Jeff Li's Blog

“The pen is mightier than the sword.”

— Edward Bulwer-Lytton

We are living in the greatest era of mankind. There was never a time like today where the global literacy rate of both man and women combined reached 84.1%. We have seven billion people living on earth, and almost six billion of them can read and write. Less than a hundred years ago, those who can read and write were considered to be higher in social status than those who cannot, and today literacy is almost like a necessity for majority of our population. And in many countries around the world receiving higher education became a norm. Especially in developed countries, every person, both man and women, has the rights and freedom to go to school and receive an education. Yet, many of us take this precious opportunity for granted. We do not appreciate the value of education, the value of learning and the value of knowledge. Many of our peers, including myself, never thought of the importance of knowledge. We learn and read so that we can pass the exams. We are doing this only because it’s the norm, its what makes our parents and relatives happy. We never understood that learning is what makes us different from other species.

Watching Malala’s talk in the United Nation made me re-think about the use of my time. When Malala and many other people who lived in a place where going to school can mean the end of their live, and yet they still persist to learn in one way or another. Even when the Taliban shoot Malala in the head, she is not resentful but hopeful. She didn’t come out and ask to punish those who caused the disaster, instead she wants to give rights and opportunity of every individual to receive an education. Because she knows that only way to solve the problem, and any problems is to have everyone educated. Only through education and knowledge, we can think critically and form our opinion. Only through knowledge and education we can came up with solutions for the problems that exists around the globe.