Eldon-Online

You Can't Turn Your Back ...

I tell you, those Latin speakers knew a thing or two didn't they? Tempus Fugit! Two words that despite their literal English translation covers a whole multitude of situations concisely. I mean, instead of writing "where the hell did the last two weeks go?" you would of course get my drift but I could get around it, incorrectly of course but hopefully understandably, just by saying tempus fugit.

So, in the two weeks since my last Blog I have been in Dubai, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Istanbul and back to Hong Kong. It's just as well that my Egyptian colleagues came down to Dubai oaths occasion! To the seasoned business traveller, that shouldn't sound like much, but despite the time spent sitting on planes - and we can talk about the value of video conferencing on another occasion - preparing for meetings, reading voluminous Board Papers, Committee Papers, finding you've lost your internet connection, discovering another company that has nothing to do with your current business is in need of additional time - and already I'm exhausted just writing this far.

But ... this isn't the issue here and I'm off track already - twice. I was going to write about the Middle East situation today, but then while I was away there was a constant run of bad news. Prominent amongst it the awful atrocity that was Manchester, but good people do not for one minute think that is the end of it. I have said it before in these columns - "coming to a city near you", and while I fervently hope not, this is something we are going to have to deal with and solve. And I do mean solve, because it's not going to go away on its own, so we can suddenly wake up one morning and say - "great, it's over, we have won the battle!"  

My time in the Middle East covering 50 years (in January 2018) fills me with hope and despair all at the same time. 

The vast majority of Middle Easterners I know, out of which an equally vast majority are followers of Islam in whatever particular sub-group, are highly decent people who are as appalled by these atrocities as any normal person should be. Whatever the propaganda coming out of the terrorist groups says, Islam is supposed to be for peace. For an acceptance of the beliefs of others, be they Christian or Jew or Hindu. It doesn't matter what you are, and it shouldn't matter.

But after yet another attack - and forget all this "lone wolf" stuff, it is mostly a well-planned attack by a cell - it gives the anti-Islamists another stick with which to beat a largely innocent population. I am not an apologist for Islam. I respect their right to their beliefs, as we should respect the beliefs of everyone, and no one should think they have a duty to bully or force others to bend to an alternative belief.

I do confess to being puzzled though. Almost all of the atrocities being perpetrated at present are being carried out by members of one religion. The adherents to that religion, within their local communities are quick to condemn the actions of the few. If I was cynical of course (and I do admit to being generally of that persuasion), I would say it was in the community's interest to show disgust and act in solidarity with the people around them or they may themselves become targets of a vicious right wing and ultra nationalistic element that sadly is growing up in many places around the world.

But that is not the cause of my confusion. It comes from a concern that we never hear a strong outpouring of outrage for these incidents from people who, I imagine, could make a difference. Where are the leaders in the Arab world who are condemning these acts of terror? Where are the loud voices of reason from the religious leaders in Islam that would be heard? It hurts to even suggest this, but it is almost as if by their silence they are not too bothered by it all.

It is all being compounded of course by conditions in certain parts of Arabia. As someone from Libya has just said - "we are hungry and have no money - what do you expect is going to happen?" Unemployment amongst the young in a number of Middle Eastern countries is on the rise. Fertile ground for those "terrorist recruiters" who need to boost their forces. Also, they are being funded from somewhere and somehow.

I raise this with my Arab friends and colleagues - and they are as mystified as I am. Do they speak up themselves? Yes of course they do, although their voices are unlikely to reach the world stage. This needs real leadership to make a difference and real leaders to step up; this is not going to go away by just turning your back ...

 

Whatever Happened To ...

As you get older there are occasions - too many actually - when you meet up with old friends and the inevitable questions start, usually around the phrase "whatever happened to ...".

Well, recent events have persuaded me that this is not an "oldie" phenomenon but one that should be worrying absolutely everyone today. And it should run along the lines of "whatever happened to decency, integrity and compassion?"

Within that topic I am going, for once, to put the phenomenon of "banker bashing" partly to one side despite the comments the other day by the leader of the Labour Party in Britain, Jeremy Corbyn, who said that he was going to target "... tax cheats, rip off bosses and greedy bankers". Great. let's tar everyone with the same brush shall we? No one these days in Britain, it seems, wants to admit they work in a bank. Hard to avoid when there are something approaching 150,000 people employed in the industry in the UK but by his comments - and because people are not discriminatory in their assessment of news, they are all greedy bankers. For those who thought the era of banker bashing was coming to an end, welcome to a brave new world. There are greedy bankers, I agree, but they are in the minority Mr. Corbyn and the majority does not need your gratuitous comments on an industry where I suspect there are more greedy politicians per capita than there are bankers. A little decency would not go amiss.

No, actually my "whatever happened to ..." is much more relevant with today's news where we are faced with huge ransom demands being made on a public sector and ultimately private sector, I presume, where hackers have successfully created a global problem by hacking amongst other things into medical records, including details of people needing life-saving operations. Just how cynical can you get? This from a generation of people who advocate self-driving cars and other technological wonders? Look, I am as interested in technology as the next person and try to ensure that I embrace the positive opportunities that are being created every day. But this massive global hack? Just where has common decency gone? There is absolutely no thought - no compassion - for the many people who will suffer as a result. Greed, Mr Corbyn? 

