Thursday, June 12, 2003

Finally, Sachpal gave me something to do! You're an Angel, Pal... only on certain days.

1. Society states that love alone can make a person happy. What is your opinion about it?

I wish it could. But then, love like all emotions is irrational, unquantifiable and abstract. (So is happiness, but that's another GP essay). Love has several degrees and dimensions, not to forget connotations, so I personally think that such a vague question deserves a vague answer.
I don't agree with Pal that love + money is the answer. You could be the Queen of England (I'm sure she's loved by at least some) and still not be happy.
Happiness itself is not something that can be generalised. What makes you happy? Chatting with your best friends? Seeing a baby smile? Receiving a compliment? Scoring straight As? Playing Warcraft 3? Your pet hamster? Sex? ... There isn't one answer, there isn't even a correct answer, furthermore what satisfies you changes with time (and if you allow me to ramble even further I'll start bring in the Marginal Utility Theory). This is the problem with creating statements that are just too general.
It's a roundabout debate because there aren't enough parameters. But I won't discount love. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

2. What is your take on portraying a false image?

I don't think anyone wants to portray a false image intentionally. It all boils down to acceptance, even now there are still bits and pieces of me I can't accept, so I wear masks. Many people have double personalities. Sometimes I think I have triple, quadruple, quintuple... Is that a false image? I don't know. Sometimes it seems like a matter of survival. Our peer environments can be so hostile and no one wants to feel left out.

3. Life has become more like a rat race in this century.

Rat race is Western. Here we call it kiasuism. Aye, I totally agree. Everyone is biting and clawing their way to the top... and I'm being pulled along by the current as well... Somedays I feel like I can only hold my head up high because I got great SPM results, or because I was an ASEAN scholar, or because I was in RJ or because I got into an Ivy League and a top UK university, or because I'm going to attain a proffesional degree in Engineering and not some fluffy social science degree (sniff!)... but where am I going to hide my face when God says that all those things don't count on judgement day?

4. Some say premarital sex is bad. What is your opinion?

Seeing how marriage as an institution is slowly disintegrating... I don't know. I don't condemn it, I don't condone it. It's a matter of whether you can handle it...

5. Pornography. Good or Bad?

Haha... this is bloody controversial. Pornography puts alot of pressure on sex and satisfaction, etc. etc. But some guys say it's educational (*rolls eyes*). Whatever! It gives you guys (and some girls) kicks and as long as you're not out there commiting crimes later on... and you don't really believe that sex is as good as it looks on tv!

6. What’s you take on death? What about personal feelings regarding death?

There's only one thing about death that scares me... would you know my name, if I saw you in Heaven? Would you be the same, if I saw you in Heaven?

7. What are your comments about society?

I live in a happy little society where everyone looks out only for their own interest. They criticise the authorities for not looking out for them but don't even know their next door neighbour's name. They demand the rights of a developed nation (higher salaries, shorter working days) while simply forgetting that there are regions in this country with no telephone lines or water utilities yet. They want quick profits with minimum effort. They want short cuts to everything, even if its education. And especially if they are not bumiputeras they believe they owe the system nothing since the system worked against them from the start.
*cough*
Sorry, got carried away. But my society isn't that bad if you ignore it's flaws.

8. What are the important criteria you look for in a guy/girl?

Curly hair isn't one of them. *glare*. I think it would be that I have to feel completely comfortable with him, that I can tell him anything and he won't think less of me (even when I tell him about all the terrible things I've done to other guys, or when he discovers that I can be a nasty, stubborn little twerp). And most importantly I have to feel that I can be myself in front of him, no masks, no pretense... just me. Oh and if he's a snag (or even pretends to be... YOU tricked me!), he won't need a magnet!

9. Friends. Are they important?

Yes! You don't need a rocket scientist to tell explain that to you!

10. Lastly, what are your observations regarding people around you? (E.g. neighbourhood, university, etc.)

I thought I answered a similar question above? Oh well, I don't know. The only people I see nowadays are my mum, my dad, my bro and my sis. They are all generally nice people.
My neighbourhood is really quiet. Next door is a family with 4 boys (aged between 24 and 6) and my siblings and I make more noise than they do (of course we have the advantage of owning a piano, a violin, 4 guitars, a stereo system and well developed lungs).
My college... LOL... no, you don't want me to get started on my college, please! Lets just say that in 20 years time if you gave me a list of the most successful people in the world, I gurantee you most of them would be my college mates. I'm just hoping my classmates will still remember me and how I helped them with their essays when they become premier of China.