A Quote on Balance

"There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness." - Carl Jung

Carl Jung was an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology called Jungian psychology. As shown by the above quote, he liked to emphasize the importance of balance and harmony.

Volunteer for the Sake of It

I attended the volunteering fair organized by my school 2 days ago. I have to say the large number of students who are eager to provide their service to all these organizations amazed me. However, I felt a tinge of sadness as I strolled pass each stand. Questions such as how many months do I have to volunteer and can I end my voluntary work early were repeatedly asked by these students.

Clearly, the students had been drawn to this fair because of the prospect of improving their CVs and were not really keen to render their service because if they were, they would not have asked such thoughtless and insensitive questions. For a moment, I felt like telling these people off but I also know that it is human nature to be selfish.

For all readers, I just would like to say that volunteering is a lifelong activity and requires commitment. If you are unable to do so and are interested in only short-term goals, please refrain from volunteering yourself. Failure to do so will only end up hurting the beneficiaries of your work.

The tale of Working Hours and Shadow Economy

It is interesting to note that one of the policies ever considered to reduce the size of the shadow economy was reduction of working hours. At that time, policy-makers thought that the main reason people didn’t want to work in the official economy was the long working hours. By reducing the working hours, they believed they would be able to encourage people to move from the shadow economy to the official economy.

What they didn’t realize was that by reducing the working hours, it caused more people to seek additional jobs and most often, they found those jobs in the shadow economy, resulting in its further expansion. It was only a while later that somebody proposed the implementation of flexible working hours, something which we now thought as common sense but apparently, was not so in the past.

Interesting Comment by an Anonymous Individual

I saw this on an introductory statistics textbook and was amused by it:

"If you bet on a horse, that's gambling. If you bet you can make three spades, that's entertainment. If you bet cotton will go up three points, that's business. See the difference?"

The Need for Trade-Off: What I Like About Policy Formulation

“If our contribution to health care reform exceeds $80 billion, you reach a point where you risk sacrificing someone’s job for someone else’s health insurance,” Mr. Ken Johnson, SVP of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said about the Nelson amendment to the Health care bill.

Where are the Alternative Routes?

In anticipation of the heavy traffic as people leave Jakarta for their hometown for the week-long Hari Raya holidays, the Indonesian police has identified several alternative routes that road-users can consider using. However without erecting the proper road signs, it becomes very difficult for road-users to find these alternative routes. In the end, they still prefer to use the main route which they know better.

Which Case is Correct?

In response to the financial crisis, the US government decides to give monetary support worth US$8,000 per family to encourage them to buy their own property. Supporters of the policy say that it will help the housing industry to recover while opponents say that it is a waste of government resources because those buyers will make their purchase even without government support.

Revision of Weekend-Car Scheme in Singapore

Singapore revised its weekend-car scheme recently with the intention of encouraging more car users to switch from the normal to the weekend-car scheme. The relevant authority believes that the new scheme can reduce traffic if implemented successfully. My question is if the new weekend-car scheme appeals so much to people, wouldn’t it also encourage non-owners to consider owning private cars? Under such situation, wouldn’t the scheme result in more crowded roads instead?

Something worth reflecting: The link between Hari Raya and Pawnshops.

A phenomenon that can only be seen in places where many people are still living below the average poverty level. As Hari Raya approaches, pawnshops in Jakarta seems to be stocking up on electronic goods, particularly mobile phones because many people who will be celebrating do not have enough money and need to pawn their assets to obtain some hard cash to purchase Hari Raya goods. When they come back from their weeklong celebration and start working again, hopefully their future earnings will be enough to buy back the goods they pawn.

The Reason Behind Spiritual Politics

In Indonesia, political books that touch on the realm of spirituality occupy substantial floor space in bookstores because there’s a high demand for such books. What’s the main contributor to the high demand? Well, it appears that the level of trust which the common people put on their current political leaders have deteriorated up to a point that they believe the only way to solve their problems is through the spiritual channel.

Setting a Good Example

As I drove along a traffic-heavy road today, I saw an entourage of official cars making use of the Busway lane which should not be used by any vehicles, except as the name suggests, Busway buses. If officials can't even obey rules and regulations, how can they expect the common people to obey them?