Saturday morning dreams...

Good morning America! That's what you always hear when you turn on the news in America, be it Fox News or CNN. It's such a bright and cheery wake up call, and when you hear that, you feel like you want to spring out of bed and be on the go! In Singapore, all you get is a controlled, monotonous, fake British/American/whatever accent that says "Hi, welcome to blah blah blah. This is the morning news brought to you by blah blah blah." Immediately, you sian jik bua. Why is there such a great cultural difference between America and Singapore, even though Singapore is so Americanised? Why did we import the casual sex, the swearing, the aggressive behaviors, but did not import the optimism that Americans have? That cheerfulness and wholesomeness you see on Disney channel? Why are Singaporeans so darn pessimistic, living life as if they are in such great misery and pain? Even those who live in the lap of luxury and go out drinking, partying and shopping everyday don't look all that happy to me. The pessimism is most likely a cultural artifact - people have the mentality that they have to work harder and harder and harder to obtain what they want in life. And many of these people have goals which are material, and they will never ever be satisfied. First, I want a car...then when I have a car...I want two cars. It's human nature. The only people I see who are truly happy and peaceful and yet have what they want are those who do not pursue all these material things, but they pursue God and in pursuing God, they are blessed with an abundance of things. And when I say pursue God, I'm not saying that so long as you claim to be Christian, you are pursuing God. You really have to put God as #1 in your life. Interesting, isn't it?