Happiness is...

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)

Divide and rule

The principles of “divide and rule” isn’t new, having begun its roots from the mid 15th century even when kings and rulers used it to “ensure” that they remain relevant as authority heads. Lawmakers, landlords and the public were kept at each other with webs of conspiracies, distrust and suspicions. It was very much a tool of tyranny, of which, thankfully, the founding fathers of the United States recognised it and aptly denounced its use.

Today, this principle is widely used as an offence tool against enemies to cause their downfall.

Having said that, there are, however, some that still choose to use it within the same organisation that they oversee. I have seen how insecurities and lusts for power will inevitably result in its use.

How pitting staff against each other with favouritism, “secret missions” and inappropriate cover-ups just to buy favour is used widely to ensure that these organisation heads remain relevant to the company. Notwithstanding that such techniques are considered passe, their use, however, is highly detrimental.

So called leaders that aren’t in themselves adequate nor competent enough to “rule” by example and expertise still choose to engage its use. These are wannabes that figured that they will only still have jobs if they created animosity among the staff so that they can be seen as the “glue” that holds the fort.

The results? When you begin to see the leaving of staff in droves, sabotage and the likes, you will know that the old saying holds true : “When a fish rots, it begins at the head”.

Public persona

Ever notice how communist countries almost never call themselves communist or even socialist? Instead, they’ll all either “the democratic republic of…” or the “people’s democratic republic of…”.

But before we start brandishing “them” as deceivers and so forth, perhaps we should also take a good look at ourselves and the way we too, play such games when it comes to putting on our public persona.

We hide behind grand sounding titles and put on masks that allows us to make unending references of how they don’t really matter to us. “Oh, it’s just a big title that means nothing…” – Sounds familiar? Yes, it’s known simply as false modesty. We’d really like to be addressed like royalties, yet try to display some form of humility just to ensure that we’re highly regarded as “really big shots”, yet possessing such humility akin to that as monks.

That’s why too, when we give two cents to charity, the whole world must know about it by ways of , “Oh yeah, I help out often with this or that charity…” or “Oh yeah, I spent a little time with this or that charity…” and then the story goes on and on and on, just in case the audience didn’t get the full extend of their “sacrifice”.

Going further, how about the countless times when we “casually” drop names – “Oh yeah, I know this and that person…” or even dropping big terms just to impress others without actually knowing the full extend of these terms like “Six Sigma, S.W.O.T., public relations advisories” and so on. I have seen how such foolish references led to people regarding themselves as specialists overnight, without realising the full extend of its dangers. They figured that if they talk the talk long enough, it might just become reality.

The realisation of how real will always show itself in crucial times, that is,when shit hits the fence. There you’ll see these so-called specialists cowering from responsibility or even upping the ante of their pretense and thereby further compounding the problems. When they do not have the expertise to deal with the problems at hand, they can either make it worse or leave a whole trail of umm… shit for others to clean up.

So, don’t you think its time that we honour those that ask questions and who are not afraid to let you know that they don’t know? Or would you rather have someone telling you that they know the whole world but in reality, knows nuts? It’s up to you, but remember this one thing – your choice of people will eventually cause you to either make it or break at times when shit hits the fence.

Studies and life

The need to study everything as a life-long task is not so much as to gain knowledge as it is for our mental development.

Just like any muscle in our body, the mind requires constant and regular exercise. See, the 60,000-70,000 mental processes we do on a daily basis may only help with the daily basic functioning of our being, but to be able to tap into the full potential of our mental capabilities, we would still need to generate creativity daily.

Therefore, to assume that we’ve come to a time in our lives where we should “retire” from ourselves is nothing more than a cop-out. It means nothing more than telling ourselves that we’re actually getting lazy and it would be easier to admit to old age being the reason for doing so.

I can still remember the times when even 70, 80 and 90 year old men and women were attending classes to make good on their diplomas and degrees which they have not obtained when younger. Do you honestly think they need those paper qualifications by now? Of course not! It is very much to prove to themselves that they are not to old to think, not to old to realize the need for study for in it lies the heartbeat and reason for being.

Faith & reality

I’m not one who’s terribly religious a person. Yet, I do have a keen interest in the study of theology, a subject which I believe will serve well for anyone who’s had an inkling to serve God at some point of their lives. Not only should it be a pre-requisite for full-time workers/missionaries, I also believe very much that laypeople should also seek to learn it.

Admittedly, I am more fearful these days compared to 20 or 30 years prior when I see the tremendous amount of “blind-faith” by laypeople who make almost no effort to the study of theology, yet chase after what’s known as the “movement of the spirit”, closely aligned with the Pentecostal movement.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the Pentecostal movement. However, that itself without a deeper study of the bible is very dangerous, bordering on mysticism. Coupled with the placement of such laypeople as Sheppard over the flock spells nothing but disaster in the making. One very important lesson to remember is this: God is not above His own words. If it’s not scripturally sound, it’s not Christianity.

Also, I’m not one that can agree with blind faith because I believe that the faith one chooses to believe in can and must be subjected to close examination. It can be subject to scientific scrutiny and criticism. It shall by no means be led by an authoritarian that decides on what the flock should or should not believe in. Blind faith is nothing but fear.

So, I seriously urge you to examine and question what you believe in. After all, if you’re going to base your whole life’s philosophy and maybe even risk life and limb, shouldn’t it be on something that’s worthwhile? Being too lazy to examine is well… just so very sad a predicament.

Education and learning

Life’s full of contradictions and misconceptions that many people will readily stake their lives on, without knowing the full consequences of their actions or inactions.

Here’s one that has to do with education and the elitist perception of those that have formal education and the defeatist perception of those that don’t.

As you go through life, you’ll find that the majority of those with their certificates, degrees, masters and PhDs in a certain “specialized field” do not end up working in their areas of expertise. (Notwithstanding that, for those worrying unnecessarily about their field of education and vocation later in life, I can only say this… Chill it!)

The preoccupation of HR personnel with paper-qualified candidates over experience-qualified means nothing more than short-sightedness and well, a serious lack of understanding of their industry’s business. They may be well-versed in operational matters of their companies, but not the business aspects. And to have inexperienced candidates managing senior positions in companies can only spell disaster, both internally and externally.

There will always be paper-qualified candidates aplenty but experience-qualified is a very limited resource. Hence I cannot understand why advancement in age is thought of something of a liability here in Asia when elsewhere in the world, it’s an asset.

In addition, I’ve come across numerous lazy-as-hell highly qualified people who aren’t worth even a tenth of the money they’ve spent on their education, but I’ve yet to come across a lazy non-qualified/lowly qualified person.

So, to the elitist, I’d say “Get real… time will show your inexperience” and to those depressed because they didn’t get formal education, “Get real, too and be proud of something you have that’ll literally take others years to acquire.”

As you can see, I’m one that’s all for the hiring of experienced personnel over formally-qualified ones. See, there’s a world of difference between being educated and learned. While one’s used to describe students, the other’s used for sages.

Shoe polishers

A flatterer is a friend who is your inferior, or pretends to be so.


Aristotle (384BC-322BC)