A comment on the maid fine

 A comment on the maid fine

You know, you see all sorts of things in the paper these days. But every once in a while, something just hits you. Like this story about the maid in Singapore. Now, you hear about a lot of things. A guy steals a loaf of bread, he goes to jail. Someone robs a bank, he goes to jail. But this? This is something else entirely.

Here's a woman. A maid. She's 53 years old, been at it for decades. She's got her main job, she's working, she's doing what she's supposed to do. She's on her rest days, her days off, the days you're supposed to put your feet up and maybe watch a little television. But she doesn't. She goes and cleans a few houses for a few hours, just trying to make a little extra money. Coffee money, as the fellow who wrote this put it.

And for that, for trying to make a little extra money on her own time, they fine her $13,000. Thirteen thousand dollars. That's a lot of money. The person she worked for, the one who hired her illegally, they got a fine too. Seven thousand dollars. The person who paid her for her work, they got fined less than she did. It's like fining the person who took the job more than the person who offered it. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, does it?

And the government says it's about "protecting workers." Protecting them from what? From working? From making a little extra cash on their day off? It's like they're saying, "Look, we've designed a system for you. A system where you work for one person, for a certain amount of money, and you don't even think about stepping outside that line. We'll decide how you spend your time, even your own time." It's a funny kind of protection, isn't it? 🤷‍♂️

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They talk about how this woman didn't have a valid work pass for part-time work. And I suppose that's true. The law's the law. But sometimes, you have to look at the law and ask yourself, "Does this make any sense?" We bring in foreign workers because, as they say, "Singaporeans don't want these jobs." We pay them, and then we make it so they can't even try to earn a little more. You see all these commercials on television about the hardworking spirit, and the value of a good day's work. They praise it, they celebrate it. As long as it's the right kind of work, I guess. As long as it's within the system.

This woman worked for four years for this one person. Four years. Both of them were happy with the arrangement. There was no exploitation, no one was complaining. The only person complaining was the system itself. The prosecutor even called the fine "quite kind." Kind? Taking 35 months of a person's side income? Taking five to seven months of their full-time salary? It's not a lot of money for some people, but it's everything for others.

And what's the message here? The message seems to be, "Know your place. Don't try to get ahead. Don't even think about improving your situation." It's a rigged game, they say. And I suppose it is. But when you look at it, it makes you wonder what the point of the game is in the first place. You work hard, you follow the rules, and then you get punished for working too hard. It just doesn't add up. It really doesn't.

Western vs. Chinese Medicine: Two Paths to Healing

 

Western vs. Chinese Medicine: Two Paths to Healing

Western medicine and Chinese medicine are two very different approaches to health. You could summarize their main difference like this: Western medicine constantly updates its research, while Chinese medicine searches for ancient remedies. This isn't just about technology; it's about two different ways of thinking.

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Western Medicine: A Path of Innovation

The foundation of Western medicine is the scientific method. It demands precise, repeatable, and verifiable data. For a new drug to be approved, it has to go through strict clinical trials and peer review. Its effectiveness isn't based on one person's experience, but on a huge amount of data and on fields like biology and chemistry.

This approach encourages constant innovation. When a better treatment is found, the old one is replaced. It's a never-ending process of self-correction, with the goal of finding more effective solutions with fewer side effects. Every new drug is a step forward, based on a deeper understanding of the human body and disease.

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Chinese Medicine: A Path of Tradition

In contrast, Chinese medicine is more about a quest for ancient wisdom. Its theories are based on ideas like Yin and Yang, the five elements, and energy channels. This is a completely different way of seeing the world than Western science. The effectiveness of Chinese medicine often relies on knowledge passed down through generations. A successful herbal formula might be the result of hundreds or even thousands of years of practice.

Because of this, a major part of Chinese medicine is organizing, discovering, and proving the value of old family secrets or recipes from classic books. This approach is great at preserving historical knowledge and treating the body as a whole, but it faces challenges today, like a lack of standardized ways to test how well treatments work on a large scale.

