my first essay at NYU!

Too busy to blog nowadays. Having some trouble with registration, but I know the Lord will provide.

Enjoy reading this! Well, you might not understand anything much, but hey, it's my work hahaha

oh, and DON'T EVER do it this way for GP. The Americans are teaching me this, not the GP department (which I am really used to.)

Here goes:

Word Picture on Nirvana's Nevermind Album cover (my personal choice haha)

I first saw the picture on the cover of the album Nevermind by the band Nirvana as a young man growing up in the waning years of the rock-and-roll era. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was a hit among my generation - a rock standard that has become an anthem of adolescence. However, on hindsight, I began to realize that my perception of adulthood then was apparently not as vivid as it is now; just like my idea then of the meaning behind the photograph. What much is there to interpret in this picture anyway? There’s the baby boy – naïve and oblivious to all the perils that this world has to offer. Instinctively, the boy turns towards money – the root of all evil. The dollar bill then represents material possessions, which is the first thing that those innocent little eyes will see and helplessly be enticed to. In fact, it’s the only thing in his line of sight. Clearly, in its simplest state, this is a photograph depicting greed as an inherent trait of mankind.

Our experiences in life rarely differ in a general sense. In our developmental years, we were showered with selfless, often unrequited love by our parents. In school, we were taught to share a pencil or give space for an unfamiliar kid to sit next to you. Finally, adulthood (and thus employment) comes with it the responsibility of paying taxes and sharing your income with those who are less financially blessed. But are we simply basking in the love of our parents? And almost surely, duties are done with a tinge of reluctance. We are trapped in a world where we need education to be employable, and employment to earn money. When I was younger, my parents used to give me gifts such as toys and other gadgets that once constituted my idea of “fun”, but only in exchange for good grades, or high academic standing. We are coerced into doing the politically correct thing, but the substance that still fuels and motivates us is our greed.

Which makes me wonder – is education simply a plot to aid us in the unlearning of this instilled trait? Is benevolence then an accurate measure of one’s maturity? We are born into this world as a basic form of life. In our complete nakedness, we are finally free to roam about, after nine grueling months of captivity. Almost immediately, the world presents money as a source of power and influence right in front of our eyes, baiting us to the allure of a bright future and a happy life. However, we are unaware of the hook that will reel us into wanting to acquire more of it. At that moment, we forgo the essential things in life: the air that we breathe, and correspondingly, the correct set of moral values that will rightfully pave our paths in life.

Perhaps education is used as a tool to help us turn away from our fascination of material things, and maturity is learning to take the bait by the hand, ripping it off the hook, and swimming across the ocean to find other places to help others with their own fascinations. In the picture, the microcosm of the child is presented as a tiny box filled with only water and a one dollar bill. But I guess maturity comes along with it the idea that there is so much more to the world than money; that sometimes, integrity is more important than profit.

haha. rather preposterous?

I'M OUT!!!