When asked what he felt were important values and attitudes youths in Singapore should have for Singapore to thrive and prosper, MM Lee in the NUS forum replied "You should have the same values and attitudes that your father and your grandfather had".
He is referring to the values of hardwork and the attitude to push very hard for success and success is of course in material terms, standards of living etc I presume.
Perhaps such values are appropriate for the country to thrive and prosper, but I may be a bit apprehensive for my children to adopt certain of my attitudes which were conditioned from childhood.
As I grow older, I can not help but admire the free spiritedness of some youths who work say for a year or 2, save sufficiently and then take another year or 2 off work to travel or stay at the remotest corner of the world or do something which they are passionate about. It is as if they worry there may be no tomorrow. For us, the baby boomers our lifelong belief is we need to provide for the perpectual tomorrow. Thus whilst we are conditioned to be afraid that there is never enough, we missed out on discovering that which may be most meaningful and ecstatic for us. (Ecstasy in Greek (ek-stasis) means to be outside the ego).
Maybe I am undergoing a second spring haha, but I feel this kind of "Just do it" attitude is also essential for holistic development. Otherwise the inner self may feel trapped and the banality of life may create an empty feeling.
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