關於萬人考大學活動

目前學生程度差是事實。學生程度不佳是整體教育制度不健全的結果，並對〝大學〞產生一定程度的傷害，但高等教育品質低落並不完全是學生的錯。辦學績效差、 研究素質差，這不是單以學生素質差做藉口就可以說得過去的。辦學及研究是大學內部人士的表現，這與學生表現並無太深入的關連性，反而是與主事者、師資、論 文發表、及研究成果密切相關。所以現在劣質大學以學生表現作藉口，企圖掩飾本身能力不足，實在是丟臉。

我舉雙手贊成萬人考大學活動這個部落格提出的大學改革觀點，因為目前高等教育的整體品質，簡直是到了可笑的地步了。不過再去考一次大學是沒什麼意義的，這對大學退場機制也沒有幫助。就算把爛校爛系都填滿，讓他們招不了生，他們仍能藉由推廣教育中心、學分班、或碩士班苟活下去。爛大學還是會存在著，難道要一直考下去嗎？最好的方式其實還是以大學評鑑做基準，配合教育部的行政權，直接對狀況不佳的校系減招、停招，之後推動大學合併進而將爛學校淘汰掉。不過要現在這樣一個政府去作對的事，我看是比登天還難的。

現在的政府那麼喜歡公投，那何不去搞個【劣質大學退場公投】呢？最好在綁上總統大選，不就一次將所有問題都給解決了嗎？

品德教育的重要性與「身教」的影響性

當教育部官員口出不堪言語時，相信大多數的台灣民眾，不僅是心中充滿著訝異，更是憂心如此現象將對下一代產生多大的影響。教育部的官員是教育的守護人；他們的責任在於推動更優良的教育體制，在於培養新一代成為具備良好知識與健全心態的國民。這些官員們皆是受過高等教育的專業人員，他們早應具備對全國大眾負責的基本觀念。除此之外，由於擔負著如此重責大任，他們必須更小心自身的行為言語。因為他們說的每一句話，做的每一件事，皆會被全民以高標準檢視。然而最近教育界出現的現象，實在令人懷疑這些人是否勝任教育監督者的角色。這不禁令人擔憂，是否台灣的整體教育水準向下沈淪，走向以仇恨、以負面性思考為出發的劣質教育。

「身教大於言教」，以身作則應是從事教育者皆應謹記的道理。若是從事教育者本身的行為言語出現偏差，想當然的被教育者的言行舉止定會受影響。現在的新一代，不論是言語上或行為上常出現偏差性行為。先不論這些行為是否是模仿自媒體上的報導，但媒體的報導絕對會影響兒童及青少年的行為舉止。當然的，媒體具有對事件誠實報導的責任，而一般大眾也絕對有知的權力。問題的癥結點在於，被報導的對象是擔負教育責任的政府官員。他們負面性的言語及行為，不啻是對從事教育工作者的侮辱，更是點名教育事業嚴重失敗。

現在常聽見學生們，用電視上聽來的字眼開玩笑。這些字眼很明顯的已經影響了新一代，也變成了玩笑用語。事實上，難聽的字眼並不是第一次被使用。他們變得如此流行的原因，主要還是在於媒體的強力報導及說話者的專業身分，這強化了這些負面性言語的影響力。就算學校教師用更多的方式來導正學生，效果仍有限。因為兒童及青少年的邏輯思考仍在養成階段，容易受強烈性言語的影響。一但接收到強烈性言語，便會試圖模仿並使用。除此之外，新一波教改後，我們發現新一代的學生極度缺乏判斷是非的能力。以往的倫理道德教育（如國文課程、公民與道德等）大量削減，卻不見強化思考邏輯的訓練，取而代之的是打著強化在地認同，但卻是教導族群分裂與仇視的負面性教材。這些無意義的教學，無形中剝奪了受教著知與學習的權力，更可怕的在於訓練出來的，是一批無自我意識及判斷力的新一代。在這種情況下，所有負面性影響深入於學生的生活中，偏差性行為也隨之產生。這種教育模式，不就像當年中國紅衛兵的養成嗎？

現在的政權早已徹底摧毀台灣的教育，這一代的受教者早已成為政權擁有者的失敗實驗品。八年的時間，教出了對自我傳統文化毫無認同感、無自我意識、無批判性邏輯，並只會運用負面性思惟的學生。相信目前的教育工作者，對教育事業必定感到一種莫名的無力感。然而教育為萬年事業，沒有教育就沒有國家發展。我們只能期望未來新政權能及時挽救當下危機，期望他們能運用兼具能力與品德的教育官員。唯有在上位者能以身作則，台灣教育才有希望，才能真正培養出優秀的下ㄧ代。

Pilgrimage: Ma-Tzu（媽祖）& FIve Heaven's Delegate（五府千歲）

On Sunday, Feb. 17th, I had my first religious pilgrimage. It was fun, and I was so amazed at what I saw. Being a Chinese living in Taiwan for all my life, I thought I know my own culture. But after joining this pilgrimage, I realize that what I thought I know is only a small part of this great culture. The pilgrimage is not just a journey we make to visit the temple. It is in fact an expression of our sincere devotion to the Gods and our ambition to maintain cultural traditions, which is truly a visual presentation of our spiritual beliefs. Isn't this spiritual belief an inevitable element that constructs our culture? In other words, my experience is indeed an experience of the Traditional Taiwanese culture, and it guides me to have a deeper understanding of our traditional culture.

