Under our "Inspiring People" monthly column, we highlight the incredible journey of one person who has overcome tremendous odds to achieve personal success. This column celebrates the triumph of the human spirit and we hope it will inspire you to reach for your dreams, too. This month, we bring you Jeremy Lim, whose fragile condition has not stopped him from actively pursuing his dreams.
Each time one of his bones breaks, it's like a sword has pierced his body.
“The pain is as excruciating as it is traumatic,” describes 21-year-old Jeremy Lim, who was born with brittle-bone disease.
Yet when he was only 12-years-old, Lim held back his tears and told his mother that he was not in pain after breaking his arm and leg from a fall.
His mother, Wong Liang Ming, recalled, “In the car, he was the one comforting me, saying, ‘Don’t cry, I’m okay’."
“And as I carried him into the house, with the help of my husband, there he was holding back tears just so I won’t feel bad. And he told dad that it’s not mummy’s fault. There he is in pain and protecting me. … At that point, I have the highest respect for my son,” she said.
Lim’s reaction perhaps stems from a philosophy he holds close to his heart, that “nothing can change what happens to you but you can change how you react to an incident”.
“From an early age, my parents taught me to look at the bright side of life because if you look on the bright side, there will not be a dark shadow in sight,” Lim told Yahoo! Singapore in an hour-long interview.
Lim was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as brittle-bone disease which affects one in some 20,000 births. As a child, his bones would break with a “pop” sound every other week as he rolled over in his sleep or tried to open a box of toys on his own.
His bones are sturdier now thanks to an experimental drug he has been taking the last 13 years to increase bone density. The last time he broke a bone – his collarbone – was a few years ago.
Still, Lim’s delicate condition has not stopped him from reaching out to help the less fortunate or from steadfastly pursuing his dreams.
‘Only natural to help other people’
If he looks familiar to some, Lim was a young ambassador for the National Kidney Foundation’s children’s medical fund from 2001 – 2005. His stint ended after malpractices by former NKF chief executive T T Durai were uncovered.
As ambassador, Lim would collect cheques, give speeches, visit beneficiaries’ homes to cheer them up and check on their health.
When he was in Temasek Junior College, Lim participated in school initiatives to help the needy. He went with other students to collect newspapers and recyclable material from households to raise money for charity. If there was no lift at a particular flat, Lim, wheel-chair bound, would stay behind to look after the collected material, he recalled.
He would also visit old folks’ homes and talk to residents to cheer them up.
His mother recalls that his charitable nature was apparent from his younger days. In primary three, Lim would take the school-issued pledge card and enthusiastically ask his father’s friends to donate to charity.
“With my condition, I want to focus on what I can do, focus on making a positive difference in the lives of the less fortunate... I think God has been kind to me, he’s given me a lot of blessings. It’s only natural for me to help other people,” said Lim.
He listed several people who have helped shaped his life.
There was his then-principal of Pei Chun Public School Chen Keng Juan who offered him a place to study when many other schools rejected him because of his health condition. “Some even thought I was mentally ill,” said Lim.
Then in Temasek Junior College, principal Loke-Yeo Teck Yong had ramps retrofitted and a lift built in the school in preparation for Lim’s attendance there. During the orientation games, organisers made him a station master when he could not participate in the games.
“It’s not about the hardware, it’s about the heartware,” said Lim. “It made me feel very included.”
“I don’t think I could be where I am today without these people. There’s so many people in my life whom I’ve had the honour of meeting. They’ve touched my life, they’ve wanted me to succeed and helped me to achieve my goals,” he stated.
Pursing his passions
This year, Lim fulfilled one of his dreams to be a published author. He wrote and published his autobiography titled “Beyond Bone Breaking”, where he shared life experiences that he hopes will inspire readers.
The book contains a foreword by former President S R Nathan, whom Lim first met when he was 12. The pair have kept in touch through the years.
Other than writing, Lim counts Japanese animation as among his passions. He has shelves of Japanese anime figures at home.
The second year student at the National University of Singapore is now deciding between majoring in Japanese studies or new media communications.
He once had dreams of becoming a genetic engineer but realised chemistry was “too abstract” for him. He is considering writing, animation or even opening a toy shop selling Japanese toys as career options.
No matter what choice he makes, he has already shown many people the path to touching people’s hearts.
“Jeremy has made a difference in our lives,” said Lim’s mother, Wong. “People say society is less gracious (now). Maybe they are put here to remind us we must be humble and count our blessings.”
Monday, November 14, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The 5 Regrets
5 regrets people have on their deathbeds
Ms. Bronnie Ware has worked with the dying for many years. She recently detailed the top 5 regrets that people have on their deathbed on her blog
(http://www.inspirationandchai.com/Regrets-of-the-Dying.html).
While we are all bound to have some regrets in life, here are the top 5.
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Ware said that this was the most common regret of all. It’s easy to let our dreams slip by due to circumstances or decisions that we’ve made. These choices mark the divide between living a fulfilled life or one that is full of regrets.
It’s important that we aim to achieve at least some of our dreams along the way. We often put off trying for our dreams due to a myriad of reasons. Before we know it, we would have lost our health and therefore, our chance to attain them.
If your dream is to start a business, get to it. If it’s to learn how to dance or try skydiving, book a class. If you want to make music, pick up a guitar.
Don’t put it off any longer.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
In between having ends meet and aiming for a luxurious lifestyle, it’s easy to see why we get caught up with our work.
