The heart of the matter ...
The heart is not just a pump for the human body. It is credited for many wonderful and equally evil capabilities ...
The Chinese has this saying "公道在人心". Apparently, we believe the heart knows, deep in its recesses for some, what is right and what is wrong.
We saw it working during the NKF saga.
The heart gives more than it takes too - kindness, empathy, generosity and hope.
We saw that in the overwhelming response given to the late Mr Tan's family. (I was touched beyond words how Singaporeans had reacted. We are not cogs in a machine, afterall!)
The converse is true. The Wee-wee saga is an example.
Some of us thought it was a battle of the haves and have-nots. Politics of envy, they say. Some thought it was just a brutal truth to be learnt.
For those who sincerely wish to engage the heart, perhaps, they might want to hear me out.
The heart is won only through the good - honesty, sincerity, integrity and compassion.
Some hearts may be incapacitated by greed, arrogance and vanity but at the end of the journey, they will come to realise their true abilities.
Let's give the heart a chance to do its best.
The Chinese has this saying "公道在人心". Apparently, we believe the heart knows, deep in its recesses for some, what is right and what is wrong.
We saw it working during the NKF saga.
The heart gives more than it takes too - kindness, empathy, generosity and hope.
We saw that in the overwhelming response given to the late Mr Tan's family. (I was touched beyond words how Singaporeans had reacted. We are not cogs in a machine, afterall!)
The converse is true. The Wee-wee saga is an example.
Some of us thought it was a battle of the haves and have-nots. Politics of envy, they say. Some thought it was just a brutal truth to be learnt.
For those who sincerely wish to engage the heart, perhaps, they might want to hear me out.
The heart is won only through the good - honesty, sincerity, integrity and compassion.
Some hearts may be incapacitated by greed, arrogance and vanity but at the end of the journey, they will come to realise their true abilities.
Let's give the heart a chance to do its best.
posted by Whispers from the heart @ 5:40 PM
3 Comments:
At 8:21 PM,
Sunflower said…
I can't help but to agree with you
"The heart is won only through the good - honesty, sincerity, integrity and compassion."
At 10:08 PM,
Anonymous said…
“They must, instead, stay and make a difference.” - PM Lee Hsien Loong
I see our sons serving the armed forces while the children of complete strangers studied for free to help widen the difference.
I see how we’re treated different from the talents from beyond the seas.
I see difference when deciding who should die & who should live. Who should have lifts at their doorsteps while others should climb.
I see how we must justify our actions, our spendings, our lives, to produce results, so as to keep our jobs, our happiness, our freedoms.
I don’t see a lack of difference at all…
Yet, to most, we can only respond with dejected INdifference…
INdifference to what is the acceptable difference.
This nation is like a ship…alas a sinking one.
Call us lowly rats,
but who can blame the rodents that abandoned a floating wreck?
http://xenoboysg.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-differences.html
At 2:17 AM,
Anonymous said…
As usual, a good post, albeit without a dose of humour.
Sadly, our Singapore systems do not have room for the heart. I think our leaders' goal is to make Singapore the best efficient machinery in the world. Beyond 'meritocracy', I cannot find any other worthy values or principles that anchor our policies and systems to. The government 'manufacture' instant gardens and smiles for the WTO meeting and many other aspects of our lives.
We need to examine what sort of human beings we are becoming, unless we all share the opinion of the now infamous Wee SM, who sees our society as a 'jungle' where the only law that matters is that of 'survival of the fittest'.
It is indeed very gratifying that inspite of our government's ways, so many found it in their hearts to help the late Mr Tan's family. What should we do to ensure that the heart influence and dictates more of our daily activities and not be buried over time by many heartless policies that are being institionalised by our government? Better yet, how do we get our government to incorporate some 'heart-ware' into our society, beyond the $200 handouts in the form of 'shares' during 'good times' and/or prior to GE.
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