Friday, October 28, 2005
Enjoying your work or working to enjoy life?
A friend of mine said the other day that it is not realy necessary to find a job that you realy enjoy. The idea is to do something such that you have the resources to do the things that you enjoy. So if we were always were looking for a job that we would enjoy we would be forever starting afresh and then would be stuck at quite a low salary range for a while hence wont be able to do other things that we enjoy. Ok that was a bit confusing but well there is somewhat of a point there. Though i'm not so sure I agree with it. The big flaw I see in that argument is that most of us work 5 - 6 days a week till at least 6pm so unless we have brilliant time management skills how are we actually supposed to do all these things out of work? The maximum we'd get it one day per week and even if we do get to something we enjoy then i don't think its worth not enjoying you self the other 6/7th of the time. I mean I totally see it happening even with those around me - cannot go out on weeknights because you must come home and sleep to get up early the next day - even if you plan something for the evenings more often that not there maybe something to prepare for the next day and then thats gone - even on sundays whole day affairs cannot be planned casue that is the only day you have to tidy up your homes and do other domestic stuff.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Fighting over everything
Everything we do seems to be a fight over a small number of resources. When I mean fight I dont mean physically punches or a full fledged war but ... err well I think everyone knows what I mean. We struggle! We struggle for housing and land. If your working then your fighting for resources or funding to finish a project - even though you are working for the same company. Even studies - everyone doesn't get equal marks... theres something called a bell curve so you have to fight to get to the other side of the curve even if you generally do well. Then you fight for a limited number of jobs and promotions. Sometime you push yourself other times you try to push off the other person. People even fight to keep friends or find a 'soulmate'!
Ok someones going to say wow brainiac are you just seeing this now! I guess so. So I guess thats existence a fight to survive. And you spend so much time on the fight that you have no time to spend on what you actually fought for. I guess thats why reality programs do pretty well .... they just exaggerate and make an obvious competition out of what we all do.
Ok someones going to say wow brainiac are you just seeing this now! I guess so. So I guess thats existence a fight to survive. And you spend so much time on the fight that you have no time to spend on what you actually fought for. I guess thats why reality programs do pretty well .... they just exaggerate and make an obvious competition out of what we all do.
Friday, January 07, 2005
Ramble Ramble Ramble...
Ok to start this off I'm bored hence the post. Stuck in the lab waiting for my prof to come - supposed to have a meeting so cant do anything either. Just waiting and waiting...
People complain that others are shallow, see only surface level etc...I have said that too no question about it; but now all of sudden I think is it possible to be too deep? I mean its a good thing to see beyond the surface of things and analyse get to the root of the issue and so on but when you do that with everything doesn't that make you cynical of everything and no enjoyment is left? Take a book or a movie for example - one can watch it and be highly entertained by it - it may or may not have a deeper meaning - but do we always have to look for that deeper meaning/message moral of story so to speak. I guess in a way thats how we were brought up - fables and stuff how ever amusing or adventurous would have a meaning and in case you missed it there at the end would be " moral of story is....". Obviously that would be insane to put that in movies and novels but must it be there - couldn't it just be a piece of work for pure enjoyment sake? Maybe the way I think has to do with my general disposition - no one has ever accused me of being shallow but I would admit to my self that I'm not an overly "deep" person. I guess im a half half person in almost everything I do - a sitter on the fence so to speak. But being that I sometimes don't see sarcasm and the like cause I don't look for it or think it would be there. When I tend to look at things at face value I guess I miss a lot of intended conversation - but then I sometimes see others find meanings or sarcasm where they are not present at all - if you look hard enough you will find it even if its your own interpretation.
On that note - my friends say I am easily contended - maybe its true to an extent or is it that I appear so. I have a feeling that the later is the case as I want this and that and do this and that and a lot of thins never accomplished and I do have regrets. So what does contentment mean exactly is it waht you feel or what others perceive - is it that even if you want los of things if you can be happy with what you have - thats contentment?
Sometimes in the heat of argument or discussion I feel like saying something but don't ...or think aout it and think about it till it becomes irrelevant so I dont say it anyway. Then I go have a pretend conversation of what I should have said. Ha talking to oneself - is it a sign of going cookoo - hey it cant be all that different from writing journals or blogging - kind of the same thing isnt it. So what I think is if all these people are keeping journals a) the world is filled with cookoo people or talking to oneself is perfectly fine - so says the mad one.
I see pretense everywhere, everyone pretends to some extent I guess its the severity that worries me. We all present different faces to different people - families realy close friends, aquaintences, professional associates. Its the fault of society to some extent that if we were the same to everyone one or the other group would be so shocked. (Try shaking hands and waiting to be asked to sit and all polite careful talk with you close friends and see how wierd that would be). Well when I mean pretense is when a person tries oh so hard to put a face that goes so against what everything else about him is saying. You can see the excitement when a person wants to say run around and play the fool or something but maybe is taught to prim and proper so doesn't do it or does so when no one else is looking - hmm, is that because its demanded of by society? Proper behaviour withing reason is fine but beyond just makes it a bit ridiculous. But then again reason is what each of decide for ourselves I guess.