Ware said that this was a common regret of male patients who didn’t manage to spend enough time with their family.
It’s easy to get caught up in the rat race, but remember to set aside some time for the important things in life. Most importantly, you will have to understand why you do what you do. Is it for your own personal achievement, for family, or for a higher calling?
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Hands up anyone who has suppressed their feelings in order to avoid potential embarrassment or argument.
Avoiding arguments is good for a harmonious life, but the problem comes when we take it too far. When we blindly follow the opinions of someone more assertive just to avoid arguments, we’re shortchanging ourselves.
While it’s understandable that we use Twitter and blogging to rant about things we are unhappy with, do remember that talking about it face-to-face is always a more sincere option.
So if an issue is major enough, try approaching the person for an honest and frank chat. We’re not saying that the talk will be smooth sailing, but your relationships will emerge stronger and healthier.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
It’s easy to lose touch with good friends. A busy lifestyle can take away time from the ones you love. This is where technology comes in.
With services like Facebook, WhatsApp and Yahoo! Messenger, it’s easy to keep tabs on old friends. Talking to friends is so effortless today that we have no reason to let staying in touch with friends take a backseat.
At the end of the day though, nothing beats chatting over a cup of coffee. So always remember to occasionally take things offline and catch up with your friends the old fashioned way.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Many don't realize until the end that happiness is a choice’, said Ware in her blog post.
This is very true. Happiness is something that we choose for ourselves. Many get upset over the circumstances in their lives. What they do not realize is that they can choose to face difficulties with a smile.
Take a moment and enjoy life. If difficulties come your way, remember that pain is inevitable but wallowing in misery is always optional.
Choose to be happy.
Ms. Bronnie Ware has worked with the dying for many years. She recently detailed the top 5 regrets that people have on their deathbed on her blog
(http://www.inspirationandchai.com/Regrets-of-the-Dying.html).
While we are all bound to have some regrets in life, here are the top 5.
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Ware said that this was the most common regret of all. It’s easy to let our dreams slip by due to circumstances or decisions that we’ve made. These choices mark the divide between living a fulfilled life or one that is full of regrets.
It’s important that we aim to achieve at least some of our dreams along the way. We often put off trying for our dreams due to a myriad of reasons. Before we know it, we would have lost our health and therefore, our chance to attain them.
If your dream is to start a business, get to it. If it’s to learn how to dance or try skydiving, book a class. If you want to make music, pick up a guitar.
Don’t put it off any longer.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
In between having ends meet and aiming for a luxurious lifestyle, it’s easy to see why we get caught up with our work.
Ware said that this was a common regret of male patients who didn’t manage to spend enough time with their family.
It’s easy to get caught up in the rat race, but remember to set aside some time for the important things in life. Most importantly, you will have to understand why you do what you do. Is it for your own personal achievement, for family, or for a higher calling?
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Hands up anyone who has suppressed their feelings in order to avoid potential embarrassment or argument.
Avoiding arguments is good for a harmonious life, but the problem comes when we take it too far. When we blindly follow the opinions of someone more assertive just to avoid arguments, we’re shortchanging ourselves.
While it’s understandable that we use Twitter and blogging to rant about things we are unhappy with, do remember that talking about it face-to-face is always a more sincere option.
So if an issue is major enough, try approaching the person for an honest and frank chat. We’re not saying that the talk will be smooth sailing, but your relationships will emerge stronger and healthier.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
It’s easy to lose touch with good friends. A busy lifestyle can take away time from the ones you love. This is where technology comes in.
With services like Facebook, WhatsApp and Yahoo! Messenger, it’s easy to keep tabs on old friends. Talking to friends is so effortless today that we have no reason to let staying in touch with friends take a backseat.
At the end of the day though, nothing beats chatting over a cup of coffee. So always remember to occasionally take things offline and catch up with your friends the old fashioned way.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Many don't realize until the end that happiness is a choice’, said Ware in her blog post.
This is very true. Happiness is something that we choose for ourselves. Many get upset over the circumstances in their lives. What they do not realize is that they can choose to face difficulties with a smile.
Take a moment and enjoy life. If difficulties come your way, remember that pain is inevitable but wallowing in misery is always optional.
Choose to be happy.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Va. inmate 1st woman in 5 years executed in US A Euthanasia
Va. inmate 1st woman in 5 years executed in US
AP
By STEVE SZKOTAK,Associated Press Writer - Friday, September 24
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JARRATT, Va. – Teresa Lewis spent the last days before her execution as she had spent one side of her life _ singing hymns and praying. That devotion to Christianity, by her own admission, was countered by outrageous bouts of sex and betrayal.
That dark side led her life to a deadly turn in 2002 when she plied two men with sex and cash to kill her husband and stepson to collect on a $250,000 insurance policy. For that, the 41-year-old on Thursday was the first woman put to death in the U.S. since 2005.
Lewis died by injection at 9:13 p.m., apologizing first to the sole surviving daughter of the husband she had killed. She was the first woman in Virginia since 1912 put to death. Her supporters and relatives of the victims watched her execution at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt.
"She was very peaceful," before she entered the death chamber, said her attorney, James Rocap III.
"We thought that we were supposed to be helping her, while she was actually helping us," he said about the days leading to her death during which she laughed, sang and prayed _ for everybody.