In my Blogs over the years I have commented on the lack of common sense that prevailed in the world, but this hack surely descends into the depths of a depravity of behaviour that disgusts? Of course we have been hearing a lot recently about the use of hacking in elections, be they US or French, and I saw a presentation recently about the number cyber attacks that are made on financial institutions on a daily, second by second basis. It is frightening.

No one, and nothing, is safe or sacrosanct in this world in which we live. Forget the terrorism that inflicts our world - be it the creation of concerns globally by groups such as ISIS, or the demagogue like antics of some of our global leaders today, we are at risk on a minute to minute basis by cyber threats and bullying from people who have no ethics, no morals and certainly no thought of compassion. Do you wonder, therefore, that the older generation are less enthusiastic about technological "progress" than the creators of the same? Get into a car that drives itself when some smart 10 year old can drive you off the road, for fun? - Hmm, no thanks!

But today's world does not just have problems related to new technology. What sort of world have we become where we need to protect our children (or in my case grandchildren), by not allowing parents to take pictures or videos of school performances in which the children are performing, in case such pictures fall into the hands of the wrong people. The same goes for the inability of adults to accompany children on sporting events, for example that are not your own unless you have police clearance to do so. Look, I get the need to this in today's world, but I am saddened by the requirement and sickened by what we have become.

Integrity, loyalty, and good behaviour were all characteristics instilled in our generation as children. Today, it seems, if you tell a child off for misbehaving you are going to destroy their individuality forever. If you enter a child in a race and he or she comes last, the participation is recognised rather than the result - so when they hit the real world and discover that if you come last you don't get a certificate but a dismissal notice, they are unprepared. You give a child an iPhone and similar at an early age and they become addicted and insular. They have no idea how to communicate real time in a face to face situation, discover they have few face to face friends (other than Face time to Face time), and so they withdraw. And these days where does that lead? In too many cases, to a situation they find too hard to handle and where the question "whatever happened to ..." has a pretty sad ending.

Wake up people, we are going to destroy each other and ourselves unless we do something positive. 

We're Drilled and Dressed and Disciplined ...

Something of a surprise today to be alerted by a friend to an article in Hong Kong's free English language newspaper - The Standard - (Page 13), about my old school. This was the establishment that taught me many things: the good the bad and naturally the downright ugly. Of course, and honestly to my eternal regret, I wasted the (free) education I was offered, and yes okay life did not turn out too badly for me in the end.

The thing is, I hardly ever see the old place mentioned in anything at all and it is only a few people who even know where I went, so my eyes opened a little wider when I read the article. A sort of shadow of what it was when I attended, but nevertheless still providing at least some of the virtues I experienced when there. Self-reliance, leadership, and a pledge in some ways to equip students to do something useful once they have left school. And delighted to see from the article that there are currently six students from Hong Kong.

The school started life in 1803 as a military school for the orphans of soldiers (not the children of Officers), and even when I was admitted it was only open to the children of the "Other Ranks", with priority being given to orphans, then one parent, and then others. Hence my arrival at the school, as both my parents were sergeants in the army - only one surviving the war.

I won't bore you with my experiences of wearing military uniform every day from age 9 when I went to board at the school, marching to the dining hall at mealtimes, nor the sense of relief I felt at age 16 when I finished my full-time education - two years earlier than perhaps I should have done.

But the headline of the article brought it all back. "Learn to show some respect" it read, and in the world of today it seems to me it is a quality that is sorely lacking. There appears to be a conflict between what people see as their right to express their views versus a lack of respect for the feelings and views of others. If I, for example, have a point of view I have to accept that others may differ. Not, so it appears, in some quarters where the speakers consider their view is the only view and they are not prepared to accept that there are alternatives.

Such a view is evident on a daily basis, and seems to revolve mainly around political commentary and the interpretations of a media that claims to be unbiased. Sadly it, particularly in our world today, also extends to religion too where diversity of opinion exists not just from religion to religion but even within religions. Degrees of intolerance are becoming unacceptable and somehow or other we have to get this right. I am not at all sure that the current drive to nationalism and some of the unpleasantness surrounding that direction is helping the process. If we cannot practice tolerance with one another, understanding the views of others but also respecting the fact that there are alternative beliefs, we are as in many other things heading down that slippery slope I have alluded to previously.

When you consider we are moving into an era of robotics, AI, and technology generally where jobs once done by humans are going to be carried out by others of an inanimate nature, you are creating a potential problem. Unless you can find worthwhile things for those displaced to do, you are going to have many young, able-bodied individuals who are highly intelligent but totally bored. And as the old saying goes, "the devil makes work for idle hands". It adds to the already growing discontent of the disadvantaged and plays into the hands of the bullies, those people with great powers of persuasive oratory and a desire for either absolute power or total disruption.

And how do we get this current process back in sync? It has to be from the very earliest interactions we have with children. If you cannot teach them tolerance and understanding - although yes you do also have to teach them to stand up for themselves too, then nothing will change. In fact it will only get worse.

So, back to my school. The title of this Blog is part of the opening line from my old school song, the full first line of which reads "We're drilled and dressed and disciplined and proud of our great name ..."

And we were all of those things. The school, despite the odds they faced with me, provided the strong foundation from which I guess I survived, even without taking proper advantage of the education on offer. The fact is, being disciplined in my approach (alright, I admit to being a pain in the backside at times!) has helped me get through life - so far.

And if we lose things like being properly drilled and dressed and disciplined, and do not show respect for others, I am not confident as to where we go from here.