Importance of information
Chandra Prakash Singh, Nasinu
Some people are quick to make an excuse. They did not know about certain issues, overlooked it, didn’t hear well, took it lightly or could not understand properly.
A lot of time and money is spent on awareness programmes by Government, social media, schools, tertiary institutions, statutory bodies, religious organisations, non-government organisations, concerned citizens, learned people, medical experts therefore being ignorant in this country should not be an excuse.
Do not take any information either written or communicated orally as irrelevant and forgotten altogether. It should not be thrown out of mind, placed underneath the table and crushed below your feet.
The more knowledge you gain about any topic can be of importance sooner or later and if you make lot of excuses then you can be running around in all directions to get the right answer. Such an attitude can also result in creating difficulties for you, wasting your time and money.
Students gain a lot of knowledge from daily lessons, teachers, libraries, books, internet, social media, sermons, each other and they can communicate about the usefulness of such educational and informative literature to many people.
Parents, teachers, immediate family members and religious leaders should play a more pro-active role as educators/advocates and it will greatly assist in creating an informed society.
Whenever an opportunity is given to participate in workshops, health awareness programmes, neighbourhood watch meetings, religious events or any type of information sharing sessions do make an effort to take part, pay particular attention and follow such advice strictly.
Share valuable information with as many people as you can and it will enable everyone to understand what is right or wrong, do’s and don’ts, good/bad, lies/truth, necessary/ unnecessary and other attributes.
You have a brain to think positively, eyes to see things properly and ears to listen attentively. Therefore, do not also say that you forget. Do you forget to sleep /wake up, have breakfast/lunch/dinner and drink water? Few people have a habit of saying that they were really busy but such an excuse should not be given at all. No one in this country can say that he/she was/is really busy and could not allocate a few minutes to learn about a subject matter.
If you are uneducated and experience difficulty in understanding certain issues, always make an effort to seek clarification from learned people, respective authorities and follow what is explained to you.
Deaths through drowning, home/shop/factory fires, littering problem, missing children/adults, accidents, hit and run cases, suicides, child abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, communicable diseases, non – communicable diseases, drug abuse, teenage pregnancies, abandoned children, divorce, domestic violence and few other similar cases keeps on repeating despite intense awareness on supervision/prevention of such issues. Those who are not paying attention, I want to ask you as to why you do not want to take precautions before disaster strikes? Do you feel happy to be surrounded by problems or would feel most comfortable to obey rules/ regulations, follow preventative methods, early detection advice and respect laws put in place by the state?
Some people have a habit of listening attentively when explained about certain issues but forget and ignore them a few minutes later or by the time they reach home.
Such people get into problems, difficulties, stressful situations, financial loss and traumatised. Then they begin to repent, but it is too late to correct mistakes and misdeeds.
Therefore, the simple rule is listen, learn, investigate, remember, educate, obey and follow important messages for your own benefit, family members and the community you live. Our aim should be “A Well Informed and Enlightened Society”.