Overcoming the China-US Rivalry: Time for a New Regional Order?

When the Cold War ended almost three decades ago, many believed that bipolar politics had finally ended for good.  However, the world actually became an even more uncertain place; lasting peace was nowhere to be found. And now, as we brace ourselves to weather the escalating trade war between China and the US, there are those who feel that a new Cold War is rapidly in the making.

Many Americans think that preventing China from disrupting the regional order benefits not only the US, but also the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.  Meanwhile, the Chinese believe that they are simply correcting the injustices that have historically been dealt to them by foreign powers.  Therefore, any country that intends to preserve the status quo is seen as perpetuating such injustices.

These geopolitical changes have provided rich grounds for academics and foreign policymakers to generate ideas in the pursuit of global order. Recently, the discourse has focused on the development of an Indo-Pacific cooperation framework. And for its part, Indonesia is pushing for an ASEAN-centric, inclusive Indo-Pacific region that is conducive for peaceful dialogue and multi-field cooperation.

At the same time, it is important that we also keep our minds open to the possibility of other forms of cooperation that could take shape around the world.

In his publication titled The China Choice, Australian Professor Hugh White outlined that there are more than two choices for the US in dealing with China. The first two choices are obvious: to confront the Chinese (as a means to preserve America’s dominance in the region) OR to allow China’s rise (while hoping that the Chinese would refrain from causing conflicts).

Professor White argued that the third choice is for the US to share power with China. Considering that both countries can deny leadership to the other, it is impossible for either China or the US to single-handedly dominate the Asia-Pacific. In other words, the idea of the US maintaining uncontested leadership in the region is as illusory as the fear that China will one day rule over the Asia-Pacific.

Professor White then suggested the possible establishment of a new concert of Asia, which is loosely modeled on the Concert of Europe that existed between 1815 and 1914.  Indeed, the Concert of Europe was far from perfect; conflicts continued to exist during the period, including the war for German unification. The Concert of Europe also ended with the outbreak of World War I. 

Nevertheless, when looking at European inter-state relations during those 99 years, conflicts among major countries were avoided because each of them recognize that they cannot dominate the entire region. During that period as well, Europe experienced massive growths in the economic, social, and political fields.  Such conditions founded Europe’s current influential position in international affairs.

According to Professor White, an Asian version of this concert would have four “great powers”, namely the US, China, Japan, and India, as well as “middle powers” such as South Korea, Australia, and Indonesia.  According to him, the rules of this “Asian Concert” are straightforward:

1. Such great power must accept the legitimacy of the other’s political system.  In other words, the US should cease causing domestic instabilities in China;

1. By agreeing to disagree, each great power must be willing to make concessions in order to achieve resolutions through peaceful negotiations;

1. Each great power must allow others to build up armaments, and allow the use of them if there are forces challenging their status as a great power; and

1. All the powers must be able to develop a “code of conduct” that would “govern” interactions with one another.

Of course, this perspective is not foolproof. Indonesia’s role as a middle power is eclipsed by the “great power politics”. Yet we all know that Indonesia is the largest country and economy in Southeast Asia.

Furthermore, although the Concert of Europe in its time brought peace to the people, the conditions may not be the same in today’s Asia-Pacific.  The Austria, Prussia, Russia and the UK of that old period are different from today’s China, the US, Japan, and India.  And most interestingly, the great powers of the past were never economically inter-linked so closely like today’s influential countries.

Regardless, in striving for an Indo-Pacific regional architecture, it is important that we constantly think outside of the box. This even includes embracing ideas and perspectives that are as brave as Professor White’s.

In dealing with China, we must go beyond the choices of confronting the Chinese head-on OR appeasing their rise to dominance. There must be a more nuanced third, or even fourth choice.  If China keeps on growing, then its economic and political clout would be overwhelming. Therefore, in the interest of most countries in the region—including Indonesia—it is important to “negotiate” a new relationship with China before the power balance further shifts in the Chinese’ way.

Making a Choice

Book Review

Hugh White, The China Choice: Why America Should Share Power

ISBN: 9781863956093

Recently, the growing rivalry between China and Japan has dominated discussions on Asia-Pacific affairs.  There was China’s announcement on ADIZ, which was then countered by Japanese PM Shinzo Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.  With both sides claiming that they are presently experiencing one of the lowest points of their bilateral relations, we in Southeast Asia can only hope that there would be some breakthroughs to bring back confidence and stability to the regional outlook.

