Author: 翁老师 Mr Weng

小星星

女儿已经出生十天了。我们给她起的英文名叫Stella，拉丁文“星星”的意思。

出生以来已经做了几次检查，小星星的身体一直很健康。她的手脚很活跃，也很有力。她刚出生不久就会自己侧翻，到第四天就已经会抬头了，颈部十分强壮。

她喜欢大人抱着打屁屁，睡觉时也喜欢用一只手托腮，有时喝奶的时候还会用两只手托住奶瓶。

小星星的眼睛又大又黑又亮，还有双眼皮，漂亮极了。有时候抱起来，她会睁着大眼睛对我笑。

可爱又漂亮的小星星是我们生活的中心。现在我们每天的生活都围绕着她转，就像她的卫星一样。她的一笑一颦，她的手舞足蹈，她的哭闹，她的安眠，都是我们关注的焦点。

我们的愿望就是让小星星快快乐乐地健康成长，永远都是我们的宝贝小星星。

Expecting!

It has been 1.5 years since my last post here. Not that my life has been boring. Within these 1.5 years, we visited Nagoya, Swatou, Copenhagen and Stockholm, where we experienced the most wonderful, snowy winter. And guess what, we are going to become proud parents in another six months!

The little fellow, now at 12 weeks, was seen dancing and swimming when the nurse was scanning. So active — totally unlike the parents. We heard the heartbeats, which were like double the speed of my own.

The foetus is growing well, and looks healthy.

That is a life, small but alive and energetic, so amazingly bestowed upon us, making the world a much better place…

Cheesy words and rosy dreams aside, we both know the challenges ahead. We are not young as new parents, and our health is not at its prime time. We have many hats to wear, none of which pretty. How about the child’s health? Education? And don’t forget to plan our finance.

There are concerns and worries, but we are happy.

We will know the child’s gender in 4 weeks. What will be the child’s name? What are the things that we need to put in the shopping list to prepare for the baby? Should we find a nanny or baby care centre? These are happy questions to ponder.

Our little one shall go into Mother Nature frequently, find happiness and humour in little things, enjoy our love and company, and become a gracious, loving, healthy individual. These are happy wishes to make.

随笔集

少年时颇有成为文学家的理想，因此曾写过许多随笔。崇拜鲁迅，也曾用“鲁再迅”笔名在校报发表过杂文和诗歌。但也仅此而已。后来学业繁重，随笔集束之高阁，没有再碰。进入互联网时代，文学家之梦在文学论坛苟延残喘数载，然后呜呼哀哉，不了了之。

那时候的随笔，大约相当于现在的博客。我刚开始写博客的时候，也是怀着与写随笔时同样的热情来写的。但是随笔和博客毕竟有一个很大的区别。随笔，除非出版，否则读者只要自己或三五好友；博客的读者，除了认识的朋友，也往往有不请自来的过客。写随笔的时候只为自己直抒胸臆，写博客的时候则往往要顾及读者，在中国网站上写博客时还要注意自我审查。用笔写字，基本不受干扰，我手写我心；电脑打字，屏幕上的各种信息，文本编辑器的各种功能，甚至中文输入法的选字栏，无一不是干扰的来源。因此，写博客的时候，往往没有写随笔的畅快感。

多年前，母亲初学电脑，用我的随笔集做打字练习。不知不觉，也输入了五十五则。二十余年前的文字，如今读来，未免幼稚可笑。然而毕竟是曾经的心血，也便不免敝帚自珍，所以也就存在电脑里，偶尔拿出来自恋一番。自然，我是不敢复制粘贴到这里贻笑大方的。

A Nation of Noise

There are many countries qualified to this title. Singapore, unthinkable 20 years ago, is now one of them. Compared to two decades ago, the noise now is not only louder but also more prevalent.

Who contribute to the noise? The people. The people everywhere. Who are these people? They are locals and foreigners, old and young, male and female, highly educated and illiterate, happy and sad, intentional and oblivious. We, the citizens of the Noisy Country, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion… People nowadays seem to be constantly broadcasting themselves, in fear of not being heard by the whole world.

There is hardly any place in Singapore where you would not find unbearable noise surrounding you. On the bus, in a shopping mall, along a street, in a park, by the beach, in a food court, even in a library — there would always be people talking and laughing so loudly that you might just want to shut them up forcefully.

Whenever I hear a sudden laughter or some simultaneous human talking voices in an inappropriate situation, I cannot help thinking of Japan, England and Switzerland, where the people know when to be loud and when not to. Talking is a human right. Being free from noise is a human right too. There should be places where you can talk and laugh to your heart’s content, while you do not need to do so elsewhere so that other people, people who do not like loud conversations or merriment, can live their life peacefully.

This entry was started in a noisy food court and finished on a noisy bus.