Why Chinese needs to learn Chinese?

 In this world, We see British people learn their mother tongue naturally, Malay learn their mother language when they born. But some Chinese never learn Chinese from young, instead they learn other language, I wondering why? Today I happen to come across the article Why do I learn Chinese? I hope this article can wake up those banana Chinese.
Topic: Why do I learn Chinese?
English Original by Kong Que-yu, Chinese Translation by Feng Xin-ming
Thesis: I learn Chinese to be Chinese.
A. Introduction
1. Hook: I have the body of a Chinese, but do I have the soul of
one?
a. The body comes with birth, but the soul only comes
with cultivating
2. Only if one has the soul could one be a true Chinese.
3. Learning Chinese helps cultivate a Chinese soul.
4. Thesis: I learn Chinese to become Chinese.
B. Learning to read Chinese brings me in contact with the past.
1. It will help me learn the history of China.
2. It will help me learn the true thought and philosophy of China.
3. I will know the ancient mind of China.
4. China’s past is like the roots of the great tree that is the Chinese
soul, supplying the nutrients
C. Learning to speak Chinese brings me in contact with the present
1. It will help me speak with fellow Chinese.
2. It will help me keep up with modern China.
3. I will know the beating, living heart of China.
4. China’s present is like the trunk of the great tree, bare and
unattractive, but will transport to the right place
D. Learning to write Chinese brings me in contact with the future.
1. It will let me write and speak to the many descendants of
China’s future.
2. It will let me pass on my true Chinese heritage.
3. I will be part of the future spirit of China.
4. China’s future is like the branches and leaves of the great tree,
magnificent and prosperous

Singapore inspiring stories

Singapore has many inspiring stories, this is about filial son.
STOMPer Miso came across a touching story of a boy in China who despite studying in a university over a hundred kilometres away, returned home to spend time with his dying father in his last few days.

24-year-old Cheng Jilai did his late father (56-year-old Cheng Yixing) proud when he was the only one out of his three siblings who made it to university. But because of their impoverished family financial situation, the family was unable to bear expensive tuition costs and Cheng Jilai ultimately chose to study at Xi’an Aeronautical University, borrowing 6000 Yuan to enter the school.

Things took an unfortunate turn when his father's health deteriorated and he was diagnosed with rectal cancer, but his father had kept the news from his children and refused to seek treatment for his health condition due to the family's inability to afford surgery. It was only at the end of 2011 when his father's health declined so drastically did Cheng Jilai and his siblings learn about his illness and took him to a hospital.

With the tight financial situation, Cheng Jilai worked to support himself while he was in university, but used his hard-earned tuition savings to settle his father's medical bills and funeral preparations. Although he has had several female admirers in school, Cheng Jilai never dared entertain the thought of having a girlfriend has he knew that dating required money to be spent.

During his father's last few days, Cheng Jilai and his father slept in the same room, and he was always by his father’s side. He knew that his father was close to death, and could pass away any moment. 

Mr. Cheng Yixing passed away on 27 March 2012 at approximately 9.30pm at night.

Said Miso:

"This story brought tears to my eyes.

"From the photos, you can see that his son really took care of the funeral arrangements and medical bills despite the family's poverty to ensure that his father received a proper burial.

"The fact that he travelled all the way home and sacrificed his university tuition money for his father is indeed admirable.

"Hopefully young people in Singapore would follow in his footsteps when it comes to caring for their elderly parents and loved ones."

President Susilo Bambang talking about religious harmony

Singapore is very concern about racial and religious harmony. As we know the successful gathering of nine different religion to have the dinner together in 2000 was the breakthrough in human history. Singapore nine different religion can co-operate with each others is the model for other countries to follow. Malaysia also is the great country to spread the religious and racial harmony especially after Mr. Najib took over the office. Malaysia government treat the minority group like Indians, Chinese with great respect. How about Indonesia? Yes, the Indonesia government also realized the importance of religious harmony. All these three countries are showing the good examples that religious and racial harmony ready can achieve if we have the strong will to do so.
I always like to read foreign newspaper like Korean news, financial time, Thailand newspaper, The Jataka post and many others. Yesterday I came across the news about President Susilo Bambang talking about religious harmony. I felt extremely happy because the leaders always play the important part in instill the values of racial and religious harmony. Let's see how President Susilo Bambang's ideas. I hope the President can continue the efforts.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono underlined the importance of the roles played by leaders and religious figures in solving various conflicts taking place across the country.