Lewis promised the killers a cut of a life insurance policy to shoot her husband, Julian Clifton Lewis Jr., and his son, Charles, as they slept in October 2002. Both triggermen were sentenced to life in prison and one committed suicide in 2006.
Lewis appeared fearful, her jaw clenched, as she was escorted into the death chamber. She glanced tensely around at 14 assembled corrections officials before being bound to a gurney with heavy leather straps.
Moments before her execution, Lewis asked if her husband's daughter _ her stepdaughter _ was near. She was. Kathy Clifton was in an adjacent witness room blocked from the inmate's view by a two-way mirror.
"I want Kathy to know that I love her and I'm very sorry," Lewis said.
Then, as the drugs flowed into her body, her feet bobbed but she otherwise remained motionless. A guard lightly tapped her on the shoulder reassuringly as she slipped into death.
More than 7,300 appeals to stop the execution had been made to the governor in a state second only to Texas in the number of people it executes.
Texas held the most recent U.S. execution of a woman in 2005. Out of more than 1,200 people put to death since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, only 11 have been women.
Lewis, who defense attorneys said was borderline mentally disabled, had inspired other inmates by singing Christian hymns in prison. Her fate also had drawn appeals from the European Union, an indignant rebuke from Iran and the disgust of thousands of people.
The execution stirred an unusual amount of attention because of her gender, claims she lacked the intelligence to mastermind the killings and the post-conviction emergence of defense evidence that one of the triggermen manipulated her. Her spiritual adviser, the Rev. Julie Perry, stood sobbing as she later witnessed the execution, clutching a religious book.
Throughout her life, a faith in God had been a seeming constant for Lewis _ whether it was the prayer with her husband hours before he was killed or her ministry behind bars.
But there was another side.
"I was doing drugs, stealing, lying and having several affairs during my marriages," Lewis wrote in a statement that was read at a prison religious service in August. "I went to church every Sunday, Friday and revivals but guess what? I didn't open my Bible at home, only when I was at church."
Her father said she ran off to get married, then later abandoned her children and ran off with her sister's husband. Then she had an affair with her sister's fiance while at the same time having an affair with another man.
Lewis married Julian in 2000 and two years later, his son Charles entered the U.S. Army Reserve. When he was called for active duty he obtained a $250,000 life insurance policy, naming his father the beneficiary and providing temptation for Teresa Lewis.
Both men would have to die for Lewis to receive the payout.
She met at a Walmart with the two men who ultimately killed Julian Lewis and his son. Lewis began an affair with Matthew Shallenberger and later had sex with the other triggerman, Rodney Fuller. She also arranged sex with Fuller and her daughter, who was 16, in a parking lot.
On the night before Halloween in 2002, after she prayed with her husband, Lewis got out of bed, unlocked the door to their mobile home and put the couple's pit bull in a bedroom so the animal wouldn't interfere. Shallenberger and Fuller came in and shot both men several times with the shotguns Lewis had bought for them.
___
Online:
Save Teresa Lewis: http://www.saveteresalewis.org
AP
By STEVE SZKOTAK,Associated Press Writer - Friday, September 24
* Send
* IM Story
JARRATT, Va. – Teresa Lewis spent the last days before her execution as she had spent one side of her life _ singing hymns and praying. That devotion to Christianity, by her own admission, was countered by outrageous bouts of sex and betrayal.
That dark side led her life to a deadly turn in 2002 when she plied two men with sex and cash to kill her husband and stepson to collect on a $250,000 insurance policy. For that, the 41-year-old on Thursday was the first woman put to death in the U.S. since 2005.
Lewis died by injection at 9:13 p.m., apologizing first to the sole surviving daughter of the husband she had killed. She was the first woman in Virginia since 1912 put to death. Her supporters and relatives of the victims watched her execution at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt.
"She was very peaceful," before she entered the death chamber, said her attorney, James Rocap III.
"We thought that we were supposed to be helping her, while she was actually helping us," he said about the days leading to her death during which she laughed, sang and prayed _ for everybody.
Lewis promised the killers a cut of a life insurance policy to shoot her husband, Julian Clifton Lewis Jr., and his son, Charles, as they slept in October 2002. Both triggermen were sentenced to life in prison and one committed suicide in 2006.
Lewis appeared fearful, her jaw clenched, as she was escorted into the death chamber. She glanced tensely around at 14 assembled corrections officials before being bound to a gurney with heavy leather straps.
Moments before her execution, Lewis asked if her husband's daughter _ her stepdaughter _ was near. She was. Kathy Clifton was in an adjacent witness room blocked from the inmate's view by a two-way mirror.
"I want Kathy to know that I love her and I'm very sorry," Lewis said.
Then, as the drugs flowed into her body, her feet bobbed but she otherwise remained motionless. A guard lightly tapped her on the shoulder reassuringly as she slipped into death.
More than 7,300 appeals to stop the execution had been made to the governor in a state second only to Texas in the number of people it executes.
Texas held the most recent U.S. execution of a woman in 2005. Out of more than 1,200 people put to death since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, only 11 have been women.
Lewis, who defense attorneys said was borderline mentally disabled, had inspired other inmates by singing Christian hymns in prison. Her fate also had drawn appeals from the European Union, an indignant rebuke from Iran and the disgust of thousands of people.
The execution stirred an unusual amount of attention because of her gender, claims she lacked the intelligence to mastermind the killings and the post-conviction emergence of defense evidence that one of the triggermen manipulated her. Her spiritual adviser, the Rev. Julie Perry, stood sobbing as she later witnessed the execution, clutching a religious book.
