Newsletter No. 341

No. 341, 19.8.2009 5 星空下的中文大學 梁國信 計算機科學與工程學系 CUHK Campus in the Starlight Leung Kwok-shun Department of Computer Science and Engineering W e set out from Kunming, Yunnan. Our teammanaged to reach the village closest to the main ‘road’ after 18 hours of bumpy car ride in the mountains, having had to cross the river several times along the way. The route up to the furthest village required at least another 40 minutes of upstream travel by speedboat, and more hiking along the river bank. If modern telecommunication coverage was an indication of remoteness, we were very far away from modern civilization—both our mobile phones and the newly-rented satellite phones had no network coverage. The power of nature had reduced most of the villages to rubble, with 100% destruction for some. Six months after the earthquake, we found 75% of the families still living in ‘anatomy specimen-looking houses’, as the powerful earthquake had sliced through the buildings, splitting them into half. Some households simply camped in make-shift tents next to piles of bricks and beams. Hazards Everywhere Public health hazards were prevalent in the area. Although earthquakes have a similar injury and mortality pattern to other disasters, there are major public health concerns. The results of preliminary investigation indicated that general health knowledge was low. Gastrointestinal and parasitic infections were common. The health cost of common and frequently occurring diseases was high, and medical visits were a major burden on families surviving on a monthly household income of under RMB¥300. Empty beer bottles, stagnant sewage water, running poultry and animal excretion were all within living premises. Children were running bare feet on shattered glasses, fallen debris and rusty iron nails. Water quality was highly questionable as dead insects were found in almost every water basin. People smoked and cooked indoors, and the small windows offered very limited ventilation. Villagers Work in Concert The demographic pattern there was different from what we expected in rural China, which tends to consist of people at the extremes of the age spectrum and the sick, because the young and healthy often prefer to seek a better living in the city. In the area under study, we found strong, working- aged people who returned to the area because they were unable to find employment in urban areas. In the daytime, they helped to rebuild the damaged houses. The women cleared the debris while the children ran around, and the elderly mixed cement and took care of the logistics of rebuilding. The process was very slow but everyone was busy. The villagers were also very hospitable. They offered us their best food and drink — beer. While conducting door-to-door surveys, we were constantly chased by barking dogs in the villages, most of which apparently had not been vaccinated against Rabies. Indeed, if resources were available, many simple public health interventions could have been done. For instance, we could have brought medical volunteers and public health students there to help address needs. But from a public health protection perspective, vaccination for dogs might have been the most important! Back to Nature The assessment work was arduous, especially when resources were limited. One night, we had to travel back to base camp in the dark after working in one of the remotest villages in Jinshajiang. We were anxious since the trip required us to descend a 60-degree sand slope to reach the river bank where our boat was docked. It was completely dark and we had nothing more than a faint flashlight. Under normal circumstances, we would not have run down that 100-metre sand slope at full speed, but not doing so would have meant quickly sinking up to our waistlines in the sand. We managed to reach the boat, but we could hardly speak as we were all exhausted after 14 hours of survey interviews, running away from dogs, and the adrenaline rush from running down the slope. Worst of all, we knew we would not be seeing a shower or a proper toilet for at least another five days. We were depressed when thinking how far away we were from home. Perhaps the only consolation might be the instant cup noodles and canned sardines that awaited us in the base camp. But once we calmed down in the speedboat, we began to appreciate the silence that filled the air as we sat in awe at the vast wilderness surrounding us. We were mesmerized by the starlight that fell upon the river, the light breeze that brushed our sand- and mud-covered faces and the calm river with occasional sparkly splashes. And I thought, what an experience our team is bringing home! 《思想的力量：學術探索之旅的另類自傳》 雅諾什 ‧ 科爾奈 ( János Kornai ) 著、刁琳琳譯 作者是傑出的匈牙利經濟學家，是 東西學術界交流的使者，數年前自 哈佛大學經濟學終身教授席上榮 休。 這部自傳描述了科爾奈長達半世紀 的研究經歷及成果，並介紹了進行 這些研究工作時的社會和政治環 境。許多秘密警察文件及告密者對 科爾奈活動的報告，塵封已久，最 近才得到披露，清楚地展示了作者在探索學術追求真理中 所擁有的勇氣和思想力。 國際統一書號： 978-962-996-395-8 售價： 27美元（平裝） , 650頁 出版：中文大學出版社 《從中國歷史來看中國民族性及中國文化》 錢穆著 1978年，八十四高齡的錢穆先生回 香港中文大學新亞書院主持「錢賓 四先生學術文化講座」。他以大半生 的識見、古今中外的例證，勾畫出幾 千年來中國文化孕育出來的特徵。 本書是「錢賓四先生學術文化講 座」首講的講稿。作者針對「五 四」以來國人崇尚西學，1949年後 更因為政治原因，致中國傳統文化遭到災劫。通過六次的演 講，錢氏描繪出幾千年來中國文化孕育出來的特徵，跟西方 文化作相互比較，其中包括中國傳統社會中的人倫關係、政 府的用人標準、中國人歷代追求的生活境界等。 國際統一書號： 978-962-201-203-5 售價： 9.5美元（平裝） , 180頁 出版：中文大學出版社