Ha think enough rambling for one day!
People complain that others are shallow, see only surface level etc...I have said that too no question about it; but now all of sudden I think is it possible to be too deep? I mean its a good thing to see beyond the surface of things and analyse get to the root of the issue and so on but when you do that with everything doesn't that make you cynical of everything and no enjoyment is left? Take a book or a movie for example - one can watch it and be highly entertained by it - it may or may not have a deeper meaning - but do we always have to look for that deeper meaning/message moral of story so to speak. I guess in a way thats how we were brought up - fables and stuff how ever amusing or adventurous would have a meaning and in case you missed it there at the end would be " moral of story is....". Obviously that would be insane to put that in movies and novels but must it be there - couldn't it just be a piece of work for pure enjoyment sake? Maybe the way I think has to do with my general disposition - no one has ever accused me of being shallow but I would admit to my self that I'm not an overly "deep" person. I guess im a half half person in almost everything I do - a sitter on the fence so to speak. But being that I sometimes don't see sarcasm and the like cause I don't look for it or think it would be there. When I tend to look at things at face value I guess I miss a lot of intended conversation - but then I sometimes see others find meanings or sarcasm where they are not present at all - if you look hard enough you will find it even if its your own interpretation.
On that note - my friends say I am easily contended - maybe its true to an extent or is it that I appear so. I have a feeling that the later is the case as I want this and that and do this and that and a lot of thins never accomplished and I do have regrets. So what does contentment mean exactly is it waht you feel or what others perceive - is it that even if you want los of things if you can be happy with what you have - thats contentment?
Sometimes in the heat of argument or discussion I feel like saying something but don't ...or think aout it and think about it till it becomes irrelevant so I dont say it anyway. Then I go have a pretend conversation of what I should have said. Ha talking to oneself - is it a sign of going cookoo - hey it cant be all that different from writing journals or blogging - kind of the same thing isnt it. So what I think is if all these people are keeping journals a) the world is filled with cookoo people or talking to oneself is perfectly fine - so says the mad one.
I see pretense everywhere, everyone pretends to some extent I guess its the severity that worries me. We all present different faces to different people - families realy close friends, aquaintences, professional associates. Its the fault of society to some extent that if we were the same to everyone one or the other group would be so shocked. (Try shaking hands and waiting to be asked to sit and all polite careful talk with you close friends and see how wierd that would be). Well when I mean pretense is when a person tries oh so hard to put a face that goes so against what everything else about him is saying. You can see the excitement when a person wants to say run around and play the fool or something but maybe is taught to prim and proper so doesn't do it or does so when no one else is looking - hmm, is that because its demanded of by society? Proper behaviour withing reason is fine but beyond just makes it a bit ridiculous. But then again reason is what each of decide for ourselves I guess.
Ha think enough rambling for one day!
Monday, January 03, 2005
A different 31st night
A week or so before we had made plans of what to do on 31st night, but well what a difference it was. Even here in Singapore which could be said as relatively untouched the major fireworks and countdowns were cancelled or very scaled down. By around 10pm when we were getting back from the embassy we were so tired that most of us just considered going to bed...but decided to stay up till midnight at least. Just sat and talked and suddenly realized it was 12, wished each other in the most anticlimactic of ways. Then around 2 we get calls from Sri Lanka and were told that not a single cracker had sounded. Very different from the normal days indeed.
On a similar note, it has been very heart warming to see people help out. Even though I have heard of reports of aid being hijacked and looting and false alarms etc...I want to beleive that overall people have become good for the time being. Even over here we see locals who come to drop off stuff then end up helping to load the containers till night - there were even realy old folk who I was feeling extreamely scared about them carrying stuff. On 31st, since it was a holiday there was a large turn out of people to help. There were even little kids lugging around boxes that were twice as big as them!!. One lady mentioned to my friend that she had dropped off all her kids at different points to help. Makes one feel guilty for having such a cushy life!
On a similar note, it has been very heart warming to see people help out. Even though I have heard of reports of aid being hijacked and looting and false alarms etc...I want to beleive that overall people have become good for the time being. Even over here we see locals who come to drop off stuff then end up helping to load the containers till night - there were even realy old folk who I was feeling extreamely scared about them carrying stuff. On 31st, since it was a holiday there was a large turn out of people to help. There were even little kids lugging around boxes that were twice as big as them!!. One lady mentioned to my friend that she had dropped off all her kids at different points to help. Makes one feel guilty for having such a cushy life!
