Skip to main content

Conversations : Part II

Recently, I took part in a Technopreneurship programme organised within NUS. One of the guest lecturers, a man with quite a lot of credentials in this area, kept emphasising to the audience to go visit Silicon Valley and immerse ourselves in that culture. He said

"Go to any cafe, any Starbucks and you will keep overhearing people who are sharing new ideas, discussing new developments. The atmosphere there is perfect for every entrepreneur. The conversations between people there, unlike in Singapore, do not dwell on where to get the cheapest plate of chicken rice".

I am a local boy. Maybe not born here, but I have lived here long enough to be witness, victim and perpetrator of the most lengthy and pointless conversations. In short, if I am with people, most of the time is spent with me talking cock or with me spending time listening to people talk cock. In one of my earlier posts, I pointed out how this ability to perpetuate nonsense was quite important in making friends and building fond memories of the times in school.

No denying that. Just that if all conversations were predominantly filled with gossip, jokes and whatnot, one is not really adding any kind of value to one's life. Even if it is rare, I do have the serious conversation now and then, critiquing events, debating issues and sharing ideas. And the part I really love about these conversations is that they often open up new perspectives that I never considered before, the moments I ask myself "Now why did I not think of that?".

To me, these conversations are not just about the consequent enlightenment, but they are a redemption from the guilt of discussing where to get the cheapest plate of chicken rice the previous day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Eye for an Eye

"Something that three or four years ago you told me was one of the touchstones of maturity: being nice to people even when they’re not nice to you…" - William Styron It was an plan that came out of nowhere. Perhaps half depressed by the winter and half depressed by the inactivity at work, there was sufficient turmoil in the mind to create these type of plans and then let it fester, until something that started off with a what-if turned into a why-not. It would have been the perfect revenge for the past hurt and humiliation that was yet to completely heal.  The circumstances were similar. On one side, an eager visitor who had traveled far to say "Hello" and on the other side, a host, bewildered and surprised by this visit. In the first case, the host would not receive the visitor, who would turn back humiliated and vowing never again. Now the roles were reversed and I was the host. What if I agreed to receive? What if in reality I did not plan to receive? ...
Post a Comment
Read more

An Ode to Marriage

I remember pondering about the need for marriage during a certain period of my life. Partially inspired by stoicism, I saw a man as an island in a big ocean, continuously being battered by the waves and storms, but holding fort and growing strong with each test. It was also when the idea of monasticism greatly appealed to me, to leave behind, for the lack of a better work, the bullshit of society and trying to attain enlightenment.  Somehow that idea fell apart after a brief meditation stint in a monastery, but the idea of marriage I resisted. The freedom that came from being single seemed too precious to let go. Furthermore life was complicated as it is. Why complicate it further by introducing another person to that life, someone who would bring her own mannerisms, rules, habits, many that might end up conflicting with your own. However, a lot of these ideas and beliefs start to die when friends of yours each start getting into their own relationships and have no more time for yo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sparing the Rod

 She gave me a look of deep displeasure, not very atypical of the look most members of the opposite gender gave me. “You know you can’t do that in Germany?”, she asserted with the same authority my mother used to tell me about not messing around in her kitchen.  “Yes I am aware”, I meekly responded, knowing well that any kind of argument about this would not end well, so it was better to close off the topic quietly and unlike the kitchen, I could not afford to get kicked out of Germany. She was not the first to respond with such hostility to what seemed like the most natural of things in my experience. The last one who told me the same was a teacher I had met at a party. When she sounded shocked that I was ok with it and said it was not right, I (with some alcoholic courage) had retorted, “How would you discipline them then if they do something wrong?” “I would tell them I am very disappointed with them”. I almost laughed. However, that was very much the theory of my new frien...
Post a Comment
Read more