satarn

I was on Facebook, and my friend's post caught my attention. It goes like this -

"While i'm studying for my finals, my brother walked out of his room and ask me this 2 part question. 'If time travel is possible in the future, how come no one in the future is here to visit us? Is it because we've got no future?' Now this question is stuck in head and most prolly i'm gonna ponder about this all night long. pffftttt~"

I gave it a little thought, and posted my response -

"to assume that people from the future can travel and visit us (living in this current world), i guess we have to make the fundamental assumption that the current world and future world can 'co-exist', in the sense that the 'current' me is alive and kicking, but the 'future' me is at the same time alive and kicking, perhaps in a parallel universe. yet that doesn't seem to make sense, because how can the 'current' me over the years appear in another parallel universe, when i'm obviously in 'this' universe? that's the 1st question that came to my mind.. also, to assume that the future and current us can exist simultaneously, we will also have to assume that the past us can exist at the same time as the current us, since at a certain point in time the past us was the current us (if that makes any sense). i'm not sure i'm comfortable with the idea of knowing a 12 year old kw is somewhere out there, being an idiot in school.."

time travel suddenly seems pretty interesting. i'm not an expert on the issue obviously, and actually i have never even read anything proper about time travel, but that little thought in my head made me pretty curious..but I do suppose that my thinking is rather juvenile, since it doesn't take into consideration the bending of space and time, which could nullify all that i've said.

3am musings~

"When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. "

Martin Luther King

To appreciate, to treasure, and to take nothing for granted.

1. Went to Cambodia



Flew to Cambodia in March, and then again in May. Both trips were really amazing learning experiences, in different ways. The trip in March was the first time I flew overseas without my family (suaku much, heh), and there's always that little bit of excitement when it comes to trips with friends, no matter the destination. It was an eye opener, understanding more about the local culture and experiencing aspects of the culture that travellers usually wouldn't get to, such as..


2. Attended a Cambodian wedding



Eric and I actually attended a local wedding. How cool is that. Picture ripped off from Google though, because I forgot my camera when attending the wedding. Damn!


3. Received my Eat Disc jersey



It was an indication of how far Eat Disc has come, from a small random pickup club to a club with a proper jersey, a proper representation in competitions. I'm sure I have enough post on Eat Disc already, so here, to the most important club in my heart ever. 


4. Witnessed the death of my Ah Ma

A family is incomplete without grief. 


5. Put on braces



All my wealth, in my mouth. Damn, I sure hope I look as good as her in braces.


6. Organized an OCIP



It was a hell of an effort, and I felt like giving up along the way, but at the end of it all, it was worth every single bit of effort and more. The experience was amazing, and it felt really wonderful to see the participants come away from it a little richer, and wiser. 


7. ORD

While I never had much love for NS, I am still thankful for the friends that it gave me. Still, I'm glad to be out of that damn place!


8. Went Taiwan



Perhaps the most valuable of all the trips I took this year. While the usual family squabbles still took place, it was the first proper family trip in a long time, and looking back, it feels really, really heartwarming.

Of course, helps that the food and scenery were pretty damn awesome :)


9. Started my university life



Without quite knowing it, 1 semester has already passed, and the pace of life in university is really fast. For now, I'm perfectly contented to continue with my goal in uni - to graduate. Just that. No honours, no 4.3 GPA or any of that rubbish. I wish to just savour these 4 years in SMU, and not get caught up in the rat race.


10. Joined Flare



Perhaps the best decision I've made in SMU. It was a completely random decision made during Vivace, when I told Eric to sign up for cheerleading. Fast forward 4 months, and I'm really, really glad that I made that decision. No Flare, no friends :')


11. Had a business venture



Joined Eric and Sophia in the yogurt sale in school thing. Interesting experiment, heading down to Jurong Secondary School and interacting with the students there, feeling their enthusiasm in being able to take part in the sale of yogurt. Of course, the little bit of cash was a pleasant bonus heh.


