TR EMERITUS

Do you do the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason? It depends on perspective - whose? Intention’s invisible. Actions are not. In that gap, you either plant a seed of peace or war. Let me give you a much less dramatic example. It’s in the papers this morning, reported by Carmen Sin. Don’t expect anything unusual here. It’s an ordinary day for travelling in the bus. A retiree civil servant, Julia, boarded service 106 bus. The bus driver told her to find a seat on the lower deck of the bus. Why? Judging from appearance, I guess the bus driver wanted to err on the side of precaution. Julia was 71-years-old. She was senior citizen. She tapped her card as such. It was not a hard guess. But Julia explained that she prefers to sit on the upper deck and has been doing that for years. She got her way. “I should have told him I was going to the gym to lift weights,” she added. Carmen reports: ““In response to queries, a Tower Transit spokesman said the operator has always encouraged “vulnerable passengers” to sit on the lower deck, but efforts have “become more concerted over time as the population ages.”” It’s part of the “Travel Safe” compaign that was launched just before the Covid-19 pandemic. Passenger safety is their most important consideration. That’s the iceberg beneath the ocean. The invisible intention; the act, well, notwithstanding. Most times, it is not what you say, it’s how you say it that matters. And most times, you are not even conscious of how you say it. At times, your mood of the day gets the better of you, even if you don’t mean how you say what you say. Alas, we often get lost in the world of nuances, and react by snatching the lowest hanging fruit. I am sure you’ve heard - Do or say first; regret later. Another invisible part of this bus-journey tale is that Julia, though 71, doesn’t feel 71. She has been “hitting the gym to do weight training and pilates for more than 10 years.” She is nevertheless a prudent bus traveller. “I’m agile...I’m very careful too. I hold the railings and make sure the bus is at a standstill before I go down. When I’m holding heavy bags, I stay (on the lower deck).” So, going back to the questions above, do you do the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason? Yes, it’s about perspective. The bus driver was simply following company directive. Now, I don’t know how he‘d said it, but at least what he said is what was intended to be said - “Safety First”. He’s a messenger. How about Julia? Well, I guess she has a point about don’t judge a book by its cover. Appearance is not all that defines a person. For many of us, our history is enough to make up encyclopaedias - good or bad, of course. We can do anything for one or more reasons, and some things are more than what it seems. Appearance can be misleading, and what makes it insidious are those appearances by design or premeditation. That’s where the intention is darker than pitch black. If all this is perplexing to you, you are in good company. That is why Walt Whitman reminded us, “Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes.” How’s that for walking into the perplexing maze of human intentions. Sometimes you feel like the protagonist in the maze runner movie. All is not what it seems. Anyway, the lesson here is “simple”. Give people the benefit of a doubt. Keep an open mind. That is at least the general rule, with exceptions of course. Avoid going for the lowest hanging fruit, just because it is convenient. Convenient thinking is always binary, and a binary mindset is often tribalistic, and tribalism is easily triggered. That is where we subconsciously plant destructive seeds. If we can progress from there, the next conquest for human civilisation is this - how can we better say what we want to say. We can get the words right, but the delivery may be all wrong. Good intention is often thwarted by bad transmission. That is why hell is a road paved with good intention; not just because of empty promises, but disastrous delivery too. That belongs to another post, if not many posts. Cheers.   Michael Han * The author was a Director at Han & Lu  Law Chambers and blogs on Facebook.      Read More →

Netanyahu is fighting to preserve his power and escape from the criminal charges he is facing. He thinks the more Palestinians he kills, the Israelis will appreciate the extent he is prepared to go in this revenge carnage. Will he succeed in killing all Hamas fighters? Of course not. Netanyahu is not concerned about ensuring the lives of the hostages. He thinks to talk about hostages is a sign of weakness. Will a ground assault ensure the hostages will be released alive? Will Hamas first kill the hostages and return them in body bags?   Teo Soh Lung      Read More →

We are living in a very dangerous era and the key problem lies with a "Super Power" turning into a "Super Mafia" while an upcoming "Super Power" is challenging this Super Mafia as the leading position of the world. US is fast becoming a rogue regime who is technically bankrupt but yet stuffed itself with lots of killing machines and bombs. US has been spoilt by the whole world basically because of its Petrol Dollar status. Instead of making use of such unique favorable advantage to help develop all the countries and humanity as a whole, it has chosen to waste lots of money from the past till now in carrying out never ending wars with the incurring of a horrendous amount of debts. What will become of US in such situation? It's totally absurd for a country which owes you great debts to turn around and threaten your country's stability! That's the act of a Mafia state! A totally broke guy who has accumulated lots of weapon of mass destruction that could possibly destroyed the whole world many times, is really a dangerous guy. He will take the whole world hostage and extort for more money! Doesn't this sound familiar? Hint: Germany before WWII broke out! The only difference is that Nazi Germany didn't have weapon of mass destruction like Nuclear weapons just like US does. Thus, the world has to thread very carefully from now on. We have to put USA under moderation else we will risk USA turning into the monster which will start World War III just like what Nazi Germany did 90 years ago.   Goh Meng Seng      Read More →