The Accidental Tourist

“When you go on a business trip, you just take what you need.

Checking in your luggage is asking for trouble;
Always bringing along travel size detergent, in case your laundry falls into unfamiliar hands;
Wearing a grey color suits which is suitable for all occasions, even a funeral;
A book, protection from stranger, but not too many, for one always overestimate his free time
…….

Most of all, never take things so dear in your life, in case you lose them, it will be devastating.”

That was what Macon’s job, to write travel guide books for business people. The job required him to travel constantly, though he hated it.

One day, when he returned from one of these trips, he was surprised to be told by his wife, Sara that she was leaving him. After their 12 years old son being shot dead two years ago, she felt the only link between Macon and herself was disappear. “I feel that in order to have a life again, I need to leave you, please let me go.”

It was a start of an accidental travel, for Macon himself.

He had to travel again, and his dog, Edward, was his son’s pet, he could not get rid of him. In the course of searching for shelter for his dog, he met Muriel, a dog trainer. She was a divorced single mother with a seven year old son Alexandra. Their relationship was a slow but natural development, Macon finally found himself stepping out the shadow of his son’s death, for the first time in his life maybe, and he opened up himself …to Muriel and her son.

“In the traveling, you may find something unexpected; pick it up if you want, but just bear in mind to take some inconvenient consequence, if you will…” Macon was writing to his readers and himself too.

Several months later, his wife wanted to come back to him; they did try for the second time. But it did not work. Accidental tourist in his own life, Macon found something new in himself , in his wife and the life with Muriel. It was really accidental.

“It impossible to prepare everything in traveling, sometimes, you just have to accept whatever comes your way.”

For sociological point of view, I found this movie even more profound than merely determines what subjective and objective meanings are. It was certainly a challenge to functionalism concepts in society, such as family, marriage, and love. It was a call for us to review those social structural institutions based on shared value or personal interests. Though it only focused on the micro level, the lives of a few families, but it revealed a macro level social dilemma --- the unexpected traveling in any humans’ life.

There seem no fixed rules of game. You just have to accept whatever comes along, but be aware of responsibility. If you don’t mind to be an accidental tourist, you may find it is not bad idea after all to go on a journey. Of course, this movie also showed us we don’t have to follow “the travel guide books” For most of times, even the authors themselves do not know.

Atonement

Having heard about the latest Oscar result, I was disappointed that “Atonement” was not one of winners.

Though I am not a frequent movie viewer, I thought “Atonement” was one of best movies I have seen.

The story was simple; the relationships were not complicated either. The director of the movie seemed purposefully to let audiences tore between “cruel reality” and “wishful hope”, so did Branny, the younger sister… By her innocent assumption, her imagination, she had caused a couple who were just joined by love,separated into the war and ended death.

She sought of “atonement” by what she called “injecting hope” into her book. It was a heavy burden for all her life.

On the other hand, she should not be the only one to be blamed; after all, it was a mistake, a mistake of an innocent girl, who herself had an unexplained crush on him...

If only the twins did not try to escape,if only the true guilty one stood for his action,...if only there were no war,

Who shalt pay the atonement for all these?

What made this movie outstanding was the honest attitude to "cruel reality". We all have best wishes, kind hope and sincere believe that "the good ones should end up well". This movie had shown us that, in life, often, the tiniest thing makes the whole lot of difference.

Please view on Channel New Asia on Dec 21 2007 7:30 pm

"Think Family. Talk Family" Forum is forum discussion on family, a very lively forum on the changing family in modern days, the challenge and others issues. Thanks to
Family Development Group,(FDG), Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and National Family Council to make this Forum a success.

For those who are interested in taking 214 "Changing Family". This forum could be interesting, what is more that you will find your classmate as one of panel members. See yah!


It is scheduled to be aired on Channel News Asia over the following 3 weeks i.e. from 21 Dec 07 till 9 Jan 2008.

