The murky water of the Nantah Lake makes me wildly hope to see a barge floating down, as in Tennyson's Morte d'Arthur, carrying three black-draped queens coming to carry off King Arthur.
More concrete are the old-fashioned stone benches studding one side of the lakelet, inlaid with pretty tiled flowers. Although its brackish waters suggest it's now yesterday's flavour of the month, the lakelet had its heyday during Nantah days when it symbolised for many the heart of the university then.
How many bottoms must these stone benches have rested then, yet now they're just a memory of another golden era from other days, other times.
These sturdy stone benches hopefully will never go or change. There are other things, though, that also sadly won't.
I'm fretting about seemingly immovable and unchangeable stone bench values like apathy, passivity, indifference.
Yet, if these exist, perhaps they do, because we too have been as stone benches, as immobile and passive about changing them. But aren't we, as educators, the springboards of change - at least to inspire if not instil the values that will bring about change？
Education, after all, is not lecturers dancing away like Salome to deliver knowledge on a platter while students wait passively like Herod to receive.
In ethics, there is a poser about the difference between killing and letting die. If we complacently accept something, do nothing about it, is it as good as condoning it？
Stone bench values also dash our hopes and dreams about lifelong learning down the lake, I mean, drain.
Lifelong learning is a philosophy of life, fired by curiosity and passion. Passivity places persons in an intellectual coma and is anathema to passion for learning and life.
But I want to end optimistically, so yes, passion and passivity can come together - the day Arthur's barge floats down Nantah Lake.
（The writer is assistant professor at NTU's School of Computer Engineering. This article first appeared in the NTU Staff Digest.）
從長(zhǎng)石椅聯(lián)想到終生學(xué)習(xí)
阿琳。巴斯蒂森
南大湖陰暗的水讓我有一種希望看到一條船在湖上漂流的沖動(dòng)——就像英國(guó)詩(shī)人丁尼生在《亞瑟王之死》所描述的情景：三個(gè)穿著黑衣的王后坐著船前來(lái)迎載亞瑟王。
湖的一邊排列著許多舊式的長(zhǎng)石椅,還有用磚塊圍起來(lái)的漂亮花朵。不再清澈的湖水告訴你南大湖已經(jīng)不再風(fēng)光,但它在南大時(shí)代卻曾經(jīng)有過(guò)一段黃金時(shí)期。對(duì)許多人來(lái)說(shuō),它象征著南大的心臟地帶。
不知道有多少人曾在這些長(zhǎng)石椅上歇腳,現(xiàn)在它們卻只能讓人們緬懷以前的那段光輝歲月。
希望這些堅(jiān)硬的長(zhǎng)石椅永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)消失或改變。遺憾的是,有些應(yīng)該改變的東西,卻像這些長(zhǎng)石椅一樣牢不可動(dòng)。
令我感到煩躁的是一些似乎不能被改變的觀念,例如,對(duì)周遭事物冷淡、被動(dòng)和漠不關(guān)心。
但是,這些觀念的存在,不也正是因?yàn)槲覀円蚕衲切╅L(zhǎng)石椅一樣動(dòng)也不動(dòng),不曾嘗試改變它們？身為教育工作者和促進(jìn)改變的推動(dòng)力,如果我們不能把求變的觀念灌輸給學(xué)生,至少也得發(fā)揮一點(diǎn)啟發(fā)的作用。
講師們不能像《圣經(jīng)》故事里跳著舞的薩洛米,把知識(shí)拱手傳授給像希律一樣,只是被動(dòng)的坐在那里等的學(xué)生。
在道德觀點(diǎn)上,有這樣的一個(gè)問題：殺害一個(gè)人和坐視不理讓一個(gè)人死去有什么分別？如果我們毫不質(zhì)疑的接受一些錯(cuò)誤的看法,豈不等于縱容和助長(zhǎng)這些觀點(diǎn)？
“長(zhǎng)石椅式的價(jià)值觀”也會(huì)讓我們實(shí)現(xiàn)終生學(xué)習(xí)的希望和夢(mèng)想成為泡影。終生學(xué)習(xí)是一種由好奇心和熱情激發(fā)的生活哲學(xué)。被動(dòng)的態(tài)度則會(huì)使人陷入思維呆滯的狀況,遑論對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)和生活的熱情。
我希望以一種樂觀的心情結(jié)束這篇短文。熱情和被動(dòng)是“可以”共處的—在亞瑟王泛舟南大湖的那天。
。作者是南洋理工大學(xué)電腦工程學(xué)院的助理教授。英文原刊在《南大職員文摘》。葉琦保譯
More concrete are the old-fashioned stone benches studding one side of the lakelet, inlaid with pretty tiled flowers. Although its brackish waters suggest it's now yesterday's flavour of the month, the lakelet had its heyday during Nantah days when it symbolised for many the heart of the university then.