Hardcover version

But somehow the growing tensions between China and Japan seem only a reflection of the bigger rivalry existing in the Asia-Pacific (or in the world as a whole): the China-US rivalry.  Yes, Japan is vying for greater influence in international affairs.  And yes, Japan is one of the strongest economies in the world.  But Japan is a US ally, whose security is dependent on this North American hegemon.  And so, when we talk about the China-Japan rivalry within the context of regional peace and security, then it is rather obvious that the US’ hands are deep in this melee.

Many academic and journalistic works have been written, discussed, and undergone criticisms on the US-China rivalry.  Naturally, some are more enlightened than others.  But all of them have been meaningful additions to the pool of knowledge on the study of contemporary Asia-Pacific regional studies.  As a life-long student, I can only appreciate these academic and journalistic works, one of which can be found in The China Choice: Why America Should Share Power.

Hugh White, Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University, argues that there are more than two choices for the US in its dealing with the Chinese.  Of course, the first two choices are commonly known: to confront the Chinese (as a means to preserve American dominance over the region) OR to allow China’s rise to dominance in the region (while hoping that China will not have any tendency to cause conflict, particularly with the US). 

In this fantastic book, White elaborates on a third choice for the US, and that is to share power with China.  He argues that both China and the US have every capacity to deny leadership to the other.  However, for one of them to single-handedly, truly dominate the Asia-Pacific, that would almost be impossible. As a result, the idea of the US maintaining uncontested leadership in the region is as illusory as the fear that China will one day be at the top of the Asia-Pacific, alone and unchallenged.

There is Cold War-like belief among many Americans that countries in the Asia-Pacific could somehow be wooed into siding with them.  “An aggressive and hegemonic China would not be good for the region”, they would say, “Thus, justifying any effort to limit China’s power.”  However, the truth is that many countries in the region view the world from a more complex set of lenses, and not just the black-and-white perspective offered by the Americans. White explains that unlike the situation with the Soviets, many Asia-Pacific countries “have much to gain from China economically, and little to fear politically”.

Kindle version

Indeed, many Americans may think that preventing China from disrupting the regional order is beneficial not only in securing their own interests, but also those of the entire region (how noble..!).  However, as White argues, the Chinese see “a parallel, but opposite symmetry”.  They believe that China is seeking to remedy the long injustices that have been dealt to them, especially by foreign powers, both western and Asian.  Therefore, any power that intends to preserve the status quo regional order is in fact perpetuating these injustices.  Not only for the Chinese, but also for the other Asia-Pacific countries that have not entirely benefitted from the US’s regional dominance.

What White proposes is a new concert of Asia, which is loosely modeled on the Concert of Europe that existed between 1815 and 1914.  Admittedly, the Concert of Europe was not perfect.  There was still conflict during those times, including the war for German unification.  Worse of all, the regional order then ended in a devastating bang: the First World War.  However, as a whole, conflicts among Great Powers were avoided because each Great Power recognized that they must not seek dominance over the entire region.  And most importantly, during that period, Europe experienced a massive growth in the economic, social, and political fields.

The Asian version of this concert would have four “Great Powers” as the prime movers of the region: the US, China, Japan, and India.  Then there would be “middle powers” such as South Korea, Vietnam, and Indonesia (surprisingly, White didn’t mention anything about Australia) completing the hierarchy of power.  White goes on to argue that Indonesia, if it continues to grow the way it has, has every potential to end up as an additional “true” Great Power some time down the line. 

The rules of this concert sound simple:

First, each power must accept the legitimacy of the other power’s political system.  In other words, for the Americans, no more trying to cause (or make appear as though there are) domestic instabilities in China. 

Second, by agreeing to disagree, each power must be willing to make concessions in order to achieve resolutions through peaceful negotiations.

Third, each power must allow the others to build up their armaments, and allow the use of them if there are forces challenging their status as a “great power”.

And fourth, the powers must be able to develop a “code of conduct” that would “govern” their interactions with one another.

Of course, this perspective is far from perfect.  In fact, it has many holes.  For one, as an Indonesian, I would yell out: “Where’s Indonesia in all of this?”  Indonesia may not have the many of capacities owned by the Chinese or the Americans.  But we are the largest country and economy in Southeast Asia, and a leader in ASEAN.  In fact, I’ll yell out again: “What will happen to ASEAN and its regional architecture then?”

