Some longhouses are accessible by road and several others are within an hour's longboat ride from town. In Kapit you are likely to be invited to visit one of these. Visitors are strongly advised not to visit a longhouse without an invitation, ideally from someone who lives in it. As a general rule, the further from town a longhouse is, the more likely it is to conform with the image of what a traditional longhouse should be like. That said, there are some beautiful traditional longhouses nearby, which are mainly Iban. One of the most accessible is Rumah Seligi, about 30 minutes' drive from Kapit. Cars or vans can be hired by the half day. Only a handful of longhouses are more than 500 m from the riverbanks of the Rejang and its tributaries. Most longhouses still practise shifting cultivation; rice is the main crop but under government aid programmes many are now growing cash crops such as cocoa. Longhouses are also referred to as Uma (Sumah) and the name of the headman, ie Long Segaham is known locally as Uma Lasah (Lasah being the chief).
Longhouses between Kapit and Belaga on the upper Rejang river are accessible by the normal passenger boats, but these express boats travel a limited distance on the Baleh River (2½ hours). To go further upriver it is necessary to take a tour or organize your own guides and boatmen. The sort of trip taken by Redmond O'Hanlon and James Fenton (as described in O'Hanlon's book Into the Heart of Borneo) would cost more than RM1800 a head. Large-scale logging operations are currently underway on the Baleh River and although this may increase boat traffic and the opportunities to access this part of Sarawak, brace yourself for a very different experience from that described in Into the Heart of Borneo.
The vast majority of the population, about 68%, in Sarawak's Seventh Division is Iban. They inhabit the Rejang up to and a little beyond Kapit, as well as the lower reaches of the Balleh and its tributaries. The Iban people are traditionally the most hospitable to visitors but, as a result, their longhouses are the most frequently visited by tourists. Malays and Chinese account for 3.4% and 7% of the population respectively. The Orang Ulu live further upriver; the main tribes are the Kayan and the Kenyah (12%) and a long list of sub-groups such as the Kejaman, Beketan, Sekapan, Lahanan, Seping and Tanjong. In addition there are the nomadic and semi-nomadic Penan, Punan and Ukit. Many tribal people are employed in the logging industry and, with their paid jobs, have brought the trappings of modernity to even the most remote longhouses.
Only enter the Rumah Tuan Lepong Balleh longhouse with the local policeman, Selvat Anu, who lives there; ask for him at Kapit police station. During the day Selvat and some members of the longhouse can take visitors on various adventure tours: river trips, visiting longhouses, jungle treks, fishing, pig hunting, camping in the jungle, trips up to logging areas, swimming in rivers and mountain trekking. Selvat is very knowledgeable and has good relations with longhouse communities. Visitors can eat with the family and occasionally have the chance to experience a traditional Iban ceremony.
Fort Sylvia (Photo Above) near the wharves was built of belian by Rajah Charles Brooke in 1880, and is now occupied by the Kapit Museum. It was originally called Kapit Fort but was renamed in 1925 after Rajah Vyner Brooke's wife. Most of the forts built during this time were designed to prevent the Orang Ulu going downriver; Fort Sylvia was built to stop the belligerent Iban headhunters from attacking Kenyah and Kayan settlements upstream.
The Kapit Museum was enlarged in the 1990s and moved to Fort Sylvia. It has exhibits (all labelled in English) on Rejang tribes and the local economy. Set up by the Sarawak Museum in Kuching, it includes a section of an Iban longhouse and several Iban artefacts including a wooden hornbill. The Orang Ulu section has a reconstruction of a longhouse and a mural painted by local tribespeople. An Orang Ulu salong (burial hut), totem pole and other woodcarvings are also on display. The museum has representative exhibits from the small Malay community and the Chinese. Hokkien traders settled at Kapit and Belaga and traded salt, sugar and ceramics for pepper, rotan and rubber; they were followed by traders from Fujian. The Chinese exhibit is a shop. In addition, there are also displays on the natural history of the upper Rejang and modern industries such as mining, logging and tourism.
Kapit has a particularly colourful daily market in the centre of town. Tribeswomen bring in fruit, vegetables and animals to sell; it is quite normal to see everything from turtles, frogs, birds and catfish to monkeys, wild boar and even pangolin and pythons. Note: If you do see animals such as monkeys, pangolins, wild cats or birds, please remember that most of them are protected species and in serious danger of extinction, due to the wildlife 'pet' trade and the rising demand for 'traditional' medicines like ground bone and body parts such as monkey gall bladders. Please do not buy them or in any way encourage this business.
Pelagus Rapids
Forty-five minutes upstream from Kapit on the Rejang River, this 2.5-km-long series of cataracts and whirlpools is the result of a sudden drop in the riverbed, caused by a geological fault line. Express boats can make it up the Pelagus to Belaga in the wet season (September-April) and at times of high water the rest of the year, but the rapids are still regarded with some trepidation by the pilots. When the water is low, they can only be negotiated by the smallest longboats. There are seven rapids in total, each with local names such as The Python, The Knife and one, more ominously, called The Grave.
Kapit, which means 'twin' in local dialect, is the capital of Sarawak's Seventh Division, through which flows the Rejang River and its main tributaries, the Batang Baleh, Batang Katibas, Batang Balui and Sungai Belaga. In a treaty with the Sultan of Brunei, Rajah James Brooke acquired the Rejang Basin for Sarawak in 1853. Kapit is the last big town on the Rejang and styles itself as the gateway to 'the heart of Borneo', after Redmond O'Hanlon's Into the Heart of Borneo, which describes his adventure up the Batang Baleh in the 1980s. Kapit is full of people who claim to be characters in this book.
The main sights are Fort Sylvia and the Kapit Museum but, like O'Hanlon and his journalist companion James Fenton, most visitors simply use the town as a pit stop before continuing their adventures into the interior to explore the upper Rejang and its tributaries, where there are many Iban and Orang Ulu longhouses. Maps of the Kapit Division and other parts of Sarawak are available from the Land Survey Department. Permits for upriver trips are available from the government administration centre, which is outside town near the old airport. Tourists going up the Balleh River or Upper Rejang must sign a form saying they understand they are travelling at their own risk.
Background
There are only a few tens of kilometres of surfaced road in and around Kapit, but the small town has a disproportionate number of cars. It is a trading centre for the tribespeople upriver and has grown enormously in recent years with the expansion of the logging industry upstream. Logs come in two varieties: floaters and sinkers. Floaters are pulled downstream by tugs in huge chevron formations. Sinkers - like belian (ironwood) - are transported in the Chinese-owned dry bulk carriers that line up along the wharves at Kapit. When the river is high these timber ships are able to go upstream, past the Pelagus Rapids. The Rejang at Kapit is normally 500 m wide and, in the dry season, the riverbank slopes steeply down to the water. When it floods, however, the water level rises more than 10 m, as is testified by the high-water marks on Fort Sylvia.
4. ‘Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead.’
This pearl of wisdom was pulled from her 2003 commencement speech at Vassar. I find it most useful as a writer, myself, whenever I fall into a creative rut. The best way to combat writer’s block is to plough through it. Writing often feels like a thankless craft. As a blogger, I’ve produced what I consider thought provoking, well-written articles that I’m proud to publish. But when a couple days go by without any traction, I immediately feel discouraged. I question my work. I reread and sometimes I even go back into the publication to edit. Susan reminds me to drop the need for validation from outside sources. Keep creating new content. Some articles go viral, others don’t. Move on.
5. ‘It’s all about taking in as much of what’s out there as you can, and not letting the excuses and the dreariness of some of the obligations you’ll soon be incurring narrow your lives.
Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.’ There will always be distractions and reasons not to write. Learn to ignore them. Said during the same commencement speech, Susan continues to stress active participation in your own life. Things don’t just happen. You make them happen. Through this active participation, you become an agent of change and a commentator on the way things ought to be.
6. ‘The only story that seems worth writing is a cry, a shot, a scream.
A story should break the reader’s heart.’ In 1973, Sontag’s diary reflections were quite meditative. While she often reflected inward on her the struggles of becoming a good writer, here she focuses her lens on what good writing looked like to her. Art is subjective, which is why you shouldn’t feel discouraged if one critic dislikes your work. There are countless stories told by the greats claiming they were denied by a chain of publishes prior to their success. What evokes you as a reader? You should know if you expect to have the same impact as a writer. She went on to say, ‘The story must strike a nerve in me. My heart should start pounding when I hear the first line in my head. I start trembling at the risk.’
7. ‘There is a great deal that either has to be given up or be taken away from you if you are going to succeed in writing a body of work.’
Writing requires sacrifice, whether your time, brain capacity, or emotional energy. If you’re not drained by the work, it’s probably not challenging enough. We all know writing isn’t a passive craft. It takes time, patience, and your full attention. You have to be brave and embrace your inner madness. What are you most afraid to write about? Now, write about only that until it’s no longer taboo. There’s a reason why it scares you. It’s intriguing. And if it intrigues you, there’s a good chance it intrigues someone else. Now you’ve got yourself a reader.
Sarah Williams is full time lifestyle writer managing Wingman Magazine – a self-development platform for millennial men. In her free time she loves to read and study about love interactions and communication. You can also connect her on Twitter: @SarahAtWingman
Sarah Williams 7 Pearls Of Writing Wisdom From Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag was an American writer, filmmaker, and political activist. She was born 16 January 1933, and died 28 December 2004. A personal hero of mine, she was deemed ‘one of the most influential critics of her generation.’
Rightfully so. Until her passing in 2004, she forged a daringly outspoken life during both turbulent and thrilling bouts of history. Susan possessed New York by shirking sexual stereotypes and sharing bold, unapologetic meditations on love, art, humanity, and pop culture.
From her prolific essays and talks on literature to her intimate letter correspondences, words were the catalyst of choice for Susan’s self-expression.
After Susan’s death, a series of her personal journals were released. She had spent an entire lifetime contemplating the importance of writing in relation to her life experiences and the experiences of others.
This is a collection of her most poignant pearls of writing wisdom.
7 Pearls Of Writing Wisdom From Susan Sontag
1. ‘You have to be obsessed.’
Much like Rainer Maria Rilke, who questioned writers whether they would die if forbidden to write, Susan instilled a similar urgency. You don’t choose to be a writer. You have to be. There must be something inside that commands a person to write. This commitment and desire to improve the craft is what propels you forward, both as a writer and a moral human being. ‘People write me all the time,’ she said, during a 1992 talk given at the 92nd Street Y, ‘or get in touch with me about “what should I do if I want to be a writer?” I say well, do you really want to be a writer? It’s not like something you’d want to be, it’s rather something you couldn’t help but be. But you have to be obsessed.’
2. ‘If I am not able to write because I’m afraid of being a bad writer, then I must be a bad writer.
At least I’ll be writing.’ In this journal entry from 1979, Susan motivates writers to denounce their insecurities and push through. It doesn’t matter if the quality of writing doesn’t quite match the quantity by which you produce it. If you’re compelled to write, you write. If you continue to write, you get better.
3. ‘Love words, agonize over sentences, and pay attention to the world.’ Fiction.
Narrative. Poetry. Non-fiction. Reviews. Every genre is a commentary on life. If you don’t pay attention to the world, you won’t have much to say about it. Susan Sontag contextualized her personal view of the world within a framework of the Vietnam War and her voluntary participation in the Siege of Sarajevo. She stressed the political role and social duty of the artist and the ways in which language can both create and distort reality. Put in the most simplistic terms during her acceptance speech for Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, ‘A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world.’ She urged writers to ‘be serious,’ without forgetting the importance of humour in both life and literature.
Writers like order, but too many writers blame their circumstances for an inability to get writing. There’s never an ideal environment to work, and it is something that might be impossible to find.
The Beatles performed many gigs where the crowd was so hysterical from Beatlemania that the band couldn’t hear themselves sing. They couldn’t hear their instruments. But still, they performed – and usually, very well.
Gigs are chaos. Studios are chaos. Musicians’ heads are chaos. Often, so is the environment in which you will have to write.
Don’t let circumstances stand in the way of completing your writing.
The Beatles didn’t. 7. Rights Are What You’re Really Selling
Rights to Beatles lyrics are worth more their literal weight in gold. Especially songs credited to the partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney have been bought, sold, re-sold, and traded to the tune of billions in total.
Professional writers aren’t selling consumer products like watches, silver, or shampoo. They’re selling rights to their work.
If you’re a writer, record it when you sell and publish your work. Learn what type of rights you are giving up, and whether the work can be re-posted (or republished as a reprint again).
While writers write, writers should also have a handle on the business of selling and administrating their rights.
For any writer, how they handle their rights is as important as how good their ideas look on paper.
The Last Word
Almost everyone knows the Beatles. If you don’t, now is an excellent time to have a listen to their library of work.
The movieAcross The Universeis also an excellent start for new fans (and even though it doesn’t feature the Beatles themselves, it features plenty of their best work).
As a writer, every influence can help to grow your abilities as a writer.
Who are your strongest writing influences right now, and what have you learned from their work?
Image: This image is from the “Album Covers Wiki” on The Beatles and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
By Alex J. Coyne. Alex is a writer, proofreader, and regular card player. His features about cards, bridge, and card playing have appeared in Great Bridge Links, Gifts for Card Players, Bridge Canada Magazine, and Caribbean Compass. Get in touch at alexcoyneofficial.com.
See pitches and sold work as business capital as a writer. After all, your words are worth money. Every word counts, especially when the writer intends to sell any of them.
4. Work On Telling Great Beginnings, Middles, & Ends
The Beatles had a knack for great stories within their songs.
There are beginnings, middles, and ends. Distinct ones, and each song tells a story to the listener or reader.
As a writer, you should aim to make your writing always achieve this.
Excellent fiction and non-fiction writing means you should always work on betterbeginnings,middles, andendings..
5, Ideas Can Come From Anywhere (At Any Time)
The original idea forYesterdaycame from a catchy melody and Paul McCartney singing the words ‘scrambled eggs’ to it. Creativity is a strange thing. It can strike at any time, and a writer has to be ready to seize the moment (or set out a time for pitching and writing every day) to keep ideas flowing.
The songYesterdayis credited as the most covered and recorded song in history. That’s really something, and it started with a very basic core idea.
Keep all your ideas. Don’t discount the weird ones. They might just be the ideas that work well with readers – and remember that the best ideas can, indeed, come from some very weird places.
Learn from the Beatles just as much as from traditional writing role models likeStephen King.
They knew how to write.
7 Lessons In Better Writing From The Beatles
There are many writers who look to primarily fiction or non-fiction authors for inspiration. Include scriptwriters and lyricists in your list, even if you do not write in the same media which they do.
Here’s where to start exploring the Beatles:
1. How To Use Your Words
The Beatles were responsible for the lyric ‘I am the walrus’.
People are still debating what it could have meant. But it’s still catchy enough to have sold millions of copies – and inspired thousands of other artists.
As a writer, your greatest tool is using (and often bending) the capacity of language. Words influence a lot of things, includingmood,and a writer’stone.
Does it mean that you have to use flowery, embellished language every time you write? No, not necessarily. But writers should always use language with just a dash of creativity that sets them apart from other writers in the world.
Know language, and aim to get to know it better as a writer every day.
It worked for the Beatles, and it can work for you.
Looking for some writing advice and inspiration? In this post, we include seven lessons in better writing from The Beatles.
When measured by album sales and song downloads,The Beatleswere one of the biggest bands in existence.Yesterdayis the world’s most covered song, and other tracks written by the Fab Four are familiar to most people who will read this.
While their official end came in 1970, their influences continues well into today.
Don’t forget that The Beatles were writers, too. While people see them as musicians, what they sold was their writing.
Writers can learn a lot to improve their writing through The Beatles. If you want to know more about writing that captivates those who hear and read it, they knew some writing tricks.
Go to YouTube, and look up some lyrics before reading further. Start withStrawberry Fields Forever,Help, orI Want To Hold Your Hand.Some were rock, some were blues, and others were radio-friendly – a couple were very unusual.
Here’s what writers can learn from the writing of one of the greatest groups to exist.
Briefly, About The Beatles
The official Beatles members were Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
The Beatles still have an incredible influence on art, popular culture, andcreativity.Their work is popular, everlasting, and original. Their work is inspiring, written about often, and discovered by new fans every day.
Do you want people to see your writing like this someday?
The way people face the weather; how do they go through rain, thunderstorm or hot sun, reflects their contentment or dissatisfaction toward the life in that city.
Are they elegant or in a hush; bitter-faced or look into the sky with a smile?
When most people in that place hold the umbrellas and walk with poise, the scenery can be contagious. We will say to ourselves that, I would like to be part of this city.
On the contrary, when most people are sour-looking, and rush through the weather, you know, how bad, people are not happy at all here!
The style of a city constitutes its attractiveness. With imagination and innovation, the cultural creative activists can help shape peoples’ mental picture towards a city. However, the policy makers must first have the concept of how to make life easier for their citizens.
（Photo Courtesy: Julia Drobonova *top; Irina Klimenko *bottom）
(Photo Courtesy: Samuel kreuzer *top;Olah Laszlo Tibor *middle/bottom）
It is obvious, all Germans “aware” or “appreciate” how important it is to be law-abiding. It is part of their disciplines, which often translate into the reliable quality of their manufacture goods such as cars, machineries and electronics.
