Learn and Earn By: Raymond Anthony Fernando

Many of us would have heard of the adage, “An idle mind is a devil’s workshop.” From what I read from it, I believe that when we have nothing to do, we are likely to make unwise decisions and get into hot soup. The good news is that now people are living longer. The bad news is that with biological ageing, older people will experience a range of chronic conditions that includes depression and dementia. When this scenario develops, it will badly affect the quality of life, where people either end up in nursing homes or losing the will to live when depression rears its ugly face. Those are the realties! In addition, those who neglect the power of education could end up losing their jobs, and face financial hardships. This is more so in a highly competitive world where only the best will survive. We must not place a timeline on learning. I enjoy expressing myself through writing so that my mind is kept busy most of the time. Indeed, an active mind is a healthy mind. Additionally, reading – be it on the internet or in print literature. is also important to keep us updated with what is going on in the world. But we must be able to distinguish between “fake news” and "authentic news" or we will be trapped by making wrong choices. I have always subscribed to sharing my experiences and ideas, because I fervently believe that if one has skills, share it. I have attended courses at the Lifelong Institute, one of which was on making improvements at the workplace. I was able to put across how ideas and suggestions had made improvements in the media company where I worked for 3 decades which participants could apply in their own lives. This is the reason why I embrace lifelong learning. There are two reasons why I fully support this useful programme. Firstly workers, including those who have retired can learn new skills and contribute to the economy by having better chances of job retention and providing sustainable income to support themselves and their families. Secondly, acquiring knowledge makes them feel valued and appreciated. Thus, lifelong learning will make us productive and give us a positive outlook in life where there is satisfaction and motivation both at the workplace, in the community and even in our homes. With scammers worldwide wanting to make easy money in a digital world, we all need to learn the latest in technology, lest we get conned by con men where we make wrong decisions due to lack of wisdom and clarity through one of the important organs in our body– the mind. When it comes to global competitiveness, Switzerland has the most skilled workers because from early school days, they participate in vocational training. In fact, 70 percent of secondary school students there are actively involved in this form of education. We need to emulate the attitude of the Swiss to ‘reach for the stars.’