Susanna Says

"You, TV's are a bunch of idiots....you just don't have the know-how, the technique for getting society's OK." The preceding statement--as you can gather--was thrust at me during a social evening in which there were some 10 non-TV's present. They had heard of our efforts to break the present Berlin Wall of prejudice and most of them shook their heads sadly. You'll never live to see acceptance--said another. And the friend who called us idiots - a cynic- came back to add: "Why don't you try the re- ligious approach. It never fails to gain acceptance, no matter how kooky it may seem"

All of the above was duly recorded in that little file we all seem to carry just above the level of our subconscious and I didn't think much about it until very recently. My Chinese friend, Lily, finds her- self constantly prodded and queried by my insatiable curiosity to find out how other people live, think and dream. After a few brief excursions into the fascinating world of Cantonese I suddenly hit upon the subject of religion. Lily was brought up in a Buddhist household and she happened to remark that Koon Yum, the Goddess of Kindness, was a man! I almost drove the car we were traveling in into a ditch. "Would you kindly elucidate." I demanded. And Lily proceeded to tell me that about half of the Buddhist population of China, some 300 million, wor- ship Koon Yum, the Goddess whom one appeals to when in trouble. She protects you from mental and physical pain. In every village in China you'll find a shrine of Koon Yum, and it is a rare household that does not have a book of prayers specially devised to ap- peal to the compassionate heart of this marvellous divinity. Legend has it that Koon Yum, a young man,

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