In his commentary, "Digital good, analogue bad? Not so fast!" (June 26), Straits Times editor-at-large Han Fook Kwang commented that people should know what is missing in the headlong rush to embrace everything digital.
When he talks about having a physical product - a vinyl record - in his hand, or handling cold, hard cash, he is right in reminding us that we are essentially tactile creatures who thrive on the tangible.
That humans thrive on touch is indisputable. There is abundant research confirming what can go wrong when a child is raised without getting appropriate and adequate touch from caregivers.
So, what gives when digital experience supplants tangible, tactile experience is our loss as social beings. Human relationships cannot thrive without appropriate touch.
Thomas Lee Hock Seng (Dr)