“As the head of state, I invite and urge leaders and religious figures to guide people and apply their religious teachings as properly as possible,” he said in his speech at a commemorative ceremony celebrating the centenary of a Catholic church in Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), on Friday.

The President said that leaders and religious figures should continuously strive to seek peaceful solutions to the various conflicts.

“Building and maintaining religious harmony as well as presenting enlightened examples of leadership are part of the requirements needed to settle conflict,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Yudhoyono said that amid the heterogeneity and dynamism of Indonesia, sometimes conflicts arose in which leaders and religious figures should be active in the search for a peaceful resolution.

The President, however, stopped short of mentioning any concrete steps needed to settle the various religious conflicts taking place in a number of areas throughout Indonesia.

The discovery that a regent in Aceh ordered the closure of 20 churches in April this year raises concerns over growing intolerance, which may trigger communal conflicts.

The closures were ordered by Aceh Singkil’s acting regent Razali AR in a letter signed on April 30, which ordered members of the congregations to tear down the churches themselves by June 8 at the latest.

Following the closures, there are now only two churches open in Aceh Singkil, both built after 2000. Most of the churches selected for demolition were built in the 1930s and 1940s. The dispute in Aceh adds to the long list of incidents of religious intolerance in the nation.

In Bekasi, West Java, the Congregation of the Filadelfia Batak Protestant Churches (HKBP) continues to be regularly assaulted and harassed by Muslims when it tries to conduct Sunday services.

The Bekasi regency sealed off the church site in 2010 after local residents objected to the construction of the church. The regency continues to refuse to open the site even after the Bandung State Administrative Court ruled in favor of HKBP Filadelfia.

Members of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) face similar harassment in Bogor, also in West Java.

Various human rights groups have also reported cases of attacks on Ahmadis and Shiites, including congregations in Cikeusik, Banten, Tangerang and Sampang in East Java.

Last month, Yudhoyono spoke before the UN General Assembly, calling on the UN’s member states to adopt a legally binding instrument to ban blasphemy and to promote dialogue between different faiths, civilizations and cultures.

He added that such an instrument was needed to prevent the incitement of violence based on religion.

Indonesia has ratified various international laws that legally bind the government to guarantee its people religious freedom. These laws include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which was ratified by Indonesia in 2005.

 Friday’s ceremony was also attended by Cabinet ministers, NTT leaders and religious figures.

After the ceremony and before returning to Jakarta, the President and his entourage traveled to Labuan Bajo, the main gate for Komodo National Park, before flying on an Air Force Hercules airplane to Central Sumba.
Table of religious intolerance:

• During the era of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (as of 2007) 108 churches have been closed/damaged; in the era of president Megawati Soekarnoputri, 92; in the era of president Abdurrahman Wahid, 232; in the era of president Soeharto, 456.

• Based on data from the Manado Post daily, there were 2,442 cases of church closures and demolitions in the period between 2004 and 2010.

• In 2011, Setara Institute recorded 244 cases of religious intolerance in 17 regions. The largest number of cases was recorded in West Java (57 cases), followed by South Sulawesi (45), East Java (31), North Sumatra (24) and Banten (12).

Sources: The Jakarta Post and Setara Institute

Markus Makur contributed to this report from Ruteng.

About National family Council Singapore

Singapore has National family Council. What is all about National family Council? It is good to learn especially for those who have family.

First launched in 1985, the National Family Celebrations (formerly known as National Family Week) is an important annual national event to celebrate and reinforce the importance of the family. This iconic national event is championed by the National Family Council (NFC), with strong support from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). The Council is a people sector-led committee that aims to promote and build resilient families in Singapore.

Through the month long Celebrations, families can take part in a wide array of interesting activities and events and spend quality time together!

Family Time Odyssey: Past. Present. Future.
The theme for National Family Celebrations 2012 (NFC’12) is Family Time Odyssey – a journey through time for youths to take with their families.

To foster appreciation of each generation in the family and to honour the times that we have spent together, this year’s activities will focus on strengthening familial bonds through time. Everyone can be a child, youth, parent or grandparent at different times of their lives, and this year’s activities are designed to encourage families to explore evolving family roles through the times. It may be a rewind back in time, or a fast-forward to the future; the aim is to take stock of the present by reflecting on the connections of the past and work together towards improved relationships in the future.

The emphasis on time this year encompasses time spent together as a family. By investing time in bonding and connecting as a family, strong foundations will be built for families to stay cohesive and resilient through the times.