But, what is style? To be precise, the style of a city? and how does it shape the “character” of a place?
To me, it is simple. Style is defined by the mental image we hold for a city. When I travel to a place, there are usually a few things I would first observe.
（Photo Courtesy: Eric Chavet *top; Katerina Vorvi *bottom）
According to the champion and researcher of cultural creative industries in Malaysia, Dr Tan Beng Huat, who is also a fellow member of the renowned Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM), the “character” of a city is defined by its awareness, attitude, style and philosophy it believes in.
It seems no issue in understanding the awareness, attitude or philosophy of a city.
For instance, in Berlin, every Berliner follows traffic light; green you go, orange and red you stop, whether it is 3 in the morning or in the afternoon, for men or vehicles.
Your car just has to stop right in front of red light, even when there is no car coming from the other side in midnight.
Born in Hiroshima, 1975. Shintaro Ohata is an artist who depicts little things in everyday life like scenes of a movie and captures all sorts of light in his work with a unique touch: convenience stores at night, city roads on rainy day and fast-food shops at dawn etc. His paintings show us ordinary sceneries as dramas. He is also known for his characteristic style; placing sculptures in front of paintings, and shows them as one work, a combination of 2-D and 3-D world.
''afterglow'', 2011, acrylic on canvas
Statement
Shintaro Ohata is an artist who depicts little things in everyday life like scenes of a movie and captures all sorts of light in his work with a unique touch: convenience stores at night, city roads on rainy day and fast-food shops at dawn etc. His paintings show us ordinary sceneries as dramas. He is also known for his characteristic style; placing sculptures in front of paintings, and shows them as one work, a combination of 2-D and 3-D world. He says that it all started from when he wondered “I could bring the atmosphere or dynamism of my paintings with a more different way if I place sculptures in front of paintings”. Many viewers tend to assume that there is a light source set into his work itself because of the strong expression of lights in his sculpture. His further steps have been noticed as he has been featured by lots of media from overseas, including a cultural magazine from the USA that featured him on their front cover and a long interview.
「水族館」/ ''Aquarium'', 2010, panting, polystyrene based sculpture
''2'', 2011, panting, polystyrene based sculpture
「アジサイ」部分/ ”AJISAI”detail, 2009, panting, polystyrene based sculpture「さよなら三角」/
''SAYONARA SANKAKU'', 2008, panting, polystyrene based sculpture
Pioneering Psychologist Jerome Bruner on Metaphorical Effectiveness The third, Bruner notes, is the hardest to describe. Metaphorical effectiveness is also manifested by “connecting domains of experience that were before apart,” but what distinguishes it from the formal kind is that the mechanisms of connectedness come for the realm of art rather than science and logic — the kind of connectedness that Carl Jung described as “visionary,” in contrast to the merely psychological.
(Metaphorical thinking, after all, is at the developmental root of human imagination.)
While we are wired to make sense of the world via categorization, “metaphoric combination leaps beyond systematic placement, explores connections that before were unsuspected.”
The unifying mechanism for all three, however, remains what Einstein termed “combinatory play.” Bruner writes:
All of the forms of effective surprise grow out of a combinatorial activity — a placing of things in new perspectives.（Source：https://www.brainpickings.org）
Pioneering Psychologist Jerome Bruner on How to Master the Art of “Effective Surprise”
An act that produces effective surprise [is] the hallmark of the creative enterprise.
It is essential, here to distinguish between creativity and originality. In a sentiment that brings to mind Twain’s famous assertion that plagiarism is the seed of creative work, Alexander Graham Bell’s conviction that “our most original compositions are composed exclusively of expressions derived from others,” and Henry Miller’s poetic debunking of the originality illusion, Bruner cautions:
The road to banality is paved with creative intentions. Surprise is not easily defined. It is the unexpected that strikes one with wonder or astonishment. What is curious about effective surprise is that it need not be rare or infrequent or bizarre and is often none of these things. Effective surprises … seem rather to have the quality of obviousness about them when they occur, producing a shock of recognition following which there is no longer astonishment.
He goes on to outline three kinds of effectiveness in surprise.
Predictive effectiveness is “the kind of surprise that yields high predictive value in its wake” — for instance, as in the most elegant formulae of mathematics and physics, which hold that whenever certain conditions are present, a specific outcome is guaranteed to be produced. (All of these 17 equations that changed the world are excellent examples.) Predictive effectiveness doesn’t always come through surprise — it’s often “the slow accretion of knowledge and urge.” And yet, Bruner argues, “the surprise may only come when we look back and see whence we have come” — the very thing Steve Jobs described in his autobiographical account of his own creative journey, in noting that “you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”
Bruner’s second form is formal effectiveness, the kind most frequently encountered in mathematics and logic, and occasionally music. He cites French polymath Henri Poincaré’s famous account of how creativity works, which holds that “sudden illumination” — the mythic Eureka! moment — is the unconscious combinatorial process that reveals “the unsuspected kinship between … facts, long known, but wrongly believed to be strangers to one another.” （see column below）
Industry 4.0, which is reflected in start-ups, intends to solve a problem by creating the solution. The most common questions that start-ups try to answer are what is a problem that it can solve and what kind of solution can a start-up provide? However, the solution offered usually disrupts an inefficient business process and this changes the way businessmen do their business.
Within the creative economy, when an IP creator wants to produce a comic, film, piece of music or game, he or she will not encounter such questions, as the main drive for the industry is not production efficiency but the quality of the content. However, the actual challenge that the creative sector must face is everything related to the balance of trade: how much the creative sector’s exports are worth compared with their imports.
In Indonesia, spinning tops are handmade crafts. They are regarded as traditional toys, selling for no more than Rp 20,000 (less than US$1.50). However, by empowering its creative industry, Japan succeeded in creating comics, animation and toys revolving around spinning tops, so much that they are worth a thousand times more than traditional Indonesian tops.
In 2013, Pokémon’s IP collected revenue from Japan fashion and merchandise of more than $890 million. This IP alone produced more than US$21 billion, making the IP the highest-grossing media franchise. The creative sector’s role in the national economy is considered highly important, since the economic value chain formed by the industry will disrupt but enhance other sectors of the creative economy. This is the power of the creative economy, every sector is able to support and empower each other.
Unfortunately, in Indonesia the ambiguity between Industry 4.0 and the creative economy means the latter is seen and viewed in the same context as Industry 4.0, both by the public and even policymakers. This weakens the creative economy even further and puts it at a disadvantage.
Whereas, if we look to other countries as Japan, Korea and China, where they treat their creative sectors with the right understanding and mindset, Indonesia may, too, be able to make the creative economy a featured national program, creating new economic power that can be beneficial for Indonesia. (dev/wng)
The writer is a game designer in a local game developer located in Jakarta.
Twenty-four years later, Indonesia's youth gathered at Jakarta's Blok M Square to celebrate Japanese cultural day echinnisai and many even wore traditional Japanese clothing. Japanese cuisine is now also commonplace in the capital, from the very affordable that can be found in roadside stalls to that sold in upmarket shopping malls. Entertainment content originating from Japan, such as Tamagochi, Pokemon, Doraemon and Sailormoon have their own place in the hearts of the Indonesian public. The boost has occurred not only with culture-based products, but other Japanese mass-produced products. According to data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo), Japanese cars overwhelmingly dominated the car sales market in Indonesia in 2017.
Japan started and began to intensify its cultural diplomacy strategy after its defeat in the Second World War. The country was aware that it was important to change its image and improve the nation’s branding in more subtle ways. This creative economic strategy introduced Japanese creative products in Indonesia in the early 80s, namely games (Nintendo) and television shows (Oshin). The national strategy called Cool Japan was designed to increase exports of intellectual property (IP) or cultural content based on manga (pictorial stories or comics), anime (animation), drama, movies, novels, games and toys.
The creative economy involves creative processes and creative products that are loaded with cultural values and using them to influence others. The creative economy now involves political and economic values. At this stage, the creative economy focuses on two main things: the creation of soft power, or what is commonly called the power of cultural diplomacy, and the export of creative content or the export of cultural content.
Korea also has its own cultural strategy. In 1994 then president Young-sam Kim gave support and subsidies for local content production. At the time, Hollywood dominated 80 percent of the Korean market, while the local film industry market share dropped to 15.9 percent. Moreover, Kim was also forced to review the total revenue of Hollywood’s film Jurassic Park, which exceeded the revenue of Hyundai automobiles at more than US$1.5 billion. The Korean Ministry of Culture then initiated a cultural industry bureau to manage the cultural sector, which also led and encouraged investors to extend into film and other media.
In the following years, the Korean creative sector showed significant progress. In 1996, Korean mythology-based game Nexus was launched and in 1998 it reached the beta phase in the US. In 1999, Korea's first big-budget film, Shiri, earned $11 million in revenue and surpassed Hollywood's Titanic. In the same year, Korean boy band H.O.T. became the first group to perform abroad in a sold-out concert held in Beijing. This is how the Koreans implemented their cultural strategy, which is also known as Hallyu or the Korean wave.
In the case of Indonesia's Industry 4.0, the use of start-ups and creative economy terminology are commonly misused interchangeably, whereas the two have very distinct natures in terms of basic concepts, business model and even purpose.
NINOI KILING·Industry 4.0 vs creative sector: Disruptive or constructive?
A woman makes batik. The creative sector is set to significantly contribute to the national economy. (Shutterstock / Khairul Effendi)
The term “4.0” has become widely used in the past few years. From government 4.0 to tourism 4.0, this suffix seems to be something that must be attached to every concept and movement to welcome the era of Industry 4.0. But is it used appropriately, or is it actually keeping Indonesia from benefiting even further from unexplored economic potential?
Generally, technology or industry aims to increase productivity and reduce the use of human resources, disrupting previous technology providing business opportunities. Through this process start-ups evolve and create solutions to tackle inefficient business problems.
The creative economy is a reaction to the increasing demands for lifestyle and entertainment products. This demands leads to further demand for content, which in their creation and production are deeply related to creative industry. However, traditional creative industry alone is not enough to face the challenge, one also has to understand how the expertise of the business and the business model can be implemented to create a more valuable and creative product.
In countries such as Japan, Korea and China, the creative economy is the spearhead of their economic growth. The governments have encouraged many strategies and policies to keep their creative industries developed as soft power or cultural diplomacy, and as the creation of new economic power chains.
In 1974 there occurred an event in Indonesia known as Malapetaka Limabelas Januari (January 15 Havoc) or Malari. At the time, then president Soeharto and several ministers were welcoming Japan's then prime minister Tanaka Kakuei. Students held large-scale demonstrations against foreign capital, especially Japanese, and burned Japanese manufactured goods at several points in the capital. They insisted that they did not want Indonesia to be economically colonized again. In an article written by Husain Abdulsalam entitled “Malari 1974: Protes Mahasiswa yang Ditunggangi Para Jenderal” (Malari 1974: Student Protests Ridden by Generals, 2018), the incident is considered to be "the first major protest after the New Order came to power".
Note on this translation—On April 5th, 1922, Xu Yunuo wrote two poems about spring. Almost one century later, in spring, I propose a translation in English. Should I, instead of translation, more correctly use the word transcription?
Musicians use it when they arrange a piece for a different instrument than it was originally written for. My versions of the two Xu Yunuo poems are not literal translations; some may think they are not sufficiently literal. But I believe they are true to the original. I believe my arrangement was able to maintain the spirit of the poems, while sacrificing to the letter. I believe the essence of a poem is its spirit.
How much of the spirit of a poem is in the mere letters and words? This is a problem with all translations, and a headache for translators. Some would argue it is in the words, period. I would suggest it is between the words, between the lines. In translations from the Chinese (into Western languages) the question is pressing. This is why: The true and ultimate justification for translating poetry is to transmit the poetic quality (or essence) of a poem. I would be pretentious if I, a European, boasted I am able to capture the poetic essence of Chinese poetry. Still the goal of my reading poetry is exactly that. Also, with more obstacles in the way, it is the goal of my translating. My understanding of poetic quality, however, is determined by the language I am born in, or by the ones I am very familiar with. Poetic quality and the spirit, I mentioned above, are probably close cousins. The spirit, I supposed, dwells between the words. And so I fill the space between the words of the foreign language poem with what goes for poetic quality in my own language. I can’t help doing it; it is part of my chemistry. But I think it is only in this way I can serve readers of the poem in its new language (my language). If I do well, I may even hope to do a service to the poem, and to whoever reads it in its original language. Let me move now to the transcription of the two poems that provoked these thoughts.
Xu Yunuo is a revolutionary writer of the early 20th century. Presented as a naive poet, a Douanier Rousseau of China, he ignores the strict rules of structure that had dominated Chinese verse since long. He communicates pure inspiration and delivers it in a spontaneous form, leaving an impression of liberation. To achieve this, he introduced a few typical elements of (Romantic) Western poetics into his writing. Between them are narration, simple and every day vocabulary, melodious language and symbolism. (It is interesting to see that in the same period prominent Western writers introduced Chinese notions of poetic quality, or what they thought it was, in their work, also under the banner of liberation.) Those elements were the principle features that struck me, when I discovered the two spring poems of 1922. To make an interesting and faithful transcription I stressed these features, and developed them here or there. I chose therefore an English rhythm, meter and rhyme, using them without academic rigor, but consistently, as verse would have been in England in 1922. I wanted it to be pleasant, not deprived of naive humor or even linguistic oddities (so English!). To catch its candid mood was a must, as well as its latent symbolism. In so doing I lost some of the elliptical qualities of the Chinese form, sometimes with regret. But it was at that price that I saved for the English reader the joy that inhabits the poems, as their soul. This joy celebrates not only the coming of spring, but the dawn of a new poetic era, and beyond that the dawn of a new society.（JLS，February 6, 2017）
While the democratization of travel has made visiting different locations more accessible, travelling is nonetheless still a privilege that some people are not in a position to experience.
It is only human for a twinge of plain old envy play a small role in someone’s clear disinterest in your stories. Your friend might have been pinching her pennies for years in her attempts to travel out of state. And here you are talking about missing the days where you backpacked through ten different European cities. Very soon, they’re waiting for the inevitable point where your conversation turns into a one-sided monologue. You should be proud of yourself and your newfound independence and insights. but also recognise that these are opportunities to be thankful for. No one likes a humble-brag.
At the end of the day, these small instances of social friction should not deter you from seeking extraordinary experiences. Be self-aware in your communications and don’t take it personally if a flicker of boredom appears in your friend’s eyes as you recount your adventures. Travelling is often an intensely personal and visceral journey. Very often the joys and sorrows experienced along the way are unique to each person. And that’s okay! You can always seek out other common interests to bond over. (Source:https://blog.wego.com)
SarahIt Doesn’t Feel the Same Now: 3 Revealing Insights Into How Your Trips May Affect Your Friendship
Apsychological studyconducted by scholars from Harvard University discovered that there might be some hidden costs associated with the extraordinary experiences you’ve been seeking out during your travels.
These costs manifest themselves in situations where you find yourself trying desperately to share your life-changing experiences with your friends only to be met with eyes of boredom and a stifled yawn.
No matter how many pictures of Louvre you pull up on your phone, they can’t seem to get how truly spectacular it was to stand in front of the Winged Victory of Samothrace. While one might be tempted to assign this lack of interest to simple envy, the truth is often at once more simple and complex than that.
“You had to be there to experience it,” you say, casually. And that statement might just contain the answer to your friends’ lack-of-interest.
They just weren’t there.
Your friends did not set out to be intentionally callous. The problem is that they just can’t relate because they weren’t there. You speak of washing down the most delicious cod croquettes with a glass of rosé at the 58 Tour Eiffel, but back here among the humdrum of the every day, your hometown mates are probably more excited about the local pizza joint that recently opened two streets over.
The lack of shared experiential vocabulary can create some social friction. Extraordinary experiences, while personally life-changing, might leave the traveller feeling socially divided from his or her community.
If you want to bond over how beautiful the sunlight looked sparkling on the water as you walked along the Seine, why not seek out a fellow traveller who understands without having to pull up a dozen photos that ultimately don’t do it justice anyway.
Reconnect with the travel buddies you met along the way. You’ll both be able to intuitively understand each other’s experiences and reciprocate with sharing similar stories more enthusiastically.
Growth is normal.
Understand that many of these experiences often confer non-social pleasures that might best be accepted as a personal journey.
If you claim that these have been life-changing experiences, then changes are bound to reflect in your person. How have your philosophies or outlooks on life shifted? Your previously irreligious self would have scoffed at the idea of any higher deity. But after spending an afternoon listening to the choir sing at Sacré-Cœur Basilica, you now identify as a Christian.
Not all changes are that momentous. Maybe visiting all those galleries and museums has given you a newfound appreciation for Renaissance art. Your friends might not be that interested in listening to the history of the pigments used by Leonardo da Vinci in his Mona Lisa.
In the global economy, fusing education, training, and employmentis more than a labor market mechanism. It is a unique cultural landscape rooted in Anglophone pragmatism. Over decades, nations like Australia, the UK, Canada, and the US have built an ecosystem that blends the theoretical instruction of the lecture hall, the skill refinement of the workshop, and the professional practice of the assembly line.
