State of the State of Brunei

Haih… Do me a favor – Telephone no. of Psychiatry Department, SGH: (+65) 6321 4344…

Wish-List

It is unimaginable that, in the midst of the exam craze, I’m sitting in front of my laptop computer, sipping coffee and fantasize over such items normally people associate with antiquities and luxuries. I am going to fail some of the modules, and it is better to plan for the future rather than cry over spilled milk. In economic terms, one should not consider about sunk cost when making decisions…

Enough babbling, so what’s inside my wish-list?

1. Common stock of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (either Class A or B)
2. All the unabridged writings by Benjamin Graham:
   • Security Analysis series (Editions 1934, 1940, 1951 and 1962)
   • The Intelligent Investor series (Editions 1949, 1954, 1959, 1965, 1973)
   • The Interpretation of Financial Statement series (Editions 1937, 1965, 1975)
   • Benjamin Graham: The Memoirs of the Dean of Wall Street
   • Various published papers; retrievable from such databases and journals as JSTOR
3. All the books in Library of America Series (261 titles overall)
4. The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary, Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically (in slipcase with reading glass)
5. 《四库全书》影印本 – 文津阁、文渊阁

Yeah, I’m crazy, but it is not of my interest to indulge in gadgetries that give immense pleasure in the short run, but wear off eventually. Of the books, the above listing is still far from what constitutes a satisfactory collection for a reference. (A great many primary texts and compilations are missing!) Also, I’ve comparatively read far too many success stories, while too few on failures. Hmm…

I can fast for the sake of these books, at least. I mean it literally.

(to be continued…)

Some Thoughts…

Suddenly, in the middle of the (very) early morning I conceived of writing something. By most measures, it befits a ranting; however it is also akin to an expression of thoughts. If you’re in a mood of finding something light to read, I’d suggest you read something else. (Sorry if this sounds rude…)

Cultures and Customs; Its relation to freedom.
The subject is one prone to dispute. To me, the existence of culture and custom, to use a rather crude example, is like a cage; every person born to this world are made aware of its existence and qualities, and is subject to its pressure. At the same time, comfort, lack of questioning (in Socrates’s word, examination) and peer pressure are largely responsible for the ready acceptance of culture and custom and apathy against it so exists in many people. Very occasionally, some people realize this and try to examine the culture and customs that surround them; depend on the nature of the culture and customs, some people are more fruitful in the examination than others. Of course, the examination does not depend solely on the surroundings; the intellect that one applies to the examination is equally crucial.

Case study on the propositions.
Maybe that’s a bit incomprehensible, therefore I shall quote ‘someone’ as an example. The (not quite completed) text which explains one’s experience in sufficient detail is available here, but for the sake of this article, a condensed version in put here instead.

One grew up in a considerably conservative family. The family, and some party (to be touched in detail later) has instilled ‘values’ and ‘beliefs’ on oneself, not atypical to what any other parents will do. Later, it is the ‘examination’ that led one into dispute with his family and the party, which, collectively, exerts great influence over oneself. The confrontation was a bitter one; the areas which affected one were, among others, finance, education, faith, and perhaps the most important of all, system of beliefs. Although the dispute ended within 27 months, one emerged with a set of beliefs drastically different from what he was told to be right and goes without saying. It was sad that the relations of the parties involved could not be smoothened to the pre-dispute level, even to this day. This is the single most daunting challenge one has to solve in the immediate future.

The legacy of the dispute is huge. Besides the inherited problem as mentioned above, one has moved away from ideology to pragmatism. One has learned that self-sufficiency is crucial in the long term, even though laws of comparative advantage proves the contrary. (This is taking into account the existence of risk and uncertainty.) One has dispelled the infallibility of age-old beliefs and rely on logic and argumentation for scrutiny instead. (It may sounds crazy to doubt even your spouse, for example; but even Penal Code states that wrongs conducted in good faith may not be wrong at all; at least this has some justification.)

Discussion.
The propositions and arguments advanced above does not imply that all beliefs should be discarded. In regard to the need of scrutiny, I’ve written this somewhere:

…attaching soundness with respect to a person is potentially fallacious. For example, if Satan says, “Do not lie,” is it sound to deduce that what Satan has in mind is bad, therefore the opposite is true, and we should practice lying? On the other hand, reasoning may be a way of avoiding this risk, since it is impersonal. However I doubt whether this is applicable when value judgment is involved.

The notion that beliefs should be discarded is unsound and self-contradictory, since that particular notion is a set of belief itself. Rather, the point I am driving is that no beliefs should be shielded from the need of scrutiny.

A pressing question is that, should one protect himself from destruction by denying the factors that can lead to one’s destruction? (One such question in liberalism would be: Should toleration tolerates intolerance? – From PS1101E lecture…) One’s confidence on forces that may limit these destructive factors may play a crucial role: Such practice is clear in politics – Dissenting opinions are allowed, to a considerable extent; however no regime would allow itself to be toppled if the variable concerned is power. My reply, in this case currently would be: While I can see problem exists in this area, I am not able to propose a solution. So there’s something for me to think about from now…

Would wealth and power give one advantage when confronting such situation? The answer is tentatively ‘yes’, but it may be the result more from coercion than acceptance. The instruments which utilizes coercion is not likely to be successful in the long term, but whether people will be shaped by the forces exerted over a long period, I don’t know. It seems to me that, as in the case study above, the outcome is determined by whether personal determination or external influences predominates. It should be noted that personal determination itself may be the result of external influences that run against the forces it intends to counter. So in the end, it may well be the interplay of beliefs within oneself; the person provides the platform for the beliefs to interact, while the person suffers.

Conclusion.
I think I’d better stop before I went crazy . A very famous poem written by a Zen patriach Huineng (惠能) may provide a reflection to my thoughts…:

菩提本无树，
明镜亦非台；
本来无一物，
何处惹尘埃！

Which translates to:

Bodhi is no tree,
nor is the mind a standing mirror bright.
Since all is originally empty,
where does the dust alight?

Transcriptions…

/heləʊ/ /ɒl/! /aɪm/ /taɪpɪŋ/ /jɪʊziŋ/ /ðe/ /ɪntənæʃənəl/ /fəʊnætɪk/ /ælfəbət/, /aɪ/ /pɪ/ /eɪ/ /fɒ/ /ʃɒt/. /ɪf/ /ɪʊ/ /ʌ/ /ə/ /frikwən̩t/ /dɪkʃenerɪ/ /ɪʊze/, /ɪʊ/ /wud/ /hef/ /prɒbəblɪ/ /spɒtət/ /mænɪ/ /mɪsteɪks/ /aɪf/ /meɪd/ /hiər/. /ðæts/ /ɒl/ /fɒ/ /naʊ/!

Well, can you figure what I’m trying to say…? If you can’t, that means something is very wrong with me

Some Ranting and Self-Confession

It’s time to show you how BAD a person I am…

Q: You must be feeling lonely since you are the only child of your parents…
A: Of course not! I can inherit everything and nobody’s going to divide it! Muahahaha! No lah… At least my books won’t get damaged so easily. I love reading.

Q: Your house is on fire!
A: Ah, is my account passbook and stock certificate safe? Oh no, did anyone get injured?

Q: The gahmen is so bad! KNN le!
A: Good la, easier to overthrow! Ya la, really dunno what to do!

…

Okay, I am not really that bad, but if this test is applied on me once upon a time, the response would be well different. Human nature is really something undependable, because its foundation is imperfect information and whim, not logic and calmness.

Ah, what am I talking about…

p/s: Thanks to Confucius for inspiring me about the house on fire story and consequently the self-reflection…