Dear Mrs. smith:

In your article published in the "Life Overseas" section of the July issue (overseas edition) of Sinorama, you write: "I am really honored to be half Okie." I applaud and cheer you for this. But if you believe the attitude of most Chinese students here to the Oklahoma City bombing was that it "wasn't related to their lives," and that they were of the mindset that "each person sweeps the snow only from his own doorstep, without seeing if the neighbor's tiles are frozen," I think your view is biased and not well thought through. Were you really able to sample the unseen words and thoughts in other people's hearts?!

Man is an animal with feelings. I still remember how I wanted to phone home to say I was OK, but couldn't get through to Taiwan until a week after the bombing. The first thing my mother asked was, "Are you all right?" But her second question was, "How many people were hurt? Is it very bad?" If my mother, a middle-aged woman without a higher education, can show concern about this terrible bombing, how would we who are living in the place where it occurred not do the same?! We're not cold-hearted; perhaps it would come closer to the truth to say: "Our spirits were willing, but our flesh was weak!"

In my own case, for example, when public television stations in Oklahoma City broadcast appeals for people to help poor children, old people living alone, and homeless families, I quietly donated $10 and wrote letters to them. I also offered to do work such as weeding, sweeping and so on. I'm sure the vast majority of us Chinese students studying overseas depend on our parents' hard-earned money, which they give us to let us come here and study for higher qualifications. How many have any money to spare to help others? But what we can give is our concern, sympathy and love.

Let me give a few examples: Within the foreign students' Christian fellowship, we have prayed many times for the bomb victims. Also, at UCO (University of Central Oklahoma) we have organized blood donation and fundraising campaigns. It's true we don't have much money to give and there was a shortage of blood bags, but don't you believe these actions represent the attitude of the great majority of Chinese students?

Dear Mrs. Smith, the majority of us Chinese students are not aloof or arrogant. We are simply quiet, hard-working people. I'm sure most of us have feelings for our fellow human beings. It's just that our environment and the language barrier create too great a gap. Today we are half a world away from home, quietly studying hard, hoping that one day we can each contribute what we can to our country, the Republic of China. I believe the 21st century will be the century of the Chinese. If there comes a time for us to contribute or make sacrifices, how could we grudge our own efforts, or even our lives!

We are not cold-hearted Chinese students, we are full of feelings. I'm sure that goes for the vast majority of us!

Li Chun-te, She Hsiang-lei Oklahoma City, USA

Sinorama is Online!

Dear readers:

You may have read our recent articles on the new BBS craze sweeping Taiwan's campuses. Now Sinorama magazine has joined the Internet too. So, while you're surfing the Net, feel free to scan Sinorama. It's just one more way we put you in touch with the history, the current events and the future of Taiwan! We cordially invite you to drop on in and browse the new online Sinorama. And we welcome you to submit your own ideas (by post or E-mail). See you in cyberspace!

Sinorama's IP addresses:

Taipei: http://gio.gov.tw/info/sinorama/

Los Angeles: http://sinanet.com/