____T.H.E. .P.A.S.S.

____Youth is Wasted On Youths

Many a time somebody makes an "if" statement, and such statements are normally time related such as "if only I have chosen to study medicine instead of law" - and the completion to that thought would probably go "I would be earning big bucks now." An "if" statement tend to have a cause and effect relation.

But how many times do we make a similar statement, realise the oppurtunities and time lost, and then do something about it? Rarely. Why and how, then, do we try to maximise the available time made to us? Why do some people "have things easier"?

I believe it is the realisation of the importance of time from an early age, where the crucial period is during one's teenage years. It is the stage when growing is fastest and personal opinions related to worldly matter can be achieved. As compared to the age of the universe, the time an average person spends alive is minute. How then, does he make an impact? Or to quote a phrase I saw from an msn nick, "what makes a man if he doesn't make a difference?"

Today I helped out in the fund raising for Hall Ball by invigilating the HSK exam. While, I noticed that most of the secondary 3 students were pretty decent, it was, alas, sad for me to realise the sad fact that "youth is wasted on youths". My observation is based on a few girls who had neoprints stuck onto the picture of their student card which hindered the certification of their identities. Stupid, dumb, foolish or what ever you may call it but I see it as an influence by "all things pop". They are probably the bunch who go around chasing boybands like 5566.

While "youth is wasted on youths" seems generalising and a little harsh on the kids, I beg to differ simply for the fact that I was also into "all things pop". It is yet another vicious cycle in the modern society that cannot be ceased by academic education. Vicious cycle because "pop" is a culture embraced by teenagers and sometimes, they go right into the young adult stage largely influenced by this particular culture. And academic education cannot solve this problem because wisdom comes with experience and only when something hard hits them would they realise the waste of their boundless teenage energy.

Antagonists of the pop culture find it hard to accept its influence over youths. I believe it has something to do with finding one's place in the society and trying to fit in. Being refreshingly different doesn't come to their young minds yet. One cannot deny the vast influence of pop. It is not only all about music. Besides the pretty faces of the teenagers' idols and their talentless music making, pop culture comes along with a whole lot of other junk such as poor mannerisms, unrealistic roles that they play in their movies, amplification of the ideal sweet innocent love, "gung-ho" violence, and the "I wanna thank my fans" quotes that pull an even larger crowd into the culture trap.

Many take a long time to swim out of the dark waters and start to embrace other good qualities such as the patriotism and steel of the ancient Chinese or maybe appreciate the works of the great philosopher Socrates. Even learning to appreciate the art of stage musicals and orchestras would be so far away from the young minds.

"How then do we maximise our time?" is a difficult question to answer because some of us can use our daily allocated energy to the maximum. There are such people who excel in almost everything that they do. Just think about the RJC student who excels academically, is well-read, athletic, and even plays the flute. He doesn't spend time like the many of us slacking away. Nor does he indulge in video games. Plus, he is not the average nerd. Sounds impossible?

Check out his daily timetable then. Lessons in the morning, practice the flute after lunch, joins the rest for track training, then returns home for dinner, study and 10pm news.

It takes sheer brilliance to pull off such a timetable in just a single day, let alone in the entire of one's teenage - but it can be done. Instead of telling others how good our results are in primary school, reminiscing the happy times we had in secondary school, or feeling bad about some relationship that didn't work out, we could spend the time doing something much more constructive. Move on, and efficiency is achieved. History is for experience and learning, not reminiscing.

But why put oneself through such torture? Reason is as simple as trying to visualise the lifestyle you want to lead in the future and the route to getting there. Hardships will always be there to be experienced but it is a matter of coming out of it with the experience and being tougher than before.

At the end of the examination, amidst all the rushing, and tiredness, I wondered if there was any means to help the next generation. How to instill the ability for everyone to possess an opinion on a worldly topic? How to apply knowledge? How to teach creativity?

How do we save the population?

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