Tzu Chi urges reduction of CO2 慈济希许大家减少二氧化碳

Earth Day is coming, everybody please do our part, no matter how tiny it may seem to you, it is significant.

地球日即将到来，大家各尽所能，减碳不管多少，都对大地有帮助。

Tzu Chi urges reduction of CO2 - Taipei, Taiwan

The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation (TCF) reaffirmed Thursday its determination to continue tackling the effects of greenhouse gasses, and urged that all Taiwan people work to reduce carbon emissions.

The TCF, which has some 4,500 recycling stations around Taiwan, made the appeal with the aim of encouraging the public to reducecarbon emissions through everyday practices, in recognition of April 22 Earth Day.

Noting that the soaring food prices, severe climate changes, and rising sea level are the results of commercial activities, Hsieh Ching-kuei, director of the Religious Cultural and Humanitarian Department at the TCF, said "this is an urgent task that we must face immediately."

Based on the teachings of Master Cheng Yen who founded the TCF in 1966 and has been devoted to environmental protection for more than 20 years, Hsieh suggested that through consumption of vegetarian food and energy saving measures, "carbon emissions can be easily reduced."

Hsieh said he was proud of his achievement of reducing carbon emissions by at least 1 ton each year by cycling and taking public transportation instead of driving his own car. "We also need to reduce our consumption of unnecessary items, to reuse materials, and to recycle resources and make our life simpler, which indeed would help to reduce carbon emissions," Hsieh stressed.

Amid concern that Taiwan's carbon emissions are increasing rapidly compared to Japan and the European countries, Shaw Liu, director of the Research Center for Environmental Changes at Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top research institution, said "if we don't act to reduce carbon emissions, a massive extinction of species may occur soon."

In line with Master Cheng Yen's teachings, Wei Chuan Foods Corporation (WCFC), one of Taiwan's main food manufacturers and processors, also launched an internal campaign to reduce carbon emissions, WCFC Chairman Wei Ying-chung said.

According to Wei, the WCFC has cut carbon emissions by 2,500 tons over the past six months through the use of environmental friendly materials and by asking its employees and their families to save energy.

"We hope that other corporations nationwide can practice energy saving measures to help save the earth," Wei said.

CNA - 18 Apr 2008

为了金牌还是为了教育? For Medals or for Education?

当今教育的失败，人文教育的失败。

The failure of modern education.

为了金牌还是为了教育? - 黄彩鸾（作者是音乐教师）

日前拜读了罗长号君的《应正确对待学校华乐教育》一文，不禁想起我的朋友陈君的遭遇。陈老师热衷合唱教育，资历高、经验足，目前带着三所小学的合唱团，其中一所算是名校，学生素质不错。

再过几天就是两年一度的合唱比赛，我听了他们在维多利亚音乐厅的彩排，唱得的确不错。但是我的朋友还是如临大敌，全力以赴，并且志在必得（金牌）；因为他已听到风声，合唱团这次若拿不到金牌，学校将考虑解散合唱团，把所有资源投入于已获“荣誉金牌”的华乐团。

他所教的另一所邻里小学，原来的校长让他根据学生的素质和条件进行教学，许多对唱歌不感兴趣的孩子，从逐渐喜欢唱歌，进而非常热爱歌唱。正当他们陶醉在音乐所带来的欢欣与快乐时，学校突然换了校长。新校长一上任，非常关心即将来临的比赛，问他有多少把握？他回答：“现在的程度，只能拿铜牌”。校长把脸一沉说：“不行，你一定得跟我拿个金牌回来！”尽管陈老师向他解释情况，并坦言自己只是教师，不是魔术师，他还是坚持，见到学生便指着他们他们叮咛：“拿金回来！”

我又想起另一位正在国外深造的朋友周老师。他在作曲及合唱指挥方面很有造诣，委身音乐教育数十年，所带的常胜“金牌合唱团”也让学校风光了好多年。直到年前的一次比赛失蹄落金，校长马上给他脸色看，问他：“你年底的报告，我该怎么写？”天啊，一年的辛劳与付出，就因为没拿到金牌而一笔勾消吗？

我在教育界服务了30年，有幸跟了一位好校长。巫顺昌校长是一位教育家，不是金牌收购者。他强调教育目标固然重要，而更重要的是学生在成长的过程中，通过种种表演或竞赛，所培养的刻苦精神、团体意识、正义感、同情心以及牺牲小我、完成大我的优美品德。

今天，我们的教育制度到底出了什么问题？国家未来主人翁的“德、智、体、群”靠谁来平衡？教育部？还是校长？

联合早报 - 2008年4月16日

菩提心要 - 零八年四月十六日 Puti - 16 Apr 08

只要求人人守在最简单的生活。

All it takes is for everyone to lead a simple lifestyle.

