to all men on earth

i was reading this post by zyberzitizen (and left a comment), and suddenly i remembered something i was thinking about a few months back. oddly enough, what set me thinking was this post by whipsers of the heart. back then, i was wondering if us members of the plogosphere suffer from trying so hard to be intellectual that we neglect our emotional faculties. currently, i sorta believe the converse is true =P.

what has this got to do with christmas? well supposedly, christmas is the season where we "ponder upon the meaning and significance of love". i think i saw that in an article in the Straits Times yesterday. singaporeans? yeah right. so this christmas will you be more willing to let people alight from the mrt first before entering? or will you stick to one side of the escalator? or will you be a more generous driver? will you be a more gracious blogger? of course, you can say, love has nothing to do with that. love has got to do with friends and family. fellow singaporeans, they can talk to my elite uncaring face.

Pseudonymity wrote that christmas is the time to think about those less fortunate than you. that is no doubt true, but i'm thinking christmas is the time that we ought to take a deep long look at our personal selves also. as bloggers, we're accustomed to thinking about big issues, thinking about issues which cover and involve millions of people, that we don't spend enough time thinking about issues which involved just one person: your individual self.i think christmas is the time for self-introspection. christmas is the time when you ask yourself, could you have exhibited more peace, goodwill, charity, kindess, compassion, forgiveness, graciousness, love? christmas is the time when you ask yourself, what could you do, on a personal level, to greater exhibit these qualities.

for me, it was realizing that complaining or reacting negatively towards singaporeans who just aren't gracious enough, doesn't make me anymore gracious. no doubt ugly singaporeanism exists, and it is something worth talking about. but when doing so we are thinking about the big issue, the larger picture (the millions-of-singaporeans point of view). yet, exhibiting graciousness is a personal thing. if my own personal reactions to the issue is anything but gracious, then perhaps i am not helping the sovle the problem, but aggravating it.

what you could do need not be something grand or life-changing. it could just be something simple. something like wishing people "merry christmas".

to the KTM, BL and Huichieh, who in my opinion are the coolest folks in the plogosphere: merry christmas! hope you all have an excellent holiday season and much meaningful time spent with your family and loved ones.

to inspir3d (of Intelligent Singaporean) and the folks at Singapore Angle: merry christmas! really appreciate all the work that you do to bring quality and improvement to the singapore plogosphere. hope that this christmas season bring you much joy and laughter.

to those who are teachers such as singaporeteach and piper: merry christmas! thank you for educating our young. hope that you take the holidays to rest and recharge, and when school starts again, may you again help to bring love and joy to your students.

to those who are students, including ben, kitana, aaron, charissa and yanjie: merry christmas! hope this holiday season finds you well, and that you have adequate rest and warmth during this break. all the best for your semesters ahead!

to fellow newbies such as cognitivedissonance and zyberzitizen: merry christmas! hope you find what you are looking for by entering the plogosphere, and may you be spared the self-doubt and insecurity i went through when i was just starting out. and please do spend time with your family and loved ones this christmas season.

to dory, who called me a whinner in this post of kitana's: merry christmas! i hope that you will have much meaningful time spent with your friends, family and loved ones. and that christmas be truly a time of love and warmth for you.

to gundam, who spoke up for me (i think) in the same post: merry christmas to you too!

to the rest of the blogosphere, such as those who had left comments on my blog, those who had the opportunity to have conversations with myself, and those of you who are just readers: merry christmas! some of you have been nothing short of inspiring and influential to me, but to be honest, some of you i personally find very irritating. nevertheless, merry christmas to you all! may this holiday season be special and may you find yourselves in joyful, merry situations this christmas.

to my friends and colleagues: i know you read my blog =). merry christmas!

and lastly, to my dearest da jie: thanks for the japanese dramas! =) i am eternally debted to you. merry christmas!

merry christmas everybody, and peace and goodwill to all men on earth.