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It was not long ago when human beings manufactured everything they needed with their own hands. With industrialisation, modernisation and the dawning of the information age, our hands have been freed and forgotten as machines have replaced handiwork, and traditional handicrafts have vanished one after another. We rejoice that we do not have to toil with our hands anymore, and ten fingers have evolved down to one, as with a click of the mouse of the computer, a dazzling array of daily necessities, commodities and consumables are always readily available. Thanks to technology, the act of consumption becomes increasingly simple, allowing our infinite desire for material goods to run rampant. In this era when it seems that one can have the world in a click of the finger and when there is no need for us to labour with our hands, what have we gained, and what have we lost?
In this issue of the E-newsletter, through getting to know the artisans and trying to do handicrafts, three writers who have been exploring sustainable living reflect on the connection and relationship between objects, humans and our hands in the contemporary consumeristic world. They discuss how such connections affect the natural environment upon which our very survival depends as well as the impact on our happiness as individuals.
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