忙与盲 Pearls Before Breakfast

人生在世，到底是为了什么？

What is the aim of coming into this world?

忙与盲 - 胡文雁

2007年4月8日，美国《华盛顿邮报》刊登一篇长文，文章名为《早餐前的珍珠》（Pearls Before Breakfast）。这篇文章在刚公布的普立兹奖中，获颁最佳特写，使得众人的目光再次聚焦在这篇曾引发许多讨论和思考的文章身上。

文章内容，是《邮报》记者魏嘉顿（Gene Weingarten）精心安排的一个实验。他让鼎鼎大名的小提琴家贝尔（Joshua Bell）以街头卖艺人的装扮，在上班的高峰时间，出现在华盛顿一繁忙的地铁站。他在过道的垃圾箱旁站好，从琴盒里拿出他那市值350万美金的史特拉蒂瓦里小提琴，将琴盒放在脚边，并往里边扔了几个硬币，当作施舍的“引钱”，然后开始他的街头表演。

贝尔是当代小提琴偶像，琴技超炫，人又长得俊俏，是美国音乐界新生代巨星，所散发的气质兼具古典与流行魅力，使他成为21世纪古典小提琴界的天王。他神童出身，1998年为凄美又充满沧桑感的电影《红色小提琴》幕后“献声”，名气如日中天。

在贝尔出现在地铁站的3天前，他刚在波士顿交响音乐厅举行过演奏会，票价100美元的音乐厅座无虚席。然而，在忙碌的地铁站，来去匆匆的行人对这位小提琴大师的演奏却视若无睹。他拉了3分钟后，才有人注意到他的存在。又过了半分钟，贝尔得到了第一份布施。一名妇女往他的琴盒里扔了一美元，然后匆匆离开。

在随后的40分钟里，他演奏了多首优美的经典小提琴曲目，其中包括巴哈的《恰空》和《嘉禾》、舒伯特的《圣母颂》、庞塞（Manuel Ponce）的《宛若星辰》（Estrellita）。期间，共有1097人经过他身边，但只有7人驻足聆听、1人把贝尔认出来、 27人给了钱，总数为37.17美元。

演奏结束后，受访者被问及那天上班的路上发生了什么特别的事。所有受访者中，只有一人提到地铁过道里有一位出色的小提琴手，其他人一概没有印象。

这篇文章旨在通过特殊背景，考察公众在日常生活中对美的感受，刊出后，魏嘉顿的邮箱挤爆了读者的回响。

是快节奏的生活压力让人们对不期而遇的美失去感觉？还是都市的喧哗与鼓噪已让人的耳朵丧失了辨识什么是美的能力？如果视若无睹、充耳不闻是一种选择，是什么让人变得如斯麻木？ 在忙与盲的混噩当中，我们到底错失了什么？

我想起英国诗人戴维斯（W.H. Davies）的诗歌《闲暇》（Leisure）开头两句—

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

当我们的生活已忙到连停下来凝视的时间都没有，我们其实同幽灵已经没有什么两样了。

魏嘉顿的文章写得很精彩，但更让人惊叹的其实是贝尔。堂堂一位才华盖世的小提琴家，一分钟的演奏可以叫价1000美元，谁也想不到他在地铁站站了43分钟，竟连50元也赚不到。不过贝尔的知名度也因为这事而爆增，他之后推出的小提琴专辑，持续热销，连他自己也预想不到。

联合早报 - 2008年4月15日

Give recycling bins colours to ensure better sorting 为环保箱上彩妆 循环分类一目了然

A small effort to improve recycling in Singapore.

