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Post by kyc on Apr 4, 2020 10:20:14 GMT
Are Restaurant only allow take away ? Are public transport like bus ,taxi ,Grab Car ,train close down as well ? Yes, restaurants and hawker centers will only allow takeaways. You cannot eat out. Public transport however are still running. You can still take a cab, bus, Grab Taxi and MRT train. Starting from Wednesday, schools will be conducted online. The government is urging everyone to work from home and stay indoors. Our coronavirus cases have surpassed 1,000 and are climbing steadily every day. Government is changing tack and asking us to wear face masks now, since evidence is mounting that asymptomatic carriers can spread the virus. They are still doing cluster tracing, but we need to break the transmissions somehow.
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Post by kyc on Apr 4, 2020 10:27:03 GMT
I guess right now, all politicians are using this pandemic for their own personal gain/ popularity and interests anyway, I've never heard or read 'nincompoop' so I used google translate to find out the meaning, and here is the example of the word: America felt more comfortable with a nincompoop, or at least a lot of those who voted did. ---> Forgive my rant. It's very frustrating to turn on the TV and see all these mugslingings. Needless to say, the Chinese government will not take it lying down. Also, the reports online are equally irritating. Mudslinging is what Western media and politicians are especially good at. But give us some solidarity between nations, instead of criticizing and making snide remarks at a time like this. As for nincompoop, it is a word invented to describe Mr. Donald Trump.
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Post by Admin on Apr 4, 2020 12:26:06 GMT
I guess right now, all politicians are using this pandemic for their own personal gain/ popularity and interests anyway, I've never heard or read 'nincompoop' so I used google translate to find out the meaning, and here is the example of the word: America felt more comfortable with a nincompoop, or at least a lot of those who voted did. ---> Forgive my rant. It's very frustrating to turn on the TV and see all these mugslingings. Needless to say, the Chinese government will not take it lying down. Also, the reports online are equally irritating. Mudslinging is what Western media and politicians are especially good at. But give us some solidarity between nations, instead of criticizing and making snide remarks at a time like this. As for nincompoop, it is a word invented to describe Mr. Donald Trump. ah so that's an invented word to describe Donald LOL It's totally understood. Indeed it's really frustrating to turn on TV, websites, or even Whatsapp groups or Facebooks. I guess in a time like this, it's better to be calm and meditate instead of feeding ourselves with negative news. Reading your favorite books or watch series is better than reading news.
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Post by kyc on Apr 4, 2020 13:11:28 GMT
ah so that's an invented word to describe Donald LOL It's totally understood. Indeed it's really frustrating to turn on TV, websites, or even Whatsapp groups or Facebooks. I guess in a time like this, it's better to be calm and meditate instead of feeding ourselves with negative news. Reading your favorite books or watch series is better than reading news. There really is this word nincompoop and it predates Trump. I was joking of course... Update us what you are reading after you finish. Libraries are close here in Singapore, but I have enough books at home to last a year.
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Post by Admin on Apr 4, 2020 13:24:26 GMT
Admin siuyiuWas this punishment right to punish those who disobey ? Did you go out to buy food ? galvatron prime : Except for China, I'm basically against lockdown. Luckily that in Indonesia, the president strongly disagree with lockdown. If Indonesia use lockdown, then surely there will be social unrest and chaos. Indeed it's a tough choice, but we have no manpower or money to lockdown a province or the whole country. In China, lockdown was possible, since they have big data - integrated financial data and population data. Therefore, when they did lockdown, some who tried to get away from Wuhan could easily be traced. In China, none could stay in a hotel, take a train or plane without proper identification. Let's say if during the lockdown, one 'walk' or drive or by any means manage to smuggle away from Wuhan, if the person still withdraw money from ATM, or use wechat pay, or alipay, or stay in a hotel, then most likely the person could not get away from breaking the law. Even if the person may escape from prison, but in the next few years that person will be in 'blacklist' or under supervision - in which mean later on when he wants to buy train tickets/hotels, etc. that person may have some difficulties. Therefore, although many are not happy with lockdown, they better obey. Besides, China has so many police and army to help to supervise this lockdown. Therefore, although not perfect, but the chaos and riots could be minimized. Many cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and other 'rich' cities since mid of February had announced some tax reduction and many incentives for the business which heavily impacted. For example, the company I work for has an office in Shanghai, and the Shanghai govt. gave a month free rental and 50% reduction for rental start in March until the situation is more conducive. The government in Wuhan, Hubei and at least in Beijing in Shanghai ( I could only say based on my friend's testimony, I don't read the news by myself) tried so hard to control the price for food. Therefore although in the first few days the food price were skyrocketing, then later on it became stable and normal, since the govt. forced the merchants not to take too much profit in a moment like that. And since the govt. really meant what they said, therefore the people and merchants could do nothing but to obey. But in other countries, lockdown is not easy to be applied - see in Italy where young people ignored the warning and instead went to sky resorts and spread the virus. Or in India, where the people are stubborn and don't see the necessity, while at the same time they're not afraid of punishment. Many people live and got their money for living day by day. And how can they earn money if there's lockdown? They may not get the virus, but they will die of starvation. This is the same case with Indonesia. Many opposition try to force the president to do lockdown, but luckily he knew the social impact might be too costly. Currently local cities will do patrol to cafes, or restaurants where there are many crowds. After several days, then less and less people dare to go to crowded areas. Yet, people still go out to deliver food, to work, etc. Otherwise, they can't eat. What to do then? I really don't know the answer too
