第一篇：12班蒲公英計(jì)劃心得(王力)

專家引領(lǐng)春風(fēng)化雨，助推教師專業(yè)成長(zhǎng)

——參加新疆書法教師“蒲公英計(jì)劃”公益培訓(xùn)班學(xué)習(xí)心得

十天前，我們懷著虔誠(chéng)之心風(fēng)塵仆仆得從天山南北奔赴首府烏魯木齊，參加新疆書法教師“蒲公英”公益培訓(xùn)班的學(xué)習(xí)，十天后，我們懷揣著作為新時(shí)代書法教師的責(zé)任和擔(dān)當(dāng)，老師教給我們的正確的學(xué)書方法，可謂滿載而歸。現(xiàn)在我把自己的學(xué)習(xí)體會(huì)與各位分享如下。

一、我們參加“蒲公英計(jì)劃”教學(xué)團(tuán)隊(duì)的老師們無(wú)私奉獻(xiàn)，嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)治學(xué)的精神，自身豐富的學(xué)養(yǎng)，淵博的知識(shí)，深入淺出的生動(dòng)教學(xué)，為我們作出了表率。

各位老師們?cè)谥v授時(shí)理論性和實(shí)踐性相統(tǒng)一，老師們游刃有余，信手拈來(lái)的比喻和小故事恰如其分的穿插，讓課堂生動(dòng)活潑，引人入勝。席間，妙語(yǔ)連珠，深入淺出、通俗易懂的講授，如醍醐灌頂。我們不僅僅是在學(xué)習(xí)，在聽(tīng)課，更多的是一種精神上的享受，精神家園的建構(gòu)。

“蒲公英計(jì)劃”教學(xué)團(tuán)隊(duì)的老師們敬業(yè)奉獻(xiàn)，傾其所有，不辭勞苦，把自己所學(xué)悉數(shù)傳授給廣大學(xué)員，讓人欽佩和動(dòng)容。尤其是教學(xué)團(tuán)隊(duì)的李鴻儀老師老驥伏櫪，仍然不顧天氣的炎熱和路途的遙遠(yuǎn)來(lái)給我們授課。他號(hào)召我們?nèi)硇耐度雽W(xué)習(xí)，甚至坦陳自己多年前學(xué)書時(shí)遇到的挫折來(lái)鼓勵(lì)我們。我們?nèi)w學(xué)員都應(yīng)該以各位老師為榜樣，搞好中小學(xué)書法教學(xué)，致力于培養(yǎng)一批批有書卷氣，傳承祖國(guó)優(yōu)秀傳統(tǒng)文化的莘莘學(xué)子。正所謂：落紅不是無(wú)情物，化作春泥更護(hù)花。

老師們?yōu)榱俗屛覀兏嗟丶橙ǖ闹R(shí)和營(yíng)養(yǎng)，為我們注入更多的“源頭活水”，夏日炎炎，顧不得喝水和休息片刻，委實(shí)讓人油然而生一種崇高的敬意，這也是我們作為同行終其一生的追求。

二、老師們言傳身教，讓我們端正了學(xué)習(xí)態(tài)度。本次學(xué)習(xí)是公益培訓(xùn)，“蒲公英計(jì)劃”教學(xué)團(tuán)隊(duì)和各級(jí)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)部門竭誠(chéng)為各位學(xué)員服務(wù)，為我們提供了這次含金量非常高的學(xué)習(xí)機(jī)會(huì)，尤其是我這個(gè)南疆小城的老師能參加這樣高級(jí)別的培訓(xùn)，真的是對(duì)南疆教育的大力扶助，讓人備受鼓舞。“蒲公英”團(tuán)隊(duì)為我們創(chuàng)設(shè)了良好的學(xué)習(xí)環(huán)境和居住環(huán)境，營(yíng)造了濃厚的學(xué)習(xí)氛圍，助推我們的專業(yè)成長(zhǎng)。

三、通過(guò)聆聽(tīng)老師們各具特色的講座，使我更加明確了此次學(xué)習(xí)培訓(xùn)的目的和意義。

“蒲公英計(jì)劃”教學(xué)團(tuán)隊(duì)的各位老師都多次強(qiáng)調(diào)，作為新時(shí)期的書法教師應(yīng)該注意緊扣“三個(gè)字”即：看得懂、講得透、寫得精。作為一名書法教師，最重要的是要教學(xué)生學(xué)書法的方法，熏陶和訓(xùn)練并重，技法和藝術(shù)并舉，畢竟“傳道”是教師的首要任務(wù)，只有這樣，學(xué)生才能在教師的引領(lǐng)下，感受書法經(jīng)典的大美，達(dá)到以美育人的目的。而提高教師自身的書法水平并不是學(xué)習(xí)培訓(xùn)的最終目的。通過(guò)參訓(xùn)人員帶動(dòng)、培養(yǎng)一大批學(xué)生，共建偉大書法夢(mèng)才是這次主辦方舉辦這次培訓(xùn)的初衷。

四、改變了先前狹隘的理念和粗淺的認(rèn)識(shí)，學(xué)到了書法的專業(yè)知識(shí)，讓我們?nèi)玢宕猴L(fēng)，如飲甘霖，意猶未盡。

