TMI

“There’s no such thing as too much information, this is the information age!”
– Hannah Horvath, Girls

Hannah from the acclaimed television show Girls has a point. This is the information age. We are constantly fed by free flow of information whether you want it or not. In the past, those who read papers were only well-informed but nowadays, you could not escape from all sorts of information and you did not even know if these information were real. Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and even Instagram spread too much information that I hate it sometimes. 

Past year, I worked as a media and communications officer so I had to monitor both traditional and social media. The job required me to stay updated with the news so I knew a lot of stuffs going on in the country. Although it is not wrong to know almost all the happenings, I saw some people showing off for knowing such information. My question is that what’s the point if you cannot/do not contemplate further with the information? Personally, I think it is very important to take time and digest the information we get before we make further judgement on the matter. It is a waste if one just know a lot of stuffs yet is unable to reflect and think further based on those information.

Months ago, I read an article on Lenny Letter that discussed about how the editor of this online platform had to take some time off from all the information that revolved around her, to reflect on her works and plans for the upcoming journey. I seconded what the writer had to do to find peace and think through about things that are going on with our lives. Without reflecting ourselves and deleting all the unnecessary info in our brains, we cannot see things as they are because prejudices will be clouding our minds. These clouds of judgements will impact on the decisions we make for the next steps as well.

Speaking of taking time, filtering and digesting the information we receive, and contemplating before making any decision, there is one person I want to highlight here. It’s no other than Yangon Regional Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein. We all know he has been trying to make Yangon great again , fixing this and that in the city, and I do not have any intention to criticize on his works and decisions. However, what bothers me is posts from his official Facebook page. Well, I get that he is Chief Minister of Yangon so he is a busy man, but from what I see on his Facebook posts, his schedules are super tight. He meets countless business groups, he greets various international organizations, he discusses with both local and international NGOs on how to improve the city, he attends parliament sessions and cabinet meetings, he sends DASSK off to airport when she goes abroad and not to mention, he never misses any important occassions like religious, social and cultural events.

So I wonder whether he has some alone time when he thinks about the next steps for the city and the people. I wonder if he filters all the information he gets from numerous meetings he attends. And I wonder if he thinks through all the decisions he is going to make. Because he is the most powerful person in Yangon who is responsible for 7 million residents. It is very important for a person like him to free his schedules once in awhile, clear his mind and prepare for his next moves.

Anyway, I just think that we all should take some time off from social media which is full of unnecessary information and focus more on our personal growth. That’s all.