tell you everything you wanna hear... breaking it down articulately

i was talking to my mum a little about what i want to do after i graduate, during the long wait for ns.

i'm sure that this is a question on the minds of many - what to do upon graduation - such is the proximity of the end of poly life. after the smiles and the graduation robes and the pictures and the goodbyes, what then?

my mum suggested that i work in the optical trade while waiting for inevitable call into the army, something which i'm rather hesitant about. i think, deep down, my mum would much rather i continue with optometry, get the UM degree and stay in the trade. after all, that's where the money is and it would be a reasonably secure, if stagnant, job. after all, my mum's initial reaction to my plans to not continue with what i'm studying now was much alike most of everyone else's.

'what are you going to do with an arts degree?'.

and perhaps the shortest question that often demands the lengthiest of answers,

'why?'.

why?

because i want to finally give myself a chance to try my hand at something that i've always enjoyed - writing, reading - but because of the emphasis placed on the sciences (which is necessary for singapore's economy is heavily dependent on R and D) by our educational system, there's this conception that science students have a "better future", and i've always gone with the "safe choice": science stream in jc, optometry in poly.

just to digress a little, why is it that the science stream in jc has a lower cut off then the arts stream? this epitomises the not-so-subtle prejudice against the arts students. can it be argued that the arts student are in anyway less cognitively able then their science counterparts? or in other words, for the benefit of those whose language is more limited (many of whom are in the science stream anyway - not to submit to the stereotype, but generally, the language abilities of the science students are poorer, because they have less need for it. yes is a yes in science, no a no. 1 + 1 always equates to 2, 2 + 2 to 4 because their world is governed by unalterable laws of science, whereby nuances of words is but a luxury, and at times, even a nuisance); are the arts students more stupid then the science students?

my answer is a resounding 'no'!

language, for all the advancements in science, is the vehicle by which our accumulated knowledge will be passed on to out next generation, and the competency in language is a requisite for all scientists, doctors, teachers, engineers for without language, how then are they to tap into the amalgamated advancements and knowledge of the thousands of generations of humans past? without language, every generation will have to learn how to start fire all over again.

this is a longer aside then i had intended, but my thoughts just took a life of its own the moment i began to pen them down.

and so the answer to the question 'why?' is: because i want to do something that i enjoy. because i choose to follow my heart. because i am afraid of the trap.

what trap? one of my favourite films of the year, revolutionary road puts it aptly. the trap of 'hopeless emptiness'.