When I was still stuck in the army, I always thought that I'd be the happiest person once I ORD-ed. Of course, I'm so damned glad that it's finally fucking over and I don't ever have to report to or see certain superiors ever again. Or at least, even if I do ever see them again (touch wood), I can bloody well say to their stuck up faces 'I fucking quit!' instead of having to bend over backwards (NOT literally of course! ugh!) to please them or else face another precious weekend facing fellow sweaty dirty and ugly young men carrrying rifles instead of spending time with my girlfriend.
The problem on hand always seems to be the biggest and toughest to tackle. When you were young, it was being able to speak and walk, the most basic skills. Then it came to primary school, where every final year exam seemed like the hardest thing of your life. Primary 4 - Streaming. Primary 6 - PSLE. Then you got to secondary school where O levels seemed like the most important thing of your entire life. Then, depending on whether you went to JC or poly, your A levels or projects or FYPs were the most pressing issue ever. After which, for unfortunate Singaporeans who were born with a X and Y chromosome instead of a double X chromosome, came the dreaded conscription.
However, I digress. A lot. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, no matter how life is, being humans, we tend to complain or worry about what's next. Is there ever an end? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Everybody has problems of his own. It may be big or small, it doesn't matter. To the individual involved, his problem will be the most fucked up and hardest to resolve.
Now that I'm no longer under the chains of the SAF, it still feels kinda surreal. This new-found freedom, the feeling is just amazing. I can do whatever I want, whenever I damn well please. No more signing my name in some dumb book, peeing in my pants trying to request for that ONE pathetic off day from my PC.
So life is perfect now, wouldn't you agree? Wrong! I used to think that when i ORD-ed life would be a bed of roses. Yes, my life is definitely better, without a shadow of a doubt. But it's really just a cycle of life. You face big problems, you get through them with varying measures of success. And then you face brand new problems. And when you get through those, guess what comes around again? You guessed it! Brand new ones!
This is the standard life of an adult Singaporean. It may be severly generalised, but here goes. You graduate from Uni. Secure a job, find a mate, get married. Pay downpayment for a HDB flat and a car. Get a small dog. Give birth to a kid. Promotion and pay rise comes. Upgrade to condo, upgrade car. Join a country club (which has everything your condo already has but you join anyway). Give birth to another kid. Promotion comes around again. Spend even more money, constantly upgrade house and car. Is this what life is about? Maybe. At least that's what the government wants us to believe.
I'm not really complaining. I guess I had so many things that I wanted to achieve when I ORD-ed but haven't really gone about doing it. Maybe I shouldn't set so many goals for myself. Fuck.
You know The Sims, that game where you move little people to do life's mundane tasks. I feel like a fuckin' Sim right now.
Life sometimes rocks, sometimes sucks. It really depends on when you ask a person.
Labels: life singapore ord o level a level psle
edwardsam
9/30/2007 01:45:00 AM