In this regard, White may have not sold me entirely on his idea.  But one thing that I do appreciate is his willingness to go outside of the box and propose an alternative to the rut that we are presently in.  I feel that there must be more than two choices to deal with China.  Choices other than confronting China head-on OR appeasing China’s rise to regional dominance.  There must be.  And while the argument proposed in this book may not be entirely convincing, it does present us with some food for thought, and importantly, stimuli for future thinking on the topic of China-US rivalry.

Personally, I believe that Indonesia is a middle power, for now, and maybe even in the long run.  However, that should not relegate its participation in the region (or even the “Concert of Asia”) to insignificance.  Maybe there should be analyses of what a middle power status could truly mean in a “Concert of Asia”.  On what counts as a middle power.  Maybe then I would be more willing to explore further this proposal. 

Time may not be on our side, as White says.  If China’s power keep on growing the way it is doing now, then its economy would be bigger than the US’ and its military more capable of keeping up with the Americans’.  Therefore, it is in the US’ interests to negotiate a new relationship with China, before the power balance further shift in China’s way.  In this regard, the urgency of this process is also in the interest of other countries in the region, including Indonesia.

Misty Memories

The Garden of Evening Mists

Tan Twan Eng

 

Review

I have a new favourite writer: Malaysia’s Tan Twan Eng.

Such revelation came to me very early into my reading of Tan’s spellbinding novel, “The Garden of Evening Mists”.  It took me only the first six pages to recognize what a true gem I had in my hands.  I was immediately hooked on it, and feeling dizzy, Tan took me on a journey to the magical and mysterious setting of the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia.

The book centers on Yun Ling Teoh, a former Japanese prisoner of war, who has become a top Malaysian judge.  Yun Ling is suffering from a gradual loss of memory.  And in her efforts to fight this disease, she travels back to the place of her childhood.  A place where she experienced many life-changing events.  A place of violence, anger, hatred, betrayal, guilt, and sadness, yet one that is also capable of victory, perseverance, truth, peace, and joy.  A place where she lost love, loved ones, and almost her live.  Where dreams shadow living nightmares, and nightmares end live-long dreams.

The Garden of Evening Mists—and the surrounding backdrop of Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands—is where Yun Ling’s life intertwined with those of the other fascinating characters in the book.   There is Yun Hong, Yun Ling’s sister, who disappeared like many other “guests of the Sun Emperor”. There is Magnus Praetorius, the Transvaal adventurer who fled his homeland to build a new one in Malaysia, in the form of the Majuba Tea Estate.  There is also Tatsuji, a Japanese historian and former Kamikaze pilot, who lived to see the end of the World War II because of the sacrifice of his lover and commanding officer.  

And then, there is Aritomo, the Japanese Emperor’s former gardener.  He designed the Garden of Evening Mists, and in him, Yun Ling finds solace from the trauma of her imprisonment.  Aritomo is the embodiment of the novel’s misty mystery.  He is not only a master gardener, but also an artist capable of expressing fleeting beauty and impermanence.  And as the story builds up, Yun Ling discovers clues associating Aritomo with Japan’s conquest of Malaya.

The book also tells Malaysia’s tumultuous history.  From the Japanese invasion, and subsequent conquest, to the Malayan Emergency period, when the communists were bent on challenging not only the British rulers, but also other Malaysians (their own people) who could cross in their paths.  The book talks about Japanese war treasures, the Chinese community in Malaysia, and the marginalization of local indigenous tribes.  It also talks about the country’s capacity to heal from its deep historical wounds.

All in all, the book evolves around the role of memory in human existence, and the relationship between memory and forgetting.

What I find most enjoyable about this book is Tan’s attention to detail.  Not only that, but the way in which he crafts all the details into a string of beautiful sentences.  A hand imprint on an oakwood table, visible for only seconds after the hand is pulled back.  “The scent of pine resin sticking to the air, the bamboo creaking and knocking in the breeze, the broken mosaic of sunlight scattered over the ground.” Memories, like sandbar, cut off from the shore by the incoming tide, slowly becoming submerged, no longer there.

The book won the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction and the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize. It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize.  Indeed, these awards are merely indicative of the public’s reception.  But somehow, even these awards are incapable of describing the feelings and sensations that overwhelmed me during my many moments with this book.  

Indonesia-Japan relations: The soccer dimension

A repost from my article originally published in The Jakarta Post, 18 January 2013

The mid 1980s was arguably the highest point of Indonesia’s soccer history. The national team won gold at the 1987 SEA Games and played in the semifinals of the 1986 Asian Games, only losing to eventual winner South Korea. Indonesia passed the first round of World Cup qualifications with only one loss, finally surrendering to (again) South Korea. And the professional league, Galatama, was attracting hordes of attention as one of the first professional soccer leagues in Asia.

