Growing up in Singapore in the 80s has been challenging. I didn't know much about life or economy. I didn't know what I want to do apart from playing. I know I had to study and get a job. In school we had to write composition about our profession when we grow up. I had never wanted to be a philosopher, let alone writing about social philosophy. It is just that growing up with a single parent is tough. It is tougher when she is uneducated and I had to learn most things by myself. After my National Service, I decided to further studies. That was when I was exposed to philosophy and psychology in the UK. After graduation in 1999 with a degree in Electronics, I came back home to resume my National Service (I disrupt it and had about 2 months left). The life in UK exposed me to something that I did not notice when growing up in Singapore. I find local social scene unsatisfactory. They are Confucians, Muslims, Christians, freethinkers and humanists. Most time, they are preoccupied with how to earn more money. Religion does not give me the fulfillment that it promised. In addition, most were based on Singaporeans' interpretation of the Bible and Buddhism's dharma. Most times, I feel that everything that Singaporeans do has got to do with wealth creation or at least with the expenditure of it. It end up like what Pope Francis referred to as "the cult of money." Organised religion involves more fear-mongering than cultivating an inner grace and peace. Hence this book is about how I relate an ancient thinker's ethics (Aristotle) to the present day. I find Aristotle's ethics to most suit my needs as a man and lover. It does not pretend to be more than what it seek, the golden mean. It does require us to think and explore the values to find balance and achieve wisdom with intellectual and moral virtues. I also find other philosophers (French or not) particularly insightful and thought-provoking. They offer me explanation and exploration on subjects like love, sex, and death. Freudian psychoanalysis are also very penetrating in their findings and insights. Moreover, I needed some contemporary psychological theory, not in-depth psychoanalysis, to back Aristotle's model of ethics (intellectual and moral virtues). Hence the psychological background of my book. I got acquainted with these psychological theories when I was preparing myself to be a financial consultant. I later found out more about them and they became useful in my work and life. Hence I would like to share it with people in Asia so that they can ask the right kind of questions in life in order to learn more about themselves and the social milieu they are living in. Because everyone of us are affected by the social sciences (politics, economics and sociology). This book will, I hope, allow us to understand why we are irrational and how we can make rational changes through reasonings in their life and achieving eudaimonia. My wish is simply to share what I enjoy doing, apart from creating useful ideas to improve the world. Through my book, I hope to make others understand religion, science and philosophy and how they play an increasingly integral part in the Asian century.
