Meditation can help youths tackle mental health issues, enable Singapore's future success: Presidential hopeful Ng Kok Song

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Always interesting when politicians promote meditation. Turns out this guy does “Christian meditation”

 

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SINGAPORE — Having taught Singapore’s founding father how to meditate, presidential hopeful Ng Kok Song now believes that youths can benefit from practising meditation, which he said can give them “inner peace” and address mental health issues, along the way enabling the country’s future success.

 

The former GIC investment chief was speaking to the media after his visit to the Central Sikh Gurdwara at Towner Road on Sunday (July 23) morning – his first public appearance since he announced his presidential bid on Wednesday.

 

A devout Catholic, the 75-year-old made headlines previously for teaching Christian meditation to the late Lee Kuan Yew, even though Singapore’s founding prime minister was not a Christian.

 

“As you all know, I practise meditation. And I think meditation is one of those practices which can help people come to inner peace, inner harmony. It will help people of all generations, but particularly the young,” Mr Ng said.

 

“So that’s one of the things that I hope to do more when I’m President. To raise the consciousness of mental health, and to encourage as many people as possible to come together.

 

Mr Ng said that tackling mental health challenges will be crucial to Singapore’s future success, which lies in the hands of today’s youth.

“It will raise their productivity because they will not be so stressed. And secondly, they will be able to approach their work with attention,” he said.

“So, I’ve been thinking about this, and I feel that this is one of those areas where, as President, I can make a special contribution.”

He described mental health as an issue he is “very passionate” about.

 

“Mental health challenges people of different ages – the young, the youth, even the elderly. And so, I think it’s very important for us to put more resources into addressing the challenge of mental health in Singapore.”

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/meditation-youth-mental-health-ng-kok-song-2217221

 

 

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

Info about his “Christian Meditation”

 

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A devout Catholic, Mr Ng made headlines when it became known that he taught Christian meditation to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, even though Singapore's founding prime minister was not a Christian.

 

Mr Lee had told the New York Times in an interview in 2010 that he started meditating about two to three years before that after noticing that Mr Ng looked "completely serene" and finding out that Mr Ng's late wife was also totally serene when dying of cancer as they both meditated everyday.  
 

Mr Ng is an executive committee member of the World Community for Christian Meditation, a Britain-based organisation which promotes a form of meditation developed by a Benedictine monk. He is also the community's national coordinator for Singapore. 

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/ng-kok-song-sengkang-gic-presidential-hopeful-2211716

[C T]

It will be an interesting challenge because Singaporeans have a reputation for being uber materialistic. Quite like the people of Hong Kong. Image and flaunting of wealth counts for a lot in both these countries. The pursuit of $$$ is their no.1 priority. 

Edited July 23, 2023 by C T

[silent thunder]

I can think of two ways to spread the light.

Be the light, or be as a mirror that reflects it.

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6 hours ago, C T said:

It will be an interesting challenge because Singaporeans have a reputation for being uber materialistic. Quite like the people of Hong Kong. Image and flaunting of wealth counts for a lot in both these countries. The pursuit of $$$ is their no.1 priority. 

Yup and parents there really push their children to study over other activities. Not sure how he will be able to get the youth to start meditating when their parents make them study 24/7.

[Neirong]

Meditation work can massively boost intellect, ability to concentrate, absorb, digest and memorize information.
If people and parents would know of such benefits, there would be higher demand for meditation classes along with general studies.

That said most meditations taught online and in meditation apps are worthless, and make people more dull or addicted to the practice itself.

Having a sharp and powerful mind is a massive boon to any life.

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

This is the Christian Meditation he is talking about:

 

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The method involves the repetition of a single word faithfully and lovingly during the time of meditation. This is a very ancient Christian way of prayer that was recovered for modern Christians by the Benedictine monk John Main (1926 -1982).  He recovered this way of bringing the mind to rest in the heart through his study of the teachings of the first Christian monks, the Desert Fathers, and of John Cassian (4thcentury AD). It is in the same tradition asThe Cloud of Unknowing, written in England in the 14th century.  John Main’s legacy inspired the formation of the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM), and his work is being carried on by Father Laurence Freeman, also a Benedictine monk. The WCCM continues John Main’s vision of restoring the contemplative dimension to the common life of Christians and engaging in the common ground shared with the secular world and other religions.

How to Meditate

The basic teaching on how to meditate passed on by John Main is:

• Sit down. Sit Still and upright. Close your eyes lightly. Sit relaxed but alert.
• Silently, interiorly begin to say a single word. We recommend the prayer-phrase Maranatha.  Recite it as four syllables of equal length.  Listen to it as you say it, gently but continuously.
• Do not think or imagine anything  – spiritual or otherwise.  If thoughts or images come, these are distractions at the time of meditation, so keep returning to simply saying your word.
• Meditate each morning and evening for between twenty and thirty minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

https://wccm.uk/

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Info on the “Maranatha” mantra