One common topic that always seem to crop up when a group of Singaporean guys gather together is the topic of National Service. Inevitably, whether it is over meals or drinks, guys will tend to talk about their National Service experiences.
Perhaps it is the suffering endured that forms an invisible bond between people who had gone through it before, even though they were not suffering it together at at time. The suffering endured becomes like a ‘war scar’ that guys seem to proudly display, like medals of honour on their chests.
In a way, life experiences are just like these ‘war scars’. It is painful while going through them, it felt like hell then. But after surviving through it, it becomes interesting to look back upon them and talk about it. It might be even fun to actually compare the ‘severity’ of such ‘war scars’. I can imagine one conversation might goes something like this:
“I went through so much pain when she dumped me for someone who was shorter and has less hair than me!”
“That’s nothing. I found out that she dumped me after posting it on her Facebook status and I was the last to know because my Internet connection died and I couldn’t read about it until 2 days later.”
I think one way to look upon all the life experiences I had so far, which by the way would make a great primetime soap opera, is that these life experiences actually enriched my life. I mean, who wants a life dull, boring and without any excitement right? Who wants a life that is predictable and goes according to plan? We only live this life once, thus it should be live to the fullest, and having all these experiences allow us to go through the whole spectrum of what life can offer.
That is one way to look at it. Either that or I am finally losing it.
