2003 in Review

2003 has been a terrible year for most of us. And with exception to the one friend who found love in its closing, terrible is an understatement. Not because the rest of us were unloved, but that we discovered that there are more to life than love. There is money, which happened to be in extremely short supply all around the world and there is employment opportunities, which is also in severe shortage, a signature that marked the past two years.

In fact, there is almost a general consensus that had the world should ended in the year 2000, it would have ended on a much higher note. I ended and started 2004 trying to achieve the resolution which I had set for myself 2 years ago, to clean my room. And I am proud to say that I had made more progress in 1 month than in the past 5 years.

In any case, what is 2003 to me? Very little, I am afraid. Aside from the few of my very good friends getting married, there are few landmark moments. I look back and I cannot retrace my steps. What got me here? I do not know. And that is rare, considering how I used to reflect every step of my way.

But in 2003, I have had my share of upheavals. I have had mini my rags-to-riches and riches-to-rags moments. I have completed my graduate diploma in HRM. I have signed up with California Fitness for 3 years. I have noticed my growing obsession with basketball. I have made new friends. I have learnt. I have grew. I have had so many things happening.

Perhaps, it is for this reason that the year felt so tiring.

Still... what is 2003 to me? I am afraid I cannot really say... If I am asked to say something about 2003, I will not know what to say. People know my stoic, fatalistic "shit happens" philosophy towards life and the casual way which I treat happenings.

So, what is 2003? Shit happened and nothing else.

Human beings are now further from humanity than in 2002. The geo-political situation is an utter fiasco. They want and almost succeeded in getting the world to believe that the best way to fight violence is with violence and terrorism with terrorism.

The Israeli-Palestinian situation is now close to another meltdown. With the SARS situation, there is global finger pointing. With the perceived threat of terrorism, individuals now allow their rights and freedom to be compromised for a sense of perceived security. What is sacrificed is not just the ease of movement, but the freedom to information and knowledge, through censorship or imposed checks and barriers.

Have two thousand years taught them nothing? The flow of ideas and information can never be stopped. They have missed the whole point altogether. The problem is a lack of communication and openness between cultures and not some tyrannical despot in the desert.

What else is lost? The most precious gift of all: Openness or Intellectual Freedom. With fear, stereotypes are entrenched. People are now even less willing to challenge their beliefs, preferring to stay within their comfort zone.

A pity is it not, that we shall never see each other in the same way again?