Yes, I did run into the cold sea in Christmas 97. But it was only an act to get emotional relief in face of the financial difficulties that unexpectedly hit me so hard! I always believe that if one has the courage to die, one should have the courage to carry on living no matter what!
Why am I talking about such "philosophical" subject now? Have you noticed that many people in Hong Kong have committed suicides due to the financial crisis this year? Such sad news are with us almost everyday and many victims are by no means poor guys. They simply made mistakes in speculations and got very badly burnt. When the world collapsed before them, they turned to suicide as solution.
I understood very well the connection between financial failures and suicides. Perhaps, I can claim to be an authority on this important matter! Well, anyone undergoing the hellish experience of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 can claim that. But I have one advantage: I saved a friend by persuading (him/her) not to commit suicide.
The difficulties that most people found in carrying on living are mental not physical. We rely a great deal on mental values like social status, fame, richness, power, success, etc. We are in many ways conditioned to live our lives based on such values and when we lose them, we can't live anymore!
But have you ever thought about how unreal such values are? Of course, many of us knew it but the truth is none of us can really accept it. When Thomas Hobbes said that life was short, nasty and brutish, many disagreed. Similarly when religion tells you the material world cannot give you salvation, we knock but cannot agree.
Paradoxically, it is only when you can accept such truth that you can truly live a life! This is what I learnt after I woke up in the hospital from my cold swim in Christmas 97. Life may be absolutely meaningless and painful but so what? The only important question is whether you are alive. As long as you can breathe the air, life is already meaningful. Being alive is the only thing that counts and nothing else. Call this idea existentialistic, nihilistic, mindless, crude, base, dehuman, whatever. But isn't survival the only thing and the only meaning on earth? This applies to all living things not just human beings. I would think this idea is the most practical thing on earth.
Darwin should agree with me, I think. But please don't misinterpret me: I believe we must adjust/adapt ourselves and evolve in order to survive better but not the naked rule of "survival of the fittest."
When you accept this idea of survival as the meaning in life, then financial failures are really insignificant! In the first place, we have bankruptcy to help you. That is the worst legal consequence of individual financial failure. Fame, pride, reputation, etc., are all irrelevant to the issue. As long as you can survive, you always have another chance to start over again.
Nevertheless, I share the feeling that sometimes the pain and suffering is too much that one wants to put an end to it. But if you can bear the pain of death, why can't you continue to bear the pain and suffering facing you? I still can't find an answer to this question and my conclusion is: you must live no matter what!
This is how I saved my friend who was on the verge of committing suicide during the financial crisis of 1997. It takes great courage to end one's life and if you have that courage, you should use that courage to live! This is why I don't support the suicidal actions taken by the victims of the current financial crisis in Hong Kong.
Remember the more empty and meaningless life has become, the more unreal are the mental values like fame, richness, success, glory, etc. Don't be fooled by stupid illusions of being rich and famous! (By the way, a bank is sponsoring a stupid TV programme titled "Rich and Famous". Take a look at it and you will know how foolish you are.) When these stupid values are gone, life in its absolute naked shape is survival and that is the only thing you should look for.
So be brave to carry on no matter how bad you are under this global financial crisis and recession.
Never mind God has forsaken us. As Voltaire has written in Candide, we are here to cultivate our garden, our Garden of Eden.
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