Back to reality

It has been almost a month since I came back to Singapore from Japan. There are too many things to get up to speed with, especially research work, moving place and thinking about my next direction in life.

It is rather complicated in my research work. Here I am doing research in an area which is cutting edge in terms of innovation and creativity, yet the work is not really appreciated in the department which I am in, which is electrical and computer engineering. As someone in a position of authority puts it, research work to be done in ECE department has to fall under one of the courses taught by this department. In a way, what is considered good research should follow strictly to the definition of the department. Our research work has been televised on National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Good Morning America to name a few. And yet, it is not considered good research for the electrical and engineering department because it doesn't fall under one of the courses taught by the department. If science started out by having very restrictive definition of what each area is, for example, there is no mixing between science of the electric and science of biology, we will never reach this day when we have areas like bio-technology or even life sciences. I am starting to have doubts about the quality of a university like the one I am in, and whether , given 1000 years, will they ever be able to produce nobel prize winners if this mentality persists.

On another note, I have been away from Singapore since July last year, not a long time by any yardstick, but living abroad enables me to experience life away from Singapore. I certainly miss the way of life abroad. It is not so much a comparison of materialistic standards, like what I can get abroad but could not get here. Sometimes it is just the way the society as a whole perceive life. We all know now the vicious cycle of this modern lifestyle, where one works hard, parties harder (i.e. increased spending), then needs to work even harder. This seems to be more pronounced than ever when you compare the lifestyle in Singapore to that of other countries like Japan and the US (of course with exceptions to certain places like Wall street, where the lifestyle is being idolized by most young, freshly graduated people in Singapore). Perhaps it is because as a whole, Singapore is a city-state, with a high concentration of people all living within the town and central business district. Dressing up, going to places where one aught to be seen at, looking 'high class' (or elitist, or 'atas') seems to be the ultimate aim in life, at least for the younger generation of people. Of course I wouldn't deny such a situation exists in any developed or developing country, but perhaps it is not so pronounced because we still see that most people appreciate the simpler things in life. For example, going to a scenic place on the weekend of appreciate the natural beauty, or having a picnic with friends by the beach. (Talking about beach, I think Sentosa is almost falling out of the category of being a beach anymore...)

No wonder then that more and more of the population who can afford it goes for weekend getaway trip to some other countries. In the pursuit of development and economic prosperity, has Singapore been transformed into a "work only" place where any form of relaxation, peace and tranquility has to be obtained elsewhere?

well, that is not to say that I don't appreciate or is against economic prosperity. I think it is a natural, easy way for people to put their focus on gaining something. Some people aim for spiritual enlightenment, some for love, some for family, etc. It is good that people should have some aim or focus in their lives. Let's just hope that we do not lose our soul in the pursuit of our aims in life.