She helps me to understand what the Chinese people are thinking. On Fridays, she gets the Chinese language newspaper and tells me what’s happening in the Chinese community on Saipan. After her review last Friday, we got into a discussion about people. This led us to a discussion of three terms that are used to describe people; nice, smart, and as she says, “plenty of school.” We agreed that almost all the people on Saipan are very nice and that’s why we’re glad we live here.
I told my wife that these terms are not mutually exclusive or inclusive. That people can be nice, well-educated, and do stupid things. Some people can be nice, not well-educated (i.e. formal schooling), and smart. Others can be not-so-nice, well educated, and do stupid things. We felt that this third category of people were usually not successful. We were just talking about people in general.
We agreed that the people who are leaders should be nice and smart (i.e. not do stupid things). Whether they have “plenty of school” isn’t that important. Although, being well-educated can help leaders be smarter.
And we agreed that, most importantly, no leader should break any law. If they do so, they can no longer be leaders and they have shamed the people they lead. We opined that leaders that embarrass their populace should probably just say “I’m sorry” and resign, because the ability to lead has been diminished, maybe totally lost. By resigning, at least the former leader(s) can attempt to maintain self respect. What do you think?
ROGER N. LUDWICK
Sadog Tasi, Saipan
