Who Contributes the Most to the Welfare of Your Country, the Teacher, the Politician or the Doctor?
Who contributes the most to the welfare of your country, the teacher, the politician or the doctor? In school we are told of the dignity of labour, the equality of man and his responsibility to the society. According to our Careers Master, the fundamental philosophy of vocational guidance is that the job that a boy should take up should be compatible with his abilities and aptitudes. Viewed in term of this ideal, each man, whether he be a teacher, doctor or politician, is contributing a share to society and all their contributions are to be considered equal. In Asia, after independence, owing to the importance of leadership, the politician has come into the lime-light. The conception of politicians as scheming slogan-shouting individuals has become obsolete. To us, a politician is a man who has the country’s interest at heart and who is more involved in achieving concrete results than in making empty speeches. We also have inherent, vague respect for politicians because they are connected with government. We tend to think that politician is more important because his work involves organisation and planning at national level. Plato, the great Greek thinker, once remarked that in most trades, one requires skill – that to be a good potter, one has to learn pottery; to become a good carpenter, one has to learn woodwork, and so on. He remarked regretfully that the only profession which do not require training or skill was politics, and that the sorry part of it all is that the mistakes made in such high circles, could ruin a country. Every country needs doctors. No country in the world can progress if its citizens are physically unhealthy. There is nothing the most brilliant politician can do in a situation like this. The doctor is often motivated by the sincere desire to help his patient. He has abiding sense of human dignity and his integrity remains undiminished even when confronted callousness and brutality. The importance of the teacher lies in the fact