The Nadeshiko winning the World Cup

Around the same time in Japan, soccer was only being played by amateurs. Japan did win the Olympic bronze medal in 1968, but the people’s appetite for the game had dwindled, as baseball took center stage in the country’s sporting culture. It was not until 1993 that the J-League came into existence, to raise the quality of domestic soccer and strengthen the national team.

Japan is now the reigning Asian champion, winning the title four times since the 1990s. Its players are no longer simply known for their fancy hair-dos and publicity value, but also their skills. The national team (nicknamed “The Blue Samurais”) is a regular mainstay in the World Cup, making it to the final 16 round twice. And in 2011, its women’s team made history by winning the World Cup.

Where is Indonesia now? Nowhere near Japan, for sure. I’ll spare you an analysis of the sorry state of our country’s favorite sport.

Today, as we welcome Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it’s hard not to compare the night-and-day outlook of the two countries’ soccer scenes.

Soccer may not feature much in the talks between Prime Minister Abe and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The two leaders will most likely highlight the push for economic partnership, through trade, investment and energy cooperation. They may also discuss the two countries’ contributions to regional peace and stability.

However, the Japanese are Indonesia’s top trading partners, and second-largest investor. They are key partners in Indonesia’s economic development and they’ve managed to do this even as their country faces one economic slump after another. Therefore, while remaining attentive of our economic partnership, the two countries could probably do with some creativity in further strengthening their bilateral relations.

One of the fields worth strengthening is people-to-people contact, through cooperation in sociocultural issues. After all, as President Yudhoyono has often mentioned, people-to-people contacts form the basic foundation of any bilateral cooperation.

Indonesians and Japanese are no strangers. There are around 2,000 Indonesians studying in Japan and close to 180 Japanese students in Indonesia. More than 25,000 Indonesians currently live in Japan, 13,000 of them working as interns. Meanwhile, the Japanese are among the largest expat communities in Indonesia, each year more of their compatriots choose Indonesia as their favorite holiday destination.

Long before Indonesians fell in love with K-Pop, they had already had an affair with Japanese pop culture. When most Americans were still getting cues on Japanese culture from The Karate Kid’s Mr. Miyagi, Indonesians were already hooked on manga, anime and a certain caricature of a naughty kid who likes to prance around without pants. Many Indonesian boys owned an Ultraman or Gundam figurine, and the girls likely owned a Hello Kitty stuffed toy or purse.

With such links already in existence, it is not hard to imagine soccer as an additional factor that can further cement people-to-people contacts.

Unfortunately, Indonesians tend to look too far in search of knowledge on anything related to soccer, turning only to Europe. We even sent our young hopefuls to train in Latin America. Maybe comfort is actually just around the corner. If anything, our love for soccer-themed Captain Tsubasa comics is an indication of our interest in learning a thing or two about soccer from the Japanese.

Indonesians can learn about running soccer clubs like a company, ensuring that the game is not only fun, but also profitable. Indeed, the Japanese had it easier, with corporate culture already instilled among teams that originated as sports clubs for corporations such as Toyota, Sumitomo and Kawasaki. But there are also teams that came up from the grassroots, like Albirex Niigata and Shimizu S-Pulse. Their experience can be a source of inspiration for Indonesians.

In 2011, the Urawa Reds booked US$68.3 million in profits and the Yokohama F. Marinos $44 million. On average, over the years, more than half of the J-League’s First Division teams profited more than $20 million annually. If these Japanese clubs could generate such income from their 127.3 million citizens, then Indonesian clubs should be able to match these stats, considering that our population almost doubles Japan’s.

Currently, the average attendance of Indonesia’s domestic league games is 10,228, far below the J-League’s 17,307. But how can more Indonesians watch domestic soccer, when games are often played on weekday afternoons?

In Japan, more than 50 percent of soccer lovers go to matches with family members, thus making the events a family outing. Hooliganism is unheard of, and within the 23-39 age group, there are more Japanese women in soccer stadiums than men.

The key is to get rid of greed in the Indonesian soccer system. We know very well that our recent problems have stemmed from money issues. Surely there must be enough to go around. If only team owners would actually try to make Indonesian football better, instead of just talking about it, they would realize that money can be made together. Beating each other up for a slice of pie is pathetic, when the opportunity to make the pie bigger is in front of everyone.

