Friday, July 06, 2007
Insights from a walk home
While walking home yesterday night, i took special attention to the various events that happen around me in the relatively cooler night breeze. It is something i do not normally do, in fact it's something what most people tend to overlook in our daily lives. Whatever i'm going to blog about is based on what i saw as well as my opinions, no pun nor offensive agenda intended.
First, i caught sight of a couple some distances before me. They locked hands and seemed so loving. But in a split second, they seem to have turned the tables and started bickering with each other. The locked hands and loving facade seem to dissolve in that split second, uncovering hurt, hate and anger.
It is rude to stare but it's almost inevitable to stare, especially with such scenes unfolding right before your eyes. I just pretended i was listening hard to my ipod and humming while i quickly overtook them. It got me thinking of how happiness always seem so transient. We never know when we are immersed in happiness until we lost it. Often labelled as greedy creatures, we demand for more instead of being contented with what we have. Hence, while we already achieved some level of happiness, our greedy nature makes us crave for more. At the end of the day, we end up losing the little happiness we used to have and complain that we have never experienced happiness. Some people may argue that we need to be demanding as a form of motivation to progress to a higher level. It is not all wrong to agree with that but the problem kicks in when we do not know when we should feel contented.
Next, i arrived at the park. Many people exercising, children playing at the playground. A rather large family hanging out at the picnic area, the children i suppose busy playing at the playground, while the adolescents hand out on the grass patch and the adults the other group chatting. How heart-warming. It must be a nice feeling to have such large family gatherings. Everybody keeping close-knitted ties with one another, being encouraging and supportive. The warmth must have felt good.
I decided to walk through the shopping centre. It was a long walk to get there but it felt fine. The couple from before were still bickering on my last turn-back. Got what i needed to buy, and decided to pick up some butterheads and lettuce for salad making. Having learnt some tips from my grandma on some market trips, i decided the vegetables looked rotten. Nevermind.
Continued my walk home. on the way, a bicycle turned and nearly hit me while ringing its bell. I was on the pavement for pedestrians, yet the bicycle wa son the same track as me. What is the use of using different paths for pedestrians and riders? At a traffic crossing while waiting for the green man, i saw a naked driver, at least with a bare torso, driving his car while speeding past the crossing. Speak about freedom in singapore. How free are we now, despite the government insisting that we are liberal society. People get complained and slammed by the society for walking around half or fully naked in the comfort of their own homes or here, yet in America, should people complain about them, the occupants can sue them for the intrusion of their privacy in their own home. More often than not, it is due to the very conservative nature of us Singaporeans that restricts our available granted freedom. Hence, we still feel quite controlled despite the given liberty. Again, it relates to something called the freedom of choice that we all have now luxurious goods made available for our comfort. We may have the freedom to choose but it's our choice that sometimes restricts the freedom. Sounds ironic and confusing, doesn't it? What do you think?
Talk in my flooble chatterbox! ( if your can\'t tag on the screen!(: )
