I got this from a fren. It's plenty lengthy. Read it to kill your boredom. ^_^
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Letter from Lee Kuan Yew's Daughter- A Must Read
SLUMP TIME HAS ARRIVED
By Lee Wei Ling
In 2007, in an end-of-year message to the staff of the National
Neuroscience Institute, I wrote: 'Whilst boom time in the public sector
is never as booming as in the private sector, let us not forget that
boom time is eventually followed by slump time. Slump time in the public
sector is always less painful compared to the private sector.'
Slump time has arrived with a bang.
While I worry about the poorer
Singaporeans who will be hit hard, perhaps this recession has come at
an opportune time for many of us.
It will give us an incentive to reconsider our priorities in life.
Decades of the good life have made us soft. The wealthy especially, but
also the middle class in Singapore , have had it so good for so long,
what they once considered luxuries, they now think of as necessities.
A mobile phone, for instance, is now a statement about who you are, not
just a piece of equipment for communication. Hence many people buy the
latest model though their existing mobile phones are still in perfect
working order.
A Mercedes-Benz is no longer adequate as a status symbol. For
millionaires who wish to show the world they have taste, a Ferrari or a
Porsche is deemed more appropriate.
The same attitude influences the choice of attire and accessories. I
still find it hard to believe that there are people carrying handbags
that cost more than thrice the monthly income of a bus driver , and
many more times that of the foreign worker labouring in the hot sun,
risking his life to construct luxury condominiums he will never have a
chance to live in.
The media encourages and amplifies this ostentatious consumption.
Perhaps it is good to encourage people to spend more because this will
prevent the recession from getting worse. I am not an economist, but
wasn't that the root cause of the current crisis - Americans spending
more than they could afford to?
I am not a particularly spiritual person. I don't believe in the
supernatural and I don't think I have a soul that will survive my death.
But as I view the crass materialism around me, I am reminded of what my
mother once told me: 'Suffering and deprivation is good for the soul.'
My family is not poor, but we have been brought up to be frugal. My
parents and I live in the same house that my paternal grandparents and
their children moved into after World War II in 1945. It is a big house
by today's standards, but it is simple - in fact, almost to the point of
being shabby.
Those who see it for the first time are astonished that Minister
Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's home is so humble. But it is a comfortable house,
a home we have got used to. Though it does look shabby compared to the
new mansions on our street, we are not bothered by the comparison.
Most of the world and much of Singapore will lament the economic
downturn. We have been told to tighten our belts. There will undoubtedly
be suffering, which we must try our best to ameliorate.
But I personally think the hard times will hold a timely lesson for
many Singaporeans, especially those born after 1970 who have never
lived through difficult times. No matter how poor you are in Singapore
, the authorities and social groups do try to ensure you have shelter
and food. Nobody starves in Singapore .
Many of those who are currently living in mansions and enjoying a
luxurious lifestyle will probably still be able to do so, even if they
might have to downgrade from wines costing $20,000 a bottle to $10,000 a
bottle. They would hardly notice the difference.
Being wealthy is not a sin. It cannot be in a capitalist market
economy. Enjoying the fruits of one's own labour is one's prerogative
and I have no right to chastise those who choose to live luxuriously.
But if one is blinded by materialism, there would be no end to
wanting and hankering. After the Ferrari, what next? An Aston Martin?
After the Hermes Birkin handbag, what can one upgrade to?
Neither an Aston Martin nor a Hermes Birkin can make us truly happy or
contented. They are like dust, a fog obscuring the true meaning of
life, and can be blown away in the twinkling of an eye.
When the end approaches and we look back on our lives, will we regret
the latest mobile phone or luxury car that we did not acquire? Or would
we prefer to die at peace with ourselves, knowing that we have lived
lives filled with love, friendship and goodwill, that we have helped
some of our fellow voyagers along the way and that we have tried our
best to leave this world a slightly better place than how we
found it?
We know which is the correct choice - and it is within our power to
make that choice.
In this new year, burdened as it is with the problems of the year that
has just ended, let us again try to choose wisely.
To a considerable degree, our happiness is within our own control, and
we should not follow the herd blindly.
The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute and Lee
Kuan Yew's daughter (Lee Kuan Yew is the former Prime Minister of
Singapore ).
To be shared with your friend.
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A Message by George Carlin:
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but
shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend
more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less
time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less
judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less
wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too
little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too
tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too
much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years
to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.
We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things,
but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the
atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan
more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait.
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies
than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small
character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days
of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality,
one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from
cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in
the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and
a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit
delete...
Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not
going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because
that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the
only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but
most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes
from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person
will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the
precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
moments that take our breath away.
If you don't send this to other people....Who cares?
George Carlin
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