各位老師雖然講授內(nèi)容不同，但方式方法各具特色，在講授時(shí)都很注重理論和實(shí)踐相結(jié)合，講解與練習(xí)并舉，形式活潑生動(dòng)，內(nèi)容豐富，含金量極高。

各位老師都以精辟的講解和極高的專業(yè)素養(yǎng)及書法水平讓我們贊不絕口，欽佩不已，嘆為觀止。如汪永江老師著重強(qiáng)調(diào)書法是體現(xiàn)人的真實(shí)內(nèi)心的藝術(shù)，作為書法教師要提高自身的書法水平必須要認(rèn)真臨習(xí)經(jīng)典古帖，學(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)典，與古人高尚的靈魂對(duì)話。周振老師具體從技法訓(xùn)練上對(duì)前幾位老師所講授的內(nèi)容進(jìn)行了拓展和延伸，講到臨帖時(shí)可以采用疊加或去除的方法來(lái)分析原帖，可以從《顏勤禮碑》、《大字陰符經(jīng)》和《禮器碑》之間的聯(lián)系來(lái)認(rèn)識(shí)這三種帖。周老師還通過(guò)我們的書寫練習(xí)提出了我們現(xiàn)在存在的主要問(wèn)題，還很詳細(xì)地幫助我們分析例字，引導(dǎo)我們自主觀察、分析、總結(jié)。張高鵬老師積極開(kāi)展了學(xué)員的互動(dòng)交流活動(dòng)。可以說(shuō)我們盡享了一場(chǎng)書法的盛宴。

老師們?yōu)槲覀冎v授了書法領(lǐng)域最前沿的知識(shí)，給我們打開(kāi)了一扇窗，讓我們看到書法寬廣的領(lǐng)域里的大美，改變了先前錯(cuò)誤的認(rèn)識(shí)和理念，糾正了不正確的學(xué)書方法，引領(lǐng)我們步入書法的殿堂。

總之，這次培訓(xùn)學(xué)習(xí)，時(shí)間雖然短暫，但我們獲益匪淺，既讓我審視了自己的不足，也讓我找到了學(xué)習(xí)的方向，讓我們感受到我們書法教師任重道遠(yuǎn).這次短短十天的學(xué)習(xí)是我書法教學(xué)生涯中難忘的時(shí)光，也是我人生中彌足珍貴的美好記憶。

（文/王力，系12班學(xué)員）

第二篇：蒲公英班升旗儀式主持詞

蒲公英班升旗儀式主持詞

1、主持人（男）：尊敬的老師們！親愛(ài)的同學(xué)們！本周的升旗儀式由我們蒲公英班承辦。

主持人（女）：首先舉行升旗儀式。請(qǐng)全體同學(xué)面向國(guó)旗，唱過(guò)歌，向國(guó)旗行少先隊(duì)隊(duì)禮，兒童團(tuán)團(tuán)禮，注目禮。

2、（奏國(guó)歌，全體唱國(guó)歌，行少先隊(duì)隊(duì)禮）禮畢。

3、下面，請(qǐng)聽(tīng)旗下講話，演講者：張博遠(yuǎn)。

老師們、同學(xué)們：

大家早上好，今天國(guó)旗下講話的題目是《今天，你讀書了嗎？》

同學(xué)們，你喜歡讀書嗎？開(kāi)學(xué)到現(xiàn)在，你讀了幾本課外書呢？

人要維持自己的生命，必須按時(shí)補(bǔ)充生命所需的各種營(yíng)養(yǎng)物質(zhì)；人要保持精神世界的富足，也需要時(shí)時(shí)處處為精神補(bǔ)充各種“營(yíng)養(yǎng)”。“精神營(yíng)養(yǎng)”來(lái)自哪兒？其實(shí)，“精神營(yíng)養(yǎng)”來(lái)源于浩如煙海的書世界。

同學(xué)們，我們正處在讀書、求知的黃金階段。英國(guó)文學(xué)家培根曾說(shuō)過(guò)：讀書足以怡情，足以博采。同學(xué)們，今天，你讀書了嗎？

讀書，需要時(shí)間。時(shí)間在哪里？它就在我們每一個(gè)人的雙手里。你一松手，它就從指間溜走了。

因此，讀書需要只爭(zhēng)朝夕。一早到校，可以讀書；睡覺(jué)之前，可以讀書。

只爭(zhēng)朝夕，就是在你茫然的時(shí)候，可以選擇讀書；只爭(zhēng)朝夕，就是在你沮喪的時(shí)候，可以選擇讀書；只爭(zhēng)朝夕，就是在你懶散的時(shí)候，可以選擇讀書；只爭(zhēng)朝夕，在你還擁有夢(mèng)想的時(shí)候，趕緊讀書……

