Word Games

A week on, I'm still obsessed with g.o.d's songs. Played "Wind" tens of times yesterday. It is a song that tells one to face up to his fears and find strength and comfort in something that has always been present and close. Since the song was dedicated to their fans, I guess the "wind" is a metaphor for them.

The social issue of racism has been the talk of the town lately. I realise that Asians or people with darker skin are always the victims in news headlines. Apart from the Black Lives Matter movement, recently there was a viewer of MasterChef Australia who used racist language to describe judge Melissa Leong, for instance. I would think that because of such frequent coverage, Asians will all the more stand up for their fellow people. But I tend to think that some Asians are actually the ones who inflate the ego of Caucasians and boost their superiority complex. There were at least two occasions I've felt that the Caucasians were given more attention by Asians, on a flight or even in a local restaurant. If you are one of these people, stop your unnecessary subservient attitude towards our Western counterparts please.

Election season is here. Singapore's general election will not be internationally broadcast and widely anticipated but it is definitely a grave matter for Singaporeans. It is a good sign that the younger generation acquaints themselves with politics because they similarly have the power to vote and influence changes. Several friends have expressed their views and stances rather candidly on social media. However, sometimes I'm not sure if I'm too dense to understand what they are trying to say or they are merely throwing words. It seems like an unspoken taboo to discuss politics. Like how colleagues don't usually disclose their salary amount, nobody seem to, or rarely share which party they would be voting for - although it is apparent in some posts on SNS. Anyway, I hope everyone's decision will be well-contemplated.

On another note, I liked Conan O'Brien's address to Harvard's class of 2020. Here's an excerpt: "You came into consciousness while our nation was still smoldering from that (9/11) attack, and you've known a world beset by terrorist hate. You've grown up with mass shootings and school lockdowns - horrors completely absent from my childhood. You have now witnessed two economic meltdowns of stunning proportions. You are actually living in a hotter and more treacherous biosphere than the one I was born into. Two months into your freshman year, many of you voted for the first time in the 2016 election, and ever since you've been living in the most polarized United States since the civil war... At this commencement, you commence nothing. You and your uniquely tested peers, you generation commenced long ago."

This is certainly a refreshing take on youth of the new millennia (Generation Z), and the Generation Y (millennials) for that matter, diverging from the usual criticisms of "strawberries", "snowflakes" and the likes of them. I appreciated how Conan switched gears to seriousness and gave words of encouragement amidst these dark times that are, at the same time, not stale and humdrum. The older generation may not necessarily execute tasks with finesse, and the younger generation lacks experience and exposure. Since everyone is flawed in some ways, it isn't wise to put stereotypical labels and be quick to judge a person.