What are the words you live by ,
Tuesday, December 31, 2013 | 8:03 PM
Yours truly was hoping to do a summary of her in Malaysia where she went from Muar to Malacca to Kuala Lumpur and back to Malacca and to Muar last week. But since this will be the last entry of 2013, I wanted to do a summary of this year and do a resolution for my life. Truth be told, I’ve never done a new year resolution before because I have a feeling that it’ll just be wishes I have for myself and I’ll never go out of my way to achieve them nor to remember the goals I set for myself and then fool around with the year ahead.
A guy (now no longer in my life) once told me before that everyone should have a set of guidelines/morals/principles they set for themselves to follow in life. (AKA life motto) (like how schools have core values for le kids) I was only 14 then (I think he was 6 or 7 years older?) and to answer and fu yan him, I randomly came up with a “motto” for myself at that time. I think what I was: “Work hard, play harder”. So damn cliché and lame right? Yes I’m disappointed in my 14-year-old self. (I cant remember his but I remember being impressed)
But de other day, as I was (once again) thinking about life “under the showerhead”, I finally figured a life motto for myself, that summarize what I want in my life in one word: Balance. #Bathroomphilosophy. Okays maybe mine is too short, I shall expand it: “Not to settle for too little and never ask for too much”. Basically, enough is enough. Le readers may ask, balance? Balance in what? What will define your balance and what defines your “enough”?
I guess when the word balance comes to mind, a lot pops up too, like weighing scales, equality, tightrope walker, some random physics concept about moment and gravity etc. (I’m sure other stuffs pop up in your mind, don’t shut them out, this is how we learn to be creative. Listen to yourself, develop a single thought and you’ll be amaze with what your brain can come up with (Trust yours truly!) Been there, done that.) I guess I love blogging so much because in my own space, there’s no right or wrong, it’s just... me (: Personally, I’ve always divide my life up into categories and that is where I seek to achieve my balance.
I hope that I can grow and develop myself in these three areas: Career, Character, Circle and balance out my time equally amongst them. I don’t want to turn out to be someone who only parties all day with people and in turn neglect my work and self. And I’ll loather myself if I become a workaholic/mugger (all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy) and I definitely don’t wanna focus all on self-development, self-achievement, self-centeredness till I neglect other important things in my life. This may all sound extreme now but I want a reminder for myself not to let this happen to me (thus the motto)
For my motto, I do not wish to have a priority in life, (there is no such thing as “love” comes first or friends’ matters coming before family matters) everything is equally important and I decided that I will put time aside for each area... other than next year. Much as I hate it to be, next year (my A Levels year) will decide where I will continue going in life, whether I can go for the course that I dream of, whether I can go to the university that I aim for. Although I have yet to decide on a specific job, I know that I will want to work in the service industry, working in people-orientated jobs.
So next year, my main focus will be exploring the career department in store for me (love can wait). My driving force in this area is that what I do, (my future occupation that is,) will make people happy. It’ll make people think, “hey why didn’t I think of that before!” or “hey that felt good, I shall pass it on!” And I’d like a job where I get to be creative (not that kind of artsy-creative but the solutions-creative kind). A “work” motto: “Do what you love, love what you do”. (A quote that I got from primary school)
In the character department, I sub-categories it into “Xinying” and “Teh Ah” (Yes I’m an interesting person
I don’t want to choose between being a “dreamer” and a “do-er”. “Teh Ah” will be my dreamer and “XY” will be the latter. In life, there is also the give and take. “Teh Ah” will be the giver (which is why I sign off the cards I give as “Teh Ah”) but Xinying will be the taker. Basically, “Teh Ah” will be the high-profile, optimistic, soft and “yes” side of me while Xinying will be the more serious and reserve one who decide when to say “no”. I guess I’ve to thank my friends who let this nickname: “Teh Ah” sticks and I guess it wasn’t really a mistake I made for my FB name 3 or 4 years ago. So... I guess for my introduction next time, I’ll say, “My name is Xinying but you can call me Teh Ah, an interesting thing about me is that I think that toilets are thinking havens and I love coming up with bathroom philosophy.
