Something simple and yet, closely linked to people's daily life in general.
Written by Mahatma Gandhi in Young India on 22 Aug 1925.
Read and discover how full of meanings these sentences are:
1) Politics without Principle
2) Wealth without Work
3) Commerce without Morality
4) Pleasure without Conscience
5) Education without Character
6) Science without Humanity
7) Worship without Sacrifice
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
To be Outspoken or Not?
Time flies. It seems that I just arrived in London but in reality, I have been here for more than a month. I have adapted well although I haven’t found the time to really explore the area yet. Well, at least I am confident enough to continuously find the shortest way to school, provide directions to places that I am familiar with and engage in conversations with everyone (in the beginning, I couldn’t really catch their slang and to prevent embarrassment, I decided not to converse). I have slowly learnt the behavior of the people here as well.
One particular character which I think is ubiquitous everywhere is their outspoken nature. Unlike classes in Singapore where the only person talking is the lecturer, classes here are very lively. Hands are put up after almost every slide to the extent of distraction. And when the lecturer asks questions, people will be fighting to answer them.
Although I am impressed with this character of theirs as it builds up your self-confidence, I also find it rather annoying at times. Occasionally, people will put up their hands during lectures to make unnecessary comments without realizing. Once someone actually put up his hand to ask why the school has decided to name its online networking programme “moodle” before adding that he found it inappropriate.
I find that by being too outspoken, you end up making people think that you are arrogant and that will definitely change their impression about you which I do not think is good for building long-term relationships. I have several classmates who boasted that they had tried all the problems and found them simple. The same people also said that the mid-term exam questions were too easy in front of the entire class and shared that they were considering not attending the final exam since their result in mid-term exam should be more than enough to get them a pass in the course.
I personally feel that being outspoken is good in general but there are certain things that you should just keep to yourself. Sharing your knowledge with others is a good thing but boasting about their performance is not. This is because not everyone could solve all the assigned problems and similarly, not everyone found the exam questions easy. These people would be hurt if they heard such comments.
If I am them, I would have think twice, thrice or even more before making such hurtful comments. Readers may say that this is London and people here are not so easily hurt. Well, that may be true but regardless, I prefer to stick to my Asian mentality.
One particular character which I think is ubiquitous everywhere is their outspoken nature. Unlike classes in Singapore where the only person talking is the lecturer, classes here are very lively. Hands are put up after almost every slide to the extent of distraction. And when the lecturer asks questions, people will be fighting to answer them.
Although I am impressed with this character of theirs as it builds up your self-confidence, I also find it rather annoying at times. Occasionally, people will put up their hands during lectures to make unnecessary comments without realizing. Once someone actually put up his hand to ask why the school has decided to name its online networking programme “moodle” before adding that he found it inappropriate.
I find that by being too outspoken, you end up making people think that you are arrogant and that will definitely change their impression about you which I do not think is good for building long-term relationships. I have several classmates who boasted that they had tried all the problems and found them simple. The same people also said that the mid-term exam questions were too easy in front of the entire class and shared that they were considering not attending the final exam since their result in mid-term exam should be more than enough to get them a pass in the course.
I personally feel that being outspoken is good in general but there are certain things that you should just keep to yourself. Sharing your knowledge with others is a good thing but boasting about their performance is not. This is because not everyone could solve all the assigned problems and similarly, not everyone found the exam questions easy. These people would be hurt if they heard such comments.
If I am them, I would have think twice, thrice or even more before making such hurtful comments. Readers may say that this is London and people here are not so easily hurt. Well, that may be true but regardless, I prefer to stick to my Asian mentality.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Never Act on Unconfirmed Information
I almost committed a grievous mistake a couple of days ago. It began when I came back from school last Friday. On the way to my room, I met my flatmate who asked me if I intend to stay in the current accommodation for the next one year. When I gave a firm positive answer, she told me to think twice, sharing with me about the supposedly unsafe neighborhood that this accommodation is in.
Without checking with other people, I stormed to the accommodation office on Monday, requesting for a change of accommodation (giving inconvenience as an excuse). The staff at the counter told me that the school accommodations are currently over-booked and if I want to change to another school-run accommodation, I have to join the waiting list but in order to do that, I have to cancel the 1-year contract which I have with the current accommodation. He advised me to think through it because only 10% of the applicants in the waiting list will usually be successful in getting a room. At that point in time, I almost told him to cancel my existing contract and put me in the waiting list. But for some reasons, I didn’t do it.
As I walked back to class, I suddenly realized that I had been running around like a mad dog because of a single comment made by a flatmate which I didn’t even bother to confirm its credibility. I wasn’t impressed with myself. Having committed so many mistakes throughout my life, I should have learnt from them and yet I almost committed a naive mistake.
