JUST TO SHARE (Lau Tai Onn): Life-long Learning Experiences of Dr JB Lim

The Blogger is pleased to post as follows an email from the most knowledgeable, versatile and yet modest e-buddy of his, Dr JB Lim (pic left), with the purpose of sharing with readers of this blog a classical example of Life-long Learning that is truly inspiring. The first few paragraphs have been deliberatey edited by the blogger to remove comments on a certain person to save the latter’s face.

Date: Sunday, 24 April, 2011, 1:14 AM

Dear Ir. Lau,

Mine! mine! mine! What a flatter about the standard of my English language.

It would be more appropriate, more prudent for you to warily examine the structure of the sentences I pen (or rather type). Should you do this with vigilance, the mistakes therein were so glaring, unforgiving and embarrassingly obvious. What an embarrassing sweet-talk. I deserve the least that unequivocal flattering remark, whether implicit or explicit. Thank you, thank you. Perhaps I should buy you dinner in the next fellowship for such butter up compliment.

Chinese-medium Educated:

Someone with a Chinese educational background presumably is well versed in Chinese characters. That of course does not necessarily imply that he/she knows Mandarin since Chinese characters are a common written lingual denominator that cuts across the board among all classes and clans of dialectal Chinese, be they Cantonese, Hokkein, Teochew, Hainanese, Hokchew. It is only the spoken language that differs among the Han provincial Chinese.

Unlikely:

My feeling is it is highly improbable that a Chinese in this country gifted in writing, reading, and translating Chinese characters, yet had not previously attended a Chinese school. I am for instance, illiterate in Chinese characters, except recognizing a few dozens common characters scattered here and there on sign boards, and in published text.

The multi-lingual generation:

Indeed, very few Chinese- medium educated individuals in this country can command a mastery of the English language, albeit they may be able to express their thoughts adequately in writing. But their oral expression is halting, hesitant, and faltering. But not all are wavering in expressing themselves. Many Chinese educated students are bilingual and trilingual. Their fluency in the English language is far from being hesitant. It depends much on their talents, social and family background, their mind-set, and other supportive factors.

My children for instance are trilingual – English, Bahasa, and Mandarin inclusive of Cantonese, and occasionally they pepper in a little Hokkein when speaking with friends. My youngest daughter an engineer for instance, has an added advantage with ‘proficiency’ in Korean.

The language of the family:

The mother speaks to my two daughters almost entirely in Mandarin, and to my son, in English. Occasionally, to punctuate the monotony of Mandarin, their mother rain in a few sentences in Hokkein, especially when she is angry.

My daughters and son dialogue with me entirely in English. In exchange, I communicate with all of them entirely in English.

My unforgiving Pinyin:

Thank you for getting me know your inability to decipher my pinyin. I do admit my handicap on learning Chinese at my advanced age. You already know that it would only be the Romanized alternative I would be able to manage.

I do not have a local (Malaysian) Chinese teacher to teach me Mandarin. The only route is to be self-taught. At my age this was a horrendous up-hill task. With no guidance, except an English-Chinese dictionary published in China, naturally I was unaware of the standard Pinyin format adopted in Malaysia. I purely and dutifully followed the learning method adopted in China in the dictionary and the ‘teach yourself’ book.

It was a difficult undertaking for me even to know if I was on the right track. Being self-taught, I was a teacher and student in one. It was a difficult, and a very thorny endeavor indeed trying to learn a language at an advanced age with a declining brain. The human brain at this age can no longer hold on to anything. A language can only be learnt effortlessly no later than in childhood years.

It was a snatch and gamble learning situation in my declining life when the brain laze off without a compromise.

My Same Difficulty in Music:

The same grueling challenge confronted me when I attempted learning the violin at a sunset age of 62. The norm is, all music lessons need to be completed by puberty. Adding to this learning insult was that, the violin is considered to be the King of Instruments. Being a ‘king’, the violin has the infamous reputation of being the hardest musical instruments to learn and handle, let alone play technically and expressively.

Notwithstanding this demanding challenge, this arduous defiance of the King of Instruments, I put up an unyielding fight to overwhelm the difficulty. I was aware that learning to play a musical instrument is the domain of a talented young adolescence child. But I need to override it.

So I began the fight. After 3 years of intense hours of daily self practice, I won. In the wake of this unbending struggle, in the month of December 2005, I played as a solo violinist with the Kuala Lumpur Symphony Orchestra at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall Auditorium to a standing ovation. It was my debut. It was my cherished dream.

A debut to remember:

Since that ‘celebrated’ performance at the City Hall, I have rested my violin to playing something softer entirely for self pleasure. I have since retired to enjoying playing only balmy twilight serenades, etudes light western classics, old Chinese songs of the yesteryears depicted in Shanghai movies and popularized by Zhou Xuan and other Old Shanghai qipaos (cheongsum) songstresses.

A Score of Collection:

I have a music library of them (music scores, orchestral and sonatas, written sheet music), complied from the time of the western classical era of Mozart, his pupil Beethoven, and Hayden, to the Romantic Era of Frederic Chopin, down to nostalgic songs of the 1920’s and 1940’s - reminisce of Old Shanghai.

It was my irresistible feeling for music of the bygone eras of undying love, romance, and beauty.

That’s life.

Kind regards

Jb lim
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The Blogger’s response:

Sunday, April 24, 2011 3:42 AM

Dear Dr Lim,

I am speechless after reading your write-up.

Perhaps, if you don't mind, I should also post this file into my blog in order to share with readers of this blog, young and old, the inspiring experiences of your goodself being a GREAT VERSATILE LEARNER! It is undoubtedly a living example of LIFE-LONG LEARNING: "huo dao lao, xue doa lao" (live till old, learn till old)!