Sympathy or Empathy?

There are no many things that we, human beings, differ from animals.  The several characteristics are in common.  The most significant distinctions between human beings and animals are intelligence and feeling.  Due to the intelligence, we have higher feelings than any animal.  Among of them, sympathy is a very significant one.

 In animal world, an animal has no sympathy for another to get their needs.  This is basically because that they cannot foresee what will happen to others if they behave unfairly.  They also cannot imagine how they will feel if such event falls on them.  Mightier animals always beat on weaker ones.

Sympathy is a most fundamental feeling of most of good deeds.  However, at the present day, this valuable thing is being gradually disappeared.  Wars across the world, dictatorship, terrorists are strongly proving this fact.  Our ancestors tried to become a polite and better world from prehistoric period.  But the present world sometimes looks like an animal world.

We usually concern and sympathize when we see or hear about someone’s sufferings.  It is quite good. But is it sufficient for who are suffering?  Why shouldn’t we start to do something for the person as much as we can?  It also means to show our empathy; how much we really understand his or her feelings or sufferings.  

Although empathy is similar as sympathy, it has more understanding and workable action on the people who are suffering.  There are a lot of ideal persons in our world who express their empathy with great endeavour.  Gautama Buddha, Mother Teresa and Albert Schweitzer are the best examples for it.

We firstly feel sympathy on the people with needs or people who are suffering.  When we think of our feeling intelligently, we come to realize that we should start doing something for them.  We also organize a plan with others who also have same vision and enthusiasm.  By this way, non-profit contribution is started.  Therefore, empathy is also called the most basic root of non-profit organizations (NGOs).  

Sympathy is a quality which can only be found in human beings.  So it is not strange that we feel sympathy when we experience sorrowful events or pitiful people.  But we should raise up our sympathy into empathy gradually.  By this way, we can make our world a better place.  

Myanmar Currency

In childhood, the thing we wanted most from our parents is pocket money.  Even though they could buy things that we liked, we wanted to manage our pocket money ourselves.  We went and bought snacks and toys since we hadn’t identified Kyats and Pyas.  This is the very first experience for us about Myanmar currency.  

We are not Economists, hence we don’t know well about the economic, monetary market, inflation etc.  But we can feel unstableness of our currency since we have grown up.  Between our childhood and teenage hood, the prices of the fundamental goods rose several hundred times and no descending at all. At the same time, the gap between income and outcome gets narrower and narrower.

The value of money also becomes lower than other countries, even neighboring countries.  This is the source of the problem of brain drain, one of the biggest problems that our country cannot undertake yet.  The value of money is totally based on the political condition of the country in which the money is circulated.  In a country in unstable political condition, the rate of inflation rises regularly.

Foreign exchange rate is normally based on the market condition.  But government monetary authority also can control and set a rate.  But the rate should be reasonable one.  In Myanmar, authority officially set that 6 Kyats is equal to a US Dollar.  But the actual rate in the market is that 1 US Dollar is equal to about 900 Kyats.  For example, if a foreigner buys a gallon of diesel, he needs to pay about 560 US dollar for it. Wow, if so, Myanmar will be the most expensive country in the world for a gallon of diesel.

Myanmar government is now trying to set a suitable amount of exchange rate between Myanmar currency and US Dollar.  This is positive step to be welcomed.  But it is sure only this step cannot heal malfunction of Myanmar Social Economics.

The Kiss

When I see this painting called “The Kiss”, I feel the passionate kiss between a man and a lady.  His kind and soft kiss seems to give her the warmth, safety, satisfy and confidence.  Kiss is actually a gentle form of interaction between two persons of active and passive.

Everybody will kiss or be kissed in his or her life more than once.  It might be when they were infants, when they became the parents, when they fell in love each other, when someone departed others and so on.  Nevertheless, kiss is a manner that everyone needs to be taught nor trained. 

Kiss is actually very positive body manner.  It is born from love, kindness, sympathy etc.  There is no kiss for negative emotion such as sadness, hate and anger.  Kiss is not only positive itself but also can give positive benefits to who kiss and is kissed.  The most significant thing is the warmness between both.  There are now scientific researches about the benefits of kiss.

For a child, a kiss from the elder persons can be the best prize for him or her.  For the parents, it means their loveliness (the Metta).  But, for the lovers, it will be a passionate one for them.  Sometimes, we even cannot distinguish our kiss is response or stimulus.  There will be a lot of sorts of kiss based on the emotions.

There is also a patriotic kiss that makes me wow.  I found it when I read about the establishing the State of Israel after World War II.  When the Jewish people all over the world came back their very new country, they were extremely excited and kissed respectfully their land as soon as their feet touched the ground.

Kiss is also different between different culture and tradition.  In eastern countries, kissing with a stranger is a shame.  But, in some countries, it is a polite culture.  In eastern countries, the passionate kisses of lovers are seldom seen in public.  However, in western countries, it is a part of their daily lives.