選擇讀書，就選擇了勤勉和奮斗，也就選擇了希望與收獲；

選擇讀書，就選擇了紀(jì)律與約束，也就選擇了理智與自由；

太陽(yáng)每天都是新的，生活永遠(yuǎn)充滿希望，現(xiàn)在就開(kāi)始吧，把握每個(gè)瞬間，不要再猶豫！

4、主持人（女）：同學(xué)們，自信是個(gè)誘人的字眼。

主持人（男）：自信是燈塔，指引人生前進(jìn)的方向，照亮人生前進(jìn)的路程。

主持人（女）：一個(gè)沒(méi)有自信的人，就像鳥兒沒(méi)有翅膀。

主持人（男）：沒(méi)有自信，就沒(méi)有堅(jiān)定的方向，沒(méi)有堅(jiān)定的方向，就沒(méi)有生活；

主持人（女）：那就讓我們向著明亮那方，勇敢前行吧。

向著明亮那方

向著明亮那方，哪怕一片葉子

也要向著日光灑下的方向。

灌木叢中的小草啊。

向著明亮那方

向著明亮那方，哪怕燒焦了的翅膀

也要飛向燈火閃爍的方向。

夜里的飛蟲啊。

向著明亮那方

向著明亮那方，哪怕只是分寸的寬敞

也要向著陽(yáng)光照射的方向。

住在鄉(xiāng)村的孩子們啊。

住在城市的孩子們啊。

住在地球每一個(gè)角落的孩子們啊。

主持人（女）：洛克菲勒曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò)：“自信能給你勇氣，使你敢于向任何困難挑戰(zhàn)；自信也能使你急中生智，化險(xiǎn)為夷；自信更能使你贏得別人的信任，從而幫助你成功。”

主持人（男）：沒(méi)錯(cuò)，自信哪里來(lái)？自信來(lái)自于你滿滿的知識(shí)，來(lái)源于書本，書，就是我們的朋友。

（獨(dú)誦：盧思琪）

《沒(méi)有一艘船能像一本書》

沒(méi)有一艘船能像一本書

也沒(méi)有一匹駿馬能像

一頁(yè)跳躍著的詩(shī)行那樣——

把人帶往遠(yuǎn)方。

這條路最窮的人也能走

不必為通行稅傷神

這是何等節(jié)儉的車——

承載著人的靈魂。

主持人：雨果也說(shuō)過(guò)“我們應(yīng)該相信，自己是生活的戰(zhàn)勝者。”那就讓我們熱愛(ài)書吧！

《熱愛(ài)書吧》

可以沒(méi)有新衣，可以沒(méi)有玩具，不可以沒(méi)有圖書，因?yàn)闀?/p>

有比新衣玩具更美好的東西。

可以不和爸爸遠(yuǎn)足，可以不和媽媽逛街，不可以不和爸爸媽媽一起讀書，因?yàn)殚喿x

會(huì)給全家?guī)?lái)無(wú)窮的樂(lè)趣。

熱愛(ài)書吧！

它是成長(zhǎng)的階梯，天天閱讀，如同天天登山；

天天閱讀，如同天天儲(chǔ)蓄。

一旦閱讀成為習(xí)慣，你的富有，百萬(wàn)富翁也無(wú)法相比！

主持人：在這里，蒲公英班所有同學(xué)希望大家都能夠擁抱著夢(mèng)想，抖擻精神，向著未來(lái)出發(fā)！

小小的蒲公英，不分南北和東西，輕風(fēng)吹起就抖擻精神出發(fā)，飄向那未知的前程。

小小的蒲公英，不分南北和東西，輕風(fēng)吹起就整裝等待出發(fā)，迎向那理想的遠(yuǎn)方。

隨風(fēng)飄飛無(wú)所謂去，迎風(fēng)起舞無(wú)所顧慮，撒下希望的種子遍布大地，只想讓希望發(fā)芽挺立。

隨風(fēng)飛去俯瞰大地，抱著理想投向大地，只想留下一份溫情給大地，期待新的一片天地。

（全班齊唱班歌《小小的蒲公英》）

主持人（女）：升旗儀式到此結(jié)束，請(qǐng)各班按順序帶回。

第三篇：田黃鎮(zhèn)中心小學(xué)王力培訓(xùn)心得

南京師范大學(xué)鄒城市小學(xué)班主任及骨干教師培訓(xùn)心得

鄒城市田黃鎮(zhèn)中心小學(xué)

王力

我有幸成為本次暑假縣骨干教師培訓(xùn)班的一員，感謝各級(jí)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)給我提供了這次再學(xué)習(xí)、再提高的機(jī)會(huì)。我們相聚在美麗的南京師范大學(xué)的校園里，滿懷著期望與欣喜來(lái)參加2015年鄒城市中小學(xué)班主任及骨干教師培訓(xùn)班的學(xué)習(xí)。五天來(lái)，雖然每天我都早出晚歸，冒著酷暑在路上行極其辛苦，但一想到五天來(lái)聆聽(tīng)各位專家、教授的報(bào)告，回想五天來(lái)我的巨大收獲，我的那一點(diǎn)辛苦與疲憊又算得了什么呢？五天來(lái)，分別聽(tīng)取了蘇華、陳宇、陳波、劉建、劉永和、譚頂良等專家學(xué)者的不同風(fēng)格的精彩報(bào)告，收獲很大。可以說(shuō)，每一天都聽(tīng)到不同類型的講座，每一天都能感受到思想火花的沖擊。作為一名教育者，我受益匪淺、感想頗深。他們的講座為我今后的工作起到了很好的指導(dǎo)作用。它將給我在今后的教育教學(xué)工作有很大的幫助。下面是我結(jié)合自身的工作來(lái)談一下培訓(xùn)后的幾點(diǎn)心得體會(huì)：

