先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐

Temperature: 25 c

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Whenever I look at the computer monitor filled with hundreds of Chinese characters, I thank my father for making the tough, bold and risky choice of sending all his children to Chinese school. It was a far-sighted decision. Only men with vision and unique ideas could make such decision.

I remember when I was 7, I studied HanYuPinYin 汉语拼音. It was a tormenting experience. My Chinese teacher (as are hundreds of Chinese school teachers) was strict and the whole class feared her and her cane. Now, because I know HanYuPinYin, I could type Chinese easily. Typing Chinese characters is not a skill required in Malaysia but in China, if you do not know how to type Chinese, you are handicapped i.e. you could only do half the work. As I have mentioned in my earlier articles, all legal documents must be prepared in Chinese; the English version, most of the time, is prepared for client’s reference only and has no legal effect.

I spent half of the time staring at monitor which shows Chinese characters. I spent a great deal of time reading Chinese text book. You could of course get English text book on Chinese legal system, but you will not be able to apply the knowledge in the real world as a practitioner because the English text is only meant for non-Chinese readers who wish to learn the basics of China law.

For example, a Joint Venture Company is called 合营公司; Board of Directors is called 董事会; Registered Capital is called 注册资金. The English text books will only make sense in the real world if you understand both English and Chinese legal terminologies. Fortunately, being equipped with knowledge of both these important languages, I was able to learn and understand China law with little guidance from colleagues.

Language is the lawyer’s tool of trade. It certainly is. But please don’t mistake it as “English” is the lawyer’s tool of trade. The more language you know, the greater advantage you stand. It is fair and simple.

Few days ago, I was talking to one of the partners. He said I speak like a native English speaker, yet I know how to read Chinese. I told him not to be surprised, because in Malaysia, especially in the Chinese schools, we have a pool of thousands of bilingual talents just waiting for you to tap. Great, he said. “Your government did the right thing in cultivating multi-lingual talents.”

I told him NO. No credit given to the government. Learning Chinese is discouraged and Malaysia’s Chinese education grew often in adverse and hostile environment. We learned Chinese at the mercy of our government. My government will not be happy if I could memorize all the Chinese dynasties or speak Mandarin like a TV host.

For instance, when I went for an interview at the AG’s Chamber, they looked at my CV and instead of saying “Oh you are from Chinese School, you must be able to speak good Mandarin” they said, “Oh you are from Chinese school. So your BM not so good right?”. See my point?

As I have repeated hundreds times in this blog, the world is advancing at great speed and globalization is real. Yet, our courts in Malaysia are still yelling: Gunakan Bahasa Melayu di dalam Mahkamah saya!

To sum up what globalization is all about, let me share certain facts with you. My ‘angmo’ colleagues speak Mandarin, have Chinese names, and eat with chopsticks while my Chinese colleagues love to call themselves ‘Michael’, ‘Andy’ or ‘Jacky’, and drink Starbuck coffee. Nevertheless, back home in Malaysia (where some people still think Globalization is a joke), we still find people who want to stay the same ‘dulu, kini dan selamanya’.

Back to my original topic of this article. Not only did I study HanYuPinYin (which is the basic), I studied Chinese history, poems, culture, literature etc.

Today I finally found a great opportunity to ‘show off’ my Mandarin. There is a big calligraphic art located near my office entrance. It was written in 草书 (a freestyle form of writing) so it was hard to read the Chinese characters. Most of the colleagues don’t pay attention to the calligraphic art. But I do.

I asked my ‘angmo’ colleague whether he knew what the calligraphic art is all about. (Please don’t accuse me of showing off my Mandarin in front of Angmos, I picked him because he is the only one who showed interest in Chinese culture)

I told him it is a famous literature titled “岳阳楼记” written by 范仲淹 (AD 989 - 1052), a politician and philosopher from North Song dynasty.

庆历四年春，滕子京谪守巴陵郡。越明年，政通人和，百废具兴，乃重修岳阳楼，增其旧制，刻唐贤今人诗赋于其上，属予作文以记之。
　　予观夫巴陵胜状，在洞庭一湖。衔远山，吞长江，浩浩汤汤，横无际涯；朝晖夕阴，气象万千；此则岳阳楼之大观也，前人之述备矣。然则北通巫峡，南极潇湘，迁客骚人，多会于此，览物之情，得无异乎？
　　若夫霪雨霏霏，连月不开；阴风怒号，浊浪排空；日星隐耀，山岳潜形；商旅不行，樯倾楫摧；薄暮冥冥，虎啸猿啼；登斯楼也，则有去国怀乡，忧谗畏讥，满目萧然，感极而悲者矣。
　　至若春和景明，波澜不惊，上下天光，一碧万顷；沙鸥翔集，锦鳞游泳，岸芷汀兰，郁郁青青。而或长烟一空，皓月千里，浮光跃金，静影沈璧，渔歌互答，此乐何极！登斯楼也，则有心旷神怡，宠辱皆忘，把酒临风，其喜洋洋者矣。
　　嗟夫！予尝求古仁人之心，或异二者之为，何哉？不以物喜，不以己悲，居庙堂之高，则忧其民；处江湖之远，则忧其君。是进亦忧，退亦忧；然则何时而乐耶？其必曰：先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐欤！噫！微斯人，吾谁与归！

I went on to tell him that the most famous verse of this literature is 先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐 (literally means ‘to get worried before the world gets worried; to be happy only after the world is happy’).He was impressed.

“You learned all this in school? What else they taught you?”

“Yeah, they wanted to teach me Shakespeare too, but I was not interested.” I replied.

The entrance of the office