Family-wise, I don’t think now is the right time to share about the happenings yet and partner-side I’m still undecided about it. (Mr. Right I know you’re out there somewhere) But friends-wise, I hope I get to spend more time with these people: (never in order of favoritism)
Alicia, Charmaine, Jieyin, Shini, Chenxi, Isabelle, Amy, Christalle, Gladys, Kellie, Jiahui, Zahraa, Nurin, Jiawei, Sandy, Shumin, Enqi, Kaiwen, Brangelina, Shirley, Janice, Yiling, Fengxian, Sally, Cassandra, Xinrui, Lionel, Eugene Tang
Ambitious long list I know. But there’s a lot of them who I haven’t talk to or hang out with in the longest time ever and when I sit down to think about it, if I’ve one month of free time to spend with my friends, these are the people I crave to meet and miss hanging out with desperately. People whom I can talk to, who I have endless to talk about with, no matter how much we MIA in each other’s life. Motherly side of me feels a sudden protective feeling over these people.
P.S. Protective is not possessive.
So referring to my first paragraph, this will be my resolution for the new year (2014) and all the years ahead. To follow and abide by my life motto: “Balance – Not to settle for too little, and never ask for too much.” Hopefully, it’ll help me to grow as a person, a friend, a sister, a daughter, a student, a teammate, and eventually, a worker, a boss, a wife, a daughter-in-law, a mother and... who knows? A grandmother? For those who still don’t get what I mean by a life motto to follow, I’ve googled some examples for you: (edited by yours truly of course)
Personally though, I think (and figured) that a life motto isn’t something that you get off the internet, nor is it something about originality (who cares if 10K people out there shares the same motto as you! Though I admit it’d be cooler to have your very own) But life mottos have to be something you learnt from life yourself. At some point where it all connects to you and you got a “hallelujah” thought about what you want in life. It doesn’t matter when (I took 17 years, I think my mum still doesn’t have any) but I guess the earlier you got it, the better. BUTLife Mottos Samples
why am I doing this...?
No.1: “Where There’s a will, There’s a way.”
One of the most popular mottos which people turn to when they have to convince themselves to continue whatever that they are doing.
No.2: “Learn from yesterday; live for today; hope for tomorrow.”
All versions of this motto are cheesy. Another one being: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow, a mystery and today is a gift. Which is why it is called “the present”. Oh such punny-ness.
No.3: “If life hands you lemons, make lemonade and sell it for a profit.”
This is an overrated motto which I cannot stand. Why do we need to make lemonade? Why not just sell the lemon in the first place?? Is lemonade any sweeter than lemons…? I can add sugar syrup onto a lemon too right.
No.4: “Failure isn’t an option, it’s a choice.”
According to the thesaurus, 'choice' and 'option' are synonyms.
No.5: “If he can do IT, so can I”
... But I’m not a ‘HE’.... (if you get what I mean)
No.6: “Live, Laugh, Love”
So... what happened to eating and sleeping?! I guess for most of us we wouldn’t mind it to be “Eat and Sleep. ... And Eat.”
No.7: “Forget what hurt you, but never forget what it taught you”
Which is why they say “no pain, no gain” I guess
No.8: “Short term sacrifice, long term gain.”
I cannot put down this quote because Mr Xiong made the whole 4J’12 repeat this after him and he had this smug look which says something like: “Well! I make a very good teacher!” Which I find very amusing and hilarious till this day and I really miss his exciting classes and teachings.
No.9: “Life is about kicking ass, not kissing it.”
Well, either one will put you into jail.
No.10: “Hakuna Matata”
This one is good! 3 reasons why it makes a good life motto: 1, it is short and sweet; 2, it has a song based on it; 3, this “motto” comes from Disney!
Life is not a race, do take it slower, hear the music, before the song is over.
This is a super long post (LOL, bear with me, I wrote this out before typing it out de) but anyways, I will now (try to) summarize 2013 in words. I know at the beginning that this is a year of change as I move on from secondary school life to JC-life. I drop physics and geography to take history and economics (risk-taker is I), all of my close friends are in different classes and I entered 5F with people I’ve heard and see in school but never know personally. Not trying to be extreme but I kind of entered a class of strangers in January. Throughout the year, I slowly fell in love with the 5F peeps, 5F environment, and the subjects I’m studying. Im not trying to sound like a nerd but I really like Economics, Chemistry, History (Maths and GP being compulsory so I’ve nothing to say T.T) I think I said blogged this quite a few times already though.
