Leapfrog would probably be the best adjective to describes today's environment in which we live and work in. Means of communication has gone from smoke signals to snail mail, to sms, to mms, to e-mails and today, e-mails on the go. Even then, leapfrog might still be an understatement to describe the change we have all undergone.
Change, according to many, is the only constant in our lives. I think we all cannot deny the truth in that statement. But change like all things has its good, its bad and its ugly side.
Let's take a step back and observe the good this leapfrog change has brought us. We now have Internet, we can connect with virtually anyone in the world with a blink of an eye. Some of us who dare venture into the world of business and e-commerce find themselves an ocean of money churning, mouth watering opportunities. Some of us simply find good entertainment in mediums such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Convenience is now at a whole new level when you can shop, pay bills and do a plethora of chores with a couple of clicks from the comfort of your own home.
Then, there's the bad. The very medium that brings us convenience and entertainment has now become the same source of misdemeanour and crime. Online crime has increased at a burgeoning rate, we more and more cases of e-fraud, identity theft and much more taking place. It appears, that e-money-making can be done the good way or the bad way. Some have even gone as far as using the Internet and other sophisticated hardware for espionage work. With the capabilities of technologies reaching the skies, so does the ample number of opportunities to prey on misinformed, it seems.
Bad, I guess isn't enough and hence, we have the ugly. My take on change is that radical change is good for shake ups and in times when you want to jolt someone from dream land but radical change without control can lead to a plethora of issues. We need not stray far to find examples. We need only to look at the state of our country for instance (Malaysia, for those who are not aware). But before I go on, please note this is not a post about which political party is better. Today, Malaysia has gone from mining and agriculture into a time of industrialisation and now, quasi-industrialisation-service-based. We find people have higher purchasing power, more liberty to have luxury items. 10 years ago, the ability to turn on the air conditioner for long hours was for the rich and famous, these days everyone can afford to turn on the air conditioner for long hours at a time. Luxury cars like BMWs, Mercs, Audis, were toys of big guns 10 to 15 years ago when you would only see middle-aged or older people driving them because they had reached the top, these days you see people as young as in their mid-twenties driving these hefty price tags on wheels.
As much as luxury products sound good, there is a flip side to all this. You'd realise there really is a great divide between the rich and the poor. Those people in the in-between are slowly being forced into either one of these categories. Singapore is another example, despite all the talk about it and the talk about fortunes rolling in that country, you still see many living in poverty or a majority of its people still leaving in Government subsidized flats. The most adverse of by-products from rapid change is social problems. 15 years ago in Malaysia, you could walk out on the streets in the middle of the night with a Rolex and have midnight tea. These days, you'd be lucky to walk away from just having the watch taken from you without losing your hand.
Change is good in that, in forces to improve and better ourselves but we ourselves have to be clear in our minds that we are not merely existing to keep up with the Joneses. Otherwise, we simply end existing with the pace of change and not living on the pace of change......... this is my food for thought for the day....
