Forum: Changing my new year stock-take to what really matters
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The other day, I heard a radio DJ assess her year in 2025. As she recounted her list, it became noticeable that every item was work-related. A little one-dimensional, I thought – until I recalled my own stock-take, and had to sheepishly admit that mine comprises mostly material things such as the amount of savings, number of overseas trips, and number of books read.
I paused to ask: Are these the most important and meaningful things in life?
A certain epiphany has become magnified in the past year since I joined Ambulance Wish Singapore as a volunteer. This is a charity that fulfils the wishes of patients who have less than 12 months to live.
Whatever the profiles of the beneficiaries, the lesson is the same: The most cherished things in life are health and love – love from others, love for others, and love for life itself.
Many of the wishes revolve around having meals with their dearest, taking family portraits, and doing simple things such as enjoying a garden or watching a sunset.
In our achievement-oriented society, it is easy to overlook the beauty in ordinary moments.
Do we savour the aroma of coffee before opening our inbox, or stop to admire a rainbow? The final line in Welcome To The Hyunam-Dong Bookshop reminds us: “A day well spent is a life well lived.”
As 2025 draws to a close, I added three items to my stock-take. First, health. It is a blessing that my knees can still climb stairs without protesting; it is a privilege to be able to taste flavours and enjoy food textures.
Next, family and close friends – the people whom I can trust 100 per cent, including a niece who still checks that I have reached home safely after I visit her.
Finally, my students. When I became an academic, I took a 50 per cent cut in annual income. It seemed insane.
However, while a long day of teaching typically results in headache and sore throat, plus pins and needles in the feet, I never leave the classroom with a heavy heart. My students provide immense meaning for my work; they let me be me. And that is priceless.
As Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”
I welcome the new year with an inventory of what really matters.
Ng Lee Keng
