Dear CSMU Friends in the 2nd Year Medical Class: It was good to meet many of you in the informal discussion session on Thursday, April 10 afternoon. I enjoyed my "dialogue" time with you. I hope that you (those of you that were present) also had a wonderful time. I was impressed by your questions (that reflected your personal interests) about life and its various pursuits. This is interesting as it allows one to build one's "soft power." In life, I tend to choose substance over style. I genuinely think that all life are formed and maintained by scientific actions and interactions based on solid principles. Living life, however, is an art. Just as one has to constantly maintain and sustain the science of daily life, one has to also practice the daily art of living. In my life, I have always been fascinated by: how people think? What stimulate people to think? What is the source of inspiration in individuals' pursuit of knowledge and life? How are ideas developed? How are ideas explored? How do one synthesize knowledge and ideas, to understand the Nature of life? How could people use science in organizing life on planet Earth? In fact, how should one organize life? How do people decide about all these matters that relate to life? We are living in an ageless society that has become more efficient, complex and sophisticated than ever before. This has happened because of development in science and technology. There is no need for your generation to be just a wage earner (hard power). You could also be a Care giver, knowledge creator, and problem solver (soft power) (through the use of science and technology). Taiwan is a grown society now. You could contribute to Taiwanese society, as well as to the world, to make the world a Care Society where children, elderly, disabled, and indeed, every human can receive proper Care and knowledge, and solve life's issues, during their living. You could combine work and Care to lead a useful and meaningful life of self-respect and dignity. That would be, at the least, a "smart power." As you live your present, do you look into the future? And, do you examine the past? What is it that you would like to do in life - both the current as well as the future? Perhaps, it would be too simplistic to come up with a single sentence or a short para analysis to these questions for a basic reason that one can't have a definitive answer for the present leading into the future. In the end, "it is not so much what we do that matters; it is who we are while we are doing it." As TU FU , the Chinese poet from T’ang period, 712 – 770 AD, noted: No one knows your thoughts, master, And the night is empty around us, silent. I do reconize that people have many distinct pursuits, vastly different convictions, widely divergent customs and a veritable feast of viewpoints. I am also certain that there are other ways of proceeding in life. Hence, as one grows and pursue life, one has to simultaneously carry many different convictions and viewpoints about how life can evolve. I hope that such a reach is (should be) extensive. In pursuit of life, hopefully, one should have no barriers, including those of language, culture, gender, age, ethnicity, religion, class, creed, geography, time, space, etc. There is lot more to talk about life in an intelligent and thoughtful manner to develop our smart power. Hence, do make an effort to respond to this email, and do communicate in the future. I would enjoy a thoughtful, sincere, genuine and critical communication that takes the life forward in a progressive sort of manner. I am very happy that I met you all at the CSMU in Taichung. My very best personal regards. Sincerely, Ravindra M. Shah, B.D.S., M.S., Ph.D. Director, International Relations Faculty of Dentistry University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada --

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