A few years ago， I read a survey of one hundred men， celebrities from various walks of life， all of whom were over 60. They were asked what they would do differently if they could live their lives again. Almost to a man they answered， “love more.”
Here，s something： type “Valentine，s Day” into the Google search engine on the internet and 1.5 million hits are found. The word “love” generates a list of 120 million sites； “what is love” returns 108，000 hits.
情人节在国外
2月14日是瓦伦丁节，中国人称之为情人节。我认为对这一节日名称的中文翻译并不准确，因为这个节日并不仅仅属于相爱的男女。瓦伦丁节是表达各种爱的节日，但毫无疑问，陷入浪漫爱情的人在这个节日最有神采，也最肯花钱，也最为动情。
当我还是个小男孩时，妈妈会在瓦伦丁节之前给我买来很多便宜的贺卡，上面有画工拙劣的蝴蝶、小兔、蜜蜂，用来送给班里的每个孩子(全班一共有大约20名同学)。这些贺卡是装在塑料袋里的，每张贺卡上都有一句冒傻气的话：“做我的人吧”，“我喜欢你”，“你赢得了我的心”，还有十足的空话“你好，瓦伦丁！”我在每张贺卡上面潦草地写上自己的名字，并且在每个薄薄的信封上写上一个同学的名字。我把贺卡装进信封，然后用舌头去舔，好让信封粘上，但是因为价格太便宜，极少的信封上面才有足够的胶。在瓦伦丁节那天，我就把这些贺卡带到学校——其实谁都这样做。我们就在教室里开派对，有纸托蛋糕、果汁，还有小小的心形糖果，上面还印着瓦伦丁节的特有词语——“你可爱”、“丘比特”或是“爱”。
啊，爱！这就是瓦伦丁节的信息：爱。没有人确切知道这一节日的来源。有几名天主教殉道士的名字叫瓦伦丁，但是要把传说与事实分开是件很困难的事。有个故事是说在公元270年左右有一个名为瓦伦丁的神父，他无视罗马皇帝克劳狄二世的禁令为一对新人主持了婚礼而被关进牢房，后来可能被石头砸死。但是今天很难找到这个节日与宗教的任何关联。
在我长大一点儿后，开始讨厌学校里过瓦伦丁节的那套仪式。我不喜欢那种又干又脆的贺卡纸的感觉，用舌头舔信封的封口也让我觉得恶心。此外，喜欢每一个同学的第一次冲动已经消退——有的孩子并不那么好，我不想将他们作为我在瓦伦丁节最喜欢的人，可贺卡上总是写着这类的话。
也许更为有意义的是，我的心开始在某些女孩面前悸动——大约11岁的时候，我对詹妮斯·拉姆开始了少不更事的迷恋。实际上，我记得曾在六七张贺卡上写上了她的名字，而令我难受的是，詹妮斯恋上了莱瑞·琼斯，所以她就给他很多贺卡，可莱瑞却给了多恩·洛克威尔很多贺卡，事情就这样在教室里发生着。瓦伦丁节变成了一件痛苦的事情——它带来了因为爱没有回报而感到的心碎。(在Google键入“心碎”，有607，000个网址；键入“没有回报的爱”，118，000个网址)
谢天谢地，在大约12岁的时候，这些少年之间送贺卡的愚蠢游戏结束了。当然，内心的痛苦与狂喜还继续着。在12年级(高三)的时候，我的语文老师斯嘎拉夫人(她祖上是苏格兰人)不断地赞美苏格兰诗人罗伯特·彭斯的诗。在那个年龄，我还不喜欢学校，不喜欢斯嘎拉夫人，当然也不喜欢诗，但那时候我很倾心于琳达·弗勒，为了给她留下好印象我愿意做任何事情。在那年的瓦伦丁节，斯嘎拉夫人大声朗读了彭斯的诗《一朵红红的玫瑰》。或许是我对琳达的迷恋让我变得敏感，诗中交织在一起的甜蜜与快乐、无望与希望一下子就抓住了我。
现在，在刚过了瓦伦丁节的时候，我们读一下这首着名的诗是很适宜的，顺利说一句，在Google上键入这首诗的第一行，就会有21，900个网址蹦出来。
一朵红红的玫瑰
啊，我的恋人像红红的玫瑰，
六月里绽放；
啊，我的恋人像一支乐曲，
美妙，悠扬。
你真美，可爱的姑娘，
我爱你至深至切；
永远爱你，我的挚爱，
直到四海涸竭。
直到四海涸竭，
直到岩石消融！
我会永远爱你，
只要生命无穷。
再见吧，我惟一的恋人，
再见吧，这只是暂别片刻；
我定会回来，我的恋人，
即使万里相隔！
几年以前，我读到一份有关100个男人的调查，他们是各行各业的明星人物，全都过了60岁。他们被问及如果能重新活一次，会有哪些与今生不一样的地方，他们几乎异口同声地回答：“要更多地去爱。”
这里还有一些信息：在因特网的Google搜索引擎中键入“瓦伦丁节”，会发现150万个网点，而“爱”一词则是1.2亿个网点，“什么是爱”10.8万个网点。
Singapore： A New Venice of the 21st Century
What lessons did I learn from my visit to and readings on Venice which are relevant to Singapore？
First， one ingredient of Venetian success was national unity. The Venetians were united whereas some of their rival cities， for example， Genoa， were divided.