This pilgrimage is held by a temple in Ku-Shan, Kaohsiung（鼓山清雲寺）. They hold this pilgrimage every year during the Chinese Lunar New Year. The main destinations are Chao Tien Temple in Peikang（北港朝天宮） and Tai Tian Temple of Nan Kwun Shen in Beimen （北門南鯤鯓代天府）. On the return leg they also visit a small temple close to Nan Kwun Shen named Bao Ang Temple（蚵寮保安宮）.

The journey is to take the Gods back to the temple where they are from. It is also the chance for all supporters of the temple to visit other temples and to gain good luck and good fortune. Gaining good fortunes through worshiping and visiting temples is a historical cultural tradition which derives from agricultural society long ago. However, I found that we can interpret the meaning of this journey differently. It is a trip, a trip equipped with good reasons. It would be difficult for people to go traveling in the old days due to the lack of transportation means and the hardship of living. A pilgrimage hence becomes the chance for people to release themselves shortly from difficult realities. What is interesting here is this idea is not exclusive to the old days only. What I saw on the day of our pilgrimage still shows certain levels of this idea. After praying to the Gods, almost everyone rushed to the store to buy souvenirs. Instead of considering the pilgrimage as a sacred mission, the vibe of the participants is more relaxing and entertaining.

Chao Tien Temple is always busy like this during this period of time every year, and it will last until the end of March. This temple, built in the late 17th century, is dedicated to Ma-Tzu, the Goddess of the sea, the empress of the heaven. In Taiwan, many temples for Ma-Tzu originated from this one, so all these temples have to come back here every year. Visiting their source is the root of this kind of pilgrimage. And this activity brings tons of people into this small village.
The temple is currently under refurbishment. In oder to maintain the complete look of the temple, they put a huge photo in front of it. Since this is my first time there, I was quite sad that I could not see the building. But at least the picture gives me the idea what the temple looks like. I shall visit that place again when the construction work is complete.
People are all trying to get into the main shrine. The temple is quite small, and it is interesting to see all these people (including me) trying to get into there.
When a God arrives, they will first play the drum and then the bell to welcome the God. Then the God will be removed from his/her palanquin to the table in the main shrine. The Gods stayed there for 15 minutes. I am not sure if the timing is sufficient for these Gods to chat! The interesting thing is whenever a God arrives or leaves, they always announce through the speaker where the God is from and what the God will do now.
A mix of people and different Gods.
The main shrine in Chao Tien Temple. There are in total 7 Ma-Tzu statues inside the casket.
The backyard of the temple. I love the shape of incense burners in this temple.
When we were on our way back to the buses, there are more people coming into the village. This is going to last until the end of March.

The palanquins from our group. The first one is for wooden plates, which are used to indicate the presence of the heavenly troops whose function is to work for the Gods, and the second one is for Gods.

After Chao Tien Temple, we headed to a small one named Bao Ang Temple. They went there because after a year's service, the heavenly troop has to change. So they have to visit this temple to receive another troop from the Five Heaven's Delegate.
When we got there, the leader of the group started to communicate with the Gods. This is a highly formal ritual. The leader started to move in a rhythm like dance and used all different kinds of weapons to show the divine power of the Gods. The palanquin for wooden plates would run towards the leader whenever the leader said something or set small firecrackers. After this, the palanquin ran to the table and started hitting the table. This is like coding. Then another man appeared to explain what the palanquin indicated through this action. We didn't get to see this part when we were in the previous temple, and I believe they did not practice this there, either. There were too many people, and I guess it is not allowed there. Ma-tzu has a higher status and probably it is not considered as respectful and appropriate to show any violent scenes in front of her.

Then when everything is done, all the men removed the Gods and placed them inside the temple again. For this, the process is exactly the same as when they were in the previous temple.

After a 15 minutes stay, we left that temple and went to the last one, Tai Tien Temple of Nan Kwun Shen. This temple is special for the Five Heaven's Delegate. According to the legend, they were all worriers who had great contributions to the country (or the local area). Due to their great work and good intention to the welfare of people, the Emperor of the Heaven（玉皇大帝）granted them the power and status to be the representative of himself in our world. Therefore, these Gods are also widely worshiped in Taiwan.

Nan Kwun Shen is also built in the late 17th century, and it is like the headquarters of all temples for Heaven's Delegate. It is huge and the decoration in the temple is such a precious artwork. Unfortunately, the temple is also under renovation now, and they are in the process of building another temple dedicated to the Emperor of the Heaven at the back of its main building.

