There was a certain poster that recently got quite a backlash on social media. Its headline proclaimed, “Kill Stray Cats.” Although its goal was to call to attention the food spent feeding strays could have instead been better spent on elderly widows, animal and cat lovers took offense. Some even wrote to certain government bodies. And there was a certain person who visited the same Night Festival as well — our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He had posted several photos he took at the festival personally. There was no evidence he saw that particular poster, but it got me thinking — what if he did and found it to be poor taste as well? Would he say anything about it? What would happen if he did? My point is not to discuss the limits of freedom of speech or expression, or to argue whether such a proposition is morally or ethically right or wrong. Rather, this incident had me pondering over the effect of our words — the things we say and write. Everyone carries with them a certain weight in his/her words. We also call it “influence”. E.F. Hutton, in his heyday, led one of the most respected financial firms. When he spoke on the markets, the noisy trading floor would become silent, and traders and businessmen would pause to hear what he had to say. In fact, his influence was so great that his words could literally steer the direction of the market. John Maxwell called this the “Law of E.F. Hutton” in his book “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”: “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.” The weight of words has also an interesting transferable property. We call it “endorsement”. Suppose Mr. Hutton were to say Bob and Co. are excellent investors. The weight of Bob and Co.’s words would suddenly become a lot heavier. Yet one may unwittingly endorse another. Suppose Jim and Co. criticised Mr. Hutton’s investment picks, and Mr. Hutton took to task to rebut their words. His mere action would have lent Jim and Co. much more weight to their words, to his disadvantage. This is similar to what is known as the “Streisand effect” — Barbra Streisand had attempted to suppress photographs of her Malibu residence but inadvertently drew it even more attention. And lastly, there is time. Time is a great equaliser. It eventually reveals whose words bear the most weight, and whose words stick. I saw a quote recently: “The best revenge is massive success.” And that success, howsoever you define it, need not even necessarily be of your own effort. Revenge aside, time and success do prove whose words ultimately stand. We call it “track record”. So what would Mr. Lee do? His words certainly carry influence, and to a greater extent than any of us here. It is so much so that his appraisal or criticism of a matter would arouse strong and even heated responses from the different parties involved. Yet there is no reason for him to lend weight to that poster. And that is the same reason why he got his lawyers to deal with a certain blogger rather than to deal with him himself. Since the poster does not affect him personally like in the case, he would rather let it go and let time do its job (though he might respond to the matter privately). What does these mean for us? I think the first question we can ask is: how much weight does our words carry? Perhaps we need not consider how our words affect a nation like Mr. Lee, but do our words carry weight with the people who matter to us: family, friends, and colleagues? I think we can answer the question by asking how we use our words. Are they often of meaning; thoughtful and kind, or are they often superfluous or rash? Are they of peace or war? Words certainly have the power to build up and bring life, and also destroy and bring death. And I say life or death, because we often think in terms of right and wrong, and that which is right may not necessarily bring life and wholeness to all. Moreover, every present word you say or write affects the future weight of your words. The second question we can ask is: do we lend our influence to the wrong people? Do we say too much when we should have said nothing? Certain battles are not worth fighting; certain debates are not worth participating; and certain criticisms are simply not worth refuting. If we were more circumspect to consider these two questions before we begin a long exchange of words, we might have avoided a great deal of trouble.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 20:53:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015