. I have been one of the victims of this. Freedom of the press without responsibility is freedom lost. It enhances ignorance and intolerance and it's not fun.

Victim

China Daily website

Beijing legends

What makes you remember an Olympic games? You may think about the doping scandal in 1988, diving queen Gao Min's win in 1992, Karl Lewis's long jump in 1996. In ancient Greece, heroes were the ones sitting between humans and divinity. In modern Olympics, different people have different answers about what they remember in the games as heroic achievements. But this time, Michael Phelps's splendor may be a divine one in many people's memories. Just like Mark Spitz said, after hearing his 36-year-old record of winning 7 gold medals in an individual event has been surpassed, the boy might be the greatest ever sportsman in human history.

Who is the greatest sportsman? To Phelps himself, the answer is Michael Jordan. And to his teammate Aaron Peirsol, Phelps is the Jordan or Woods in the swimming pool. Thanks to him, more people love swimming.

Thirty-six years later, would there be someone who pops up to win 9 golds? Or will Phelps keep going forward in the next London Olympics? He will be only 27 years old then. Usain Bolt changed the world record of 100 m to 9.72 seconds at the fifth time he competed at an international event. When people were still indulged in figuring how long this record can be kept, Bolt changed it again to 9.69 seconds. It's lucky to see a talent's show in one Olympic games. In Beijing, you have two legends, one on the track and the other in the pool.

Frankmw

a blogger at sina.com

Olympic magnetism

My friend gave me a ticket for weightlifting competition, and I rushed to the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) gym the moment I finished my work.

It was a men's 94 kg competition with all competitors there Russian, Polish, Georgian, Kazakh but no Chinese. I sat among a crowd of fervent Kazakh people who were cheering, waving their national flag and blowing whistles all the time for the Kazakh weightlifter Ilya Ilin, the favorite for gold. The handsome guy sitting by me was so warm-hearted and considerate, he left a seat for my bag and talked to me in a most friendly way, though I could hardly understand his Kazakh-style English.

It was also cheery for a small group of Australian guys who sat in the front and all wore yellow T-shirts. Though there was no Australian competitor, these uniformed people would just waggle every time, no matter which one of the Russian, Polish and Kazakh cheered their men. Well, me too. What a joy-sharing scene!

Normally I don't care much about weightlifting. And, as there was no Chinese competitor, I took big moments pretty easy by acclaiming for all weightlifters.

Finally, Ilya Ilin's win, as his country's first Olympic gold medal, drove the audiences wild. The moment he succeeded, all Kazakhs went crazy. Suddenly, the guy next to me gave me a big hug. A grandpa told me, in joyful tears, again and again that the champion is his student. I said to him, "bravo."

When the Kazakh national anthem was being played, Kazakh people in the gym all put their right hands on their chests and sang together the rhythm. At that moment, I felt the magnetism of Olympic spirit, which brings all nations together. Yes, no matter who takes the gold medal, we are just happy because we are a family.

Huahua

a blogger at sina.com

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(China Daily 08/22/2008 page11)