Basic Courtesy

The following story is to illustrate the discussion:

Once, there were four good friends Andrew, James, Jesse and Yvonne.
One night, they went out for supper at Restoran Persanjung.
James drove there while the other three so happen
to be somewhere nearby so they walked to Persanjung.

Late night, after supper, everyone had a great time chit-chatting and fellowship.
Since they were really good friends and James was the only that drove to Persanjung,
James volunteer to drive everyone back home.
Andrew sat in front while Jesse and Yvonne sat behind.
Andrew’s house is the nearest.
Soon, they reached Andrew’s house and Andrew got down.

Ok, let us recall, Andrew is sitting at the front seat,
just beside the driver.
Jesse and Yvonne are sitting at the back seat.
Ok, let’s continue on with the story…

Almost immediately after Andrew got down,
Yvonne will get down and sit in front.

Ok, let us imagine,
Yvonne, who was sitting behind,
got down the car,
walk to the front,
and once again sit down,
now at the front seat.

Have you encounter such situations before?
What is your answer if I were to ask you why Yvonne (or you) did that?
.
.
.
.
.
.

If anyone was to ask Yvonne why did she get down the car and sat in front,
she’ll answer,"because it’s basic courtesy mar~ 礼貌嘛~"
or "because it’s not too good to make James looks like as if he’s the driver (or ahmat)"

Let’s deal with the first answer "because it’s basic courtesy mar~ 礼貌嘛~"
I’m not satisfied with the answer and
I understand that the whole concept of basic courtesy (礼貌) is very much Confucian（儒家思想）.   
"because it’s basic courtesy mar~ 礼貌嘛~" essentially means "this is essentially social norm mar"

I’m not at all against the action itself, or even Confucian principles,
what I’m concern is the real purpose, the inner intention of the person doing it.
and the over usage of "because it’s basic courtesy" to explain a lot of social norm actions.

Back to the "sitting in front" incident,
what are the intentions of a person wanting to get down the car from the back seat just to sit in front?
Is he/she just adhering to what other people are doing, thus he/she does the same thing,
or did he/she really thought about it, knowing why he/she does it and thus take action?

now let’s deal with the second answer.
"because it’s not too good to make James looks like as if he’s the driver (or ahmat) mar"

I believe this answer started off long time ago, where usually drivers are "ahmats".
Of course, it is also based on the fact that car owners usually sit at the back seat.

I understand totally the Yvonne’s intention in not wanting to make James feel like as if he’s the driver (ahmat).
But the reality is,
JAMES is the DRIVER~!!
He’s driving Jesse and her back to their house~!!!!
He is the driver~!
JAMES is really the DRIVER~!!!

If James is to get angry just because Yvonne or Jesse didn’t sat in front after Andrew got down,
then James should really check his own intention in volunteering himself to drive all his friends home.
The reality is that James is really driving and driving people back to their house should be an act of service,
and it’s not something to be despise of.
It is a paradigm shift, why should a person’s feeling be affected by the social norm?
So what if a person is not doing what it is deem acceptable as basic courtesy, as social norm,
does it mean that the person is being rude or being disrespectful?

Finally, it all lies in a person’s intention.
Whether you do it because it’s a social norm, it’s basic courtesy, or because you don’t want to let your friend feel like as if he/she’s an ahmat, one should really think about it instead of following social norm blindly.

Purpose. Intention.

These are some question to ponder….

• Is doing what social deem as normal the way to learn "respect" or "consideration"?
• How do you cultivate the sense of "consideration" in a person?
• The inner intention, the purpose of doing it, what drives a person to do something?
• Are people who does courteous acts trying to please other people and trying to gain acceptance?

I want to hear your opinion, please leave your comments.

Disclaimer: All character names are fictional, created to illustrate what i’m trying to put across. Besides, I’m not despising any of the basic courtesy actions, in fact, these courteous acts are good acts, I’ll encourage it. But what I’m trying to emphasize is to have the intention set right instead of doing just because it’s a courteous act or social norm.

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The “meaning”

thanks to ce and yx,
their time spent was not wasted.
I have a clearer picture of what I want now,
finding meaning in everything we do,
it comes from the belief that everything has a meaning.

both of them found that i always sway from whatever that i’m trying to discuss.
I think I have this tendency to try to find the core when there is a problem,
the meaning,
the purpose.

That’s why discussions are left hanging,
it might seem as if it is out of topic, going no where,
but I have this feeling that somehow it is related.
I think the feeling that I have is the tendency where I want to delve into the core of the problem,
or I want to clarify the purpose.
I want a TOTAL Solution, instead of a conditional answer.