Bhutan happy families

Bhutan has many happy families. Bhutan government is very concern about its citizens' happiness. The happy index is measured by how happy Bhutan people feel. Bhutan is the only Mahayana Buddhism Kingdom in the world, with Mahayana (tantric) Buddhism as its official religion. We hear the recent news that Bhutan wants to achieve 100 percent of organic farm products. Why Bhutan people are so happy because of their peaceful mindset, mo killing. love nature,etc. It is in line with their culture. It is practised throughout the entire country by 75% of the inhabitants. Hinduism – closely related to Buddhism, is Bhutan’s second religion, practiced by about 25% of the population. Before Buddhism captured the heart of Bhutan, several forms of animistic religions were practiced. Minority groups still practice these traditions and rituals in some parts of the country. Buddhims plays a fundamental role in the cultural, ethical and sociological development of Bhutan and its' people. You see this in the reverence Bhutan’s inhabitans have for their land, other people and animals. To ensure that Buddhism stays vividly alive, one son from every family usually attends a monastic school. The three main themes of Buddhism are detachment, ephemerality and change.
It is good to learn good values from Bhutan people.

Learning in traditional way

Master Chin Kung has often spoken about how he began learning from his teacher, Mr. Li Bingnan, who was a student of Great Master Yin Guang, the Thirteenth Patriarch of the Pure Land school. “Years ago, when I wanted to study Buddhism with Mr. Li Bingnan and to formally become his student, he put forward three conditions: ‘First, from today on, you can only listen to my lectures. You are not allowed to listen to any other Dharma masters or lay practitioners. Second, from today on, you are not allowed to read any book, be it a sutra or any kind of book, without my permission.’ The first condition blocked my ears, and the second covered my eyes. ‘Third, what you have learned from others does not count with me. You are to forget it all. From today on, you start anew with me.’

“These three conditions were very harsh. When I first heard them, I thought that this teacher was very autocratic and unreasonable. Nevertheless, after consideration, I accepted his conditions and became his student. I did not know then that these conditions were precepts meant to help me cut off my afflictions. The more one sees and listens, the more afflictions one has; the less one sees and listens, the less afflictions one will have. When one does not see or listen, one will have no afflictions.

“After I followed his teaching for six months, my wandering thoughts indeed became fewer, my mind became purer, and I acquired more wisdom. I gained true benefits. Therefore, I am very grateful to Mr. Li. Although he had asked me to follow his rules for only five years, I voluntarily followed them for yet another five. I abided by these three rules for ten years and thus laid a solid foundation for learning Buddhism.”

Master Chin Kung has further explained that these three rules are traditional in Chinese Buddhism. Thus, they are also the foundation for study and cultivation at the PLLCA. So whether the students are coming to cultivate or to learn to be a teacher, they learn by listening only to Master Chin Kung and the teachers he recommends.

If students are invited to learn to lecture, they begin by giving the teacher’s talks. Again, this is the traditional way of learning to lecture in Buddhism. Giving the teacher’s talks ensures that the student does not make any mistakes. Mistakes will have very serious consequences for both the listeners and the lecturer. The listeners would be told something wrong and the lecturer would incur serious karmic consequences for having told something wrong. So to protect both listener and lecturer, the student lecturer follows the traditional method of giving the teacher’s talks, which were based in turn on his teacher’s talk. This procedure can be traced back to the time of the Buddha, when the Buddha’s students repeated his lectures.

It is this essential tradition that makes listening to the teacher’s talks vitally important. The student absorbs the teachings to the extent that the teachings become second nature to the student. Over the years, as the student’s understanding and cultivation deepen, he or she will gradually add their own understanding to their teacher’s lectures.

Buddhism in China

Since Buddhism came to China in 67 CE, monasteries have become primary places for Dharma propagation as well as training Dharma propagators. For much of that time, education at the monasteries followed a basic pattern. For their first five years, practitioners were not allowed to go into the cultivation hall. They first needed to increase their virtues. And so they worked sixteen hours a day at various jobs around the monastery and recited the sutras to build their good fortune and increase their virtues. These virtues included respecting parents, teachers, and all beings; humility; sincerity; truthfulness; courtesy; and integrity.

After this initial period, the practitioners spent eight hours a day in classes and eight hours on cultivation. For cultivation, they either meditated or chanted the Buddha’s name. Therefore, they spent their sixteen hours a day on study and cultivation. Studying and cultivation complemented each other. In class, they listened to lectures, studied, and held discussions. Then they cultivated awakening, correct understanding, and purity of mind. Spending sixteen hours a day on study and cultivation left them with little time for wandering thoughts. This way they could advance in their practice relatively quickly.