In band, my last batch of seniors stepped down in the top half of the year and I became my little chicks’ (what I call my juniors in band) mother hen. (not the most responsible one I am remorseful to admit) In June to August, I volunteered in NDP 2013 and had the time of my life meeting people from all walks of life and sharpening my social skills. And the best takeaway was making 2 non-chinese friends who taught me a lot about culture sensitivity (in ways they didn’t realize). I think I’ve only 4 non-chinese friends to date: Rizal, Divya, Zahraa and Nurin. LOL. The tragedies of a Chinese-school girl... (I could count my primary school non-chinese friends but we don’t really talk now so...)
It was also in this event that I realize I cannot understand xiao di di and xiao mei mei anymore... The funny things for primary and secondary students, doesn’t sound funny to me at all... :/ Is my humor deteriorating or are kids getting more lame nowadays...? But nonetheless, it was memorable meeting people from other JCs, Polytechnics and Universities. This event was one of the highlight of my 2013 and the times passed by too fast too furious. Speaking of events in 2013, another is RVMUN but truth be told I’m looking forward to RVMUN 2014 more for now. Then come the end of year exams period where I finally decide to work hard but it was too little too late and I almost couldn’t make it to year 6. So this Dec holiday, other than catching up with my friends, I also have to catch up with my studies. Sigh. And it was this holiday where I made unexpected friendships (which I have already mentioned before) and I also grew closer to my dad and brother. All in all, it has been quite a rewarding holiday (in ways that words will not be able to express)
This won’t be a lovely post without some “love” right? This year, I also figured out a lot about love. My trust and perseverance was tested, I debated time and again with giving in and giving up. But this year, I made a motto about love too: “If I cannot accept you at your worst, then I don’t deserve you at your best. Vice versa.” If I can’t stand that you smoke, nor accept the fact that you need to, I don’t deserve to savor the delicious food that you can make. Shit happens, and if I cannot pull through it with you, then when I’m lonely or upset or loveless, I don’t have the rights to ask for your care and love. Others will say that this is like a “give and take” thing and I agree, but I believe it is more than that.
As you spend more time with someone, you learn more about them. Their likes and dislikes, their habits, their behavior, and can you accept it all? If he is very dirty, do you mind cleaning up for him? If his hygiene expectations are very high, are you willing to meet his expectations? You cannot ask someone to change for you, nor is it worth it to change yourself for one person, it’s all about acceptance. Knowing their best and their worst and coming to terms with it. ... I guess that’s true for family too. Well, that’s all from me for 2013. Happy New Years Eve guise :D
XOXO
Xinying, and occasionally Teh Ah
P.S. Favourite quote of 2013: “For none of us would have anything to live for, if we did not have something worth dying for.”
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Before another journey starts
Wednesday, December 11, 2013 | 10:23 PM
Crappy post from yesterday made me decide to write a more heartfelt one to make up for it. I shall start by talking about yesterday. I met up with Yiling, just the two of us and we went cafe hopping at Tiong Baru. I was telling her how a good virtual life means a pretentious social life in real life. If I were to have a lot of nice photos posted today, a good long post on my blog today, will mean that I have been cropping up at home and have the time to do all this online stuffs. Recently it includes blog shopping.
Not planning to go anywhere today other than my piano lesson so that I can have some rest time at home and some me time (like finally). The days that I haven't been blogging or face booking, I've been in school working hard, catching up with friends I met in school doing the same thing as me and if I'm not in school, I'm window-shopping and just hanging out in the malls with friends around the west side of Singapore.
Also have been going out with dad and brother a lot (mostly to look for furniture. My dad say I need to get a good chair when I study or else if I sit at the study table for so long, my neck and back is gonna ache) not hanging out with "friend" much because he don't have time for me recently. Truth be told, it's putting my trust on him to test because while I spend quality time with a lot of other people, I feel very distanced from him.
Anyways, back to talking about yesterday, it was a very eventful one, because it's our first date. LOL. And... I knew Yiling's blog before I knew her. Guess it's true for most of you too. (Tyvm internet) I know her based on my judgement of her and not from knowing her at the start. I remembered feeling and thinking that she's the type of person who has a lot to say but keeps it to herself. Who thinks the whole world is stupid and not worth her time. (I have told this to her personally so it's okays if she reads this)
But there was this time, I forgot when but it's quite recent when we were conversing and we found a similarity between us, our fathers. That was when she saw another side of me, and me, of her. And we realize that our judgement of each other was wrong. Like 360 degrees. I would say 720 degrees but I will just be going around in circles. Okay not the point. Anyways, the more we talk, the more I like to talk with her. She makes me think. Like REALLY think. Sometimes even more than I usually think when I am under my shower-head or on the bus.