小小的一步，让新加坡的环保做的更好。

为环保箱上彩妆 循环分类一目了然

垃圾不该随地乱扔，这是政府多年来通过教育与刑罚灌输的观念。但垃圾见“桶”即丢，却有很多人还不习惯这么做。

一些人或许还没察觉，他们随手把垃圾丢进去的“垃圾桶”实际上可能是收集再循环物的再循环箱——蓝色的箱子收集纸张、红色收集塑料瓶罐、黄色收集铝罐。环保箱上明明已经清楚标明只收哪一类的“垃圾”，但偏偏有人还是视而不见，继续把不属于该环保箱的废弃物顺手丢进箱子里。

目前，除了在组屋区内的1600个再循环站外，商场、饮食中心和巴士转换站内共有2200个再循环箱，每个环保箱每月可收集100公斤的物件。但当中有10%至20%，也就是10至20公斤的物件是没有再循环价值的垃圾。把食物残羹、用过的免洗餐具和包装等丢进再循环箱，不但需要让业者花更大的力气清洗原本可再循环的物件，它们也可能使这些原本可被赋予新生命的物件提早被送入垃圾埋置场。

传达明确的再循环信息

为了向公众传达明确的再循环信息，让他们知道什么才是再循环的物品，减少环保箱所收集到的垃圾量，国家环境局让31名学生在红、黄、蓝色的环保箱上发挥创意，让路过的行人一目了然。

来自义安理工学院、新加坡理工学院、工艺教育局和兰景中学的青少年昨天聚集在*scape青年中心旁边的青年公园（Youth Park），利用手上的水彩油漆和无限的创意，让再循环箱子着新装。

在蓝色的环保箱上画上树木和地球，义安理工学院学生吴文美（20岁）说：“因为纸张是来自树木的，所以希望人们看到后会把纸丢进正确的地方。”另一组来自勿洛工艺教育学院的学生则以花为主题，在三个环保箱上挥洒涂鸦艺术。

西蒂（19岁）和同学在黄色再循环箱上画上红色的汽水罐和淡蓝色的花朵。她说：“如果人人都可以把铝罐丢进正确的再循环箱里，那它们就可以被赋予新生命。花朵就象征了生命。”

12个被赋予新生命的再循环箱将放置在乌节路义安城购物中心外。

去年，本地共再循环了300多万公吨的垃圾，超过新加坡垃圾总量的半数，环境局局长李源喜对这样的成绩感到满意，但他认为新加坡在教育人们如何正确使用再循环箱上还可以做得更好。

为了进一步传达这方面的信息，环境局下个星期六将在义安城广场主办第二届的“青年环保演唱会”，向青少年传达环保的重要性。

联合早报 - 2008年4月14日

菩提心要 - 零八年四月十三日 Puti - 13 Apr 08

联合国气候研究小组对如何解决全球暖化的建议：

第一 不吃肉
第二 骑脚踏车
第三 少消费

UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) advice on how to tackle global warming

1. Do not eat meat
2. Ride a bike
3. Be a frugal shopper

Chinese School Still Thoughs Teaching 人文学校静思语教学

In Boston, there are several Chinese Schools, what made Tzu Chi Chinese School so special is Still Thoughts Teaching. Not only do we impart knowledge, we impart way of life as well. However, America, being a very rich and liberal country, it is hard to teach students discipline and very hard to impart to them the Confucius way of life.

在波士顿有好几间中文学校，不过慈济人文学校特别之处是静思语教学。我们传授知识 以外，还教导待人处事及生活方式。不过，美国是个十分富裕和自由开放的国度，教导学生纪律以及儒学是一种挑战。

But we try out best to make our Still Thoughts Teaching as interesting as possible. Right after our recycling skit during Tzu Chi Chinese New Year celebration, Vickie SG asked us to act the actual same skit to our students who were not allowed to view the concert. Hence, recycling became the March topic of Still Thoughts teaching.

不过，我们尽力使静思语教学有趣及好玩。慈济新春祈福晚会后，金满师姑希望慈青们能把晚会上呈现的环保短剧重新在人文学校再演一遍。既然同学们并没有观看祈福晚会，我们把环保定为三月间的静思语教学主题，把环保短剧重新诠释一遍。

The April topic for Still Thoughts teaching is about curbing own personal desires and returning to the sensible way of life. To show our students the importance of this topic, we got our Xiu SB, Vict SB and En Yu SG to act as young students who are the extreme unacceptable case. We hope that through the laughter and extreme acting, students are able to realize the unhealthy lifestyle that modern people can leading and we can all change for the better.

四月间的静思语教学主题是克己复礼。为了对同学们显示克己复礼的重要性，我们请许校长、诗白师伯和恩玉师姑扮演极自我和调皮的同学。我们希望透过笑声和极端的演绎，同学们能够体会现代的生活方式是如何的不健康，并希望大家能改变自我。

I do not know how well this message was translated over to the students. But they answered the questions asked at the end of the skits very well. With all the clapping, I gather that they enjoyed it very much. Students starting to change for the best is what we are looking for. But even if that does not happen, we hope that we have planted a seed into their young heart and when the conditions in the future are right, that seed and grow and they will eventually return to the sensible way of life.

