Buzz
'Hey young ones, sell me a year of your youth, and I'll pay you a billion green dollars' – Former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew once spoke about the value of youth.
'Hey young ones, sell me a year of your youth, and I'll pay you a billion green dollars' – Former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew once emphasized the value of youth.
As someone who greatly contributed to turning Singapore into an economic powerhouse of Asia as it stands today, having endured a tough childhood from the times when Singapore was just a small, desolate island under British colonial rule to peacetime, Lee Kuan Yew understands better than anyone else how precious youth is.
To achieve the robust development we see today, from the era of Lee Kuan Yew to the present, the Singaporean government has been built upon three fundamental principles: Valuing talent, Pragmatism, and Integrity. While we won't delve into the success story of this visionary and the affluent island nation of Singapore, the lessons from this framework are worth applying to governance and development models in Vietnam.
So, how does one become a 'valued talent' that the nation treasures? Or in other words, how does one become a person with skills and virtues to contribute to nation-building?
Every element must have a foundation; the process of training and honing must begin from a young age, from the inception of basic concepts of effort, knowledge, and passion. No one achieves success, fame without enduring difficult periods, in any field. Vietnamese showbiz wouldn't have a talented dancer like Linh Nga if she hadn't spent over 10 years tirelessly studying dance abroad, overcoming numerous challenges and hardships. The Vietnamese people wouldn't have a Math PhD, globally recognized, the first Vietnamese to win the Fields Medal if Professor Ngo Bao Chau didn't live for passion, tirelessly pursuing passion to find the proof of the 'fundamental lemma', a crucial part of the vision of mathematics that Robert Langlands – working at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, put forth since the 1960s. Ngo Bao Chau's achievement was evaluated by the prestigious American magazine Time as one of the 10 most important scientific breakthroughs of 2009.
Life also provides more exemplary evidence to prove that they have a valuable youth, living and burning themselves for values with a future.
Selling away time, health, passion, and dreams of youth
It's not difficult for any college student to find a part-time job at a restaurant or a fashion store in major cities like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, with an hourly wage of around 8,000 - 12,000 dong. It must be emphasized that young people taking responsibility for their lives, working honestly to earn a living, have money for education, rent, etc., are highly commendable!
Having a job to support oneself and lighten the burden for the family is something worth cherishing for a young person. This is much better than those who waste their youth to indulge, to squander.
However, my friend, if you are between the ages of 18-22, the age of a student not yet graduated, you should seriously think about your future direction, your career path. When you graduate, everyone wants to find a good job, a stable salary, but no employer wants to hire someone with a CV like 'part-time sales staff at The Kafe, delivery staff for A Here'. Jobs that provide you with socializing, fun, no pressure, and money to get through the day are not the 'experience' that employers desire. Today, sitting with some friends who all work in large companies, they all worry about not being able to recruit people for vacant positions in the company, including one person telling a story: 'I interviewed for recruitment, asked about work experience, she innocently recounted the time serving here, being a receptionist here, organizing events for this youth group..., but when it came to knowledge in PR-MKT, she didn't know much.'
Thus, it can be seen that many young people are worried about immediate concerns without considering future benefits. No one can guarantee that with a university degree, you will have a decent job. Your future role in society, the extent of your high-paying job, all depend on your abilities and efforts on a certain foundation.
That is to say, even when you have plenty of free time, alongside school and friends, alongside the youth memories from group activities, you should seriously consider who you will be in the future, and what you need to become that person.
If it's an outward-facing job, involving frequent overseas trips, have you mastered English yet? Have you obtained an IELTS certificate? Now that English is widespread, should you learn another language? If you aspire to be a good journalist, writer, try becoming a contributor to newspapers, the articles, and comments from professionals will offer you invaluable insights!
Be strict with yourself!
Some college students think: Passed the university entrance exam! Time to relax. After the stressful and exhausting university entrance exam, many young people are almost exhausted and think that university is very simple, just attend classes, check attendance, pass exams, and you can peacefully have a Good degree when you graduate. That means you're pampering yourself too much!
Some people, often very strict with everything, but not so strict with themselves. They can spend hours reading and commenting on plagiarism cases, rumorous scandals of some singer-actress, or become keyboard heroes ready to criticize or comment on hot topics... with the aim of becoming the top comment (the most liked comment). They are very strict with everything happening around, but sometimes don't really know what they like, have they ever lived to the fullest for anything.
So, don't be strict with others anymore, be strict with your own habits and lifestyle first. Success in this society comes in many forms. Whether you like playing games, being really good at games, good enough to compete internationally and become a professional gamer is also a type of success, if you like sports, practicing day and night to the point of becoming a teacher at some school, is also a form of success,...
The price of one year of youth in Singapore equals 1 billion USD in the eyes of Lee Kuan Yew. While in reality, overall Vietnamese youth are selling their youth for less than 1000 USD a year, lower than a million times...
Let's pose a simple question, when you're in your twenties, you can do any manual labor job, people are willing to hire you as a security guard, flight attendant, server,... because you're young, energetic, healthy, open-minded, not afraid of difficulties, willing to work for an hourly wage of only 8,000 - 12,000 dong. When you're 40, 50 years old, when your health deteriorates, your physique and work ability slow down,... and you still don't know what else to do but sell your time for jobs requiring a good physique, reception, welcoming guests,... will anyone still hire you?
At some point... we must divide our youth reasonably, even if we're bogged down by countless concerns. If we don't build our dreams, others will hire us to build theirs.
However, we should still live with dreams from a young age, and know how to nurture those dreams, passions reasonably. Don't be born as a spark, but gradually fade away over time.
Source: Compilation
Explore more interesting articles:
The happiness of women lies in being extraordinary
The story that if girls overlook, they will regret for a lifetime
Things to prepare when being a single mother
