Floating into the Unknown

3 february 2007 11.15pm

i saw dis article in e My Paper on 20.1.2007 from the 'My Say' column n somehow it made some impression on me. its written by dis gal Joyce Lin from NUS. (i acknowledge e source le so cant say i plagarise =p) here goes:

I turned 21 recently. There was no party with screaming girls, friends getting inebriated or male strippers charging exorbitant rates by the hour. They say that your 21st is the most memorable and that you should celebrate it with a big bang. I celebrated it quietly with a nice dinner with the people closest to me.

Turning 21 is quite an important event for someone, particularly in Singapore. In other countries, 18 is the magic number. But here, "21" means that you are officially acknowledged as an adult.

Of course, one is quick to pick up the perks that come with this stamp of confirmation. The proverbial nudge-wink "can watch R21 movies" comes to mind. You no longer have to memorise your friends' IC details at the clubs with older age restrictions.

But on a more serious note, this coming-of-age also signifies a new start - you are no longer recognized as a child in the eyes of an adult. It is no laughing metter. Suddenly, the chances of being reckless are far and few.

It is this age, carrying certain societal expectations along with it, that binds us. We might be at different points of our lives. For some, they have joined the workforce, others are still completing their education, while others are doing their National Service. Some are just fumbling about wondering what they want to do. In any case, reaching this age apperas to be the point where you seem grown-up enough to make decisions on your own, like signing legal documents. Yet on the other end of the spectrum, you have a window of opportunities thrown open for you and it makes it all the more scary, as you tread into unknown waters.

I have always thought that age is a figurative thing. Sometimes age may not be the best gauge of maturity. On one of the birthday cards that I received, my friend wrote: "you might have turned 21 a long time ago." That much is true. It is more of your life experiences that shape you as a person.

There are so many things to try and experience for the first time. Once you pass this transition into adult-hood, it seems like a fast-forwarded track ahead. Before you know it, you're swept up into a whirl, slogging day and night for your pay cheque, reaching a point in your 30's and 40's when you wonder where all your youth went.

My lecturer have us some tips in a class recently. "Live life. Be who you are. Fall in love with the wrong person, do stupid things, because life is too short for you to care". I smiled when I heard that. Whether you're 21, 31, or 41, I think that he's right.

i was thinking how ironic this is, when all along in our life we've been told NOT TO DO stupid things cos dey're impractical n a waste of our time. Is it cos spore is too pragmatic n competition is too intense? life's pleasure is supposed to be derived from all these small little stupid things. there are times when we want to do some things so much but yet never get to do them either cos we have no friends to accompany us or cos we are afraid of how people look at us. so often we follow our friends or the crowd n refuse to follow our heart. n in e end sometimes we end up regretting not getting to do the things that we like and eventually end up not enjoying ourselves. but then again wads e point of engaging in some fun activity when dere's no1 dere to share e fun with u? some may say that new friends will be met n stuff likdat but wad if these new friends DUNWAN to meet new friends?some people tend to be more sticky to their own frenz n less receptive to new things. im or rather we all are turning 18 dis yr. to me 18 is quite a milestone..heavier responsibilities. u no longer can use e excuse of 'i dun noe' cos u're alreadi 18 n EXPECTED to noe. buying of cigarettes, frequenting of clubs, consuming alcohol etc etc are all legal. there is no more thrill of sneaking into clubs. trying to buy alcohol without getting caught. mayb dats y i always believe in breaking e rules sometimes. u dun get to do it 4ever. dere's no more kick. i used to tink that working is easy. n i tout its betta than studying. now i noe betta. i dun wanna step into e workforce. dun tink i can handle all the complicated stuff. more n more attention have been focused on environmental issues recently. kinda stupid i tink. it actuali took pple sooooo long to realise that climate, air n water, the most basic things for survival, actuali makes up the basis of everything. i mean like, without dem u wont be thinking of earning $$ rite? jus lik if u have alreadi starved for days e top priority of urs would be to get food n not entertainment or how u look rite. u gotta get e bottom of e pyramid done first. these r just some of my touts la.

things r changing. i can see but i ignore them cos i duno wad else to do or wad i can do. as if i can do anything. or as if im ALLOWED to do anything. it just struck me how superficial some pple can reali get. kinda disgusted with it. n to tink dat dey still tink dey r so high morally. 每个人为不同的理由戴着面具说谎. so wads ur reason? i cant find any reason for u to do so. so damn fake. or issit me who's thinking too much? somehow i dun tink so.