1.The Philosophical Roots: From Bacon to Competency
To understand why English-speaking countries seamlessly bind these functions, one must return to British empiricism and American pragmatism. Through this lens, knowledge is valued not for its abstract sublimity, but for its capacity to be translated into action.
Australia’s VET system and the UK’s National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) are bureaucratic manifestations of this philosophy. By placing learning and working side-by-side, they dismantle the elitism of the intellectual class. Within a National Qualifications Framework (NQF), a welding torch and a lecture handout carry equal institutional dignity. This enables the "Earn and Learn" cultural phenomenon, blurring the absolute boundary between blue-collar and white-collar work. Young people establish their social coordinates through practical experience while avoiding crippling student debt.
2.The Instrumental Trap and the AI Crisis
However, this aggressive market orientation has a dark side. When education is swallowed by vocational training, universities risk downgrading into pre-production assembly lines for corporations.
When curricula are tethered strictly to current industry metrics, the humanities are marginalized. Cultural critics worry this system mass-produces "the perfect tools"—individuals with high immediate workplace utility, but fragile capacities for critical thinking.
This hyper-specialization now faces an existential crisis with the rise of Advanced AI. The "Three-in-One" model relies heavily on teaching specific, predictable workplace skills. Yet, AI excels at automating precisely these highly defined technical tasks. If a student's education is merely a reflection of a current corporate job description, their skills risk obsolescence by graduation. The system's greatest strength—its tight alignment with the current market—becomes its greatest vulnerability in an automated world.
The Scale of Efficiency
The integration of education, training, and employment in the Anglophone world maximizes economic efficiency and mitigates youth unemployment. Yet, it also mirrors a cultural obsession with immediate utility. In the era of automation, finding a fresh balance between equipping youth with survival skills and preserving the adaptable, critical human soul will be the next true test of Western educational wisdom.
The chair sat empty. The Elder’s “Southern Favorite,” though once at the center of a donation scandal that stirred public uproar, had always been protected by the Elder’s formidable authority. After all, a cherished confidante is bound to be indulged and spoiled a little, isn’t she?
This time, the mother hen led her chicks: four distinguished figures from the same family all emerged to seek seats of their own. The public spun it into a charming tale: it is not only femme fatales who command attention in the marketplace; mature beauties are just as sought after. And it is not only the back door that offers a pathway upward—there are routes through the harem as well.
[Golongan Penyelidikan iCONADA] Transformasi atau Pelanggaran Sempadan? Apabila “Otak Kiri McKinsey” Bertemu “Otak Kanan LUNAR”: Peralihan Paradigma Pendidikan Kreatif di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi
Pada tahun 2015, gergasi perundingan global McKinsey & Company mengambil alih firma reka bentuk industri terkemuka LUNAR. Penggabungan antara dunia strategi perniagaan dan kreativiti ini bukan sekadar pengembangan korporat, tetapi menjadi simbol perubahan besar dalam industri kreatif: kreativiti tidak lagi dianggap sebagai hiasan akhir, sebaliknya menjadi elemen strategik dalam mencipta nilai perniagaan.
Sebelum ini, reka bentuk sering dilihat sebagai proses “kemasan” selepas pembangunan produk dan strategi perniagaan selesai. Namun, gabungan McKinsey dan LUNAR membuktikan bahawa pemikiran reka bentuk (Design Thinking), pengalaman pengguna dan inovasi kreatif kini menjadi sebahagian daripada proses membuat keputusan di peringkat tertinggi organisasi. Kreativiti telah berkembang daripada menghasilkan objek menarik kepada menyelesaikan masalah kompleks masyarakat dan perniagaan.
Perubahan ini memberi cabaran besar kepada pendidikan kreatif di universiti. Model pendidikan tradisional yang memisahkan bidang perniagaan dan reka bentuk perlu diperbaharui. Dunia kini memerlukan bakat dwifungsi yang memahami estetika, budaya, teknologi serta logik pasaran. Oleh itu, institusi pengajian tinggi perlu menggalakkan pembelajaran rentas disiplin seperti “reka bentuk + perniagaan”.
Selain itu, pendidikan kreatif harus beralih daripada sekadar penguasaan kemahiran teknikal kepada penyelesaian masalah sebenar. Pelajar bukan hanya perlu tahu “cara menghasilkan reka bentuk”, tetapi juga “cara menggunakan kreativiti untuk mencipta impak”. Pemahaman terhadap data, penyelidikan pengguna dan nilai komersial juga penting agar idea kreatif dapat diterjemahkan kepada strategi yang bernilai.
Namun, transformasi ini turut membawa risiko. Jika pendidikan kreatif terlalu tunduk kepada KPI, keuntungan dan kecekapan pasaran, kreativiti mungkin kehilangan sifat kritikal, kemanusiaan dan keberaniannya untuk mencabar norma. Universiti bukan sekadar kilang menghasilkan tenaga kerja industri, tetapi ruang untuk memelihara pemikiran bebas dan inovasi yang melangkaui keuntungan jangka pendek.
Kesimpulannya, masa depan pendidikan kreatif memerlukan keseimbangan antara rasionaliti perniagaan dan sensitiviti seni. Kreativiti perlu mempunyai nilai ekonomi, tetapi pada masa sama mesti kekal mempunyai jiwa, kritikan sosial dan kemanusiaan.
Proletarianization is the socioeconomic process by which individuals shift from self-employment or ownership into wage labor. In Marxist theory, it describes how people lose control over the means of production—such as land, tools, or specialized knowledge. Consequently, they must sell their labor power to survive, expanding the working class. Historically linked to industrial factories, this phenomenon actively shapes the modern global economy.
The historical foundation of proletarianization lies in the separation of producers from their resources. During Britain’s Enclosure Acts, common lands were privatized, forcing agrarian peasants into rapidly growing cities to seek factory jobs. Similarly, the rise of industrial manufacturing outcompeted independent artisans. They could no longer match the scale of mechanized factories, leaving them no choice but to enter the corporate workforce. This dynamic concentrated wealth in the hands of capital owners while standardizing the experience of the working mass.
In the twenty-first century, proletarianization manifests in white-collar and digital industries. The expansion of the gig economy exemplifies this shift. Rideshare drivers and freelance digital workers function as independent contractors on paper, but algorithmic control strips away their true autonomy. They rely entirely on centralized platforms for income, mirroring traditional wage dependency without the associated legal protections or job security.
Furthermore, advanced technology accelerates the de-skilling of professional fields. Artificial intelligence and complex software now codify specialized tasks in law, medicine, and education. As corporate entities absorb independent practices, professionals like doctors and lawyers find themselves operating under rigid corporate metrics rather than autonomous judgement. Their specialized knowledge becomes institutional intellectual property, effectively proletarianizing highly educated tiers of the workforce.
Ultimately, proletarianization highlights the persistent imbalance between capital and labor. From nineteenth-century textile mills to modern digital platforms, the mechanism remains identical: the loss of autonomy and the commodification of human work. Understanding this continuous evolution is essential for navigating the future of labor rights, economic inequality, and worker agency in an increasingly automated world.
（Con't）If you think that this doesn’t apply to you—that your own travels are magical and profound, with effects that deepen your values, expand your horizons, render you a true citizen of the globe, and so on—note that this phenomenon can’t be assessed first-personally. Pessoa, Chesterton, Percy, and Emerson were all aware that travellers tell themselves they’ve changed, but you can’t rely on introspection to detect a delusion. So cast your mind, instead, to any friends who are soon to set off on summer adventures. In what condition do you expect to find them when they return? They may speak of their travel as though it were transformative, a “once in a lifetime” experience, but will you be able to notice a difference in their behavior, their beliefs, their moral compass? Will there be any difference at all?
Travel is fun, so it is not mysterious that we like it. What is mysterious is why we imbue it with a vast significance, an aura of virtue. If a vacation is merely the pursuit of unchanging change, an embrace of nothing, why insist on its meaning?
One is forced to conclude that maybe it isn’t so easy to do nothing—and this suggests a solution to the puzzle. Imagine how your life would look if you discovered that you would never again travel. If you aren’t planning a major life change, the prospect looms, terrifyingly, as “More and more of this, and then I die.” Travel splits this expanse of time into the chunk that happens before the trip, and the chunk that happens after it, obscuring from view the certainty of annihilation. And it does so in the cleverest possible way: by giving you a foretaste of it. You don’t like to think about the fact that someday you will do nothing and be nobody. You will only allow yourself to preview this experience when you can disguise it in a narrative about how you are doing many exciting and edifying things: you are experiencing, you are connecting, you are being transformed, and you have the trinkets and photos to prove it.
（The Case Against Travel：It turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we're at our best by Agnes Callard，June 24, 2023，The New Yorker)
（Con't）He speaks for every tourist who has stood before a monument, or a painting, or a falcon, and demanded herself to feel something. Emerson and Percy help us understand why this demand is unreasonable: to be a tourist is to have already decided that it is not one's own feelings that count.
Whether an experience is authentically X is precisely what you, as a non-X, cannot judge.
A similar argument applies to the tourist's impulse to honour the grand sea of humanity. Whereas Percy and Emerson focus on the aesthetic, showing us how hard it is for travellers to have the sensory experiences that they seek, Pessoa and Chesterton are interested in the ethical. They study why travellers can't truly connect to other human beings. During my Paris wanderings, I would stare at people, intently inspecting their clothing, their demeanor, their interactions. I was trying to see the Frenchness in the French people around me. This is not a way to make friends.
Pessoa said that he knew only one “real traveller with soul”: an office boy who obsessively collected brochures, tore maps out of newspapers, and memorized train schedules between far-flung destinations. The boy could recount sailing routes around the world, but he had never left Lisbon.
Chesterton also approved of such stationary travellers. He wrote that there was “something touching and even tragic” about “the thoughtless tourist, who might have stayed at home loving Laplanders, embracing Chinamen, and clasping Patagonians to his heart in Hampstead or Surbiton, but for his blind and suicidal impulse to go and see what they looked like.”
The problem was not with other places, or with the man wanting to see them, but with travel's dehumanizing effect, which thrust him among people to whom he was forced to relate as a spectator. Chesterton believed that loving what is distant in the proper fashion—namely, from a distance—enabled a more universal connection. When the man in Hampstead thought of foreigners “in the abstract . . . as those who labour and love their children and die, he was thinking the fundamental truth about them.” “The human bond that he feels at home is not an illusion,” Chesterton wrote. “It is rather an inner reality.” Travel prevents us from feeling the presence of those we have travelled such great distances to be near.
The single most important fact about tourism is this: we already know what we will be like when we return. A vacation is not like immigrating to a foreign country, or matriculating at a university, or starting a new job, or falling in love. We embark on those pursuits with the trepidation of one who enters a tunnel not knowing who she will be when she walks out. The traveller departs confident that she will come back with the same basic interests, political beliefs, and living arrangements. Travel is a boomerang. It drops you right where you started.
（Con't）In the many great cities I have actually lived and worked in, I would never consider spending whole days walking. When you travel, you suspend your usual standards for what counts as a valuable use of time. You suspend other standards as well, unwilling to be constrained by your taste in food, art, or recreational activities. After all, you say to yourself, the whole point of travelling is to break out of the confines of everyday life. But, if you usually avoid museums, and suddenly seek them out for the purpose of experiencing a change, what are you going to make of the paintings? You might as well be in a room full of falcons.
Let’s delve a bit deeper into how, exactly, the tourist's project is self-undermining. I'll illustrate with two examples from “The Loss of the Creature,” an essay by the writer Walker Percy.
First, a sightseer arriving at the Grand Canyon. Before his trip, an idea of the canyon—a “symbolic complex”—had formed in his mind. He is delighted if the canyon resembles the pictures and postcards he has seen; he might even describe it as “every bit as beautiful as a picture postcard!” But, if the lighting is different, the colors and shadows not those which he expects, he feels cheated: he has arrived on a bad day. Unable to gaze directly at the canyon, forced to judge merely whether it matches an image, the sightseer “may simply be bored; or he may be conscious of the difficulty: that the great thing yawning at his feet somehow eludes him.”
Second, a couple from Iowa driving around Mexico. They are enjoying the trip, but are a bit dissatisfied by the usual sights. They get lost, drive for hours on a rocky mountain road, and eventually, “in a tiny valley not even marked on the map,” stumble upon a village celebrating a religious festival. Watching the villagers dance, the tourists finally have “an authentic sight, a sight which is charming, quaint, picturesque, unspoiled.” Yet they still feel some dissatisfaction. Back home in Iowa, they gush about the experience to an ethnologist friend: You should have been there! You must come back with us! When the ethnologist does, in fact, return with them, “the couple do not watch the goings-on; instead they watch the ethnologist! Their highest hope is that their friend should find the dance interesting.” They need him to “certify their experience as genuine.”
The tourist is a deferential character. He outsources the vindication of his experiences to the ethnologist, to postcards, to conventional wisdom about what you are or are not supposed to do in a place. This deference, this “openness to experience,”is exactly what renders the tourist incapable of experience. Emerson confessed, “I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated.”
We go to experience a change, but end up inflicting change on others.
For example, a decade ago, when I was in Abu Dhabi, I went on a guided tour of a falcon hospital. I took a photo with a falcon on my arm. I have no interest in falconry or falcons, and a generalized dislike of encounters with nonhuman animals. But the falcon hospital was one of the answers to the question, “What does one do in Abu Dhabi?”
So I went. I suspect that everything about the falcon hospital, from its layout to its mission statement, is and will continue to be shaped by the visits of people like me—we unchanged changers, we tourists. (On the wall of the foyer, I recall seeing a series of “excellence in tourism” awards. Keep in mind that this is an animal hospital.)
Why might it be bad for a place to be shaped by the people who travel there, voluntarily, for the purpose of experiencing a change? The answer is that such people not only do not know what they are doing but are not even trying to learn. Consider me. It would be one thing to have such a deep passion for falconry that one is willing to fly to Abu Dhabi to pursue it, and it would be another thing to approach the visit in an aspirational spirit, with the hope of developing my life in a new direction. I was in neither position.
I entered the hospital knowing that my post-Abu Dhabi life would contain exactly as much falconry as my pre-Abu Dhabi life—which is to say, zero falconry. If you are going to see something you neither value nor aspire to value, you are not doing much of anything besides locomoting.
Tourism is marked by its locomotive character. “I went to France.” O.K., but what did you do there? “I went to the Louvre.” O.K., but what did you do there? “I went to see the ‘Mona Lisa.’ ” That is, before quickly moving on: apparently, many people spend just fifteen seconds looking at the “Mona Lisa.” It’s locomotion all the way down.
The peculiar rationality of tourists allows them to be moved both by a desire to do what they are supposed to do in a place and a desire to avoid precisely what they are supposed to do. This is how it came to pass that, on my first trip to Paris, I avoided both the “Mona Lisa” and the Louvre. I did not, however, avoid locomotion. I walked from one end of the city to the other, over and over again, in a straight line; if you plotted my walks on a map, they would have formed a giant asterisk.
If you are inclined to dismiss this as contrarian posturing, try shifting the object of your thought from your own travel to that of others. At home or abroad, one tends to avoid “touristy” activities. “Tourism” is what we call travelling when other people are doing it. And, although people like to talk about their travels, few of us like to listen to them. Such talk resembles academic writing and reports of dreams: forms of communication driven more by the needs of the producer than the consumer.
One common argument for travel is that it lifts us into an enlightened state, educating us about the world and connecting us to its denizens. Even Samuel Johnson, a skeptic—“What I gained by being in France was, learning to be better satisfied with my own country,” he once said—conceded that travel had a certain cachet. Advising his beloved Boswell, Johnson recommended a trip to China, for the sake of Boswell’s children: “There would be a lustre reflected upon them. . . . They would be at all times regarded as the children of a man who had gone to view the wall of China.”
Travel gets branded as an achievement: see interesting places, have interesting experiences, become interesting people. Is that what it really is?
Pessoa, Emerson, and Chesterton believed that travel, far from putting us in touch with humanity, divorced us from it. Travel turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best. Call this the traveller’s delusion.
To explore it, let’s start with what we mean by “travel.” Socrates went abroad when he was called to fight in the Peloponnesian War; even so, he was no traveller. Emerson is explicit about steering his critique away from a person who travels when his “necessities” or “duties” demand it. He has no objection to traversing great distances “for the purpose of art, of study, and benevolence.” One sign that you have a reason to be somewhere is that you have nothing to prove, and therefore no drive to collect souvenirs, photos, or stories to prove it. Let’s define “tourism” as the kind of travel that aims at the interesting—and, if Emerson and company are right, misses.
“A tourist is a temporarily leisured person who voluntarily visits a place away from home for the purpose of experiencing a change.” This definition is taken from the opening of “Hosts and Guests,” the classic academic volume on the anthropology of tourism. The last phrase is crucial: touristic travel exists for the sake of change. But what, exactly, gets changed? Here is a telling observation from the concluding chapter of the same book: “Tourists are less likely to borrow from their hosts than their hosts are from them, thus precipitating a chain of change in the host community.”
It turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best.
What is the most uninformative statement that people are inclined to make? My nominee would be “I love to travel.” This tells you very little about a person, because nearly everyone likes to travel; and yet people say it, because, for some reason, they pride themselves both on having travelled and on the fact that they look forward to doing so.
