I once read a quote that says:
“The man who knows HOW will always get a job. The man who knows WHY will always be his boss.”
Such a simple quote, but what a powerful truth!
You see, how many of us live every day of our lives assuming that things are “taken care of” or “well-thought through” by someone else that we never really stopped to ask, “Why?”
For example, why should we be concerned about world politics? Why is democracy (or the lack of it) a good thing? Why is the Singapore government so inflexible in allowing freedom of speech? Why are we so apathetic towards politics and social issues? Why do Singaporeans (like me) complain so much? Why should we study so much? Why should we help the poor? Why should anyone do anything about the moral decline in the world? Why should we keep asking why?
Oh, all these don’t really concern me, some would say. Yet this is the exact same reason why we should start asking why. Because if we never ask why, we would never realise how much we do not know, and hence never see a need to improve ourselves. We would never think out of the box, not because we are unintelligent, but simply because we are so contented with whatever we have IN the box that we never realised that there could be anything outside of it.
Singaporeans I feel, have become such a materialistic lot, so much so that anything that does not bring us tangible benefits are not worth worrying about. Perhaps when we start seeing a need to devote more time and energy to things that are simply nice to know, like literature, art, music and philosophy would we find more purpose and beauty in life.
After all, it is God who created all these, and as His creations, shouldn’t we take some time to stand back and admire the great things He has done?
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10, NKJV
Food for thought:
Now, if you find such a discussion topic very “bo liao”, then perhaps a good way forward is to answer this question: “WHY is it so “bo liao” to talk about this?
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