What i feel about this, is really hard to describe. It is simply like questioning, what is right and wrong in this world? to this, why do we fear certain things, like breaking a glass even though we know that no serious consequences will happen from it...sometimes when we feel that something needs to be done, or that certain signs show us the way...we should just do it. sometimes when i feel like walking in a direction i did not plan to, or to feel like i need to wander around aimlessly for a while, i do it because i feel it is necessary to the big plan of the world.

After all if you read mitch albom's "the five people in heaven" you would realise that our actions affect many people, even people we don't know...heck, even Judas had his part to play in the death and resurrection of Christ. though we usually see him as the bad guy, if he did not do what he did Christ would not have died on the cross and there would be no Christianity.

Even a simple act like wanting to run through the rain may result in many ripples in the events of this world, and we should just go ahead with stuff that we feel like doing, without too much unnecessary doubt and fear. After all, the most the girl will get is a cold, no?

So when you feel like doing something that doesn't follow your plans and your world view, just do it anyway. You'll feel freer and more satisfied with life by giving in instead of trying to resist it just because someone or society tells us its not right. We're not talking about murder or running around the street naked; its usually simple stuff. :)

Courtesy of Feiyang, his comment on that story 2 posts back

Results? Worthy?

Since there is a raging argument on yanyu's blog tagboard, as well as the local papers, regarding the animadversion of the difficulty and results of school tests, i'll do a short post here to give my comments. although both debates examine different areas of the topic, they are both sparked off by the same source, students not getting the ideal grades for their tests/ examinations. If someone does not get an ideal score for their test and examinations, especially those exceedingly driven onces, what are the consequences? A lost of morale, a devaluing of one's self? Perhaps the kids mentioned in the articles in the papers are too young to take the results in the proper context. For scores alone carry no value. When compared against the immediate competition, under the same scenarios, only then will your results be an accurate reflection of your status, in academics or whatever discipline you pursue. For a school test, it is proper to compare it among your school mates, for an external exam such as the PSLE, 'O' levels and the 'A' levels, the comparison is brought to a national level. These 2 cases are independent of one another. So yanyu, you can relax, for i do not think that half the cohort is going to fail mathematics for the A levels, like they did for block test ( including me ). This very fact is recognised by the cambridge examiners as well as the ministry of education, as the benchmarks for the various grades are not set at an absolute score. Hence, as long as you take the nature of your results, and interpret it corresponding to your enviornment, you will find that your results are significantly over average. Ergo, do not fret, work hard, and give yourself credit when it is due.

Response to ykm's article

Let me first declare that my tagline is not, 'Let the inferior people die'. Rather, it is more akin to 'society should not channel an over proportionate amount of resources into pushing people with an inability onto the same plane as people with inborn qualities which predisposes them to have a better chance at survival and for taking the human race forward, and if by doing so it causes the premature curtailing of living for these people, it would be an acceptable loss.'

Darwinian theory of evolution dictates that the fittest survive. The question here is, what determines who or what is the fittest. There is no value or scale that exists which can assign each and every individual his place in the pecking order of elimination by falling out of the evolution rat race. Yet, in over indulging our aid to people who will give a fairly low probability of return, we risk a misallocation of resources. Let me pose a scenario. Do you want to pile a person who is mentally slower with tuition and other academic stimuli to enable him to scrap through the education system, or would you prefer to give these services to a person with an average level of mental capacity to enable him to progress further. The point i am making, is that the peak amount of achievement is not a general platform shared by everyone. Some people have a greater propensity to achieve greater heights than others. Why impose a cap on the top just to achieve a mediocre rate of return from the bottom. Human progress was never defined by what is languishing below, it is defined by the soaring heights to which talents take society. Draw you a case in point, people today still uses technologies that were introduced from ancient history. Yet, why are the continued usuage of such technologies not mentioned when we talk about progress? It is the new introductions which enter society which shapes the fabric of society and defines progress. We need people of ability to carve out new openings in every field everywhere. They shoulder a great burden in dragging society forward. Would it not be more prudent to alleviate their load and help their cause instead? That being said, i believe that everyone should be given a bare minimum level of help, if required to get them to a certain point. From then on, it is all up to them.

This is not a suggestion to intentionally put down people who are on the lower rungs of society. As quoted from ykm, Hellen Keller surmounted her disabilities to achieve her goals. If people are at the lower reaches of society, then more effort will have to be put in to get them to where they want to be. I am not saying that it is a total impossibility for people to achieve what they want. If poeple do want something that badly, they should be prepared to put in an effort proportionate to their abilities, but isit too much to ask that society drag, i stress the word drag, these people up to a higher standing? Then again, there are also limits, either imposed by the being him/herself, or by current reality. For all the hard work we put in, and all the assistance society gives us, do you think you or me have the adroitness to become an astronaut? There is only so much that your enviornment and outside help can do. The rest is coded into your genes. Everyone should be given the chance to achieve their dreams, but not all dreams are meant to be attained.

I have to admit, there is no fool proof way of sieving out the strong from the weak and in deciding who should recieve a quantifiable amount of aid. There probably never will be any such method. Hence, i stress that the views i expressed here are my visions for a utopian society which maximises efficiency, something that is a close impossibility in reality due to the various factors that interplay.

Here ends my short reply to ykm,

( i'll try to organise a better response during the june hols or sometime when i am free haha, but i dont think i'll ever beat your word count. Btw i never claimed that i am the elite or near the top rung of society. I am just an average teen trying to survive my A levels year. Yups, Cheers )