The opposition team is small but articulate. G. K. Chesterton wrote that “travel narrows the mind.” Ralph Waldo Emerson called travel “a fool’s paradise.” Socrates and Immanuel Kant—arguably the two greatest philosophers of all time—voted with their feet, rarely leaving their respective home towns of Athens and Königsberg. But the greatest hater of travel, ever, was the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa, whose wonderful “Book of Disquiet” crackles with outrage:
I abhor new ways of life and unfamiliar places. . . . The idea of travelling nauseates me. . . . Ah, let those who don’t exist travel! . . . Travel is for those who cannot feel. . . . Only extreme poverty of the imagination justifies having to move around to feel.
Cross-Platform Deep Scraping & NLP: AI can deploy Natural Language Processing (NLP) to crawl and analyze millions of interactions across distinct linguistic and cultural spheres simultaneously. It can track how a "Middle Eastern political strategy" deployed by Malay leaders translates into grassroots sermons, and contrast it in real-time with how it is re-interpreted inside Chinese-language WhatsApp groups or Xiaohongshu.
Semantic Vector Mapping: AI can analyze text not just for keywords, but for relational distance. It can map how words like "unity," "threat," or "secularism" change their relational meaning depending on which nodes of the network they pass through.
3.Visualizing Dynamic and Fluid Networks (No More Static Charts)
Traditional sociology relies on static categories (e.g., "The Chinese Community," "The Malay Elite"). ANT rejects this, arguing that these groups only exist if they are constantly being performed and re-knitted.
Graph Neural Networks (GNNs): AI can use GNNs to build real-time, 3D interactive knowledge graphs of political ecosystems. These graphs do not show fixed demographics, but fluid connections. Users can see how human political figures are connected to funding networks, media platforms, and religious institutions.
Weighting Network Alliances: AI can dynamically adjust the "thickness" of lines between nodes based on interaction frequency, sentiment intensity, and transaction flows, showing exactly which alliances are holding a political narrative together at any given second.
4.Simulating "Crash Tests" (Predicting Network Durability) Latour noted that reality eventually hits back against post-truth illusions through "crash tests" (like extreme climate events or economic crises) that shatter digital bubbles.
Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) powered by LLMs: AI can simulate thousands of autonomous "agents" (representing different segments of the Malaysian electorate, media nodes, and economic variables). Researchers can run simulations to see how the current "post-truth/fear-mongering" network would react when hit by a real-world material crisis (e.g., an economic recession or a subsidy rationalisation).
Vulnerability Identification: The AI can pinpoint which specific node or non-human actant (e.g., a specific piece of legislation or an independent media outlet) is the "weakest link" or the most critical anchor keeping the network stable.
Bridging to iCONADA's Cultural Critique: AI as a Tool for "Down to Earth" Politics
If the contemporary crisis of the Malaysian Chinese community is a "structural ignorance"born of digital self-enclosure, AI can be the tool that breaks the bubble. Instead of using AI to generate more clickbait, progressive leaders can use AI to build ANT dashboards.
By using AI to map the actual socio-economic anxieties, institutional connections, and Middle Eastern geopolitical influences affecting the Malay majority, the minority community can move away from abstract, online emotional fear.
They can use AI to achieve what Latour called "landing on the
Terrestrial"—gaining a precise, empirical, and scientific blueprint of the ground realities of the nation. It allows modern leaders to see the world as Tan Cheng Lock and Tunku Abdul Rahman did: not as a battle of online caricatures, but as a complex, material network of interlocking interests that must be pragmatically negotiated and built together.
Please Help explore how an political movement today could practically design an AI-driven ANT framework to map out a new, cross-ethnic political consensus?
[iCONADA Research Team] Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory(ANT)～～In the context of Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the social world is not made of abstract "structures," but of dynamic, relational webs woven by both human actors (decision maker, public, content creators) and non-human actants (algorithms, social media platforms, oil pipelines, religious institutions).
ANT has historically been notoriously difficult to map because tracking the sheer volume of micro-interactions between humans and non-humans requires massive empirical labor. Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can serve as the ultimate methodological toolkit to operationalize, track, and build ANT networks.
iCONADA hereby proposes that how AI can assist in building and visualizing Actor-Network Theory, specifically applied to analyzing political realities like the ones we discussed thus far:
1.Mapping Non-Human Actants: Tracing the Digital "Allies" In ANT, a non-human entity (like an algorithm) is not just a passive tool; it is an active participant that modifies human behavior.
Algorithmic Auditing: AI can reverse-engineer and audit how social media algorithms (the non-human actants) accelerate the "post-truth phenomenon." By analyzing recommender systems, AI can map how specific political rhetoric (e.g., the "Barbarians are coming" narrative) is selected, amplified, and fed into Chinese-language echo chambers.
Network Translation: AI can track how a digital actant "translates" (Latour's term for transforming meaning) a complex political debate into a 15-second emotional soundbite on TikTok, showing exactly where a factual "Matter of Fact" mutates into an emotional "post-truth" artifact.
2.Large-Scale Trace Ethnography (Following the Actors)
Latour’s primary methodological command is: "Follow the actors themselves." In the digital era, actors leave millions of digital footprints that are impossible for human ethnographers to trace manually.
Leading with “Technology-Driven Healthcare”: Integrating Chinese and Western Medicine and the AI Doctor Experience
Sarawak Minister for Transport and Senadin State Assemblyman, Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin, said during an inspection of the construction works that the project would introduce an advanced technology-driven healthcare model.
The report highlights three major development features of the project:
Pioneering the dual-track integration of Chinese and Western medicine: Fudan University, one of only two Chinese medical institutions currently accredited by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), will combine modern Western medicine with traditional Chinese medicine, pioneering a unique dual-track model of medical education and healthcare delivery.
“AI Doctor” smart healthcare system: An Artificial Intelligence (AI) Medical Experience Centre will be established on the first floor of the research institute. It will introduce an AI healthcare system developed by Fudan University. Once operational, members of the public will be able to experience first-hand how AI can assist in early and precision diagnosis.
Tropical rainforest-based drug discovery and development: The campus will establish an Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Innovation Drug Research and Development Centre. Leveraging the rich biodiversity of Sarawak’s tropical rainforests in areas such as Baram, Belaga and Kapit, the centre will explore ways to transform indigenous medicinal herbs into innovative pharmaceutical products capable of generating multi-billion-ringgit global business opportunities.
Outlook: Strategic Higher Education Cooperation under the Malaysia-China “Golden 50 Years”
Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg emphasised that Fudan University’s establishment in Miri is fully aligned with Sarawak’s long-term strategy to advance technology, the green economy and artificial intelligence research.
This strategic partnership will not only create opportunities for Sarawak’s young people to pursue world-class medical education locally, without having to leave the state, but will also gradually strengthen Sarawak’s autonomy in healthcare and education.
At a time when Malaysia and China are entering a new “Golden 50 Years” of bilateral diplomatic relations, the partnership is also expected to become a new model for strategic cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in higher education and smart healthcare.
[iCONADA Research Team] Shanghai-based Fudan University in Miri, Sarawak.
Sarawak is witnessing a historic breakthrough in the fields of international higher education and smart healthcare. Shanghai-based Fudan University, ranked among the world’s top 50 universities and one of China’s leading medical institutions, has officially selected Miri, Sarawak, as the site of its first overseas international campus.
This High-impact project aims to introduce a world-class medical education and research ecosystem to Sarawak, while also helping to alleviate the urgent shortage of approximately 2,000 doctors in the state. The plan has already received formal approval from Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and the Sarawak Government, and is now at the final stage of seeking approval from the central government of China.
Three-Phase Blueprint: Establishing a Presence in “Kenyalang Smart City”, Miri
According to the cooperation agreement signed by Sarawak Deputy Premier and Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government, Datuk Amar Dr. Sim Kui Hian, and Imasa Dinasti, Fudan University’s development in Miri will be implemented progressively in three phases:
Phase One: Establish the “Miri Branch of the Fudan Southeast Asia Institute of Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine Research” and undertake the renovation of the former Miri Municipal Council building. To date, approximately 85% of the renovation work has been completed, with the first phase expected to officially commence operations early next year.
Phase Two: Upgrade and establish the “Fudan University Miri Medical School”, with a comprehensive focus on medical education, professional training and clinical research.
Phase Three: Ultimately develop the full-scale “Fudan University Miri Campus”, creating an integrated overseas campus combining education, research and smart healthcare. The main campus and the Integrated Medical Research Centre will be located in Miri’s emerging new core area, “Kenyalang Smart City.”
Enhancing Cultural Soft Power: Literature is one of the most effective means of preserving mother tongues and local memories. Through international cultural exchange, distinctive local cultural symbols and narratives can be brought to the world, transforming them into cultural assets with international visibility and recognition.
V Building International Cultural Diplomacy and Creative-Economy Trade Networks
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is, at its core, a global platform for sharing and collaboration. For the cultural and creative sectors, this means creating international channels that transcend geographical boundaries:
Global Sharing of Creative Resources: Member cities have established extensive mechanisms for cooperation, including international writers' exchange programs and literary translation grants. These initiatives enable local literary creators to connect more directly with the international stage.
A Gateway to Global Cultural Trade: Through alliances among cities within the network, the barriers to international copyright licensing and the export of cultural and creative products can be significantly reduced, helping small and medium-sized cultural and creative enterprises (SMEs) expand into overseas markets.
Conclusion
UNESCO's concept of the City of Literature liberates literature from the ivory tower of the fine arts and integrates it more fully into the economic and social fabric of the city. It demonstrates to the cultural and creative sectors that words are not merely symbols on a page; they are also a powerful productive force capable of driving publishing transformation, cross-sectoral adaptation, tourism upgrading, and social innovation.
Within this framework, literature is not merely a container of culture; it also serves as a core compass guiding cities toward sustainability, innovation, and prosperity.
[Note] The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) encompasses seven major creative fields. Each city joining the network selects one of these fields as a strategic focus for developing its cultural and creative sectors and advancing sustainable urban development:
Literature: Focuses on promoting publishing, reading, writing, literary development, and international literary exchange.
Film: Focuses on the development of the film industry, the organization of film festivals, film education, and the preservation of cinematic cultural heritage.
Music: Promotes music creation, the revitalization of the music industry, music festivals, and accessible music education.
Design: Emphasizes the integration of design thinking into urban planning, public architecture, industrial design, and everyday aesthetics.
Media Arts: Integrates digital technologies, electronic art, new-media creation, and technology-driven cultural and creative practices.
Crafts and Folk Art: Protects and transmits traditional crafts, folk arts, weaving, ceramics, and other forms of locally rooted cultural knowledge and skills.
Gastronomy: Connects food culture, traditional culinary skills, the sustainable use of local ingredients, and cultural and creative tourism.
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Longhouses
Some longhouses are accessible by road and several others are within an hour's longboat ride from town. In Kapit you are likely to be invited to visit one of these. Visitors are strongly advised not to visit a longhouse without an invitation, ideally from someone who lives in it. As a general rule, the further from town a longhouse is, the more likely it is to conform with the image of what a traditional longhouse should be like. That said, there are some beautiful traditional longhouses nearby, which are mainly Iban. One of the most accessible is Rumah Seligi, about 30 minutes' drive from Kapit. Cars or vans can be hired by the half day. Only a handful of longhouses are more than 500 m from the riverbanks of the Rejang and its tributaries. Most longhouses still practise shifting cultivation; rice is the main crop but under government aid programmes many are now growing cash crops such as cocoa. Longhouses are also referred to as Uma (Sumah) and the name of the headman, ie Long Segaham is known locally as Uma Lasah (Lasah being the chief).
Longhouses between Kapit and Belaga on the upper Rejang river are accessible by the normal passenger boats, but these express boats travel a limited distance on the Baleh River (2½ hours). To go further upriver it is necessary to take a tour or organize your own guides and boatmen. The sort of trip taken by Redmond O'Hanlon and James Fenton (as described in O'Hanlon's book Into the Heart of Borneo) would cost more than RM1800 a head. Large-scale logging operations are currently underway on the Baleh River and although this may increase boat traffic and the opportunities to access this part of Sarawak, brace yourself for a very different experience from that described in Into the Heart of Borneo.
The vast majority of the population, about 68%, in Sarawak's Seventh Division is Iban. They inhabit the Rejang up to and a little beyond Kapit, as well as the lower reaches of the Balleh and its tributaries. The Iban people are traditionally the most hospitable to visitors but, as a result, their longhouses are the most frequently visited by tourists. Malays and Chinese account for 3.4% and 7% of the population respectively. The Orang Ulu live further upriver; the main tribes are the Kayan and the Kenyah (12%) and a long list of sub-groups such as the Kejaman, Beketan, Sekapan, Lahanan, Seping and Tanjong. In addition there are the nomadic and semi-nomadic Penan, Punan and Ukit. Many tribal people are employed in the logging industry and, with their paid jobs, have brought the trappings of modernity to even the most remote longhouses.
Only enter the Rumah Tuan Lepong Balleh longhouse with the local policeman, Selvat Anu, who lives there; ask for him at Kapit police station. During the day Selvat and some members of the longhouse can take visitors on various adventure tours: river trips, visiting longhouses, jungle treks, fishing, pig hunting, camping in the jungle, trips up to logging areas, swimming in rivers and mountain trekking. Selvat is very knowledgeable and has good relations with longhouse communities. Visitors can eat with the family and occasionally have the chance to experience a traditional Iban ceremony.
Jan 26, 2021
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Sights
Fort Sylvia (Photo Above) near the wharves was built of belian by Rajah Charles Brooke in 1880, and is now occupied by the Kapit Museum. It was originally called Kapit Fort but was renamed in 1925 after Rajah Vyner Brooke's wife. Most of the forts built during this time were designed to prevent the Orang Ulu going downriver; Fort Sylvia was built to stop the belligerent Iban headhunters from attacking Kenyah and Kayan settlements upstream.
The Kapit Museum was enlarged in the 1990s and moved to Fort Sylvia. It has exhibits (all labelled in English) on Rejang tribes and the local economy. Set up by the Sarawak Museum in Kuching, it includes a section of an Iban longhouse and several Iban artefacts including a wooden hornbill. The Orang Ulu section has a reconstruction of a longhouse and a mural painted by local tribespeople. An Orang Ulu salong (burial hut), totem pole and other woodcarvings are also on display. The museum has representative exhibits from the small Malay community and the Chinese. Hokkien traders settled at Kapit and Belaga and traded salt, sugar and ceramics for pepper, rotan and rubber; they were followed by traders from Fujian. The Chinese exhibit is a shop. In addition, there are also displays on the natural history of the upper Rejang and modern industries such as mining, logging and tourism.
Kapit has a particularly colourful daily market in the centre of town. Tribeswomen bring in fruit, vegetables and animals to sell; it is quite normal to see everything from turtles, frogs, birds and catfish to monkeys, wild boar and even pangolin and pythons. Note: If you do see animals such as monkeys, pangolins, wild cats or birds, please remember that most of them are protected species and in serious danger of extinction, due to the wildlife 'pet' trade and the rising demand for 'traditional' medicines like ground bone and body parts such as monkey gall bladders. Please do not buy them or in any way encourage this business.
Pelagus Rapids
Forty-five minutes upstream from Kapit on the Rejang River, this 2.5-km-long series of cataracts and whirlpools is the result of a sudden drop in the riverbed, caused by a geological fault line. Express boats can make it up the Pelagus to Belaga in the wet season (September-April) and at times of high water the rest of the year, but the rapids are still regarded with some trepidation by the pilots. When the water is low, they can only be negotiated by the smallest longboats. There are seven rapids in total, each with local names such as The Python, The Knife and one, more ominously, called The Grave.
Jan 26, 2021
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Kapit：The Capital of Sarawak's Seventh Division
Kapit, which means 'twin' in local dialect, is the capital of Sarawak's Seventh Division, through which flows the Rejang River and its main tributaries, the Batang Baleh, Batang Katibas, Batang Balui and Sungai Belaga. In a treaty with the Sultan of Brunei, Rajah James Brooke acquired the Rejang Basin for Sarawak in 1853. Kapit is the last big town on the Rejang and styles itself as the gateway to 'the heart of Borneo', after Redmond O'Hanlon's Into the Heart of Borneo, which describes his adventure up the Batang Baleh in the 1980s. Kapit is full of people who claim to be characters in this book.
The main sights are Fort Sylvia and the Kapit Museum but, like O'Hanlon and his journalist companion James Fenton, most visitors simply use the town as a pit stop before continuing their adventures into the interior to explore the upper Rejang and its tributaries, where there are many Iban and Orang Ulu longhouses. Maps of the Kapit Division and other parts of Sarawak are available from the Land Survey Department. Permits for upriver trips are available from the government administration centre, which is outside town near the old airport. Tourists going up the Balleh River or Upper Rejang must sign a form saying they understand they are travelling at their own risk.
Background
There are only a few tens of kilometres of surfaced road in and around Kapit, but the small town has a disproportionate number of cars. It is a trading centre for the tribespeople upriver and has grown enormously in recent years with the expansion of the logging industry upstream. Logs come in two varieties: floaters and sinkers. Floaters are pulled downstream by tugs in huge chevron formations. Sinkers - like belian (ironwood) - are transported in the Chinese-owned dry bulk carriers that line up along the wharves at Kapit. When the river is high these timber ships are able to go upstream, past the Pelagus Rapids. The Rejang at Kapit is normally 500 m wide and, in the dry season, the riverbank slopes steeply down to the water. When it floods, however, the water level rises more than 10 m, as is testified by the high-water marks on Fort Sylvia.
