胡锦涛的鞠躬

习近平在人大闭幕时这样歌颂他的前任：“胡锦涛同志担任国家主席10年间，以丰富的政治智慧、高超的领导才能、勤勉的工作精神，为坚持和发展中国特色社会主义建立了卓越的功勋，赢得了全国各族人民忠心爱戴和国际社会普遍赞誉。我们向胡锦涛同志，表示衷心的感谢和崇高的敬意！”[2013-03-17 09:27]。然后，胡锦涛起身，向大厅里在座的代表一鞠躬，再扭过去，向主席台上他曾经的同僚和部属二鞠躬。

过去党国的官人，都不必鞠躬，因为不存在谢位，不是被干掉就是在位尽瘁。胡锦涛成了第一个，既没尽瘁，又没被干掉，还裸腿全谢位。他看透了，恋栈没什么好事，上下受气，放手、裸腿，会比前任高一大截，因此而赢得世人尊敬。

鞠躬，本就一个简单的礼貌动作，却在国人的习惯里消失已久，替代的都是些粗鲁和吆喝。九十年代回国曾取道日本，在东京的同学带我一道领略新干线。那时候人家的检票员一进车厢，先是向大家问个好鞠个躬，大概是“打扰了，希望大家合作”的意思；检完票要离开本车厢，人家扭过来再向大家一鞠躬，大概是“谢谢大家合作，路途愉快”吧。这个动作一直留在我的脑海里，一直让我觉得人家才是礼仪之邦。至今。

现在，我们仍然不习惯以鞠躬表谢意，更何况一国之君。虽说胡国君鞠躬时一如既往仍然面无表情，并且他留下的社会现状也问题多多，但他的本分和谦躬，让左中右各派谁也不愿意去责备他的无能为力，反而让人们更能理解他无心恋栈的心情。

这十年间，社会在他的任期一步步地滑到“道德沦丧”，仔细想想，其实就是从失“礼”开始的。不论白道黑道，捞到钱权的就是正道，已经渗透每个角落。那“礼”还能值几个小钱？没了“礼”哪还有“道”。不是说盗也有道的吗，可如今堕落到一个偷车贼连两岁的孩子都杀口；何论为掌权立威而拿下不听话的“对手”，就像胡温当初对待根本不在一个级别上的上海陈。
 
习的家世和经历成就了他不必一上台就大开杀戒，只要喊两嗓子，就可以起到对官吏队伍的震撼。君不见一江猪尸向东流，就是其威慑力量的一种反映。而刘邦那种出身卑微，要靠杀恩人项羽才能登位，要靠杀功臣韩信才能立威，实在不能同日而语。虽说习老大高歌说，国人要有共同享有人生出彩的机会，要有共同享有梦想成真的机会，要有共同享有同祖国和时代一起成长和进步的机会。但平民和官家即使都能得到这种机会，其代价也一定是天壤不同的。当然，习老大至少知道了，要喊出追求公平正义，追求平分蛋糕，追求保护环境，别再溅卖资源而余留子孙。
 
所以我在想，习要是能在提拔他的梯队干部时，先让他们从军，然后才到工农学基层中加以历练，然后再步步提升。过二十三十年熬上了头，现任的军头都是自己当年的同辈战友，自然驾驭国力就如履平步。反过来，像薄熙来那样的缺了军旅生涯这一课，只能成为浮萍愣头青；还有郭树清那样的实干将，一动人家的奶酪就得卷铺盖走人；再是刘源那种先士后军的本末倒置，也不大灵光；最后到了胡春华、周强那些没有军队历练的团子辈，上去了也就又一个胡锦涛，当够蹩脚的小媳妇整天受气包。所以，等习到期下台，若中国的法律/制度不再是为某个人而设，为某个主义而定，习也就可以平淡潇洒地鞠个躬，平平安安地谢幕，不再当那垂帘老江，那样中国就真叫进步了。

真的希望，中国的进步轮回，就从胡锦涛的鞠躬开始吧。
 

[stillthere]

Japanese know how to share the road

by Shannon Corregan / Times Colonist
March 22, 2013


Every weekday morning, I hop on the bus and ride up Fort Street. (Well, I don’t so much hop as crawl blearily, but you know what I mean.)

