Monday, October 30, 2006
nyc
i'm taking a short hiatus from writing my ethics paper so here i am blogging. seems that writing papers somehow provide the impetus for me to blog.anyway, dad is here. i'm pretty pleased with that since it would be nasty to be here by myself. the school is horrendously quiet again, quite a drastic change from the normal hustle and bustle. i must plan my winter break so that i do not end up alone in my dorm again. it would definitely be depressing, with 8 hours of daylight (hopefully a lil' more) and not a soul to talk to. at least we're going to nyc for a couple of days, so i've something to look forward to.
and nyc is scary. i think i'm definitely not a fan of the great metropolis. the buildings are all so tall they are suffocating, and you can barely see the sky. all you can spot is a small slice of blue wedged between the towering skyscrapers. the central park is pretty, but it seems out of place in the huge spread of gigantic buildings, a small piece of nature amidst all the human constructions. chinatown is messy. fifth avenue is way too posh (they probably have boutiques of every conceivable brand there). we (dad and i) did not venture to upper west side, but i've heard that it can get sketchy. this is new york where extra-long limousines exist in juxtapositions with the old metros that get flooded when it rains, where women in stilettos walk little chihuahuas dressed in cute woollen sweaters (i've actually seen it) and on the next block haggard old men covered in rags sleep in train stations hugging all their worldly possessions in one torn nylon bag, where brokers in wall street dictate world economy and the broked kill themselves in desperation, earning no more than a 'oh, another suicide.' in the neighbourhood. i know that more than half of princeton graduates become investment bankers. i know that wall street firms love us. i know that lots of us are probably going to be the women in stilettos and smart black suits draped in money. but i am not sure if that is what our education is for. that new york is the place to be because you may live in the upper east side and not the west. that beauty, money and power are all we should seek. i am scared that being in the bubble for too long will shield us from seeing the poor, the homeless, the unfortunate, that we will forget that we are afterall the same, just that some people have better luck.
this is why i really should return to my paper and convince myself that it is my moral obligation to donate to NGOs to help alleviate world poverty.
(and yes i am aware of what that rj girl wrote in her blog, and i'm aghast. strange how i'm still keeping up with what's happening in singapore. maybe i care more than i think.)
ray at 1:45 PM
