Thoughts: Work, Play, Life

Work
In the blink of an eye, we are now around the middle of term three. Exam results are back, fears have been confirmed, confidence has been shattered, other fears have been dispelled. Four days after the release of results, comparisons have been made, top students have been announced, them hogging the limelight, while the lower mortals below can only blend in with the crowd. When comparing your own results with other peoples, the first question is with whom should you compare your results - your closest friends, your classmates or perhaps only the best? The second question would be how fair would it be to compare yourself with these people? They may take different subject combinations, they may have had different teachers, but what if there is ceteris paribus, everything else is kept constant, the only difference is the points between you and the guy just like you, would that mean you are the inferior person? In the meritocratic society of Singapore, maybe only the score matters, for it is with numbers that parents can confidently boast about their children's achievements. Then again, maybe these two question shouldnt have arised in the first place, as the best comparison is with yourself. You know your capabilities, you know yourself, you know how well you can do, or maybe you don't, those are just illusions set by your ego to deceive yourself and this test will reveal your true self to you. Who knows what we are all capable of, the limits of men are bounded only by the restrictions we place upon ourselves. To break your own limit, a limit break, would that be the best that we all hope to strive towards? Who knows?

Play
I have been watching more movies recently, on the big screen that is. Get Smart... The Incredible Hulk... Wanted... Hancock... Hrmm, whats the point of watching movies on the big screen anyway? In this technological age, I'm sure there are other ways to watch the movie, if legality is not part of the issue. Well, the big screen has... a big screen, and loud sounds, and the satisfaction that you are paying the creator of the movie for his hard work (think 22 years). Well there's also friends. We all watch movies with our friends, so we can talk about the references and jokes in the movies after that. There is a certain connection from being in the same dark room with your friends for a couple of hours, staring into the moving light. Maybe these feelings are all just the same but upgraded emotions from our primitive days, where spending hours sitting together without fighting is a huge achievement in its own right. Anyways, for those four movies mentioned above, they are all nice movies, though some reviews have said otherwise. My standard for watching shows isn't high at all, I would like to believe that I can appreciate the works of art presented before me, unless the shows are really crap. Also, the latest movie I watched has just brought new meaning into one phrase I commonly use --- Good Job.

Life
The question of Life. Who am I? We are all humans, grouped into groups for convinience. There's the 50-50 split of gender, and then theres race, nationality, age, maritial status, school and more. Of those mentioned above, which is the best distinction? I would say age. Age is the record of how much of your limited life you have used up to gain exp in this life, and roughly how much more you have left. People of the same age can more oftenly relate to each other, rather than simply by gender, or race. Walking past people in a street, I pass another human male, I take no notice, I pass another Chinese, or another Singaporean, they dont matter. Then I pass a person of similar age to myself, and I sense a connection, we have lived in the same time peiod, borned mere years or months apart. We have both survived in this world till now, and happen to pass each other in the street. To quote somewhere, bonus points for whoever that knows where I got this from: "It's okay if we never meet again, I'm lucky you were here just for awhile."

But I digress. The main point that I wanted to write for Life is about Gep. These three innocent letters, put together in this order, creates numerous connotations and stereotypes when hurled at a person. I would not go into detail on what a Gep is, but today I was given a chance to reflect on what it means. A certain person was given a chance to make an announcement, and he did it in his usual flair and style. I instinctively cringed, as anyone would do when they see or hear other people seemingly attempting to embarass themselves. And then I heard unflattering comments and snide remarks from behind me. Call me bias, but I would tolerate such impolite behaviour if the person speaking was not my friend. Their attitudes and intolerance for anything out of the ordinary is what makes them just part of the general crowd. I don't know what they want, but if every single announcement for the rest of the year would be made in a monotonous voice, maybe they would be happy. It's no wonder why there's no one in their class that are Gep. Labels are meant to distinguish groups of people from each other, and they sure do a good job from separating the different people from the crowd. These labels will stick on us for a long time, whether we like it or not, but maybe, just maybe, we'll be the ones having the last laugh.

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