Monday, December 27, 2004
Tsunami
This has been a sad day in this region. I was sitting here in a country sheltered and hence saved by the land masses of Indonesia and Malaysia, but being totally worried about those back home. Having my parents living by the sea was of no comfort even though they were in Colombo and was totally frustrated at not being able to get through. Finally got the message passed through by a friend in Sri Lanka and only then was I able to breathe easy.
Even though my family is safe my heart goes out to all those who are suffering through this. The figures im getting here are horrific and for a small nation having such high amounts of devastation is going to be very difficult to overcome. Even after all this is over, there will be so many problems to overcome like getting clean water and shelter and things like that and starting to rebuild. Thankfully I hear that aid is on its way from a lot of countries including India which under the circumstances that its also been affected is great.
Well finally I hope that all these predictions of aftershocks will not produce further tsunamis.
Even though my family is safe my heart goes out to all those who are suffering through this. The figures im getting here are horrific and for a small nation having such high amounts of devastation is going to be very difficult to overcome. Even after all this is over, there will be so many problems to overcome like getting clean water and shelter and things like that and starting to rebuild. Thankfully I hear that aid is on its way from a lot of countries including India which under the circumstances that its also been affected is great.
Well finally I hope that all these predictions of aftershocks will not produce further tsunamis.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Making a difference :)
Well...decide to put up this post cause one my closest friends was reading another blog where she was mentioned as someone who had made a difference in that persons life and said "If you have a blog you put my name". Haha ok well I will say "You have made a difference in mine"... wont mention names cause I dont believe in it but she knows who she is. Oh ya PS not just mentioning this cause she asked me to I truly mean what I said - I guess the most important factor is that she's opened my eyes to a lot of things and taught me a lot of things ;).
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Its a rat race
Ya ok this is not the first time ive heard of life being a rat race but I'm seeing it affect kids and thats when it beomes scary. Two things brought this feeling about.
First one; Some of my class mates gave this presentation about the education system here and you know what, kids at primary 3,4 are required to take exams that put them into different streams - whats this based on maths english and mother toungue. And here itself the differentiation begins ... based on these streaming execersises they go into different streams in Secondary school (Olevels) - and if you are stuck in a "lower ability stream" then you get to sit for the normal olevels with which you can only go to polytechnics or vocational institutes!! Only those in the express/special streams go on to Alevels and university. Hmm interesting so your life is decided in class 4!!!. Seriously how many of us can say we knew what were going to do in university at that age...or even did our academics then reflect what we are today? What option does a kid in this system have, just study study study! We see a lot of kids doing the next years work one year ahead in the holidays just to keep up - when did we ever care about that.
Second incident; The lab where im doing my project suddenly had some younger people... so I decided to satisfy my curiosity - turns out they are 1st year ALevel people who have come to do projects in their decmber holidays. I go WHAT! Ok granted its an interesting thing to do and they are lucky to have the oportunity. But think about some of the knowledge required for even the simplest understanding is difficult to get even at fourth year uni level and I am trying to explain the concepts of the project that has "big words" to a student who hasn't got polarization yet - so looks like he has to spend his holidays learning things that are taught at university level at the least. (Ya I was given the task of explaining some stuff to one of them who was to be doing something similar to me.) Asked him how exactly he came to be doing this and he says he wanted to (im thinking is he normal!- ok he'll go far:))
First one; Some of my class mates gave this presentation about the education system here and you know what, kids at primary 3,4 are required to take exams that put them into different streams - whats this based on maths english and mother toungue. And here itself the differentiation begins ... based on these streaming execersises they go into different streams in Secondary school (Olevels) - and if you are stuck in a "lower ability stream" then you get to sit for the normal olevels with which you can only go to polytechnics or vocational institutes!! Only those in the express/special streams go on to Alevels and university. Hmm interesting so your life is decided in class 4!!!. Seriously how many of us can say we knew what were going to do in university at that age...or even did our academics then reflect what we are today? What option does a kid in this system have, just study study study! We see a lot of kids doing the next years work one year ahead in the holidays just to keep up - when did we ever care about that.
Second incident; The lab where im doing my project suddenly had some younger people... so I decided to satisfy my curiosity - turns out they are 1st year ALevel people who have come to do projects in their decmber holidays. I go WHAT! Ok granted its an interesting thing to do and they are lucky to have the oportunity. But think about some of the knowledge required for even the simplest understanding is difficult to get even at fourth year uni level and I am trying to explain the concepts of the project that has "big words" to a student who hasn't got polarization yet - so looks like he has to spend his holidays learning things that are taught at university level at the least. (Ya I was given the task of explaining some stuff to one of them who was to be doing something similar to me.) Asked him how exactly he came to be doing this and he says he wanted to (im thinking is he normal!- ok he'll go far:))
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