2013 - Mother Earth shall experience stoppage of all power generated devices, basically we will get cut off our electricity supply.
Then I recalled the trip to Egypt. The tour guide told us about the Bedouin tribe (nomads) of Egypt, that they actually send their kids to village schools until the age of 10 before they stop schooling. The rationale being they do not want their kids to be educated because they fear they will pay the price of their kids abandoning the nomad lifestyle. For education empowers someone with knowledge and at the same time with desires for a better life. Education has its ugly side.
The various issues under scrutiny this time round is bound to upset some readers but there should be no resemblance to any particular person and if it does, it's purely coincidental. :)
1. Purpose of having a wish-list.
I watched tooth fairy on the flight back from Cairo to Singapore. The movie tells of "the Rock" as a professional ice hockey player who is well-known to be extremely critical and "kills off young children's dreams". As a punishment, he became a tooth fairy.
Honestly, I've come across countless discussions either with friends or listen to random strangers blabbering about their wish-list. Some post them on their blogs, others announce it on facebook, while a handful constantly have them at the back of their mind. As you can see, I've one too. So I start to ponder about the true significance of having a wish-list. Is it there to remind your loved ones and friends that you desire something and you hope that some day they will send it to your doorstep like what Santa does to kids every Christmas or is it purely a reminder to yourself that you have to work hard to attain whatever dreams or wishes you have?
Wish (meaning by dictionary on mac): feel or express a strong desire or hope for something that is NOT EASILY ATTAINABLE; want something that CANNOT or PROBABLY WILL NOT HAPPEN.
So why have a wishlist? If you really desire something, then work towards it yourself. Don't just dump it on whatever wishlist and secretly hope for a Santa Claus. DUMB.! Staring and listening to a list filled with millions of branded items, or the impossibles and is never exhaustive really makes me feel like rolling my eyes sometimes. So perhaps, it's time to take a few items off my wishlist. I don't wanna be a dumb ass.
2. The world of luxury goods in resemblance to the world of Narcotics.
I guess it is due to the environment that we are in and peer influences. Luxury goods store sprouting out everywhere in Singapore, from 1 Louis Vuitton store till 4 now, with a double storey one in Orchard Ion. Prada, Gucci, Burberry, blah blah blah easily available at one's fingertips. Subsidiaries opening one after another. Globalisation that connects us to the other side of the world more quickly, an international language that breaks down communication barriers, people flying across oceans and mountains in less than a day's time. It used to take months, FYI. Who will not be tempted by all these luxury goods? Colleagues competing with each other over who is carrying a more "atas" bag, friends "psycho-ing" one another to get the latest designer bag in town, increasingly eye-catching advertisements with celebrities endorsing the products. It's a vicious cycle.
Consumers pay more for a good, producers get more surplus, higher profits enable them to beef up their marketing campaigns, consumers become more hyped up about the product-branding, producers have higher monopoly power and end up charging even higher prices, people use such goods as a measurement of their status which creates an even higher demand...... and it goes on and on......
Stroll down Orchard Road and you will see the number of people carrying all the branded bags. I've interacted with kids as young as 14 years old who desire to buy a LV bag or Gucci wallet. I really feel like knocking some sense into her. She hasn't even earn her very first $1 in her life and she desires a gift that is probably worth her very first pay cheque. I've come across kids at the age of 18 who already own like a 2k Louis Vuitton bag on top of his wardrobe of Armani Jeans clothings, Marc Jacobs bags, Chanel sunglasses, blah blah blah.....
The harder we work, the deeper our desires to want something of material value to reward ourselves. So you think you studied or worked very hard thus you deserve something as a reward. You convince yourself to whack that branded jeans, bag, Iphone, Blackberry, Macbook, PSP, etc. After making the purchase, there is an awesome feeling that boils from within, bringing you to an euphoric state. And if your like-minded friends actually tell you "Hey dude, you got a cool bag, jeans, laptop, blah blah there", it boosts your ego and makes you wanna experience it the 2nd time.
Congratulations, you are officially in the "pig race" (as I would call it cause it's STUPID). So you make yourself work even harder so as to afford the second purchase. The harder you work, the deeper the desire for an even bigger reward. So you convince yourself and other people that you actually deserve to pamper yourself... and it goes on and on again.....
I'm the best person to relate this feeling to everyone out there. I've lost recollection of why my very first desire for a LV or a designer good budded but ever since it started, it has never stopped. Time immemorial had I developed such a fiery and burning passion for travelling, but it has never stopped either. So from my very first LV wallet to the bag to some other cardholder and a 2nd bag (and I honestly foresee the 3rd one coming very very very soon), to my D&G sunglasses, Tiffany & Co., Swarvoski, you name it, I have it. IF you ask me why don't I stop, I would tell you I ain't got any clue how to. My advice is, NEVER START instead! There's no end to it, up till the very end of your lifetime. That very moment that someone told me the LV bag fitted on me perfectly changed my life.
With great power comes great responsibility. With great power comes great desire. The desire to be empowered by that "great power". Like how Kings wanna rule a country for eternity, Cinderella's stepmother is eager to be the fairest lady of all, America wants to be the world policeman, blah blah blah.
3. Why travel?
For the stories? For the sceneries? For having memories? For leisure? For relaxation? For boasting?
