Reading Ken’s blog caused many thoughts to swell up inside me. National Service… slavery? or pride & honour?

Granted, it is enforced conscription for the vast majority of local males in our little country. But, many people just cannot remove their tinted glasses just for a split second and look beyond the negatives. Admit it, the ease of finding fault with every and any issues is so tempting, but how many people can just bother to consider the positives? Philosophically speaking, the world is made up of dual sides of a flip coin.

For me, I think NS was a major step in my personal development, though much less physically than others because of my past medical status. Actually, I was posted to a unit with many soldiers who are far from physically fit for strenuous activities. I felt like a valuable asset to the unit and was probably doing things down there few people in my unit can possibly handle. While I grunted and grumbled at certain dissatisfaction, in particular insensitivity and stubbornness of certain supervisors, I did what I had to do, to complete my tasks within my job scope to the best of my abilities. And I am jolly well glad that there are superiors that appreciate what I offer to the unit. When considering that the entire army can only function as efficiently as the sum of all its parts, it is really imperative for people to understand the importance of each individual soldier.

I think those people who outright condemn National Service ought to think about the reason for its existence. Propaganda you say? Nay, National Service isn’t about making you kowtow to the greater existence called the nation. We are nurturing thinking soldiers in this generation, not mindless grunts who blindly follow the blind. Alas we cannot always expect the highest standards and revolutionary changes overnight can we? We need to be constantly aware that organizations are always run by the people up there, and they have vast individual differences from the many common soldiers. In fact, everyone of us are different in our perceptions, beliefs, and personalities. What I’m putting across is, no matter where you are, there will always be issues or people or ideas that irk you. So what do we do? Abolish the law, ditch the government, demolish organizational hierarchies, plan mass genocides? What naïvety!

And sharing something, not exactly knowing whether its factual, but supposedly Sun Yat Sen once asked, if you are compelled to abandon one of the following three items: the army, provisions (food), or human faith, what would be your answer? Now, supposing you are down to two of the above items now, and you are again compelled to abandon one more, what would you ditch? And I want to add, by all means, if you are compelled to abandon the final thing left, what do you do? I will probably await any responses (if any >&lt before delving into more discussions. So maybe we can have a part 2 of this post

Had a rather unpleasant dinner today… How idiotic and irresponsible some people are. Went to have dinner with grandma, at this coffee house. Can’t they bloody see which are are smoking prohibited… The stall guy quickly relocate us to another table when we started grumbling. Guess what… some idiotic guy on the adjacent table whipped out his own cigarette. The desperate stall dude tried to appease us and get another seat. All in vain though, all in vain. Dad showed great displeasure and stood up and walked off.  And so we went to another coffee house. A little while after, 1 dude at the adjacent table starting smoking… again. Lucky this time 2 big fans were strategically placed that diverted the smoke away from our table.

I really really wanted to smite these idiotic guys to oblivion. There is a frigging reason why there is an exclusive smoking area. Dammit. What has this world degenerated into. Inconsiderate people who doesn’t give a damn about whats going on around them. It makes me respect the guys in my NS unit who know when to do what, people including gangster type, people who have a dragon tattoo sprawled across his back.

Unfortunately, I know that an Utopia do not exist, a dream world I long to await for… never to be a reality… The grief of a mortal man…

Just some ranting to do today. You know, recently I am reminded of the rude, impolite, or simply outrageous actions of the local lads, across ages, ethnic groups and genders btw… so I’m not looking at discriminating against any particular subgroups.

Take for example two secondary school students spotted at a particular food court. (I’ll be kind not to disclose the institution in question) They were basically done with their meals, on a crowded Sunday afternoon. And simply refuse to move their butts. Yes thanks, and while I finally gave up and moved off, they treated as if nothing had happen and then left, and obviously the table was secured by another family. Pardon my use of language here. I really wanted to blast those 2 moronic idiots to oblivion.

A second instance must have been the Bus Boarding Paranoia Syndrome. Yes uncles out there, it does not make a difference if you are the fifth or the seventh person to board an empty bus. Its not that I am petty or what, but queues are for a reason. I am clearly next in line when this uncle have to squeeze in, brush against my shoulders and wriggle his way in front of me. Not very convincing, there are ample seats to go around.

