Young people need to embrace the culture of responsible contemplation
Updated: 2016-08-08 08:31
(HK Edition)
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The famous Hong Kong resilience was once again there for the world to see on Aug 2 when soon after Typhoon Nida had blown over, shops began to open, long queues started forming at bus stops, MTR stations went into their customary breathless mode and conservancy workers descended in droves into damage control.
The calibrated transition of a megapolis from suspended animation to full operational mode is always a wonder to watch because it suggests an approach to contingency-readiness that has been well thought over, fine-tuned and perfected over decades.
While it may have become commonplace for residents, for a casual visitor, say a tourist stranded in the city with typhoon warning elevated to eight on a scale of 10, likely fearing a missed flight and all that it entails, such a smooth return to normalcy must be delightful.
It tells the visitor that the authorities concerned are not only efficient - for efficiency is a given here, but are also able to take a comprehensive view of possible eventualities, anticipate outcomes and strategize with the objective of not allowing adversities - both foreseen and otherwise - to triumph over the enduring benefits of a system that counts regimentation as its cornerstone.
The old-fashioned term for this is forward thinking, and for the purpose of this article, thinking is the operative word.
Let's go back to our hapless tourist who delights in typhoon-hit Hong Kong's rapid transition to normalcy. What does the visitor see? Orderliness that is the envy of the world and a celebrated self-sufficiency that comes from a deep and accurate awareness of natural strengths and weaknesses.
And, what are such qualities derived from? Undoubtedly, from an ability to take a step back and to analyze. Again, analysis is a process that can only be attributed to a faculty to think deeply.
As such, even to a casual visitor, it must be apparent that Hong Kong enjoys an administrative system into which had gone a lot of thought. But the question is, are the beneficiaries of such a system, especially the younger ones, thinking enough?
Contemplation, it seems, is looked down upon by Hong Kong's fast-paced, even breathless, society. It is rare to see a commuter on public transport doing nothing. The only idle people one sees at public parks are the elderly. Schoolchildren exchange thoughts singularly at organized events. The public libraries are frequented almost exclusively by the elderly and the very young.
Too much preoccupation can be as attractive to the devil as an idle mind. It is necessary to be able to empty the mind once in a while, to flush out the toxins, to be able to think differently, even originally.
In his seminal essay, "In Praise of Idleness", the British philosopher and Nobel Laureate Bertrand Russell wrote: "The wise use of leisure, it must be conceded, is a product of civilization and education. A man who has worked long hours all his life will become bored if he becomes suddenly idle. But without a considerable amount of leisure a man is cut off from many of the best things."
The culture of responsible contemplation and the wisdom of thoughtfulness were undoubtedly some of the best things that had made Hong Kong the Asian powerhouse it is today.
It is time to tell the young people of Hong Kong to start thinking, and to start thinking deeply.
(HK Edition 08/08/2016 page1)