一、通過(guò)培訓(xùn)，讓我深刻地認(rèn)識(shí)到作為一名教師，要堅(jiān)持不斷地學(xué)習(xí)，積極進(jìn)行知識(shí)的更新，才能適應(yīng)現(xiàn)在教育的需要。隨著我國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)的高速發(fā)展，教育現(xiàn)代化進(jìn)程的不斷推進(jìn)，當(dāng)前以多媒體與網(wǎng)絡(luò)技術(shù)為核心的現(xiàn)代教育技術(shù)的迅速興起，正猛烈地沖擊著各學(xué)科教學(xué)。在網(wǎng)絡(luò)理論下知識(shí)突破了原有書本的限制，使教學(xué)觀念，教學(xué)主體，教學(xué)方法，教學(xué)過(guò)程和教學(xué)形式都發(fā)生根本改變。傳統(tǒng)的“以教師為中心，靠一支粉筆一張嘴”的教學(xué)模式，也將被基于新課程教學(xué)提出來(lái)的“教育要為學(xué)生的終身發(fā)展奠定基礎(chǔ)，讓學(xué)生學(xué)會(huì)做人，學(xué)會(huì)求知，學(xué)會(huì)實(shí)踐，學(xué)會(huì)創(chuàng)新”的理念所取代。教師應(yīng)與時(shí)俱進(jìn)，適應(yīng)時(shí)代的發(fā)展，做好自己的角色定位，充分利用網(wǎng)絡(luò)環(huán)境，激發(fā)學(xué)生的求知欲，提高學(xué)生的實(shí)踐能力，培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的創(chuàng)新精神，促進(jìn)教與學(xué)的改革深化。

二、調(diào)整我們自己的心態(tài)：

這幾年的教學(xué)生涯，讓我已經(jīng)慢慢倦怠，我已不知道從什么時(shí)候開(kāi)始，自己變的除了愛(ài)抱怨，還是抱怨。抄不完的筆記，頻繁的檢查，刻薄的制度，一項(xiàng)又一項(xiàng)的任務(wù)以及家長(zhǎng)的難纏，學(xué)生的愚笨，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的不理解，等等。都是那么沉重，沉重的令人窒息。我早已像一臺(tái)機(jī)器，不再有靈感。把教師當(dāng)成了一種謀生的職業(yè)。對(duì)工作有的是厭倦之意，不平之心，黯淡之境。可通過(guò)這幾天的培訓(xùn)，讓我能以更寬闊的視野去看待我們的教育工作，讓我學(xué)到了更多提高自身素質(zhì)和教育教學(xué)水平的方法和捷徑。“愛(ài)”是教育永恒的主題，我們知道了怎樣更好地去愛(ài)我們的學(xué)生，怎樣讓我們的學(xué)生在更好的環(huán)境下健康的成長(zhǎng)。孩子有著自己的人格和尊嚴(yán)。老師要尊重孩子，平等地對(duì)待孩子，要尊重孩子探究和認(rèn)識(shí)周圍世界的特點(diǎn)，要原諒孩子的錯(cuò)誤，不要用相同的尺度去衡量所有的孩子，應(yīng)給予他們更多的獨(dú)立和自由，關(guān)愛(ài)和接納每一個(gè)孩子，使孩子不斷感受到和體驗(yàn)到老師們對(duì)自己的關(guān)注、對(duì)自己的愛(ài)和支持。教師要不斷創(chuàng)設(shè)情境，巧妙地提出問(wèn)題，引發(fā)學(xué)生心理上的認(rèn)知沖突，使兒童自覺(jué)地想了解個(gè)究竟，同時(shí)，教師要給他們想、做、說(shuō)的機(jī)會(huì)，讓學(xué)生自由討論、質(zhì)疑、交流、評(píng)估。這樣，兒童自然就會(huì)興奮、參與的積極性就會(huì)提高起來(lái)，參與度也就會(huì)大大地提高，每個(gè)學(xué)生才能得到全方面的發(fā)展。今后我會(huì)將在這里學(xué)到的新知識(shí)盡快地內(nèi)化為自己的東西，運(yùn)用于教育教學(xué)過(guò)程中去，結(jié)合我校的實(shí)際情況，反思教學(xué)實(shí)踐，一切從實(shí)際出發(fā)，切實(shí)擔(dān)負(fù)起教師應(yīng)盡的責(zé)任和義務(wù)，在工作中起到骨干教師的帶頭作用。及時(shí)地為學(xué)校的建設(shè)和發(fā)展出謀劃策，努力學(xué)習(xí)同行們的學(xué)習(xí)態(tài)度，求知精神，協(xié)作能力，加強(qiáng)平時(shí)的學(xué)習(xí)、充電。他山之石，可以攻玉，今后我將讓培訓(xùn)的碩果在教育事業(yè)的發(fā)展中大放光彩。這次培訓(xùn)內(nèi)容豐富，水平高，充溢著對(duì)新課程理念的深刻闡釋，充滿了教育智慧，使我們開(kāi)闊了眼界。2015、08、07

