CHRONICLE - Nanyang Technological University

Opinions
WEIGHING OUR WORDS
The Occupy Wall Street
movement has captured the
imagination of people across
the world in the last month.
Protests over economic inequality—the
dominance of the
minority over the economy—
have finally given a voice to
the majority.
The protest drew attention
to fundamental structures
that our society is built on,
and the possible dangers and
harms should we continue
along these lines.
It has shown anger at the
fact that it is not the greater
numbers who are always
heard, but those with the resources
to make sure they are.
Many times, the topics
that are trumpeted, are not
the issues of actual concern
to people.
So do we, as ordinary
people, have weight behind
our words? Actually, being
someone who can contribute
a voice to important issues
is not too far a stretch of
imagination.
Graduates from NTU have
gone on to become important
movers in society. Low
Thia Khiang has provided,
and continues to be, an important
counterbalance in
Singapore’s political scene.
CHIEF EDITOR
SUB-EDITORS
NEWS EDITORS
LIFESTYLE EDITORS
REVIEWS EDITOR
DAPPER EDITORS
CHINESE EDITORS
OPINIONS EDITORS
CHRONICLE
SPORTS EDITORS
LAYOUT EDITORS
PHOTO EDITORS
GRAPHICS EDITOR
ONLINE EDITORS
BUSINESS MANAGERS
PRODUCTION SUPPORT
TEACHER ADVISORS
And Stefanie Sun is a powerful
influence as a top singer.
If we can learn anything
from the Occupy Wall Street
protests, it is that ordinary
people can make an important
difference.
This can be seen even
among our university population.
Graduate students from
NTU organised the TEDxNTU
seminar recently, to give innovative
people a platform to
inspire. Its theme was to show
people how to translate their
dreams into reality.
More students from NTU
have also been taking part in
green initiatives to highlight
the importance of environmental
well-being.
So it is not whether we
have a voice—it is about how
we use it.
As a newspaper, we have
the responsibility to make sure
that the things that we write
about, matter. And as citizens
of the world, that the issues we
lend a voice to are significant
enough to deserve it.
At this time of market turmoil,
with unemployment and CHIEF EDITOR
CASSANDRA YEAP
costs of living fast getting beyond
the common man, there
may be no time as important to
through the
consider what causes we lend
reports on Steve Jobs’
weight to. death, I came across
Reading
Facebook: The Nanyang
Chronicle
Website: www3.ntu.edu.
sg/chronicle
General Enquiries:
chronicle@ntu.edu.sg
Human factor affects
articles that recorded
the last piece of advice
he gave Tim Cook, his successor.
“Just do what is right,” he said,
“not do what Steve Jobs would.”
This reminded me of what
someone else who filled similarly
large shoes had said. Sister
Nirmala who took over Mother
Teresa as the head of the global
Missionaries of Charity Order,
said she was clear that she was to
be herself, not the Nobel Prizeawarded
nun.
Jobs and Mother Teresa were
visionaries who left lasting changes
in terms of products, programmes
and culture, they mentored
the people they worked with.
Their successors were to be
unique individuals, not slavish
followers of a cult of personality,
nor of the characteristics that had
worked for their mentors.
Products and results—these
things are important. But for
me, the deepest meanings are
created at the intersection of one
life with another. For Jobs and
Mother Teresa, the effect they had
through personal relationships
left legacies that outlived them
through their successors.
Great figures like Mother
Teresa, Jobs and Princess Diana
understood true achievement as
their impact on fellow human
beings and this was evident in
their lives.
Mother Teresa worked with the
poorest of the poor and the abandoned
in the slums of Calcutta for
50 years, while Diana has been
immortalised in images of her
holding hands with HIV patients
and lepers.
Even Jobs, whose attention to
detail meant at times a tyrannical
working style, was driven by the
needs of the consumers first—the
human experience.
Throughout my life, what
stayed with me and impacted
who I was as a person and where
I was going, were the people and
relationships.
When I became president of
the debate club, I set myself a
long to-do list of new initiatives
to complete or existing projects
to improve. Through a year’s
flurry of activity, I eventually got
through the list.
Looking back over that year, I
should have felt a sense of accomplishment
over all that had been
achieved. Instead, the satisfaction
of advising and coaching my juniors
was what lingered on and still
continues to be an important part
of my life through the relationships
formed.
Likewise, as a news editor at
The Nanyang Chronicle, I was
glad to see news articles on timely
issues produced by the paper. But
the most memorable aspect was
GRAPHIC | GOH WEI CHOON
working with writers who were
not too confident in their abilities,
and through a bit of guidance on
my part and a lot of passion and
drive on theirs, seeing them turn
in incredible work.
That is also where the primary
fascination with journalism lies
for me—the chance to interact
with diverse types of people, hear
their stories and share in aspects
of their lives.
It is no surprise then that as
the Chronicle closes for the semester,
what I will take away will
be the crazy overnighters during
production of the paper, the
laughter and frustration shared—
the sense that despite the fatigue,
you were with people who wanted
the same goal as badly as you.
With technology increasingly
replacing human functions, it has
become even easier to downplay
the difference made when on life
meets another.
Recently, the movie ‘Up in the
Air’ drove home for me how easy
it is to lose sight of what matters
due to the seductiveness of efficiency.
In the drama, a system to
fire people by videoconferencing
is introduced by an ambitious
fresh graduate.
She is later devastated when
her boyfriend breaks up with her
over text message.
Her hypocrisy highlights a
greater truth about life—on the
surface we may appear to be all
business, but it is the relationships
that keep us going.