We have a leadership succession problem. It seems to be incredibly hard to find youths who could serve as our future leaders.
We can start by encouraging the youth to think about the people, the society and the policies around them. Many just live in their own comfortable lives and don’t give a single shit to what is happening around them.
Once in a while though, we come across individuals who are passionate, critical thinkers who bothered to take time to understand and analyse the situation around them. They often share their discoveries and opinions in hopes to encourage people to think. I don’t think such acts are malicious.
This is what we should encourage. We worry about finding talents to lead us in the future, yet we do not foster an environment where people are passionate about policies and think critically about them. We are not talking about empty mud slinging articles about the government. We are talking about a new generation of educated youths who care, who think critically, and who are passionate. These people are potential leaders.
Yet instead of addressing the concerns, they were shut down. Probably because they asked questions that were difficult to answer. Maybe their opinions are “wrong”.
There’s another type of individuals. Those who feel good about themselves by association. These are the people who don’t care, don’t think, have no passion for anything, other than having a proud organisation with which they think they are associated with. You see them in crazy mega churches. You see them among the whites. These people will always think they are right. And they think they are right “just because”.
It is disturbing to see them echoing what they were told, with zero input of their own thoughts. They do not believe in the two sides of a coin. There’s only “right” and “wrong”. These people are followers.
I think the followers and leaders are in the wrong place. And that’s a scary thought.
Inspired by Dr Tan Cheng Bock’s post on CPF.
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