The two-hour plus forum will be divided into three 30-min episodes.
Each episode comprises two different topics culled from the panel
discussion. The 1st episode is scheduled to be aired at 7.30 pm
(prime-time) on Friday, 21 Dec with 3 repeat telecasts on Sat (12.30 pm),
Sun (12.30 am) and Wed (5.30 pm). The 2nd episode will be shown on 28s
Dec and the 3rd episode on 4 Jan 2008 with repeats. Kindly refer to the
following table for the broadcasting schedule.

Episode	Initial Broadcast	Repeat Broadcast	Repeat Broadcast	Repeat Broadcast
Time	Fri, 7.30 pm	Sat, 12:30 pm	Sun, 12.30am	Wed, 5.30 pm
1	21 Dec	22 Dec	23 Dec	26 Dec
2	28 Dec	29 Dec	30 Dec	2 Jan 2008
3	4 Jan 2008	5 Jan 2008	6 Jan 2008	9 Jan 2008

Please view the above Forum and wish all of you a very blessed Christmas and New Year.

"Rendition"

I just watched “Rendition”. It was to me an intellectual shock, at the same time, a feeling of feeble of being a human. The movie's background was after 911, the national security policy was beefed up to the highest level, at the same time the terrorist activities were ever more intensified. One chemical engineer, An Egyptian, the green card holder, was mistakenly taken as an “important link”. He was mystically disappeared.

No matter who you are, you are really no in control what happens next moment. Not Kelli, the devoted extremist, not his girlfriend, rebelled against arranged marriage, without knowing her own father was the target of suicide attacks; Not Anwar an Egyptian with green card, nor his wife, Isabella an American, their innocent and peaceful life was so easily smashed by some kind of “mistakes”.

This movie fits well into Weber’s theoretic framework of ethic of ultimate end and ethic of responsibility. The suicide bombers, with ethic of ultimate end of doing the will of “GOD” and of entering into the “heaven” as faithful fighters, their means were to kill using their own bodies; Ellen the head of CIA (central intelligence agency?) and her teams, with ethic of ultimate end of “national security”, their means was to search any suspects of terrorism without necessary jurisdiction evidence and procedure. For Ellen, she would not care about a bit what suffering Anwar and his wife went thought, unless, “One of her grandkids were Anwar.”

The result was human tragedy….

When one takes the ethic of ultimate end without choosing the right means, Weber says “The ethic of ultimate ends apparently must go to pieces on the problem of the justification of means by ends. As a matter of fact, logically it has only the possibility of rejecting all action that employs morally dangerous means- in theory! In the world of realities, as a rule, we encounter the ever-renewed experience that the adherent of an ethic of ultimate ends turns suddenly into a chiliastic prophet.”

It however took one man with ethic of responsibility to save one man. Douglas, a new guy, inexperience, (in other words), his human personality had not become “bureaucratic personality”. Unable to stand as “observer” to witness the inhuman tortures laid upon Anwar, he took the matter to his own hand and freed Anwar. We often take for granted when we come home safely, and being with our love ones, for Anwar, it was like a long nightmare. What a sight and feeling for him, when he reunited with his wife and son and being home. But I wonder whether Anwar and his family will ever walk through the shadow of this nightmare; who should be responsible for their agony and suffering?

What would happen to Douglas, we don’t know. But one thing for sure that he will never be a successful politician. Remember, Weber in his “politics as a vocation” pointed out “No ethics in the world can dodge the fact that in numerous instances the attainment of ‘good’ ends is bound to the fact that one must be willing to pay the price of using morally dubious means or at least dangerous ones- and facing the possibility or even the probability of evil ramification.” “Whoever wants to engage in politics at all, and especially in politics as a vocation, has to realize these ethical paradoxes. He must know that he is responsible for what may become of himself under the impact of these paradoxes. He let himself in for the diabolic forces lurking in all violence.”

This is really good movie evokes sociological thinking and discussion.