Of course, there is also the “This road belongs to me” mentality. I know alot of people walk in groups, congregate, or whatsoever. But, please… you have eyes don’t you. When you see other people approaching from the other side, jolly well shift to one side on a path with the width of say 2 persons. No one will stop you from massing again later.

This brings me to a point of contention. Whether the education in Singapore truly delivers great societal value. In my opinion, morals and the way you relate to others, are the fundamental basics in human society. This may be somewhat lacking in our system, where the focus is very much on academic excellence. There are attempts to build well-rounded characters, but for the vast majority of the “passers-by” in the education ladder, it just doesn’t work. This is something which we probably have to live with, as I firmly believe that the kind of people mentioned above will exist no matter what we try to do.

Adieu

For some reason, I’m like napping alot recently… Slept some of my weekend away, and again 3 hours today… When I do a mini consideration of my sleep hours before and after school started, it all doesn’t add up. Lets see, in my vacation time, I would be like sleeping 7 hours on average. And believe me, I played long hours in front of my pc. (Wad izzit they claim about LCDs causing more eye fatigue due to backlights again?) And I do not really nap alot. Now consider my schoolterm. Typically sleep between 12 and 2am now, so shall average it at 1am. And I wake up some time close to 8 am. Hey… it’s the same average sleep time! What conclusion can I draw from this?

Oh yea, and while I’m on this topic, just to highlight that our society is becoming more “24-hours”. Simply lots of night owls now. This shall not be a lecture on what sleep deprivation does to your body, as most people should have a pretty good idea. So… pls do sleep enuf even if you go late into bed. (Just don’t miss your work and school ). And btw, research has shown that waking up time is a major influential factor over your body’s internal clock. To provide less disruption to your physiology, try to wake up around the same time interval everyday, and then nap later if needed to repay whatever sleep debts you have. Just don’t say I tell you to when you are caught snoozing at the wrong time!

(Note: Man here refers to humankind in general rather than a specific gender)

A random thought flashed across my mind today when I was reading some texts. While our society are evolving into something more sophisticated and advanced, how has personal character development progress? It is with a tinge of regret that I believe we are actually moving backwards in terms of our cultivation.

Oftentimes, we observe on public transports how people take pleasure in their conveniences at the expense of others. Sitting on floors on a crowded train and occupying more seats than required are all displays of our egotistic nature. I’m not even telling you to exercise altruism by giving up your own seats. Speaking of which, there are much tact to go about offering your seats. Have anyone of you ever encountered a scenario of trying to give your seat to someone else in need (an elderly person perhaps) only for a young strong male to swiftly maneuver through the meandering crowd and plop his ass onto the seat?

People are also frequently insensitive to the needs of others. Nobody is stopping you from listening to music on long journeys, but it is a matter of how loud do you really need it to be. People requiring a quiet peace of mind after a long day’s work are not going to be delighted with your attempt to share some music with them. Blasting music through the roofs, and especially trying to configure a ring-tone on public transports are acts of selfishness that many youths still fall into. They think it’s hip, trendy and cool. Unfortunately, it is not. Not everyone else appreciate your preference and taste.

I can go on over here, but I do not see a point in this, as most of you people no doubt have similar experiences and even more coming to mind. The important issue to tackle is to examine why such a trend even exists. In fact, much of this degradation can perhaps be largely attributed to the rapid technological advancement. While we marvel at the connectivity of wireless roaming, globally connected internet, and the mobile nature of so many things familiar to us, are we forgetting that the basis of connections lie in genuine human relations?

Nowadays, many people assume a unique cyber-identity. It may or may not be a reflection of their true persona, but it is reasonable to suggest that it is easier to “hide” behind this identity. People give less thoughts to how they express and conduct themselves on the net. Over time, inadvertently, this behaviour permeates into their real self. The crudeness and fury in how certain netizens lambaste others are shocking.

Perhaps we need a rethink on certain ideologies? We must realise that humans are not who we are because of our superior brain processing power, but because we function as a society above of that. The world does not revolve around an individual, but you will soon realise that simple acts of gestures and assistance for others may very well help build a great social network around you. Take some time to digest the blabbering I posted above.