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西方醫學與中醫：兩種不同的探索之路

 

西方醫學與中醫：兩種不同的探索之路

西方醫學與中醫，這兩種醫療體系代表了人類對健康與疾病的兩種截然不同的探索方式。用一句話來概括它們的區別，便是：西藥在研究更新迭代，中藥在尋找祖傳秘方。這不僅是技術上的差異，更是底層哲學和思維模式的根本分野。

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尋求迭代的西方醫學

西方醫學的核心是科學方法論。它追求精確、可重複、可驗證的數據。一種新藥物的誕生，必須經歷嚴格的臨床試驗、雙盲測試和同行評審。它不是基於單一經驗，而是建立在龐大的統計數據和生物學、化學等基礎科學之上。這種模式鼓勵迭代與創新。當一個藥物或療法被發現有更好的替代品時，舊的會被淘汰，新的會被推廣。這是一個持續不斷、自我修正的過程，其目標是透過不斷的實驗和研究，找到更有效、副作用更小的解決方案。每一代新藥物都是對前一代的改進，是基於對人體和疾病更深入的理解。

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追溯秘方的中醫藥學

相比之下，中醫藥學的發展更像是一場對古老智慧的追尋。它的理論體系建立在陰陽五行、經絡氣血等概念之上，這是一套與西方科學截然不同的哲學框架。中醫的有效性往往依賴於經驗的傳承。一個好的藥方，可能是幾代人甚至上千年的實踐經驗總結。因此，中醫界的重要工作之一是整理、發掘並驗證那些流傳於世的「祖傳秘方」或經典古籍中的智慧。這種模式的優勢在於它能承襲歷史的精華，並以整體觀來治療疾病，但它在現代社會中也面臨挑戰，例如缺乏標準化的療效評估和大規模的驗證。

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無解之題，吾心戚戚

 

無解之題，吾心戚戚

吾觀時事，心有所惑。聞人言，死囚之刑，務求人道，故有注射之術，速而無痛。國人耗費巨資，以保至惡之徒，臨終安詳。吾輩或謂：此乃文明之舉，理當如此。然環顧四方，吾心戚戚。

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吾入醫院，見癌病之人。其人無辜，卻臥榻經年。痛楚無歇，藥石無效。形體日銷，管線纏身，惟待終日。此終非安，乃緩慢之磨難也。惡徒得安逝，而至親之人，卻獨受煎熬。此理何在？背道而馳，莫此為甚。

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或可設想：於病房之中，遍置攝錄機。無修飾、無註解，但錄其真實。而後播之於眾，使世人皆睹。每觀影劇，廿分鐘一斷，即現此景。或有男子，因痛而蹙眉；或有婦人，因喘而掙扎。此舉或可震世人之心，使之知其所見，皆吾輩容忍之苦也。吾等本應有所為，然吾心知，此舉不過痴人說夢。

You Can’t Tell Me This Makes Sense

 

You Can’t Tell Me This Makes Sense

I was thinking about things you see on the news, things that just make you scratch your head. They’re always talking about capital punishment, about how we need to make sure it’s a humane death. They’ve got the lethal injection, and they’ve got it all timed out. It’s supposed to be quick, painless, dignified. We spend a lot of time and money making sure the worst person in society, the one who took a life, doesn't feel a moment of suffering on their way out. And you know, a part of you thinks, well, that's what a decent society does. But then you look around.

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You go to a hospital. A cancer ward, maybe. And you see people who have done absolutely nothing wrong. They’re lying in beds, for weeks, months, sometimes years. The pain is relentless. The medications barely touch it. They’re wasting away, hooked up to tubes, and they’re just waiting. They’re waiting for the end, and there’s no dignity to it. It’s a slow, agonizing grind. We make sure a murderer gets a peaceful exit, but we let our own loved ones endure a prolonging of their suffering. What's the deal with that? What's the logic here? It’s completely backwards.

