TwIsTeD Reflections

Albert Einstein once said, "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." That much is true. We all have made stupid choices in our lifetimes, all we needed to do was to learn from it.

Now here is the problem with tradition, it forces people to make stupid decisions again and again. It is no coincidence that I'm blogging about this on Chinese New Year, as it is always around this period when I see superstition and tradition hamper the actions of goodwill and friendship.

Now, many people, my girlfriend included, view that I'm being insensitive to various cultures and their respective traditions. I would like to ask, "How so?" My view is that tradition have to serve a purpose, even if it is a small purpose, without adversely affecting other people. Tradition for the sake of tradition is devoid of meaning.

For example, the exchanging of red packets is to show a form of generosity to a younger generation, which in turn is reciprocated by a respect to the elderly. That is a purpose. However, when giving out of hong pao degenerates into money counting, suspicion and spoilt brats, I say just do away with the tradition.

Tradition, like laws and rules, also tend to lose its purpose after an extended period. Times change, a fact we all have to accept; technology and livelihood is fluid in the long run. The thing about laws is there is at least an 'expiry date' where at the end of the 'expiry date', the law will be reviewed. Tradition does not have such an expiry date, as one tradition presses the next to follow suit.

One such chinese tradition is the burning of 'hell notes' during the 7th month. The concept of the hungry ghost festival itself is ridiculous and borne from superstition. It is during this 15 days where lots of paper is being burnt in metal drums as dark clouds being spewed into the sky. People with asthma, or highly superstitious, hide indoors. And for what? To 'bribe' our own ancestors not to haunt us. If the purpose is to pay respects to the dead, it is excessive. Joss sticks is just as traditionally accepted and more environmentally friendly.

Another example is the concept of not going to 'bai nian' within the year if a member of the family has passed away, with the suspicion of spreading the bad luck. A family had insisted mine to come over, even after the death of my maternal grandfather. Yet there were stringent rules. My family was not allowed to greet them with auspicious Chinese New Year greetings, nor were we allowed to exchange mandarin oranges or red packets. Superstition trumps over relevant tradition. Could you imagine the awkwardness when my family was greeted at the door and we couldn't say 'gong xi fa chai!"

We should never ever let superstition take over our own actions. It invites paranoia as it allows events outside our own control into our world and we try our best to control it. Many make no sense and is truly ridiculous. Chun told me once her family invited a renowned feng shui man to redesign her house. The result was pleasant and she truly felt more at ease with her surroundings. However, she noted that it was a clever usage of space that allowed the room to feel more spacious, or to allow more sunlight into a dark room to make the space more comfortable. Nothing to do with the entry of good luck through the arrangements of the furniture.

Let me give you one more example before I wrap it up. Why isit the roads in singapore slow to a crawl whenever there is an accident? Nope, the cars are no longer blocking the road; the traffic police is quite efficient in improving the flow of traffic. The reason is because of stupid drivers slowing down to catch the number plate of the vehicles involved in the accident, for 4D. The belief that good luck would be borne from bad, in a screwed understanding of 'ying' and 'yang', propelled this ridiculous behaviour, and causing many cranky Singaporean drivers to be late.

So i say to hell, pun intended, with auspicious dates, designs and numbers. Gone should we change the way we act because of superstition. All tradition that hold no meaning should be ignored immediately.



On a side note,

HAPPY CNY EVERYBODY!