The thoughts below are inspired by Facebook correspondence with another special Brother-Friend of mine from 30 years ago, Edem Djokotoe. Edem inspired me as gifted writer and journalist already at that time when we first met as students at UNZA.

I dedicate the article to welcoming ‘Msholozi , H E President Zuma, on his official State Visit to Norway today.

In Norway, just like “… in the ghetto, only the strong survive” . I’m from the ghetto, and this is my country, so I know.

With the prevailing enormous wealth of Norway you’d expect there to be no weak people in this modern-day Canaan, land of milk and honey. The weak I shall define as those who for various reasons live, if they don’t perish at all, on the fringes of the conventional modern society. They will be experiencing various personal, health, and material issues rendering them inadequate to participate in normal day-to-day societal building and development activities; living in varying degrees of misery and poverty. Or they may indeed be outwardly functional, but lead such eccentric life-styles that add very little value to society; all this within their rights as citizens living in an open and democratic society, where the ethos of The Right to Choose is paramount to human existence.

Norway is indeed a relatively safe haven. But the country does also have its own share of societal growth and development challenges. I’m going to argue that at the individual level, Norway is a very hard country to live in for all. I’m going to show that indeed only the strong survive here.

My point of contention is that compared to the extreme wealth out here, there just are too few people in the land for the not-so-resourceful individual to live up to the corresponding pressure attendant to effective maximum exploitation of the wealth for the benefit of all. For some individuals the concepts of Division of Labour, and Comparative Advantage just can’t work. Given the way in which the Norwegian society is organized with regard to low population statistics vis-à-vis the extremely high level of opulence, labour is just too expensive for many an average citizen. Therefore to survive in Norway you have to be a Super Person.

Here is my description of your strong, survivor Norwegian Super Person:

• Jack/ Mary of all trades. You do a lot of things for yourself, or alone to make your world go round here. Easy to crack for many after a while when they necessarily have to combine professional lives with competing domestic/ family needs including hobbies and other social and spiritual needs. Much pressure could be eased here if it were to be an accepted and affordable norm to outsource for private/ personal assistance for some of these things where obviously applicable and deemed necessary.
• Man-Woman/ Man-Woman in one. Gender roles questions can be too tough for many here. To survive here you have to have a clear idea of what you are, what you want to be and live accordingly. Thanks to different interpretations and applications of politics of Equality of the Sexes, things have fallen apart for many here too.
• The affluent society itself as a collective necessarily exerts its own pressure on the individual. You shall always (strive to) be the best in your field in order to achieve lasting recognition, and thereby enjoy endlessly the resultant benefits of your own private wealth creation. The day you wake up without the fire and drive to perform and deliver, the affluent society then is likely to dump you. Those who for various reasons fail to regenerate themselves in time are likely to fall out completely. And if even Society through relevant institutions also fails, giving due regard to the choices the individual makes him/ herself, then starts the cycle of misery and poverty. It may not only be material poverty, but, probably most important, poverty of the Soul, Spirit, and Mind.

The really tough, strong, and smart Norwegian Super Person overcomes above challenges through, among other things, maintenance of workable if not strong family links, as well as establishment, maintenance, and sustenance of strong and long-term social networks and relations. Arguably one of the most decisive survival mechanisms for the Norwegian Super Person is, living out the dreams The Affluence Democratic Society facilitate, he/ she has the ability to escape to other parts of the world where Division of Labour, and Comparative Advantage work very well for richer people. For a long-weekend to a fortnight to whatever a year, our wealthy heroes from Norway can forget the stress and hassle of our country, enjoying life to the full i Syden or wherever without any worries; coming back home re-vitalized and energized for yet another round of exciting round of day-to-day personal, family, and professional challenges.

COMPASSION made in South Africa

Though not perfect, naturally, the Norwegian society does have functional systems and checks, as well as institutions to help those who for whatever reason fail to make the Norwegian Super Person mark. In my world money can buy and fix everything, but not everything is money-purchasable. Money can create and buy all sorts of things, services, and institutions for the people; but even all the money in the world cannot buy or substitute the crucial human factor, compassion.

STRONG made in Norway.

