#MH370 for the better

It is 1.15am right now. Almost 18 days since the #mh370 aircraft was reported missing. For me, these 18 days went by quite swiftly. But I am sure it isn't the same for the families of the crew and passengers aboard the aircraft. As much as I try to put myself in their position, I know I will never understand or feel the same pain and anxiety they went through.

While it may have been a tough time for the families these 18 days, today would have been the most difficult as it was made official the status of the aircraft. The aircraft was confirmed to be 'lost' or in other words, forever gone.

There were many speculations in this period of time and I was really hoping for the plane to be hijacked instead of crashed as I would like to hope for the survival rate and chance to be higher. Unfortunately it was the latter that happened.

But at the very least, we now have a closure. My deepest condolonces to the family members of the crew and passengers aboard #mh370. My heart also goes out to all who were involved in the SAR operation be it the various countries, governments, militaries, and all who were involved. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

In each and every tragedy there are lessons to be learned and there are wisdom to be unearthed. I shall attempt to put what I have learned in quotes.

'In dire situations there is no right or wrong. We can only do our best.'

'The pain and grief of the affected families will never be understood by us, the bystanders.'

'Life has many uncertainties. So what are we really living for?'

'Love is forever. But we do not have forever to love.'

'Regardless of race, religion and color, humans are naturally soft hearted and kind.'

'We may only live once, but how long or how short is this once? To risk or not to risk? Moderate is the answer.'

'We grief but do we care? If we do, then what's next? To continue living like before or to change our perspective of life?'

'Ignorant is only temporary bliss. True bliss comes from accepting and taking actions to improve for the better.'

'Stop perceiving and start believing.'

I have a Degree, but am I really educated?

Every parent will jump for joy the moment their children complete their formal education and therefore ready to be an adult. Education in the eyes of our parents is very important as it paves the road for our future. Education will ensure that we have a stable career, or so they say.

No doubt having a formal education today will ensure that we are proudly called a graduate and have a stable career but are we really EDUCATED just because we have completed our formal education with a high distinction? Who and what defines us as educated? Is a PhD holder more educated than the regular degree holder? These questions will be the core of this article. 

I had this eureka moment last night while watching a movie. I suddenly came to realize that no matter how educated we are today in terms of a formal education, there is no way to compare even with the simplest man of the past. In simple words, we are all uneducated (especially if we went through the years of formal education which our parents are so proud of). 

Here is why. If you think about it carefully and do some simple research, you will come to realize that today's formal education (no matter how great) is merely based on greed and laziness. Whereas, education in the past is based on virtues, loyalty, life experiences, etc. 

The movie I watched that gave me this eureka moment is 'Confucius'. A movie based on a great philosopher in Chinese history, Confucius (孔子). A person like Confucius is so inspiring that we still talk about him and his philosophy today. Even a movie was produced based on this one great man. If you watched the movie or read books on Confucius,  you will know that this man is actually as I mentioned earlier the simplest man of the past. But he was also one of the most educated person in his era. 

So what is the difference between Confucius and us? Well, the answer is already given. Confucius had an education based on virtues, loyalty, life experiences, etc and we had an education based on greed and laziness. That is the difference. That is why I said earlier, no matter how educated we are today, we can never compare ourselves with even the simplest man of the past. 

We are taught today that to be successful we must chase our dreams. Our dream to earn those big bucks. Our dream to be the richest person on earth. Yes success today is bench-marked with monetary value or in other terms, greed. The more greedy you are, the more successful you are. Is that really all that we should be after though? Yes is the answer if we use the logic of the education we get today. 

We may be able to build rockets to go to outer space but at the same time our actions are destroying our beautiful home we call earth. We are smart. We are smart to build rockets to leave our home after we have totally destroyed it. Yup that is how smart we are. That is the education we had. 

All formal education today should be restructured. To truly succeed today, I personally believe that we should study the works/philosophy of the past. There are so many great and simple people like Confucius that we can learn from. They should be our motivation to succeed and not the greenback that we worship. With this, the real success will naturally come to us even without us seeking for it.