Jan 26, 2021
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4. ‘Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead.’
This pearl of wisdom was pulled from her 2003 commencement speech at Vassar. I find it most useful as a writer, myself, whenever I fall into a creative rut. The best way to combat writer’s block is to plough through it. Writing often feels like a thankless craft. As a blogger, I’ve produced what I consider thought provoking, well-written articles that I’m proud to publish. But when a couple days go by without any traction, I immediately feel discouraged. I question my work. I reread and sometimes I even go back into the publication to edit. Susan reminds me to drop the need for validation from outside sources. Keep creating new content. Some articles go viral, others don’t. Move on.
5. ‘It’s all about taking in as much of what’s out there as you can, and not letting the excuses and the dreariness of some of the obligations you’ll soon be incurring narrow your lives.
Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.’ There will always be distractions and reasons not to write. Learn to ignore them. Said during the same commencement speech, Susan continues to stress active participation in your own life. Things don’t just happen. You make them happen. Through this active participation, you become an agent of change and a commentator on the way things ought to be.
6. ‘The only story that seems worth writing is a cry, a shot, a scream.
A story should break the reader’s heart.’ In 1973, Sontag’s diary reflections were quite meditative. While she often reflected inward on her the struggles of becoming a good writer, here she focuses her lens on what good writing looked like to her. Art is subjective, which is why you shouldn’t feel discouraged if one critic dislikes your work. There are countless stories told by the greats claiming they were denied by a chain of publishes prior to their success. What evokes you as a reader? You should know if you expect to have the same impact as a writer. She went on to say, ‘The story must strike a nerve in me. My heart should start pounding when I hear the first line in my head. I start trembling at the risk.’
7. ‘There is a great deal that either has to be given up or be taken away from you if you are going to succeed in writing a body of work.’
Writing requires sacrifice, whether your time, brain capacity, or emotional energy. If you’re not drained by the work, it’s probably not challenging enough. We all know writing isn’t a passive craft. It takes time, patience, and your full attention. You have to be brave and embrace your inner madness. What are you most afraid to write about? Now, write about only that until it’s no longer taboo. There’s a reason why it scares you. It’s intriguing. And if it intrigues you, there’s a good chance it intrigues someone else. Now you’ve got yourself a reader.
Sarah Williams is full time lifestyle writer managing Wingman Magazine – a self-development platform for millennial men. In her free time she loves to read and study about love interactions and communication. You can also connect her on Twitter: @SarahAtWingman
Source for image (©Lynn Gilbert)
TIP: If you want help writing a book, buy The Novel Writing Exercises Workbook.
Apr 19, 2021
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Sarah Williams 7 Pearls Of Writing Wisdom From Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag was an American writer, filmmaker, and political activist. She was born 16 January 1933, and died 28 December 2004. A personal hero of mine, she was deemed ‘one of the most influential critics of her generation.’
Rightfully so. Until her passing in 2004, she forged a daringly outspoken life during both turbulent and thrilling bouts of history. Susan possessed New York by shirking sexual stereotypes and sharing bold, unapologetic meditations on love, art, humanity, and pop culture.
From her prolific essays and talks on literature to her intimate letter correspondences, words were the catalyst of choice for Susan’s self-expression.
After Susan’s death, a series of her personal journals were released. She had spent an entire lifetime contemplating the importance of writing in relation to her life experiences and the experiences of others.
This is a collection of her most poignant pearls of writing wisdom.
7 Pearls Of Writing Wisdom From Susan Sontag
1. ‘You have to be obsessed.’
Much like Rainer Maria Rilke, who questioned writers whether they would die if forbidden to write, Susan instilled a similar urgency. You don’t choose to be a writer. You have to be. There must be something inside that commands a person to write. This commitment and desire to improve the craft is what propels you forward, both as a writer and a moral human being. ‘People write me all the time,’ she said, during a 1992 talk given at the 92nd Street Y, ‘or get in touch with me about “what should I do if I want to be a writer?” I say well, do you really want to be a writer? It’s not like something you’d want to be, it’s rather something you couldn’t help but be. But you have to be obsessed.’
2. ‘If I am not able to write because I’m afraid of being a bad writer, then I must be a bad writer.
At least I’ll be writing.’ In this journal entry from 1979, Susan motivates writers to denounce their insecurities and push through. It doesn’t matter if the quality of writing doesn’t quite match the quantity by which you produce it. If you’re compelled to write, you write. If you continue to write, you get better.
3. ‘Love words, agonize over sentences, and pay attention to the world.’ Fiction.
Narrative. Poetry. Non-fiction. Reviews. Every genre is a commentary on life. If you don’t pay attention to the world, you won’t have much to say about it. Susan Sontag contextualized her personal view of the world within a framework of the Vietnam War and her voluntary participation in the Siege of Sarajevo. She stressed the political role and social duty of the artist and the ways in which language can both create and distort reality. Put in the most simplistic terms during her acceptance speech for Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, ‘A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world.’ She urged writers to ‘be serious,’ without forgetting the importance of humour in both life and literature.
Apr 19, 2021
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6. Learn To Write In Any Kind Of Chaos
Writers like order, but too many writers blame their circumstances for an inability to get writing. There’s never an ideal environment to work, and it is something that might be impossible to find.
The Beatles performed many gigs where the crowd was so hysterical from Beatlemania that the band couldn’t hear themselves sing. They couldn’t hear their instruments. But still, they performed – and usually, very well.
Gigs are chaos. Studios are chaos. Musicians’ heads are chaos. Often, so is the environment in which you will have to write.
Don’t let circumstances stand in the way of completing your writing.
The Beatles didn’t.
7. Rights Are What You’re Really Selling
Rights to Beatles lyrics are worth more their literal weight in gold. Especially songs credited to the partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney have been bought, sold, re-sold, and traded to the tune of billions in total.
Professional writers aren’t selling consumer products like watches, silver, or shampoo. They’re selling rights to their work.
If you’re a writer, record it when you sell and publish your work. Learn what type of rights you are giving up, and whether the work can be re-posted (or republished as a reprint again).
While writers write, writers should also have a handle on the business of selling and administrating their rights.
For any writer, how they handle their rights is as important as how good their ideas look on paper.
The Last Word
Almost everyone knows the Beatles. If you don’t, now is an excellent time to have a listen to their library of work.
The movie Across The Universe is also an excellent start for new fans (and even though it doesn’t feature the Beatles themselves, it features plenty of their best work).
As a writer, every influence can help to grow your abilities as a writer.
Who are your strongest writing influences right now, and what have you learned from their work?
Image: This image is from the “Album Covers Wiki” on The Beatles and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
By Alex J. Coyne. Alex is a writer, proofreader, and regular card player. His features about cards, bridge, and card playing have appeared in Great Bridge Links, Gifts for Card Players, Bridge Canada Magazine, and Caribbean Compass. Get in touch at alexcoyneofficial.com.
Apr 20, 2021
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2. Writing Great Titles Is As Important As The Hook
A title is responsible for what makes a reader continue, get hooked, or read something else.
The Beatles knew the power of writing great titles.
See?
On paper, the titles are powerful on their own.
As a writer, that is what you should aim to achieve.
Writing elements like the hook, the first paragraph, and the last sentence are just as important as writing a great title.
3. Remember To See The Business Side Of Writing
John Lennon reportedly once told another band member that it was time to ‘write a swimming pool.’
While that was pretty blunt, it describes what writers should know about the business side of their writing.
See pitches and sold work as business capital as a writer. After all, your words are worth money. Every word counts, especially when the writer intends to sell any of them.
4. Work On Telling Great Beginnings, Middles, & Ends
The Beatles had a knack for great stories within their songs.
Read the lyrics of songs like The Ballad Of Rocky Raccoon, or Strawberry Fields Forever. Eleanor Rigby and even Can’t Buy Me Love are good examples of their storytelling capacity.
There are beginnings, middles, and ends. Distinct ones, and each song tells a story to the listener or reader.
As a writer, you should aim to make your writing always achieve this.
Excellent fiction and non-fiction writing means you should always work on better beginnings, middles, and endings..
5, Ideas Can Come From Anywhere (At Any Time)
The original idea for Yesterday came from a catchy melody and Paul McCartney singing the words ‘scrambled eggs’ to it. Creativity is a strange thing. It can strike at any time, and a writer has to be ready to seize the moment (or set out a time for pitching and writing every day) to keep ideas flowing.
The song Yesterday is credited as the most covered and recorded song in history. That’s really something, and it started with a very basic core idea.
Keep all your ideas. Don’t discount the weird ones. They might just be the ideas that work well with readers – and remember that the best ideas can, indeed, come from some very weird places.
Apr 20, 2021
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Learn from the Beatles just as much as from traditional writing role models like Stephen King.
They knew how to write.
7 Lessons In Better Writing From The Beatles
There are many writers who look to primarily fiction or non-fiction authors for inspiration. Include scriptwriters and lyricists in your list, even if you do not write in the same media which they do.
Here’s where to start exploring the Beatles:
1. How To Use Your Words
The Beatles were responsible for the lyric ‘I am the walrus’.
People are still debating what it could have meant. But it’s still catchy enough to have sold millions of copies – and inspired thousands of other artists.
As a writer, your greatest tool is using (and often bending) the capacity of language. Words influence a lot of things, including mood, and a writer’s tone.
Does it mean that you have to use flowery, embellished language every time you write? No, not necessarily. But writers should always use language with just a dash of creativity that sets them apart from other writers in the world.
Know language, and aim to get to know it better as a writer every day.
It worked for the Beatles, and it can work for you.
Apr 20, 2021
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Alex J. Coyne: 7 Lessons In Better Writing From The Beatles
(Originally Published / Please LIKE @ https://www.writerswrite.co.za/ )Looking for some writing advice and inspiration? In this post, we include seven lessons in better writing from The Beatles.
When measured by album sales and song downloads, The Beatles were one of the biggest bands in existence. Yesterday is the world’s most covered song, and other tracks written by the Fab Four are familiar to most people who will read this.
While their official end came in 1970, their influences continues well into today.
Don’t forget that The Beatles were writers, too. While people see them as musicians, what they sold was their writing.
Writers can learn a lot to improve their writing through The Beatles. If you want to know more about writing that captivates those who hear and read it, they knew some writing tricks.
Go to YouTube, and look up some lyrics before reading further. Start with Strawberry Fields Forever, Help, or I Want To Hold Your Hand. Some were rock, some were blues, and others were radio-friendly – a couple were very unusual.
Here’s what writers can learn from the writing of one of the greatest groups to exist.
Briefly, About The Beatles
The official Beatles members were Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
Albums including Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, and A Hard Day’s Night are credited to the band. Popular, individual songs are too many to list here.
The Beatles still have an incredible influence on art, popular culture, and creativity. Their work is popular, everlasting, and original. Their work is inspiring, written about often, and discovered by new fans every day.
Do you want people to see your writing like this someday?
Apr 20, 2021
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Umbrella is one of them. Isn’t it strange enough?
The way people face the weather; how do they go through rain, thunderstorm or hot sun, reflects their contentment or dissatisfaction toward the life in that city.
Are they elegant or in a hush; bitter-faced or look into the sky with a smile?
When most people in that place hold the umbrellas and walk with poise, the scenery can be contagious. We will say to ourselves that, I would like to be part of this city.
On the contrary, when most people are sour-looking, and rush through the weather, you know, how bad, people are not happy at all here!
The style of a city constitutes its attractiveness. With imagination and innovation, the cultural creative activists can help shape peoples’ mental picture towards a city. However, the policy makers must first have the concept of how to make life easier for their citizens.
(Source of Article: https://iconada.tv/profiles/blogs/noagency003 June 12, 2011)
Apr 29, 2021
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It is obvious, all Germans “aware” or “appreciate” how important it is to be law-abiding. It is part of their disciplines, which often translate into the reliable quality of their manufacture goods such as cars, machineries and electronics.
But, what is style? To be precise, the style of a city? and how does it shape the “character” of a place?
To me, it is simple. Style is defined by the mental image we hold for a city. When I travel to a place, there are usually a few things I would first observe.
Apr 29, 2021
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UMBRELLA: IMAGE of a CITY'S STYLE
According to the champion and researcher of cultural creative industries in Malaysia, Dr Tan Beng Huat, who is also a fellow member of the renowned Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM), the “character” of a city is defined by its awareness, attitude, style and philosophy it believes in.
It seems no issue in understanding the awareness, attitude or philosophy of a city.
For instance, in Berlin, every Berliner follows traffic light; green you go, orange and red you stop, whether it is 3 in the morning or in the afternoon, for men or vehicles.
Your car just has to stop right in front of red light, even when there is no car coming from the other side in midnight.
Apr 29, 2021
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(Source: http://yukari-art.jp/en/shintaro_ohata_en)
（Posted by No Agency on January 23, 2013 ）
More Pictures @ https://www.pinterest.com
May 1, 2021
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YUKARI ART: SHINTARO OHATA
Born in Hiroshima, 1975. Shintaro Ohata is an artist who depicts little things in everyday life like scenes of a movie and captures all sorts of light in his work with a unique touch: convenience stores at night, city roads on rainy day and fast-food shops at dawn etc. His paintings show us ordinary sceneries as dramas. He is also known for his characteristic style; placing sculptures in front of paintings, and shows them as one work, a combination of 2-D and 3-D world.
Statement
Shintaro Ohata is an artist who depicts little things in everyday life like scenes of a movie and captures all sorts of light in his work with a unique touch: convenience stores at night, city roads on rainy day and fast-food shops at dawn etc. His paintings show us ordinary sceneries as dramas. He is also known for his characteristic style; placing sculptures in front of paintings, and shows them as one work, a combination of 2-D and 3-D world. He says that it all started from when he wondered “I could bring the atmosphere or dynamism of my paintings with a more different way if I place sculptures in front of paintings”. Many viewers tend to assume that there is a light source set into his work itself because of the strong expression of lights in his sculpture. His further steps have been noticed as he has been featured by lots of media from overseas, including a cultural magazine from the USA that featured him on their front cover and a long interview.
「水族館」/ ''Aquarium'', 2010, panting, polystyrene based sculpture
May 1, 2021
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Pioneering Psychologist Jerome Bruner on Metaphorical Effectiveness
The third, Bruner notes, is the hardest to describe. Metaphorical effectiveness is also manifested by “connecting domains of experience that were before apart,” but what distinguishes it from the formal kind is that the mechanisms of connectedness come for the realm of art rather than science and logic — the kind of connectedness that Carl Jung described as “visionary,” in contrast to the merely psychological.
(Metaphorical thinking, after all, is at the developmental root of human imagination.)
While we are wired to make sense of the world via categorization, “metaphoric combination leaps beyond systematic placement, explores connections that before were unsuspected.”
The unifying mechanism for all three, however, remains what Einstein termed “combinatory play.” Bruner writes:
All of the forms of effective surprise grow out of a combinatorial activity — a placing of things in new perspectives. （Source：https://www.brainpickings.org）
Art by Julia Rothman from ‘Overcoming Creative Block.’ Click here for more.
May 30, 2021
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Pioneering Psychologist Jerome Bruner
on How to Master the Art of “Effective Surprise”
An act that produces effective surprise [is] the hallmark of the creative enterprise.
It is essential, here to distinguish between creativity and originality. In a sentiment that brings to mind Twain’s famous assertion that plagiarism is the seed of creative work, Alexander Graham Bell’s conviction that “our most original compositions are composed exclusively of expressions derived from others,” and Henry Miller’s poetic debunking of the originality illusion, Bruner cautions:
The road to banality is paved with creative intentions. Surprise is not easily defined. It is the unexpected that strikes one with wonder or astonishment. What is curious about effective surprise is that it need not be rare or infrequent or bizarre and is often none of these things. Effective surprises … seem rather to have the quality of obviousness about them when they occur, producing a shock of recognition following which there is no longer astonishment.
He goes on to outline three kinds of effectiveness in surprise.
Predictive effectiveness is “the kind of surprise that yields high predictive value in its wake” — for instance, as in the most elegant formulae of mathematics and physics, which hold that whenever certain conditions are present, a specific outcome is guaranteed to be produced. (All of these 17 equations that changed the world are excellent examples.) Predictive effectiveness doesn’t always come through surprise — it’s often “the slow accretion of knowledge and urge.” And yet, Bruner argues, “the surprise may only come when we look back and see whence we have come” — the very thing Steve Jobs described in his autobiographical account of his own creative journey, in noting that “you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”
Bruner’s second form is formal effectiveness, the kind most frequently encountered in mathematics and logic, and occasionally music. He cites French polymath Henri Poincaré’s famous account of how creativity works, which holds that “sudden illumination” — the mythic Eureka! moment — is the unconscious combinatorial process that reveals “the unsuspected kinship between … facts, long known, but wrongly believed to be strangers to one another.” （see column below）
May 31, 2021
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Industry 4.0, which is reflected in start-ups, intends to solve a problem by creating the solution. The most common questions that start-ups try to answer are what is a problem that it can solve and what kind of solution can a start-up provide? However, the solution offered usually disrupts an inefficient business process and this changes the way businessmen do their business.