She probably did not realize it but she also helped me to discover a lot about myself. I guess you truly learn about yourself when you start talking about your opinions on things. Like what you feel about people, about life in generally, how you treat people and why do you treat them the way you did. .... I wanted to talk about the eventful day yesterday and now I am like writing a dedication for her LOL. For those of you who read her blog (like I did and still does, but I do so more openly now), if by reading it, you feel that she is a very opinionated and strong girl, you are right. But if you think that she's mean and bitchy because of the word she uses and the ways she phrases it, she is less of the bitch you think she is. (I know I never say that she is totally not bitchy. Who isn't bitchy at 17 anyways?) I'm not lying. I was extremely surprised in a totally good way, when I slowly know her better.
So when you read this girl, (I am known for my cheesiness so let me be), know that you are truly appreciated, for your great company, your cuteness (in your own way), and all of you and if we become distanced or grew apart one day eventually, (which is inevitable), know that I will always come to you once in a while. (Even when I'm in university (which I hopefully will be) and have to cope with all the whatnots and have no time for free time. Even when I'm 50 but maybe not after that. :p Because after 50 I will probably be having my menopause and I will be cranky and it will ruin my image) But before I'm 50, I will find you. And I will make you go out eat with me. And correct and improve my lousy English pronunciation. .... Because you are now in my "important people of my life" list.
P.S. If I really have no time to find you, I will just blog about you agains. LOL
Back to talking about yesterday. We wanted to have waffles at tanjong pagar but the cafe was closed. So we went to eat at Tiong baru instead. I have totally no fate with waffles. De other time I wanted to go to this cafe in Chinatown for their strawberry ice cream waffles with Alicia and it was closed too. On a stupid random weekday. I went all the way there too. Sigh. But nonetheless, the food at Tiong baru as good too! I am deprived of good food btw.
It was my first time out with Yiling with just the two of us, (the first time I hang with her outside school was probably during the PW0269 BBQ but that was before we were close and before I really know her and it was with a group of people so it doesn't really count!) Despite the image I have of her, she turns to be quite a funny cluz. It was the first time someone led me to cross the road, just to cross back again LOL. And she has gotta be the queen of spilling drinks. Couldn't have tell right?! Hahahah. Both quite the drama mama.
So speaking of people, someone whom I've been spending quite a lot of times with these days, is Brangelina. A very unexpected friendship there too. Seeing how both our bad reputation gave us a bad start. And only one word can describe her. She is a true blue bimbo LOL. I don't even know where to begin to describe her bimbotic character and actions LOL. But what I love most about her, is that she is not a fake person. If she likes you she will really like you. If she don't like you, she won't bother to pretend to like you.
I guess this is why she seems mean sometimes, when she don't like someone. But she don't like people for a reason de, not those unreasonable: I see you and I bushuang so I don't like you kind. And if we have issues, let's talk it out. Instead of pretending that nothing is wrong and everything is okay. She is someone who is full of life and energy, her non-stop talking whenever I met her makes her irritating and yet entertaining at the same time. Maybe another reason why some people cannot stand her (she was telling me about her enemies de other day) because they couldn't see it a funny and bimbo side of her.
And she is someone whom I feel that I have to protect. Because despite her intelligence and strong character in some areas, her stubbornness in others, after hanging out with her together for a year, one can tell that people might take advantage of her de. I don't mean it physically but now that I think about it maybe that too. LOL. I know that I really didn't want her to be in my class at the start of the year, but now she's one of my favourite person to hang around. Her with her interesting tales.
Her everyday: "OMG IM SO PISSED OFF!"
Me everyday: "AGAIN?!?!"
There are two types of bitchy people that I know. The first is a female dog, hardly human - the way they backstab the people they know, the way they step on others to get to the top, the way they lie, use and manipulate others, and all the underhand things that they do to get what they want. That is the first kind if bitchy. The second kind of bitchy is 三八, the kind who gossip about people (this is unavoidable, do not tell me that you do not gossip about people), and then add their own spices into de gossips (I declare myself guilty of this occasionally but I am trying to maintain already), the kind who knows the line between what's morally right and wrong and stop themselves just as they step on the line, the kind whose words and expressions are more bitchy than their actions. We are all bitchy in a way. We become "mean girls" once in a while. But I will never allow myself or my friends to turn into the first kind of bitch.
