Introduction
Hello, thought of opening up this topic to understand
how you all felt in your education, employment or even
entrepreneurship journey as I'm doing a project to contribute
something for this cause. I don’t know if anyone of you or your
friends can relate to my past. I wasn’t a very 'good' student in my
early childhood. I always felt judged and had low-self esteem. It
triggers me to made up my mind not to be looked down, work hard and
scored well in polytechnic, which I did. Yet, I feel that there's
something much more I need to do in life. As I look around,
majority of my peers either detest or confused with their studies
and work.
Factory Education
The school’s ‘fair’ system is treating everyone
‘equally’. Since young, I’ve been trained to think that ‘equal’ is
good but that’s in the context of racial harmony. This isn’t going
to work as far as when the internet was invented. Informations are
posted online yet thousands of our next generations are suffering
from stress to memorise notes of subjects that they hate, to work
for boring jobs that they don’t believe for the next 40 years
before retirement - when, we don’t even know if the next
generations to come will have retirement, or not.
I've an Ex-neighbor who called me one night, crying
helplessly, asking me to help him appeal for a
polytechnic.
Me: Why polytechnic?
X: It is good.
Me: Why is it good?
X: I don't know.
Me: What course do you want?
X: Anything will do.
Me: Is anything really good?
X: I don’t know.
Since young, we’re trained to greet teachers, respect
parents, help the elderly on the street because we’re told that it
is good. What if people start to initiate acts of kindness and
inspire individuals who saw, and, do it not because they’re told
to, have to, but they want to? I've had a chat with an army friend
before ORD. He told me he has enrolled into a University, but he
don’t know what they course is about. He'll read the
description 2 weeks before the start of
the school. With at least 3 years and $30,000 invested, he’s
generous, these resources will mean a lot to me and my startup! I
picture it as a place where people are trained to be too obedient,
to browse through life, not knowing what’s happening, helping the
rich get richer Many people then see rich people as bad people, in
some sense (sorry if money is a sensitive topic). I've friends
who're taking university cert for the sake of it. They said that if
they're given a chance they wouldn't take their course.
Manufacturing Employment
Industrial age has served us well for the past 150
years, but it really doesn’t makes sense now.
We need not teachers but google to teach.
We need not secretary but iPhone to remind
us.
We need not contractor but Wordpress to setup a
(virtual) shop.
Jobs are in extinction yet schools are still educating
children as if it is 1978. I’ve facilitated in a behavioural class
for a corporation and met a lady manager. She wants to 'prove us
wrong' about her personality by suppressing her true energetic self
just to portray a 'right' type of relational HR manager. She sees
the art genes within her son yet she'll guide (misled) him into
Research or Oil&Gas industry. — (Not talking about religion now
but) I go to church, I’m a christian. By right I’m the child of
God, that’s why I should be experiencing the joy, peace and
happiness of the Lord daily yada yada. I feel that professionalism
promotes politics and personalness promotes purity. I don’t know
about you, but I’ve found myself using ‘By right and Should be’
often in life. When I’m discussing topics with groups of people, I
usually notice that we all know what are the right answers,
yet it’s challenging for us to do things rightly.
We’re told that study hard is good.
We’re told that high paying job is good.
We’re told not to speak to strangers is good.
We’re told obeying rules is good.
We’re Tamed to believe that we Need a job.
We’re told to seek success instead of
significance.
We’re told to be ‘contented’ instead of striving for a
more fulfilling life.
We’re told that fulfilling life means a money rich
life.
We’re told to cover sadness with money instead of
meaning.
We're tamed to take entertainment as an escape instead
of being charged up by what we love to do.
We’re told of everything under the sun to play safe,
avoid mistakes, until we’re not sure what’s winning and losing
anymore.
We’re only Not told that we’re human, we make mistakes
and we all need acceptance and appreciations over different
strengths and weaknesses.
I just feel that this is due to parents generation
influence of the industrial age, things are to be disciplined. They
needed lots of workers, they standardise a system to manufacture as
many employers as possible, train them to be obedient from 4 years
old, to greet teachers, respect parents, help an elderly because
society says it’s right and they have to do it instead of people
WANTING to do it out of their own good will. But information age is
here, we should be trained to be resourceful minded instead of
resourceful headed. Recently I watched 'the new education' on
channelsnewsasia, and it's kind of heartening to see that there are
initiatives in NTU and some primary schools.. I am also encouraged
by Albert Einstein's quote..."if we judge a fish by its ability to
climb a tree it will live its whole life thinking its stupid"... I
just feel that a 'fair' system that grades us 'equally’ cannot work
anymore, period.
Robotic Entrepreneurship
My father is a cab driver. Along the way I formed a
quote that goes like this. "A cab company which cramped the
chauffeur's seat for better customer's experience is a crap
company.” I’m numbed from seeing companies looking for papers, head
and hand instead of employees heart. They talk about customers
service yet they do not treat their people properly to provide the
right customers service. Some city do not sleep because employees
are always working. Some customers are always first and employees
second. Employees are employer’s first customer, to me. Companies
after companies do cliche initiatives like dress-down friday
thinking that it’ll cheer people up or even form a unique company
culture. Company stands for values such as 'respect, honesty,
innovative' instead of ‘putting others first, tell the truth and
think different’ like what Apple does. Apple tells people why they
do what they do while other companies tell others what they do and
how is it better. People don’t buy what we do, they buy why we do,
they buy our beliefs. Company is a place where people with a
similar belief, like a tribe, working for a greater cause. It’s no
wonder so many people are lied into a scam on “monday blues,
work-life balance, thank god its friday and mid life or identity
crisis. If we truly love and believe in the work that we do, all
these will not even be a ‘social norm’.
Summary
Ah! That’s frustrating everytime I talk about it, at
the same time, pumped up. I’m halfway through the project. I really
need your honest and constructive inputs to make this work
together. In essence, I feel that it’s more to a ‘purpose driven
life’ like how the famous book by Rick Warren has written. While,
on top of that, it’s a ‘wholeness driven life’, combining our
personality, passion, purpose and practices.
Personality: what enables us, what we can do.
Passion: what excites us, what we love to do.
Purpose: what empowers us, what we feel deeply for.
Practice: what expresses us, what we do daily - if we
love monday-blues and TGIF, it’s time to quit whatever we’re doing
:)
Few questions for discussions..
1. Just wanna ask around how do you guys feel about
this?
2. Do you think there's really such a thing called getting paid for
passion?
3. Do you think a 'purpose driven life' is possible?
4. Anyone of you felt this way, made a turn in your life? How's
your experience?
5. If you can be paid for passion and a worthy cause, is there
something that you may want to understand?
MM
