Just finished The Devil and Miss Pyrm by Paulo Coelho, in which there were a few rather interesting ideas.

The first was that people in general are cowards, who don't stand up for what's right or who take the easy way out by standing by as things go wrong. It's always easier to live and let live than pick a fight over trivial things or shall i say over principles. but this is like a seed once sown, that will sprout into a seedling and bloom into a tree. if i can condone this, what can i not condone? People want to do things differently but at the cusp of change are afraid and tend to be comforted by the complacency of routine, of which i am guilty but more often than not, am shoved beyond my comfort zone. wadever. and we choose not to see this cowardice but live with it unconsciously. those that are aware choose not to act on it.

The second idea that i discovered was that people are neither good nor evil but instruments of good and evil. The capacity for human benevolence is equivalent to the human capacity for malevolence. That people commit kind or evil deeds not based on their nature but rather circumstances. . Were they evil to want to kill for 10 gold bars that would secure not only the livelihood of generations but also the restitution of their fading settlement, a symbol of hope and achievement? they disarmed their weapons at the last moment as the gold may not be able to be exchanged for money but remained as worthless metal. were they kind to have let off the old woman, for committing the murder would only add to guilt with a certain possibility that the gold cannot be converted to cash? The sacrifice of one for the salvation of many (the greater good) was incited by one but nurtured into action by the agenda of a few.

The third idea and my favourite, was that our lives are reigned by fear and hence our actions are motivated by fear. Fear of success for the resulting envy; fear of failure for rejection; fear of being a social misfit and thus the desire to socialise, the fear of not being able to provide bread and butter and hence the motivation to work; the fear of being labelled as useless and thus the need to pursue an education. What i really liked was the fear of being punished and hence people follow the rules of society. That people do not behave themselves becos they want to but becos they are afraid of being punished. so what does that make of deviants to the mainstream, of those who refuse to conform? Values are made up to make it easier for us to behave becos we are petrified of the ramifications of potentially socially undesirable behaviour.

Of course for every view there is an opposing viewpt, thanks to Ms V. being ever the cynic, i am more inclined towards coelho's ideas but i guess they were portrayed to the extreme and made the reader want to treat it with caution. i want to belive that humankind is good by nature, that bravery and valour exist and that we do things because we want to not because we dont want something else. but i also realise that the truth is often far from what i want and always somewhere in between. and coelho made it all the more obvious. lofty ideals should be placed in perspective. balance needs to be struck when i decide whether or not the person who just stepped out of line needs to be told off.

***

ORD function was yesterday and over in...quite a while. Sad to say, i came from BMTC and then SISPEC and ATI, so i couldnt really feel the camaraderie of the 7th mono, established thru the gruelling syllabus of BMT and the trade and setion / plt courses. i can easily feel more for my fellow specialists because of a shared history and a common identity (tt's so SS!!)...the rest...we are all nSFs? haha. surprisingly, as i watched the videos, waves of nostalgia did not flood me as when i was in sch, both schs and even aisl. i felt rather detached, as if i were merely an observer. dont get me wrong NS taught me many things and i met many people, some wonderful, others not, and im grateful. but how unifying were the experiences? something that needs to be relooked. maebe cos it's a transition period for the organisation as well. or maybe i jus find it harder and harder to feel...

太愛了...　

所以我...　

沒有哭...　

沒有說...

stef sun is great...and the lyricists...and the composers.

hopefully i dont have the emotional range of a teaspoon at the spec. farewell next wk.