第四篇：蒲公英捐書捐物計(jì)劃

蒲公英捐書捐物計(jì)劃

蒲公英的種子們好：

如何實(shí)施計(jì)劃：任何愿意參與的店鋪都可以作為我們的捐書捐物點(diǎn)。例如；送水站酒店書店美容美發(fā)店公司工作坊等等。只要擁有一顆愛(ài)心都可以加入。而對(duì)于店鋪來(lái)說(shuō)我們?cè)谧鲂麄骶钑栉稂c(diǎn)的同時(shí)也在為他們做了廣告。同時(shí)一些愛(ài)心市民在送書的同時(shí)也熟悉了店鋪成為他們潛在的客戶。

第一步，如何建立捐書捐物點(diǎn)：

我們可以在網(wǎng)絡(luò)上查找店鋪電話聯(lián)系說(shuō)明。也可以利用我們自己的人際關(guān)系，或者工作下班順路去一些路過(guò)的店鋪談一談。

第二步；宣傳

通過(guò)網(wǎng)絡(luò)或者制作一些宣傳牌進(jìn)行宣傳。宣傳牌可以號(hào)召所在城市的愛(ài)心種子掛在社區(qū)或者辦公樓也可以去聯(lián)系一些連鎖店或者人流多的地方掛在醒目位置。

第三步，書籍搜集打包

每個(gè)區(qū)號(hào)召一個(gè)種子負(fù)責(zé)書籍的搜集匯總工作，將這些書籍集中在一處地方大的地方。然后等待組織通知物流到某貧困學(xué)校。

捐書點(diǎn)編號(hào)：

捐書點(diǎn)詳細(xì)地址：

聯(lián)系人電話：

聯(lián)系人姓名：

成立日期：

蒲公英捐書點(diǎn)自愿做到以下內(nèi)容：

1、每一個(gè)捐書點(diǎn)都是一朵蒲公英，是愛(ài)的傳遞者，從自身做起，傳遞愛(ài)的信息給他人；

2、愿意盡力盡心盡性為買不起書的小朋友收集健康有益身心的圖書；

3、愿意做蒲公英的一顆種子將愛(ài)傳播到世界的角落；

4、愿意長(zhǎng)久參與蒲公英捐書計(jì)劃，為孩子收集圖書、建立圖書室；

5、愿意將愛(ài)心放在第一位，絕不私自留下捐助物品；

6、愿意相互幫助，共同推動(dòng)蒲公英的發(fā)展，讓更多的愛(ài)心朋友加入到我們的隊(duì)伍；

7、每一個(gè)捐書點(diǎn)每年至少捐12本圖書；

8、在捐書點(diǎn)整理一個(gè)角落堆放捐贈(zèng)物品；

9、捐書點(diǎn)需要懸掛蒲公英捐書點(diǎn)logo或者擺放蒲公英捐書計(jì)劃的宣傳單頁(yè)，擺放蒲公英捐書點(diǎn)聯(lián)絡(luò)圖：

10、每月的10日需要電話將統(tǒng)計(jì)好的圖書等匯總通知地區(qū)捐書點(diǎn)負(fù)責(zé)人或者直接通知取書負(fù)責(zé)人，安排時(shí)間收取圖書；

11、每一位捐書的朋友都需要捐書點(diǎn)將捐書人姓名、電話、郵箱做統(tǒng)一記錄；

12、有關(guān)于孩子需要書籍的信息請(qǐng)咨詢地區(qū)負(fù)責(zé)人，讓所有的捐書點(diǎn)一起為他們努力；

注明：

【圖書】健康、有益兒童身心發(fā)展的課外書、字典、知識(shí)性刊物；

【其他】?jī)和橇ν婢摺Ⅲw育用品；

地區(qū)捐書點(diǎn)負(fù)責(zé)人：羅林聯(lián)系方式：***

電子郵件：8198147@qq.com

第五篇：王力宏演講

I never thought I would be addressing you, the esteemed members of the Oxford Union, without a guitar or an erhu, without my crazy stage hair and costumes, but I did perform in the O2 Arena in London last week.I’m not sure if any of you [x]…

