Too often in our competitive little island, we have been taught to compete. From school ranking to streaming, kids have been herded into bigger shoes. And more often than not, with tuition and guidance through additional classes etc, those shoes are filled. But at what expense? Time is a fixed factor of 24 hours, 1440 minutes, 86400 seconds a day. And many have said because of our ability to multi-task, this increases our time by easily 10-30%. The purpose is to have an head start in life. For those who have not read the book "Outliers" by Malcom Galdwell should read it to understand how a head start in life comes from not just hard work but also opportunities. Indeed, even if we put 10,000 hours of computer programming, we might not be the next Bill Gates because he was born at the right time with the right resources.
That is so true for an entrepreneur or a businessman, where chance is far fewer than we know. But let's put that 10,000 hours into piano practise, and since musicians or artists these days have more showcase platform like YouTube or American Idol to be recognised for talent. Will that effort in practising for thousands of hours ensure one to be the next Richard Clayderman or part of some big music band? Surely, it ain't just all about practise and effort anymore, there comes a point where we should focus on how a child prodigy like Mozart came about composing at an early age, and how for so many years, his compositions are still revered. We should strive to create an environment where we can inculcate history making people - like the 10 most famous pianist or the next Nobel Prize winner. Competition and text book based teaching is good if we want to breed disciplined engineers, law-abiding drones for manufacturing cultures. Was that the only choice we had for a population of 2 million? And now that we have a sizable 5 million, will it help if we start to make important critical decisions to change that mindset? Or is it too late that the drones we breed are now not daring or capable enough to change? Here is an account by a Singapore sponsored overseas scholar who has since broke his bond even though he really tried to serve the nation. Here is a quote of his blog entry on being bonded:
I guess my departure meant I was not suited to the ‘game’. Social engineering has trained a large cohort of cows who moo when they are told, yield milk when their udders are tugged and eat when they are set loose to graze. Have we become a nation honed in the art of taking orders and following instructions, but faring poorly when crossing unchartered waters? God bless Singapore!Just provoking some suggestions for nation building. I believe everyone should work hard, be it on computer programming or even basketball, doesn't matter when you start as there are always late bloomers out there searching for goals and dreams. Remembering Michael Jordan who was cut from high school team only to return stronger and more motivated. And sometimes being #2 ain't that bad if you tried hard enough to beat #1. Just remember to enjoy the journey and there are no short cuts in life.
No short cuts in life, meaning no short cuts in many things. I was offered a position of a plant manager sometime last year, I rejected it for 2 reasons. One I have a great boss and job scope now, and secondly it was too big a shoe to fill as I will be balancing on just one leg since I have yet to grow firmly on the other.
No short cuts in making relationships work as well. There has to be understanding in personal goals and aligning together with the other. Love is not simply just love. It embodies endearment, endurement and endurance; there must be lust, fondness, embrace and forgiveness in order to make it work. And all the factors require understanding and trust which can only be built up over time. So no short cuts even it was a sign or soul mates.
A close friend asked me recently, so what do I look for in a mate? Since being "sometimes" socially active and more often an extrovert, she was surprised I choose to be single knowing it must be a matter of choice or no choice at all. So after that Sunday stroll, despite listing out the long list of requirements, which she easily crossed out as common and easy. I now can come out with a single line, being the most true and hardest to fulfill.
Someone who will inspire me to be a better man.Because more often than not, many girls these days, just make me feel like compromising. So far, no relationship or work has surpassed 2-3 years of life expectancy resulted from my quick learning and easily bored nature. All except one.
