Life is beyond what are written in the books

There is a well-known three letter sayings in China related to jade (yes, this time we are denoting the emerald jade), which in English means "Jade, without chiseling, cannot become a useful object." This phrase is referring to the fact that a person cannot be a talented person without going through learning process. Therefore, I am happy to have the chance to know and exchange story with Jade. All the stories are undeniably valuable and cannot be obtained elsewhere unless you meet someone who has experienced it.

So that is why we said life is beyond what are written in the books.

We will share with you something that may not be in books to help you to imagine a little bit of her life.

According to Jade, few years ago, her province, Xing Jiang was attacked by terrorists known as Weiwuer and she was in Xing Jiang during the attack. Weiwuer was one of the minorities in China and they are Muslims. Besides, she shared that the attack was due to the injustice treatment the minority received regarding the price of the mines. People from different provinces could buy the mines with lower price compared to the local people who need to pay more. This injustice eventually led to terrorism. Due this unfortunate period, less tourists spotted coming to Xing Jiang. However, this was not the only attack she faced.  Before coming to Malaysia, her parents sent her to study to another province but it only lasted for six months. It was due to an attack at that province and she was sent back to Xing Jiang.

If before this, we only read about the victims of terrorism through newspapers, this time, we ourselves had the opportunity to meet and listen to the victim’s story.  So we really feel thankful for this opportunity as we can learn a lot from the experience.

Ok, so now let’s move on to the brighter side of our sharing moment.

Although in Beijing female are allowed to enter Masjid, the rule is different in Xing Jiang where only male can go into Masjid. As for education, we feel happy to know that equal education is being provided to people in Xing Jiang. However, it might be slight different for those who stay in the countryside.

It is known from our study that China is a high-context culture and through our sharing moment with Jade, we learned more than that. We still remember Jade’s comparison; people in majority group will buy a box of apples and eat all of them alone while the minority people buy an apple and cut it into few parts to eat it together.

It shows how minority people care about each other and more friendly.

Moreover, we were also very eager to know about the authority in China and we were told most of the Chinese put their trust in money. Those who have money can do anything regardless of the gender. You can rule others when you have money. 

However, from minority people’s point of view like Jade’s family, they want to provide the best education for their children in order for them to improve their life and later, they can help the family. Therefore, for them, education is very vital as it helps to enhance the quality of life.