passing thought(s).

lesson of the day; humans are selfish. we have no regard for one another, especially when our own well-beings are at stake. we desperately squeeze onto a bus even though there is obviously no space, just so we can reach home earlier and not have to endure the agony of waiting indefinitely for the next bus. we barge our way through the doors of the MRT without a care in the world, regardless of who's at the door and whether they're alighting or not. and when it comes to seats on the trains, we are no better. we hog seats; we reserve them for our precious sons and daughters, that are in upper primary already and are endowed and gifted with strong limbs that allow them to stand for long periods of time. we don't give two hoots about the old man that is standing around the corner, with eyes downcast and crooked back. or perhaps the old lady tryng to keep herself from falling over while holding on tightly to a bag of oranges that seem to be taking a toll on her tired shoulders. we leave them to stand alone, in all the rushing madness and chaos, while we sit in our comfortable seats.

thought of the day; woe upon you, idle STOMPers/other equivalent scum; grown men and women who have little to do but speak ill of today's youth. noble words you type and speak; although i must say that they are only good enough only to fool a mere child in kindergarten. when there are problems in society, you point the finger at our nation's youth. to you, we are an easy scapegoat. to you, we are uneducated, uncouth and undisciplined; lacking in all faculties and most importantly, in values such as respect for the elderly and courtesy. let it be known then, that when a large group of tired youth sit down on the train floors, they are not being inconsiderate, as especially when they are sitting on the side that has doors that never open. they are leaving more seats for you. yes, you. but how do you return the favour? you whip out that handphone of yours and take pictures and videos of them falling asleep on the floor while you seat comfortably on your seat. the seat that they chose to forgo, so that you could enjoy your journey home. we are not uneducated, uncouth or undisciplined. we try to be practical. why should we sit when we can sit somewhere else that is of little use to anyone? why fall asleep on comfortable chairs when others need them more than we do? we try to do what we can. but no, to you, we are nothing but youth who know nothing of hard lives of suffering and sacrifice. you think we know not of compassion and generousity and you label us as such, "uneducated, uncouth and undisciplined".

when youth don't give up their seats to elderly men and women, or perhaps pregnant ladies too, you see it as a chance. a chance to "educate and enlighten" the country on how her youth is ruining society. to you, the feeling of being able to take a picture of a youth sleeping on an MRT seat can be likened to that of winning the Big Sweep, or perhaps TOTO. simply said, it is like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. you then put it up on STOMP, for you and the world to see. you think it is a good cause. i used to think so too, but i guess i've changed my mind.

oh, noble STOMPer, what about yourself? while the poor youth(who is dead tired after a day of school) dozes of in that MRT seat while an old lady is just round the corner, what is the first thing that you think of? taking a picture/video of the unfortunate boy(he is deemed unfortunate because you were there) or giving up your seat for the old lady. clearly, the former seems to be appealing to you. then, my noble STOMPer, you are no different from the youth in the picture you have just taken. or perhaps, maybe even worse. he is asleep while you are not. you are wide awake, with open eyes. yet you chose the lesser of the two choices. i must say that this is most disappointing.

the old lady still does not have a seat and thus, it can be concluded that the battle is not won. yes, no one wins. and everyone loses, especially the poor old lady and the unfortunate youth.

conclusion of the day; us youth, are human too. we all make mistakes because we are human. age does not make a difference. age is but a number. age does not gurantee maturity because maturity is not granted when one ages. i believe you can say the same about respect. these two are earned.

i'm not saying that STOMP is a bad platform. but i must say that is getting excessive, to the point that some youth(especially those in uniform) don't dare to sit on buses and MRTs anymore. but seriously, be more reasonable next time aye? adults make mistakes too, so don't go around just blaming the youth. take a good look at yourselves first, then we'll talk about civility.

i am ashamed to be a human.
we are flawed.
when we finally take one step forward,
we somehow always move back by three.