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Post by Admin on Apr 4, 2020 13:59:32 GMT
ah so that's an invented word to describe Donald LOL It's totally understood. Indeed it's really frustrating to turn on TV, websites, or even Whatsapp groups or Facebooks. I guess in a time like this, it's better to be calm and meditate instead of feeding ourselves with negative news. Reading your favorite books or watch series is better than reading news. There really is this word nincompoop and it predates Trump. I was joking of course... Update us what you are reading after you finish. Libraries are close here in Singapore, but I have enough books at home to last a year. oops, you got me LOL. I thought that's really an invented word I just finished "Tales of Qin Shihuang" by Foreign Language Press Beijing. Not all from historical records, some are tales and myths about Qin Shihuang. Easy to read and pretty much entertaining compared to Sima Qian's Record of the Grand Historian, or Annals of the Warring States - which are very BORING :S Ongoing reading Xunzi - it's really good although not an easy book. Meanwhile, I recommend this one : ww2.readkingdom.com/manga/kingdom/ this one is 8.7 out of 10. Historical fiction manga about the young Qin Shihuang - in Japanese his name is Ei Sei. It's weird that they use Japanese names for Chinese characters, but it's Japanese manga anyway. the historical events mentioned is around 80% accurate although the timeline is a bit messy. Interesting and entertaining. I try to find relaxing and entertaining books/films since it's already too much stress May this corona pass sooner!!
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Post by siuyiu on Apr 4, 2020 19:17:23 GMT
Admin siuyiu Was this punishment right to punish those who disobey ? Did you go out to buy food ? that is definitely the moral dilemma governments need to tackle and the population need to come to terms with. on the one hand, given the recent (last century) history of violence and violation of human rights, whether during WWI & WWII and other huge turf wars or the genocides in so many countries as a result of dictatorship or the jihadist atrocities perpetrated by a subset of religious fanatics, it is totally understandable that people are wary of being told what to do, to have their freedoms limited, and to be punished for violating martial law. my provincial government has also given rights to the police to fine people disobeying physical distancing rules--plenty still going to the parks (even ripping off the signage and cordoning tape off of playground equipment) and gathering in large crowds for socializing. they said that if this is the only way to make people obey the law, it needs to be done. and i agree with them: in such times of crisis, if people are going to be selfish, they need to understand that there are consequences. let me make clear that the government is not punishing people for going out to buy food or essential supplies such as hand sanitizer, masks, medicines. those and a few others are deemed essential. and so long as people do not gather in big crowds, they are permitted to go outside to do daily exercising. and now we come to the point of why even the most democratic countries are inflicting these limits on personal freedom: in order to prevent further spread of the virus, in order to help the healthcare system provide proper care to those infected while also still caring for those who are sick with other illnesses, the government needs people to cooperate and to obey physical distancing laws because they are an effective method of containing the virus. what everyone seems to forget is that with rights and freedoms comes social responsibility. if you want to be an asshole and only care about your own well-being, then by all means, go buy an island in the middle of the ocean and live there. if you are going to live among other people, then you need to think about the welfare of the entire group. doing your civic duty during a pandemic "for the greater good" is the decent, civilized, humane thing to do. temporarily suspending your personal freedoms (without violating your right to live safely and healthily) is the only choice to make. think of the apocalypic scenarios that tv/movies love to talk about, whether as a result of nuclear fallout or zombie attacks. society collapses, people go back to barely surviving like our ancient ancestors who were hunters and gatherers. there is huge violence due to social unrest. there is no social welfare or safety net. people starve, die from illness, and are just generally scared and miserable. if we overwhelm the healthcare system so that they are unable to manage to provide care anymore to anybody, the same type of apocalypic scenario will result, leading to more people dying of illness. that is what the government is trying to prevent. and that is the reason why we need to stay at home.i agree that the police beating up citizens is wrong. any type of violence in such times is wrong. any type of looting and conning and stealing in such times is wrong. but standing on a soap box and bitching about violation of personal freedom and wilfully disobeying physical distancing laws is also and very wrong. we work together to survive this crisis as a global community, or we may as well go down like the dinosaurs did when the meteor struck. so, think about the consequence to the future of humanity if we allow this pandemic to get worse, when we disobey the law, when incompetent governments like the USA think more about money than the lives of its citizens. think about what we stand to lose, possibly irreversibly. if you are dead or near dying, what good is money? if there is no future for your kids because the society has collapsed, what good is saying that the government is being mean and violating your freedoms? if we fix the problem now, then there is a chance for everyone to pick up and build again. i think about the pregnant women who must eventually give birth in a high risk environment of a hospital. i think of the elderly who can't take care of themselves. i think of the frontline healthcare workers, who are so smart and worked so hard to study to get to their position, and who must risk their lives (some dying from it) to do their duty to care for the sick and the dying. and i get really, really pissed off and offended when people, who have the luxury of staying at home and who can still access all the supplies of daily living, bitching and whining about how life is so f*ing hard.
