Mahathir Mohamad's Quote on "Never Stop Learning" is Why I Support Economic and Political Charter Change

Inspirational Quotes

Back when I was in high school, I often felt I "never lived up" to the "legacy" of my family. It's an often bad habit by boomers to put their children under their shadow, brag about how "great" they are, and even talk and talk about the "good old days". Newsflash! An old man had something that would offend boomers. This old man is former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. To avoid the Duterte vs. Aquino dichotomy--I often put the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino III under scrutiny. More likely, put the presidential system under scrutiny! I'll admit Noynoy had his ups, but he too had his downs. 

Now, for Mahathir's words that reflect on how surprisingly updated this old man is, compared to stubborn boomers:

He said education today was not only about learning history or literature, but more about learning new sciences that are revolutionising the world.

“Even business is now affected by new technologies. Therefore, it is important for Malaysian youth to be trained.

“So please do not stop learning, education is a lifetime process because what I knew when I graduated in 1954 is no longer relevant today.

“We always want to move forward, and to move forward we need to develop new knowledge,” he said at Perdana University’s third convocation ceremony in Serdang.

The prime minister also urged young people to learn about what was happening in the country, including in the political arena.

“It is not necessary for you to be totally involved in politics, but you should know what is happening in the country and at the very least, you should vote during elections,” he said.

Honor student from 19-forgotten?

It's easy for boomers to put their own child down, because they had good grades, or even graduated suma cumlaude back then. I've met some good cumlaudes. That's why I was in shock to learn that Kabataan Partylist member Raoul Daniel A. Manuel graduated cum laude. The same goes for Atty. Renee Co, also a member of Kabataan Partylist. However, it's crazy how Raoul would prefer to use his cum laude status to justify his arguments. 

From what I heard, Mahathir is, unsurprisingly, a consistent honor student. However, I could imagine if we knew each other, like a grandfather I never had. What if this wise old man told me, "Sonny, look, not everyone who graduates with honors is a good person." Mahathir even confessed the one timeless truth, "because what I knew when I graduated in 1954 is no longer relevant today". Businesses like Nokia were once successful. However, their failure to adjust to modernization caused them to lose their market share.

As I look into Mahathir's words, I look back and think about why an honor student in a bad system is a bad thing. The school system cares more about grades than learning. It's easier to reconcile with someone back in high school, out of school, than in school. When I think about those childish quarrels I got into, it was all about who was better. In fact, I even reflect on why I hated mathematics with a passion back in high school. We had a good teacher, but a lousy system held her back. Later, someone I knew who was a consistent honor student, ended up saying, "What's with cum laude anyway?" 

This reminds me of the late Lee Kuan Yew's journey to China. LKY met the late Deng Xiaoping. As I read Third World to First, LKY saw nothing more than obsolete textbooks in China. There was something that needed to be done. Ironically, Deng, a Communist, saw the need to upgrade the Chinese education system earlier than the democratic Philippines. The Philippines had its democracy restored in 1986. Unfortunately, the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, as much as it has its pros, still focuses on the Filipino First Policy. This was written by LKY, recalling his experience when he was with Deng, the new chairman of the Chinese Communist Party:

Our visit to the university in Wuhan, one of China's major industrial cities along the Yangtze River, was a saddening experience. Some of the professors we met were American-educated. Although advanced in age and their English rusty, they were obviously men of erudition and quality. In the library, Ling, then a medical student, spoke to a young man who was recording an English-language biology textbook. She asked to see it and found out it was printed in the 1950s. She was incredulous. How could they be reading a biology textbook 30 years out of date? But they have been shut off for more than 30 years; having just opened up to the West, they had no foreign exchange to buy textbooks and journals. And they had no photocopying machine. It would take a long time closing the knowledge gap that had widened between them and the developed world. The Cultural Revolution had set them back by a whole generation. The present students, recovering from the Cultural Revolution, were taught with outdated textbooks by teachers using outmoded teaching methods and without audiovisual aids. This would be another semilost generation. True, the most brilliant of them would make it regardless of the disadvantages. But an industrial society requires a well-educated total population, not just a brilliant few.

That means it doesn't matter if the Filipino politician was a cum laude back then. I keep hearing from some people that Atty. Leila De Lima was a consistent honor student. The same goes for Antonio F. Trillanes IV--a cumlaude. However, if the two refuse to continue learning, refuse to see the constitution needs to be updated, the honor student status is useless.

It's different from the late John Gokongwei Jr., founder of Robinson's. Gokongwei was a consistent honor student. However, this is something about Gokongwei as to why he's worth admiring:

Mr. John didn’t resume his studies until nearly five decades later. By then, he had already founded JG Summit, built his business empire, and made a name for himself in various industries. Despite his success, he still went back to school and proved that learning truly is a lifelong process. 

Apart from pursuing a master’s degree in business administration from De La Salle University, Mr. John also completed a 14-week Advanced Management Course at Harvard University.  “It took me four years since I was a working student. When I got my diploma, it was one of the proudest moments of my life,” he previously shared during his alma mater’s Grand Reunion for Alumni Champions in 2018.

From then on, he chose to make education his prime advocacy in life.