12. Began a relationship



She's way too good for me, but I hope this works out well :)


13. And finally gotten over the previous one

Though it has been a long time since I broke up with CL, I never quite gotten over it. It's not that I miss her or anything, but I just could not shake off that feeling of guilt. Time dulls all emotions, and I suppose I can finally say that I'm over it, and I'm happy for her now :)


14. Played in Singapore Ultimate Open



I remember day-dreaming about playing in SUO when I first started playing ultimate. In 2011, I did it. It's the team that truly matters though :)


15. Flew to Perth



After much consideration, I decided to signup for the SMU Perth exchange trip, and I must say, I'm glad I did it. The trip was much better than expected, and while I probably will never be really close to the team, it was really nice seeing how all the freshies bonded together really well. And of course, the classic game 'lie, whole family die' heh


16. And to Hong Kong



Shortly after returning from Perth, I headed to Hong Kong for a SJAB 'learning trip'. Well, it was 20% SJAB stuff and 80% R&R, with a lot of subsidy, so I'm not complaining. The SJAB aspect of it was forgettable, but the gourmet aspect of it was awesome. Literally stuffed ourselves silly there, eating bo lo bao, dimsum, and more, more, more...Hong Kong is not a place that i'll want to return to anytime soon though. It is way too crowded, and feels too stiffling; not quite an ideal holiday! 


17. And shipped myself to Macau



Took a ferry over to Macau while we were in Hong Kong. Macau is a very, very interesting place. The juxtaposition of grand colonial buildings with the run-down estates makes the country feel as though it is at odds with itself, unable to formulate an identity. Add in the grand hotels and casinos into the equation, and it does feel as though the country is rather lost. All that said, Macau is a surprisingly beautiful place, and I actually prefer it over Hong Kong. On a side note, the pork buns are awesome!


18. And entered a casino for the first time ever



A trip to Macau is obviously incomplete without a visit to the casino. Sadly, it didn't feel as exciting as what is shown in the movies, but hey, I guess they are movies for a reason. Didn't try my hand at gambling, since I already spent my fortune on food (no joke..I was broke by the time I reached Macau). Finally satisfied my fantasy though...I played the slots machine! woohoooo. And obviously lost..


19. Have an inkling of what I want to do next time

No concrete ideas, but I know I want to be away from the city...Who knows, perhaps I'll just fly to Cambodia, and set up an orphanage somewhere (:


20. And lastly, count my blessings



This year has been an amazing year, as I always say. Looking around me, I really feel showered with love. The little things that my family do, the friends around me..it does feel quite overwhelming, in the positive way :') I never had the habit of putting up my birthdate on Facebook, but the number of people who actually remember my birthday and wished me happy birthday personally really surprised me. These are the people that I know will always be there, and very much my pillars of support :)

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And on this day, I turn 21.

I attended a compulsory Community Service briefing yesterday, where the lady was briefing us on the compulsory 80hours of Community Service that we must do in SMU. During the briefing, she mentioned that we cannot keep time, and thus we should give our time away to help others in need.

I suppose this is the common view of volunteerism, that it is about giving your time away and help others.

Problem is, I think this is a terrible concept.

First of all, you cannot give away what you do not have ownership of. If I do not own an apple, certainly I cannot give an apple away. Similarly, we do not own time. Time exists independently, and no matter what we do, we cannot alter the flow of time. We may choose to spend our time in different ways, but we certainly have no ownership over time. It thus follows that time is not something you can 'give away', unlike goods or money.

The concept of volunteerism as giving your time away, as making a small sacrifice is thus misguided, in my opinion. I'm not refering to sacrifices in terms of money and other material goods, since that's a different issue. Now, without realizing, I've been volunteering in SJAB for 5 years already. That seems pretty long, but surprisingly, I don't feel it at all. Perhaps that's because I don't see volunterism as sacrificing. Volunteering is ultimately a way to spend your time. Are you making any sacrifices when you decide to watch TV for an hour, or surf 9gag for the whole afternoon? I suppose not. Volunteerism thus is really not about making sacrifices or giving your time away; it is a way of spending your time, a way which happens to bring about much benefits. 

This may seem trivial, but I do think that this common concept of volunteerism is why many people are reluctant to volunteer; it seems too troublesome, require too much sacrifices, and therefore they 'do not have the time to volunteer'. I really believe that the first step to volunteering, is to understand that it is not about giving your time, and not about sacrifices (in terms of time).

Perhaps the day you realize that volunteerism is not all that noble, is the day you truly understand that.