Do not stop asking questions!

Most of us, whether students in classroom or participants in seminars, often do not ask questions even when we do not quite understand what was taught in the classroom or delivered in the seminar. Why?

Firstly, I think many of us feel shy to be the odd one out, just in case others might laugh at us or ridicule us for asking a question that is so simple and "stupid"! So, in order not to appear stupid and being poked fun at in front of others, we choose not to ask. It is said that "He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes, he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever." So, we better ask if we are not sure of anything.

Secondly, there are situations when we really do not understand the bulk of the contents, we are so "blur" about what was taught and shared that we do not even know what to ask. We could not follow the lessons or the lectures, in other words. It is a good practice for students, in particular, to read in advance, what the teachers are going to teach.

Thirdly, we might be so lazy that we wait for others to ask. If nobody else asks, so be it. This is the behaviour of people who are not so interested or have not much initiative in learning. This kind of people have to change their attitude in learning. Someone told me before, "we can be stupid, but we cannot be lazy!". It is true!

Lastly, there are those who feel proud and highly-egoistic, and do not want others to know that they do not know. They pretend that they know, so they do not want to ask questions to reveal their lack of knowledge. In fact, very often, pride hinders and stops one from learning new things. We must always be humble to learn for learning is a lifelong process.

I hope we would continue to learn by asking questions. It is by asking that we get the answers, It is through asking the right question that we get the right answers.