The year is 2020 and we find ourselves grappling with two pandemics: COVID-19 and Racism. However, we’ve been dealing with the latter for a far longer time. Racism is a psychological phenomenon that we’ve co-existed with for centuries. It isn’t something we’re inherently born with, rather a system we’ve been inculcated with to the point where we almost constantly turn a blind eye to it in our daily lives.
If racism is learned, then we, as a society have the capability and responsibility to unlearn it.
The assuaging places that my mind loves to wander off to during these times of seclusion are the fictional worlds that present themselves as utopias. They manage to provide me with comfort and a momentary escape from the calamities that we are all focusing on. For a brief moment, I can visualise the magic of these worlds and somehow transfer them to my own reality, and our world suddenly appears fresh and new. Although it does not solve our adversities, it allows me to take a step back and have a more positive outlook on life, similar to that of a child’s perspective. We could all use a little imaginary adventure, so here are a few of my favourite fictional utopias.
"Oh. My. God. Al, you will not believe where he is taking me tonight."
There was a long-suffering sigh from the other end of the phone line. “Let me guess. The Eiffel Tower?”
“Wh- no!” Lucy said indignantly, before pausing to consider the idea. “Although, now that I think about it, that would be the absolute dream-”
“Just spill it already.”
“In order to be able to think, you have to risk being offensive”- Jordan B Peterson.
Living in a world where anything and everything is deemed offensive and can spark retaliation from the so called “social justice warriors” of Twitter and Instagram, it is hard for most people to express opposing thoughts without being subjected to a virtual walk of shame. It is evident that many people have lost the ability to properly dissect statements or arguments that oppose their views without immediately reacting with slanderous emotions, fueled with attacks, instead of civil discourse. This is incredibly foolish, as wanting to change the mind of others is virtually impossible when you resort to shaming instead of listening and having intellectual dialogue.
hello? can you hear me?
i've been meaning to say something
even if the signal's not pretty.
i don't think i can do this anymore.
i've grown tired of the city
where my screams tend to evade me,
my confessional streams
poured all over the polished floors
until i ran out of dreams-
i need a getaway across the seas;
somewhere deep in the country
where i can still feel a breeze;
a breath of dying somewhere pretty
as if i carelessly ripped out a page
out of my half-written biography
that takes up too much of my head
until they all cooperate to collaborate
into my nameless anthology
but how can i craft such a thing
when i'm not even dead?
Prompt: If you could turn back time to before the MCO, what would you do?
As most of us are aware, classroom learning has been shifted to online learning (e-learning) ever since the MCO was in effect.
A benefit from this new learning style includes being able to wake up 30 minutes before classes instead of having to wake up at an ungodly hour just to avoid the morning traffic (also, to get a parking space in the basement). However, e-learning just doesn't really feel the same as F2F learning. Take the jokes our lecturers share for instance, it feels especially less amusing.
- Joey Yap
“Citizens of the land, free from all forms of discrimination.” As if the constitution ever mattered. The welfare of the minorities amounted to nothing. They were difficult people to caucus with. An insane few even tabled a bill that identified every minority as a second class citizen, a breaking point for moderate senators across the country. Cracks within the ruling coalition presented an opportunity. Enough with enriching the elite, a revolution was due.
Even if it meant losing a loved one.
The sudden eruption of applause brought Yusef back to his senses.
A shower of confetti rained onto the stage, a clear signal for him to make an appearance. Despite the three long rehearsals from the day before, he still could not make his legs move the rest of his body out of the comforts of backstage. His heart beat painfully against his chest, like a bird trying to escape its cage.
“Yet it would be your duty to bear it, if you could not avoid it: it is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear.”
- Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
For 7 weeks now, we have been under the Movement Control Order. Some of us are stuck in residences crowded with housemates whom we barely know and managed to avoid for years before this. Some of us are stuck alone without a single soul to judge us as we waltz around the communal area in only a towel. Some of us are at home, either cooking and baking - having the time of our lives; or hiding away from toxic interactions, praying for escape. Some of us are taking the time to learn new things, while some of us are having trouble finding any meaning to waking up in the morning. The situation for every person is unique in its challenges and pleasures.
There is one thing we all have in common, though. We’re all thinking about how things could’ve been. Whether it’s, “this time last year I was...” or “right now I’m supposed to be at...” or “now I will never get to...”, the grief of our individual lost plans weighs upon us, on top of the concern we have for the COVID-19 victims and frontliners. After all, we’re only human, and it’s not something to be ashamed of.
It almost seems as though society synonymizes self-expression with ease. The entire construct is that your life may ameliorate as soon as you express yourself and stay true to your own essence. However, society fails to consider those who are unable to do so and are silenced by accusations of provocation.
For many years, women have only been accepted in society provided that they expressed themselves according to the societal expectations of how women should act. And these obligated characteristics have moulded their entire existence; femininity, submissiveness, and vessels that should bend over backwards to satisfy a man’s whims. Rebel against these norms and you are instantaneously accused of provoking others by defying the boundaries that have been set for you.
Your demise is predestined the moment you try and claw out of the cage you were born to perform in.
