06 November 2008

What Do They Have In Common?

Recently, I read about a certain undergrad in the local mainstream paper who wanted to buy a $4000 Chanel bag with her first paycheck and thinks her friend "who is left with $20 to last until the end of the month, is silly to consider taking up a part-time job to earn some extra cash." Tsk, tsk, tsk... I said to wifey, "What a spoilt brat!" Later in the week, this undergrad stood up and claimed in her blog that she had been misquoted and she is really not the spoilt brat as the press made her out to be.

Some years back, there was a poly student who lost her mobile phone and later discovered that video recordings (stored in her lost phone) of her making out with her b/f went into the internet.

What has these two girls got to do with one another? Nothing! Other than both were much talked about in the local cyberspace, they are not related (at least not that I know of) and their acts are also not related. As far as I'm concerned, there's this someone who is a spoilt brat/there's this someone who did not report accurately (depending on whose side of the story you stand by) and there's this someone who rather immoral/careless (depending on how liberal you are).

Yes, there's always someone, somewhere out there who did/did not do something and hit the head lines. Their acts, whether we support, encourage, condone, condemn, agree, disagree... is real life learning materials for our children. Whenever I read such news, be it from mainstream media or otherwise, I seldom focus on the name (unless s/he is someone I know). I do not see any value in remembering the names. It is the act that is worth remembering. It is the act that is worth the education material. And it is the act that I will usually talk about with people I know. When we start to focus on the issues and not the person, there'll be less hurt, less personal attacks and hopefully less libel suites.

So to me, it doesn't matter if AL is a spoilt brat or not... what matters is any undergrad who thinks that his/her very first paycheck is anything more than $4000 is well unrealistic. It doesn't matter if TM is immoral or not but someone who records very intimate and personal video of themselves is being careless and to lose that video is being very very careless (did I say this ape's vocab is limited?)

Talk about the act... condemn or support the act but avoid the person, because "person" can change.

2 comments:

Reptile Workshop said...

Ape, ape, little gecko here! Times are so bad, little gecko has set up an online store liao. Go visit it, ape may need something from there ;) Oh wait, supposed to comment on ape's posting rite?Kekekeke....

There's a difference in da 2 cases. One chose to be in da limelight whereas da other didn't. Actually, no matter how little gecko read her quote, it seems no matter under what context, it still sound rather arrogant of her leh ;p

Whereas in TM's case, it was something meant for private viewing. You know lah, have dat humping session recorded for posterity sake. Unfortunately if fell into da hands of vicious lizards...

Incidentally, little gecko hasn't watched all 3 of da videos yet.... Kekekeke....

Ape said...

Ooo...Oooo... ape will go see gecko's store :D

Coming back to da post... well, like I said, there's nothing in common between AL and TM. However, we can probably guide our young base on the context and not the person.

BTW, the ape did get to watch all 3 videos. The acts were...erm... methinks... not out of love.