Second， the Venetians enjoyed good government. The central organs of government formed a pyramid， with the General Assembly at its base and the doge (duke) at its apex. In between were the Great Council， the Forty and the Senate， and the Ducal Council. The doge was elected by a nominating committee of wise men. Frederic Lane， the great historian of Venice observed： “Distrust of individual power made the Venetians depend on committees and councils. Even in their judicial system， sentences were not imposed by an individual judge but by several judges acting together. Each committee or ccouncil was checked by some other committee or council so as to assure the rule of law， even at the cost of losing some executive efficiency.” Therefore altough the Venetian Republic was not a democracy， the Venetians did enjoy good governance.
Third， Venice prospered because it used its maritime power to enforce freedom of navigation. Freedom of navigation is crucial to maritime trade. Even today， the bulk of world trade is seaborne. However， unlike the past， an increasing share of world trade is airborne. Electronic commerce has become a reality and is expected to grow exponentially. Singapore must therefore support the freedom of navigation at sea， in the air， as well as on the Internet.
Fourth， Venice was both a trading and financial centre. Venice pioneered a commerical revolution in the 14th Century in Europe. Resident agents took the place of travelling merchants. Family partnerships， in which one brother would stay in Venice while the others would live abroad， became common. Nonfamily partnerships， joint ventures， the system of doubleentry bookkeeping， the bill of lading， the bill of exchange， and marine insurance were evolved to facilitate trade.
For centuries， Venice was an important trading centre linking Europe with Turkey， the Arab world and the East. Venice was also a source of capital， to finance trade， the crusades， and various kings and princes of Europe. Banking developed in Venice in the 12th Century. Until the Church prohibited usury， Venetian creditors used to charge 20% interest on wellsecured loans. After the prohibition， Venice developed its own standard of what was legitimate gain. Its approval as nonusurious the payment of a rate of return determined by market conditions， much as we do today.
Fifth， I was impressed by the reputation for competence and professionalism of Venetian leaders， admirals， diplomats， ship builders， glass blowers， and other artisans. The Venetians excelled in war and in peace. The talent and ability of the Venetian leaders and citizens was one of the necessary ingredients of the success of the city state. This lesson is timeless. It is as relevant to presentday Singapore as it will be to Singapore in the 21st centry.
To sum up， the five lessons which I have learnt from ancient Venice which are relevant to Singapore are：
a. The importance of national unity；
b. The crucial role of good governance；
c. The fact that the fate of a nation is ultimately dependent upon the quality of its people and its leaders；
d. The value of freedom of navigation， on the sea， and by extension， in the air， and on the Internet；
e. The imperative for Singapore to maintain its preeminence as an international trading and financial centre.
The five “ingredients” Singapore needs to become the modern Venice：
The importance of national unity；
The crucial role of good governance；
The fact that the fate of a nation is ultimately dependent upon the quality of its people and its leaders；
The value of freedom of navigation， on the sea， and by extension， in the air， and on the Internet；