I have never regarded service highly, you know, like going around distributing food to the less unfortunate, paint their homes or donating money, this sort of "act of kindness on purpose". In fact, I have always felt that the fact we need to do these things indicates that the government is not doing its job well, for if the welfare coverage is thorough those "less unfortunate" can live independently of help. I used to hold the view that people doing this kind of things are doing it for selfish reasons--so that they feel better about themselves. But recently, I realise that maybe people do help others out of pure goodwill, because they are able to feel the pain of those in need. And that may be the reason I've been holding on to this view for so long--lack of empathy.
It's not like I have no feelings for others at all. I'm not a sociopath. But my empathy is mostly based on common experience i.e. when I feel the pain of a person it's likely because I have experienced similar things before and the memory is being summoned. My parents are not very well off, but at least I grow up in an environment with good physical conditions, love and toys. I have never experienced that kind of poor living conditions with a constantly empty stomach before (although I'm often starving because I don't eat breakfast and have to eat leftover food every afternoon in primary school...long story). Therefore, it's really difficult to empathise with those people, who are stucked in less fortunate kind of life.
Not only this, sometimes it's hard for me to even empathise with my peers. I cannot understand people crying over results, people sad because they have a quarrel with their friends etc etc. Maybe it's because I have never attached a great significance to these things. Even if they happen to me, I will not be as affected as my friends who also experience them.
Back to the service part, to make myself feel the people, I try to imagine being one of them, which is the best I can do. Imagine if I am an urban poor, living in a crammed apartment with electricity and water occasionally cut off. I have no decent food to eat except for porridge, in which I'll still be starving after the meal. Will I want someone to give me food? Of course. But still, this does not resolve the root of the issue.
I feel that there's something very wrong with our society. We have all the NGOs who are actively helping out the "less fortunate" and students doing CIP and all that. But these actions should be completely voluntary and out of kindness. It is not their obligation. Moreover, there's some things that they can't do. You can help to organise and clean the house, but can you change it to a bigger house for a family of five living in a one room flat? You can't. It's the government's responsibility, but now the government is pushing the responsibility to the NGOs, expecting them to be the ones taking care of everything...
Sorry I'm writing very incoherently. Basically the reason I started this post is because I realise there are people who really feel the pain of the people suffering and who will feel very happy for people they have managed to help. This make me feel somewhat bad about myself, because I simply fail to do that. Maybe I'm over-critical, but I tend to look at issues from a (relative) objective angle and find out the real reason to a problem in order to solve it completely. Yes, it's true that service can help people, but not in a very significant way in my opinion. The problem still persists.
And shall I do something to make me empathise more? It's very difficult, unless I'm really being put into that condition, which I refuse. Maybe people are born different, so some are meant to deal better with people and emotions while others better with systems and inventions. Either way, you can make a positive change to the world. The world will always have a place for you.
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