An Opinion piece by Ling Sing Lin
This commonly heard phrase means that the minimalist approach to artistic or aesthetic matters is actually more effective. This phrase is oxymoronic, as the two words are contradictory.
Less is more is now applied to many areas in life, like decluttering, less spending means more savings, less screen time means more living, etc
KonMarie Method
This is Marie Kondo’s effective tidying method, choosing to keep only what sparks joy. It clears away clutter, but is not minimalism.
Clearly Write
Prof Lim Soo Ping is the author of Clearly Write, a book which serves as a guide to win over readers with clarity and concision. Because every word counts, especially in this busy world with short attention spans, words have to be precise and carefully selected, with no redundancy, fitting into the less is more mould.
Speeches
As a former speechwriter in ”my previous life” as a civil servant, one important rule is to give only three points in a speech, obviously an application of the less is more rule. Of course I am not referring to PM’s National Day Rally speech, or other addresses on important occasions.
Minimalist Décor
All items should have a purpose and add value to the space, and the items must also work well together. The decoration provides serenity and simple beauty, and is uncluttered.
Commercials by storage companies encourage storage of little used home furnishings, toys, etc in storage facilities, to have less clutter and more space in the home. In reality, once these items are stored, they quickly get forgotten, which means that they are no longer necessary or useful. They can actually be sold, given away or discarded.
Minimalist Makeup
Again this appears contradictory. Why do you use makeup and want to appear not to have makeup on? I believe this technique achieves a natural but beautiful effect, so the person looks like a “natural beauty” rather than a beauty aided with full face cosmetics.
Don’t Overeat
Similar to most things, more is not necessarily a good thing. In countries with severe under nutrition, having food to eat is a blessing. In rural agricultural China in the past, “plump and fair” is valued much more than a “tanned and skinny girl”.
However, when over nutrition has been shown to cause many lifestyle diseases, we are told to only eat till we reach 70-80% of our eating capacity.
Moral of the Story
Less is more refers to material things, words, furnishings, clothes, makeup, screen time, etc. it does not refer to relationships (I am not referring to toxic relationships here). Studies have shown that it is not things, but relationships and experiences that make us happy. We can instead use our time and effort to nurture healthy relationships with family and friends.
With appreciation to Hutomo Abrianto of Unsplash for the feature image.
lingsinglin
Dr Ling Sing Lin is a medical doctor by training. She worked in MOH HQ for many years, in policy making and administrative positions, until her retirement.
