The Wind Rises

I watched Hayao Miyazaki's farewell anime movie "The Wind Rises" yesterday afternoon.

Tuesday is my movie watching day. I've got this Golden Village free membership card that allows me to watch movies on Tuesdays for a very reasonable charge of $6.50 per movie.

This is one of those rare movies that would appeal to both engineering (those who aspire to design and build) and liberal arts "students".

It's an inspiration to those who wish to create and craft something that we can call our own - whether it's a prototype car, a musical play, painting, or flower arrangement.

I was immensely impressed with Hayao Miyazaki's story telling technique. How he skillfully interwoved the major events of the 20th century as metaphors and conveyed his anti-war pacifist stance without being too much in your face.

There is a reason for reminding the audience Japan was once a poor and backward country; and how the resources poured into the technological catch-up with the West could have fed many of the poor and displaced... (Singapore engineers and civil servants after the separation in 1965 may identify with this ethos. There is a higher social mission than worrying about financial freedom or angst about others are earning more than you.) 

For liberal arts students, can you feel the "creative destruction" impulse depicted in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923? It's very comforting to build-on and borrow-with-pride the styles of our idols and mentors. But in our hearts of hearts, we know that to have our own "voice" or "mark", we need to break from our pasts and reach deep inside. And that's frightening! What if there's nothing inside? Tell me about it! I've been prone to self-doubt too...


If your dream is to design and build the "perfect" plane, would you act on your dream never mind the product of your dream can be used as a weapon of destruction?

For investors who shy away from "sin" stocks like casinos or tobacco & liquour stocks, that's too easy. Look again at the counters you owned. There is always some tradeoffs and exploitations somewhere. Something to think about next time you sit on your high horse...


I went out of the cinema a bit red-eyed. 

It's a warm feeling that somewhere out there, another kindred spirit has similar thoughts and ideas, and would understand. 

A friend like wind

If I have one wish