My ride isn’t long — nine or 10 minutes at the most — but it’s an unusual week when I don’t see some instance of aggressive driving during my morning commute. With its short lanes, cramped intersections and high volume of traffic, Fort Street is full of people who cut each other off in last-minute lane changes, or who tailgate, stop only reluctantly for pedestrians or who are just generally impatient on their way to work.

It’s harrowing to watch the cyclists leave their lane to turn left. They swerve into vehicle traffic with an aggressive desperation, determined to make their turn before they’re cut off or clipped by a driver who refuses to understand that bikes are permitted (indeed, sometimes forced) to take up an entire lane.

Even though Victoria has excellent bike lanes and generally positive attitudes toward cycling, sometimes it seems as though drivers and cyclists treat each other like natural enemies. They are defensive of their respective territories and quick to snarl over the inconveniences of sharing the road.

But it isn’t like that everywhere. I’ve recently returned from a trip to Japan, and while I was there, the friend I was visiting took me to Shibuya Crossing.

If you’ve ever seen a film set in Tokyo, you’ve probably seen Shibuya Crossing. It’s an enormous junction, walled in by giant TV screens blaring candy-coloured ads, which are all but drowned out by the pop music that screams from the advertising vans that career through the narrow streets. (Almost all streets in Japan, even in state-of-the-art Tokyo, are surprisingly narrow and claustrophobic.) Shibuya is the trendiest district in Tokyo and the shoppers are packed shoulder-to-shoulder on the sidewalks.

The Crossing is so busy that pedestrians and cars can’t share it — pedestrians flood across it all at once. Next, it’s the cars’ turn, and they surge through the intersection.

While we were watching this mesmerizing madness, a young woman — armed with nothing more than a blasé sort of confidence — pedalled her bike into the unlined centre of the intersection, her child snug in its back seat. She wore no helmet (they aren’t a thing in Japan). Nobody honked at her to hurry up, or to get out of their way (honking isn’t really a thing in Japan, either). Cautious but calm, she sat in the middle of the maelstrom, waiting for a safe place to turn and trusting that she would find one. It was fantastic.

We observed a similar phenomenon in Kyoto, where cyclists and pedestrians shared the sidewalk in close proximity with no clear rules. There were bike lanes, but nobody bothered about them. I found it stressful at first, but nobody ran us off the path. Nobody got hurt. The cyclists were attentive and the pedestrians were conscientious, and there were no accidents.

It seemed that there was simply a much higher tolerance for the cross-pollination of traffic streams in urban Japan. As an outsider, it seemed that the prevailing attitude was one of mutual respect. Everybody acknowledged that everyone else had the right to be on the road (or sidewalk), and even without carving out a space for bike lanes, everyone seemed safe.

The numbers seem to bear this out. As of 2009, Japan was reporting 3.85 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year, while Canada was reporting 9.2; the U.S. was reporting 12.3. Of course these numbers include rural data as well as urban, and Japan’s reliance on its astoundingly excellent train transportation systems keeps its traffic deaths down, but still.

I’m not saying that we should abolish lines on our roads and go in for a free-for all, nor that Japanese traffic is chaos — on the contrary, it’s very orderly. But this seems to be the case at least partly because, even in spaces where there are no rules, drivers and cyclists nevertheless remember that everyone has a right to the road, and willingly share it.

Japan is a country famed for its politeness, so perhaps it’s not surprising that this consideration extends to its traffic. But Canadians are famed for our politeness, too. Maybe we should try to remember that in traffic.

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© Copyright 2013

[stillthere]

是的，日本才是真正的礼仪之邦。至今。

WE CHINESE HAVE A LOT, YES, A LOT, TO LEARN FROM JAPANESE. PERIOD.

[needtime]

啥时候，不用期待谁上台，社会也能富裕不断进步，算是天降大运给中华了。

[（晨曦）]

习在官场混了几十年，看不到习是个酒囊饭袋的本质多少是个遗憾。他的上台确实是中国人民的悲哀。

[Wxcqq]

Excellent gestiure, this bow tells a lot. I was very touched by ang lee's bow at Oscar awards when he won the best directing on his life of pi, before he said anything, he took a deep bow.... My eyes started to well... To bow is our Chinese trandition, lets resume to do it....