Saturday, August 22, 2009

ron - confessions of a wallflower

these days, i have been more sedated than usual. i believe that it's a good thing, because at least it keeps me focussed on the things that need my immediate attention. even though being focussed may not be sufficient for now, but it is the bare minimum and i can convince myself any day that anything grey is black.

i have been lamenting non stop to people around me how much i dislike having your tertiary education in Singapore.

It's kinda frustrating because when you turn your head to the left in the concourse, you spot someone familiar - your primary school nemesis. next you turn your head to the right, you spot yet another familiar face - the jocks in your secondary school. then you look ahead and you see yet another familiar face - you don't know where she's from but you know you've seen her before. The whole friggin' world is at the SMU concourse! Well, if you know me well enough by now, i don't exactly enjoy seeing the same human scenery my entire student life. Case against.

There's this strange notion in the education system in Singapore. I'm not too sure about that with regards to overseas education, but in Singapore, they tend to take this passive aggressive stand on making 'compulsory' things voluntary or worse still, voluntary matters compulsory. Case in point, CCA and Community Service. Well, CCA is technically not a requirement, but somehow it has the effect of amplifying your CV or resume for that future dream job. And when the whole world is somewhat involved in some form of weird society or crappy sport, you just feel like its 'compulsory'. Community Service on the other hand stems from self-volunteering, but when your school deem it as a prerequisite to obtaining your degree, i can't help but wonder: isn't this a example of compulsion to perform a voluntary deed? Whoever mentioned that volunteering should come from the heart clearly got his or her facts wrong. The latest trend in SMU suggests otherwise. Case against.

You would think the tapestry of fellow peers with various exuberant personalities would somehow convince me otherwise. Unfortunately, it is ingrained in my genes that i totally abhor 'ra-ra' and all the 'lets get it going and bring this house down'. People think it's fun to play with sand and jump into the water, roll around in the mud and chase one another. How is that fun? Self-depreciating humour is way better than that. Case against.

Few weeks ago i went to Melbourne and crashed my friend's lectures @ the University of Melbourne. It kinda felt like JC all over again, but with more freedom to move around. No passive aggressive compulsion to take up a CCA (you do it only when you passionate to). No compulsory Community Service (once again you do it to while away your time and if you really support the cause.) You could do things alone without feeling so alone, because it seemed to be the natural flow there. You feel like a happy and contented wallflower, because almost everyone else is one too.nd And oh the weather. the weather. and the leafless trees.

Unfortunately, I have zero cash and negative foresight, and so i will walk along the concourse and say hi to the familiar face right, left, ahead. I will join a weird society and take up a crappy sport. I will perform 80 hours of Community Service to obtain my degree. (No i still won't play with sand and jump into the water, if case you were wondering how far i would go)

i will grow to love studying in Singapore. I'm sure about that. -.-
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moved along at 8:51 AM
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