Indonesia could also learn from Japan’s experience in building a strong national team. Yes, Japan has had its share of naturalized foreign players, but these days, the Blue Samurais are made up of players who rose from the ranks of Japan’s soccer pyramid. Captain Makoto Hasebe was a high school soccer star before entering the Urawa Reds’ junior team, graduating later to its senior side. Shinji Kagawa, who started when he was only 5, built up his skills in one youth team after another before finally making it big with Cerezo Osaka. Now, they are all big stars in European leagues, and important pillars of the Japanese national team.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, as many more best practices can be absorbed from Japan’s soccer success story.

Me and my favourite Hasebe shirt

When we think about learning from Japan, many tend to imagine something more high-tech, but the truth is that there are other things worth learning from the land of the rising sun. I don’t think most Japanese would mind sharing these experiences and skills. After all, the J-League was created with the mission of, among other things, “contributing to international friendship and exchange”.

Maybe watching Arsenal play an exhibition match at GBK Stadium this year will be fun, but I’m sure that the same can be said of champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima and their star, J-League’s player of the year Hisato Sato.

At least, this would provide yet another dimension to the Indonesia-Japan partnership, as we learn to understand each other better as partners in this Asian Century.

Tokyo Devotion

Book Cover

I don't normally read crime-mysteries... I prefer the typical novels exploring human relations (yes, I'm a sappy one). But because The Devotion of Suspect X has become such a sensation in Japan, I just had to figure out what it was all about...

I do have to admit, just 10 pages into the book, I was already feeling that Higashino's prose was not the most beautiful I had read.  It was nowhere as intricate or heart-moving as the words that one may find streaming from the pens of Jhumpa Lahiri, Haruki Murakami, or Tea Obrecht. Then again, the fault could also lie in the translation from Japanese. 

I wasn't entirely critical about the prose, tho. I knew that I was reading a blockbuster novel, and not necessarily a work of literary genius. But I do have to say that for what Higashino lacked in beautiful words, he sure made it up in the plot of the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed the way in which the story twisted and turned, going round-and-round. The story was not a who-dunnit; we knew very well who committed the murder just a few pages into the book.  But somehow, for the entire journey of 440 pages, I was kept guessing, digging into layer upon layer of intricacies. And then I got to the end, where the biggest twist of them all happened.

I also enjoyed Higashino's development of the book's characters. Many of the characters represented what I felt as typical stereotypes of the Japanese: Ishigami (the logically driven math nerd), Yasuko (the hardworking, down-and-out, pretty single-mother and former hostess), Kudo (the honest, well-meaning slaryman) and Kusanagi (the righteous police detective). I would have probably objected to this stereotyping had the book been written by a non-Japanese. But because it was, then I swallowed the story whole as a partial study of the Japanese society.

When I think about it, the story did feel a bit "flat". It wasn't a roller coaster of emotions the way other novels I've read recently, like Lewycka's A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. But now that I've finished reading the book, and am looking at it in a reflective way, I am starting to feel that "that was just it!".

While the prose may have intentionally been developed  flat or emotionless (just like the demure of the main character, Ishigami), the story was actually very engaging . What makes me say so? Well, I finished nearly 3/4 of the book within a couple of days. Swift changes of emotions did not happen, but once the story is over, some of its underlying themes lingered on and on. Themes such as sacrifice, penance, righteousness, resilience, and of course, devotion. 

Currere Ergo Sum

It’s not often that I read a biography, let alone, an autobiography.  I can’t even remember the last time I did.  Maybe it was Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father.  And even then, I didn’t finish the book, reading only parts about the current US President’s life in Indonesia.

So, there I was, 7 o’clock in the morning, in Kuala Lumpur’s International Airport (how I envy the Malaysians for having this, and us Indonesians the dark and gloomy SHIA), looking to break my US$100 bill, so that I’d have small change as I arrive in Phnom Penh later in the day.  I thought about a teh tarik, but as I walked towards the kedai kopi tiam, I was somehow lured into a bookstore by a sign saying “Buy 2, Get 3”.

Nothing from the piles of 3-for-2 books became of interest to me.  But next to them were a pile of Haruki Murakami books.  Just a week earlier I had purchased Murakami’s Sputnik Sweetheart but had not had time to finish.  Therefore, it would seem silly to buy another of his books.  Well, sillier things have happened whenever I am in a bookstore.  Like, for example, buying a book which I already owned (but with a different book cover), or buying a classic like Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center Of the Earth just because it’s a classic and that maybe someday, just maybe, I’d have time read it.

