Pulse Rate : 72 pulses/minute
Mental state: in deep thought
Emotional : edgy and irritable
Activity : contemplate on whether to turn up for an 11 a.m. lecture

Check complete. I'm still trying to shake off the "drugging" of an all-night tennis class (I'm still a novice) and self-inflicted all-day mental distress. Seems like I'm doing fine so far, just my usual morning mood. There's only half-an-hour more to my first lecture. It has been a while since I put up a decent post here, so I'm taking a little time here... Still have loadsa assignments to deal with (due tomorrow)and my alarm clock just fell under my bed.

Anyways, here's a little something to think about. Remember how the older generation always talks about us not having any regard for authority anymore? Remember how they always say that young people have no more respect for their elders? Being a member of the younger generation, I always thought they were trying to compare us to people of their time. They like to say things like, "During my time, we were all good kids. We never disregarded the words of our elders... But the young people nowadays [fill in the blanks] "

I always thought those accusations were mere comparisons unfairly drawn, using their standards to measure against ours. We are from entirely different generations. In our generation, the society is more liberal. The society encourages freedom of speech, hence the birth of mavericks (no pun intended) and bohemians as people begin to express their opinions in a more direct and honest way. People now begin to learn how to pursue their own dreams rather than going with the flow of the "you-must-be-a-doctor-or-lawyer" mentality.

Still, we all know that freedom comes with boundaries. We can never have freedom without responsibilities. If we want to have the freedom of speech and expressing our opinions, we need to be responsible for what entails, agreed?

Assuming the answer is yes, most of us do recognize the importance of respecting authority and our elders (it's for our own good, right?). Yet they always say that a few rotten apples spoils the whole basket. If you know me, I do what I want as I please, and I hate to be told what to do... But the very least, I recognize that if I am in submission to a higher authority, I ought to be respecting every executive decision whether I like it or not. Still, some people out there refuse to be mature enough to tell the difference between guidance and constriction of personal rights.

I was attending a briefing by the Education Sponsorship Unit of Petronas yesterday. They basically wanted to review our results thus far and remind us of our obligations to the company. Being a Petronas scholar, I do not mind being bonded by them, I do not mind working for them for the first 10 years of my career. All this I have considered carefully before signing the contract. So even though I am not yet an employee of the company, in a way I carry the name of the company.

I don't mind sitting through a 3-5 p.m. talk. They pay for my tuition fees every semester, give me RM500 to spend a month. Listening to them speak for 2 hours, no problem. *grins* But towards the ending of the briefing, they permitted people to leave the hall. Those who want to leave the hall must collect a pamphlet from a box in the front. Soon after, seeing that too many people were leaving, they withdrew the offer and pulled the box back near to where the VIPs were sitting. But this jack**s, had the temerity to walk all the way to the front (in a "selamba" manner) and take a pamphlet before straddling along slowly to the exit. The majority of the crowd applauding this action. *gasp*

I don't know what you might think about this. To me, I think this is the most stupid act of defiance in the highest order. Is he going to do that to his employer too in the future? Maybe he just thought it would make him look cool doing some stupid things like that, but by doing that he really tarnished the reputation of Petronas-sponsored students. I'll bet he would've been bragging to people about his "daring" (read: definition below) feat in defying authority.

Forgive me if my reaction sounds too strong. Can't blame me for being one who has spent his whole life trying to prove the older generation wrong.

Definition(s)- In context of this post:
-"daring": "daring" is the quality or condition of being stupid, or lacking intelligence. This quality can be attributed to both an individual himself (that boy was "daring") or his actions, words or beliefs (John Smith's policies are "daring"). The determination of who is "daring" is difficult, despite attempts to measure intelligence (and thus "daring"-ness) such as IQ tests.