Economic crisis might be a taboo word. May be we should call it an economic downturn. Whatever it is, the fact is that, it affects everyone on this earth. The only different between the rich and the poor is that the former may have better immunity.

So why God allows this to happen?

For many centuries, even since human knew about God, the question is always there asking God, “why?”. Why the suffering? Why the pain? And most of the time, God remained silent.

I personally feel that instead of asking why, we should ask ourselves how did it happen. The world economy is built on trading or buying. We are told to keep building products, innovate new products and services, so that people will spend and the money will flow from one hand to the other.

And so, it is drivne by telling people you need this from me and I take the money from you. However, the problem I think, noticing almost every 10 years we had experienced a crisis with 1997 the Asian currency crisis; all the gains or the cash or wealth, are not distributed equally.

The senior management is the one that gets the big bucks and the people in this organisation have the most buying power. Lesser wealth is distributed to the others inside a company. And then, a vicious cycle is created. For lower income people, in order for them to have something they like as suggested by the ads, they have to work so hard, produce more goods, to be more productive etc.. (actually creating more waste) but the end results are that the gains mostly go to the top management. This equation is an imbalance one. With all the massive products being created and few have the money to buy it, any normal person with normal IQ should know that one day, something bad is going to happen.

The recent economic saga demonstrated my point. These top management with degrees from Harvard, MIT, Stanford; they all get paid exorbitantly. Their contracts are such that they are being measured how they create values for the shareholders. Profit, that’s what it is. It is a very simple maths equation. For as long as it is a positive figures, the manager or the CEO will get rewarded. But no one cares about the other factors that will be affected because of simply persuing profits.

Some called it greed driven. Well, it is a way of life for those CEOs because their jobs are tied to profitability only. The board of directors, shareholders wouldn’t care less about other aspects that could affect the society, other people by simply persuing profits.  A vicious cycle is created. The CEO has to find way to make the company profitable: creating new channels, new ideas, new services and new products to convince people like you and me to buy it.

No one really cares about any consequences. Especially the CEO. They are not paid for abiding business ethics although they might loose their job for not abiding it (what an irony!). They are not paid for being socially repsonsible because the most they get is a pat by the local government. Actually the CEO is a high risk job.

So, should we blame the CEOs? Well, I think the shareholders and board of directos are to be blamed too. The goals they set, the contracts they put down to the CEO, the expectations they put across to the CEOs; all these add up to creating the vicious cycle. They promise the CEOs for millions of stocks, special perks even private jets etc…all about is to “get my stock price to the next high level!”.

So when the economy cracks, we put all the CEOs in the line of fire. What about those people who might have directly and indirectly ‘encourage’ them to do so? It is truely drive behind the big G word, not God but Greed.

What can we as Christians should do in responding to time like this?

Frankly I still think that we need to spend. But spend wisely. The other aspect is to realise that how important it is for us to build up our wealth in heaven than on earth. Jesus promised us that we could use our earthly gains or wealth to turn it into something that would last for eternity. In time like this, we should learn to give, help people in needs. Yes, you and I have our constraints and worries about tomorrow. However, these days will pass but not eternity.

What is the point to have many $ left behind when you find out that in heaven you have such a deficit? All the wealth that God has given you is entrusting you to use it in accordance to His will: listen to Him to care for those in needs. It is in time like this that we can show genuine love. We don’t just pray for our poor friends or friends in need and say “Now walk in faith, God will meet your needs”. Do you expect God will drop some $ from heaven? (Well I always wish that God might do that)

No! It is you and me who are supposed to be the angel to our friends in need. If you have excess (that’s really a challenging thing to define), pray and think about giving and sharing. In the company business world, vicious cycles are created and they are in some way, quite cruel. But in God’s world, we are to be different, we are to distinguished ourselves from this world even though we live in it. A different sets of values driven by the Love of Christ, not Greed.

If you have more than others, yes, it is a blessing and it can only be a blessing when you release it to someone in real needs. Putting it inside a safe (we know how money can loose its value) won’t bring you recognition from Christ for your good deeds living as His sons and daughters. I am not against the idea to save for rainy days but truely, how much do you really need to keep? Yes, it is a balance equation we need to figure out. Not that profit equation without balancing other equations only leading to definite problems. But an equation that when you give because of taking heed from Christ, your profit in heaven is multiplied, and eternal.

So, it is not an economic crisis or downturn but an upturn for Christians to be shaken or awaken.

我很喜欢台北。真的，我喜欢它虽然是个都市，却仍然保有许多小弄、小巷的。高高低低的一栋栋，楼上可以是住宅或者是办公室，楼下是商铺或者小吃店。也许在街道上看来似乎没有什么规划，似乎杂乱无章，可是一踏入餐馆、小吃店、或者是咖啡馆，就会发现老板或老板娘的用心：古色古香的桌椅、或者是别具特色的餐具、或者是墙壁上的壁画、彩绘、又或者是一些小摆设；让进来的人都感觉到独特、温馨，气氛绝对适合用餐或者一面聊天，一面品评咖啡或奶茶；又或者在一个角落，可以细细的阅读自己喜欢的书本，绝对不会有人要赶你走。

可是，来到街上，就是截然不同的步伐。行人行色匆匆，嘴角不带一点微笑，每个的脸上都有个故事，茫然的望向自己的目标，丝毫没有察觉到旁人的存在。

台北最不可思议的，就是上下班高峰的时候，在路口的红灯，永远有很多很多的摩托车。有的你甚至可以看到一家大小坐在一起，或者是在主人的腿间，冒出一只小狗狗的头。由于路面的面积有限，大家都似乎挤在一块儿，却又小心翼翼的避免碰撞旁人的摩托车。排出来的废气，在等候80秒长的红灯转绿的摩托车骑士来说，是个每天都要面对健康问题。于是，为了健康，为了面对天天要挑战的废气，大部分的人都戴上了口罩。

