Here is an article which highlighted the fact that we can be happy if we are contented and have a better quality of life, be positive even if it means earning 75% less and if one can no longer afford the lifestyle one use to live, no cars, no fancy big houses. Do we really need those material things we are working for now?
The other article I would like to share is about being charitable and his acts brought about how civil servants should be. He made me understood the meaning I found in the bible "Blessed is he that considereth the poor." and this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson - "The greatest man in history was the poorest."
Source. South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, who rose from childhood poverty to the top office, has donated 33.1 billion won (26 million dollars) – 80% of his personal fortune to a fund for needy students. Since he took office in February 2008, President Lee – an elder with a Presbyterian church has also donated his monthly presidential salary of 14 million won to low-income households.
His acts are admirable, something I find missing from my country of highest paid civil servants in the world. And the watered down effect is obvious from observing the people around us as the income gap widens year after year.
"I yearn for this country to be a country where we care for one another." - South Korean President Lee.
Think hard what's going to happen to the Singapore we live in now, and think even harder - do you even care?
"If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."
- John F. Kennedy
Kennedy's quote is akin to Confucious's.
"In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of."
