happenstance

Friday, November 19, 2010 / 9:01 PM

so much more to life

I find that humans are all very selfish people. Not our fault, but well we are anyway. No matter how kind and generous you are, there will always be times that you will put yourself before others. I mean this is natural, and there is nothing really wrong with it. Helps you get ahead sometimes. You win some, you lose some.

And usually we don't care too much about other things in our lives as we pursue the finer things, like fame, money, status and more. Everything else seems to matter more, as we get so caught up with this paper chase that we forget about so many other things. I guess in Singapore, we have to be part of the paper chase because that is what propels us ahead and gives us a sense of false security that a degree from a local university would mean that we would somehow be able to survive and move ahead in the corporate world in Singapore. We can blame the government for being so preoccupied with meritocracy, placing everyone's worlds on the education system and grades and academic performance. Sure, the government has some fault to play for creating structures, institutions and systems, but those who experience it shouldn't have to subscribe to it wholesale.

We don't necessarily have to follow what everyone else does, like the cookie cutter. Why do we have to be the same like everyone else? Why should we have to conform to be a certain kind of citizen that the government hopes to have more of? Someone who has good education qualifications, has a stable job and income, in a marriage and has kids? Goes to NTUC and drives a modest car, exercises every weekend, wears New Balance shoes? Why do you want to be the same like everyone else? Would it hurt to be different?

Naturally, i think about the questions that i have asked above all the time. What would i be if i could be someone different, to do things that are different from what everyone else is doing and have done? Linear progression of the life course is inevitable, but the life course is not static and fixed, there are so much more to be done! And we only have one lifetime, so why, why do we want to spend it on achieving some kind of ideal that someone else has set out for us to be?

To be safe, it's always good to just CONFORM. Herding mentality, strength in numbers, blend in, be part of a group, join the majority. If you can't beat them, join them. Sounds so assuring. But isn't this some sort of identity that Betty Friedan once wrote about housewives? Some sort of linger in their hearts and a sense of alienation that begets the question: Who am i?

Going on exchange was a worthy experience, and i would have done it so much better. But in retrospect, students at McGill just have a different sense of life than we do. Singaporeans only care about their grades, their popularity, whether they can get the next top from this online blogshop, whether they are working out enough. Come on kids, there is so much more to life than those superficial obsessions that you have.

For starters, read more. Newspapers are your good sources of information, not gossip magazines or blogs. Be more engaged with the world and this helps you understand what is going on elsewhere than your immediate social environment. Then acquaint with the right people so you don't waste your life away. Too many people are in the wrong company that don't suit your interests and you get distracted. Travel more, not just to tourist spots but immerse yourselves in the local culture instead of being high and mighty and taking on a touristic gaze. Exercise, eat healthy, laugh more.

Haha but who am i to preach!

Guess it's the exam stress that is getting to me. Blabbering and typing at a super fast speed. Gotta get back to social life and i will have one after tmr.