I see the expression and application of compassion as a two-way traffic. We shall naturally show and give compassion; at the same time we must be open to receive, acknowledge, and thrive on compassion ourselves. The weak and, by extension, non-resourceful in Norway may be so because one of the things they lack in life may be a conscious and deliberate knowledge and skills of how to deal with compassion. There are of course Norwegian Super People who do not manifest much compassion in most, if not all aspects of their lives too, thinking and believing money can and will always buy them into happiness and success, as well as control and power in life. Unfortunately, sooner or later the worlds of the latter do come to collapse also. It is in my opinion these rootless, non-compassionate people of our own who are the real threat to the Norwegian society. We can, and we shall overcome them by continuing with the open, multi-ethnic society Norway has become. Let’s love one another more, make more children, and keep inviting even more people from abroad to come work and live in Norway. The country with a large, colourful population can get even more out of its awesome wealth and people. We run away too much from Norway while somebody, a child, is sitting in a corner somewhere in the country crying for help. When some of these unheard, unseen children grow up without compassion they cease to cry; they become loners, move in silence, only to make us aware of their presence in some of the most out-of-the-ordinary destructive ways. But then again, because Norway is ever So Strong, all Norwegians will breathe, eat, drink, and live compassion in time.

Simon Chilembo
Oslo, Norway
August 31, 2011
Tel.: +4792525032

You’ve heard this one, no? – Yes, Sir/ Madam, I did beat him/ her up. BUT it was NEVER my intention to kill them. HONEST!!!

Sorry Kid, doesn’t hold in a court of law, neither morally nor ethically.

You see, every time you engage another person/ -s in an act of violence, even at play, you expose your victim/ -s to potential death. We are often judged by our actual acts, not our intentions. Remember this at training today; remember this everyday of your life. Playing the Game of Death every training session isn’t just another Karate training mystic hype, got it?

Simon Chilembo
6 Dan Black Belt Karate Master
Oslo, Norway
August 30, 2011

STIMELA

(In response to M&G article here: http://mg.co.za/article/2011-08-27-bra-hugh-black-to-the-future)

“Unga worry, mfan’a kithi, inkululeko ise duzi phela/ don’t worry, homeboy, freedom is just around the corner!” the older exiles would say to me in the mid-late 1970s, and later years in Lusaka, Zambia, my fatherland. My family and I had managed to sneak into Zambia a year before the Soweto ’76 student uprising. Anybody who had anything to do with the subsequent large numbers of young teen-age exiles in the immediate post-’76 years will recall how traumatic those years were for all.

I’ll today acknowledge the great work the veteran exiles did in helping us young aspiring cadres keep it together. I’ll never forget the long lectures on ours, and global history; such that by the time I entered UNZA (1982) to study Politics I already had an appreciable grasp of Dialectical Materialism, Philosophy, and critical thinking. Somehow I never caught on with the game of Chess, my younger brother, Thabo, is a formidable player.

And then there would be cultural activities and parties. We’d sing and play liberation songs, there’d be powerful poetry recitals. But when STIMELA came along, … (Continued in the book: “MACHONA BLOGS – As I See It”. Order Simon Chilembo books on Amazon)

Simon Chilembo
Oslo, Norway
August 28, 2011

Really good Karate Black Belt holders are some of the best, toughest, and hardest leaders and trend-setters I know. They are often ambitious to the core, with incredibly high levels of stamina, and the ability to endure the most extreme of physical, mental, and emotional pressures. By the 1^st Degree Black Belt level after 3-5 years of regular training, the new expert will have overcome a myriad of challenges at all levels; from total intellectual and emotional confusion to physical injuries of various kinds and varying degrees of seriousness.

Øyvind Ask, 4 Dan Shihan; Simon Chilembo, 6 Dan Shihan

The romance and the mystic of the Karate Black Belt lies in the legend that one who wears it has defied death; he/ she will live forever because they have mastered, or are working towards mastering, the art of life protection, as well as extension. They have theoretically been taught how to kill with bare hands almost instantly, but sworn to loving life and the living.

Through the game of death encountered every training session, active Karate Black Belt holders over time become superlative teachers and mentors. They become acutely sensitive to conditions of the less fortunate, the vulnerable and the weak. Many senior Karate Black Belt holders are renowned philanthropists, freedom and social justice fighters and propagators. They are also most likely to be well-read and highly educated. Depending on age and life experience, many will also be found at some of the highest echelons in their careers and/ or professions.