Throughout her life, a faith in God had been a seeming constant for Lewis _ whether it was the prayer with her husband hours before he was killed or her ministry behind bars.
But there was another side.
"I was doing drugs, stealing, lying and having several affairs during my marriages," Lewis wrote in a statement that was read at a prison religious service in August. "I went to church every Sunday, Friday and revivals but guess what? I didn't open my Bible at home, only when I was at church."
Her father said she ran off to get married, then later abandoned her children and ran off with her sister's husband. Then she had an affair with her sister's fiance while at the same time having an affair with another man.
Lewis married Julian in 2000 and two years later, his son Charles entered the U.S. Army Reserve. When he was called for active duty he obtained a $250,000 life insurance policy, naming his father the beneficiary and providing temptation for Teresa Lewis.
Both men would have to die for Lewis to receive the payout.
She met at a Walmart with the two men who ultimately killed Julian Lewis and his son. Lewis began an affair with Matthew Shallenberger and later had sex with the other triggerman, Rodney Fuller. She also arranged sex with Fuller and her daughter, who was 16, in a parking lot.
On the night before Halloween in 2002, after she prayed with her husband, Lewis got out of bed, unlocked the door to their mobile home and put the couple's pit bull in a bedroom so the animal wouldn't interfere. Shallenberger and Fuller came in and shot both men several times with the shotguns Lewis had bought for them.
___
Online:
Save Teresa Lewis: http://www.saveteresalewis.org
Monday, June 7, 2010
Zig Ziglar - Cause of Unhappiness
A Harvard psychology professor once said that whenever he meets someone who really wants something, he always wonders what they will be willing to do not to get it. Taking another slant, motivational speaker Zig Ziglar believes that the leading cause of unhappiness is trading what we want most for what we want now.
There are some practices that are guaranteed to generate unhappiness. Among them are:
Don’t appreciate your achievements. Instead, regard them as things that anyone could do or which somehow occurred through no serious effort of your own.
Keep raising the bar. Turn a search for excellence into an exhausting, never-ending quest.
Look at life through a mirror. After all, the rest of the world should behave and think as you do.
Expect others to know when you are upset. Regard their failure as a sign that they are insensitive and uncaring.
Reopen old wounds. Blame your parents, siblings, coworkers, bosses, and teachers. Let no transgression have a statute of limitations.
Worry. Fret about things that are unlikely to happen. Worry some more when they don’t happen.
Embrace martyrdom. Be much harder on yourself than you would be on others
Don’t enjoy the small things. Keep your eye on the weightier matters. Ignore small pleasures such as watching a sunrise or having a good cup of coffee.
Fall in with bad companions. Associate with people who have similar negative habits so you can reinforce one another’s feelings.
Swing for the fences. Forget the base hits and incremental goals.
Don’t set deadlines. Hey, you’ll get around to it one of these days.
And above all, expect an even playing field. The world is noted for being fair.
Michael Wade writes Execupundit.com, an eclectic combination of management advice, observations, and links. A partner with the Phoenix firm of Sanders Wade Rodarte Consulting Inc., he has advised private and public-sector organizations for more than 30 years.
There are some practices that are guaranteed to generate unhappiness. Among them are:
Don’t appreciate your achievements. Instead, regard them as things that anyone could do or which somehow occurred through no serious effort of your own.
Keep raising the bar. Turn a search for excellence into an exhausting, never-ending quest.
Look at life through a mirror. After all, the rest of the world should behave and think as you do.
Expect others to know when you are upset. Regard their failure as a sign that they are insensitive and uncaring.
Reopen old wounds. Blame your parents, siblings, coworkers, bosses, and teachers. Let no transgression have a statute of limitations.
Worry. Fret about things that are unlikely to happen. Worry some more when they don’t happen.
Embrace martyrdom. Be much harder on yourself than you would be on others
Don’t enjoy the small things. Keep your eye on the weightier matters. Ignore small pleasures such as watching a sunrise or having a good cup of coffee.
Fall in with bad companions. Associate with people who have similar negative habits so you can reinforce one another’s feelings.
Swing for the fences. Forget the base hits and incremental goals.
Don’t set deadlines. Hey, you’ll get around to it one of these days.
And above all, expect an even playing field. The world is noted for being fair.
Michael Wade writes Execupundit.com, an eclectic combination of management advice, observations, and links. A partner with the Phoenix firm of Sanders Wade Rodarte Consulting Inc., he has advised private and public-sector organizations for more than 30 years.
12 Rules on Email Etiquette
Michael S. Wade, On Saturday 5 June 2010, 1:59 SGT
Since E-mail is not going away any time soon, it makes sense to develop some ground rules for its usage. Here are 10 that I try to follow:
1. Do not use E-mail for sensitive subjects or topics that may be especially susceptible to misinterpretation.
[See 15 essentials for getting hired.]
2. Do not use E-mail if you are having a difference of opinion with the other person. It is very easy to come across as curt or uncaring in an E-mail message. Schedule a meeting with the person or pick up the phone.
3. Scrutinize the tone of your E-mails. Recognize that the receiver cannot hear your tone of voice and may not spot irony or humor.
4. Don't put anything in an E-mail that you wouldn't want to read on the front page of the newspaper or while sitting on the witness stand.
[See why most CEOs are nice.]
