Saturday, July 26, 2008
8:36 PM
Do the past and present offer any guidance for the future? (2004)
Yes, the past do offer guidance for the future. Racial riots that occurred in the past have taught us the importance of racial harmony. An example of racial riots was the Maria Hertogh riots of 1950, sparked by a court decision to return custody of Maria, then aged 13, to her biological Catholic Dutch mother after she had been raised as a Muslim by her adoptive Malay family. Eighteen people were killed in those riots. Another example of bloody riots includes the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648), where Catholics pitted against Protestants. Germany, whose population was roughly 21 million before the war had its population reduced to about 13 million by 1648. History of these riots gives us guidance that it is important to respect different races and culture, and learnt to tolerate and accept them. To prevent future cases happening from cases where history from repeating itself where bloody riots or inevitable wars to occur and millions of innocent causalities to result as a result, we should learn from the past. Likewise, the present also do offer guidance for the future. The recent case of the misuse of financial problems of the Ren Ci hospital under Buddhist monk, Ming Yi, who was accused of several offences under the Charities Act and Penal Code, have offer guidance for government for management of charities in the future. Auditing should be more frequent and more detailed to prevent misuse of public funds. Through these cases, public members will also be more careful when donating to charities in the future.
However, sometimes, in exceptional cases, the past and present do not offer any guidance for the future. Events or cases maybe outdated and may not be applicable in the future. Likewise, it is also tough to predict future events and many assumptions that we predict in the past or now will not be applicable or useful in the future. Myths and legends will not stand true in the 21st century, they are deemed as superstitious in modern day society. What matters most importantly now is the constantly improving technology that will be the most important tool in providing guidance for the future.
Jessie :)
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