Await an Awakening

I feel it coming intuitively, maybe sometime in the next 10 years, maybe 20 but surely in the next half century. I think it is in the form of some social revolution. Mainly because history has told us that when the privileged ignores the plight of the deprived for too long they will retaliate with pitchforks in arm. It happened in China with the communist takeover, it happened in France with the French revolution, it happened in Russian with the Russian revolution. If the current rich are more far sighted they will not resist tax policies that taxes them more proportionately. These are small losses relative to probable total loss in the long run.

Then there is the huge problem of the present generation robbing the world resources that belonged to future generations.  The huge shifts in climate and extreme weather conditions endanger and will continue to endanger the lives of people in poorer countries less prepared to tackle such changes. The world can not go on depleting the earth's resources just to get satisfaction in possessing that additional consumer product. Maybe the next generation will awaken to this predicament and bring about revolutionary changes to the world's spending habits.

The CEO of BlackRock (world's largest asset management firm) recently spoke of the next Black Swan.
(The black swan theory or theory of black swan events is a metaphor that describes an event that is rare, hard-to-predict,  beyond the realm of normal expectations in history, science, finance, and technology).
This is what he believes to be the next black swan: "Global instability through technology that is not able to create jobs fast enough. When we talk about structural unemployment, when we talk about a more fragmented society, when we talk about a society that has greater inequities when it comes to income, it's only going to be accelerating, and much more in the developing world."

My intuitive feel of a black swan is a revolutionary change in the social and value system that will address the great divide between the rich and the deprived and mend fragmented societies. I have a feeling it may give rise to a new era, although in what exact form I do not know, but it may be something like the Renaissance that came after the Dark Ages. Perhaps our children will see this awakening.

The Ripples one Creates.

Listened to a BBC podcast which interviewed some Jews in Paris. Amidst the waves of rising antisemitism in Europe and with the recent attack on a Kosher supermarket in Paris killing 4 people many Jews in Europe are thinking of migrating to Israel. When the BBC reporter visited a synagogue cum kindergarten in Paris there were French soldiers guarding the gates. Many Jews felt they didn't want their children to grow up in constant fear.. Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been calling for Jews to return. This however only accelerates the Israeli settlement activities in West Bank and East Jerusalem, stirring the wrath of Palestinians and in a vicious cycle further fueled terrorist attacks on the Jews in Europe. As I listened to the podcast I kept seeing the concept of cause and effect taking place in this whole chain of events across countries.

Indeed this concept surfaces in my mind very so often nowadays, even when I am watching TV dramas.The TV serial which I am currently watching, "The Overachievers" tells the story of how a tycoon's bias and favortism towards his children proved too tough a test to sustain the initial close bonding amongst the siblings. The ensuing tragedies arising out of acts of jealousy brought about tragedies which in turn brought deep sorrows to the man who started it all. Being a HK TV serial it is as usual exaggerated and dramatic. Yet the truth still holds about how a person's actions have many intended and unintended repercussions which often bounce back on the doer.

Another observation is how the single act of one person creates a rippling and multiplier effect on other people. A more mundane example perhaps is that of a wife who creates a scene in the morning causing the husband to enter office in a foul mood which in turn spoils the day for his subordinates who in turn may go home feeling miserable venting their frustration on their family members and so forth and so forth in a constantly widening circle. Of course the reverse is also true and there are endless stories about the ripple effect of random acts of kindness.

It all boils down to being constantly aware whether our speech and actions may cause harm or distress to ourselves and others. There may be many unintended victims one never dreams of harming or the multitudes of ripples one never imagines creating.

As someone once said "I can not improve or suffer myself without diffusing good or evil around me through an ever enlarging sphere".

Beyond the confines of 38 Oxley?

LKY has willed that his house in Oxley Road be demolished upon his death. He had observed that  conserved houses he had visited like Shakespeare and Nehru were in shambles and were costly to preserve. He spoke of how the demolition would send the land value of his house and surrounding houses up. The family urged Singaporeans to respect his wishes.

I feel LKY may have under estimated the power of a historical icon on a netizen's identity and sense of belonging to his/her country. Already we do not have a hinterland with a mountain or lake that will stand forever to which we can feel attached. Beyond the well manicured Botanical Gardens (which we are incidentally fighting for World Heritage Site status) and a potential buzzling state of art "LKY International Airport" we do need more places where one can saunter into imagining the political meetings that took place in that very room decades or a century ago and absorbing the spirits of those moments. Don't we get those goose pimples when we visit some museums? Hey some emotional needs when fulfilled can not be valued against the soaring condo prices in that same piece of property.

Soren Kierkagaard, the great Danish philosopher told a parable about a spider who lived in the ceiling of a barn. One day it discovered a single strand of web that brought it down to the floor of the barn where it then built a web and amassed a lot of food as in flies and little insects. It became fat and prosperous. A long time passed and one day when surveying its kingdom it came across that single strand of web hanging from nowhere. Thinking it did not serve much purpose, it clipped it whereupon his whole domain collapsed.

Yes for LKY "His legacy lies beyond the confines of 38, Oxley Road". For many of us who are not Titans or men of great reason like him and who are frail in emotional needs, we need to be often reminded of that single spider web upon which our whole world and origin hangs.

Yet we must respect the wishes of one who gave us so much.

Second chance ?

I had a chance to watch Amos Yee's video before it was taken off the internet. Minus the profanities, rudeness, defiance and nonsense, I can also spot passion, conviction and brightness in this 16 year old kid who not only speaks very eloquently but also shows that he has given certain things more thought than most teenagers or adults for the matter. My immediate reaction was feeling that his talent would be wasted if his future is ruined by the legal prosecution brought against him. I likened him to the kid in "Goodwill Hunting".

I then did a bit of googling and found some description of him when he joined a writing club at 13. His teacher at the club spoke of him as being confident, well spoken, always asking questions and reading things well above his age. A report in The New Paper also portrayed him as a precocious boy with a thirst for knowledge.

Then someone suggests that he may be an Indigo Child. I then found a website that lists the following as traits of an Indigo Child:

1. May be strong willed independent thinkers who prefer to do their own thing rather than comply with authority figures/parents

2. Have a wisdom and level of caring beyond their youthful experience

3. Traditional Parenting and discipline strategies don’t appear effective  with these children. If you try to force an issue, a power struggle is the typical outcome.

4. Energetically, Indigos are vibrating at a much higher frequency so they can get scrambled by negative energy (human or machine)

5. Emotionally they can be reactive and may have problems with anxieties, depression or temper rages if not energetically balanced

6. Are creative right brain thinkers, but may struggle to learn in a traditional left brain school system

7. Often Indigos are diagnosed with ADD and ADHD since they appear impulsive (their brain can process information faster) and they require movement to help keep them better focused.

8. Indigos are very intuitive, and may see hear or know things that seem unexplainable.

9. Indigos have more problems with food and environmental sensitivities, since their system is more finely tuned.

10. When their needs are not met, these children seem self centered and demanding, although this is not their true nature.

11. These children have incredible gifts and potential, but they may be shut down when not properly nurtured and accepted

This boy did strike me as emotionally reactive and charged with high energy almost like in a rage but nevertheless is intelligent and has potentials. Indigo child or not it would really be a pity if he is convicted and housed in a detention centre or boy's home which will definitely aggravate his defiance and rebellious nature. On the other hand if properly guided and nurtured we may have a genius in the making as in "Goodwill Hunting".

Is Singapore prepared to give him a second chance?