5. Be wary of forwarding E-mails unless you are certain that the sender would not mind if the message were forwarded. I've received forwarded E-mails that contained some rather personal comments in addition to the business content. I doubt if the author of the original message wanted me to know about her family situation.
6. If you want an E-mail to be regarded as urgent, then label it as such. Regard non-urgent messages the same way you'd regard regular mail and don't expect a reply within hours.
7. Beware of using text messaging abbreviations with people who might find it to be unprofessional, confusing or abrupt. I recently received an E-mail from a customer service department that was written in "textese." I thought it was funny but not everyone would have that reaction.
[See 12 ways to be miserable at work.]
8. Unless the person is on the other side of the world, the fewer messages, the better. If you need to communicate so much with someone who is just down the hall, go see the person.
9. Beware of rushed messages. Those are the ones you are most likely to regret.
10. Forgive notes that seem unpleasant or out of character. We all have days in which we need people to cut us some slack. Unless it is extreme, don't let one note ruin a relationship.
Michael Wade writes Execupundit.com, an eclectic combination of management advice, observations, and links. A partner with the Phoenix firm of Sanders Wade Rodarte Consulting Inc., he has advised private and public-sector organizations for more than 30 years.
Since E-mail is not going away any time soon, it makes sense to develop some ground rules for its usage. Here are 10 that I try to follow:
1. Do not use E-mail for sensitive subjects or topics that may be especially susceptible to misinterpretation.
[See 15 essentials for getting hired.]
2. Do not use E-mail if you are having a difference of opinion with the other person. It is very easy to come across as curt or uncaring in an E-mail message. Schedule a meeting with the person or pick up the phone.
3. Scrutinize the tone of your E-mails. Recognize that the receiver cannot hear your tone of voice and may not spot irony or humor.
4. Don't put anything in an E-mail that you wouldn't want to read on the front page of the newspaper or while sitting on the witness stand.
[See why most CEOs are nice.]
5. Be wary of forwarding E-mails unless you are certain that the sender would not mind if the message were forwarded. I've received forwarded E-mails that contained some rather personal comments in addition to the business content. I doubt if the author of the original message wanted me to know about her family situation.
6. If you want an E-mail to be regarded as urgent, then label it as such. Regard non-urgent messages the same way you'd regard regular mail and don't expect a reply within hours.
7. Beware of using text messaging abbreviations with people who might find it to be unprofessional, confusing or abrupt. I recently received an E-mail from a customer service department that was written in "textese." I thought it was funny but not everyone would have that reaction.
[See 12 ways to be miserable at work.]
8. Unless the person is on the other side of the world, the fewer messages, the better. If you need to communicate so much with someone who is just down the hall, go see the person.
9. Beware of rushed messages. Those are the ones you are most likely to regret.
10. Forgive notes that seem unpleasant or out of character. We all have days in which we need people to cut us some slack. Unless it is extreme, don't let one note ruin a relationship.
Michael Wade writes Execupundit.com, an eclectic combination of management advice, observations, and links. A partner with the Phoenix firm of Sanders Wade Rodarte Consulting Inc., he has advised private and public-sector organizations for more than 30 years.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Connecting the Dots in Education
Connecting the dots (Janadas Devan, SunTimes Think, 28/3, p34)
SunTimes carried a commentary by Janadas Devan on the fundamental questionsthat needed to be asked in the quest for a ‘holistic education’. Hecommented that all modern systems of knowledge were the product of intensespecialisation, which produced a tendency of the mind thinking in“hermetically sealed silos, among which there was little or nocommunication”. He noted there was little progress from the past attemptsof solving the problem of integrated education, by basing education onscience or alternatively on the humanities. He suggested adopting apragmatic approach in the quest for holistic education by asking questionswhich would require the coordination of different knowledge to answer andwhy we needed to know them.
I love knowing things. The more bizarre the fact, the more surprising thehistorical event, the more unusual the feeling or thought, the moreavariciously I collect them.
How do spiders make love? Well, there at the centre of her web, sits thefemale of the species, two or three times the size of her male lovers. Themale approaches the centre, drawn by the delicious perfume. At the heightof passion, after the male has deposited all its semen, the giant femaleturns around, and promptly devours the male.
What was James I's official title? Well, in 1616, after the English woncontrol of two spice islands in the Banda Sea, it was announced that JamesI, 'by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, isalso now by the mercy of God, King of Poolaway and Poolaroone' - Poolawayand Poolaroone being what the English then called Pulau Ai and Pulau Run,two tiny atolls in what is today Indonesia's Maluku Islands. The Englishfought many wars with the Dutch for control of the atolls, once consideredto be worth more than all of Scotland because of the nutmeg that grew onthem. The English finally renounced control of the islands in 1667, when,in the Treaty of Breda, they exchanged them, most unhappily andreluctantly, for New Amsterdam - which, of course, later became New York!
What is the most truthful thing that's been said about the relationsbetween the sexes? Well, plenty, no doubt, but consider this, a poementitled Bloody Men by Wendy Cope:
'Bloody men are like bloody buses -/ You wait for about a year/ And as soonas one approaches your stop/ Two or three others appear.'You look at them flashing their indicators,/ Offering you a ride./ You'retrying to read the destinations,/ You haven't much time to decide.'If you make a mistake, there is no turning back./ Jump off, and you'llstand there and gaze/ While the cars and the taxis and lorries go by/ Andthe minutes, the hours, the days.'
