{"id":7349,"date":"2024-02-10T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2024-02-10T00:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=7349"},"modified":"2024-02-11T09:09:43","modified_gmt":"2024-02-11T01:09:43","slug":"323-the-way-of-the-dragon-%e9%be%8d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=7349","title":{"rendered":"323. The Way of the Dragon (\u9f8d)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>14\u00a0<\/sup>Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evildoers.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>15\u00a0<\/sup>Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>16\u00a0<\/sup>For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>17\u00a0<\/sup>For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>18\u00a0<\/sup>But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>19\u00a0<\/sup>The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what they stumble over.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>23\u00a0<\/sup>Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>24\u00a0<\/sup>Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>25\u00a0<\/sup>Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>26\u00a0<\/sup>Keep straight the path of your feet, and all your ways will be sure.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>27\u00a0<\/sup>Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">. [<\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Proverbs 4: 14-19,23-27<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">, <em>NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><sup> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Year-of-the-Dragon.8.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7350\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Year-of-the-Dragon.8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1094\" height=\"616\" \/><\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">CGTN, the English-language news channel of China Global Television Network, based in Beijing, uploaded a video titled \u201c<strong>The Year of the Dragon: Chinese dragon soars despite West&#8217;s biased caricature<\/strong>.\u201d It features George Galloway, a fearless, trustworthy, straight-talking political commentator of great oratorical skills, a rare breed from Britain. Currently the leader of the Workers Party, he also hosts the talk show \u201cThe Mother of All Talk Shows\u201d. He is very knowledgeable about the illegal US invasion of Iraq and its intentional, inhuman devastation. His fury over the insane killing and destruction of a beautiful country by the conniving West remains untamed. That Bush and Blair have never even been charged with crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for what they had done to the Iraqis, that Netanyahu is still not charged for what he is doing in Gaza, and yet an arrest warrant was issued against Putin practically at the outset of the Ukraine conflict, is testimony enough to a biased system at the bidding of Western powers. The rest of the world sees all this, knows what\u2019s going on, is vigilant of this Western narrative, and is holding the West\u2019s hypocrisy in contempt.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Galloway is adamant that the US foreign policy is a poison well for the world. The BBC episode on 26 Sept 2014 in which he turned on Jacqui Smith, a former member of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown&#8217;s cabinets and said, \u201cYou killed one million people in Iraq\u201d and menacingly stopped her from spewing further nonsense, is something to watch!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On his current Year of the Dragon video, the editor of the First Voice of CGTN noted:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>The year 2024 marks the Year of the Dragon. Through the ages, the Western narrative has often portrayed the dragon as a fire-breathing creature. Conversely, in China, the dragon is seen as benevolent and even being emblematic of the nation. The contrasting portrayal of this mythical animal has contributed to the West having a skewed and adversarial depiction of China. So, what is the real Chinese dragon? George Galloway, former British MP, pulls off the facade of Western narrative regarding the Chinese dragon and presents us with the authentic essence of this majestic creature that transcends time and cultural nuances.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Make no mistake, the US-led Western propaganda machine is all about control over narrative-right (<strong>\u8bdd\u8bed<\/strong><strong>\u6743<\/strong><strong>)<\/strong>. The world\u2019s mega media outlets being overwhelmingly Western, their domestic and international audiences have been thoroughly indoctrinated and quite irreparably harmed. For instance, one analyst puts it plainly: \u201cAmericans are unable to understand why Putin invaded Ukraine.\u201d Nor, we must add, can they understand why the Palestinians are resisting Israeli genocidal atrocities against them in their own homeland, Palestine. The rest of the world realizes this, and is consciously working on countering this extensive, protracted, and continuing damage. Able-speakers everywhere ought to be supported. Just and righteous analysts from the West ought to be appreciated and promoted. In small ways, we must help our people to open their eyes, and \u201cknow what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you wish to watch George Galloway speaking, go to <strong><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.cgtn.com\/news\/2024-02-04\/Unmasking-China-s-true-dragon-Beyond-Western-bias-1qVdf5bCvPa\/p.html\">https:\/\/news.cgtn.com\/news\/2024-02-04\/Unmasking-China-s-true-dragon-Beyond-Western-bias-1qVdf5bCvPa\/p.html<\/a><\/strong>. The transcript is reproduced below. It makes for interesting reading and offers a fair picture of China, away from the run-of-the-mill negative caricature by the West.