I think Mr Loh, in his article, does have a point. Just like we should not wait until people are dead to commemorate their lives or to praise them, we should not wait until places are closing before we visit them and receive whatever insights and nostalgia that place may bring. I fondly remember the Commonwealth Avenue Cooked Food Center along Stirling Road in Queenstown. Before it closed early this year, I frequented the hawker center often to eat the delicious popiah and nasi ayam or chicken rice. It is, to me, a reminder of the days spent revising for the Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE). To keep my morale up, my mother often went to buy food back from the cooked food center, especially my favourite chicken rice. I soon came to associate studying for the PSLE with the fragrant aroma of chicken rice. That made the entire experience more palatable and enjoyable for me.
I think this idea can be applied to other areas of life. If we start revising for our tests earlier, we have more time to absorb the material. We can also take a slower pace and thoroughly cover each topic. If there is extra time, we can even go through the material again to “gain new insights” as the saying goes in Chinese. The early bird gets the worm. Isn’t it much better to make good use of our time, rather than fall prey to the numerous inventions technology has for us to waste time? I am sure that instead of rushing through an important assignment a few days before the deadline, it is much better to start a few weeks before, conduct the necessary research or read up on the necessary topics, then finish a beautiful piece that any student can feel proud of.
However, it is necessary to acknowledge that to know what to do is easier than to do. If do were as easy as to know what is right to do, "chapels would be churches, and poor men's huts would be prince's palaces", as stated in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. Indeed, it is often harder to practise than to preach. However, everything crumbles to human persistence. Thomas Edison persevered for a thousand experiments before he invented the lightbulb. Colonel Sanders went around asking hundreds of restaurant chains to cook his new recipe for fried chicken before someone said yes. That's how we got KFC Kentucky Fried Chicken today. Is it really so difficult to make time to start on a project early, to go do a bit of pre-lecture reading, to research on the topic before attending a meeting? Is it truly impossible to be the early bird that catches the worm?
However, I also think that more can be done to promote this attitude in Singaporeans, of starting early and finishing early. At work, projects could be given larger timeframes, but more projects could be taken on simultaneously. Employees would be encouraged to start early, and do a little more of the project everyday, instead of rushing through one project. In school, more groupwork can be assigned by teachers, but be given a larger timeframe so students develop the habit of good time management. In school, it should be compulsory to take on two projects at the same time, but the timeframe for each project can be larger. Instead of the current four and a half months given in Hwa Chong Institution, students can be given seven months, but will be forced to juggle two projects. This will not only encourage good time management, it will also achieve more results in the same amount of time. Instead of one project per year, now there are two projects per year.
People talk about getting through the day to relax. Instead of wishing time passed more quickly in school or at work and later wondering where the time went, why not take each day slowly, and start things for the long-term future?
Dear Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI was of the opinion that the aforesaid article was not about asking people to take their days slowly and plan for the long term, but that it was about making them treasure what they have while they still have it, as opposed to reminiscising about how good a thing is after it is gone. Furthermore, the article also implies that people do not enjoy things until they are gone, i.e., that people always see the worse side of things until it is gone, then they only see the bright side. What that article is trying to tell us is that we ought to see the good side of things while they are still existent instead of looking on the bad side.
It is within the confines of human nature to always look at the bad side of things when they are existent and only look at the good side of things when they are gone. This is because while humans are by nature selfish and nitpicking. We look on the bad side of things so that we can turn it to our advantage. However, when something is nonexistent, then we will tend to concentrate on its good side and enjoy it. this is because we are afraid of what we do not know. The reason why people are always afraid of the dead and gone is because of this. We are confident with that which is known to us. When something goes away, our consciences are troubled because we are reminded about that which is unknown to the human race, and to soothe these troubled consciences, we dare not think about the bad side of thing and only dare think about the good side. This is why it is said that we ought to enjoy things while they are here, because treasuring them when they are gone loses the meaning of treasuring them.
You have said in this blog post that you treasured the Commonwealth Avenue Cooked Food Center after it was demolished, and also that you came to associate the studying for the PSLE with it. Can I ask you a question? While the center was still here, did the association with the grueling PSLE revision tarnish your memories of the food? When it was demolished, was the association then shifted to the high marks that you got in the PSLE and your memories of the place brought into a great perspective because it helped you get into Hwa CHong? Even if you have not realised it, I think this is very likely to be the case. This in itself is an example of how people treasure things only after they are gone.
The purpose of this article which you have put as the title of your blog post is to remind us to treasure things while we have them, instead of treasuring the memories which they have brought us. When a person can do this, then that person will do everything in his life to the utmost, because he will have learnt to treasure himself.
Regards,
Yap Jian Shern
I do agree that you have pointed out another lesson that can be drawn from this article. I agree wholeheartedly that people should learn to not take things for granted and complain. People in Singapore complain about the price of water. Do they consider that in other parts of the world, hundreds of thousands have no access to clean water? People in Singapore complain about public transport being expensive and cramped. Do they consider that people in third world countries often have to walk everywhere? And Singapore is so small compared to countries like Africa. If one cannot bear walking in Singapore, how much more so in other countries?
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think that the lesson of starting early and managing one's time well can also be drawn from the same article. The title plainly states "Don't WAIT until places are gone before you enjoy them". Isn't this referring to people's tendencies to procrastinate as well?
And to answer your question, the food sold at the Commonwealth Avenue Cooked Food Center was often the thing that kept my morale up, in addition to a "day off" of studying every week and revising together with friends. The association worked to boost my morale and increase my motivation to study for the PSLE, not the other way around. Additionally, I enjoyed the food there for another year and a half before it was demolished this year. I still managed to enjoy the food there before it closed down. However, I accept this may be more the exception than the norm.
The purpose of the article can be perceived to be to remind us to treasure things while we have them, and actually many will perceive this message in a very short while if not instantaneously. The purpose of this blog post is to provide a different take on the article. There is no point regurgitating what the masses already know. I think it would be more enriching to see the message from a different angle.
Regards,
Daniel Tan