Within the creative economy, when an IP creator wants to produce a comic, film, piece of music or game, he or she will not encounter such questions, as the main drive for the industry is not production efficiency but the quality of the content. However, the actual challenge that the creative sector must face is everything related to the balance of trade: how much the creative sector’s exports are worth compared with their imports.
In Indonesia, spinning tops are handmade crafts. They are regarded as traditional toys, selling for no more than Rp 20,000 (less than US$1.50). However, by empowering its creative industry, Japan succeeded in creating comics, animation and toys revolving around spinning tops, so much that they are worth a thousand times more than traditional Indonesian tops.
In 2013, Pokémon’s IP collected revenue from Japan fashion and merchandise of more than $890 million. This IP alone produced more than US$21 billion, making the IP the highest-grossing media franchise. The creative sector’s role in the national economy is considered highly important, since the economic value chain formed by the industry will disrupt but enhance other sectors of the creative economy. This is the power of the creative economy, every sector is able to support and empower each other.
Unfortunately, in Indonesia the ambiguity between Industry 4.0 and the creative economy means the latter is seen and viewed in the same context as Industry 4.0, both by the public and even policymakers. This weakens the creative economy even further and puts it at a disadvantage.
Whereas, if we look to other countries as Japan, Korea and China, where they treat their creative sectors with the right understanding and mindset, Indonesia may, too, be able to make the creative economy a featured national program, creating new economic power that can be beneficial for Indonesia. (dev/wng)
The writer is a game designer in a local game developer located in Jakarta.
（Jakarta/Tue, October 1, 2019/07:29 pm/Source：https://www.thejakartapost.com）
Jun 12, 2021
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Twenty-four years later, Indonesia's youth gathered at Jakarta's Blok M Square to celebrate Japanese cultural day echinnisai and many even wore traditional Japanese clothing. Japanese cuisine is now also commonplace in the capital, from the very affordable that can be found in roadside stalls to that sold in upmarket shopping malls. Entertainment content originating from Japan, such as Tamagochi, Pokemon, Doraemon and Sailormoon have their own place in the hearts of the Indonesian public. The boost has occurred not only with culture-based products, but other Japanese mass-produced products. According to data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo), Japanese cars overwhelmingly dominated the car sales market in Indonesia in 2017.
Japan started and began to intensify its cultural diplomacy strategy after its defeat in the Second World War. The country was aware that it was important to change its image and improve the nation’s branding in more subtle ways. This creative economic strategy introduced Japanese creative products in Indonesia in the early 80s, namely games (Nintendo) and television shows (Oshin). The national strategy called Cool Japan was designed to increase exports of intellectual property (IP) or cultural content based on manga (pictorial stories or comics), anime (animation), drama, movies, novels, games and toys.
The creative economy involves creative processes and creative products that are loaded with cultural values and using them to influence others. The creative economy now involves political and economic values. At this stage, the creative economy focuses on two main things: the creation of soft power, or what is commonly called the power of cultural diplomacy, and the export of creative content or the export of cultural content.
Korea also has its own cultural strategy. In 1994 then president Young-sam Kim gave support and subsidies for local content production. At the time, Hollywood dominated 80 percent of the Korean market, while the local film industry market share dropped to 15.9 percent. Moreover, Kim was also forced to review the total revenue of Hollywood’s film Jurassic Park, which exceeded the revenue of Hyundai automobiles at more than US$1.5 billion. The Korean Ministry of Culture then initiated a cultural industry bureau to manage the cultural sector, which also led and encouraged investors to extend into film and other media.
In the following years, the Korean creative sector showed significant progress. In 1996, Korean mythology-based game Nexus was launched and in 1998 it reached the beta phase in the US. In 1999, Korea's first big-budget film, Shiri, earned $11 million in revenue and surpassed Hollywood's Titanic. In the same year, Korean boy band H.O.T. became the first group to perform abroad in a sold-out concert held in Beijing. This is how the Koreans implemented their cultural strategy, which is also known as Hallyu or the Korean wave.
In the case of Indonesia's Industry 4.0, the use of start-ups and creative economy terminology are commonly misused interchangeably, whereas the two have very distinct natures in terms of basic concepts, business model and even purpose.
Jun 12, 2021
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NINOI KILING·Industry 4.0 vs creative sector: Disruptive or constructive?
The term “4.0” has become widely used in the past few years. From government 4.0 to tourism 4.0, this suffix seems to be something that must be attached to every concept and movement to welcome the era of Industry 4.0. But is it used appropriately, or is it actually keeping Indonesia from benefiting even further from unexplored economic potential?
Generally, technology or industry aims to increase productivity and reduce the use of human resources, disrupting previous technology providing business opportunities. Through this process start-ups evolve and create solutions to tackle inefficient business problems.
The creative economy is a reaction to the increasing demands for lifestyle and entertainment products. This demands leads to further demand for content, which in their creation and production are deeply related to creative industry. However, traditional creative industry alone is not enough to face the challenge, one also has to understand how the expertise of the business and the business model can be implemented to create a more valuable and creative product.
In countries such as Japan, Korea and China, the creative economy is the spearhead of their economic growth. The governments have encouraged many strategies and policies to keep their creative industries developed as soft power or cultural diplomacy, and as the creation of new economic power chains.
In 1974 there occurred an event in Indonesia known as Malapetaka Limabelas Januari (January 15 Havoc) or Malari. At the time, then president Soeharto and several ministers were welcoming Japan's then prime minister Tanaka Kakuei. Students held large-scale demonstrations against foreign capital, especially Japanese, and burned Japanese manufactured goods at several points in the capital. They insisted that they did not want Indonesia to be economically colonized again. In an article written by Husain Abdulsalam entitled “Malari 1974: Protes Mahasiswa yang Ditunggangi Para Jenderal” (Malari 1974: Student Protests Ridden by Generals, 2018), the incident is considered to be "the first major protest after the New Order came to power".
Jun 13, 2021
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Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
Freedom
Give me the long, straight road before me,
A clear, cold day with a nipping air,
Tall, bare trees to run on beside me,
A heart that is light and free from care.
Then let me go! – I care not whither
My feet may lead, for my spirit shall be
Free as the brook that flows to the river,
Free as the river that flows to the sea.
Jun 19, 2021
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Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
A Prayer for Travellers
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Jun 20, 2021
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Note on this translation—On April 5th, 1922, Xu Yunuo wrote two poems about spring. Almost one century later, in spring, I propose a translation in English. Should I, instead of translation, more correctly use the word transcription?
Musicians use it when they arrange a piece for a different instrument than it was originally written for. My versions of the two Xu Yunuo poems are not literal translations; some may think they are not sufficiently literal. But I believe they are true to the original. I believe my arrangement was able to maintain the spirit of the poems, while sacrificing to the letter. I believe the essence of a poem is its spirit.
How much of the spirit of a poem is in the mere letters and words? This is a problem with all translations, and a headache for translators. Some would argue it is in the words, period. I would suggest it is between the words, between the lines. In translations from the Chinese (into Western languages) the question is pressing. This is why: The true and ultimate justification for translating poetry is to transmit the poetic quality (or essence) of a poem. I would be pretentious if I, a European, boasted I am able to capture the poetic essence of Chinese poetry. Still the goal of my reading poetry is exactly that. Also, with more obstacles in the way, it is the goal of my translating. My understanding of poetic quality, however, is determined by the language I am born in, or by the ones I am very familiar with. Poetic quality and the spirit, I mentioned above, are probably close cousins. The spirit, I supposed, dwells between the words. And so I fill the space between the words of the foreign language poem with what goes for poetic quality in my own language. I can’t help doing it; it is part of my chemistry. But I think it is only in this way I can serve readers of the poem in its new language (my language). If I do well, I may even hope to do a service to the poem, and to whoever reads it in its original language. Let me move now to the transcription of the two poems that provoked these thoughts.
Xu Yunuo is a revolutionary writer of the early 20th century. Presented as a naive poet, a Douanier Rousseau of China, he ignores the strict rules of structure that had dominated Chinese verse since long. He communicates pure inspiration and delivers it in a spontaneous form, leaving an impression of liberation. To achieve this, he introduced a few typical elements of (Romantic) Western poetics into his writing. Between them are narration, simple and every day vocabulary, melodious language and symbolism. (It is interesting to see that in the same period prominent Western writers introduced Chinese notions of poetic quality, or what they thought it was, in their work, also under the banner of liberation.) Those elements were the principle features that struck me, when I discovered the two spring poems of 1922. To make an interesting and faithful transcription I stressed these features, and developed them here or there. I chose therefore an English rhythm, meter and rhyme, using them without academic rigor, but consistently, as verse would have been in England in 1922. I wanted it to be pleasant, not deprived of naive humor or even linguistic oddities (so English!). To catch its candid mood was a must, as well as its latent symbolism. In so doing I lost some of the elliptical qualities of the Chinese form, sometimes with regret. But it was at that price that I saved for the English reader the joy that inhabits the poems, as their soul. This joy celebrates not only the coming of spring, but the dawn of a new poetic era, and beyond that the dawn of a new society. （JLS，February 6, 2017）
Sep 3, 2021
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徐玉諾的兩首詩 ·關於翻譯的註解
1922年4月5日，徐玉諾寫了兩首春天的詩。幾乎一個世紀以後，在春天，我打算把它們譯成英語。更確切些，我還是用“改寫”， 而不是“翻譯”這個詞吧。當音樂家為了另一種樂器去改寫一首樂曲時，他們用這個詞。我的版本的這兩首徐玉諾的詩不是字面的翻譯；有人可能認為它們不夠字面。但我相信它們是忠實於原作的。雖然犧牲了一些字面的東西，我相信我的改寫能夠保持原詩的精神。我相信一首詩的本質是它的精神。
詩的精神有多少是在純粹的字母和詞語裏？這是所有翻譯面對的問題，一個令譯者頭痛的問題。有人會認為它在詞語裏，就是這樣。我想提議說它是在詞語之間，詩行之間。在中文（到西方語言）的翻譯中，這個問題是刻不容緩的。為什麽呢？翻譯詩歌的真正和最終的理由是傳達詩的詩意質量（或本質）。如果我，一個歐洲人，自詡能夠捕捉到中國詩歌的詩意本質，那麽我是自命不凡。不過我讀詩的目的正是要捕捉詩意的本質; 這也是我翻譯的目的，途中自然經歷更多的障礙。
然而，我對詩意質量的理解是由我本土的語言或者我非常熟悉的語言決定的。我上邊提到的詩意質量和精神可能是親密的表兄弟。我覺得精神居於詞語之間。所以我用代表詩意質量的我自己的語言，去填了外語詩的詞語之間的空隙。我忍不住這麽做，這是我的性格的部分。但我認為只有這種方式，我能夠用新語言（我的語言）服務詩的讀者。如果我做得好，我甚至希望服務那首詩，和用原本的語言讀詩的人。讓我們現在去看看激發了這些想法的那兩首詩的改寫。
徐玉諾是一位20世紀初的革命的作家。作為一個天真的詩人，中國的Douanier Rousseau （愛懇編註：亨利·盧梭（Henri Julien Félix Rousseau），他略去長期以來主導中國詩歌的嚴格的結構規則。他交流著純粹的靈感，以自發的形式表現它，給人留下自由的印象。為了實現這一點，他的作品中引入了一些（浪漫）西方詩學的典型元素。在他們中間有敘述，簡單的每一天的詞匯，音樂性的語言和象征手法。（有趣的是，在同一時期，著名的西方作家們在他們的作品中，也在自由的旗幟下，引入了中國詩意質量的概念，或者他們認為是詩意質量的概念。）
當我發現寫於1922年的這兩首春天的詩，那些元素作為詩的主要特征觸擊到我。為了做到有趣和忠實的改寫我強調了這些特征，並在這裏或那裏發展了它們。我因此選擇了一個英語節奏韻律，不求學術嚴謹地使用他們，卻是連貫地，詩句更像是1922年的英國風格。我想要它是愉快的，不失天真的幽默或者語言的奇異（所以英國的！）。抓住它的坦率的情緒是必須的，還有它潛在的象征。這麽做，有時遺憾我失去了一些中國形式的橢圓特質。但正是在這個代價下，為英語讀者我保存了居於這兩首詩中的喜悅，這喜悅就是詩的靈魂。這個喜悅不僅慶祝春天的到來，還慶祝新詩時代的黎明，之外，一個新社會的黎明。（楊.勞倫斯.西思翎 / 2017年2月6日）
Sep 3, 2021
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The Violet and the Bee
Violet was a violet and the sun was warm,
Bee was a bee far away from his swarm,
Flying so slow and so utterly lazy,
Trembling Violet got with joy a bit crazy,
In for a flirt, her color could show it,
Her perfume, the spring air would blow it.
“My dear, my bee, my honey, come near,
I need your sweet kisses, I’m waiting here.”
She said it out loud, it was foolish, however
The bee just flew off, as if an endeavor
She wasn’t worth, and he spoke in the tone
Of a slug in the sand or a snail on a stone:
“I’m here to work, honey, on honey you know,
Tonight two legs full of pollen I owe.”
How chastely Violet smiled, smiled encore,
Her odors invested the air even more.
“I know you young guys, you act the same.
Your heart is dry, and worried your brain,
Cold like crude iron, but the fault is not you.
You need tender warm cuddles, wet ones too.
Come closer, my lovely and lively bee,
Do what you want, but do it to me.
Fly over me, beauty, you don’t want to miss
An occasion to practice on me a deep kiss.”
When thus she spoke, her petals spoke too,
Followed by tears that trickled down, blue.
But Bee was as cold as a bee can be,
Keen, to his queen, on responsibility.
His job was his life, who wants to lose that?
Not for a kiss, not even with Violet.
“Goodbye girl, he said, time is running,
Work waits for me, cut short your cunning.”
Violet heard this and she did her best
To cut short her smile, but not her quest.
More like a prayer sounded her voice
When she offered Bee a last choice.
“Don’t run away, I might have what you need,
Honey for you, slow down! Or rather speed!
Speed up and put your mouth in mine,
Deep in there you will find my wine.”
“Sorry for now Violet! If you don’t mind,
I’m after flowers of another kind,
Old fashioned and useful, not sweet
Like you, but bitter barley and brown buckwheat.”
Such was the humble bee’s mumbling, before
He took off to blue heaven’s shore.
Violet was alone and she calmed down
Bowing her face, not showing her frown,
When she wondered how there could be
A bee unwilling to be with her to bee.
But wondering she smiled and smelt even more,
Telling the world what her beauty was for.
Xu Yunuo, April 5, 1922
Translation by Jan Laurens Siesling, February 6, 2017
Sep 5, 2021
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徐玉諾：《紫羅蘭與蜜蜂》
紫羅蘭看見一個蜜蜂懶飏飏的在溫暖的太陽下飛著，她喜悅得發抖；
她十分的賣弄風情，她的色也十分鮮艷，她的氣也非常芬芳。
“呵，親愛的蜜蜂！來！來！我正在盼望你的親吻！”她瘋狂般的喊著。
蜜蜂飛著，沒精打采的說：
“我正要工作；因為到晚我必須得兩滿腿蜜。”
紫羅蘭微微笑了，她的笑容更鮮艷，她的芬芳更濃厚。
“我曉得你們同青年男子們一樣，你們的心常常是乾枯的，你們的思想常是苦惱而且是
生鐵一般冷枯的；是必須要柔情來溫潤的。……
來來，我最親愛，活潑的美蜂！
走近來！什麽都不要緊，你試一試走近我！
來來，什麽再沒這要緊；
我們試一試親個吻！”
她說著眼淚一滴滴的從花瓣上滴下來。
蜜蜂肩上重重載著責任和命令，他一點也不動情；他想了他的工作，很冷澀的說道：
“天不早了，我要工作去；再見吧！”
紫羅蘭急急的懇求道：
“且慢！慢！我一定有蜜給你；速來速來！把你的嘴伸在我嘴裏！”
“不！…… 我要找野菜花去，我要找巧麥去 …… ”
蜜蜂喃喃的說著，並且遠遠的飛去了。
紫羅蘭慢慢的低下頭來，沈沈尋思 ……
但是還是不怠的放著她的香，濃著她的美。
一九二二年，四月五日
Sep 6, 2021
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Spring
On a sapling in the field
Little birds are singing:
“Spring has come back to the world
Little birds are singing!”
“Pink and red and budding all,
The peonies are big and tall.
While the cherry tree is small,
Sweet its fruits will be and yellow.”
Grasses grow on the meadow’s side,
Swinging to the wind of spring,
Tiny faces moving with the tide,
Raising voices and they sing:
“Drink our dew, most gentle breeze,
There is more than you can tell;
Blow into our dresses, please,
Does it make them shine and swell!”
Riding on his buffalo
A young boy beats the beat
On his thighs and he sings too,
So romantic in the heat:
“We need a dive, we need to bathe,
We are a perfect team.
My buffalo can drink and graze,
It’s time for her to swim.”
“I see there is a shallow lake
For us to have a bath in.
The water is cool, for freshness sake
I will not stop my singing.”
"Lo!" said a thinker, walking by
With zero goal but his despair.
"Where do we go, cried he, and why?"
