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Zhixiong Pan
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A real cyborg vibe coder | Study @ChainFeedsxyz | ex Research @ChainNewscom, @MyToken, @IBM | Holding and accumulating BTC since 2011.
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Zhixiong Pan
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*My Great World* There's a subway station in Singapore called "Great World." As a Shanghainese, seeing this name felt particularly familiar. A quick look into its origins revealed a close connection. Great World in Singapore was originally built in the 1920s and later acquired and operated by the Shaw Brothers Group. This is shown on Shaw Brothers' official website (shaw.sg/amusementparks），他们很坦诚地写道：它是仿照上海的游乐园建造的（modelled after the ones in Shanghai). This "reproduction" isn't accidental; it reflects the Shaw family's pioneering history in Southeast Asia. The family started with the textile business in Shanghai, accumulating their initial wealth. In the 1920s, Runme Shaw took his capital south to Singapore and founded the Shaw Organization. Later, his brother Run Run Shaw joined. The brothers started from scratch in Southeast Asia, building an independent cinema chain and making a thriving film distribution business. It wasn't until 1957 that Run Run Shaw moved to Hong Kong and founded Shaw Brothers Studio, ushering in the era of "Shaw Brothers films," which is more familiar to everyone today. Although they were two independent companies, they were essentially connected. In Singapore at that time, three "worlds" coexisted: Great World, New World, and Happy World. In 1966, Happy World was renamed Gay World. This name, viewed today, has an unexpectedly avant-garde feel. Compared to this interlude in Southeast Asia, Shanghai's Great World was the true "original." My story with it began in the 1990s. Back then, Shanghai's Great World was still a fashionable entertainment destination. And in that era, the most fashionable sound was undoubtedly the saxophone. With the popularity of the TV series "I Have a Date with Spring," its melody filled the streets and alleys. Once, when I went there with my mother, we happened to see that they were offering saxophone lessons. Perhaps recalling how I was often assigned to lead the recorder performances at school, my mother felt this musical talent shouldn't be wasted. Probably wanting me to have a skill to rely on, she immediately decided to enroll me in a music school. Thus, for those few years, the Great World amusement park was no longer a distorted mirror or a circus for tourists. Each time, carrying my instrument, I would skillfully slip through the back entrance, avoiding the noise of the main gate. Looking back, that familiar feeling of entering from the back of the amusement park has become a more profound memory than the learning itself. Now, the Great World in Singapore has long been demolished, and the Great World in Shanghai has experienced many ups and downs. The saxophone that accompanied me through my university orchestra has been dormant for over a decade. We can't know if the Shaw Brothers' departure was a spur-of-the-moment decision, just as my mother's decision to send me to learn an instrument was an investment with an unpredictable outcome. But looking back, it was precisely these uncertain moments that ultimately changed the history of a family and left a unique memory in my ordinary life. At that time, I did not realize that it was this very instrument in my hand that would later unfold such a rich and real "big world" for me in this amusement park.
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