“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I do not believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they cannot find them, make them.” - George Bernard Shaw

     It has been two years – two long years of suffering, misery and for some of us, soul-searching. Many of us came in feeling at the top of the world, ready to take on any challenge. Then as time rushed by right in front of our eyes, some of us slowly started realizing that maybe we were not as “smart” as we thought we were, not as “talented”. It took ME a while to get used to the “fact” that I was only “normal”, just like the “rest of them”.

     Fortunately, some of us quickly moved on. Unfortunately for some of us, we have yet to see light at the end of the tunnel. You see them sitting in the canteen playing caroms or dozing off in the Student Center despite repeated requests from the councilors imploring them not to do so. They come across as a very opinionated, almost intellectual bunch of people. You often hear them talking about how PAP “sucks”, how the education system is stifling, how the “system” is elitist and so on.

     I take a look at these students and I feel disheartened. Instead of working to beat the system, they are going round and round about it. They often complain how the system is unfair but my point is, you are IN the system so might as well do something to get out of it. You sure as hell ain’t gonna beat the system while in it, so might as well somehow make it through the system and THEN do something to change it, to make it better.

     Unfortunately once again, not all of us are willing to do our part. 97% of the population is asleep. The other 2% are staring around in complete bewilderment, abject terror or both. The remaining 1% simply does not care. I do not blame them though. The system has made them this way.

     Stark as I present the reality to be, one must not lose hope. No wait, we CANNOT lose hope. Come on, at the end of the day, you still have your mobile phones, PDAs, friends and family. Don’t you feel like doing something different for once, something meaningful, something that could positively enrich your life and make a difference? No? I thought so.

     You know, corny as this might sound, I have always wanted to be a fireman. No really, I am not kidding. Explaining this to my mother would a bit difficult though. I am sure a lot of you face a similar dilemma – our hearts desire something but we end up as something else. The teenage years are especially difficult because we want to be free, yet are bound by obligations and responsibilities that we do not want to accept. I for one would not mind bumming around on Pulau Batam everyday, watching the sun go down with a soft drink in my hand.

     [Sigh] I sound like some up and coming PAP member. Although generally our ideologies are very dissimilar, I have to agree with our beloved PM on one thing – the world is constantly changing. It is not going to wait for you. You better get on the bandwagon or risk being left behind. As the Americans so succinctly put it, get with the program.