1. I’m not exactly sure how strong my childhood memories are, though I could indeed recall specific “moments” in my life, or other bits drawn from what other people remember me for, moments with people which allow me to recall how I was back then too. Oh and there are pictures which serve as those reminders too.

As for being simple-minded, I actually said that in the context of us being much more knowledgeable now than we were before (or that we didn’t know so much before), with the assumption that the more you know, the more things get ‘complicated’.

Back then most of what complicated our minds was that we don’t understand how and why things happen the way they do. We grow up, gain knowledge and experience, we figure out what we used to not understand, and the world becomes vast and filled with much more possibilities.

But having your doors opened to these possibilities comes at a price, now that there are things you know (or you’re expected to know as an adult), now that you’ve been given the privilege to do things you weren’t able to do back then, things also get more ‘complicated’ — there are more things expected of you now than before, you have to be mindful of your conduct, you have to be a ‘responsible adult’, you can’t simply act the way you did as a kid.

Not to mention with great possibilities comes the chance to either do the right thing and be proud, or screw up, depending on one’s POV.

tl;dr. guess it boils down to “you knew less as a kid, and there were less things expected of you, hence it was ’simple’ — or it seems simple from our adult POV”. ‘Proportional complicated-ness’ or whatnot, in the same way problems arise from our lifestyle — poor people have different problems than rich ones. Problems of the poor are but ’simple’ compared to the problems of the rich, i.e. how to get enough money to be able to live through each day (work/find work, beg for money, etc) vs. how to keep your money from diminishing (a whole new economic/political/whatever world~)

2. Oh yes, next time I’ll certainly think of a smart move >:]

3. Well generally speaking, they don’t trust non-Chinese people. period. lol. It’s got something to do with their prejudices, but yeah, it all boils down to ‘wanting to protect me’ — generally stupid paranoia, but understandable.

There’s also the ‘Thou shalt not be friendly with non-Chinese people (of the opposite sex)’ decree, due to the fear of seeing you romantically involved with someone from a different race and get scorned by society. Again, stupid paranoia, but understandable, especially within the context of a society that is still not open to inter-racial relationships.

Chinese people (especially close-minded traditional ones) tend to think of reputation and ‘what society will think of me’ a little too much, so yeah =/

…

1. How good are people’s memories of childhood? More specifically, how good are your memories? I personally can’t remember anything from my past except for selected bits and pieces in combination with a general dislike of school and the violin. And so I’m skeptical when others write about their childhood because I wonder, “how do they remember all that stuff?” If you claim you were like Murasaki when you were a kid then you should provide evidence that you behaved like Murasaki as a kid. You don’t have to provide it publicly, but you do have to provide it to yourself.

And so to answer your first point I don’t believe that memories of childhood are reliable. Were we simple-minded as kids? And more to the point: are we less simple-minded now? And I argue that we are not. We remain simple-minded. When we were kids we went to school and listened to our teachers. Now we go to work and listen to our boss. On holidays and weekends we try to go out with our friends to the playground. Now we go to karaoke bars and travel to foreign countries. Some of us tried to get perfect grades in school. Now these people are trying to get a favorable evaluations from their boss. When someone pushed us on the playground we were sad. Now when people snub us in public we are sad too.

In other words, nothing has changed. We were obedient buggers then and we remain obedient buggers now. “Murasaki” is a myth. Almost everything that we do as children and adults are controlled by the social expectations that surround us. Even in America this is true, and in Asian countries this is doubly true.

The only real difference between a kid and an adult is that older people have better memories. When we were kids we forget everything (lunchboxes, clothing, shoes, names of teachers, backpacks, report cards – cough cough-, tetanus shots, etc.). And so we might be sad one moment but two minutes later we’d forget about it and we’d happy again because for the most part we had happy childhoods. But now that we are older, we remember unhappy things better, which is why we get upset over little things more often.

2. “Take note that not all people were born with such confidence. Only those who have such confidence will actually go out of their way to do it in the first place. Only those who firmly believe that there’s a tangible benefit behind doing so will feel it afterwards, and only those who realize the said ‘tangible benefit’ will later on regret not having done it. Otherwise there’s the whole ’saving face’, ‘what will other people think of me by causing this commotion’ battle going on in our confused minds.”

Oh, yes, Japanese culture, which in a nutshell BOILSdown to this: “Thou shalt always behave thyself in public and smile at other people, even if you don’t want to…”

“AAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!”

This attitude has many advantages (especially for business) but it also has its disadvantages. And in your subway example you listed one of them. When someone is behaving badly in public they don’t know what to do. Which is the reason why most people do nothing. If you want to be smarter than them, you’d find a way to get him to put on headphones WITHOUT causing a commotion. If you can’t, then that’s ok. You’ll have MANY more chances like that in the future.

