stock check.
self survival before society's, unless society's preserves the self, only then can the self serve society and proceed to the deathbed with ultimate satisfaction. that is, i think, the basis of selfishness. i never fail to be irked by people who go on and on, castigating the human race, condemning everyone to 'born sinners', citing the example of babies 'only caring for themselves' upon birth. what.. bigotry (?).

i have, of late, come to dislike the whole idea of CIP. firstly, its usefulness to society and community is grossly overplayed. it is nothing more than a 'feel good' attempt to kill two birds with one stone. the very fact that CIP hours are 'awarded', erodes the spirit of Community Involvement. granted, there are good, genuine souls, but the fact that they are being 'awarded CIP hours' for serving the community does taint their noble purpose and bring it down to an individualistic level. think 'earning hours for university admission and a good impression'. perhaps they should just scrap the whole thing.

economics has also, of late, revealed itself to me as an immoral philosophy. hiding under the facade of social improvement, economics, from my partial understanding, seems to objectify everything (think Labour Market). the study of economics does, to a large extent, reduce one's ability to Feel and Sense, replacing everyday experiences with graphs, charts and models. 'Economics: Because I get to do it with Models'. <- more or less sums it up huh. literature is a subject i have recently come to adore. its study has 'unplugged my conscience' to the vastness of the place i have had the 'opportunity' to 'live' in. the study of literature has greatly broadened my awareness of what it means to be a human; it has taught me, in a sense, how to be a human. however, speaking of 'unplugged conscience', i have said it once and i will say it again: i dislike dr. boey's poetry. it is awkward. it reads like a volume of narcissistic exhibitionism. he is, in 'Another Place', literally (pun intended. ha ha.) showcasing his wide reading and 'admirably competent' 'mastery of form and technique' (to quote Koh Buck Song). he is the archetypal Singaporean artist: the type i want to avoid becoming. oh well. whatever makes him happy.

all i can say about history is that with my now relatively competent understanding of international relations from 1945-1991, i can now comprehend a whole new range and genre of jokes that i otherwise would not have been able to grasp. i like laughing.
- Ben @ 11:03 pm