my Valentine's Day

Wednesday 14 Feb 07 22 08 Valentine’s Day

Edited Sunday, February 18, 2007 T: 22 59

Today’s Valentine’s Day. I should be thinking about girls. I should be feeling that sudden rush of hope, fantasies and delusions again. I think I’d rather be doing so anyway, yet having read the latest news, I suppose I feel upset about the sorry state of the world, the agonies of life that people still have to suffer, even if holidays are around the corner. For despite the nearing of what would and should have been a joyous Chinese New Year, many still find themselves haunted by tragedies, plaqued by misfortunes time and time again. Most recenly, we see Indonesia finding itself the target of the heartless weather, after just recovering from the tsunami and volcanic incidents. Once again, the poorest are hit the hardest and one wonders if diasters are sent to eliminate the weakest links, allowing only the fittest to survive. It’s funny how we often read all these, and for a moment sympathise with the destitute, feeling sorry for them in our comfort zone, only just to forget and move on after a while. And yet how often our sympathy only lasts for a fleeting moment, and soon we’ll forget about them and our own concerns take first priority again.

At the very least, there are people taking a more proactive roles. We see people willingly venturing out of their safety capsules into a more violent environment to help members of their own kind. Charitable organisations are set up, geared to push their own governments to help the developing nations, where standard of living is at its worst, where people live hopelessly at the mercy of diseases and nature. Maybe it’s for a less selfish reason that America decides to intervene, for it promises after all independence for the people from tyranny and oppression. Generously, it did promise funds and resources for the denuclearisation of North Korea, when it’s half the world away from it. Yet somehow, nothing seems to really work. After so many years of international aid, countries in Africa seems to be not much better off, and now have to cope with the dwindling natural resources. Bombings in Iraq still happen frequently, despite the return of power and authority to its own people. Soldiers get blown up while trying to keep the peace. And sometimes I really wonder how does Bush feel, when all his dreams don’t seem to get anywhere, and stratgegies that only seem ideal on paper. And to make matters worse, there are more problems to face, economic problems like trade deficts that should be more important than interfering with the affairs of other countries, and finally Congress and the American public to persuade and convince. And it really puzzle me why despite having to made all these so very significant decisions, he’s still getting paid lesser than Lee.

When it doesn’t work, people start finding scapegoats to blame. Ministers change. Ruling parties change. The American administration blamed the corruption in the developing countries. Millions of dollars have been poured into Iraq, vanished though into the pockets of a few instead of reaching the thousands of people in dire states. The floods in Jarkarta would have much lesser damaged, if funds allocated to building dams and clearing the rivers reach their destination. It’s depressing how every root of most problems in this world can be traced. They all seem to reach a deadend called the human condition, which cannot be solved through human means. No, no method of governance can be perfect because of this. I suppose a system works best only when it can minimises the effect brought about by the selfish inclination of Man, a system where there must be power and authority must be shared by people and keep in check by one another. This is why communism will never work.

I think at the end of the day, for all the criticism and complaints I have made of my own country, I think I must still be thankful of the peace and amity in this state, that in spite of all the differences, differences that are further enlarged by that so many nervous-wrecking racial clashes happening in other countries, we still are able to live together living our own serene and tranquil lives. And this I would like to say is not anymore brought about by mutual tolerance, but mutual acceptance. Sure enough, though relativism and post modernist thinking may not coincide with my Christian values, yet they have certainly help in granting a certain tranquilty to this nation. I should be thankful of the relatively high standard of living in this country, as well as the political stability. After all, there will always be some group of people at the top of everything, and so long as I can live a comfortable life, why should I compare my life to the rich and welathy’s? For a capitalist country that believes in meritocracy, I must say it’s purely bullshit when you hear how the rich send their sons and daughters overseas to obtain their education. But in a blink 50 years will be over, and the 2 mm think piece of paper will be nothing but a monument hanging on the wall, fading to nothingness in a matter of time. Alas, the worldly pursuit of happyness is nothing less than a chasing after the wind…