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Post by Admin on May 19, 2020 13:51:56 GMT
There really is this word nincompoop and it predates Trump. I was joking of course... Update us what you are reading after you finish. Libraries are close here in Singapore, but I have enough books at home to last a year. kyc : I have finished reading Xunzi, Hanfeizi - both are philosophical books. Very good books but pretty much boring. It took a long time for me to be able to comprehend it. But I really have to admire these people. They're indeed great men. Now I understand why Qin Shihuang respected Han Fei so much. Meanwhile, I have finished reading : The Plum in Golden Vase aka Jin Ping Mei / 金瓶梅 And guess what : I found the word NINCOMPOOP in the novel. LOL. Since it's easy reading, I have finished the five-volume book just in less than eight days.
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Post by kyc on May 20, 2020 9:49:17 GMT
Meanwhile, I have finished reading : The Plum in Golden Vase aka Jin Ping Mei / 金瓶梅 And guess what : I found the word NINCOMPOOP in the novel. LOL. Since it's easy reading, I have finished the five-volume book just in less than eight days. So you have been reading Xunzi and Hanfeizi. I am interested in Mozi. How did you read them, in Classical Chinese, or a Chinese or English translation? You must have read David Tod Roy's translation of Jin Ping Mei, right? How did you find the novel? I only have volume one with me and haven't started reading it, but the whole set is really expensive (like US$200) and isn't available in my local library as a complete set. So I'm not sure whether I will continue buying volumes 2-5. Maybe I'll read the original in Chinese, but must surely need footnotes! This novel is notorious for its many sexual scenes, so how did you like it? Five days? You must have read like one volume in two days! That's fast!
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Post by Admin on May 20, 2020 10:38:34 GMT
Meanwhile, I have finished reading : The Plum in Golden Vase aka Jin Ping Mei / 金瓶梅 And guess what : I found the word NINCOMPOOP in the novel. LOL. Since it's easy reading, I have finished the five-volume book just in less than eight days. So you have been reading Xunzi and Hanfeizi. I am interested in Mozi. How did you read them, in Classical Chinese, or a Chinese or English translation? I have the hard copies of Mozi, Xunzi and Hanfeizi in bilingual published by 大中华文库 but those books are in Beijing. They have the original language, the vernacular translation (also in Chinese) and English. Meanwhile while I'm stranded in my hometown, I have to be happy with the Hanfeizi translation from Burton Watson, and for Xunzi it's from Eric L. Hutton. Their translation are pretty decent. I will not be able to understand the book without the annotations, in which the books from 大中华文库 are lack of. Most of the time I had to read, and then used Baidu to get the meaning. But the English translations by Burton Watson and Hutton are really decent. I guess I won't bother to read the original text and vernacular again unless in some parts that I highlighted. [/quote]You must have read David Tod Roy's translation of Jin Ping Mei, right? How did you find the novel? I only have volume one with me and haven't started reading it, but the whole set is really expensive (like US$200) and isn't available in my local library as a complete set. So I'm not sure whether I will continue buying volumes 2-5. Maybe I'll read the original in Chinese, but must surely need footnotes! This novel is notorious for its many sexual scenes, so how did you like it? Five days? You must have read like one volume in two days! That's fast![/quote] Yes, it's by David Tod Roy. I compared the translation with the original Chinese. And seriously, although you can read it, doesn't mean that you can understand it without annotations. What makes the translation better, is that many of the Chinese versions (that you can find online on websites), doesn't have the complete poems. It's the poems that make this novel interesting. Yes, although it has many sexual scenes, but the story is pretty interesting. Actually the book is a reflection of Xunzi's theory that all men are evil in nature. And that's how everyone in the novel had the tendency to be evil in their own respective ways. Wu Song was a righteoss man, but he was somehow brutal and evil when it comes to taking revenge. Once you read the novel, you could see the darkness of each characters in the novel. On the other hand, there are consequences for every evil deed that people make. For example, Pan Jinlian who faced a horrible death under Wu Song. Li Pinger, although it looks that she died because of illness after her son's death, but if we look at it closely, actually she died because of her evil deeds toward her husbands - how she tricked her husband financially, and also her adultery behaviour. Even Chun Mei - received her karma of what she did to other people. Actually in the end of the novel, only Wu Yueniang and Meng Yulou who had 'better' fate. I read it pretty fast as sometimes I just skipped the unimportant things. sometimes there are too many unnecessary descriptions, such as about the dress, etc. I mostly skip that part. And also, although the book seems to be pretty thick, but around 30-40 percents are annotations.
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