The stinking number 9

Post 39 What price a profession?

During the thirteenth century, the Yuan dynasty under the rule of the Mongolians divided the occupation of the people into ten different rankings as follows:

1. Government officers
2. Officials (Government employees who could not be promoted to the rank of officers)
3. Monks (Buddhist monks)
4. Dao (Taoist)
5. Medical doctors
6. Senior Technicians
7. Craftsmen
8. Prostitutes
9. Scholars (Intellectuals)
10. Beggars

It was an irony that the intelligentsia who were well-educated, cultured, and highly respected by the traditional Chinese society would be graded to be inferior to prostitutes and only slightly better than beggars during the Mongolian rule.

As scholars are ranked at the ninth placing out of ten, people will call scholars whom they do not like the ‘stinking number 9’.

30 March 2010

There is life after work

Post 38 Snatch a little leisure from a busy life

In a meeting at the Ministry where I worked for in the 1990s, those of us who attended the meeting were each given a photocopy of an article on ‘There is life after work’ by the Chairman. We were told that if we do our work efficiently and effectively, there is no necessity for us to work overtime. He asked us to go back after work and do some exercise or spend quality time with our family members.

A CEO of a multi-national company remarked that it is crazy for anyone to work even on weekends. He said, ‘Sundays are meant for the birds’ implying that only birds have still to go out and look for food on Sundays. He wanted his staff to snatch a little leisure from a busy life. If possible, they should not be workaholics who are so obsessively addicted to work.

An elderly man used to tell the young people he knew not to give the excuse that they had no time. He said that life is what one wants it to be. A person will have all the time he wants when he kicks the bucket.

Generally when we manage our time well and make life simple, we do not have to rush through life at the expense of our health.


23 March 2010

Decision-making

Post 37 Know when to advance and retreat

In a battle or game, one is free to advance or retreat. At times one may be caught in a dilemma. It is vital at this crucial time that one has the ability to make a quick and wise decision. A person who is indecisive will lose out to his or her opponent who can resolutely make a split-second decision.

Decision-making is the result of having selected the best choice available. A candidate who has lost in an election, for example, must know whether to continue to contest again. If one knows and understands that it is time to call it a day and does so, one has made a wise decision to avoid suffering from further humiliation.

A good leader is able to make appropriate and timely decisions. This is only possible when the leader is experienced and has gathered enough up-to-date information for analysis. He is a problem-solver because he reads the situation well and he thinks out of the box.

To be successful in one’s career, one must learn the skill in decision-making. Limping on two opinions when a decision has to be made is the manifestation of one’s weakness in character and leadership.

20 March 2010 (Uncle Ho was on vacation from 15-18 March.)

Try not to regret something that cannot be undone

Post 36 No use crying over spilt milk

“To err is human, to forgive divine” advises us to forgive others because all people are human and make mistakes. Similarly if we have made mistakes, we must learn not to repeat them. We should not be unduly affected because there is no point regretting something that had already been done.

For one not to be always in the situation of wanting to cry over spilt milk, one has to learn to be knowledgeable, wise, sensible, humble and receptive to constructive criticism. Learning is a lifelong process. As one goes through life, one ought to learn to be more cautious in one’s deeds and words. In this way there will be nothing for one to feel remorseful of.

Some people get depressed because they could not get over the mistakes which they have made. They should learn not to brood on something that cannot be undone. Instead they should find ways to make amend to their wrong doings. Indeed it takes courage for one to admit that one has erred as much as it takes one to be magnanimous enough to forgive.

Forget the past and move forward.

9 March 2010

Broaden one's horizons

Post 35 Travel as much as you can

My late mother used to tell us to travel as widely as we could afford. She strongly believed that travelling not only widens one’s horizons, it also makes one more tolerant of people with diverse cultural backgrounds. The profound insight one gains through travelling will allow one to think out of the box and be more broad-minded.

Marco Polo was an icon in travelling and his writing on the journey to the East via the Silk Road was a gem to the travelogue. He had helped to unveil the mystery of the East to the West. With the ease of travelling in this globalised world, people ought to regard travelling as a way to learn from and to foster better understanding with others outside of their own boundary.

While backpacking is the word used to describe the lifestyle of the modern traveller who travels light and on budget, flashpacking refers to the affluent backpacker who has the extra money to travel in comfort.

No matter how one travels, the joy and the experience gained are the intrinsic values which cannot be measured in the monetary term.

8 March 2010 (This article was to have been posted on 2 March)