Brangelina has a reputation for being a bitch (she confessed that she rolled her eyes at me in my face last year, it was some misunderstanding btw) but as with Yiling, from her, I learnt that some people are more than they seem and are mostly misunderstood, and you should really never judge a book by its cover. Nor a movie by its title/trailer. (Another story for another day). So for Brangelina, here's to you graduating from RV, much better than before, and here's to you finding more friends who are deserving of you! :* I will always be there to here you rant! :p
Someone else who had been there for me recently as I mug in school, was pui pui :* personally, she is the number one person on my list to annoy, to whine and sajiao to. (Probably because of her motherly character) I'm so filled with love for this girl it is hard to continue writing this. LOL. I know I've influenced her a lot and she has became a much better tempered and friendly person from when I met her in 3J two years ago. Hahaha yes I still remember :p
The most ridiculous incident where she got really angry was probably when she flared up (I remember tears...?) because Rio sat on her pocky biscuits (.... Is she gonna kill me for revealing this?) We're both capricorns, and even though she is more capricious than me in many ways but because we're both capricorns, I guess that's why we see many things in the same light. It's great to heart to heart talk with her because she can see where I'm coming from most of the time :D whenever I talk to her, I always feel that I can connect with her. But what's makes me really enjoy her company, is knowing that she enjoys my company and really really wants to hang out with me. ^^ it goes both ways I guess p:
I've been talking to pui pui about my brother too. Who I have been spending alot of time with these holidays. The importance my brother has in my life, cannot be expressed in mere words. And when it comes to family issues, even though I have friends like Isabelle and Yiling (the few who really GET what I mean, no matter how slightly), but my brother is the only one who truly FEEL what I mean and get through thick and thin with me. If I have to thank my parents for one thing, it is for giving me my little brother.
I know I've always wish for an elder brother, to be there to protect me and teach me about society when I'm a teenage girl, instead of having to find out about things the hard way. But my little brother taught me how to care for and protect others, he taught me the importance of kinship between siblings, and he taught me what a great feeling it is, to have someone look up to you, rely on you, and to miss you when you're not home (he always have TONS to talk about when I come back from camps or from a long day out).
He was the first person I ever fought for. I didn't even remember this until he told me a few weeks back. It was the first time I fought with my dad, talking back to him and walking out on him (I always just listen to what he has to say and never go against him de. It is my own way of showing my respect and filiality for him I guess) It happened when my brother was in primary three or four (he's 13 now), and his friends from the student care centre was playing with staple bullets, (he wasn't the one playing) coincidentally my brother's throat starts to hurt and being the paranoid little boy that he was, he thought that the staple bullet got into his mouth
My brother told me about it (when you're the eldest sibling in a family with issues, you are the most important person to the youngest sibling) but he didn't dare to tell my dad because he knows my dad will just scold him. But when we were having dinner, my brother couldn't eat much because of his hurting throat and my dad questioned him so he found out what happened eventually. He flared up. (No surprise. Not even the climax) .... Which made me flare up. I remembered thinking, "the first thing on a father's mind should be how to help his son rather than scolding him for something that he did not do right?!" My brother was crying by then and for the first and only time in my life, I shouted at my dad for his heartlessness.
We find courage in the people we love.
I don't remember the details but I remember running back home alone in the end after my outburst (we were at this hawker centre getting our dinner). I didn't know then that what I did, made a lasting impression in my brother's memory and it made him look up to me. So cute right? I know. :') Unlike most guys I know, even at his tender age of 13, he shows a maturity beyond his years. (Those who hear me talk about my brother before will understand what I mean)
His passion for cooking led him to researching for himself different recipes, types of food, whether this spice goes well with these vegetables etc. Boys his age play handheld games, online games, watch stupid cartoon/dramas and what my brother watches are shows like.... MasterChef. And his knowledge of food is better than my mother. Not only does he know how to cook, he's a funny dude, saying really unexpected things. Maybe not the witty funny but the LOL why would people think until like that kind of funny.