As soon as I talked to several people, I found out that the neighborhood of my current accommodation is not that bad afterall. The worst comment I obtained is that there had been several cases of small robbery on the street for the past one year which I personally think is perfectly normal considering that London is a city of 23 million people, each with different background. As long as I take the necessary precautions such as not wandering outside late at night and not carrying excessive valuables, I believe I would be fine.
If I had cancelled my existing contract, I would probably be homeless very soon. Even if I manage to find another external accommodation, it will definitely be more expensive considering that the school does not run it.
To remind myself not to commit the same mistake again, I have put a very big note on my noticeboard: Never act on any information until its credibility is confirmed.
Without checking with other people, I stormed to the accommodation office on Monday, requesting for a change of accommodation (giving inconvenience as an excuse). The staff at the counter told me that the school accommodations are currently over-booked and if I want to change to another school-run accommodation, I have to join the waiting list but in order to do that, I have to cancel the 1-year contract which I have with the current accommodation. He advised me to think through it because only 10% of the applicants in the waiting list will usually be successful in getting a room. At that point in time, I almost told him to cancel my existing contract and put me in the waiting list. But for some reasons, I didn’t do it.
As I walked back to class, I suddenly realized that I had been running around like a mad dog because of a single comment made by a flatmate which I didn’t even bother to confirm its credibility. I wasn’t impressed with myself. Having committed so many mistakes throughout my life, I should have learnt from them and yet I almost committed a naive mistake.
As soon as I talked to several people, I found out that the neighborhood of my current accommodation is not that bad afterall. The worst comment I obtained is that there had been several cases of small robbery on the street for the past one year which I personally think is perfectly normal considering that London is a city of 23 million people, each with different background. As long as I take the necessary precautions such as not wandering outside late at night and not carrying excessive valuables, I believe I would be fine.
If I had cancelled my existing contract, I would probably be homeless very soon. Even if I manage to find another external accommodation, it will definitely be more expensive considering that the school does not run it.
To remind myself not to commit the same mistake again, I have put a very big note on my noticeboard: Never act on any information until its credibility is confirmed.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
London = Polite Society?
While I was preparing to come to London, family and friends told me that I would be going to a place well known for its polite society. Images of people greeting each other, asking and wishing each other always appeared in my mind. But what I have experienced so far is rather different, to the extent of being the opposite. And I experienced it the minute I boarded the plane to London.
The behaviors of the air stewardesses were unlike what I have seen while traveling around Asia. They were impolite, rude and inefficient. I saw a passenger who was reprimanded for repeatedly asking for a newspaper that I didn’t think ever appear until the plane landed. I myself was scolded for crossing the kitchen area to go to the toilet located at the opposite aisle. I thought to myself if these people, who were hired to serve customers, could behave this way, what about the pedestrians walking down the street.
While clearing immigration at Heathrow Airport, I was treated like some kind of virus carrier. I was told I needed to go for a chest x-ray at the airport medical facility before I could clear immigration. Luckily I wasn’t charged for the x-ray. Then while trying to contact my cab driver while sitting at the waiting area of the medical facility, I was told crudely to switch off my phone. Honestly, I still can’t figure out why people can’t use their phone while waiting. By now, I already had a rather bad impression of this place.
True enough, having been here for about 1 month, I have not experienced something that I thought is worth commending. Services in banks, restaurants, etc here are like heaven and earth if you are to compare the equivalent in Singapore. Having said that, I think it will be some time before we can have a fruitful debate on the politeness of the man walking down the street.
The behaviors of the air stewardesses were unlike what I have seen while traveling around Asia. They were impolite, rude and inefficient. I saw a passenger who was reprimanded for repeatedly asking for a newspaper that I didn’t think ever appear until the plane landed. I myself was scolded for crossing the kitchen area to go to the toilet located at the opposite aisle. I thought to myself if these people, who were hired to serve customers, could behave this way, what about the pedestrians walking down the street.
While clearing immigration at Heathrow Airport, I was treated like some kind of virus carrier. I was told I needed to go for a chest x-ray at the airport medical facility before I could clear immigration. Luckily I wasn’t charged for the x-ray. Then while trying to contact my cab driver while sitting at the waiting area of the medical facility, I was told crudely to switch off my phone. Honestly, I still can’t figure out why people can’t use their phone while waiting. By now, I already had a rather bad impression of this place.
True enough, having been here for about 1 month, I have not experienced something that I thought is worth commending. Services in banks, restaurants, etc here are like heaven and earth if you are to compare the equivalent in Singapore. Having said that, I think it will be some time before we can have a fruitful debate on the politeness of the man walking down the street.
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