LIVE OUR
DREAMS
FLY OUR FLAG
Can we live to our dreams
and not forget our roots? There are many trials and tribulations in life but
one must not forget his links with the family, society and the nation. Read on
to find what Om Nath has to say ...
Imagine
that you make a wish upon a shooting star and within a few days it becomes
true. You would consider yourself very lucky because of the coincidence of your
wish and shooting star coming together and your wish being fulfilled. In bright
city lights, you can see the stars except for the moon and one or two very
bright stars.
In
the kampongs of South East Asia where electric supplies, water and sanitation
is still not available, the night sky glitters with the millions of stars and
you can easily spot a shooting star provided if you are looking at the Heavens.
It is said in folklore and religious teachings that paradise lies above and
Hell is much below us.
However,
if we choose not to be active and productive, then our living condition can
worsen to a bad state that which is akin to Hell. To convert a place into
Heaven requires a lot of ingredients, I mean the ingredients to achieve
success.
It
is from the dream that our vision emerges. To achieve success, the vision must
remain constant and bright in our mind’s eye. The vision is our base, our
platform from which we work out the details (calling it the work plan). The
next step is the active engagement or carrying out the plan to achieve what we
want.
It
could be anything: buying/building a new house, climbing up the career ladder,
going into own business or building a strong and loving family. Whatever we do
to improve means our immediate present and near future would become better and
better. When neglect set in, it is like the rust that steal away the shine and
lustre of an object.
Never
let your resolve waver or your vision become dull or blurred. If you are the
head of the family, then the burden is great to steer the whole family to
become successful. Being a social being, we cannot live in isolation. We have
always someone in our lives to be concern about and take care while not
forgetting our own life. It is the link between family members, the link
between relations, the link between friends, the link between our fellow
Singaporeans and the link with the nation that is most important. I say this
because if we allow any of the many links that binds us in life to weaken, then
we see that success is beginning to elude us and as the situation worsens,
success and achievements become a far cry.
So
do you wish to regress in life towards misery or progress with confidence for a
bright future? Thus we must focus on our
vision, make the plan and put in the effort to progress while not forgetting
our links with humanity. I have read on many occasions about theme like the
call to strengthen the family bond, nurture the spirit of the young and help
the underprivileged. Just consider what does all this mean? If we remain in
isolation – thinking only of our individual selves, then the bonds that bind us
with the world would weaken and the end result is we would be in misery – in
mind, body and spirit. One cannot be a hermit and at the same enjoy everything
while neglecting our family members and fellow people around us to suffer. If
our own world becomes gloomy, it means we are in regression towards
negativity.
You
may feel being lucky and successful but if it is at the expense of love and
affection with the family, spending little or no time with them, then I wonder
what kind of success is this. The basic foundation stone is the family because
it is the family, the first institution from which we evolved. Happy are the
parents in whose home a new born child graces. The priest is invited, friends
and relatives come and there is joyful celebration. So our first link is the
parents, then it is with the brothers and sisters and then progresses to our
many relatives.
Next
is the school – the teachers and pupils. Over the years, friendships strike and
sad to say, it is broken up again after the PSLE result is released. We lose
almost all of our friends and then make new friends at the new school (in
Secondary One). The process is repeated at the Junior College, Polytechnic or
the University. The same thing happens at the workplace and we find in
advancing age that we have no real buddy. While some of the breakup is due to
structural changes but then there are many which is self-imposed.
We
begin to move away from our parents, treasuring jealously our new found freedom
in the years of teen and then returning back temporarily to our parents as the
demands of young adulthood increases. The parents are our best friends in time
of new born child, shifting to a new house and setting down as a new family
unit. They feel so concerned that they do babysitting and the many chores or
run errands for the busy couple. As time passes on and things have long settled
down, the poor parents are forgotten. The hum and grind of daily living, being
busy on the job and solving the family problems make many of them forget their
loving parents. I have seen in some families where the children have grown so
big and earned so much good names and assets, that they ignored their parents.