3. If you’re Chinese, and if you live in Manila or Singapore [same difference... :-] then that means you are a minority in a country that probably is jealous of your presence. The Chinese are very good at making money, and the Chinese community is probably the richest in your area. Is that right?

Well, if my guess is correct, then that means your community is probably very tight-knit. The Chinese are naturally clannish, but when they’re surrounded by potentially hostile outsiders, people who are envious of their wealth, they become even more clannish. Am I right? That means the Chinese community and your family would stick closely to itself. Am I right?

And since you’ve traveled a lot, that makes you relatively cosmopolitan. You’ve visited other countries and you’ve enjoyed your visits there. You’re also younger. That makes you more comfortable with outsiders (non-Chinese people) than your parents. Therefore, from your perspective your parents sometimes act like racists. But from their perspective they’re just trying to protect their clan. Is that right? How close am I in my guesses?

Anyways, you don’t have to answer any of these questions. I’m merely playing a mental game, using the information you’ve provided, to figure out a puzzle. Like everything else, people are gray areas, with black and white, and the trick is to separate out the two.

When we were kids, everything seemed so complicated, yes, but things were also simpler. We were pretty simple-minded then, and we tend to think of the world as ‘X = Y’, things happen in a simple cause-and-effect manner. Simple = the lack of ‘gray areas’, as I’ve already explained.

“No. If you stand up to the guy, you feel better about yourself later. That is a tangible benefit. You are kicking yourself in the shin now because you didn’t do that then.”

Take note that not all people were born with such confidence. Only those who have such confidence will actually go out of their way to do it in the first place. Only those who firmly believe that there’s a tangible benefit behind doing so will feel it afterwards, and only those who realize the said ‘tangible benefit’ will later on regret not having done it. Otherwise there’s the whole ’saving face’, ‘what will other people think of me by causing this commotion’ battle going on in our confused minds.

“No. We don’t live in a cruel world. We live in a 1st world country with good social support systems and the rule of law. Also, society does not teach us to be passive and apathetic. But it does force us to behave ourselves in public. Some take this lesson too far and retreat into a shell. That is bad for them.”

I’m thinking you live in a country far more liberal than I am? And sorry to say that my Chinese upbringing in a 3rd world country is that of passiveness and apathy, live for yourself, don’t care so much about the plight of other people, get away from trouble as much as possible, etc.

“Kids understand the concept of fairness better than adults. The trick is to think like a kid but to act like an adult. ”

Noted, and something I’m slowly but surely trying to work on as the days go by.

“Everything was simple when we were kids.”

No. Almost everything, from using the toilet to multiplying numbers, is difficult for a kid. The reason why kids are so curious all the time is because their lives are so complicated all the time. It is only later when we forget that we think that everything was so much easier and simpler as a kid.

“It’s also not good if we become hypocrites and put on the pretense that we’re friends with a certain someone when in fact we are repulsive of him/her.”

Yes. We should avoid people we don’t like.

“There are no tangible benefits for the defender of justice.”

No. If you stand up to the guy, you feel better about yourself later. That is a tangible benefit. You are kicking yourself in the shin now because you didn’t do that then.

“Racism is never a good thing.”

For the members of the right race, racism is a good thing. The problem with racism is that it hurts and pisses off other races and it closes off communication and dialogue. In a democracy like America that is unacceptable.

“More often than not, society dictates us to become passive and apathetic, because that’s the way to survive in a cruel world, to get away from any mess as much as possible.”

No. We don’t live in a cruel world. We live in a 1st world country with good social support systems and the rule of law. Also, society does not teach us to be passive and apathetic. But it does force us to behave ourselves in public. Some take this lesson too far and retreat into a shell. That is bad for them.

“But if you feel that you have to do something, then nothing should stop you from doing so.”

Yes.

“Defending yourself in public when people disrespect you or treat you like shit can already be difficult, given the issues complicating adult minds like social norms and reasons stated above.”

Kids understand the concept of fairness better than adults. The trick is to think like a kid but to act like an adult.

“Why did I have such a hard time voicing out my complaints to the bastard beside me, when I know it should be the right thing to do?”

You didn’t know how to. No one taught you how to, and you never tried learning it on your own.

I like how you emphasized the good things that one little deed (like what Murasaki shown in this ep) can bring about, especially that of CHANGE, great Change. Bastards need to know their place yeah!

First of all, you’d have to note that there are no tangible benefits for the defender of justice in these situations.

You’re right of course. But though the immediate benefits are small and tangibility nonexistent, there is a definite benefit to society in perhaps ensuring that the offender may think twice before repeating his crime, or encouraging others to follow your example in being a defender of justice.

The lack of a benefit for the immediate person though, is classically known as the free loader problem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_rider_problem

But collective culture can be changed, it just needs positive examples. One Murasaki can remind hundreds of their collective responsibilities and the need to not be a bastard, as you said. And with sufficient responsible people out there, bastards would have a hard time being one.