Mr Ng Weng Keong's assertions in his letter, "Adopt lifelong learning, as all knowledge acquired is valuable" (Sept 8), are true.

However, he oversimplifies learning as "the transfer of knowledge followed by a behaviour change".

He said that many adults often blame a lack of time for not adopting lifelong learning. Herein is the critical missing step: Many don't know how to learn.

Lifelong learning is on-the-go learning that any person does all the time through observation or reading. Key to this process is understanding, by asking all sorts of questions regarding a piece of knowledge.

Singaporeans are poor learners, as our culture does not generally encourage asking questions due to a fear of showing one's ignorance.

Learning is more than a transfer of knowledge. Behaviour change is possible only when understanding leads to application.

Let us focus on teaching people how to learn, especially by asking a lot of questions.

Thomas Lee Hock Seng (Dr)