In more than one ways, he fills me with pride whenever I talk about him. Not only does he have good academics results, he's a very easy going guy so I have no fear about him turning into a socially-awkward guy even though most of the people he meet in school now are socially-awkward. (They came to my house to do project before, so trust me. Those boys boys are weird.....) Kids his age, worry about winning online games and beating their friends' high score. But my brother? .... He worry about my family's debts and bills. Geez I'm seventeen and the eldest child and yet I.....
His maturity makes my heart aches quite often. But I know that it also makes me love him more. I just hope that he will have a happier childhood than what he is going through now. He once said that he think our dad very pitiful because of all the stress which our father is going through which made him have anger management issues. I wanted to tell him that it's not pity that we feel for our dad. The sadness we felt are the heart aches to see what he has to go through to support this family, because he is our father and to some extent, cheesy as it sounds, we do love him.
Because no matter what, since the beginning, all we have are each other in the end.
I didn't tell him then because he was only 12 but after talking, or rather, listening to him, I know that it is soon time to discuss the serious issues with him. Ones that our parents doesn't tell him about. And correcting him about his opinions and reflections on matters he observe in our family, in our society. Sometimes he has cooler points of views though. But he will definitely need advice. And if our parents can't be there for him, he needs to know that he can rely on me.
But he is growing up too fast. And sometimes I can't quite catch up.
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Over the top, but under the rock
Tuesday, December 10, 2013 | 10:17 PM
It’s been a while since I last posted something and next year I don’t think I am going to blog much. Sucks right? I know, don’t miss me. ): And while I was pretty high profile on social network, now I don’t really care about it anymore. And I realize I am much happier now. All the “likes” and “approval” that I get on Facebook and Twitter, will never amount to the bliss I feel from the love I get from my “Friend”, compliments in real life as I heart-to-heart-talk with my friends, and the quality time I spend with my family. For the first time in my life, these holidays, I’ve feel like I’ve finally grown up.
The thing is, I’m turning 18 in thirty-six days. (Yes totally hinting for a birthday present). It’s 15th January if you are too lazy to do the Maths. And this is actually a first but I am finally feeling my age, and embracing it. When I was turning 17 on January this year, I still felt 15. Because, my life didn’t change much. I still rely on a counsellor to sort my thoughts right, (since 12-years-old gosh) and I still rely on my “Friend” to always forgive me for my immature-ness, and I still couldn’t understand my family issues and my priorities were all wrong, studying second and social life first.
I have had my wake up call. And for those who don’t, (and are still studying for the sake of it) here’s the deal and harsh painful truth: MIRACLES DO NOT EXIST. We’ve heard of tons of success stories, about how students who scored ‘U’ and ‘S’ get a ‘B’ and ‘A’ in A Levels in the end. It happened not because there was a miracle; they talked about working very hard, stopping their social life and games. They did and got their rewards in the end. It is really all about walking the talk. And for some people, they need more time to catch up, to understand, to learn. People like me.
Why did I start talking about this? Because I was SHOCKED when I talked to my classmate de other day at the school library. He wasn’t doing the assignments but was just copying the answers over because according to him, “he doesn’t know how to do it”. I told him that he only had 300 plus days left and he said that that is still a lot of time. It really pissed me off. And I told him,
“We have two years in junior college. The first year we learnt all these topics, then we screwed up and by the end of the first year you still don’t understand what you have learnt. You have wasted your first year. But your competitors out there, are not only doing well, but are also starting to prepare for the topics next year. But YOU are left with 300 plus days to learn everything for the past year and next year. PLUS revision for everything. How is that a lot of time left?”
Now that I think about it, why am I panicking for my friends when I should be panicking for myself...?
The following parts of the post was written in 7th November and I never finish writing it and I don’t think I will after all, so I will just post it as it is because it would be a waste to just leave it aside.
Was doing GP (General Paper) holiday homework this morning and I was supposed to write 2 essay outlines from a choice of 24 questions. When choosing the questions to write about, we normally go for the safe ones, the ones which we know we will score better for. But these questions are not necessarily the ones that really interest us or ones that we feel a strong passion/opinion for.
Out of the 24 questions, there were four that really made me stop to think, about the issue presented and about life itself in relation to it. I didn’t write my essay outlines on these four questions though (I chose another two questions). Mainly because I feel emotions towards these questions raised and I really don’t want to get emotions tangled into my work again. And partly because I am baffled by it and what I feel towards it might not be right. The four questions are:
1) ‘Originality is overrated.’ Do you agree?