I looked at the price sticker on the back of Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir (WITAWITAR), and sure enough, it was just more expensive than a glass of teh tarik.  And so, foregoing my physical thirst, I succumbed to my intellectual hunger instead.  At least, that’s what I liked to think that I was doing at the time.  As well, I got the small change for my first days in Phnom Penh.

Out of curiosity, I started reading the first few pages of the book on the 1.5 hour trip from Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh.  And I simply got addicted.  I was confident that I’d be able to finish the book during my stay in Cambodia.  But of course, that never happened.  Instead, I became consumed by two other books on Cambodia.  A week later, back in Jakarta, I finally got a chance to return to reading WITAWITAR.  And boy was it a good book!

When talking about running, Murakami actually talks about many other things.  He describes the will to push oneself to the limit, about the struggle between the mind and the body, about what it means to be a writer, to be a doer (not just a dreamer), and of course, to be a runner.  It’s a book about realizing one’s best potential through hard work and determination.

Murakami is one of my favorite writers, with Norwegian Wood considered as my most cherished of his books, followed by After Dark.  But what I never knew was that Murakami hadn’t started writing until his late twenties.  It all started with an epiphany while watching a baseball game.  Something along the lines of “If you build it, they will come”, I guess.

Not only that, Murakami does not claim himself to be a talented writer, or a talented person per se.  He has had to make up for this with hard work, as well as well-planned schedules and strategies.  Somehow I always thought that all good writers were just born with talent.  But I guess, Murakami has proven me wrong.  Let’s just hope that he wasn’t being typically-Japanese humble.

Reading accounts of Murakami’s training for the many marathons he has participated in, there were a number of lessons that I learned.  Lessons that I kinda wanna share with those who have yet had the chance to read this light, but filling memoir.

1. To be a good writer one must have talent.  However, we can never control the quality or amount of talent we have.  We either have lots or little.  And therefore, we can either chose to spend all of our talent in one go, or use it up slowly, to ensure that it lasts a long time.
2. If we lack talent, than we can rely on focus and endurance.  A good writer is capable of focusing and enduring the ordeal of churning out a good piece of writing.  According to Murakami, more than a mental activity, writing actually has more to do with physical stamina.  In this sense, talent will get you some place, but you can only roam endlessly if you have focus and endurance.    
3. Running won’t generate ideas for someone experiencing a writers’ block.  The act of running requires so much focus that it’s unlikely one’ll be thinking of anything else but finish the course.  Running, however, will clear your mind, and allow for new ideas to spring out in its aftermath.  As in, after a good run, sit down and write.
4. When we say things like “18 ‘til I die”, it means that we die when we are 18, because we can never be 18 throughout our lives.  Not in the mental sense, and certainly not in the physical one.  Our ability to survive and thrive depends on our capability to adapt to change.    
5. It’s no use to fight time, because time will always win.  So, the best thing that we could do is to enjoy the things that we love to do as much as possible.  Our lives have limits, and when we’ve learned to recognize those limits, we’ll be able to enjoy what we have in our hands to the fullest.
6. It’s never to late to start up something new, and actually succeed in it.  If something is worth doing, then it’s worth doing it your best, maybe even beyond your best.  Murakami didn’t start writing until he was 29, and he didn’t start running until he was 33.  He is now a well-knownwriter and runs at least a marathon every year.
7. You can learn about yourself by analyzing the things you cannot live without.  Murakami said that most of what he knows about writing was learned through running every day. I am a football fan.  I can’t imagine life without football.  I have no idea yet what this means, but maybe by understanding this fascination, I’d be able to learn more about myself.

I, too, believe that I don’t have that much talent for writing.  I mean, I love reading any beautifully structured sentence, and then repeating it over and over in my head, trying to emulate them with my own words.  However, to sit down and write a long, substantive piece of story, well that doesn’t always materialize into something concrete.  More often, my ideas evaporate into thin the air.  Once in a while, there would be “sparks of genius”.  But, all in all, I am very much an average person. 

And so, if I was to learn anything from Murakami, then to be a good writer (blogs, articles, short stories or even presidential speeches), I’d have to train myself to play that part.  I must make myself more focused and resilient.  But nothing is impossible.  Murakami showed in WITAWITAR that he’s a mere mortal.  But, even mere mortals could ascend to a more deity-like form through determination, endurance, perseverance, focus, and a sound understanding of limits and goals.

Oh yeah, I really feel like going for a run now…