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The Chinese New Year on February 10 will see the dawn of the Year of the Loong \u2013 better known in the English-speaking world as the iconic Chinese dragon. And the dragon is a powerful thing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The Western media often use the imagery of the fire-spewing dragon to project a hostile image of China. So don\u2019t be surprised to see top Western media outlets resorting to similar \u201cdragon\u201d headlines and caricatures to perpetuate a biased narrative against Beijing in the Year of the Loong.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Why, we have already seen The Economist featuring on its cover a Chinese dragon breathing fire on the Earth with the title screaming \u201cThe World&#8217;s Worst Polluter.\u201d This claim ignores the fact that the U.S. and European nations have historically been the biggest emitters since the industrial revolution and conveniently hides the per capita numbers, which puts Chinese emissions way below much of the developed West.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Meanwhile, there have also been lectures in the Western academic corridors with titles such as \u201cThe Chinese Dragon and the Yellow Peril,\u201d reeking racist undertones. These prejudiced narratives involving the dragon caricature in the Western media and political-academic discourse contrast with China&#8217;s actual contributions and initiatives fostering global cooperation and development, in stark contradiction to the negative imagery associated with the dragon metaphor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Many Western leaders have tried to stop the continuous rise of the dragon over the last 75 years, but all have failed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Modern China with its mixed economy under Socialist leadership has swept all before it. The sun has risen in the east. In Rudyard Kipling\u2019s words \u2018like thunder, out of China across the bay.\u201d And it has lit up not just the road to Mandalay.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">China&#8217;s Belt and Road Initiative is paving the way to prosperity all over the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Roads, railways, and aviation are forging ahead in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and even in the Middle East. According to official figures, two-way investment between China and the over 130 countries that are involved in the BRI totalled more than $380 billion between 2013 and 2022, among which China\u2019s outward direct investment exceeded $240 billion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">It is a new kind of Loong, or dragon, seeking neither dominion nor subjugation but cooperation and the philosophy of win-win. While China&#8217;s adversaries deliver lectures, orders, threats, and invasions, China delivers airports, high-speed rail links, six-lane highways, and rising prosperity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">While others foment war, sending the horsemen of the apocalypse to ride roughshod over millions of lives, China brokers peace, reconciliation and harmony.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The Chinese economy is set fair with rising life-expectancy, standards of health, and educational attainment, and stands atop all happiness indexes as her rivals sink into a slough of despond.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">A good comparator is the United Kingdom which last year named China as its \u201cbiggest threat.\u201d No government in the whole world is less popular with its own citizens than that of Britain. No developed economy perches more precariously on the precipice. No G7 country is more divided with national institutions, more hollowed out. Like Don Quixote, the British government tilts at foreign windmills which are a figment of its imagination. Whether through derangement or deliberate displacement activity, who can tell? But it makes no difference. The more China advances, the more the UK falls behind, and none can see it more clearly than the British people themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The Loong aka Dragon is rising, leaping, bounding. And Rishi Sunak sure isn&#8217;t anybody\u2019s idea of \u201cSt. George.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Wishing you all a happy Spring Festival Lunar New Year break.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Copyright \u00a9 Dr. Jeffrey &amp; Angie Goh, February 2024. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To comment, email\u00a0<u><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"mailto:jeffangiegoh@gmail.com\">jeffangiegoh@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>14\u00a0Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evildoers. 15\u00a0Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. 16\u00a0For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. 17\u00a0For they eat the <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=7349\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Dr. Jeffrey &amp; Angie Goh","author_link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?author=1"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?cat=1\" rel=\"category\">From Our Perspective<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"14\u00a0Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evildoers. 15\u00a0Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. 16\u00a0For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. 17\u00a0For they eat the&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7349"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7349"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7356,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7349\/revisions\/7356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}