Science, history, literature - does knowing bits and pieces about these andmany other subjects make me a renaissance man, a polymath?
Well, if the criterion is sheer quantity, I might qualify as a polymath. Mymind is filled with loose intellectual change - pocketfuls of five-centbits of science, 10-cent bits of history and politics, 20-cent bits ofmusic and poetry.
But if the criterion is wisdom - the ability to build bridges amongdisparate fields of knowledge to arrive at an intellectually, emotionallyand spiritually adequate view of life and society - I'm most certainly nota renaissance man. I am, I suppose, capable, on my best days, of evokingthe odd 50-cent bit of insight - and once in a blue moon, perhaps even adollar-coin's worth. But whole bills of wisdom, alas, have always eludedme.
And this is not solely due to my personal inadequacies. All modern systemsof knowledge are the product of intense specialisation. We have noalternative but to specialise in order to acquire an adequate command ofparticular subjects. But the problem is, as necessary as specialisation is,it has produced what the mathematician and philosopher A.N. Whitehead oncereferred to as a 'celibacy of the intellect' - the tendency of the modernmind to exist in a series of hermetically sealed silos, among which thereis little or no communication.
Both scientists and men of letters have been aware since the 19th centuryof the difficulty of connecting the silos. T.H. Huxley, the biologist andeducator, called for a broad-based integrated education, but believedscience should provide the basis of its organisation. Matthew Arnold, thepoet and critic, called for the inclusion of science in education, butargued that only the humanities could provide the basis of integrating allknow-ledge, including science.
This famous argument between Huxley and Arnold 130 years ago was repeated50 years ago when C.P. Snow, a scientist as well as novelist, coined theconcept of the 'two cultures': one, scientific and technical, and theother, literary and traditional. Snow blamed both scientists and literarypeople for the 'gulf of mutual incomprehension' separating them, butsuggested that scientists were on the whole morally superior. They 'havethe future in their bones', he wrote, and were more concerned aboutimproving material life than literary people, who seemed content just tocontemplate human tragedy.
Snow's views inevitably instigated a response - including a famouslyviolent one from literary critic F.R. Leavis, who called Snow 'portentouslyignorant', and another more temperate reaction from another critic LionelTrilling, who suggested a disinterested mind might be able to bridge the'two cultures'.
What is remarkable is how little progress we have made in solving theproblem of integrated education. One can revisit the Huxley-Arnold debateof 130 years ago, or the Snow-Leavis dust-up 80 years later, and get thefeeling that one is reading about current controversies.
The choice, now as before, seems to be between the Huxley-Snow position - aprimarily scientific education, with some loose change from the humanitiesto provide imaginative variety - and the Arnold-Leavis position - aprimarily humanistic education, with some loose change from the sciencesbecause they are unavoidable. But whether the stress is on science or thehumanities, the assumption is that one can adopt a smorgasbord, or dim sum,approach to education: a little of this, a little of that - and hopefully,the combination will add up to a balanced diet. The end result is not somuch the integration of knowledge but a sampling of its variety. The corecurriculum programmes of both Chicago and Harvard universities, despitetheir undoubted intellectual rigour, suffer from this limitation.
Can anything be done? As it so happens, there is one person who intervenedin the Snow-Leavis debate - Aldous Huxley, the grandson of T.H. Huxley andthe grand-nephew of Matthew Arnold, interestingly - who did have a valuablesuggestion: Instead of trying to devise an integrated education fromtheoretical first principles, why not begin with questions which wouldrequire the coordination of different knowledges to answer?
'Who are we? What is the nature of human nature? How should we be relatedto the planet on which we live? How are we to live together satisfactorily?What is the relationship between nature and nurture? If we start with theseproblems..., we can bring together information from a great number of atpresent completely isolated disciplines.'
Such a pragmatic approach might be something we might adopt in our questfor a 'holistic' education - an approach that begins with the questions: Sowhy do you want to know different things? What for?
SunTimes carried a commentary by Janadas Devan on the fundamental questionsthat needed to be asked in the quest for a ‘holistic education’. Hecommented that all modern systems of knowledge were the product of intensespecialisation, which produced a tendency of the mind thinking in“hermetically sealed silos, among which there was little or nocommunication”. He noted there was little progress from the past attemptsof solving the problem of integrated education, by basing education onscience or alternatively on the humanities. He suggested adopting apragmatic approach in the quest for holistic education by asking questionswhich would require the coordination of different knowledge to answer andwhy we needed to know them.
I love knowing things. The more bizarre the fact, the more surprising thehistorical event, the more unusual the feeling or thought, the moreavariciously I collect them.
How do spiders make love? Well, there at the centre of her web, sits thefemale of the species, two or three times the size of her male lovers. Themale approaches the centre, drawn by the delicious perfume. At the heightof passion, after the male has deposited all its semen, the giant femaleturns around, and promptly devours the male.
What was James I's official title? Well, in 1616, after the English woncontrol of two spice islands in the Banda Sea, it was announced that JamesI, 'by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, isalso now by the mercy of God, King of Poolaway and Poolaroone' - Poolawayand Poolaroone being what the English then called Pulau Ai and Pulau Run,two tiny atolls in what is today Indonesia's Maluku Islands. The Englishfought many wars with the Dutch for control of the atolls, once consideredto be worth more than all of Scotland because of the nutmeg that grew onthem. The English finally renounced control of the islands in 1667, when,in the Treaty of Breda, they exchanged them, most unhappily andreluctantly, for New Amsterdam - which, of course, later became New York!