Both hands in his neglected hair.
He watched the boy, the meadow and
The birds, and then his heart knew better.
“Can peace be an illusion, though
These spring things really matter?”
A jaded poet passed in tears, but here
His fingers cleared them and the wrinkles
Of his forehead broke and cheered:
The vision of pure beauty made him twinkle.
Xu Yunuo, April 5, 1922
Translation by Jan Laurens Siesling, February 6, 2017
Sep 7, 2021
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Be grateful.
While the democratization of travel has made visiting different locations more accessible, travelling is nonetheless still a privilege that some people are not in a position to experience.
It is only human for a twinge of plain old envy play a small role in someone’s clear disinterest in your stories. Your friend might have been pinching her pennies for years in her attempts to travel out of state. And here you are talking about missing the days where you backpacked through ten different European cities. Very soon, they’re waiting for the inevitable point where your conversation turns into a one-sided monologue. You should be proud of yourself and your newfound independence and insights. but also recognise that these are opportunities to be thankful for. No one likes a humble-brag.
At the end of the day, these small instances of social friction should not deter you from seeking extraordinary experiences. Be self-aware in your communications and don’t take it personally if a flicker of boredom appears in your friend’s eyes as you recount your adventures. Travelling is often an intensely personal and visceral journey. Very often the joys and sorrows experienced along the way are unique to each person. And that’s okay! You can always seek out other common interests to bond over. (Source: https://blog.wego.com)
Nov 1, 2021
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A psychological study conducted by scholars from Harvard University discovered that there might be some hidden costs associated with the extraordinary experiences you’ve been seeking out during your travels.
These costs manifest themselves in situations where you find yourself trying desperately to share your life-changing experiences with your friends only to be met with eyes of boredom and a stifled yawn.
No matter how many pictures of Louvre you pull up on your phone, they can’t seem to get how truly spectacular it was to stand in front of the Winged Victory of Samothrace. While one might be tempted to assign this lack of interest to simple envy, the truth is often at once more simple and complex than that.
“You had to be there to experience it,” you say, casually. And that statement might just contain the answer to your friends’ lack-of-interest.
They just weren’t there.
Your friends did not set out to be intentionally callous. The problem is that they just can’t relate because they weren’t there. You speak of washing down the most delicious cod croquettes with a glass of rosé at the 58 Tour Eiffel, but back here among the humdrum of the every day, your hometown mates are probably more excited about the local pizza joint that recently opened two streets over.
The lack of shared experiential vocabulary can create some social friction. Extraordinary experiences, while personally life-changing, might leave the traveller feeling socially divided from his or her community.
If you want to bond over how beautiful the sunlight looked sparkling on the water as you walked along the Seine, why not seek out a fellow traveller who understands without having to pull up a dozen photos that ultimately don’t do it justice anyway.
Reconnect with the travel buddies you met along the way. You’ll both be able to intuitively understand each other’s experiences and reciprocate with sharing similar stories more enthusiastically.
Growth is normal.
Understand that many of these experiences often confer non-social pleasures that might best be accepted as a personal journey.
If you claim that these have been life-changing experiences, then changes are bound to reflect in your person. How have your philosophies or outlooks on life shifted? Your previously irreligious self would have scoffed at the idea of any higher deity. But after spending an afternoon listening to the choir sing at Sacré-Cœur Basilica, you now identify as a Christian.
Not all changes are that momentous. Maybe visiting all those galleries and museums has given you a newfound appreciation for Renaissance art. Your friends might not be that interested in listening to the history of the pigments used by Leonardo da Vinci in his Mona Lisa.
Nov 1, 2021
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The Meaning of PhD
Yesterday I booked a private taxi for airport.
When I arrived at my destination the driver gave me his business card for future bookings.
「Dr. Raymond Tan PhD」
Wow !!! i was surprised and quizzed him,
"Why are you driving a taxi with such high qualification ?"
He replied "Dr. is the short form of Driver"
"Then what about your PhD ?"
"I am a Privately-Hired Driver"
Mar 4, 2022
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Vincent （Starry starry night）by Don Mclean （唐·馬克林）
Starry starry night
星光星光閃耀的夜晚
Paint your palette blue and grey
讓調色板描繪出你深深地憂郁和晦暗
Look out on a summer’s day
讓那雙洞察我靈魂深處的眼睛
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
面朝著夏日的白晝
Shadows on the hills
在這如雪般的畫布上
Sketch the trees and daffodils
勾勒出丘陵的投影
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
描繪那樹叢和水仙花
In colors on the snowy linen land
捕捉微風和冬季的寒意
Now I understand what you try to say to me
而此刻我才懂得你想對我訴說的那些故事
And how you suffered for your sanity
你因深深的思索而承受著苦悶
And how you tried to set them free
你因賦予思想自由而所做的一切
They would not listen
可是，那些人不會聽到
They did not know how
因為他們無法體會
Perhaps they’ll listen you now
又或許他們現在才知道
Starry starry night
星光星光閃耀的夜晚
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
那些如烈焰般綻放的花兒
Swirling clouds in Violet haze
那些在紫羅蘭的薄霧中旋轉的雲朵
Reflect in Vincent’s eyes of china blue
都在文森特瓷器一樣湛藍的眸子裏
Colors changing hue
變幻著色彩
Morning fields of amber grain
清晨琥珀色的原野
Weathered faces lined in pain
風化了的臉孔鐫刻著的痛楚
Are Soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand
畫家用深情手去撫慰那些憂傷
Now I understand what you try to say to me
而此刻我才懂得你想對我訴說的那些故事
And how you suffered for your sanity
你因深深的思索而承受著苦悶
And how you tried to set them free
你因賦予思想自由而所做的一切
They would not listen
可是，那些人不會聽到
They did not know how
因為他們無法體會
Perhaps they’ll listen you now
又或許他們現在才知道
For they could not love you
盡管他們並不愛你
But still your love was true
可你的愛卻是如此真實
And when no hope was left inside
可你的愛卻是如此真實
On that starry starry night
在那個只有絕望的星夜
You took your life as lovers often do
你帶走了自己的生命就像殉情的愛人一樣
But I could have told you Vincent
然而我必須告訴你真相文森特
This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you
這世界上不會再有什麽如你一般的美好
Starry starry night
星光，星光閃耀的夜
Portraits hung in empty halls
那些肖像懸掛在空寂的大廳裏
Frameless heads on nameless walls
在一面面不知名的墻壁一幅幅沒有畫框的頭像
With eyes that watch the world and can’t forget
上用他們那令人難忘的眼睛註視著這個世界
Like the stranger that you’ve met
就像你曾遭遇到的陌生人
The ragged man in ragged cloth
邋遢男人們穿著襤褸的衣衫
The silver thorn in a bloody rose
就像是躺在聖潔的雪地裏的
Lying crushed and broken on the virgin snow
血紅的玫瑰中銀白的荊刺
Now I think I know what you try to say to me
而此刻我才懂得你想對我訴說的那些故事
That how you suffered for your sanity
你因深深的思索而承受著苦悶
And how you try to set them free
你因賦予思想自由而所做的一切
They would not listen they’re not listening still
可是，那些人不會聽到，依舊不會聽到
Perhaps they never will
又或許，他們永遠不會知道
Vincent van Gogh: The Starry Night, oil on canvas by Vincent van Gogh, 1889; in the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.
Critics said Gogh's work was influenced by Katsushika Hokusai (日本畫家葛飾北齋 1760－1849）
May 15, 2024
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ICONADA Research Team: "Three-in-One" Integration of Education, Training, and Employment and AI
Lecture Halls, Workshops, and Assembly Lines: A Cultural Critique of the "Three-in-One" Integration of Education, Training, and Employment in Anglophone Nations
In the global economy, fusing education, training, and employmentis more than a labor market mechanism. It is a unique cultural landscape rooted in Anglophone pragmatism. Over decades, nations like Australia, the UK, Canada, and the US have built an ecosystem that blends the theoretical instruction of the lecture hall, the skill refinement of the workshop, and the professional practice of the assembly line.
1.The Philosophical Roots: From Bacon to Competency
To understand why English-speaking countries seamlessly bind these functions, one must return to British empiricism and American pragmatism. Through this lens, knowledge is valued not for its abstract sublimity, but for its capacity to be translated into action.
Australia’s VET system and the UK’s National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) are bureaucratic manifestations of this philosophy. By placing learning and working side-by-side, they dismantle the elitism of the intellectual class. Within a National Qualifications Framework (NQF), a welding torch and a lecture handout carry equal institutional dignity. This enables the "Earn and Learn" cultural phenomenon, blurring the absolute boundary between blue-collar and white-collar work. Young people establish their social coordinates through practical experience while avoiding crippling student debt.
2.The Instrumental Trap and the AI Crisis
However, this aggressive market orientation has a dark side. When education is swallowed by vocational training, universities risk downgrading into pre-production assembly lines for corporations.
When curricula are tethered strictly to current industry metrics, the humanities are marginalized. Cultural critics worry this system mass-produces "the perfect tools"—individuals with high immediate workplace utility, but fragile capacities for critical thinking.
This hyper-specialization now faces an existential crisis with the rise of Advanced AI. The "Three-in-One" model relies heavily on teaching specific, predictable workplace skills. Yet, AI excels at automating precisely these highly defined technical tasks. If a student's education is merely a reflection of a current corporate job description, their skills risk obsolescence by graduation. The system's greatest strength—its tight alignment with the current market—becomes its greatest vulnerability in an automated world.
The Scale of Efficiency
The integration of education, training, and employment in the Anglophone world maximizes economic efficiency and mitigates youth unemployment. Yet, it also mirrors a cultural obsession with immediate utility. In the era of automation, finding a fresh balance between equipping youth with survival skills and preserving the adaptable, critical human soul will be the next true test of Western educational wisdom.
May 27
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[Fable] The Southern Favorite
The chair sat empty. The Elder’s “Southern Favorite,” though once at the center of a donation scandal that stirred public uproar, had always been protected by the Elder’s formidable authority. After all, a cherished confidante is bound to be indulged and spoiled a little, isn’t she?
This time, the mother hen led her chicks: four distinguished figures from the same family all emerged to seek seats of their own. The public spun it into a charming tale: it is not only femme fatales who command attention in the marketplace; mature beauties are just as sought after. And it is not only the back door that offers a pathway upward—there are routes through the harem as well.
Jun 2
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[Golongan Penyelidikan iCONADA] Transformasi atau Pelanggaran Sempadan? Apabila “Otak Kiri McKinsey” Bertemu “Otak Kanan LUNAR”: Peralihan Paradigma Pendidikan Kreatif di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi
Pada tahun 2015, gergasi perundingan global McKinsey & Company mengambil alih firma reka bentuk industri terkemuka LUNAR. Penggabungan antara dunia strategi perniagaan dan kreativiti ini bukan sekadar pengembangan korporat, tetapi menjadi simbol perubahan besar dalam industri kreatif: kreativiti tidak lagi dianggap sebagai hiasan akhir, sebaliknya menjadi elemen strategik dalam mencipta nilai perniagaan.
Sebelum ini, reka bentuk sering dilihat sebagai proses “kemasan” selepas pembangunan produk dan strategi perniagaan selesai. Namun, gabungan McKinsey dan LUNAR membuktikan bahawa pemikiran reka bentuk (Design Thinking), pengalaman pengguna dan inovasi kreatif kini menjadi sebahagian daripada proses membuat keputusan di peringkat tertinggi organisasi. Kreativiti telah berkembang daripada menghasilkan objek menarik kepada menyelesaikan masalah kompleks masyarakat dan perniagaan.
Perubahan ini memberi cabaran besar kepada pendidikan kreatif di universiti. Model pendidikan tradisional yang memisahkan bidang perniagaan dan reka bentuk perlu diperbaharui. Dunia kini memerlukan bakat dwifungsi yang memahami estetika, budaya, teknologi serta logik pasaran. Oleh itu, institusi pengajian tinggi perlu menggalakkan pembelajaran rentas disiplin seperti “reka bentuk + perniagaan”.
Selain itu, pendidikan kreatif harus beralih daripada sekadar penguasaan kemahiran teknikal kepada penyelesaian masalah sebenar. Pelajar bukan hanya perlu tahu “cara menghasilkan reka bentuk”, tetapi juga “cara menggunakan kreativiti untuk mencipta impak”. Pemahaman terhadap data, penyelidikan pengguna dan nilai komersial juga penting agar idea kreatif dapat diterjemahkan kepada strategi yang bernilai.
Namun, transformasi ini turut membawa risiko. Jika pendidikan kreatif terlalu tunduk kepada KPI, keuntungan dan kecekapan pasaran, kreativiti mungkin kehilangan sifat kritikal, kemanusiaan dan keberaniannya untuk mencabar norma. Universiti bukan sekadar kilang menghasilkan tenaga kerja industri, tetapi ruang untuk memelihara pemikiran bebas dan inovasi yang melangkaui keuntungan jangka pendek.
Kesimpulannya, masa depan pendidikan kreatif memerlukan keseimbangan antara rasionaliti perniagaan dan sensitiviti seni. Kreativiti perlu mempunyai nilai ekonomi, tetapi pada masa sama mesti kekal mempunyai jiwa, kritikan sosial dan kemanusiaan.
Jun 25
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[iCONADA Research Team] Proletarianization
Jul 3
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（Con't）If you think that this doesn’t apply to you—that your own travels are magical and profound, with effects that deepen your values, expand your horizons, render you a true citizen of the globe, and so on—note that this phenomenon can’t be assessed first-personally. Pessoa, Chesterton, Percy, and Emerson were all aware that travellers tell themselves they’ve changed, but you can’t rely on introspection to detect a delusion. So cast your mind, instead, to any friends who are soon to set off on summer adventures. In what condition do you expect to find them when they return? They may speak of their travel as though it were transformative, a “once in a lifetime” experience, but will you be able to notice a difference in their behavior, their beliefs, their moral compass? Will there be any difference at all?
Travel is fun, so it is not mysterious that we like it. What is mysterious is why we imbue it with a vast significance, an aura of virtue. If a vacation is merely the pursuit of unchanging change, an embrace of nothing, why insist on its meaning?
One is forced to conclude that maybe it isn’t so easy to do nothing—and this suggests a solution to the puzzle. Imagine how your life would look if you discovered that you would never again travel. If you aren’t planning a major life change, the prospect looms, terrifyingly, as “More and more of this, and then I die.” Travel splits this expanse of time into the chunk that happens before the trip, and the chunk that happens after it, obscuring from view the certainty of annihilation. And it does so in the cleverest possible way: by giving you a foretaste of it. You don’t like to think about the fact that someday you will do nothing and be nobody. You will only allow yourself to preview this experience when you can disguise it in a narrative about how you are doing many exciting and edifying things: you are experiencing, you are connecting, you are being transformed, and you have the trinkets and photos to prove it.
（The Case Against Travel：It turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we're at our best by Agnes Callard，June 24, 2023，The New Yorker)
Jul 13
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（Con't）He speaks for every tourist who has stood before a monument, or a painting, or a falcon, and demanded herself to feel something. Emerson and Percy help us understand why this demand is unreasonable: to be a tourist is to have already decided that it is not one's own feelings that count.
Whether an experience is authentically X is precisely what you, as a non-X, cannot judge.
A similar argument applies to the tourist's impulse to honour the grand sea of humanity. Whereas Percy and Emerson focus on the aesthetic, showing us how hard it is for travellers to have the sensory experiences that they seek, Pessoa and Chesterton are interested in the ethical. They study why travellers can't truly connect to other human beings. During my Paris wanderings, I would stare at people, intently inspecting their clothing, their demeanor, their interactions. I was trying to see the Frenchness in the French people around me. This is not a way to make friends.
Pessoa said that he knew only one “real traveller with soul”: an office boy who obsessively collected brochures, tore maps out of newspapers, and memorized train schedules between far-flung destinations. The boy could recount sailing routes around the world, but he had never left Lisbon.
Chesterton also approved of such stationary travellers. He wrote that there was “something touching and even tragic” about “the thoughtless tourist, who might have stayed at home loving Laplanders, embracing Chinamen, and clasping Patagonians to his heart in Hampstead or Surbiton, but for his blind and suicidal impulse to go and see what they looked like.”
The problem was not with other places, or with the man wanting to see them, but with travel's dehumanizing effect, which thrust him among people to whom he was forced to relate as a spectator. Chesterton believed that loving what is distant in the proper fashion—namely, from a distance—enabled a more universal connection. When the man in Hampstead thought of foreigners “in the abstract . . . as those who labour and love their children and die, he was thinking the fundamental truth about them.” “The human bond that he feels at home is not an illusion,” Chesterton wrote. “It is rather an inner reality.” Travel prevents us from feeling the presence of those we have travelled such great distances to be near.
The single most important fact about tourism is this: we already know what we will be like when we return. A vacation is not like immigrating to a foreign country, or matriculating at a university, or starting a new job, or falling in love. We embark on those pursuits with the trepidation of one who enters a tunnel not knowing who she will be when she walks out. The traveller departs confident that she will come back with the same basic interests, political beliefs, and living arrangements. Travel is a boomerang. It drops you right where you started.
