Autism and Designer Babies

All of us have dreams of growing up, having a family and receiving children. But sometimes, life has its way of short-circuiting our dreams by throwing us unexpected challenges. What if one day a child of ours is diagnoised with autism? The autism most of us are acquainted with is probably the milder strain. In this short story, the author speaks of her experiences.

For years I had been telling my son's story, insisting that autism is beautiful, mysterious, perhaps even evolutionarily necessary. Denying that it can also be a wild, ravaging madness, a disease of the mind and soul.

I spent Tuesday at a friend's house, as planned, in front of the TV, watching the Obamas walk and wave. Once, when someone asked why I was so quiet, I mentioned that one of my children was in the hospital, quite ill. She touched me and said something kind. I knew she was thinking of something like leukemia and I wanted to tell her I would hack off my right arm in return for something as simple as cancer. The flickering beauty of a sad, pure, too-early death sounds lovely. Instead I nodded, silent and dumb.

Sigh, what a sad tale.

And the most chilling thing? It can happen to any one of us.

This leads me to another strand of thought: Will designer babies become part of the accepted norm in the near future? As society progresses towards becoming more meritocratic and elitist in nature, will our morals, ethics and values shift to become more accepting of designer babies? Enmesh these considerations with the observation that people across the world are slowly becoming conditioned to avoiding suffering and you may get what I mean.

I do think it is a very probable scenario in the near future. What is morally correct today may not be so tomorrow. Are morals always evergreen? It seems wrong to purposefully specify traits for children, but, at the same time, isn't it morally wrong to not utilize such technology if it could save lives or improve standards of living?

What do you think? Will you ever consider designing your baby, not for cosmetic purposes, but to screen it for potential life-afflicting diseases?

Why I want to study locally

Law FTW! I'm more or less fixed on studying locally at NUS, so I hope I will get into the Law faculty eventually on one of the college scholarships.

Why study Law locally? For that matter, WHY STUDY LOCAL? That's becoming quite a common question these days. After all, it is widely thought of that studying overseas is 'better' than local - it could be because of the prestige conferred on to overseas graduates (seems more to me like a result of the colonial baggage carried by Asians - the false impression of Western superiority), the mosaic of diverse personalities one will encounter (though whether a cross-pollination of perspectives and ideas will happen remains debatable), or simply the belief that a superior brand of education will be prescribed (that's probably true for colleges in the same vein as Oxbridge).

Sometimes I think I'm such an idealist, though at other times I can imagine being called a pragmatist. For this decision, I guess it can be described as a fusion of the two, though I believe it is slanted more towards the idealist side.

Challenge I want to become a living proof that studying locally can produce thinkers, pioneers and leaders who are equally, if not better, equipped with excellent thinking faculties as our Western counterparts. Or to put it simply, I love challenges that mean something to me!

Dream I wish to fulfill my dream my day, butI have this nagging feeling that if I go overseas, I might become awashed with exalted visions of granduer that might sidetrack me with alternative ambitions. Perceived superiority based on superficial standards often result in people pursuing what they think they should do, rather than what they really want to do.

Bonds Since I don't wish to emigrate in the future, I want to be able to experience the kind of setting where I can randomly encounter an ex-buddy in Wisma and rekindle our friendship over local cuisine at Xin Wang; or to be able to arrange for an impromptu gathering (like what I frequently do now with classmates, scouts and councillors) and have a catching-up session. I have always believed that it is the little surprises in life that collectively adds up to make living such an intriguing and scintillating experience : D

Future I want to someday be able to point out to my children the spot where I had spent countless hours practising for the best marriage proposal ever. I want to some day be able to visit my best friend and write his or her autobiography, in the year of my retirement. And on my 50th wedding anniversary, I want to bring my wife to our secret little spot somewhere in Singapore and remind her of the many unforgettable episodes we have been through together with a romantic surprise. I want to do many things, and I want to do them in a familiar place, in a home called Singapore!

There are many other reasons, but these are just some of the ones that resonate with me. One day, these may neither be the same reasons, nor be the same anchors that will hold me close to this tiny island as they become displaced by subterranean tectonic changes. But I shall leave the future for tomorrow, for I am happy with my decision, and that is what matters today.

Choices

Choices are made every moment of our lives. Let's watch this show today. Let's ask them out tomorrow. Let's stop denying the truth. Let's become lawyers together. Let's study local.

We believe that we're the one making the choices. I guess that's true most of the time.

Yet, the reverse is true as well.

We make choices, but let's not forget that choices make us too.

Timeless Love

He met a girl tomorrow. It was the girl he fell in love with yesterday.

This randomly popped into my mind as I was thinking about the contents of certain scholarship application.

Chronologically impossible?

Think again ;)

Company Retreat

Wow, I must say I have been completely surprised by today's events. I came expecting a one-way communication of information and cosmetic discussions, but ended up learning quite a bit as well as enjoying the mini-games injected at several intervals.

Nexus mimicked something called Open Source Technology, which gets participants to interact and discuss with one another without subscribing to an overarching agenda, and with just a theme in mind. After having those discrete pockets of discussions, hosts will summarize the ideas glimpsed from the short discussion for the rest. Basically, this model hinges on the usage of collective intelligence which operates on the assumption that the whole is greater the sum of individual parts.

Hence, these words are like a hotline to other ideas, so everytime I use them I don't get a single and monotonous image but rather a more assorted and colourful picture.

Somewhere along, I learnt some interesting phrases such as 'guerilla marketing', and it hit me that I really like collecting quotes and learning new (and often more sophisticated) words! I like using them not because they supposedly impress (actually I believe it doesn't, and I much prefer the simple and the succinct), but rather because such terms often package within them a collection of related ideas. Hence, these words are like a hotline to other ideas, so everytime I use them I don't get a single and monotonous image but rather a more assorted and colourful picture. And that is the reason I like using 'chim' words sometimes.

Similarly, 'lorry ride' has come to mean a lot to some Highlighters, and 'batch dynamics' has made its permanent residence in the hearts of scouties.

In the same vein, some words have been sweetened by experiences and have gained a special flavour that calls upon select memories when used. Just as a picture says a thousand words, saying the words 'blindfold' and 'retreat' in the same breath to any BB 27ths and they may just start recalling the tears, the guitar, the room, the heart, and the whisperings. Similarly, 'lorry ride' has come to mean a lot to some Highlighters, and 'batch dynamics' has made its permanent residence in the hearts of scouties. Not to forget, 'Cok Family' never fails to bring about a smile!

All in all, the first day of retreat ended pretty well, and there will be fun and games tomorrow! I think I'm starting to really like my job and the friends I have made over there (:

The Brick Walls

The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people.

- The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

And occasionally, such quotes jump out from their typeface to strike a figurative gong in my head that reverberates for a few moments. I find myself questioning if I had tried hard enough, if I could have done more, and if I should have tried even harder, to accomplish my pursuit.

But as I turn the page to another chapter which tells of a different story, the transient period of introspection and reflection comes to pass, and the mind re-engages with the plot once more, relegating any residual thoughts to a forgotten chamber situated at a secluded part of my mind.