But in many ways that is similar to what I’m talking about today, that is, introducing Chinese pop music.See, I’m actually an ambassador for Chinese pop, whether I like it or not, for both music and movies, and today I’m here to give you a State of Union address.It’s not the Oxford Union, it’s the union of East and West.I want to frankly and openly and honestly talk about how we’ve done a good job, or how we’ve done a bad job, of bringing Chinese pop to the West.And I also want to impress upon all of you here today the workings of that soft power exchange and how each of us is involved in that exchange.Soft power, a term I’m sure you’re all familiar with, coined by Rhodes Scholar and Oxford alumnus Joseph Nye, is defined as the ability to attract and persuade.Shashi Tharoor called it, in a recent TEDTalk, “the ability of a culture to tell a compelling story and influence others to fall in love with them”.I like that definition.But I want to put it in collegiate term for you students in the audience.The way I see it, East and West, are kinda like freshmen roommates.You don’t know a lot about each other aside that you’re living with each other in the same room.And each one is scared the other’s gonna steal his shower time or wants to party when the other wants to study.It has the potential to be absolute hell.We all have horror stories of that roommate, we all heard about those stories.I know a lot of students here in Oxford have their own separate bedrooms.But when I was a freshman at Williams College [crowd interjects] You’re kidding!Woohoo!Well I had a roommate.And he was that roommate.Let’s just call him Frank.So Frank was my roommate and Frank liked nothing more than to smoke weed.[laughter] And he did it every day.And Frank had a 2-foot long bong under his bed that was constantly being fired up.For those Chinese speakers in the audience, Frank would 火力全開(kāi) on that bong.So I guess I was kinda the opposite of Bill Clinton, who tried marijuana but didn’t inhale: I didn’t try marijuana but I did inhale.Every single day.Second hand.And strangely enough, every time I go into our bedroom, I mysteriously end up being late for class.I was like, dude is it already 10 o’clock?

So, how many of you have lived with that Frank, or be a Frank? Having a roommate can be a recipe for disaster, but it also can have the potential of being the greatest friendship you’ve ever had.See, Frank, he didn’t make it to second year.And I got two new roommates instead: Stephan and Jason, and these days the three of us are the best of friends.So going back to my analogy, East and West, as roommates, do we want to be Frank, or do we want to be Steph and Jason, and I think in this day and age, in 2013, we should all be striving for the latter.I’m assuming we all agree that this is the goal that we all strive for.Now, let’s look at where we are in reality, in recent headlines, in the media include, Foreign policy [maybe?], China’s victim complex, Why are Chinese leaders so paranoid about the United States or the [AP, the Associated Press?], Human rights in China worse than US.Bloomberg says, on the cover of this magazine, Yes, the Chinese army is spying on you [laughter] And it’s such a great one that I want to show you the cover of the magazine [laughter][Ed:check out the photo on the right!] Yes, be very afraid![laughter]

There’s actually an extremely high amount of negativity and fear and anxiety about China, Sinophobia, that I think is not just misinformed and misleading and ultimately dangerous.Very dangerous.And what about how Westerners are viewed by Chinese? Well, we have terms for Westerners.The most common of which are gwailo, in Cantonese which means “the old devil”, laowai, meaning “the old outsider” in Mandarin, ang moh, which means “the red hairy one” in Taiwanese, and the list goes on and on.So are these roommates heading for a best friend relationship? I think we need a little help.And as China rise to power, I think it is more important than ever for us to more discerning about what we believe because after all, I think, that’s the purpose of higher education, and that’s why we are all here, to be able to think for ourselves and make our own decisions.China’s not just those headlines.The burgeoning economy with unique politics.It is not just the world’s factory or the next big superpower, it’s so much more, a billion people with rich culture, amazing stories, and as a product of both of those cultures, I want to help foster an understanding between the two.And [x] that incredible relationship, because knowing both sides of the coin, I really think that there is a love story waiting to be told, ready to unfold.And I’m only half joking when I said love story because I believe it is the stories that will save us and bring us closer together.And my thesis statement for today’s talk is that the relationship between East and West needs to be and can be fixed via pop culture, and I’m going to try and back it up.Now, the UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki Moon said, “There are no languages required in the musical world.That is the power of music.That is the power of heart.” Through this promotion of arts we can better understand the culture and civilisation of other people.And in this era of instability and intolerance, we need to promote better understanding through the power of music.The UN Sec-Gen thinks that we need more music, and I think that he is right.Music and arts have always played a key role in my life, in building relationships, replacing what once were ignorance, fear and hatred, with acceptance, friendship and even love.So I have a strong case for promoting music between cultures because it happened to me early in my life.I was born in Rochester, New York, I barely spoke a word of Chinese.I didn't know the difference between Taiwan or Thailand.[laughter] I was as American as apple pie, until one day on the 3rd grade playground, the inevitable finally happened: I got teased for being Chinese.Now every kid gets teased or being made fun of in the playground, but this was fundamentally different and I knew right then and there.So this kid let’s call him Brian [x].He started making fun of me, saying “Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these!” [laughing] We’re laughing now but it hurt!