我不知道静思语教学,同学们吸收了多少。不过，在短剧演完后，他们都能很好地回答我们询问的问题。从热烈掌声中，同学们因该很喜欢我们的演出。同学开始向好的方向转变是我们最终得目标。但即使转变没有发生，我们也希望在他们幼小的心灵里种下了好的种子。当因缘成熟时，种子会发芽，好让他们终归回到克己复礼的生活方式。

Tzu Chi booth at Tufts University nightmarket 慈济参与Tufts大学的台湾夜市

On 5 Apr 08, Taiwanese Association of Students at Tufts (TAST) organized a nightmarket, showcasing authentic Taiwanese night market. Russow, member of the organizing committee, approached Tzu Ching hoping that we can have a booth explaining Tzu Chi activities in Boston and all over the world. Russow attended our Tzu Ching activities before and was not a very active member. We are grateful that he had such a kind suggestion. We are even more grateful that TAST decided to donate that day earnings to Tzu Chi.

零八年四月五日，Tufts大学的台湾学生会举办了场台湾夜市，展示了真正台湾夜市风采。筹组会成员Russow，找上慈青，希望夜市里能有一个慈济摊位，向同学介绍慈济在波士顿和遍布世界的活动。Russow曾经出席过慈青活动，但并不是位十分活跃。我们很感恩他有如此好的建议，更感恩台湾学生会决定把当天的收入捐赠给慈济。

We had a short meeting before the actual day with TAST. I was late (had to attend a friend birthday party) and did not catch most of the discussion. What I managed to hear was that TAST requested that Tzu Chi tried not to showcase too much Buddhist-related items, but instead emphasized more on our international relief efforts. However, they are fine with us wearing our Tzu Chi uniform.

之前我们与台湾学生会有一个简短的讨论。那晚，我因为参加一位朋友的生日派对而晚到，并没有听到大部分的讨论。我只知道台湾学生会希望慈济不要展示太多与佛教有关的事物，而是更多的强调我们在国际救援工作上的贡献。不过，他们对我们穿着慈济服装没有异议。

The actual evening, I tried to get as many of my friends as possible to attend with me. However, as Tufts university is actually fairly out of the way, I did not managed to get any. Hence, I went there alone.

当晚，我常试鼓励朋友与我一起参加那夜市。不过，由于Tufts大学其实离我宿舍蛮远，因此没法鼓励到任何人，只好孤身上路。

Upon reaching Cousens Gymnasium at Tufts University, I saw Megan, Jennie, Jiuan SX and Vict SB manning the fort, all dressed in their respective uniform while I was in plain attire. So I was kindly requested by them to go and act as a Tufts student and try to attract more students over to our booth. But the plan did not work because I am too shy.

到达Tufts大学的Cousens体育馆后，我看到Megan、Jennie、建发师兄和诗白师伯，身穿着各自的慈济与慈青服装，站在摊位后招引众生。因为我是穿着便服，我被他们请去当卧底，混入Tufts学生群众，尝试吸引更多的学生到我们的摊位前。不过，这计划因为我感觉不好意思而宣告失败。


It was a fairly boring evening since no many students actually turned up. Those who did turned up; only a couple of them were interested. However, no much how small the amount of people, we have to continue to do our part. In the end, we managed to give out several bamboo banks and got a few students interested in Tzu Ching.

因为没有很多学生出现，我感觉这是一个相当沉闷的晚上。那些出现的同学，只有少数对慈济产生兴趣。然而，菩萨大招生，有一位就多一位。最后，我们成功地让几个竹筒与同学结缘，也令几位同学对慈青产生兴趣。


However, the most enjoyable part of the evening was playing traditional Taiwanese games. We found back our long-lost childhood!

不过，当晚最愉快的是玩了台湾各种传统游戏，找回了我们的失去已久的童年！

菩提心要 - 零八年四月三日 Puti - 3 Apr 08

已度慈济人、当度慈济人、未度慈济人，大家一定要努力共创人间净土。

For everybody out there, senior Tzu Chi volunteers, new Tzu Chi volunteers, soon-to-be Tzu Chi volunteers, all of us must work hard for the future of all mankind.