Babies

There has recently been an addition to my church membership: twins have been borned to my violin senior and his wife. It is a happy occasion, but the reactions of the people to this have made me wonder about babies -- Why do they draw people's attention so greatly? The following article does not include the parents, for they love their children. This refers to the people who are strangers to the babies, as the attention they shower on the babies may be laden with secret motives.

Perhaps the innocent eyes, proclaiming helplessness, appeals greatly to people's need for power. The insistent want to hold the babies suggest that something that surpasses love is at work. Babies need care and attention, and the ability to carry them without evident struggles is always a reassurance of acceptance. The carrier is powerful, for he holds the most precious treasure of the child's parents.

Evidence of this can always be seen in groups of people who are near babies. When someone lifts the baby, everyone else waits with bated breath. They remain silent, for selfishness is a vice, and they cannot show it. The baby cries, and immediately, the next person pulls the baby away from the first on the context that the baby does not like the carrier.

On the other hand, the baby may remain silent, and the people crowd around it, cooing and gurgling like a baby does. They are like the baby, and the baby would like them, they seem to suggest. Still, they are silent, waiting. After some time, when the people are assured that the carrier is hogging the baby, they voice out. The carrier, having no choice, passes the baby on, and the cycle continues.

Are babies symbols of power that people want without having to go through the pain of pregnancy? Are they toys to be passed around, to be chucked aside when bored? Babies need care, no doubt. Still, they do not have to be blinded by the limelight shone upon them. Give them space, let them experience falls. This is the best thing we, as strangers, can do for the babies we see.

Exams

Three practical exams have just passed. Compared to what is to come, these exams were strangely relaxing. The long waiting hours allowed us the time to calm our wild minds and to let frustration overtake fear. This ended in a great finale today with a prawn being our test subject in place of the usual fruit. Realising this was largely scary, but the answers required were quite simple, and posed no huge obstacle. It was merely the same, familiar tests taken under different circumstances.

The main skeleton of the examination paper had been simple, requiring only the recalling of knowledge that had long been carved into the walls of our brains. Yet, there were the tiny shreds of flesh that clung on indiscreetly. Many were fooled, from what I have heard. Startled by the presence of such foreign tests subjects, however, I proceeded with much more caution. Maybe that was what this surprise was for -- reduce carelessness due to oversight.

Still, the three exams have passed, and I am satisfied with them. Certainly, it is quite a comfortable start to the three-week rampage of papers. I have never stood such pressure, and I would have to learn to do so in two days. Already, headaches have struck. Can I hold out?

Blogs

What, exactly, do blogs represent? Do they reflect an inner personality of us or reveal what we desire to become? Blogs are currently a huge craze amongst teenagers.

Hosting so many online blogs under a single server will encourage comparison between each. Childish entries are dismissed while deep, insightful ones earn respect. Especially in a place like Singapore, such mindsets are highly sought after and encouraged. They represent a reliable source of young blood to boost the country. Such people eventually become highly successful.

Even now, as I type this entry, I am desperate to make this more than just a daily record. I am trying to post an entry worthy of the brand "gifted", one that my "gifted" friends can read and praise. This is proof of the hold blogs have upon us. They are not for us but for others. Lie, exaggerate, as long as people are awed by the great wisdom of the person behind the blog.

That is where the problem lies. In exaggerating problems, trying to draw emotions from the reader, the writer very often puts on such problems, making worse what could have been rectified. Bloggers are thus often caught in a vicious cycle, trying to ease the pain by extracting sympathy, but eventually making the pain more unbearable.

Blogs should be kept as a reflection of one's pure, raw spirit. Any hidden agenda spoils the true meaning of blogging. In response to Singapore's current trend of blogs that give off a foreboding stench of suicide, do blog for the sake of blogging.