Destiny

I was reading Invisible Cities by Marco Calvino in between lessons one day and sitting right beside me was one of my mates who happened to be reading Kurt Vonnegut novel. We checked each others' books out. Invisible Cities is a piece modern literature text filled with symbols and metaphors. Calvino used imaginery cities to conjure representations of life and its realities. There were certain themes which have managed to stay stuck in my mind. There was one city most sought after and desired. However, the people who seek for this city realise that although it was the city they were finding all their life, it no longer felt the same because the idealism in their youth had vanished. The goals we strive for in our youth are not the ones we wish for when we grow older. As a teenager, I wonder if our goals are for naught due to their ephemeral nature. To stick to a long term goal and reach it, only to realise that it isn't what we want anymore is a sad disappointment. It's tragic.

Invisible Cities details a fictional conversation between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan. Polo, being an emissary was updating the Great Khan on the cities conquered and explored. Khan wondered why Polo didn't go through the usual report of food, troops etc. (because this book is literature!) so Polo would inevitably manage to steer the conversation topic away from that by mentioning something else, one being how the listeners' ears determines what he wants to hear. Yet in doing so, he states a true fact of life. The same story told varies as the people listening choose what they want to hear. Teachers, politicians, army generals and all other kinds of people will never be satisfied until their ears receive what they are contented with.

So enough with Invisible Cities. I laud the book for it's overwhelming variety of imaginery cities that the late author could have possibly conceived while including a thought provoking feature in each one. Admittedly so, I found it hard to understand everything that was brought across. I told my friend exactly that and he replied that you don't need to understand everything. Eventually, we landed on the topic of destiny. He shared how books like the watchmen and vonnegut ones are meaningful as they question critical themes in life. So he went- if we know our final destiny and no matter what we do, we end up at that final point, then what meaning is there to life? Or if I know that I am destined to do something wrong... will that make me a bad person? Did that make Peter the apostle a bad person when he denied Christ 3 times? To this, I let you decide for I still do not know the answer.

Movie Mania

Ever since I've enlisted into NS, I've watched movie after movie. There were X-Men: Origins of Wolverine, Star Trek, Watchmen, Rachel getting Married, Valkyrie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Lezioni di cioccolato, Bride Wars, Princess Mononoke, Ghost in the Shell, Laputa, Departures (jap movie), the wind blows round, nobody to watch over me etc. After watching all these movies of different genres and studios, i've become pickier with my choice of movies. I've grown tired of hollywood films for their same old storylines- bad guy comes, good guy gets hurt, good guy gets saved (by some external help) and bad guy loses in the end.

So quite recently i've been acquiring (or least trying) a taste for foreign films. In no way am I attempting to promote foreign films as I do admit there have been misses for foreign movies (don't watch the absurd nobody to watch over me (jap movie)). Yet, foreign films come across as avant garde as they offer a different perspective and style to movies. "The wind blows round" (an italian movie I watched during the Italian film festival) introduces culture and how complexities can emerge from the simple farm communal life. It was about a French goat cheese farmer and his family and the trouble they faced in integrating into an Italian village in the pyrenees filled with an ageing population. Discrimination, gossip and even politics in this village stirred up contention in the tiny community. That picture drawn up is somewhat recognisable and reflected in society today although the background differs. Xenophobic Singaporeans and their fear of foreign talent and labour. We find it hard to come to terms with the value of their skills and expertise. And when there is trouble, it's only natural it'd be ascribed to the other people.

I appreciate Studio Ghibli films especially Princess Mononoke, my favourite Hayao Miyazaki animated movie. I like movies which feature characters with pros and cons, characters who are heroes to some and villains to others. Take lady eboshi as an example, a leader to the women in her town and a caretaker of the lepers but hated by the spirits of the forest (and princess mononoke) as she destroys the forest for the town's industry. That's reality. I've observed and learnt in the army that everyone's wants can never be met as people would have conflicting opinions. And would satisfying the majority be the right solution? That's what I like about noteworthy films, they raise those familiar questions of society.

Reality Check

Haven't updated since november but that doesn't mean my brain has since been rotting. I can safely say that the rotting of my brain will commence once i enlist. I hope it won't be too drastic because i shall do my best to enrich my life with random knowledge. Bought i book on Israel's history as i feel ignorant reading about recent news on the Gaza strip between Israel and the Hamas and not know the historical background. Only read 50 pages out of the 2000 over pages thus far and i've already been astounded by the resilience of the Israelis. These people were discriminated almost everywhere, attacked frequently by the Arabs, were not exactly living on fertile soil (they were tilling the land as farmers in Palestine) and yet, they found solace in recovering their Zion. It wasn't anything much compared to America at that time (and perhaps still isn't). Under the great leadership of a few influential men eg. Theodor Herzl and also from the philantrophy of the masses and the rich ones eg. Edmond De Rothschild, the home for Jews was formed under the British Mandate (I've only read until about the 1920s). I find the Jews to be a very gifted bunch of people as they tend to be highly intelligent, a classic example being Albert Einstein. I was told that the Jews are the main controllers of financial institutions and they own quite a large stake in banks. So as much as these people were dispersed and stateless for more than 2 millenia, it hasn't been to their detriment as they hold power and wealth all around the world. The Jews are just an amazing people.

I haven't been following the news closely but when the headlines flashed out "Indian Software boss quits, admits faking US$1 billion in profits", a thought came to my head. With the Madoff incident and now this, maybe a financial crisis is a blessing in disguise. It allows us to be aware of the threat of corruption from even the seemingly most reputable people or institutions. The system of checks and balances gets oiled when such cases are uncovered. So in future, hopefully no one falls prey to the such corrupt practises as such should be weeded out. These instances also reinforce my belief that it's hard to trust people out there in this world. I'm not being cynical but the world we live in is a dog eat dog world so it can't be helped feeling this way. 

It's time to go off to Tekong. My life as a souja boy begins.