I get ideas for my posts from all over. I think I must really be a reactionary sort of fellow. I love having bricks thrown at me, gives me material to make things. The title of this one came from a casual remark made by a friend I was with before we went to call on a potential client. The essence of what I’m going to say in this short post came from one of my Junior College teachers whose only connection to me was a play I happened to be part of in Year One in 1979, called “A Fire Is Lit.” I reconnected with this teacher through another teacher, and both via Facebook! Use social media wisely, do not permit it to become a time-waster in your life!

Consumerism. The bedrock of capitalism. Fair value given in exchange for fair value delivered. Or is it? Looking at average CEO pay versus that of the average worker, one cannot help but wonder. Do CEOs in general really bring value to the tune of many hundreds of times more than what the average worker brings to the business? I wonder. I’ve always asserted that any business venture must necessarily be one that increases the net worth of all people involved in that business venture. In addition, there must be tangible benefits to the environment as well. Any business venture that does not exhibit these characteristics is an exploitative business and should ask itself whether it should even exist.

The teacher I mentioned earlier hails from the UK, and has, amongst other things, started an initiative called “Tourism Concern“, which addresses issues with ethical tourism. Have you ever thought about the impact tourists have on the nations, people and places visited? Do tourists really bring value wherever they go? Yes, tourist dollars are a much-coveted commodity, but do tourist dollars alone raise value and bring true prosperity to a nation? Tourists are consumers, ja? But what exactly do tourists consume? Are the people of the nations visited the consumed?

It’s National Day today in Singapore. Let’s reflect on how we as a nation bring value to the nations around us!