김흥숙의 생각

When my fellow students and I were staging demonstrations on and outside the campus protesting the dictatorial rule of then President Park Chung-hee in the early 1970s, we sang many songs. The most important song was ``We Shall Overcome." Nearly 40 years have passed, yet the tune still warms my heart and even brings tears to my eyes. If we were to hold an event commemorating t..

A special day means a special need. If people with physical or mental challenges could live as freely as those without, we wouldn't need the Day of Disabled Persons. If everyone loved and respected their fathers and mothers, Parents' Day wouldn't be necessary. Today is for the bad, young or grown up, who seldom pay attention to their parents. There are more bad children than good ones and the t..

Dear Andrzej, how are you doing? There are a thousand possible reasons why people break their long-held silences. For me, it was the scarlet petals of Kaffir lilies. I can't tell you why, but your name just popped into my head as I was gazing upon the flowers in my small garden of pots the other day and I became compelled to write for the first time in 15 years. Some flowers w..

Easter spirit and related events were everywhere last weekend. As my sister's family and mine were going to a ``samgyetang'' restaurant to beat the spring fever, we were greeted repeatedly by both Protestant Christians and Catholics soliciting entry into their realm of faith. ``Accept Jesus, the resurrected, and live forever,'' we were entreated. Resurrection, does that really happen? Can anyon..

I have two potted jasmine plants at home. The bigger one is busy sprouting nail-size leaves, while the smaller one has already produced three white star-like flowers. The fragrance is not strong, but the smell of burning incense fills the entire living room. Jasmine is just like the Korean orchid in that its fragrance touches everything evenly. As I think about jasmine and orchids, I am reminded..

I wonder if there were times when crime made for more serious food for thought than it does now. Just when you think you have heard everything, a new, worse crime ensues. Last week, the police apprehended a 41-year-old man and his 25-year-old wife for having caused their baby's death due to neglect. They spent six to 12 hours a day at a ``PC Room," a private establishment wher..

The government has designated the period from 2010 through 2012 as ``Visit Korea" years and has been trying to promote medical tourism as a way of increasing its number of foreign visitors, allowing hospitals to market and pay commissions to agencies to bring in more patients. Still, there is a hindrance to such efforts, The Korea Times reported twice last week, because foreig..

Being quite ignorant of the cutting-edge technology, I wasn't sure if I wanted to see James Cameron's ``Avatar." I was intimidated by ``3-D," ``4-D" and all other technical terms used to describe the movie. News reports that the epic had already drawn over 10 million viewers put me off seeing it, as I have a tendency to disregard bestsellers. If it had not been for a few artic..

As I browsed through a newspaper in a library last week, I came across an article that said Korea lags far behind other economic powers as far as public libraries are concerned. Being a believer in the value and importance of books and libraries, the news was more than frustrating to me. I have often felt that books can create miracles. Even if you are in a crowded bus termina..

The best and funniest news so far this year is that younger Korean parents prefer daughters to sons. In a survey of parents of 2,078 babies born in 2008, the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs and the Korea Educational Development Institute found that 37.4 percent of fathers wanted to have daughters, while 28.6 percent longed for sons. When it came to mothers, 37.9 ..