Master Chin Kung, understanding that people today are not at the same level of those in the past, modified this sixteen-hour schedule to ten and one-half hours at the PLLCA.

Pure land learning college

In this recent era, Buddhism has declined. This is primarily caused by the lack of Dharma lecturers and practitioners, and not having enough qualified Dharma protectors. Thus, all Buddhists wish for talented, educated people who are trained in the teachings and to have a true cultivation centre. This has been a long-held wish of Venerable Master Chin Kung as well.

In 2001, the Pure Land Learning College Association, Inc. (PLLCA) was established. It has two primary goals.

The first is to provide a good learning environment for students who aspire to learn and practice Pure Land Buddhism and the teachings of ancient saints and sages.

The second goal is to nurture and train Dharma propagators and protectors.

Much like a young tree, which needs the right soil, climate, and proper care to grow, promising and dedicated students need a proper environment, guidance, training, and support to reach their full potential. In providing such an environment and training in the traditional, time-proven ways to nurture and train Dharma propagators, the PLLCA hopes it will fulfill the goal of propagating the Buddha’s teachings, teachings that will benefit all beings. The PLLCA also hopes that in this way it will continue to pass on the Buddha’s wisdom, the wisdom that will enlighten all beings.

This is the way of repaying the kindness of others.

Please learn good values now

In order to learn the right values from west and East, perhaps we have to list down all ills in the whole world.
Now is not the time to blame the west or east but to bravely discard all bad practices either form East and West.
We have to rethink whether too materialistic good for human or not, to rethink whether spirituality is it more important that materials gains.
Time to think deeply.....advanced technology is it ready helpful to mankind or more harm to mankind?
Think and think......

The essence of infinite life sutra

Respected venerables and respected fellow practitioners:

For this lecture series at Ta Kioh Buddhist Temple, I plan to give four lectures, eight hours in total, to introduce the Infinite Life Sutra. The Infinite Life Sutra is called The Longer Sutra in the Pure Land school. I have given several lecture series on it in the United States.

In the past few years, the Buddhist Canon has been printed in Taiwan and circulated around the world. After more than ten times of reprinting, the number of copies circulated is very impressive. The Chinese classics such as Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature and Selections from the Four Branches of Literature have also been published and given to libraries around the world. Therefore, there is no fear of their being lost to the world.

The literary treasures are abundant, but it would be a shame if no one reads them. How many people have an opportunity to read the Buddhist Canon from beginning to end even once in this lifetime? And when they attempt to read it, they may not be able to comprehend it.

It occurred to me that important passages in the sutras can be excerpted and compiled into a book to facilitate reading, studying, and practicing in life. In this way, traditional Chinese culture and Mahayana Buddhism will truly be able to benefit all beings.

Master Hongyi’s Wanqing Ji is a collection of excerpts from the sutras and quotations from the patriarchs, 101 of them altogether. I once lectured on the Wanqing Ji in an easy-to-understand way and the audience liked it very much. Therefore, I feel studying the excerpts is worth trying. This time I have taken sixty excerpts from the Infinite Life Sutra. If this experiment is successful, I think that the Buddhist Canon can be studied in this way. The Taisho Buddhist Canon is one hundred volumes. If it is condensed into one volume, studying it will be more convenient. The voluminous classics like the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature and Selections from Library of the Four Branches of Literature can also be condensed into one or two volumes by excerption. This way, in the future, everyone will be able to read them.

Excerption requires identifying the essence. This is a must. It is like finding the right medicine for an illness. What symptoms are present society and people exhibiting? Today, society is in disorder. People have conflicting thoughts. They feel helpless and do not have any sense of security.

When we look into the root cause, we find it is none other than (1) people not maintaining proper relationships with others, (2) the loss of morality, and (3) people ignoring the principles and truth of the law of cause and effect. These are the main causes of today’s problems in society. This is why our excerptions should focus on morality and the principles and truth of causality.

The sixty excerpts were chosen based on problems in society. The focus was not on Pure Land practitioners. For Pure Land practitioners, instead of these excerpts, I would definitely choose the forty-eight vows and chapters 32 to 37. These are the chapters Pure Land practitioners must study and understand.

Reading these sixty excerpts is the same as reading the entire Infinite Life Sutra. It is impossible for a sutra to suit one’s capacity from beginning to end. There may be parts that seem boring and that are not applicable for the reader. The reader may thus lose interest.

The excerpts, on the other hand, are all essence. Whether one reads them or listens to lectures on them, one will be highly interested to learn and practice them.

Shi Chin Kung