2) Is modern life in greater need of a ‘pause’ button or a ‘rewind’ button?
3) The mass media is a scapegoat for the ills of society. To what extent do you agree?
4) Should we work to live rather than live to work?
Before I launch into a full essay (No I don’t plan to write a full essay, but just some thoughts. This is why I chose to blog about this instead of coming up with an essay outline anyway. Well, sorry to disappoint but I don’t entertain, unless you are Mr. “Friend” or something then maybe I will go out of my way to make your day. ANYWAYS), I was just wondering, if what I am about to write, is something that the examiner/reader/you had read before, AKA non-original, would they/you still bother or be interested to read further? Originality is essential (especially when it comes to blogging) because otherwise, it’s just B-O-R-I-N-G with no element of surprise.
But of course, this essay is not about what originality is, whether it is essential or not, the question is whether it is overrated. So before one falls into the trap of writing WHAT originality IS, let’s just get to the point.
Thesis: Originality is not overrated.
Anti-thesis: Originality is overrated.
And having written till here, I think I will never make it as a GP/English/Language teacher. LOL Anyway, as promised, I will not write an essay out of this, (I wonder how many times I have reiterated this… I see my potential in being a nagger now) I will just blog about why I think originality is NOT overrated.
Just look at PW (Yes I truly thought that after talking about it in two posts, I am done with it and will not blog about it again but here I am…) For our Project to stand out, we must have an interesting topic first, explore areas in which little touch on. And the proposed strategies that we come up with for PW? It is all about being original so that we can stand out. The competition is getting stronger. You will lose out if you give ideas that others have already thought of. It is all about being unique and different. And the more you stand out, the more others pay attention to you, and… More points for you (:
BUT originality is overrated when you look at the recent celebrity headlines. Although I look like a wild child to many, I am surprisingly conservative (Like how I shocked my classmates when I told them that I don’t listen to K-pop and my favourite genre of music is actually Blues/Swings/Jazz and they just told me I don’t look like those type who’d enjoy such music). Anyways, in the bling bling world (or Hollywood), I think originality is overrated. And I write this with Lady Gaga’s outfits and Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball in mind. It’s not a bad song (it’s extremely catchy actually) but I think the MV is just... Overrated. This is my personal opinion by the way, that there’s no need to go to such lengths to stand out. But then again, it is a different world.
I guess this question was asked assuming that right now, we are pressing frantically on the “play button”. “LIVE THE MOMENT!” “TREASURE EVERY MOMENT!” “Live your life RIGHT NOW!” Screams right at us, to seize the moment. Well I guess that there’s no argument there, there’s no moment to waste according to “them”. Back to the question.
The “pause” button constantly pop up in my life but not to the things around me. Just look at the new malls, JEM (which celling just fell not too long ago, thanks to the hastiness of building it) and I think there’s a new mall not far from JJC. And oceans away, they say that in China, there is a new business being set up every day. But just 3 days ago, I read on the newspaper, that an 8-year-old girl has contracted lung cancer in a heavily-industrialized area (in China). What is shocking is that she is the youngest person recorded to contract lung cancer, the average age to contract lung cancer is 70-years-old (statistics from the same article that I read from).
*deep breath* Yeah we need to stop for a while. But no one dares to. Because they are afraid that they will lose out while they are at a standstill. When you’re travelling on the bus, have you ever look out at the trees? Did you notice that there are some trees that are smaller than the others? They are the ones with shorter branches, lesser leaves, and covered by the larger trees, hidden from the sunlight by the widespread leaves of the larger trees. And they remain small, because it is hard for them to get sunlight to grow, and they remain small.
We are afraid to be that small tree so we all struggle to grow, before the others outshine, outgrew and out-talent us. But wait, what happens when there is no sunlight and when the rain comes? The lightning strikes the tallest tree. So before rushing into things, I think it is important to stop. Modern life is in greater need of a ‘pause’ button because to go back is impossible and the ‘rewind’ button does not exist.
Sorry for the abrupt ending there about the post because I have had the worst case of writer's block. LOL. And it just came back so ... I really think this is quite a bad post actually... (I feel like I sounded like some naggy mother and old fashion mindset auntie and all the words just doesn't come together like how I was hoping it would) I apologize for my hiatus and my lousy-quality work after my long break. Anyways, there's nothing much to expect from me. FOR NOW.
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