I overheard this conversation just hours ago on the train:
A (should be bride-to-be): OK, I wanna go somewhere more exotic for our honeymoon.
B (should be bridegroom-to-be): Actually I think we should go to Europe. My colleagues said Europe is very beautiful.
A: But everyone is going to Europe. If we also go Europe, it's very sian. Nothing new. Plus, where in Europe do you want to go ah?
B: London, Paris and Rome. (Typical answer) Eiffel Tower is so romantic. If we go, we can take a lot of pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower then we both put it as our profile picture on facebook.
A: Oh ya ya ya. That day I see (a couple's name which I apparently forgot) profile pictures. They are super sweet la. Both of them always put the same profile picture then everyone will comment on their wall.
B: Ok set, so we go Europe. I think we go free-and-easy 10 days or something.
A: But we also don't speak their language, later we cannot communicate with them how? Go tour package like better leh. But then hor, honeymoon go tour package very sian one lor. Got all the unwanted people around (xian zha ren deng).
B: Or I go ask my friends for their itinerary then we don't need to really plan also.
A: Ya, like this we also won't miss out all the places that your friends have been to. Btw, that time did your friends take video or not? Shall we go buy a video camera so that we can record the sceneries there? Then we can upload to facebook. I want to show that bitch in my office. She keeps saying what she go Europe until sian then say what we never go Europe very mountain-tortoise (sua gu).
B: Aiya, you just ignore her la. Or you are too sensitive? Abo you ask her go India la. A lot of people have not been to India, so if she go, she is smart liao what.
A: I don't care ah. Next year, we must go somewhere more exotic. Or why not we go Russia honeymoon la? Then I can tell her she never go to Russia before, she's damn sua gu. (Laughs out really loud)>>>>
--- Then I got off the train ---
I could have missed out bits and pieces of the conversation. This is the best that I can recall though.
After hearing that conversation, I feel it is an insult to have such fellow Singaporeans as like-minded individuals who share a common passion for travelling.
I travel for culture, for experience, to learn about the world, to take photographs and capture memories that will stay with me for life so that someday when I grow old and have limited mobility, I can flash out these pictures and reminisce about those awesome times. Like how I reminisce about Europe from time to time now. Those memories were awesome.
Travelling shouldn't be a competition whereby you use the number of cities and countries that you've been to as an indication of your grade or achievement. I have met those typical P** who always want to chop a place in front of some famous monument or architecture with ENGRAVINGS or SIGNS indicating the name of the monument. Think deeper and the bell strikes. They merely want to show off that they have been to this place. Honestly, I like having the monuments as a background, especially those that I have a fetish for them i.e. Eiffel, Pisa, Trevi Fountain, Pyramids, Old Trafford, (and of course if possible CRISTIANO RONALDO & FERNANDO TORRES especially), etc. Youth is countercyclical to age. 30 years down the road, age would have created a masterpiece on my face and I can only stare at it and marvel about how awesome it will be if I were 30 years younger. My biggest fear in life is "growing old". To overcome my fear in the foreseeable future, I intend to capture those youthful moments in the best possible manner. Having the monuments as a background is the intended way I am going about it. I wanna capture the moment that's brilliant like how Avril Lavigne sang it.
Waking up I see that everything is OKThe first time in my life and now it's so greatSlowing down I look around and I am so amazedI think about the little things that make life greatI wouldn't change a thing about itThis is the best feelingThis innocence is brilliantI hope that it will stayThis moment is perfectPlease don't go awayI need you nowAnd I'll hold on to itDon't you let it pass you byI found a place so safe, not a single tearThe first time in my life and now it's so clearFeel calm, I belong, I'm so happy hereIt's so strong and now I let myself be sincereI wouldn't change a thing about itThis is the best feelingIt's a state of bliss, you think you're dreamingIt's the happiness inside that you're feelingIt's so beautiful it makes you wanna cryIt's a state of bliss, you think you're dreamingIt's the happiness inside that you're feelingIt's so beautiful it makes you wanna cryIt's so beautiful it makes you wanna cryThis innocence is brilliantMakes you wanna cryThis innocence is brilliancePlease don't go awayCause I need you nowAnd I'll hold on to itDon't you let it pass you by
And I only experience such emotions when I travel. That I actually feel tears welling up in my eyes when I get to see those breath-taking monuments, nature, beaches, oceans, all of God's magical creations.
Not for the stories that I can tell my friends, or for boasting to my friends. It's extremely dumb!
It is like when I blog, it's not to share with others or show off to others about how awesome I think my life is or gonna be or how miserable or torturous it is. Rather, it is to capture my thoughts, my emotions, my memories which explains why from time to time I actually revisit my blog posts. :) Even till today, I still read about everything that I blogged about during those days when I was on exchange. :))
Of course I am not saying that if you are not in the ideal mindset, you shouldn't travel because everyone is motivated by different values and beliefs. But I just can't help lament such thoughts.
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Ask yourself, when was the last time you came across someone who told you that his or her wish is to have a happy family? less wars and conflicts globally? world peace (genuinely and not in the bimbotic pageant manner), less poverty? a caring girlfriend or boyfriend? a job? a skill in life? a language?
No more down-to-earth wishes these days, only to travel around the world, more and more branded goods, more money, more A's in school.
Will 2013 change us all? If it will, I'll be welcoming it with OPEN ARMS.
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