We are living better now than 5,000 years ago. Humans have been progressively living better, but

the road to the present day has had numerous peaks and valleys. Some were living on the upward 

slope toward the peak, others on the down slope. Some were at the peak, others were at the bottom 

of the valley. People who were passed away before us did not know where they were, but they 

certainly did their best to live better. So do we. All I can do is to do my best and hope for the best. 

Oh, yes, oh, yes, Dr. Choh, I see you uploaded ‘West-Eastern Divan Orchestra & Barenboim-Said Academy’

to make me ecstatic! I am sure you know the background of Daniel Barenboim as well as Edward Said

but I wonder how and why you chose this video as one of two title songs!?

I happened to have keen interests on Edward Said through late ’90 since he was one of quite vocal

pro-Palestine supporters/writers among the literary group here in the U.S. sharing exactly the same resentment

to Israeli/Zionism I have. I am NOT a politician but through my personal trips to Arab countries for over

two decades I became a staunch supporter of the ‘ousted’ Palestinians to come back to their homeland

and Edward Said was also well known as such vocal critics together with quite a few liberal(?) Jews,

sharing the sympathy to another diaspora of Palestinians caused by the Jews, themselves.

Indeed, I read Edward Said had such a hard time not only physically- he suffered from chronic

lymphocytic leukemia if I remember correctly for many years before he died in early 2,000 –

but also professionally as a professor of literature at Columbia University due to his vocal criticism

to Zionism/Israeli giving open support on Palestinians.

Nevertheless, I recall he was one of the pioneers in the academic field of ‘postcolonial studies’

of the English and Comparative Literature, to study the cultural legacy of ‘colonialism and imperialism’

to which I was 100% bound/fascinated following my first encounter/knowledge through the trip

to Ghana in 1960 when I was the first year of the med school to attend WAY(World Assembly of Youth)

to represent South Korea - WAY was then the biggest U.N. supporting non-political group sponsored

by the neutral countries led by Jawaharlal Nehru of India and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt-.

Such ‘Postcolonialism’ as the academic study focused on the human consequences of the control

and exploitation of colonized people and their lands, like Palestine I was so interested.

Naturally, I was fascinated with Edward Said, Jerusalem born, Palestinian American, giving a public

criticism of U.S. policy together with Israel and the Arab countries, especially on the political

and cultural policies of Muslim/Arab countries, and kept track on him till he passed away in 2003,

heard his death right before I left Korea to be back home to the U.S.,- I believe he was a few years older

than me- and also such controversial ‘the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra’ he founded

with Daniel Barenboim to help Palestinians in Seville, Spain.

So, I am very happy someone like you ticked me to bring his reminiscence through this website, Dr. Choh.

Happy New Year!

BB Lee

P.S. I have very limited knowledge on Barenboim as a pianist but more as the husband of Jacqueline Du Pre

who remains in my heart with the 1st Movement of Elgar's Cello Concerto with London Philharmonic

and Daniel Barenboim conducting and also Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor

with London Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim conducting; I still keep their recordings

in the LP disc in my study room. Nevertheless, her untimely death by multiple sclerosis made me feel so sad

that I spared the time to join to Prof. Paolo Zamboni of Univ Ferrara/Italy to investigate the role

of truncular venous malformation to cause the chronic cerebral venous insufficiency (CCSVI)

as precipitating cause of MS - see the attachment-.

IA-Review-CCSVI -VM & Embryology.pdf

** ” We are living better now than 5,000 years ago.”----

I am not sure if we can make such conclusive statements, Dr. Ohn. I guess it all depends on how you look at life.

If you see Pompeii the archeological area, as a snapshot of ancient Roman city life, many of them seem to

have had good happy lives. If you read about what is written on the clay tablets from Mesopotamia,

they lived like us today in many aspects. They did not have the cars or computers or modern medical care

but laughing, weeping, wooing, loving, studying, practicing calligraphy----were all parts of their lives.

For those, who were” in the valley” people of Machu Picchu or Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, or people

in N.K or Gaza strips today, ---to me “valley “ means “being killed”.by others---and all sorts of human suffering.

**Dr. Lee ---Since I read some of the writings of Edward Said in the ’90s, I think I have a better humanistic

understanding of the suffering of the Palestinians on the West Bank & Gaza. These days I do not like

“Madame Butterfly” or“Miss Saigon, as much as before and question me on and off about validity/motivation

of polite disdain for oriental culture in some western writings and even some eastern writings.

I hope the friendship between Said-Barenboim finds a firm place in history to accomplish the unfinished mission

of Nobel Peace prize bestowed upon Yasser Arafat, Shimon Perez, Yitzak Rabin. (1994)

My occasional visits to the Middle East, as well as exposure to the patients from the region, allowed me first hand

exposure of fantastic Islamic arts(Doha Museum of Islamic Arts & UAE museums) and cultural disparity

that needs to be digested for proper medical care of GCC patients. What is the so-called “Patient-Centered

Medical Care” for 80-year-old Arabic lady going for a heart surgery, whose son requests absolutely not to explain

about surgery and tell her “she is going for a small test” or an Arabic lady who completely delegates

any consent form(decision) to her husband.

Realizing backwardness of their nomadic culture, lack of democracy, lack of women’s rights, how much

are we entitled to impose “Western Guidelines” to them in medical care or in other areas?

Your comments of World Assembly of Youth and Nehru----, the Paper on the Venous Anomaly---

all amazing accomplishments. Reading the paper, I learned a lot about venous malformations and anomaly,

which I encountered occasionally during my active years.

There was a time in my younger years when I was immersed in Nehru’s autobiography, especially stories

during the Indian independence movement and building a new country and so on--.

Last but not least--- memory of D.Barenboim and J.Du Pre couple. For old times sake, from the old discs

I used to have-----

Good to know you are also interested in Palestinian issue like me, Dr. Choh. I reckon it is quite natural to feel that way with normal human brain with the empathy, not like Idiot Trump whose brain maturation was arrested at the level of age of 4 years with no capacity to create the sense of ‘empathy’. Anyhow, Barenboim must have same feeling/sympathy as a normal human being though he is an Israeli (I believe he was born in Argentina).  

Thank you to share your own experience in the Middle East as well.

Warm regards,

BB Lee

P.S. So you also have Luigi Boccherini's Cello Concerto No. 9 in B-flat Major on old LP! Indeed, I agonize with what to do with these LP collections near to 3,000 which occupies one entire wall/bookshelf in my library/study room together with tons of old photos. Kids belonging to the CD generation don't appreciate these old LPs as I do and have their own interests!  Sadly,they might take same path of my father's collection of old carbon music records over three thousands, which was donated to some salvage group by my mother since we will have no chance to take care of them from here in the U.S.