To a non-oriental mind and body type, learning Karate from scratch can be an all-round daunting experience … (Continued in the book: “MACHONA BLOGS – As I See It”. Order Simon Chilembo books on Amazon)

Simon Chilembo
6 Dan Black Belt Karate Master, Independent
Oslo, Norway
August 24, 2011

I started teaching Karate in Zambia in 1977/ 78, working closely with children and youths almost immediately. So, like many other children and youths, there was a time I strongly believed my parents were the lousiest a guy could have:

• My father was a loser; never became a millionaire, and never owned an aeroplane. How come such a Big Brain, as he used to brag about himself, never became President of the ANC of South Africa, or, later, of Zambia?
• My mother was a bitch, too beautiful for her own good. I never understood how she could end up with a guy like Pappa when I knew very well that many other more powerful and richer men were crazy about her?
• These two led miserable lives of lies and deceit, I used to think; and this went out on my younger brother, my younger sister, and I. Loving and caring for the latter as much as I always have, I hated my parents for the hard emotional traumas I felt they caused us. There were times I wished something could wipe them off the face of the earth for they were such an embarrassment in my then immature inexperienced eyes of a child/ youth.

Mr & Mrs ELW Chilembo; Lucy Chilembo (late)

You’d expect then that when my father passed on 13 years ago I danced with joy. No, I didn’t. Soon after my mother called me in Oslo to break the news I stood erect, kept my cool, and walked tall; went to South Africa and buried my father with honour and dignity befitting a King. For in my adult years, I came to understand that Pappa ruled actually; he indeed was a Big Brain. His strong mind and resilience, his style, his tolerance and patience, his love for and devotion to his family, his extreme all round generosity and compassion, loyalty, as well as sense of fairness and justness far outweighed the fact that he died on the verge of personal pauperism and all that it implies. Aghhh, who needs private jets?

You’d expect that ‘Ma herself would then rock & roll with her long-time rich and powerful admirers when she became a widow. She didn’t. Three years after Pappa left us, my siblings and I confronted ‘Ma and encouraged her to allow herself to fall in love with a new man and live happily ever after. She resolutely dismissed our crazy modern ideas, telling us the love for her late husband was just too great, and that what she then (and now!) wanted to do was to alone enjoy her children in peace. Guess my state of shock! Ahhh, so this is love?

I carry with me reflections on my life with my parents as a demanding, above average smart, stor i kjeften/ big-mouthed, sensitive, big-ego child when I today start the new 2011/ 12 Karate training season with my students in Norway. This is the 24^th season Norwegian parents will once again humble me with their confidence and trust as they send their children to come and train with me. All sorts of children will come and go. Many fall out, some will stay, enduring this strange form of training with this strange man speaking strange Norwegian, English, French, and several other strange foreign languages that come to his head depending on how strange his dårlig humør/ bad mood on any strange training day is.

Maître Chilembo and Amroun Super Kids.

When I do not have any children of my own yet, I am in a situation where I easily come to love other people’s children very much. I’m ever grateful to all the parents who allow me to be friends with and be reserve Pappa for their children, regardless of circumstances there and then/ here and now.  It goes without saying, therefore, that the upbringing and the welfare of children are matters very close to my heart.

From my own experience as told above, I now know that children can be difficult and impossible. Due to mental and emotional immaturity, as well as ignorance, they can come out with the most outrageous demands to, and expectations of their parents. I am eternally indebted to my parents, as well as many other adults around me for never having lost it with me even at my wildest and meanest behaviour as a child and youth. Now as an adult myself I have a much more profound understanding of the great work my parents have done for my siblings and I. Taking into consideration their own respective rough origins and tough upbringings from two totally different parts of Africa, I can argue that the odds were against us coming out so well in the end, carrying Pappa’s Big Brain and ‘Ma’s entrepreneurial flair in our heads and hearts. I know of several other families in more or less similar situation as mine who never made it, both in South Africa and Zambia.

In the light of the July 22, 2011 tragedy in Oslo and Utøya, I implore all parents to always be there for their children, no matter how hard for whatever reason. If I knew of an easy way, I would tell the children on the other hand that no matter how stupid and mean their parents might seem to be, the parents and many other responsible adults around them love them very much and only want the best in life for them. Parents/ adults and children/ youths must continually work at cultivating trust and confidence in one another.

But then again I acknowledge that not all are born Mahatma Gandhi or Baby Jesus unfortunately; nothing and nobody is perfect in nature. And so, much like an occasional tsunami will strike in a most unprecedented brutal way in Japan; or an old warlord will deny defeat even if it is abundantly clear that his fall is imminent, some people will be lost causes much like the perpetrator of the aforementioned abominable act of 22-7.

