The Meaning of Bravery
Just finished watching the latest episode of House. For those of you who don't know the series, House is a medical drama revolving around the head of Diagnostic Medicine at a fictitious hospital, Dr Gregory House. Along with his multiple very talented assistants, he pulls off miracle after miracle, pulling patients back from the brink of death everytime.
On the surface, this is a simple cut-and-dried medical soap, but as you follow the series, House goes on a voyage of self-discovery. Dr House is cantankerous, belligerent and totally without bedside manners. He is smug and abrasive, always thinking that he is right. And more often than not, most episodes, he teaches his patients lessons in life. This episode was different though... House ended up being the one learning a lesson in life.
The episode is about a little 9-year old girl, already terminally ill, who suffers from hallucinations. The doctors suspect a blood clot in her brain, but the only way to be sure where it is, is to actually temporarily stop her heart, pump out her blood, and then search for the clot. In other words, during the procedure, she would be clinically dead. Despite being told of the myriad risks, and knowing that she already only has one year to live anyway, the little girl agrees to the procedure, simply because she cannot bear to see her mother suffer.
House was very critical of her choice. To him, she is going to die anyway. Why prolong the agony? And the little girl told him very simply, "I don't want to see Mum cry." House derides the choice as one made by chemical imbalances in her brain, but further (and totally needless checks) show that her brain is fine. Needless to say, House goes away learning something new about the potentially limitless nobility of the human spirit.
So what is bravery in today's context? Is it living for someone else? Making choices which are hard to make? Striving on against overwhelming and insurmountable odds? Showing joy in the face of despairing sadness? I think it is all of the above. Atticus put it very succinctly to his children in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird: Bravery is when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.
But bravery is more than that. Bravery is also doing that which you know is right despite what others say or do. Bravery is knowing when to walk away from a fight when you know fighting is going to hurt the people around you. Bravery is sticking to your guns when you are all alone, bereft of support and understanding. And most of all bravery is smiling during times of the worst physical pain and mental anguish. How many of us can say, "I want to live for that one more year, because I don't want to see my mother cry..." when we have terminal cancer?
To me here are some examples of how Singaporeans can be brave:
1) To stand up and say that despite their flaws and shortcomings, our government has done a decent job in the past 41 years.
2) To stand up and say, I will not emigrate because Singapore is my home.
3) To go up to a punk on an MRT and tell him off for not giving his seat up for a pregnant woman.
4) To tell an idiot that placing a packet of tissue on the chair does not constitute the chair belonging to him, especially when the tissue doesn't have his name on it anyway.
5) To horn at another car who refuses to give way for an ambulance.
6) To take pictures of cars which are parked across parking lots and post the pictures on the web.
Singapore, be brave!
On the surface, this is a simple cut-and-dried medical soap, but as you follow the series, House goes on a voyage of self-discovery. Dr House is cantankerous, belligerent and totally without bedside manners. He is smug and abrasive, always thinking that he is right. And more often than not, most episodes, he teaches his patients lessons in life. This episode was different though... House ended up being the one learning a lesson in life.
The episode is about a little 9-year old girl, already terminally ill, who suffers from hallucinations. The doctors suspect a blood clot in her brain, but the only way to be sure where it is, is to actually temporarily stop her heart, pump out her blood, and then search for the clot. In other words, during the procedure, she would be clinically dead. Despite being told of the myriad risks, and knowing that she already only has one year to live anyway, the little girl agrees to the procedure, simply because she cannot bear to see her mother suffer.
House was very critical of her choice. To him, she is going to die anyway. Why prolong the agony? And the little girl told him very simply, "I don't want to see Mum cry." House derides the choice as one made by chemical imbalances in her brain, but further (and totally needless checks) show that her brain is fine. Needless to say, House goes away learning something new about the potentially limitless nobility of the human spirit.
So what is bravery in today's context? Is it living for someone else? Making choices which are hard to make? Striving on against overwhelming and insurmountable odds? Showing joy in the face of despairing sadness? I think it is all of the above. Atticus put it very succinctly to his children in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird: Bravery is when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.
But bravery is more than that. Bravery is also doing that which you know is right despite what others say or do. Bravery is knowing when to walk away from a fight when you know fighting is going to hurt the people around you. Bravery is sticking to your guns when you are all alone, bereft of support and understanding. And most of all bravery is smiling during times of the worst physical pain and mental anguish. How many of us can say, "I want to live for that one more year, because I don't want to see my mother cry..." when we have terminal cancer?
To me here are some examples of how Singaporeans can be brave:
1) To stand up and say that despite their flaws and shortcomings, our government has done a decent job in the past 41 years.
2) To stand up and say, I will not emigrate because Singapore is my home.
3) To go up to a punk on an MRT and tell him off for not giving his seat up for a pregnant woman.
4) To tell an idiot that placing a packet of tissue on the chair does not constitute the chair belonging to him, especially when the tissue doesn't have his name on it anyway.
5) To horn at another car who refuses to give way for an ambulance.
6) To take pictures of cars which are parked across parking lots and post the pictures on the web.
Singapore, be brave!
posted by ekkie at 11:02 pm
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