十几年前读余秋雨的《千年一叹》一书时,有一句话,印象特深,大概是这样的意思,站在国外,回头看中华文明才更深地理解了中华文明。确实是这么一回事,有对比,才能有发现嘛。 初到北欧,这是一个我完全陌生的世界。如今,八年过去,从最初的不适应,到现在已经毫无违和感。这里是我除故乡以外生活得最久的地方,也是我儿子出生的地方。这里有太多的第一次和回忆,即使将来回国,这里的生活经历也将是我的一笔人生财富。北欧人做事情的习惯和方式和中国人有很多不同的地方,这种感触在刚来的时候特别明显。其中一个,我觉得就是,对于北欧人, YES 和 NO 是绝对的概念 —— YES, 就是 YES, NO 就是 NO; YES 和 NO 在中国人这里,似乎是相对的概念,可以摆动的,可以调整的,可以商量的,可以讨价还价的。 如果像课堂提问一般地问北京那位被虎袭击的女士,野生动物园里可以中途下车吗?她肯定回答 NO 。但是,反映到行动上,她就像被一股神秘的力量牵引一样,做出了冒险下车的举动。同样,这次浙江艾滋事故,那位技术员肯定也是知道“一人一管一抛弃”操作规程的。要不然,他也没法走上岗位。但“知道”和“照做”的距离在我看来就是发展中国家和发达国家的距离。当然,这件事涉及可能不止这位技术员,主管领导可能也难逃干系。总之,这位技术员或者还有主管就像是受到了神的指示了一样,大脑中做出了重复使用吸管的决定——即使他们很清楚这样做,可能危及患者的生命。 中国人一个典型的思维方式是中庸。从小到大,家长老师们就是这样一遍又一遍的告诉我们 : 年轻人,遇事不要出头 ; 做人不要太极端等等。但大家心里其实清楚,中庸之道,有好坏两说——毕竟中庸之道被认为是中国近代落后的原因之一,已经被批判过无数次。另一个典型的中国特色的思维却让国人颇为得意——即“灵活”。其实,灵活在现代社会很多时候是非常负面的。现代社会,人与人的联系非常紧密。个人“灵活”的行为往往会直接影响到他人,给他人造成不便,甚至是危险。大家经常讲中国人经常爱闯红灯的毛病。北欧人在两头没车又是红灯的情况下,也不至于每个人都会傻等。这几年里,我见过几次。但眼下中国,闯红灯就太多了,大叔大妈们车流中就敢闯!愚以为,对于闯红灯,中国人不是不知道说 NO ,但是大脑潜意识里有一个这样概念,就是 NO 是可以模糊的,可以往左往右网上往下调一调的,即灵活待之。于是乎,就闯了。 YES or NO 的准确执行看似简单,小孩都能做到。的确,小孩容易做到,但大人因为思维和习惯都已经养成反而难做到。有意思的是,在国家层面上,属于老油条的古文明国家,比如中国,印度就做得不好。罗马帝国的继承者,意大利,也是历史长河里的老油条了,也是做得不好。相应的,意大利在发达国家里边的排得比较靠后。另一方面,新生代的国家,比如北欧诸国和德国,这些没有灿烂古代文明的“蛮族”国家,却率先步入了发达文明有序的现代国家之列。 新中国经过几十年的发展,终于摸到发达国家的边了,但环境,食品安全,医疗安全等各种问题也日益突出。在面对这些问题时,该 NO 的时候坚决 NO ,不用灵活,不耍小聪明,不找借口,困难是否能迎刃而解呢——
艾滋研究领域痛失同行。 108位艾滋研究人员及家属, 包括国际艾滋学会前主席Joep Lange和夫人, 都在遭击落的MH17上, 他们原本是去参加本周日在墨尔本召开的国际艾滋会议的。 心痛。恐怖主义必遭天谴! 会议通告: The International AIDS Society today expresses its sincere sadness at receiving news that a number of colleagues and friends en route to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference taking place in Melbourne, Australia, were on board the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that has crashed over Ukraine earlier today. At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/crash-claims-top-aids-researchers-heading-to-melbourne-20140718-zuaw3.html#ixzz37pRxhvAS http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/aids-researcher-joep-lange-confirmed-among-dead-in-malaysia-jet-shoot-down/2014/07/17/4869c6a2-0e2d-11e4-8c9a-923ecc0c7d23_story.html
昨天在NPR 上听到记者对他的采访。刚才在一些中文网站查到他的名字是万延海, 有人指控他侵犯隐私 。不知官方报道如何。 下面是NPR广播的原稿。 http://whyy.org/cms/news/health-science/2010/05/13/chinese-aids-activist-is-living-in-west-philadelphia/38035 Chinese AIDS activist is living in West Philadelphia Thursday, May 13th, 2010 By: Susan Phillips sphillips@whyy.org A prominent Chinese AIDS activist is now living in West Philadelphia, after fleeing his homeland with his wife and young child. Human rights activists say China is in the midst of a crackdown on non-governmental organizations. Wan Yanhai began his public health career working on AIDS prevention for the government. He created the first AIDS hotline for gay people in Beijing, but lost his job. Then he founded an NGO that advocated for people with AIDS, including sex workers, gays and ethnic minorities. Wan says the authorities were not happy. We have no political intention to harm Chinese government so I don't know why we need to be afraid of them. But unfortunately they are afraid of us. The government arrested him in 2002, but international pressure led to his release. Lately, he says he's been getting more harrassing government calls. Wan says surveillance was stepped-up before the 2008 Beijing Olympics and now security officials now have to justify their jobs. Before Olympics Chinese government built up security capacties, Wan said. So, after the Olympics how to utilize the security capacity they already built up to control everything forever. Wan is staying at the home of local AIDS activist Katie Kraus, who works with the Aids Policy Project. He's had years of that kind of pressure, Kraus said. And he's really done so much. His organization has spawned so many different NGO'S and I think that's why he's ended up here in Philadelphia, is that he's not just a person with one small organization, he's helped many organizations get established to grow and spin off. Kraus says Wan helped uncover an AIDS epidemic in Hunan province caused by tainted blood donations. Wan hopes to stay in the U.S. and teach at a university. He says after just a few days in this country his four-year-old daughter is adjusting. She started to speak English yesterday, she said, Good Morning Daddy! VN:F