Black Cat and Way of Life
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes IV vv. 8-12
Well that is one passage that bothers me and is right now very unsuitable for the Singaporean way of life I’m in now (though maybe this happens not only in Singapore). It seems like it’s very hard to find a good friend, moreover a true friend in this kind of environment. So much for the “friendly learning environment”, everyone in here seems to be kicking down others to attain grades. It’s not talking about right or wrong, it’s more about being human, being social and understanding the feelings of each other, looking at every matter from a neutral standpoint and not going into a bias in deciding matters.
So, the story happens to be my team and one other team actually chose the same topic for our next assignment. Of course if there’s two teams working on the same topic both of them will find it hard to get full marks. Debate quickly surrounded on “who wrote the topic first”. One of my team members said that when he wrote the topic, the other team hasn’t written this topic, so the other team should give up. Truth is, there was no actual proof and other eyewitness, as there is no indication of when the teams wrote their topics, as we can submit it anytime we want in the topic list paper without having to write the date. I tried to speak about this, but the others in my team simply said that they believed what our teammate was saying, “I trust you lah” and all that. It’s so darn easy to trust others when things are in your favor, huh?
The talk was not going smooth either, there were all five of my team there present, but only one girl from the other team who was not the debater and we won’t lose to anyone type, so she reluctantly agreed to think about it and ask her teammates. I was going to offer help if they change their topic, as a form of friendship, consolation and responsibility, but the others stopped me and said “Dude, it’s not the matter of helping or not. It’s the matter of who wrote it first”. They thought that I was going to give a trade-off like the “if you’re willing change your topic I will help you on it” kind of thing. The truth is it wasn’t. I was just trying to help and provide them with a topic I already know well so they don’t have to start from zero again (it was only one week from deadline). In the end, I can’t do anything and was powerless to do anything, so I silenced myself and worked.
Later on, the other team’s “lady boss” (you know, the woman from my ex-team) shows her never willing to lose attitude and says they won’t change topics no matter what. So in the end of the day we will just have to compete, tackling each other for the better grades, there will be a winner and there will be a loser, no thought about that win-win solution we’ve learned so much in the last semester at all in the Human Relationship (so what the hell did they join that class for?).
Personally, I can’t take this anymore. I know these things also happens in the real workplace but the way things are, I can’t take it. Am I too soft? Is the world really about the survival of the fittest? No love? The best form of partnership here is a team, it’s like everyone else outside your team is your enemy. And that lady boss’ attitude clearly shows that. If there’s a class where the lecturer choose the team composition and in the end she end up in different teams with her former teammates, she will say “Now we are enemies”. I know maybe she’s joking, but that kind of joke shows what kind of attitude she has.
I can’t take it anymore…
Even Train Hearnet the “Black Cat XIII” - a bringer of bad luck with his gun Hades, who was a loner assassin who never smiled and had no mercy, finally realized his errors and changed his ways after meeting Minatsuki Saya, a bounty hunter who told him of a carefree life like a stray cat. 2 years later, Heartnet, being a bounty hunter and a stray cat himself now, decided that it was not good to be alone, so he partnered with Sven Vollfied, an ex-detective with a special eye. They became very good friends and it brought a great change to Heartnet’s life, now he’s smiling more and he’s changing his principle. “I am not fighting to kill people but to protect people”, that’s what he says. He’s now more willing to get along with people and give a helping hand, compared to the previous life where he was a cold and heartless murderer.
Is peace so hard to find now in the real world that you can only find it in manga books?
Is peace only an illusion now? No more loving kindness? No more tender caring for each other?
So much for world peace…