How many bottoms must these stone benches have rested then, yet now they're just a memory of another golden era from other days, other times.
These sturdy stone benches hopefully will never go or change. There are other things, though, that also sadly won't.
I'm fretting about seemingly immovable and unchangeable stone bench values like apathy, passivity, indifference.
Yet, if these exist, perhaps they do, because we too have been as stone benches, as immobile and passive about changing them. But aren't we, as educators, the springboards of change - at least to inspire if not instil the values that will bring about change？
Education, after all, is not lecturers dancing away like Salome to deliver knowledge on a platter while students wait passively like Herod to receive.
In ethics, there is a poser about the difference between killing and letting die. If we complacently accept something, do nothing about it, is it as good as condoning it？
Stone bench values also dash our hopes and dreams about lifelong learning down the lake, I mean, drain.
Lifelong learning is a philosophy of life, fired by curiosity and passion. Passivity places persons in an intellectual coma and is anathema to passion for learning and life.
But I want to end optimistically, so yes, passion and passivity can come together - the day Arthur's barge floats down Nantah Lake.
（The writer is assistant professor at NTU's School of Computer Engineering. This article first appeared in the NTU Staff Digest.）
從長(zhǎng)石椅聯(lián)想到終生學(xué)習(xí)
阿琳。巴斯蒂森
南大湖陰暗的水讓我有一種希望看到一條船在湖上漂流的沖動(dòng)——就像英國(guó)詩(shī)人丁尼生在《亞瑟王之死》所描述的情景：三個(gè)穿著黑衣的王后坐著船前來(lái)迎載亞瑟王。
湖的一邊排列著許多舊式的長(zhǎng)石椅,還有用磚塊圍起來(lái)的漂亮花朵。不再清澈的湖水告訴你南大湖已經(jīng)不再風(fēng)光,但它在南大時(shí)代卻曾經(jīng)有過(guò)一段黃金時(shí)期。對(duì)許多人來(lái)說(shuō),它象征著南大的心臟地帶。
不知道有多少人曾在這些長(zhǎng)石椅上歇腳,現(xiàn)在它們卻只能讓人們緬懷以前的那段光輝歲月。
希望這些堅(jiān)硬的長(zhǎng)石椅永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)消失或改變。遺憾的是,有些應(yīng)該改變的東西,卻像這些長(zhǎng)石椅一樣牢不可動(dòng)。
令我感到煩躁的是一些似乎不能被改變的觀念,例如,對(duì)周遭事物冷淡、被動(dòng)和漠不關(guān)心。
但是,這些觀念的存在,不也正是因?yàn)槲覀円蚕衲切╅L(zhǎng)石椅一樣動(dòng)也不動(dòng),不曾嘗試改變它們？身為教育工作者和促進(jìn)改變的推動(dòng)力,如果我們不能把求變的觀念灌輸給學(xué)生,至少也得發(fā)揮一點(diǎn)啟發(fā)的作用。
講師們不能像《圣經(jīng)》故事里跳著舞的薩洛米,把知識(shí)拱手傳授給像希律一樣,只是被動(dòng)的坐在那里等的學(xué)生。
在道德觀點(diǎn)上,有這樣的一個(gè)問題：殺害一個(gè)人和坐視不理讓一個(gè)人死去有什么分別？如果我們毫不質(zhì)疑的接受一些錯(cuò)誤的看法,豈不等于縱容和助長(zhǎng)這些觀點(diǎn)？
“長(zhǎng)石椅式的價(jià)值觀”也會(huì)讓我們實(shí)現(xiàn)終生學(xué)習(xí)的希望和夢(mèng)想成為泡影。終生學(xué)習(xí)是一種由好奇心和熱情激發(fā)的生活哲學(xué)。被動(dòng)的態(tài)度則會(huì)使人陷入思維呆滯的狀況,遑論對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)和生活的熱情。
我希望以一種樂觀的心情結(jié)束這篇短文。熱情和被動(dòng)是“可以”共處的—在亞瑟王泛舟南大湖的那天。
。作者是南洋理工大學(xué)電腦工程學(xué)院的助理教授。英文原刊在《南大職員文摘》。葉琦保譯