There's an interesting legend about this temple. At first, there was a lower status child god occupying this land. When the five delegates traveled to this area, they though that this place is perfect for their temple. But the child God didn't want to give the land to them, so they started a 3 day fight. Of course, we cannot be sure who actually won, but the legend said that both of them reached an agreement, that is, the front (the bigger part) of the area would be used by the delegates and the small part at the back shall be for the child God. So the temple in fact is composed of two different temples, and if we count in the one that is under construction work now, it will be three in total. So people there always say if you visit this temple without paying your respect to the child God, you will have tummy ache! I don;t want a tummy ache, so I did not dare to disobey this rule. This thing is used to light up incense sticks. This is so special. I don't know how this works. All you do is stick incense sticks upside down into this thing for a while, then they will be lighted up. It seems like they burn coal inside it.
The leader of the pilgrimage practice the same ritual again. There were a lot of people in this temple, and during our stay there, new groups kept coming in.

I was really enjoying this pilgrimage, and I think I will join them again next year. Seeing the ritual being practiced right in front of my eyes is such a fascinating experience. Being a Chinese, I believe in the old Taiwanese saying, that is, "Once you pray to the Gods sincerely, you will be blessed and protected by them."（有拜有保庇）

跟土地公公、婆婆借金：竹山紫南宮

大年初三，雖然天氣陰冷，想在家嘛也是沒事做，就決定北上紫南宮去拜拜。經過電視節目的報導，紫南宮早已是名聲大噪，我也是在看了關於土地公公借金的報導後才知道這個地方。不過假日去真是個錯誤，尤其是因農曆年長假，竹山真的是人滿為患。剛從南二高下竹山交流道就開始塞車，本來我想是因為集集與溪頭也走同一條路，但塞了一小時終於到目的地後，我們才發現幾乎所有車都是往紫南宮方向。下車後的景象更是嚇人，滿滿的都是人。好不容易擠到廟前，那人擠人的情況，加上人手一把香，真令人想打退堂鼓。不過想想都到了，就拜吧。

買了金紙，燃了香，我們很勇敢的往廟裡走。好不容易擠進去後，發現金紙根本沒地方放，大家都是往神桌上丟。這次拜拜就像是在打仗，速戰速決。出來後我跟我姐想，既然都來了為何不求金呢？所以我們又很努力的擠進廟內。求金的方式其實很簡單，先對土地公公跟土地婆婆稟告求金目的及用途，之後直接擲茭，第一次就允聖杯即可得600，第二次才得聖杯就只有500，依次遞減直到金額為0。但這次情況不同，這麼多的人擠在裡面要怎麼求啊？

當我們終於擠進那窄小的主殿裡，聽到此起彼落的擲茭聲，但卻找不到茭在哪。這時我突然靈機一動，跟隔壁正在擲茭的阿桑借。我想是土地公公跟婆婆有保佑，阿桑很爽快的答應我們。很順利的我跟姊姊都有借到錢，而且從擠進去到求到錢出來，前後只有10分鐘。在那樣人擠人的情況下，我想我們算是很有效率的，之後我們就去排隊領錢嘍。倒是排隊領錢比較花時間，而且他們的做法就像是去銀行開戶一樣，要準備駕照、身分證或健保卡，否則是領不到錢的。最重要的是這借到的錢，必須於一年內歸還，還金金額隨喜，但一定要大於借來的金額。還有，土地公公的錢是用於正途上的，所以不可以買樂透，更不能賭博。

就我讀到的相關報導，2006年紫南宮借出2300萬，收回3000萬，而廟方也將大部分金錢運用於慈善及社會服務上，尤其是著重當地的服務。其實這廟方借金做法，雖無法判斷是否真是神明指示，其運用及社會效益是具相當正面性意義。至少它給了許多人一個希望，一個能夠重新找回信心與力量的機會。其實這個土地公公、婆婆銀行真的很賺錢，看他們新建的廁所（金筍迎客），不是號稱六星級而已，它真的是六星級，男廁裡面還有噴水池呢！

希望這次土地公公、婆婆給我的借金，能幫助我在這金鼠年賺大財，能心想事成、一帆風順。我也一定在規定時間內，歸還借金並好好答謝土地公公、土地婆婆！

Meinong (美濃), Lovely Comos

Interesting plant. I have no idea what this is, but the colour of the flowers (they don't really look lke flowers) is perfect for Chinese New Year.




Chong-Cheng Lake (中正湖). Though the weather is not good, quite gray, it actually gives a pretty poetic tone.




Cosmos, amazing! I love these flowers. They are blossoming happily and proudly in the cold wind. Their blossoming gives us a sense of warmness and the hope for the future.







I love my Nokia phone. Though the camera is only 1.5 megapixel, the quality of the pictures is pretty good.

Happy Chinese New Year

The Year of the Golden Mouse! The first birth sign of the Chinese horoscope, which means a new start for a 12 year cycle. Also a new start for everyone.

I made this little card for all my friends. Wherever they are, I wish to celebrate this holiday with them!