I could still remember how I felt, I felt ashamed, I felt embarrassed.But I laughed along with everyone.And I didn't know what else to do.It was like having an out of body experience.As if I could laugh at that Chinese kid on the playground with all the other Americans because I was one of them, right? Wrong, on many levels.And I was facing the first and definitely not the last time the harsh reality was that I was minority in Rochester, which in those days had an Asian population of 1%.And I was confused.I wanted to punch Brian.I wanted to hurt him for putting me in that situation but he was faster than me, and he was stronger than me, and he would kick my butt and we both knew that, so I just took it in.I didn't tell anyone or share with anyone these feelings, I just held them in and I let them fester.And those feelings would surface in a strangely therapeutic way for me through music, and it was no coincidence that around at that time I started getting good with the violin, and the guitar and the drums.And I’d soon discovered that by playing music or singing that the other kids would for a brief moment forget about my race or color and accept me and then be able to see me for who I truly am: a human being who is emotional, spiritual, curious about the world, and has a need for love just like everyone else.And by the sixth grade, guess who asked me if I would the drummer of their band? Brian.And I said yes.And that’s when we together formed an elementary school rock band called… Nirvana.I’m not kidding, I was in a rock band called Nirvana before Kurt Cobain's Nirvana was ever known… So when Nirvana came out, Brian and I were like, hey he’s stealing our name!But really what attracted me to music at this young age was just that, and still is what I love about music, is that it breaks down the walls between us and shows us so quickly the truth that we are much more alike than we [think?].And then in high school, I learned that music wasn’t just about connecting with others, like Brian and I were connected through music.It was a powerful tool of influence and inspiration.Sam [Nguyen?] was my high school janitor.He was an immigrant from Vietnam who barely spoke a word of English.Sam scrubbed the floors and cleaned the bathrooms of our school for twenty years.He never talked to the kids, and the kids never talked to Sam.But one day before the opening night of our school’s annual musical, he walked up to me holding a letter, and I was taken aback and I was thinking, why is Sam the janitor approaching me? And he gave me this letter that I’ve kept it to this day, it was scrawled in shaky hand written in all capitals and it read, in my all years working as a janitor at Sutherland, you were the first Asian boy to play the lead role.I’m going to bring my 6-year-old daughter to watch you perform tonight because I want her to see that Asians can be inspiring.And that letter just floored me.I was 15 years old and I was absolutely stunned.That was the first time I realized how music was so important.With Brian, it helped two kids who were initially enemies to become friends, but with Sam, music went beyond the one-on-one.It was an even higher level;it influenced others I didn’t even know, in ways I could never imagine.I can’t tell you how grateful I am to Sam to this day, he really is one of the people who helped me discover my life’s purpose, and I had no idea that something I did could mean more than ever imagined to an immigrant from Vietnam who barely even spoke English.Pop culture, music, and the other methods of storytelling, movies, TV dramas, they are so key, and they do connect us, like me and Brian, and do influence us, and inspire us.Then let’s take another look at this state of union, the East and West union, with this soft power bias.How is the soft power exchange between these two roommates? Are there songs in English that have become hits in China? Sure.How about movies? Well, there are so many that China has had to limit the number of Hollywood movies imported into the country so that local films could even have a chance at success.What about [x], well, [inaudible exchange with an audience member], yeah, and movies, well there was Crouching Tiger [Hidden Dragon], that was 13 years ago.Well, I think there’s a bit of an imbalance here.It’s called “soft power deficit”, that is to say the West influences the East more than vice versa.Forgive me for using “East” and “West” kinda loosely, it’s a lot easier to say than “English-speaking… language” or “Asian-speaking… language/Chinese”, I’m making generalisation and I hope you can go with me on this.And it’s just intrinsically a problem, this imbalance in pop culture influence.And I think so.In any healthy relationship, friendship, marriage, isn’t it important for both sides to make an effort to understand the other? And that this exchange needs to have a healthy balance? And how do we address this? As an ambassador for Chinese pop music and movies, I have to ask myself a question: Why does this deficit exist? Is it because Chinese music just [is lame?].Do you want me to answer that? [laughter] Yeah I think I see some of you are like, stop complaining and write a hit song!Psy did it!But there’s truth in that.The argument being that, the content that we’ve created just isn’t as internationally competitive.But why shouldn’t it?

Look at Korean pop, look at K-pop for example.Korean is an export-based economy and they are outward looking and they must be outward looking.Chinese pop on the other hand can just stay domestic, tour all over China, stick in territories and comfortably sustain.So when you’re that big and powerful, with over 160 cities in China with a million or more people, you tend to kinda turn inward and be complacent.So this certainly can be made an argument made for Chinese pop not being marketed with international sensibilities, but the other side of the argument I think is more interesting and thought provoking and even more true, is that Western ears aren’t familiar with and therefore don’t really understand how to appreciate Chinese music.Ouch!

