11/16/2008
Graciousness by examples
We have been talking about being a gracious people for many years with campaigns and leaders teaching and guiding the people on how to be gracious. I think being gracious must be something good and desirable. It speaks a lot about what a person is when the person is being complimented as a gracious person.
Straits Times Senior Correspondent, Lim Siew Hua, wrote an article about how gracious McCain was in his concession speech after losing the Presidential Election to Obama. Or was it American graciousness rather than the graciousness of a single man? Al Gore was equally gracious when he lost to George Bush. And that incident was particularly disturbing and veered towards the element of fraud or misdeeds. It would be disastrous if it happens here. So were the other losing Presidential candidates. They all had kind words to say about the victors.
But graciousness is not only from the losers. The victors were equally gracious and magnanimous to their defeated opponents. They only have praises for them and could have hugged and kissed them once the election is out of the way. Obama talked about what a wonderful man and hero McCain was. And after the election it begins a healing process when both parties come together as one people.
There will be post mortems, but not to find out what wrongs were committed by the other party and to settle scores. No one is going for the butcher knife. That is the graciousness of a people of a great country. But America has more than 200 years of history to learn how to be gracious. It takes time to learn the nice things about life. Learning to be an expert in expletives, in being bad, is easy. In fact it is so natural that no learning is required.
To be gracious is a difficult thing to learn, and to be.
On the whole issue of graciousness, I agree with what you say. Was it for appearance, for whose benefit we will not know, may be later. For a cynic like me, kill them with kindness, keep you friends close, and keep your enemies closer.
ReplyDeletegreat philosophy : )
ReplyDeleteIf leaders are vindictive, how can the people learn to be gracious. I think in Singapore's context, and in Asian politics as a whole, talking about graciousness is hollow.
ReplyDeleteIf we teach our children to be graciousness now may be they will be beeter leaders and politicians of tommorow than those that are presently occupying the positions. Not only in asian nations but all nations.
ReplyDeletegood idea to teach them goodness when they are young. but they may get so illusioned by society when they grow up and become worst.
ReplyDeleteTeaching graciousness to our children? That's a chicken and egg situation. How do parents who are ungracious and leaders who are vindictive teach our children graciousness. The best way to teach is by example, but what kind of examples do we have today? We have gone too far off course in the name of progresa and properity and there is no way we can reverse the situation.
ReplyDeleteanon 3:54pm,
ReplyDeletelook at what you are saying then start with yourself and set the example.
let see how gracious you are!
"keep you friends close, and keep your enemies closer". Tell that to old man. I think he will show you the middle finger.
ReplyDelete