Monday October 10, 2011
Monday Starters - By Soo Ewe Jin
ONE of the quotations I remember well is this “Fame is a vapour, popularity an accident, and riches take wings. Only one thing endures and that is character.”
My classmate had written that on my copy of the school magazine after we finished our Form 5. Although I did my Form 6 in the same school, this friend went on to another school and subsequently took over his father's business in operating a shop dealing with antiques.
Although this quote has been attributed to different people, includingPresident Harry Truman, the original author is probably Horace Greeley, an American newspaper editor who is known especially for his articulation of the North's vigorous antislavery sentiments during the 1850s.
It was also around that time of my schooldays that we had a new headmaster who decided to fill up the walls of some of the school blocks with interesting quotations and the most memorable one was, “Academic excellence is no substitute for poverty of character.”
Perhaps in those days much of the significance of these wise sayings were lost on us. But now that I have reached an age when looking back seems to be a favourite pastime (thanks also to The Star that is currently in a “down memory lane” mode), I can better appreciate the true value of character.
Fame and riches are indeed temporary, whether one is a celebrity, a world leader or a corporate icon.
In the past few weeks, you saw many flashback articles of the famous and the infamous from as far as 40 years back published in this newspaper. But unless you are aged 40 and above, I doubt if many of these personalities will be known to you.
Character, fortunately, has a longer legacy. And the wonderful thing is that it applies to ordinary people like us.
Many of the heart-warming stories in the Looking Back series hinge on such a legacy. We may not remember specifically the individuals by name but we remember and applaud their positive traits to this day.
Like the honest cabbie who always returned anything left behind in his taxi. Or the man who brought up a baby abandoned at the hospital as his own. Or the people who dug deep into their savings to help save the Ethiopians, the Palestinians or some stranger needing a heart operation. That is what character is all about.
Some of the best teachers I remember to this day are not the ones who drove me to score a string of As. Rather, they were the ones concerned about the health of my soul and that I would know how to make the right choices when I come by the many junctions in life.
My best bosses were also the ones who understood well the ethical foundations necessary to fight the many temptations in our profession. They were the ones who reminded me that few people will remember the stories we write, even if they made the front page. What is more important, opined one, is how that story touched lives or changed society for the better.
These are lessons that I continue to learn to this day. And they often come afresh when young people are about to start out in their careers and they come to this old uncle for advice. And that is when I find the quotation at the beginning of today's column most useful.
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