Archive for News and Society
General Relationship Advice after Retirement
Posted by: | CommentsIf you have any problems in your relationship they are quite likely to deteriorate after you retire. A classic example is couples who argue about money – this will get a lot worse when you have less to live on.
Most couples sweep their problems under the carpet, but when you retire it may well be better to start talking to each other about any problems you have. Because this can be a quite painful process there is no shame at all in seeing a professional counsellor. I have received excellent feedback about the effectiveness of relationship counselling.
Do you remember to show your partner that you still love them? Do you tell them that you love them? Are you as considerate and thoughtful as you should be? When was the last time you surprised them with a visible show of affection – for example if you are a man when did you last buy your partner something nice like a decent bouquet of flowers? If your partner is not their usual bouncy self do you check if they are feeling under the weather, or are worried about anything?
I have made the point about giving each other your own space, but if you are both retired you will be able to do more things together. Shared treats are really important, as are shared activities.
Living and Working in China – Caring for the Environment
Posted by: | CommentsAs in many developing countries, the economic development is at the cost of the environment. Regulations to protect the environment exist, but cannot always be reinforced, and are often not sufficient. Chemicals leak into streams, toxic fumes are discharged into the air. You will see litter wherever you go—whole villages are disfigured by piles of rubbish, and villagers wash their clothes in heavily littered streams.
Your Chinese friends will admit there is a problem, but continue to drop their litter everywhere. ‘But we are a developing country,’ they say, as if this explained and justified everything.
Don’t lose your temper, or show any impatience. The best method of educating your Chinese without anyone losing face is to pick up the litter they leave behind on the picnic quietly, with a smile. They will quickly follow your example.
If you are a teacher, you can include the subject in your lessons, for intensive readings or for discussions. However, make sure you tackle it in a general way, so that you don’t appear to be criticising China or the Chinese.
Practising Your Religion in China
Posted by: | CommentsToday, everyone can practise their religion freely, whether they are Muslims, Buddhists, Christians or members of other religions. For example, if you are a Christian you will be welcome to join the nearest church. There are protestant as well as catholic churches. The only problem could be that services are held in the Chinese language, and you may not find them valuable to you if you don’t understand a word.
However, religious life is strictly regulated and supervised by the state. The government fears that unwelcome, foreign ideas could infiltrate China through international churches. Therefore, the Chinese churches are completely separated from the church organisations in other countries. Very little contact and exchange is permitted.
If you decide to join a church, your activities within the group will be closely monitored. If you start teaching or preaching your faith, or suggest any idea which is done in the church in your home country and should be taken up in China, you make yourself suspect and may be expelled from the country. It is alright to show photos of church services and religious festivals in your country, but otherwise tread carefully.
The Basics of China’s Population Growth
Posted by: | CommentsIn 1949, there were 541,670,000 people living on the mainland. Lacking controls and appropriate education on the subject, the Population increased to 806,710,000 by 1969.
Faced with the serious problem of feeding the growing population, the government implemented family planning in 1970. Since then, the birth rate has declined each year. The birth rate dropped 34.11 to 19.69 per thousand. The natural growth rate declined from 26.08 to 12.98 per thousand—which is still too high, considering that almost every possible square inch in China is farmed already!
Late marriage and late childbirth are promoted, and couples are permitted only one child. In rural areas, couples may have a second baby, and couples living in a minority area may have more children. Most Chinese accept the system in principle. Potential conflicts arise where the firstborn is a handicapped child, and sometimes even when the child is female. Despite government propaganda, showing healthy families with one happy girl child, many Chinese still long for a male heir.
Understanding the Human Rights in China
Posted by: | CommentsIf you decide to go to China, you must be aware that many human rights—by western definition—are violated. Some of your experiences in China may make you feel angry or helpless, depending on your temperament. But you must also be aware that you cannot change things. The Chinese government has invited you as an expert in your trade, not as a political reformer.
By all means, observe what is happening, and how it is affecting the people around you. Feed back your observations, positive and negative, to human rights organisations after your return. But while you are in China, remember that you are a guest of the country, and behave like one.
Protesting loudly against perceived injustice will only lead to you being expelled from the country, which helps nobody. And it may even get your Chinese friends into trouble.
It helps to remember that in the Chinese way of thinking, the well-being of the individual is of less importance than the well-being of the group. From this point of view, it is logical that the individual’s human rights have, in certain circumstances, been sacrificed in the interest of the community.
In addition, the Chinese view is that a decent living standard, with basic education and enough food for all, is the most important human right. The government says that this must be achieved first; the other human rights will be addressed later.
Another point to bear in mind is that there is no country in the world, especially not among the developing countries, where violation of human rights does not occur. Even in the ‘highly civilised’ western world, frightening abuses happen.
But by just being there, by sharing their life and by telling them about life in your home country, by being their window to the outside world, you are contributing to one human right the Chinese were previously denied: the right for information.
The Basics of Environmental Pollution
Posted by: | CommentsEnvironmental pollution means you are constantly exposed to an extremely potent chemical cocktail. It is estimated that you may be in contact with as many as 800 chemicals every day! (That makes 4800 if you’re a smoker.) Of course, many of these chemicals affect you adversely, not only individually, but possibly also in combination (though very few studies have investigated this phenomenon). Nor have many studies been carried out to look at the effects of long-term, low-level exposure to compounds such as pesticides and plastics. However there is increasing recognition that some of these effects may include endocrine (hormone) disruption with profound implications for fertility and other aspects of reproductive health.
Few if any, generational studies have been made. So we really have very little idea of what effects your exposure to agricultural chemicals and to chemicals in the home, your holiday flights and your computer use, all combined with a mouthful of mercury (in the amalgam in your fillings) may have on your children, your grandchildren or even on your great-grandchildren.
However, there is no doubt that the effects of some environmental pollutants are synergistic. This means that the ill-effects are magnify when the two substances are present together. This is certainly the case with the heavy metals. You must also remember that some effects will be more pronounced if your nutritional status is very compromised. For example, diets which are low in calcium, zinc, ir0ri and manganese may enhance lead uptake. Of course, fortunately, the reverse also holds true to some extent.
You can clean up your environment
We’re sorry if this paints a very grim picture. Environmental pollution is certainly ubiquitous, and quite frightening in the extent to which it affects every one of us. But in making you aware of its extent we hope we’ve also made you aware of just how important it is that you take whatever active steps you can to reduce your total exposure. We don’t want you to hear all of this and just throw up your hands and say, ‘How can I possibly have a healthy pregnancy or a healthy baby?’ The reality is you can, but you need to take some positive steps to clean up your environment. What we want to look at now are those pollutants which you must avoid as far as possible.