What is the most truthful thing that's been said about the relationsbetween the sexes? Well, plenty, no doubt, but consider this, a poementitled Bloody Men by Wendy Cope:
'Bloody men are like bloody buses -/ You wait for about a year/ And as soonas one approaches your stop/ Two or three others appear.'You look at them flashing their indicators,/ Offering you a ride./ You'retrying to read the destinations,/ You haven't much time to decide.'If you make a mistake, there is no turning back./ Jump off, and you'llstand there and gaze/ While the cars and the taxis and lorries go by/ Andthe minutes, the hours, the days.'
Science, history, literature - does knowing bits and pieces about these andmany other subjects make me a renaissance man, a polymath?
Well, if the criterion is sheer quantity, I might qualify as a polymath. Mymind is filled with loose intellectual change - pocketfuls of five-centbits of science, 10-cent bits of history and politics, 20-cent bits ofmusic and poetry.
But if the criterion is wisdom - the ability to build bridges amongdisparate fields of knowledge to arrive at an intellectually, emotionallyand spiritually adequate view of life and society - I'm most certainly nota renaissance man. I am, I suppose, capable, on my best days, of evokingthe odd 50-cent bit of insight - and once in a blue moon, perhaps even adollar-coin's worth. But whole bills of wisdom, alas, have always eludedme.
And this is not solely due to my personal inadequacies. All modern systemsof knowledge are the product of intense specialisation. We have noalternative but to specialise in order to acquire an adequate command ofparticular subjects. But the problem is, as necessary as specialisation is,it has produced what the mathematician and philosopher A.N. Whitehead oncereferred to as a 'celibacy of the intellect' - the tendency of the modernmind to exist in a series of hermetically sealed silos, among which thereis little or no communication.
Both scientists and men of letters have been aware since the 19th centuryof the difficulty of connecting the silos. T.H. Huxley, the biologist andeducator, called for a broad-based integrated education, but believedscience should provide the basis of its organisation. Matthew Arnold, thepoet and critic, called for the inclusion of science in education, butargued that only the humanities could provide the basis of integrating allknow-ledge, including science.
This famous argument between Huxley and Arnold 130 years ago was repeated50 years ago when C.P. Snow, a scientist as well as novelist, coined theconcept of the 'two cultures': one, scientific and technical, and theother, literary and traditional. Snow blamed both scientists and literarypeople for the 'gulf of mutual incomprehension' separating them, butsuggested that scientists were on the whole morally superior. They 'havethe future in their bones', he wrote, and were more concerned aboutimproving material life than literary people, who seemed content just tocontemplate human tragedy.
Snow's views inevitably instigated a response - including a famouslyviolent one from literary critic F.R. Leavis, who called Snow 'portentouslyignorant', and another more temperate reaction from another critic LionelTrilling, who suggested a disinterested mind might be able to bridge the'two cultures'.
What is remarkable is how little progress we have made in solving theproblem of integrated education. One can revisit the Huxley-Arnold debateof 130 years ago, or the Snow-Leavis dust-up 80 years later, and get thefeeling that one is reading about current controversies.
The choice, now as before, seems to be between the Huxley-Snow position - aprimarily scientific education, with some loose change from the humanitiesto provide imaginative variety - and the Arnold-Leavis position - aprimarily humanistic education, with some loose change from the sciencesbecause they are unavoidable. But whether the stress is on science or thehumanities, the assumption is that one can adopt a smorgasbord, or dim sum,approach to education: a little of this, a little of that - and hopefully,the combination will add up to a balanced diet. The end result is not somuch the integration of knowledge but a sampling of its variety. The corecurriculum programmes of both Chicago and Harvard universities, despitetheir undoubted intellectual rigour, suffer from this limitation.
Can anything be done? As it so happens, there is one person who intervenedin the Snow-Leavis debate - Aldous Huxley, the grandson of T.H. Huxley andthe grand-nephew of Matthew Arnold, interestingly - who did have a valuablesuggestion: Instead of trying to devise an integrated education fromtheoretical first principles, why not begin with questions which wouldrequire the coordination of different knowledges to answer?
'Who are we? What is the nature of human nature? How should we be relatedto the planet on which we live? How are we to live together satisfactorily?What is the relationship between nature and nurture? If we start with theseproblems..., we can bring together information from a great number of atpresent completely isolated disciplines.'
Such a pragmatic approach might be something we might adopt in our questfor a 'holistic' education - an approach that begins with the questions: Sowhy do you want to know different things? What for?
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Sheik Mohammad Sayed Tantawi - modeate Islm
Egypt's top Muslim cleric dies of heart attack
By SALAH NASRAWI (AP) – 3 days ago
CAIRO — Top Egyptian cleric Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, whose moderate views angered conservative Muslims, died of a heart attack Wednesday during a visit to Saudi Arabia, the state-owned news agency reported. He was 81.
Tantawi was the grand sheik of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's pre-eminent theological institute. Sunni Islam is the faith's mainstream sect, to which the majority of Egypt's 80 million people adhere.
Tantawi was a moderate scholar and supporter of women's rights whose views made him a frequent target of criticism from fundamentalist Muslims.