说来很好玩，很多的人带口罩，不是千篇一律的，有的很别具特色。女士们戴的花样可多了：米奇老鼠、小叮当、HELLO KITY的都有。男士们就比较简单，不过有看过有花布做的，不知道是不是太太亲手做的。不过口罩的功能不是只用来对付废气，事实上如果有人有感冒，都会很自觉的带上口罩。因此，在步行匆匆的人群中，总会看到有人戴口罩。

没有尴尬、没有不好意思。

Hangzhou xihu is a very famous tourist location in China of Zhejiang province. There were many poems, travellers’ writings, articles that were written about xihu as far back as 1000 years ago.

The beautiful love story (well, actually kind of weird to the westerners) was also written with xihu, the west lake, as the backdrop. A young scholar one day ran into a beautiful lady with her maid. They fell in love, got married. However, the young scholar didn’t know that this wife was actually a snake (so was her maid) that had lived so long and acquired the ‘way’ to live long with magical power and also able to transformed into human.

Such love was forbidden to the eyes of the ‘righteous religious’, a monk represent (subtly) the tradition view that such marriage was unorthodox, insane, unheard of, unacceptable, ‘no one did this before’. Only speculative that the wife would harm him one day, no longer love him.

The scholar was scared and frightened and agreed to help the monk to deal with his wife. Only did he realise later that how much the wife had sacrificed to choose a life that was never in her plan, crazily in love with this young scholar only resulted turning against her.

I was at xihu for business trip. I believe that was 2004 Jan. Due to the drastic development in China, the weather had changed that some told me, Hangzhou, where xihu was located, had not been snowing for many years.

But that morning, the magical moment came in as a surprised. I was having my breakfast in the hotel cafe when someone was shouting, “oh look! It is snowing outside.” I quickly dashed out with my camera although I was freezingly cold. I walked across the street (I stayed at Shangri-la which is very close by to xihu) and just simply shot pictures. With only a simple digital camera, without any carefulness in getting views, and this is one I got which I really love it.

死对我们华人来说，应该是个忌讳，尤其是老一辈的人，你问他今年多大，他几乎就要跟你翻脸。我以前很纳闷，为什么老人家不肯说自己活了多少；我觉得，既然能活得这样老，应该是感到自豪的（尤其是身体、精神都很健康）。后来我才知道，原来老人家是害怕说了就会折寿。怕被不好的东西听到了，就来减寿。这当然是没有根据的。。嘿嘿

因此，人都是希望自己活到老，能够继续的活下去。尤其记得许多感人热泪的求生故事，我们都称赞这样的人，他们的那种生命力、那种不妥协、不放弃，正是我们今天社会需要的。

可是，却有人在倡议安乐死，原因是，因为有的人得了绝症，对家人、国家、医疗资源等，都是个浪费；有的人在绝望中，想要死的有尊严，因此，寻求安乐死。

在看过许多的讨论中，很多都是因为沉重的负担、觉得对不起家人、不堪绝症在治疗上延长生命的痛苦；因此认为自己应该有选择，可以安乐死。

这样的想法，其实跟想自杀的人差不多。想到要自杀的人，都认为自己是个负担、对不起家人、觉得自己没有任何的存在意义等等，所以想寻死。

这样的想法是很自我中心的。把自己的价值用物质的贡献来衡量，觉得自己无法贡献了，成了家里的经济负担，就没有资格生存下去。可是，那些在面对死亡威胁的人，却不是这样想。他们想到的是：我还想跟家人在一起；他们想到的是，如果自己一旦离开，其实对家人、朋友都会有造成损失或伤害：现在不是时候，我要活下去，这样的呐喊，成为他们的动力去求存。

人生本来就是会有生老病死，如果人寻求安乐死，对他的后人来说，无形中成为一个榜样：受不了的时候，生命没有意义继续下去。这，跟去跳楼自杀的有什么分别？又有何尊严可言呢？我们到底要传递什么信息给我们的下一代？这不只是个立法问题而已。。。。。

Life is full of twists and turns. Just when we thought that something good was up and coming, looking forward for a change, suddenly, the whole scenario was turned around.

With frustration and uncertainty of our current jobs, children educations etc, when we heard that there was a chance to move to another city to work, we thought, why not? May be we could start all over again. (Isn’t this very common that when we felt at the end of a road, we just hope to start all over again?)

The thoughts gave us opportunities to imagine what it would be like when we moved there. The wife would want to take a break from her career hoping the husband’s allowances and pay could cover the family expenses. Well, of course, we get to spend more time with the kids.

For years, I keep wondering if I focus too much into my career and I got back home tired and exhausted. I did try my best to help out in the kids’ homework but quite often, I sighed and hope that my wife could have more time with the kids.

However, the standard of living in this city doesn’t allow us to just live on one salary income, especially now we realise that every 10 years we will have 1 financial turmoil, I experienced a couple of laid off before. It was tough. As I grow older, this lay off thing is unthinkable.

We feel that we were just hanging there, sustaining there and yet no way for a new breakthrough.

But what keeps us going is to clinging on to faith in God. That’s our only hope. For we had experienced how God himself had pulled us through. We don’t have a crystal ball to see the future, or yes how we wish to have one. But learning to trust is a real challenge and to have peace and rest in his bossom, is no something psychological but through faith it can be experienced.

We really need one now.