The reason I think that the argument holds water though is because that’s exactly what I went through, so I happen to know a thing or two about learning to appreciate Chinese pop as a Westerner.'Cos I was 17 years old when I went from being an Asian kid in America to being an American kid in Asia, and the entire paradigm suddenly got flipped on its head.I grew up listening to Beastie Boys, Led Zeppelin, Guns and Roses, and I found myself in Taiwan listening to the radio and thinking, where’s the beat? Where’s the screeching guitar solos? Here I am as an American kid in Asia listening to Chinese music for the first time and thinking that “this stuff is lame.I don’t like it!” I thought it was cheesy, production value was low, and the singers couldn’t belt like Axl Rose or Mariah Carey.But then one day, I went to my first Chinese pop concert, and it was Harlem Yu performing at the Taipei Music Centre, and as he performed, I looked around the audience and I saw their faces and the looks in their eyes and their response to his music, and it was clear to me finally where the problem lay.It wasn’t that the music that was lacking, it was my ability to appreciate it and to hear it in the right way.The crowd, they would sing along and be totally immerse in his music, and I thought that it was significant, that I was missing the point and from now on, I was going to somehow learn how to get it, I was gonna learn how to hear with both ears, and I deconstructed and analysed what it was that made Chinese audiences connect with certain types of melodies, and rhythms, and song structures, and lyrics, and that’s what I’ve been doing for the past almost twenty years, and it took me a long time and I am still learning but at some point, I not only began to be able to appreciate the music but I started being able to contribute to it and create my own fresh spins on the tried-and-true.And I think this happens to everyone, really, who is on the outside looking in.It always looks strange if you looked at things from your perspective, you’re always going to think that these people are weirdos, what’s wrong with them, why are they listening to these stuff? And I’m saying that you can make the effort [x], it can be done, and I’m living proof of that.And as an ambassador of Chinese pop, I’m trying to get people to open up to a sound that they may not feel is palatable on the first listen.So what else can we do to reduce this imbalance in our popular cultures? Well, maybe we could talk a lot, tour more outside of China? But seriously, actually I think the tides have already started to change, very slowly, very cautiously, almost calculatedly.You see more cross-cultural exchange now, more interest in China, definitely a lot of joint ventures, a lot of co-productions in recent years, Iron Man 3, Transformers, [53?][laughter], Resident Evil, really it’s beginning to be kinda like a world pop, and that’s what I’m looking forward to and focusing on these days.There’s J-pop, there’s K-pop, there’s C-pop, and there’s like this W-pop that’s kinda starting to emerge.It’s world pop, and I love that idea.It’s not World Music.There used to be section in HMV called World Music, and I was like Ethnomusicology class in college.But world pop is more about breaking and tearing down age-old stereotypes, the artificial confines that have kept us apart for way too long.It’s a melting pot, and it’s mosaic, that even if we looked up close, we’d still see the colours and flavours of each culture in detail.And where can we go to listen to world pop? I don’t think there’s a world pop station or magazine, unfortunately, there are none--there should be.There is the internet, and YouTube has proven to be a driving force for world pop.Britain’s Got Talent made Susan Boyle the hottest act in the world, and she achieved that not through the record labels or the networks, but through grassroots sharing.Gangnam Style is another great world pop, and how that just took over became huge worldwide world pop phenomenon.So world pop as it suggests is a worldwide pop culture is something that can be shared by all of us and gives us a lot of common ground.So today, what’s my call of action? I’ve already proven multicultural exchange between the East and West, I think I have made that clear, but how? I think… you can all become pop singers, really, I think that’s the [x], unless that’s what you really want to.My call of action is this: build and protect that roommate relationship between the East and West.Value this relationship and take ownership of it.Don’t come to Oxford as an exchange student from Taiwan and only hang out with other Chinese students.Why would you do that? You could do that in [x] or Nanjing or wherever you came from.Don’t buy into the headlines or the stereotypes or in the hypernationalism.Think for yourselves, and this goes for the East and the West, both.Get to know one another and think for yourselves and don’t believe the hype.For just a moment, if we could just disregard the governments and what the media are saying, just for the sake of the argument, with our own tools of critical thinking, can we build relationships that actually see one another as individual human beings and not faces or members of a particular ethnicity or nationality? Of course we can do that.And that’s the goal and dream, I think of the romantic artists and the musicians, I think it’s always been there.And that’s what I reach for, and that makes music so powerful and so true, that breaks down instantly and disintegrates all the artificial barriers that we create between each other, government, nationality, black, brown, yellow, white, whatever colour you are, and shows each other our hearts, our fears, our hopes, our dreams, and it turns out in end that the East isn’t that far after all, and the west, well the west, ain’t so white.And through understanding each other’s popular cultures, we gain insight into each other’s heart and true selves.And for those of you who are just beginning that journey, the West and East, I want to invite you today on this amazing journey with me, and I, as an experienced traveller on this road, on this West and East road, I’ve prepared a mixtape for all of you today, of ten songs that I love.There, that’s a C-pop mixtape that you can check out.I was gonna bring you all CDs but my publicist reminded me lovingly that that would be illegal, that as a professional recording artist, I shouldn’t do that.But I still think that it works out nicely because you get to see the music videos as well on a lot of these songs.These ten songs are songs that I love and ten different Chinese artists to start you off on getting to know and love Chinese pop and I think these guys are awesome.I just want to wrap up by saying that being here on the Oxford campus really makes me nostalgic for my days at Williams.And when I look back on those four years, some of my fondest memories are spending time with my roommates Stephan Papiano and Jason Price.In fact Jason is here in the audience today, and made a special trip from London just to see me.And I suppose in the beginning we were strangers, we didn’t know much about each other, and sometimes we did compete for the shower and there were times we did intrude on each other's privacy, but I’ve always loved listening to Stephan’s stories about growing up in a Greek family and his opinions about what Greek food really was.Or Jason’s stories, about wanting to make violins and to live in Cremona, Italy like Antonio Stradivari and he did do that, and I will never forget many years later when I played a Jason Price handmade violin for the first time, and how that felt.They were always attentive and respectful when I told them what it was like for me growing up in a Chinese household with strict parents who always made me study.So we shared stories, but the strongest bonds between us were formed just sitting around and listening to music together.And I really do see that as a model for East and West.So I really want to share Chinese music with you today because it’s the best way I know how to create a lasting friendship that transcends all barriers and allow us to know each other truly, authentically and just as we are.