The Nobel Peace Laureate and the Prisoner of Conscience - Liu Xiaobo

By: LENG Bun Meng

Liu Xiaobo, a 2010 Nobel peace prize laureate, was born on December 28, 1956. The 54-year-old is a great man of integrity who took a lot of audacity to stand up and criticize the Chinese Communist government, who dared to sacrifice his freedom and who had the courage to call for democracy and human rights in China. His journey to fight for democracy began in 1989 when he took part in the bloody demonstration in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, which received violent crackdown from the government. Consequently, he was sentenced to serve a 2-year term in prison. This suppression did not discourage him, but only made him stronger and motivated him to strive for democracy and justice in China. Since then he was recaptured twice and sent to prison again. In December 2008, he published a document online that made the government sentence him to 11 years in prison for “subverting state power”. The document is called “Charter 8” which calls for a new constitution, social and political change in China. Liu Xiaobo is now compared to other heroic people who symbolize freedom and democracy such as Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi and South Africa's Nelson Mandela. Although the Chinese has tried everything to paralyze him, his vision will still remains intact and stay with him for the rest of his life. 

Do you want to make a change for your country and your people? I strongly believe that one man can truly make a difference. Many heroes have sacrificed themselves for the sake of freedom and democracy. That is, Aung San Su Kyi, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, Dr. Luther King. Perhaps, one day Liu Xiaobo's wish to see China transform into a democratic government and allow its people to enjoy more freedom may not be an elusive dream anymore.

Zhuge Liang- The Symbol of Wisdom

For those who happen to watch Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sam Kok), you may know who Zhuge Liang is. Zhuge Liang, or Kong Ming, is a renowned and the most popular military strategist, a statesman, an inventor, an adviser for the warlord Liu Bei, who is a descendant of the Han Dynasty. His nickname is the sleeping dragon, because he is a highly talented man but he decides not to use his knowledge to work for anybody but does farming at his peaceful house. Liu Bei has visited him for three time , asking him to help him rebuild the Han Dynasty. Touched by Liu Bei's will, he agrees to help Liu Bei at all cost and will be loyal to Liu Bei for the rest of his life. That was the turning point in Liu Bei's entire life so far, as Kong Ming helps Liu Bei to conquer Jing Zhou and form the capital in Sichuan province and form a dynasty called "Shu Han". He vowed to revive the Han Dynasty. 

Zhuge Liang is not only a great military strategist, but also a great psychologist, since he can read people's mind clearly and manipulate this unique skill to his own advantage. His name is feared everywhere. There was a time when ZKL does not have many more troops left to defend the city, but he instead open the gate of the city, putting on a calm face and play his guqin comfortably on top of the city gate. When Sima Yi saw this, he thought that there would be ambush inside the city and Sima Yi ordered his troop to retreat. 

Later, he set up a plan to kill Sima Yi by using fire to burn all Sima's troops. However, while the fire is burning, the rain begins to rain and saves all the Cao Wei's troops. What is unbelievable is that Kong Ming is accomplished in astrology, as he can accurately predict the time when rain will come,  when the sky will be sunny or cloudy. Unexpectedly, the rain come and destroy his plan. What can i say?? This may be called "DESTINY". The god wants to save Sima Yi not Zhuge Liang. Perhaps, the god wants to put an end to the Han Dynasty. Do you believe in "DESTINY"?