I've been struck most recently by the fear of becoming what I don't want to become. Hm...okay that was a little long-winded, but basically there're just so many things that I dislike about just so many people that I'm afraid in the future I'll end up being guilty of one of them, which is entirely possible and definitely would already have taken place.
I guess I'm just being really picky about how people should behave in public? I'm someone who, even though I know it's the wrong thing to do, tends to put a little too much attention of material well being, emphasizing on each person's accolades and accomplishments, and judging almost everyone based on his or her ability to contribute to society.
But maybe that's just what this world has taught me to be? I look around and see everyone talking about applying for this and that, going for one prestigious attachment to another, this university to the next and all I can think about if what for? Why not just stay in Singapore? As if everyone has experienced so much of Singapore that this country has become redundant to them? Sure it may only take half an hour to travel the length of the island in a car during the off-peak hours, but surely there're many things that said potential emigrants have yet to partake in that would give them a new 'outlook on life'. I myself cannot currently think of any such experiences, partly because I haven't been going about looking for them either.
Why then would people be so hardup about going overseas? The different level of education is one thing but there're just too many people who sacrifice quality for the chance to be able to escape from Singapore and continue their education somewhere else, which in my humble opinion is a serious waste of their time and money and I hope they realise it before it's too late. If it's just the thrill of a holiday in a foreign country people seek why not just go there for just that, a holiday!? Why subject oneself to the stressful competition and toils of bidding for scholarship funding, or a place in a university by compiling endless testimonials and certificates? All doesn't amount to anything in my book if you just end up in a crappy university surrounded by ang mohs. Wow, new lifestyle, new surroundings, but a lousy degree to show for it at the end of the day.
Yes, admittedly I may seem biased about this issue because I've never been an advocate of this course of education. I am the anti-risk taker, the one who would follow the given path (most of the time) rather than stray from it for fear of being doomed to getting swallowed by the freaks of nature that prowl the streets of today. Just think about it, how easy is it to be exploited in a land you're completely unsure about? I've been to the states, and what struck me is how liberal people are there, and how easy it is to lose sight of one's ambitions because there are so many things to distract a person over there. Not that there aren't any in Singapore, but definitely much less.
Ah crap, I'm done ranting for now but seriously, some of the people that just desperately campaign for such overseas education really put me off.
slau | 2:28 AM
