The Emergency Button:
Yesterday, I witnessed a female passenger vomitting and fainting on the MRT passenger cabin. I wanted to reach out forward to help her because I was a qualified first-aider but the crowd was way too packed as they edged forward to see the incident. The poor girl vomitted at least thrice and nearly passed out and another female passenger pressed the emergency red button near the sliding doors, requesting the train to be stopped at Queenstown MRT station and some SMRT staff to help the fallen passenger.
Minutes later, the two male staff arrived, but to my utter horror, they went straight to unlock the emergency button instead of going to check on the female casualty. The disgusting idea hit my mind then at once - those SMRT staff were more concerned about that emergency button than the casualty (which is supposed to be THE emergency). I watched quietly over the bobbing heads of other passengers when the two male staff finished unlocking the emergency button and I encountered the second horror of that incident - both of the SMRT staff members started walking back, seemingly forgetting everything about the vomitting and fainting female passenger!! The good Samaritan also stared at the two men and finally only one of the staff noticed the staring and went back to check on the female casualty (who looked really feeble and weak from my angle).
The MRT train started moving and I stretched out to see what happened to the other male SMRT staff member - the last glimpse was of him still walking back to the elevator, seemingly unconcerned about the female passenger. So much for passenger concern and safety - I continued my journey with a new disgust about SMRT's handling of that incident. The button and the passenger - they seemed to have chosen that cold, red "emergency" button.
The PSS 2 Goodbyes:
I watched last Thursday's voting results show fpr the Project Superstar 2's first Quarter-Finals contestants and saw all the crying, hugging and goodbyes of those who were voted out and those who remained in the cruel competition. I could see how some of the contestants were incredibly upset because I believed they did not regard the whole thing as a competition but as an invaluable opportunity to make friends with like-minded people. Yet, the show moved on and the remaining twenty contestants continued their journey to attempt to become Superstars while the other four were to move on to whatever lives they had decided to lead after the competition.
The episode reminded me of something that I had learnt many years ago - the world moves on, whether you want it to or not. For some of the contestants, it must have been a terrible night that night to watch friends leave and perhaps never return again on the same stage, but such is the reality of elimination-style competitions and perhaps elimination-style real world as well. Maybe the SMRT staff were thinking about the same thing - that vomitting female passenger had fallen behind and would be left behind while the train moved on. I personally have waved goodbyes and left behind many things as well - the schools I went to, many of those friends I made during my stays there, the people who were once important but now meaningless to me.
Who gets left behind, who is staying behind, who is moving on and who is still undecided - this may well sum up the daily struggle by everyone in whatever worlds they deemed themselves to be in. Still, I believe in one consistent thing so far - do my best for every day of my life and let my destiny unfold by itself. To the person reading this right now - are you doing your best for every day in life or you have your own unique philosophy of managing life itself? Whatever the case - enjoy this moment because there will never ever be another moment exactly the same as this one.
The Battle of Wits:
I just came back from watching the movie starring Andy Lau and I was impressed by the simple message that it was trying to bring the audience - Let go of war and embrace peace. Obviously, this message has been brought across by countless movies, celebrities, political forums, and even cartoon strips but the fact remains even more obvious - it is probably one of the hardest things to do for many people. Why? Because war gives the perfect excuse to eliminate people you don't like, don't want to like, boost your own ego whenever you score a victory, trample the egos of those defeated whenever you win, or fulfil whatever secret desires or cravings that I cannot even begin to comprehend. I am not just talking about those wars with swords, shields, guns and bullets. I am including all other forms of war in which there is a competition with the victors celebrating and the vanquished falling silent.
In the movie "Battle of the Wits", the lead character, Ge Li, played by Andy, advocated something in the movie that is still resonating in my head right now - universal love for all people alike and he was intelligently retorted by a slave which he saved in the movie who countered - learn to choose who to love more is better than blind universal love. I suppose the slave's words made greater sense because loving someone or something or some belief does not automatically mean that that love will be reciprocated. Just like what happened in the move, Ge Li's unselfish love for the people in the city of Liang was horribly twisted by the Liang King as an ulterior motive to usurp power. Ge Li's was nearly killed and learnt his lesson that not every single human in the city deserves his sacrifice and devotion to save from harm. I suppose the same philosophy can be applied to the workings of daily life - one does not need to hate every opponent or every force of opposition or negation but one also does not need to love everyone equally because, regardless whether the love will be reciprocated or not, the focused effort of loving those whom one deems important to oneself is better utilized. For me, I am going to start to smile more to the people I love and stop frowning on those whom I don't. It may still be a battlefield out there somehow, but at least I will try to learn to fight, comforted by my new peace of mind. It's a movie that I would want to recommend to my friends. Click on the link provided by the picture source below if you want to read the movie's synopsis.
One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing;
that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.
By: Agatha Christie, Autobiography (1977)English mystery author (1890 - 1976)
(Picture Source: http://www.moviexclusive.com/review/abattleofwits/abattleofwits.htm)
(Quote Source: http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/24918.html)
No comments:
Post a Comment