When
the news of the parent’s death comes, it is just a few days at the wake and
then the tussle for the division of the parent’s wealth begins. Sometimes the
fracas begins at the wake and concerned friends and relatives intervene in doing
their best to calm them down. Once the division of monies and asset is done,
the siblings return back to their own homes and lives and never meet with each
other again except for another wake. What a sad thing to say.
Imagine
the brimming happiness that the parents felt at the arrival of the new-born
child. The years passed on and the many dreams of the parents were fulfilled –
the children did well in school, got a good job and started a new family.
However, what pains them most is the separation and eventual forgetting them
forever. We pray to God to fulfil our aspirations but then the first God is our
parents and next in line the teachers who helped us to mould our future for a
better one. Forgetting the parents, the gurus, the friends and relations, the
society and then even migrating to another land - it is really a sad sequence.
Having
said that the family is the most important and basic institution, I move on to
the work-place. Suppose you strike a million dollar in a big sweep, would you
still want to work? This is a question sometime asked by friends and
colleagues. You may brush aside such question by your curt reply: Do not count your eggs before the chicken hatches
them. This reply is most unwelcome because it kills the discussion
and the imagination to exercise making a plan if the reality arrives. Thus if the
real day ever comes in one life, then many things can happen because the plan
has never materialise. Chances are the money goes away in wasteful ways or if
the person is not prepared, he may get a shock or even pass away instead of
being happy. Extreme emotion is dangerous.
No
personal plan made, as you see, the above example was just an exercise to do a
simple plan. The same goes for many other things. Focus on the job and doing it
satisfactorily but then the self plan is neglected. I know of one colleague who
did not plan retirement and as he was a friendly Father Christmas, all his
monies were gone with the friends and relations. Finally he was resorted to
begging. There are some people who may even resort to cheating others.
The work is not your total world. There also exists the social world.
Some people come forward to do social work or contribute in organisations that
help the people. Social work may not carry the glamour of the work-place like
“I am Director of ABC Co. I have under me 1,000 staff.” It is the passion and
humility that can bring achievement in the social world. Understanding people
and solving the problem of the masses is what drives social workers to greater
height.
Next
we self-reflect our contribution to the nation. We are blessed with an
excellent government. There is law and order in this land. Singapore is
strategically well-placed on the international trade and business map. Instead
of relying on import-export only, the nation has diversified over the years and
we have ample research and development work in progress. In line with living up
to our dreams, our scientists and professors are engaged in many useful
projects. Innovation is one area we should not lag behind. Singapore’s progress
is evident in the emergence of many hubs and existence of many opportunities.
There
are many form of contribution to the nation like coming up with good ideas,
helping in useful national programs, volunteering in disaster rescue mission
and etc. However, if one is unable to contribute, I think there are still some
things like not to spoil things or facilities provided by the state. Vandalism
is a punishable offence. Graffiti is bad for our image. Littering is another
area that should be of concern to all of us. Do not spoil our beaches and parks
with ugly sore-eye litters.
We
have come a long way from the days of many national campaigns like STOP LITTERING
OR SPITTING, KEEP SINGAPORE CLEAN AND GREEN and so on. I hope that the salient
points and good message has been ingrained in our mind. We have best and
cleanest airport in the world. The Changi International Airport is a good
testimony of our achievement.
The
secret of success is being industrious, having a thinking mind, being
thoughtful of others and working and living as a team. Imbibing a pride for the
nation is essential from a young age. We must know the history of our nation
and how we progressed since 1965.
I
hear the tune of the National Anthem and balloons floating in the air in a
celebratory mood. I then had a virtual spectacle. I can see the five stars
rising upward rapidly in a crescent manner. The trail of red is a great sight
to see. As the crowd of people cheers loudly and say,
“Live our dreams, fly our flag”,
a wave of patriotism surges in the masses. We all fly the
national flag in high spirit.
By
Om Nath Panday
AUG
2010