Most recently, he infuriated conservatives late last year by barring women from wearing the full face veil known as the niqab at Al-Azhar University. That step was part of the intensifying struggle between the moderate Islam championed by the state and a populace that is turning to a stricter version of the faith.
The Middle East News Agency said Tantawi died Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, where he attended a religious ceremony. Saudi officials said he will be buried in the Baqee cemetery in the Saudi holy city of Medina near the shrine of Prophet Muhammad.
The sheik, who was appointed in March 1996 by President Hosni Mubarak, was a revered figure among many of the world's 1.4 billion Muslims. His rulings carried great influence, particularly in Egypt, although they did not carry the force of law.
His teachings and rulings won him wide acclaim among moderates in the Muslim world, but they were also controversial. Fundamentalist Muslims considered them against Islamic teachings.
He angered radicals by supporting organ transplants, denouncing female circumcision and by ruling that women should be appointed to top government judicial and administrative positions. He also supported interest in commercial banking, unlike many Islamic scholars who condemn the paying of interest on bank deposits.
In January 2000, amid growing public debate on legislation easing divorce procedures for women in Egypt, Tantawi ruled that there is nothing in Islam that bars women from getting a divorce easily.
He told Egypt's male-dominated parliament: "Men are not made of gold and women from silver."
Tantawi, whose moderate views have always rankled hard-liners, has been blasted by critics several times. His meeting in 1997 with Israel's Chief Rabbi Yisrael Lau led to charges he wanted to normalize ties with Israel, something many Egyptians oppose despite their government's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
In 2008 he came under pressure to resign from politicians and newspapers for shaking the hand of Israeli President Shimon Peres at U.N. headquarters during an interfaith conference.
Tantawi has supported the peace process with Israel, although he also has condoned attacks by Islamic radicals against the Jewish state. In March 1997, he called for a holy war to take back Jerusalem.
The sheik also promoted Christian-Muslim dialogue.
He had a controversial side, in particular his bad temper in dealing with his critics. He sometimes yelled at reporters for questioning him about his controversial ideas.
At one religious gathering, he attacked what he called the "mob mentality" among Arabs and Muslims.
Before being named to the post at Al-Azhar, Tantawi had served as Egypt's official mufti. He is considered close to the government in his religious opinions.
Tantawi received a doctorate in interpretation of the Quran and Sunna, Prophet Muhammad's teachings, from Al-Azhar University in 1966. He was a religious teacher until 1986, when he was appointed mufti.
He is survived by two sons and a daughter.
By SALAH NASRAWI (AP) – 3 days ago
CAIRO — Top Egyptian cleric Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, whose moderate views angered conservative Muslims, died of a heart attack Wednesday during a visit to Saudi Arabia, the state-owned news agency reported. He was 81.
Tantawi was the grand sheik of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's pre-eminent theological institute. Sunni Islam is the faith's mainstream sect, to which the majority of Egypt's 80 million people adhere.
Tantawi was a moderate scholar and supporter of women's rights whose views made him a frequent target of criticism from fundamentalist Muslims.
Most recently, he infuriated conservatives late last year by barring women from wearing the full face veil known as the niqab at Al-Azhar University. That step was part of the intensifying struggle between the moderate Islam championed by the state and a populace that is turning to a stricter version of the faith.
The Middle East News Agency said Tantawi died Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, where he attended a religious ceremony. Saudi officials said he will be buried in the Baqee cemetery in the Saudi holy city of Medina near the shrine of Prophet Muhammad.
The sheik, who was appointed in March 1996 by President Hosni Mubarak, was a revered figure among many of the world's 1.4 billion Muslims. His rulings carried great influence, particularly in Egypt, although they did not carry the force of law.
His teachings and rulings won him wide acclaim among moderates in the Muslim world, but they were also controversial. Fundamentalist Muslims considered them against Islamic teachings.
He angered radicals by supporting organ transplants, denouncing female circumcision and by ruling that women should be appointed to top government judicial and administrative positions. He also supported interest in commercial banking, unlike many Islamic scholars who condemn the paying of interest on bank deposits.
In January 2000, amid growing public debate on legislation easing divorce procedures for women in Egypt, Tantawi ruled that there is nothing in Islam that bars women from getting a divorce easily.
He told Egypt's male-dominated parliament: "Men are not made of gold and women from silver."
Tantawi, whose moderate views have always rankled hard-liners, has been blasted by critics several times. His meeting in 1997 with Israel's Chief Rabbi Yisrael Lau led to charges he wanted to normalize ties with Israel, something many Egyptians oppose despite their government's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
In 2008 he came under pressure to resign from politicians and newspapers for shaking the hand of Israeli President Shimon Peres at U.N. headquarters during an interfaith conference.
Tantawi has supported the peace process with Israel, although he also has condoned attacks by Islamic radicals against the Jewish state. In March 1997, he called for a holy war to take back Jerusalem.
The sheik also promoted Christian-Muslim dialogue.
He had a controversial side, in particular his bad temper in dealing with his critics. He sometimes yelled at reporters for questioning him about his controversial ideas.
At one religious gathering, he attacked what he called the "mob mentality" among Arabs and Muslims.
Before being named to the post at Al-Azhar, Tantawi had served as Egypt's official mufti. He is considered close to the government in his religious opinions.
Tantawi received a doctorate in interpretation of the Quran and Sunna, Prophet Muhammad's teachings, from Al-Azhar University in 1966. He was a religious teacher until 1986, when he was appointed mufti.
He is survived by two sons and a daughter.
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