All Art, like all Love, has its roots in Heartache.
Solitude
Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow it's mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.
Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life's gall.
Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.
The following is in part in response to tayyi's 18 january post, and in part my take on the Zackery issue. Unlike tayyi though, Im going to take a stand. Which might see to my face being plastered all over the school with the captions not 'READ THIS' but instead 'DRAW ON HIS FACE'.
After today's assembly, I have to say, I see some of the things Zackery is driving at(refer to tayyi post). I refer, of course, to the two councillers promoting the sale of their new merchandise, the silly new skirt. Let me first describe what they did that irked me in particular.
Criminal Offense No1. -putting on an accent
I dont them, but I know for a fact that they are not Britons, not Americians, and certainly do not sound like either when they speak normally. I wonder, therefore, why they would bother with a poorly imitated accent. Seriously, are they so worried of their 'disgusting chinese phrases' that they have to bother with an accent?
Criminal offense No2. -Extremely poor choice of diction
I now know why people percieve PJ students as having '0% class, half the self respect(of others), no sophistication to save (their) lives. Honestly, as councillers in a public announcement, they had to use words non-existent in the dictionary such as 'ah-lian'? Is such is not crass, nothing is. The reason why PJ students are different from other JC students in terms of how they hold themselves is because there is no effort to improve their etiquette. As Glenn once mentioned, any speaker in ACJC would be throroughly ashamed of himself if he ever had to resort to such poor words. But no, PJ's leaders of tomorrow sees it(their lack of etiquette) as a joke, and seem mightily proud that they managed to use such superlicious words in their descriptions.
I am no elitist, but I find myself ashamed ands looking down such a poor public display. Is that what we want others to see us as- finding humour in crude jokes? I hope not.
Tayyi has decided to sit on the fence with regards to Zackery's post. I have decided to take a stand, and I will say that I agree with Zackery(especially the last paragraph), although I might argue with him over his choice of words too. But quintessentially, Pj students in general are unable to carry themselves with grace, and such disturbs me, not unlike how it annoys Zackery.
I also salute Zackery for his courage in voicing his views, as well as the courage to apologize. I want to point out that it is sad how his views are so badly criticized simply because he was being vocal. We try to advance our society towards greater freedom in speech, but anything slightly more radical is condemned. I suppose, the way he wrote makes Obama and Clinton's debate look like conversative child's play, to elicit such a vehement response. Increase liberty in speech, my head.
Some criticise Zackery as a elitist, but i would differ. Every society needs someone to propel it, and I find that it takes a person with a clear idea of what is respectable to drive society to greater eloquence. The LKY mention that it would not be within his life that he would see Singapore a gracious society. I would agree, sadly. After all, when people fail to carry themselves with grace, someone who has higher expectaions criticise. Instead of accepting the criticism, they reject it, beliving that what they are doing is perfectly fine. How would we improve like this?
I know some PJ students read my blog (so sue me; oh wait, plaster my post all over PJC). Im quaking in my chair now, what if they decide to down me like they did to vocal Zackery? I guess, I'll just have to live with it, as I usually do.
posted @ 11:17 PM
