I’m often asked, “Why did you come to China?” I reply, “I’m from a society where the noise of hate and violence dictates a way of life. Where else can such noise be silenced?” On the face of this sentiment, the feelings of admiration consume the listeners. But to me, it’s an affliction which carries an underlying meaning. I’ve chosen to imprison myself in a society which silence my native tongue, and my ears bear the deafness of an outsider.
I’ve managed to escape from a society where the spurts of idol rhetoric, conjectures, false acquisitions and misplaced loyalty are all dangerous and more potent than any disease known to man. In this society, I’ve found silence with an undertone of peace and an unimaginable outlook on the world; to see in a different light. Then I’m asked, “Why you don’t want to learn Chinese?” and I reply, “To learn Chinese would expose me to your society’s perils, I’ll be subjected to your social ills and inevitably cause to choose sides.
I would no longer be an observer, but an addition to the plights which grease the wheels of socialism in your country. I would have exposed myself to the same perils which I’ve abandoned in my resident country. To go against the social norms of any society will bring a barrage of labels; heretic, traitor, a man without a country and the list goes on. But it’s best to stand for something in life rather than naught. The underlying meaning, I spoke of is this: “I lived in a society where a man becomes a product of his environment, and sometimes must seek out qualities which are limited in his own.”
I’ve managed to escape from a society where the spurts of idol rhetoric, conjectures, false acquisitions and misplaced loyalty are all dangerous and more potent than any disease known to man. In this society, I’ve found silence with an undertone of peace and an unimaginable outlook on the world; to see in a different light. Then I’m asked, “Why you don’t want to learn Chinese?” and I reply, “To learn Chinese would expose me to your society’s perils, I’ll be subjected to your social ills and inevitably cause to choose sides.
I would no longer be an observer, but an addition to the plights which grease the wheels of socialism in your country. I would have exposed myself to the same perils which I’ve abandoned in my resident country. To go against the social norms of any society will bring a barrage of labels; heretic, traitor, a man without a country and the list goes on. But it’s best to stand for something in life rather than naught. The underlying meaning, I spoke of is this: “I lived in a society where a man becomes a product of his environment, and sometimes must seek out qualities which are limited in his own.”