“Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move,” said David Belle, the founder of parkour(跑酷).

    Do you love running? It is a good exercise, yet many people find it boring. But what if making your morning jog a creative one? Like jumping from walls and over gaps, and ground rolls? Just like the James Bond in the movie Casino Royale? Bond jumps down from a roof to a windowsill and then runs several blocks over obstacles on the way. It is just because of Bond's wonderful performances that the sport has become popular worldwide.

    Yes, that's parkour, an extreme street sport aimed at moving from one point to another as quickly as possible, getting over all the obstacles in the path using only the abilities of the human body. Parkour is considered an extreme sport. As its participants(参与者) dash around a city, they may jump over fences, run up walls and even move from roof top to roof top.

    Parkour can be just as exciting and charming as it sounds, but its participants see parkour much more than that.

    Overcoming all the obstacles on the course and in life is part of the philosophy(理念) behind parkour. This is the same as life. You must determine your destination, go straight, jump over all the barriers as if in parkour and never fall back from them in your life to reach the destination successfully. A parkour lover said, “I love parkour because its philosophy has become my life, my way to do everything.”

    Another philosophy we've learnt from parkour is freedom. It can be done by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world. It is a kind of expression of trust in yourself. It is only a state of mind. It is when you trust yourself that you earn energy.

It's long been thought that in order to succeed in life you need to think only of yourself and ignore the needs of others. New research,however,suggests the exact opposite is true and being nice to others actually makes you more likely to be successful. The scientists found that ‘givers' were more likely to share knowledge,and in turn gain more information themselves.

    Researchers divided participants into three groups based on a personality test: givers, takers and matchers. In a social dilemma task, participants were given a made-up donation which was equal to the amount of ￡ 240( $400). They were then asked to decide how much of their money they would give to a shared group pool. They were told that the money in the pool would be doubled and divided equally among all group members. Thus,it would be more beneficial to the group as a whole if everyone contributed their individual donations. However, it would be more beneficial for the individual if everyone else from the group contributed,while the individual kept his or her own money. The researchers used this strategic (策略的) information sharing task to examine how much and which pieces of information participants shared:the less important and already known information or the really important information only known by the individual.

    The results showed that givers are less self-centered and self-loving than takers. Givers shared not only more money with the group, but they also shared important information. Takers on the other hand kept both the money as well as different types of information.

    The findings suggest that it may not be enough to simply provide knowledge management tools in order to make the best of knowledge exchange in a group of people. It may be necessary for leaders and managers to keep in mind the personality styles of their employees. Specifically, they should be aware that takers may keep the important information for themselves.

    Siblings refer to one's brothers and sisters. We're attached to siblings as adults far longer than we are as children. Our sibling relationships, in fact, are the longest-lasting family ties we have.

    “Paul, my younger brother, and I, kind of annoyed each other when we were kids,” said Anna, an interviewee, “But as adults, we've always had each other's back, especially when dealing with our mother's health crisis. Paul is the first person I want to talk to when something worries me.”

    There's probably a biological explanation for the close bond of the sibling relationship. Siblings share half their genes, which biologists say should be motivation enough for each other's devotion.

    One thing that can weaken closeness in adulthood is a parent who played favorites in childhood; this sense of hatred can last a lifetime. The simple concept of parental favoritism was enough to shake their relationship.

    “What Paul and I are pretty sure is our parents treated us the same when we were growing up. Yet we're very different people,” Anna said,“ Paul is outgoing while I'm shy. Paul is an amateur pianist while I can't read music or carry a tune. In families with more than one child, every sibling seems to get a label in contrast to every other sibling.”

    The very presence of siblings in the household can be an education. When a new baby is born, the older sibling gains social skills by interacting with the younger, and the younger gains cognitively（认知角度地）by imitating the older. They learn from the friction between them, too, as they fight for their parents' attention. Mild conflict between brothers and sisters teaches them how to interact with friends and co-workers for the rest of their lives.

    It's so sad when things between siblings fall apart, which happens when aging parents need care or die — old feelings of contradiction and jealousy erupt all over again. Many families get through their parents' illnesses just fine, establishing networks where the workload is divided pretty much equally. But about 40 percent of the time there is a single primary caregiver who feels like she is not getting any help from her brothers and sisters, which can lead to serious conflicts.

    Throughout adulthood, the sibling relationship “is powerful and unchanged,” said Jane Mersky Leder, author of the new e-book The Sibling Connection. Whether we are close to our siblings or distant, she writes, they remain our brothers and sisters — for better or for worse.

    So remember the immortal（永恒的）words of folksinger Loudon Wainwright Ⅲ, in a song called Thanksgiving.“ On this brilliant occasion, this special family dinner, if I argue with a loved one, please make me…”

    Give yourself a test. Which way is the wind blowing? How many kinds of wildflowers can be seen from your front door? If your awareness is as sharp as it could be, you'll have no trouble answering these questions.