Good and supportive parents and all responsible adults can only be judged to be that way to the extent that their children manage to grow out of that hell called childhood, and the at times schizophrenic nightmare called adolescence into decent, responsible, value-adding members of society. This is my constant goal in my work and play with children and youth any time. BRING THEM ON!!!

Simon Chilembo
6 Dan Black Belt Karate Master, Independent.
Oslo, Norway
August 23, 2011

Great leadership is not only about delivering expected/ demanded extra-ordinary things; it’s about tackling unexpected extra-ordinary crises in extra-ordinary times in extra-ordinary ways. My view is that it’s not sympathy, but admiration and respect for Arbeiderparti’s leadership, which will probably last extra-ordinarily long.

Responding to Siv Jensen’s hope that (post Oslo-Utøya terror acts) sympathy for the ruling Arbeiderparti soon comes to an end.

Oslo 27/ 07-2011. Simon Chilembo

Beautiful
Calm
Smell of Peace everywhere
Mind clearer than ever
Back In Business
On every face I hear Bob Marley: ONE LOVE, ONE HEART…
True Super People town

Oslo 27/ 07-2011. Simon Chilembo

Got it all wrong
About Super Heroes
mr terrorist
Before you gouge out your own eyes
Come I sit you on my shoulders
I fly with you over the city
I show you something very, very special

Nowhere can you set your foot
On Oslo soil now
See those Roses
By the hundreds of thousands down below
They have thorns!!!
And their tentacles spread across the land
The whole world gazes in wonder
They’ve also turned their backs on you
Poor man
You have nowhere to go
So alone now
As I shake you off my shoulders
I want to partake of the beauty of my town
Together with other
Super People of “One love, One heart…”

Oslo 27/ 07-2011. Simon Chilembo

There is a bed of Roses
Upon which we
The People of Love shall
Forever march to and from Utøya
To find more solace
To cleans our hearts of hate with our tears

My Oslo today is

Peace
Beautiful

END

Simon Chilembo, 27/07- 2011
(For Oslo 22-7 tragedy)

Mr E L Waloba Chilembo, Simon Chilembo

In memory of my father, Mr Elias Lazarus Waloba Chilembo, I have , under the auspices of my Chilembo Warrior Moves, introduced a special award to recognize outstanding men who in their own unique ways contribute to making this a better world to live for all. Most importantly, these men will be a direct part of my life in things that I do and stand for. These men will be sources of inspiration and strength, who in their own special ways, help me  be a better person today than I was yesterday. They will be my teachers, my mentors, my guardian angels, my advisors, my guides, my motivators, my coaches, my brothers, my friends, my family.

This is a very personal award, a very personal journey.

The first recipient of the award ( Saturday, May 14, 2011; Oslo, Norway) is my Karate teacher, Professor Stephen Chan, 9 Dan, OBE, for his exemplary Service to Humanity.

Since he came into my life in Lusaka, Zambia, 1981 he has contributed in more than words can say to my growth and development as a an all-round free-spirited, independent, and self-reliant man of the world at the service of others. I have never had a more dedicated, more tolerant, more generous, more loyal teacher.

Chinto Kata performance dedication:

Simon Chilembo
Founder/ President
Chilembo Warrior Moves Karate – Development
Oslo
Norway
May 15, 2011
Tel.: +4792525032

Kenneth Kaunda acknowledged defeat before the final count was announced – https://www.nairaland.com/2232832/top-5-incumbent-president-conceded#32268616. Despite everything else Zambia is thriving: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/113725/20110217/zambia-economy-seen-growing-6-5-pct-in-2011.htm

Thabo Mbeki was ungraciously recalled from South African state presidency: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Mbeki-recalled-by-ANC-20080920 , and Jacob Zuma continues to live happily ever after: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/5194815/Jacob-Zuma-South-Africas-most-popular-politician-despite-the-controversy.html .  I’m glad I chose the parents I got.

Stopped crying for Zimbabwe years ago. Laurent Gbagbo loses elections, refuses to let go. The free world condemns him; he sets the country on fire. Blame it on the imperialists again. Jesus! And what’s there to negotiate really? And Libya, looks like even God almighty is confused here too. Er det mulig??? Jo, TIA! But then again this is not the Africa I can identify with.