Jul 16
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（Con't）In the many great cities I have actually lived and worked in, I would never consider spending whole days walking. When you travel, you suspend your usual standards for what counts as a valuable use of time. You suspend other standards as well, unwilling to be constrained by your taste in food, art, or recreational activities. After all, you say to yourself, the whole point of travelling is to break out of the confines of everyday life. But, if you usually avoid museums, and suddenly seek them out for the purpose of experiencing a change, what are you going to make of the paintings? You might as well be in a room full of falcons.
Let’s delve a bit deeper into how, exactly, the tourist's project is self-undermining. I'll illustrate with two examples from “The Loss of the Creature,” an essay by the writer Walker Percy.
First, a sightseer arriving at the Grand Canyon. Before his trip, an idea of the canyon—a “symbolic complex”—had formed in his mind. He is delighted if the canyon resembles the pictures and postcards he has seen; he might even describe it as “every bit as beautiful as a picture postcard!” But, if the lighting is different, the colors and shadows not those which he expects, he feels cheated: he has arrived on a bad day. Unable to gaze directly at the canyon, forced to judge merely whether it matches an image, the sightseer “may simply be bored; or he may be conscious of the difficulty: that the great thing yawning at his feet somehow eludes him.”
Second, a couple from Iowa driving around Mexico. They are enjoying the trip, but are a bit dissatisfied by the usual sights. They get lost, drive for hours on a rocky mountain road, and eventually, “in a tiny valley not even marked on the map,” stumble upon a village celebrating a religious festival. Watching the villagers dance, the tourists finally have “an authentic sight, a sight which is charming, quaint, picturesque, unspoiled.” Yet they still feel some dissatisfaction. Back home in Iowa, they gush about the experience to an ethnologist friend: You should have been there! You must come back with us! When the ethnologist does, in fact, return with them, “the couple do not watch the goings-on; instead they watch the ethnologist! Their highest hope is that their friend should find the dance interesting.” They need him to “certify their experience as genuine.”
The tourist is a deferential character. He outsources the vindication of his experiences to the ethnologist, to postcards, to conventional wisdom about what you are or are not supposed to do in a place. This deference, this “openness to experience,”is exactly what renders the tourist incapable of experience. Emerson confessed, “I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated.”
Jul 23
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We go to experience a change, but end up inflicting change on others.
For example, a decade ago, when I was in Abu Dhabi, I went on a guided tour of a falcon hospital. I took a photo with a falcon on my arm. I have no interest in falconry or falcons, and a generalized dislike of encounters with nonhuman animals. But the falcon hospital was one of the answers to the question, “What does one do in Abu Dhabi?”
So I went. I suspect that everything about the falcon hospital, from its layout to its mission statement, is and will continue to be shaped by the visits of people like me—we unchanged changers, we tourists. (On the wall of the foyer, I recall seeing a series of “excellence in tourism” awards. Keep in mind that this is an animal hospital.)
Why might it be bad for a place to be shaped by the people who travel there, voluntarily, for the purpose of experiencing a change? The answer is that such people not only do not know what they are doing but are not even trying to learn. Consider me. It would be one thing to have such a deep passion for falconry that one is willing to fly to Abu Dhabi to pursue it, and it would be another thing to approach the visit in an aspirational spirit, with the hope of developing my life in a new direction. I was in neither position.
I entered the hospital knowing that my post-Abu Dhabi life would contain exactly as much falconry as my pre-Abu Dhabi life—which is to say, zero falconry. If you are going to see something you neither value nor aspire to value, you are not doing much of anything besides locomoting.
Tourism is marked by its locomotive character. “I went to France.” O.K., but what did you do there? “I went to the Louvre.” O.K., but what did you do there? “I went to see the ‘Mona Lisa.’ ” That is, before quickly moving on: apparently, many people spend just fifteen seconds looking at the “Mona Lisa.” It’s locomotion all the way down.
The peculiar rationality of tourists allows them to be moved both by a desire to do what they are supposed to do in a place and a desire to avoid precisely what they are supposed to do. This is how it came to pass that, on my first trip to Paris, I avoided both the “Mona Lisa” and the Louvre. I did not, however, avoid locomotion. I walked from one end of the city to the other, over and over again, in a straight line; if you plotted my walks on a map, they would have formed a giant asterisk.
Jul 24
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If you are inclined to dismiss this as contrarian posturing, try shifting the object of your thought from your own travel to that of others. At home or abroad, one tends to avoid “touristy” activities. “Tourism” is what we call travelling when other people are doing it. And, although people like to talk about their travels, few of us like to listen to them. Such talk resembles academic writing and reports of dreams: forms of communication driven more by the needs of the producer than the consumer.
One common argument for travel is that it lifts us into an enlightened state, educating us about the world and connecting us to its denizens. Even Samuel Johnson, a skeptic—“What I gained by being in France was, learning to be better satisfied with my own country,” he once said—conceded that travel had a certain cachet. Advising his beloved Boswell, Johnson recommended a trip to China, for the sake of Boswell’s children: “There would be a lustre reflected upon them. . . . They would be at all times regarded as the children of a man who had gone to view the wall of China.”
Travel gets branded as an achievement: see interesting places, have interesting experiences, become interesting people. Is that what it really is?
Pessoa, Emerson, and Chesterton believed that travel, far from putting us in touch with humanity, divorced us from it. Travel turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best. Call this the traveller’s delusion.
To explore it, let’s start with what we mean by “travel.” Socrates went abroad when he was called to fight in the Peloponnesian War; even so, he was no traveller. Emerson is explicit about steering his critique away from a person who travels when his “necessities” or “duties” demand it. He has no objection to traversing great distances “for the purpose of art, of study, and benevolence.” One sign that you have a reason to be somewhere is that you have nothing to prove, and therefore no drive to collect souvenirs, photos, or stories to prove it. Let’s define “tourism” as the kind of travel that aims at the interesting—and, if Emerson and company are right, misses.
“A tourist is a temporarily leisured person who voluntarily visits a place away from home for the purpose of experiencing a change.” This definition is taken from the opening of “Hosts and Guests,” the classic academic volume on the anthropology of tourism. The last phrase is crucial: touristic travel exists for the sake of change. But what, exactly, gets changed? Here is a telling observation from the concluding chapter of the same book: “Tourists are less likely to borrow from their hosts than their hosts are from them, thus precipitating a chain of change in the host community.”
Jul 29
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The Case Against Travel By Agnes Callard
It turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best.
What is the most uninformative statement that people are inclined to make? My nominee would be “I love to travel.” This tells you very little about a person, because nearly everyone likes to travel; and yet people say it, because, for some reason, they pride themselves both on having travelled and on the fact that they look forward to doing so.
The opposition team is small but articulate. G. K. Chesterton wrote that “travel narrows the mind.” Ralph Waldo Emerson called travel “a fool’s paradise.” Socrates and Immanuel Kant—arguably the two greatest philosophers of all time—voted with their feet, rarely leaving their respective home towns of Athens and Königsberg. But the greatest hater of travel, ever, was the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa, whose wonderful “Book of Disquiet” crackles with outrage:
I abhor new ways of life and unfamiliar places. . . . The idea of travelling nauseates me. . . . Ah, let those who don’t exist travel! . . . Travel is for those who cannot feel. . . . Only extreme poverty of the imagination justifies having to move around to feel.
(June 24, 2023 The New Yorker)
Aug 3
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Cross-Platform Deep Scraping & NLP: AI can deploy Natural Language Processing (NLP) to crawl and analyze millions of interactions across distinct linguistic and cultural spheres simultaneously. It can track how a "Middle Eastern political strategy" deployed by Malay leaders translates into grassroots sermons, and contrast it in real-time with how it is re-interpreted inside Chinese-language WhatsApp groups or Xiaohongshu.
Semantic Vector Mapping: AI can analyze text not just for keywords, but for relational distance. It can map how words like "unity," "threat," or "secularism" change their relational meaning depending on which nodes of the network they pass through.
3.Visualizing Dynamic and Fluid Networks (No More Static Charts)
Traditional sociology relies on static categories (e.g., "The Chinese Community," "The Malay Elite"). ANT rejects this, arguing that these groups only exist if they are constantly being performed and re-knitted.
Graph Neural Networks (GNNs): AI can use GNNs to build real-time, 3D interactive knowledge graphs of political ecosystems. These graphs do not show fixed demographics, but fluid connections. Users can see how human political figures are connected to funding networks, media platforms, and religious institutions.
Weighting Network Alliances: AI can dynamically adjust the "thickness" of lines between nodes based on interaction frequency, sentiment intensity, and transaction flows, showing exactly which alliances are holding a political narrative together at any given second.
4.Simulating "Crash Tests" (Predicting Network Durability)
Latour noted that reality eventually hits back against post-truth illusions through "crash tests" (like extreme climate events or economic crises) that shatter digital bubbles.
Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) powered by LLMs: AI can simulate thousands of autonomous "agents" (representing different segments of the Malaysian electorate, media nodes, and economic variables). Researchers can run simulations to see how the current "post-truth/fear-mongering" network would react when hit by a real-world material crisis (e.g., an economic recession or a subsidy rationalisation).
Vulnerability Identification: The AI can pinpoint which specific node or non-human actant (e.g., a specific piece of legislation or an independent media outlet) is the "weakest link" or the most critical anchor keeping the network stable.
Bridging to iCONADA's Cultural Critique: AI as a Tool for "Down to Earth" Politics
If the contemporary crisis of the Malaysian Chinese community is a "structural ignorance"born of digital self-enclosure, AI can be the tool that breaks the bubble. Instead of using AI to generate more clickbait, progressive leaders can use AI to build ANT dashboards.
By using AI to map the actual socio-economic anxieties, institutional connections, and Middle Eastern geopolitical influences affecting the Malay majority, the minority community can move away from abstract, online emotional fear.
They can use AI to achieve what Latour called "landing on the
Terrestrial"—gaining a precise, empirical, and scientific blueprint of the ground realities of the nation. It allows modern leaders to see the world as Tan Cheng Lock and Tunku Abdul Rahman did: not as a battle of online caricatures, but as a complex, material network of interlocking interests that must be pragmatically negotiated and built together.
Please Help explore how an political movement today could practically design an AI-driven ANT framework to map out a new, cross-ethnic political consensus?
Aug 15
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[iCONADA Research Team] Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory(ANT)～～In the context of Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the social world is not made of abstract "structures," but of dynamic, relational webs woven by both human actors (decision maker, public, content creators) and non-human actants (algorithms, social media platforms, oil pipelines, religious institutions).
ANT has historically been notoriously difficult to map because tracking the sheer volume of micro-interactions between humans and non-humans requires massive empirical labor. Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can serve as the ultimate methodological toolkit to operationalize, track, and build ANT networks.
iCONADA hereby proposes that how AI can assist in building and visualizing Actor-Network Theory, specifically applied to analyzing political realities like the ones we discussed thus far:
1.Mapping Non-Human Actants: Tracing the Digital "Allies"
In ANT, a non-human entity (like an algorithm) is not just a passive tool; it is an active participant that modifies human behavior.
Algorithmic Auditing: AI can reverse-engineer and audit how social media algorithms (the non-human actants) accelerate the "post-truth phenomenon." By analyzing recommender systems, AI can map how specific political rhetoric (e.g., the "Barbarians are coming" narrative) is selected, amplified, and fed into Chinese-language echo chambers.
Network Translation: AI can track how a digital actant "translates" (Latour's term for transforming meaning) a complex political debate into a 15-second emotional soundbite on TikTok, showing exactly where a factual "Matter of Fact" mutates into an emotional "post-truth" artifact.
2.Large-Scale Trace Ethnography (Following the Actors)
Latour’s primary methodological command is: "Follow the actors themselves." In the digital era, actors leave millions of digital footprints that are impossible for human ethnographers to trace manually.
Aug 15
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Leading with “Technology-Driven Healthcare”: Integrating Chinese and Western Medicine and the AI Doctor Experience
Sarawak Minister for Transport and Senadin State Assemblyman, Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin, said during an inspection of the construction works that the project would introduce an advanced technology-driven healthcare model.
The report highlights three major development features of the project:
Pioneering the dual-track integration of Chinese and Western medicine: Fudan University, one of only two Chinese medical institutions currently accredited by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), will combine modern Western medicine with traditional Chinese medicine, pioneering a unique dual-track model of medical education and healthcare delivery.
“AI Doctor” smart healthcare system: An Artificial Intelligence (AI) Medical Experience Centre will be established on the first floor of the research institute. It will introduce an AI healthcare system developed by Fudan University. Once operational, members of the public will be able to experience first-hand how AI can assist in early and precision diagnosis.
Tropical rainforest-based drug discovery and development: The campus will establish an Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Innovation Drug Research and Development Centre. Leveraging the rich biodiversity of Sarawak’s tropical rainforests in areas such as Baram, Belaga and Kapit, the centre will explore ways to transform indigenous medicinal herbs into innovative pharmaceutical products capable of generating multi-billion-ringgit global business opportunities.
Outlook: Strategic Higher Education Cooperation under the Malaysia-China “Golden 50 Years”
Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg emphasised that Fudan University’s establishment in Miri is fully aligned with Sarawak’s long-term strategy to advance technology, the green economy and artificial intelligence research.
This strategic partnership will not only create opportunities for Sarawak’s young people to pursue world-class medical education locally, without having to leave the state, but will also gradually strengthen Sarawak’s autonomy in healthcare and education.
At a time when Malaysia and China are entering a new “Golden 50 Years” of bilateral diplomatic relations, the partnership is also expected to become a new model for strategic cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in higher education and smart healthcare.
Aug 19
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[iCONADA Research Team] Shanghai-based Fudan University in Miri, Sarawak.
Sarawak is witnessing a historic breakthrough in the fields of international higher education and smart healthcare. Shanghai-based Fudan University, ranked among the world’s top 50 universities and one of China’s leading medical institutions, has officially selected Miri, Sarawak, as the site of its first overseas international campus.
This High-impact project aims to introduce a world-class medical education and research ecosystem to Sarawak, while also helping to alleviate the urgent shortage of approximately 2,000 doctors in the state. The plan has already received formal approval from Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and the Sarawak Government, and is now at the final stage of seeking approval from the central government of China.
Three-Phase Blueprint: Establishing a Presence in “Kenyalang Smart City”, Miri
According to the cooperation agreement signed by Sarawak Deputy Premier and Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government, Datuk Amar Dr. Sim Kui Hian, and Imasa Dinasti, Fudan University’s development in Miri will be implemented progressively in three phases:
Phase One: Establish the “Miri Branch of the Fudan Southeast Asia Institute of Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine Research” and undertake the renovation of the former Miri Municipal Council building. To date, approximately 85% of the renovation work has been completed, with the first phase expected to officially commence operations early next year.
Phase Two: Upgrade and establish the “Fudan University Miri Medical School”, with a comprehensive focus on medical education, professional training and clinical research.
Phase Three: Ultimately develop the full-scale “Fudan University Miri Campus”, creating an integrated overseas campus combining education, research and smart healthcare. The main campus and the Integrated Medical Research Centre will be located in Miri’s emerging new core area, “Kenyalang Smart City.”
Aug 19
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Enhancing Cultural Soft Power: Literature is one of the most effective means of preserving mother tongues and local memories. Through international cultural exchange, distinctive local cultural symbols and narratives can be brought to the world, transforming them into cultural assets with international visibility and recognition.
V Building International Cultural Diplomacy and Creative-Economy Trade Networks
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is, at its core, a global platform for sharing and collaboration. For the cultural and creative sectors, this means creating international channels that transcend geographical boundaries:
Global Sharing of Creative Resources: Member cities have established extensive mechanisms for cooperation, including international writers' exchange programs and literary translation grants. These initiatives enable local literary creators to connect more directly with the international stage.
A Gateway to Global Cultural Trade: Through alliances among cities within the network, the barriers to international copyright licensing and the export of cultural and creative products can be significantly reduced, helping small and medium-sized cultural and creative enterprises (SMEs) expand into overseas markets.
Conclusion
UNESCO's concept of the City of Literature liberates literature from the ivory tower of the fine arts and integrates it more fully into the economic and social fabric of the city. It demonstrates to the cultural and creative sectors that words are not merely symbols on a page; they are also a powerful productive force capable of driving publishing transformation, cross-sectoral adaptation, tourism upgrading, and social innovation.
Within this framework, literature is not merely a container of culture; it also serves as a core compass guiding cities toward sustainability, innovation, and prosperity.
[Note] The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) encompasses seven major creative fields. Each city joining the network selects one of these fields as a strategic focus for developing its cultural and creative sectors and advancing sustainable urban development:
Literature: Focuses on promoting publishing, reading, writing, literary development, and international literary exchange.
Film: Focuses on the development of the film industry, the organization of film festivals, film education, and the preservation of cinematic cultural heritage.
Music: Promotes music creation, the revitalization of the music industry, music festivals, and accessible music education.
Design: Emphasizes the integration of design thinking into urban planning, public architecture, industrial design, and everyday aesthetics.
Media Arts: Integrates digital technologies, electronic art, new-media creation, and technology-driven cultural and creative practices.
Crafts and Folk Art: Protects and transmits traditional crafts, folk arts, weaving, ceramics, and other forms of locally rooted cultural knowledge and skills.
Gastronomy: Connects food culture, traditional culinary skills, the sustainable use of local ingredients, and cultural and creative tourism.
Sep 13