    Most of us observed much more as children than we do as adults. A child's day is filled with fascination, newness and wonder. Curiosity gave us all a natural awareness. But distinctions that were sharp to us as children become unclear; we are numb(麻木的）to new stimulation(刺激), new ideas. Relearning the art of seeing the world around us is quite simple, although it takes practice and requires breaking some bad habits.

    The first step in awakening senses is to stop predicting what we are going to see and feel before it occurs. This blocks awareness. One chilly night when I was hiking in the Rocky Mountains with some students, I mentioned that we were going to cross a mountain stream. The students began complaining about how cold it would be. We reached the stream, and they unwillingly walked ahead. They were almost knee-deep when they realized it was a hot spring. Later they all admitted they'd felt cold water at first.

    Another block to awareness is the obsession(痴迷) many of us have with naming things. I saw bird watchers who spotted a bird, immediately looked it up in field guides, and said, a "ruby-crowned kinglet" and checked it off. They no longer paid attention to the bird and never learned what it was doing.

    The pressures of "time" and "destination" are further blocks to awareness. I encountered many hikers who were headed to a distant camp-ground with just enough time to get there before dark. It seldom occurred to them to wander a bit, to take a moment to see what's around them. I asked them what they'd seen. "Oh, a few birds," they said. They seemed bent on their destinations.

    Nature seems to unfold to people who watch and wait. Next time you take a walk, no matter where it is, take in all the sights, sounds and sensations. Wander in this frame of mind and you will open a new dimension to your life.

    Primary school students in China started using new editions of their textbooks last September, with new illustrations(插图)to go with classic Chinese poems.

    With the 110 classic poems for primary school students from Grade One to Six come one hundred illustrations painted by artist Huang Guoxiang of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. The old version of Chinese was in use for more than 10 years. "Our aesthetic(美学的)tastes have changed. The illustrations in textbooks should keep up with that," said Huang.

    "An editor from People's Education Press called me last September and asked whether I was interested –to create illustrations for three poems: Ode to Goose, Min Nong and Spring Dawn. I made it. After about 20 days, the publisher called me again and asked me to do all of them," Huang said.

    Huang also said he referred to the Chinese textbooks his son used previously before working on a new painting.

    But he did not just create any ink paintings; Huang changed his style of painting a little bit for his young readers. Primary school students may not necessarily be attracted to traditional Chinese ink painting, as the stokes(笔画)tend to be thick and the colors dark. So he mixed ink painting with watercolor to make the pictures visually appealing to the young readers while fully expressing the meanings of classic poems.

    "It's not that difficult to illustrate a single poem. The hard part is: sometimes there are three poems on one page and the contents of these poems may change greatly, so it was difficult for me to express the feelings of all of them with one illustration. Sometimes I had to think with a bigger picture and create something that fits it all," added Huang.

    In Singapore, art is more than what meets the eye. Galleries and museums here are not just places to be inspired, but also homes to distinctive souvenirs. Take home well-designed pieces, that reflect your personality.

    Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI)

    41 Robertson Quay, Singapore 238236. +65 6336 3663.

    Mon.- Fri. 10 am-7 pm; Sat. 9 am-6 pm

    STPI is a space for experimentation of print and paper. Walk through the gallery and join other art lovers in developing an appreciation of print and paper art practice. STPI allows you to own a piece of the work produced by artists at the gallery workshops.

    Red Dot Design Museum (RDDM)

    11 Marina Boulevard, Singapore 018940.+65 6514 0111.

    Mon-Thur. 10 am-8 pm; Fri -Sun. 10 am-11 pm

    From lighting to parasol (阳伞) the Red Dot Design Museum presents award-winning products and design concepts from over 30 countries. Head to the Design museum shop, there are many interesting design objects and collections sourced from all over the world.

    National Gallery Singapore (NGS)

    1 St. Andrews Rd. Singapore 178957. +65 6271 7000.

    Mon. - Thur., Sat. -Sun 10 am-7 pm; Fri. 10 am-9 pm

    NGS occupies two major landmarks - the former Supreme Court and City Hall - and features over 8,000 artworks, which is the largest public display of modern Southeast Asian art and culture. It is also a home to a bost of intemational exhibitions that have inspired the world and will be remembered for years to come.

    Singapore Philatelic Museum (SPM)

    23-B Coleman Street, Singapore 179807. +65 6337 3888.

    Daily 10 am - 7 pm

    Fascinated by stamps? SPM features postage stamps dating all the way back from the 1830s. Enjoy this vibrant museum's in-depth presentation of local and intermational postal history. Send Singapore-inspired postcards or collect miniature postboxes from Singapore and around the world. Charming souvenirs at the museum store will make creative decorations for your home or office.