Dear House-mate,
This is a direct result of your suggestion to continue my blog.
This is a direct result of your suggestion to continue my blog.
It was discontinued for various reasons. First and foremost, there were readers who felt compelled to past judgment. The type that leads one to question, "did my back hurt your knife?". Then, just as it is impossible to paint a picture of a dinosaur's life from a simple fossil, it is near impossible to construct one's identity from a single blog post. Yet many attempt to do so, even kindheartedly trying to help with dire consequences... due to lack of information on the situation in hand.
People are not content to let blogs be blogs. And I am a slow learner in how to expect people be people.
It is Chinese New Year. As you know, I went home for some family time this year. You had to spend time in the apartment alone to prepare for your exams. I salute your determination and admire your family's understanding. Very few families, if any, would respect a son's decision to not join in the celebrations. I wonder if mine would.
While spending time here at home, conversations from the older generation become a daily routine. Although the government considers us old enough to be trusted to make decisions on the future of the nation, aunts and uncles will forever view us as children. So our participation in usually involves the simple art of eavesdropping clearly audible discussions.
It is then that one notices that cousins are inevitably compared like slabs of meat in the market. Each is weighed, measured and valued according to scales not found in any imperial or metric system. Medical students score lower in the scale due to lack of contribution to the family economy at our age. In fact, we are seen as no different from parasites still tied to our mama's apron strings, incapable of simple independence embraced by our peers.
Fortunately, supportive family members (thank God for them) exist. However, it still doesn't hide the fact that medicine is a selfish pursuit. It sacrifices not just our personal time but more importantly, our family time and efforts. It makes me question if any one of us is putting enough effort to rival that of our families'. None seem sufficient to be compared with the value of their understanding.
You and I are both very fortunate. If I ever do forget this, do remind me. Over and over again.
Tired from babysitting,
-house mate-
People are not content to let blogs be blogs. And I am a slow learner in how to expect people be people.
It is Chinese New Year. As you know, I went home for some family time this year. You had to spend time in the apartment alone to prepare for your exams. I salute your determination and admire your family's understanding. Very few families, if any, would respect a son's decision to not join in the celebrations. I wonder if mine would.
While spending time here at home, conversations from the older generation become a daily routine. Although the government considers us old enough to be trusted to make decisions on the future of the nation, aunts and uncles will forever view us as children. So our participation in usually involves the simple art of eavesdropping clearly audible discussions.
It is then that one notices that cousins are inevitably compared like slabs of meat in the market. Each is weighed, measured and valued according to scales not found in any imperial or metric system. Medical students score lower in the scale due to lack of contribution to the family economy at our age. In fact, we are seen as no different from parasites still tied to our mama's apron strings, incapable of simple independence embraced by our peers.
Fortunately, supportive family members (thank God for them) exist. However, it still doesn't hide the fact that medicine is a selfish pursuit. It sacrifices not just our personal time but more importantly, our family time and efforts. It makes me question if any one of us is putting enough effort to rival that of our families'. None seem sufficient to be compared with the value of their understanding.
You and I are both very fortunate. If I ever do forget this, do remind me. Over and over again.
Tired from babysitting,
-house mate-
1 comment:
Good to see u blogging again.. and am so moved to see the first post is specially dedicated to me .. T_T
Happy CNY :)
Housemate
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