I would say the discussion is a real discussion where I just want to find a WIN-WIN solution,
I don’t like WIN-LOSE solution or LOSE-LOSE solutions.

Anyway, our topic initially was about the archive system,
Why would I want a archive system?
because from what I see right now, digital asset (photos and videos) are getting more and more now.
It has already become a burden to manage digital assets,
furthermore i’m dealing with RAW videos.

Is it really worthwhile to keep all the RAW clips and RAW pictures?
or is it better to keep just those which are selected and edited.

The question is
"If I am the one in charge of the video coverage of an event,
will my intention be to capture the videos just for the end-result, a video presentation?
Or do I capture the memories by using video presentation as a tool?
Or do I accept the project because I want to hone my skills?"

Choosing any intention of the above might not affect the video presentation.
But I think it’s the learning process that matters, or rather the principle of doing things.

As for me, I am definitely 2 and 3,
I am all into capturing memories,
as for capturing the memories of other people,
to me, it’s a sort of blessing.
But I agree with ce that there must be a balance,
a balance between how much time behind the scenes and how much time leading the scenes.

Of course, accepting video production projects itself is a great motivation to learn new things,
to make the video presentation great.
It’s a great opportunity~!

How important is a video archive?
Does it have the same importance as "books" to Alexandria?
With what I know now, the great library people deem books are important
and strive to keep at least one copy of a book that they could get their hands on.
It is rumoured that The great library has every single book on earth at that time.

Does it have the same importance as "books" to modern day library?
It contain knowledge, therefore, it should be kept.

Nearer to video archive, photo archive, in the form of photo albums?
What use does it really have?
It helps us contain memories.
Photos are snapshots of our lives,
what we’ve done,
where we’ve been,
who we’re with,
how do we look like.

How about video archives?
it can do everything that a photo archive can do.
In addition, it gives a motion account of what happened,
who we are with,
how do we look like (appearance),
where we’ve been (the overview),
how we react,
how do we talk.
what we’ve done,
what are our comments (in person) toward what has happened.
Basically it gives a better history account of an event.
It helps future generation in understanding certain traditions and thus
will not repeat similar mistakes.
The importance of studying history.

Once again, the idea of "pensieve" (refer to Harry Potter) is still the BEST idea so far.
Dumberdore keeps selected memories in a basin,
it was pulled out of the brain.
To review the "pensieve", one will be drawn into the pensieve and
will appear in the exact event the "pensieve" is about.
The reviewer will be like a spectator, watching everything from a third person perspective.
no one else in that event can see the reviewer.
in a nutshell, a "Pensieve" gives a complete account of whatever that has happened.
COMPLETE, FAIR, OBJECTIVE…. good history material.

Anyway, as for now, coming back to reality,
the idea of a "Pensieve" is still quite far away,
nothing similar exist currently.
Anybody knows anything similar out there?

Back to the topic of having accepting the request of a video production.
Honestly, nobody will know that you have not put in effort in creating the video presentation.
One can just videograph 5 minutes a day of the event.
If it is a 4 days event, 20 minutes footage.
The concept is that since the final video presentation will be at most a 8minutes clip,
20 minutes worth of footage will be enough for a video presentation.

But is this really an account of what has happened really during the 4 days?
It is not a honest production, that’s what I can say.

ok, let’s say if I really videograph every single micro-event in the event,
I manage to skim through every single clips and chose the best clips for the video presentation.
Well it turned out good, great, the audience responds & react.
What’s next?
Throw away all the RAW video clips?
Keep them all?
Keep some? What are the filter criteria?
Is it worth the time to process the RAW clips?

to be continued….

Principle of Continua - Time & Space

Time Travelling always never fails to fascinates me.
That explains special interest in movies like

• Back to the future series,
• The Butterfly Effect 1 & 2,
• BU NENG SHUO DE MI MI (Secret - Jay Chou),
• Hiro Nakamura in Heroes.
• A Sound of Thunder - evolution & Time traveling
• NEXT - 2mins into the future, great show, but cheesy ending.
• The One - Jet Li. it explores the possibilities of Parallel Universe. The action part is a bit too much though. :p

I hope I can understand more about Time and Space, research?
Maybe?

This post was sparked off straight after I finish watching SECRET.

Great Show indeed~ Jay Chou is really talented~
I was drawn into the movie, flowing with the plot!
5-star movie~! Solid Storyline, enough special effects (to illustrate the plot)
Must watch~!
The piano part is amazing too~
I bet a lot of teens will have more interest in practicing piano after watching this movie. ^^