of giving back...

I've been regularly checking websites relating to JK Rowling and Harry Potter ever since I've been enlightened by the world of magic and Hogwarts about 20 months ago. Yes... despite enormous popularity and worldwide following, I did not read the books nor watch the movie until 2006. It was a time when movies were made on books were the "in thing"... and me being me, I typically don't like to be associated with the "herd". But that's besides the point...

I found out that JK Rowling will be the speaker at the 357th Harvard Graduation ceremony in June 2008, where she will also be receiving an honorary degree (what degree? I don't know... the article did not mention). A befitting honour from such a distinguished cradle of knowledge and ideas. How I wish I'm in that graduating class...

Anyway, from that particular website, I found the link to the speeches of the previous honorary speaker at Harvard's graduation ceremonies. Two speeches stood out.

The first was by Robert Rubin, former Secretary to the US Treasury and the other was by John Lithgow, the actor. Surprising ain't it? That man who played the weird alien chief on Third Rock from the Sun, the dad in Harry & the Hendersons, he also played Don Quixote in a Hallmark TV movie. The two couldn't be any more different... macam langit dan bumi. But one thing (that I know of) they share... a Harvard degree.



I can't reproduce the speeches here, takut nanti kena saman by Harvard. They can be found at http://www.commencement.harvard.edu/background/speakers.html

But here, I'll provide some excerpts, parts which I liked, make me go "hmmmm" and smile ;) ...

Robert Rubin:

... decision-making will be at the core of your lives, too, no matter what you do. The only question will be how well you make those decisions.

...that life is about making choices. ... Curiously, though, despite this profoundly important reality, most people give very little serious consideration to how they make decisions. ... (that) how thoughtfully you make those choices will critically affect how good those choices will be and how effective you will be.

Professor Demos would lead us through the great philosophical thinkers of the ages, not in the spirit of simply understanding and accepting their views, but rather to use their views as launching points for our own critical thinking, to question how well each thinker's analysis held together and, most importantly, to question how each assertion of truth was proven. And, as I slowly came to realize, the absolute truths that were asserted turned out to be unprovable and, in the final analysis, to be based on belief or assumption. Only later did I learn that many in modern science hold exactly the same view, that is that sophisticated theories can be developed and then proven by experimentation, but that ultimately this whole structure rests on unprovable assumptions.

Rubin had Professor Demos... my equivalent was Tamar Lewitt...

An important corollary to recognizing that decisions are about probabilities is that decisions should not be judged by outcomes but by the quality of the decision-making, though outcomes are certainly one useful input in that evaluation. Any individual decisions can be badly thought through, and yet be successful, or exceedingly well thought through, but be unsuccessful, because the recognized possibility of failure in fact occurs. But over time, more thoughtful decision-making will lead to better overall results, and more thoughtful decision-making can be encouraged by evaluating decisions on how well they were made rather than on outcome. In managing trading rooms, I always focused on evaluating and promoting traders not on their results alone, but also and very importantly, on the thinking that underlay their decisions. Unfortunately, this approach is not widely taken, much to the detriment of decision-making in both the private and public sectors.

When I began in the new administration, a distinguished former cabinet member told me that I would now live off my previously accumulated intellectual capital, because I would be too busy to add to it.
I found just the opposite - that my time in government was an intense learning experience about how our government and our political processes worked and about a vast array of policy issues. I also found that the decisions that had to be made were often amongst the most complex faced anywhere in our society. Public service was a powerful challenge in using all the intellectual qualities that Harvard had sought to develop, towards the objective of furthering the public good.

Public service, at whatever level of seniority, can provide immense challenge to all of your capabilities, as you help make and execute decisions in the most complex of circumstances, to further the well-being of the nation and even the world. And, you can get a very special insight into many of our society's most important policy issues, and a very special insight into how our society works - for example, how policy, politics, and media interact to affect what happens.
Government service, whether for a few years or for a career, can provide enormous challenge and intellectual growth, and the satisfaction of working to directly further the public good.

This succinctly describes why I enjoy working where I am... biarlah orang kata I kerja gomen... it feels so good to know that what I do makes (or helps make) a difference...

John Lithgow:

I bet that word "picaresque" got your attention. I am afraid that is one of the few words that I still remember from my four years of studying English History and Literature at Harvard. As I recall, the word "picaresque" is used to describe a long adventure which teaches its hero a series of lessons to live by - an apt subject for a Commencement Address

Life is about the continuous journey of learning afterall...

I actually had two Harvard Educations. The first one concluded on the day I graduated. Shortly thereafter, I launched myself into the acting game where, for the next twenty years, I virtually kept my Harvard degree a secret. Somehow it never seemed to come in all that handy when I was auditioning for a soap opera or a potato chip commercial. My second Harvard education began when I was invited back into the fold, in 1989. In another example of Harvard recklessness, I was asked to run for the Board of Overseers, presumably to redress the fact that no one from the world of the Arts had served on the Board since the poet Robert Frost in the 1930's.
Equally reckless, the Harvard Alumni elected me.

He went on to tell stories about how Pete Seeger and Bonnie Raitt lent their energy towards helping support a cause...

All of these projects had the simple, obvious goal of delighting children, but I had a secret agenda, too. I was seeking to stir an interest in the Arts in young people, to educate them without their knowing it. I hold the fierce conviction that the Arts are indispensable to a healthy society, but everywhere I see evidence that support for the Arts is foundering, even under assault. I realized there was something I could do about it. With Jesuitical zeal, I began to see a personal mission taking shape: I could get them while they're young.

Because here is the point:
Many of you are leaving Harvard with lofty, ambitious goals. (Those of you who have no immediate goals, don't worry, you will discover them soon). A lot of you will achieve those goals, some with extravagant success. In fact, I'm secretly counting on you to go out and make things right in this perilous, suffering world and in this deeply troubled nation. But when you get what you're aiming for, or even as you go through the process of getting it, think about what else you can also do. Think about the people I just described to you, how they went beyond their original aspirations, sometimes in wildly unlikely ways. Think about how they made a difference in the world and how much joy and pride they took in what they accomplished. Think about how they mingled art and commerce for the public good. And then, if you like, take the word "art" out of the equation; because you certainly don't have to be an artist to follow their example. It is sometimes a very simple thing to be creative, to be useful, to be practical, and to be generous.

You really have to read the speech to get it...

Everyone can make a difference... whether through how one make decisions or by extending oneself beyond fulfilling his/her desire but rather to do good for others.

Reading this makes me all excited about working where I am and being involved in the Staff Volunteer Movement.

My purpose of being is beginning to take shape... and I learnt a new word today :)