Tag: Youth

Jump-Start

It’s the New Year. Let’s start with new ideas.

I have noticed after living here (Saigon) for a while that there hardly is any basketball court.

A city full of young people, but no basketball. I don’t play the game myself. I just jog. But for those who look for a place to make a difference in the lives of young people, why not asking around to find some way to start this sport.

It’s ironic that in a country whose young people help produce Nike Shoes yet there is an eerie absence of basketball courts.

Fitness, coordination and collaboration of this team sport are just a few skill-set that last a life time.

I am sure the expats and tourists could join in to break a sweat during their in-country stay as well.

My second idea is to have a platform on which  people can practice and promote their story telling and screen play.

Like WordPress, but with template and tutorial: characterization, plot, conflict and resolution.

A few years ago, Boyz in the Hood made a splash due to its screen play. We learned about inner-city plight of young people trapped in harsh circumstances (South Central).

William Goldman talked about Hollywood in turmoil back in the 80’s. Now it’s still the same. No sure-fire formula for success.

By crowd-source story ideas and screen play, we make our world richer with creativity and hard-to-get-to corners where shadows are darker and perhaps light is brighter.

We cut of unemployment insurance to 1 million people. I am sure one in a million has a story to tell, if not all.

Why not have a story board for them to post their pleas and plight, instead of just post in compliance to “act” as if they have looked for a job.

We live in a world of pretense. Why not take it to the next productive level: sell your story (suffering or triumph).

Use it. Pain and all.

Life is tough. Now let’s get going, dribble a ball or scribble a story, transforming the negative into positive.

The world and what it has to offer, actually depends on what and how far you go about searching for it. You have the right to a phone call or the pursuit of happiness.  2014 multiple choices. The art of jump-start an idea.

It only takes a spark to get a fire going.

Art expressions in most unlikely places

You would have never thought of running into people ballroom-dancing in the park. But here in GoVap new park, where the young trees are still being nursed, and the lights barely lit up, people came out and did just that. Young and old, male and female, they came out when the heat started to ease. Reminds me of a line in Saturday in the Park, by Chicago (people dancing, people talking, a man selling ice-cream).

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said 42,000 people still died from unexploded land mines (see Huffington Post).

Perhaps the late Princess Diana would have grieved in her grave.

That’s amount to a lot of dancing feet, had they remained above ground.

Someone was practicing the violin tonight . Last night, I heard a flute (which reminded me of my daughter). It’s soon be time for me to pick up the guitar again.

Survival instruments.

When it’s hot, crowded and polluted, you just don’t go out and buy Friedman’s book.  You learn how to cope with realities.

Young students got used to taking the bus. It saves time and money, although in this culture, or even in the US, when you wait for the bus, you are either homeless or down-and-out on your luck.

Public transit somehow was played down by the likes of Ford and GM, when gas was still cheap and the streets spare of traffic.

Those dynamics have now changed, especially here in Asia.

People had resisted the helmet law for a while, until they became convinced by the saved lives. Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie were here to adopt their Vietnamese child.

They had ridden the streets of Ho Chi Minh City right before the law took effect.

The last of the Mohicans.

f it weren’t for the computers, we would see more youth troubles on the street. As it turns out, they are sitting right next to me, and behind me.

I am staying out of trouble too, even at my age.

Social media, blogging, and gaming.

Some companies (French ones) went ahead and forbade employees from using email. They prefer instant messaging for quick results.

Facebook was prescient on this, when its CEO announced the death of email as we knew it.

Young people communicate instantly without format and formality.

Just a quick question.

Here is a quick answer.

Boom!

Hurry up and get to the park, where people are talking, people are dancing, a man selling ice-cream.

Any day in the park.

A platform, a boombox, a partner and there we go.

One and two, one and two.

Dancing under the stars.

The good Lord rains on the field of both the good and the evil.

He gave each a longing for beauty that transcends place, politics and power of the purse.

Who says poor people are boring? I think the opposite is true.