I may no longer be interested in getting a doctorate. I wonder if I wasted my time getting my MBA. It may be because I just wanted to impress people that I don't even like. However, I decided to self-study, not in an academic way, some investments. I didn't learn how to use a UITF to invest in stocks in school. I learned it from listening to Warren Edward Buffett. Buffett gives out simple investment advice for people like me. However, many people would rather listen to those with a MARITES in Marketing and Economics, graduates from the Trust Me Bro School of Economics (read here).

Businesses will be affected by new technologies

As mentioned earlier, Nokia failed because it refused to adapt to the market. It becomes problematic when businesses rely on past successes rather than learning from them (read here). None of the past successes happened because someone didn't adapt to the technology back then! Can you imagine if Bill Gates had stayed with the typewriter and never created the earlier versions of Microsoft Windows? I bet there will be no Windows 11 today, which is what I'm using at this very moment! 

Unfortunately, some people get stuck in their past successes. Some people succeeded by doing everything manually. What they didn't account for is that, if they had a computer, it would be easier to make a price list, get things organized, and there would be less waste of paper in making the inventory list! Documents still need to be printed out for a reason, such as transparency or in times of power shortage, as a reference. I believe the PC isn't a complete replacement for printed inventory. Instead, the PC helps save paper because one can edit before printing. 

Listen to him and those who think alike, not the social media gossipers!

That's why Kishore Mahbubani advocated for the entrance of FDI. I couldn't imagine how things would be if Mahbubani and Davide had a conversation last 2018 or even today. Davide might've asked, "So how's Singapore now as a colony of foreign businessmen?" Mahbubani would've answered, "They're tenants, not colonizers. You have a third-world mentality, sad to say." That's why I advocate that Filipinos should learn from Mahbubani (read here). Mahbubani thought about bringing in capital from abroad, to help Singapore. The same can be used in the Philippines. 

The problem with the Filipino First Policy is this: "Can you find a supplier of parts that are locally made?" One can ask, "Should Filipinos first learn to make their own parts?" Of course, I can expect insults and putdowns. One such mockery, "Oh no! Not that question again!" By the way, that's no answer to the question. I can also expect the answer that "But foreigners are unfairly owning the means to produce! (read here)" as their excuse. The problem with the Filipino First Policy is that we could've had better means of production. However, decades of the Filipino First Policy have put Filipinos last. Maybe, it's best ot call Filipino First Policy for what it is, "Oligarchs first! Filipinos last!" That's the socio-economic cost of Pinoy Pride economics (read here).

In fact, we think about things that change over time. We can think of:

• We went from using typewriters to write documents, to using PCs.
• We change our PCs every 5-10 years.
• We went from standard mobile phones to smartphones.
• Although solar and wind may not fully replace fossil fuels, we can't deny that they're already being used to help reduce fossil fuel usage.
• We have gone from Betamax to VCD to DVD to Blu Ray.
• We already have exercise gadgets that help us monitor our exercise.
• Food delivery services are becoming more and more the norm.
• We already have online banking as a way to help check our balances.

Of course, not everything can be automated. However, automation has become a great deal of help in businesses. People may still need to manually type in commands for accuracy. However, a lack of automation would cause a business to lag behind. Filipinos shouldn't be afraid to use imported equipment to improve their local businesses. After all, it should never matter if Filipino businesses will use imported materials and equipment (read here).

Not necessary for me to enter politics?

I confess that I didn't vote for Senator Robinhood Padilla. In my opinion, Padilla could still advocate for constitutional reform without being a senator. As Mahathir said, "It is not necessary for you to be totally involved in politics." Some people say, "If you're so smart, why don't you run for politics?" Again, what's the guarantee that voters will vote for the right people? Vote wisely campaigns all over again? That's why I'm advocating for upgrading the Philippine constitution. Sadly, some people treat the Constitution like it's some sacred text? What happened to Article XVII then?

In my writing, I thought about people telling me I should follow in the ways of Jose Rizal and even Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" A. Aquino Jr.. Many times, I wanted to say Rizal didn't live long or that Ninoy was shot at the head, despite their non-violence. However, I was also told that their ideas didn't die with them, because they understood that the pen is mightier than the sword. When Ninoy made speeches during the Marcos Regime, it wasn't just talk and talk. Ninoy exposed several anomalies at that time. Even more, I couldn't get over it when Ninoy said, "We had a parliamentary form of government, without a parliament!" In short, the Philippines was never under a parliamentary government. It was still presidential in character. However, some people still misquote their sources, to say that the Philippines, really had a parliamentary form of government. 

I was thinking about this quote by Ninoy, who, by the way, already disproved the myth of the Marcos Parliament: 

In other words, as Gandhi said, “If he uses violence against you, do not give him a reason to justify his violence, because if you are not violent then before the bar of public opinion and before God, he is the only sinner.” One wrong does not right another wrong.

Instead, I decided to write what I know and communicate it. That's why I vote for pro-reform candidates. I want to inform people and even politicians that the Philippines needs a radical charter change. Hopefully, both Atty. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan and Paolo Benigno A. Aquino will see why they should support the parliamentary system. A parliamentary system would give both the Government and the Opposition a fighting chance. 

I doubt that politics is for me. However, I believe that I can still make a difference in writing. Right now, I feel that communication and people's initiative will help in a truly democratic process. Isn't democracy, after all, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people? Which is why I advocate for a parliamentary system--because it listens to both the majority and minority.