Travelogue: Day 1

Hi! Currently at Changi Airport waiting for my flight to Bangkok at 6.15. Guess what -- the value of the Antarctican dollar dropped to 12 bucks plus :( Anyways, I'll try to find free internet access later at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport (see the previous posts below on a word on Suvarnabhumi airport) where I'll have about five hours before taking Royal Jordanian.

Since I'm at an internet outpost, I thought I'll share a bit on the intended topic of discussion, which is about ethics.

You may have well heard say me a lot of times "It's against my ethics". Should we in the developing world care about traditional and religious ethics? Maybe it's better to do away with ethics, as knowledge is far more important (as regularly stressed in school). However, we must still be mindful that certain things we do may be unorthodox and ethical to the sensible individual. Let's look back to the Korean scientist who lied his way through stem-cell research. Yes, initially, everyone thought that it was a miraculous breakthrough, but when his lies were unearthed, I daresay his reputation will take forever to recover.

This brings to the Asian attitude of "saving face". This concept may be alien to the Western world, but it makes sure that we don't embarrass ourselves in front of people (worse if you don't realise that you have.) This results in customs and concepts such as eating with the mouth closed or not looking at someone directly, rather unusual to thw Western culture.

To conclude, I suggest that we practise the Asian attitude of "saving face", to avoid embarrassing ourselves in front of others. Please leave a comment1