Although there are a lot of perspectives, kiss will be the best and the most perfect body language to express our emotional feelings; love, loveliness, passion, sympathy etc in our so-called polite world.

Sunset of The Irrawaddy?

There are two things that influence on me since I was young.  These things always make me proud of being Myanmar. That first one is General Aung San, Myanmar National Leader.  The second one is not a person but we always suppose that it is alive.  That is the Irrawaddy.  On my point of view, Irrawaddy is supposed as the image of Myanmar.   

There is nothing strange that General Aung San empowers me because he is a human beings and his attempt on Myanmar is incredible.  But how can Irrawaddy, a river, influences on you?  There is the most important common thing between these two influential things.  That is continuous contribution on us. General Aung San was assassinated when he was 32. But, until now, his enthusiasm for independence, integrity, sacrifice and many good things are always empowering us.  So does Irrawaddy. Her tranquillity, mightiness and peacefulness always give us the strength for our lives.

 

Generally we suppose that Irrawaddy is flowing at the centre of Myanmar. But, our country has being developed centralized Irrawaddy. So every Myanmar also supposes that Irrawaddy is vital for our country. She carries us as the central waterway throughout the heartlands of Myanmar. She also carries and silts the silted soil for rice, our staple food. She gives fishery for our curry. We can’t even count what she benefits on us. 

However, we forget and miss to reflect upon her gratitude. We never maintain to make her flow smoothly.  We never refill her resources to cover as much as she gives us.  She has been serving various duties for us for about 15 centuries without any hope. At the same time, we hope more and more upon her without any services.  Not only we never maintain but also we try to threaten her existence.  Moreover, most of our history has been being kept in our Irrawaddy.  If there were no more Irrawaddy tomorrow, our great history will become legend.  Therefore, we should try to protect our Irrawaddy from any serious threats.  It also means saving us and further generation.

Potato Eaters

Today, I saw a painting namely “Potato Eaters” in a website when I surfed internet.  It is one of the very famous paintings of Vincent Van Gogh.  The most significant thing of the painting when I looked at it thoroughly is the ostensible eyes of people in the painting.  There is also a saying; “Eyes are the windows of mind.”  These eyes are talking a lot of words to whoever looks at the painting. 

From their eyes, I felt a lot of feelings; sadness, love, content and finally hope.  The word “hope” was seized on my mind although my eyes diverted from the painting.  According to the appearance of the painting, they would be wealthy in the past.  Then an uncanny event or chaos might fall upon them.  It might pull them to the poverty or the condition they never thought of.  But they could try to strengthen their existence, I think, with hope.  If they might still have hope, what fuels their hope?  Is it family, belief in miracles or something else?

It is said that human beings are living with hope.  Unless hope is alive, we suppose nothing.  Everybody has a hope or more than one.  Before achievement and possession, hope does not much differ from an imagination.  If so, is hope just an imagination?  It is also not totally truth.  There are two types of hope.  Some can be attained while some cannot be controlled. 

Anyhow, if we endeavour with persistence, “Hope” gradually change into “Goal”.  If we can set our hope as a goal, we never will divert form it.  And we really feel our hope is nearer and nearer because we straightly move to it and we always fuel ourselves.  To be candid, we are usually complacent as the stage of hope and we always forget to convert it into goal. 

Freedom from Fear

The first thing comes into my mind when I look at the picture "The Scream" is the phrase, "Freedom from Fear", the famous book of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader of Myanmar.  Actually I haven't read that speech, but I am familiar with it because of its inspiration on people. 

We normally think of “Fear” from the negative view.  In my opinion, “fear” is not a negative word.  It can also be positive if we use it in right and proper way.  The best example is the Enlightenment of Gautama Buddha.   Prince Siddhattha was seriously afraid of the sick, the aged, the suffering and the death.  He afforded to overcome and finally found the way of escape form rebirth.   So trembling or screaming is not the correct way to overcome a condition. 

“Fear” is also the biggest issue in our country.  Military Junta is now well controlling the whole country based on the fear of people. Some may argue our country's political situation is not terrible as like Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.  I agree those counties' present condition is more serious than us.  But the basic situation is not much different from them. We all are living under uncertainty and fear. Their people are living under life threatening situations such as suicide bombings, terrorist attacks, etc.


However, how much are our people more secure than them? In those countries, the law is useless while our country’s one malfunctions.  In our country, someone can be arrested just for a file or an email related to politics, and can also be sent to jail just for video-recording an event without any reason.  Finally, politics is thought as danger and fear is bigger and bigger.  People dare not express freely their fundamental rights, opinion, belief and thoughts.  This is the biggest barrier in the development of a country.  

Oppression can make people frighten more or less.  However we must try to control the degree of fear and response properly standing on the side of truth.  This is only the way of freedom from fear.