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Maybe we need a little perspective. Maybe we should put webcams in every hospital room with a terminal patient. Real-time footage. No editing, no doctor's notes, just the truth. And then we can show it to people. We can make it mandatory viewing. Every twenty minutes, while you're binging your sci-fi or your romance movie on Netflix, a little clip pops up. A reminder of what a "humane" society looks like. A short clip of a man wincing in pain, or a woman struggling to breathe. Maybe that’s what it will take. Maybe that’s the only way to remind people of the suffering we’re just letting happen behind closed doors. You’d think we'd have better priorities.

結婚入場費是怎麼回事？

 

結婚入場費是怎麼回事？

我一直在看新聞、讀報紙，心裡有個疑問：現在的婚禮到底是怎麼回事？我聽說有人辦婚禮，要收人「入場費」。你得付錢才能去看兩個人結婚。以前，你收到的是一張請柬，那是一張正式的小卡片，上面寫著邀請。「敬請光臨」，它會這樣說。現在呢，成了一筆交易，一張門票。

婚禮本來是兩家人結合在一起。聖經說，這是一件神聖的事。兩個合為一體。這是關於愛和一生的承諾，而不是為了幫雞肉或魚肉的錢算帳。你的父母、你的阿姨、你的表親——所有人都聚在一起。教堂門口不會有個小亭子，放著掃描器和信用卡機。

這不就是真正的問題所在嗎？我們失去了它的意義。我們變成了一個每個人都住在幾百英里之外的社會，我們不認識鄰居，更別提遠親了。他們說，家庭單位已經「原子化」了。我們都成了小小的微粒，各自漂浮著。沒有了家人的支持，沒有了那種社區感，我想一對年輕夫婦總得想點辦法吧。所以他們把自己生命中最有意義的一天，變成了一場募款活動。

接下來會怎麼樣？是不是新婚夫婦的初夜也要收入場費？你得拿個通行證才能看他們走進飯店房間。或者，他們會把整個過程在抖音上直播，然後你可以花一塊錢買個虛擬玫瑰。「幫我們贊助去斐濟的蜜月旅行，每次購買都有幫助！」

這太荒謬了。婚禮本身就是一份禮物。你的朋友和家人的到來，才是最珍貴的禮物。我們是從什麼時候開始，覺得這不再足夠了？我想大概是從我們認定每樣東西都有個價碼開始吧。一旦你給愛標上了價格，你還剩下什麼呢？

What's The Deal With Wedding Entrance Fees?

 

What's The Deal With Wedding Entrance Fees?

I’ve been watching the news, reading the papers, and I’ve got to ask: what’s with these weddings now? I hear some folks are charging people to get in. An entrance fee. You pay to see two people get married. It used to be, you got an invitation. It was a formal little card, and it was a request. “Please join us,” it would say. Now, it’s a transaction. A ticket.

A wedding is supposed to be the joining of two families. It’s a sacred thing, says the Bible. Two become one. It’s about love and a lifetime commitment, not about balancing the budget for the chicken or the fish. Your parents, your aunts, your cousins—they all come together. They don’t have a little kiosk at the church door with a ticket scanner and a credit card machine.

And isn't that the real problem? We've lost the point. We've become a society where everyone lives a hundred miles apart, and we don't know our neighbors, let alone our extended family. The family unit has been atomized, they call it. We're all little specks, floating around on our own. And without that family support, without that sense of community, I suppose a young couple has to do something. So they turn the most meaningful day of their lives into a fundraiser.

What's next? An entrance fee for the first night of the married couple? You get a little pass to watch them walk into their hotel room. Or maybe they’ll live-stream the whole thing on TikTok, and you can buy virtual roses for a dollar. "Help us fund our honeymoon to Fiji, every purchase helps!"

It's ridiculous. A wedding is a gift. The presence of your friends and family is the most valuable gift there is. When did we decide that was no longer enough? I guess when we decided that everything has a price tag. And once you put a price on love, what do you have left?