Individualism - Something Worth Dying For
The tragedy of the Iranian twins have shown what most of us take for granted - the ability to live as an individual. And they willingly risked their lives simply to exercise their right to BE individuals. What is most tragic about them is not they they suffered a mortal death - there are things much worse than that - but the fact that they did not enjoy a physical separation from each other and be the individuals they want to be. How many of us willingly give up being an individual, succumbing mindlessly to the most popular opinion, subscribing to beliefs and thoughts without thinking, conjoined to the society? And this ill is something that no surgeon can cure.
Genetic biology has given us a gift - the process of genetic recombination, the creation of a true individual. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, with almost unlimited possibilities of variations. All of us are unlike anyone else! But the perception of perfection by Society's popular opinion serves to reduce us to wannabes; trying to conform and mould ourselves into what others think is correct. Unlike the twins, we willingly give up our individuality to be conjoined to society. This is probably the biggest tragedy of all. We want to be like certain other people; we are too cowardly to hold an unconventional opinion, too unimaginative to hold a unique thought, too lazy to fight conformity; we cannot bear to live our lives different from what society expects of us, more so in Singapore's schizophrenic society where tradition battles liberisation.
At least Laden and Laleh have minds of their own, and they have clearly shown their individualism as two separate persons. They are be less conjoined than we think, and in the spiritual sense, are truly two separate individuals despite what their earthly bodies dictate.
The tragedy of the Iranian twins have shown what most of us take for granted - the ability to live as an individual. And they willingly risked their lives simply to exercise their right to BE individuals. What is most tragic about them is not they they suffered a mortal death - there are things much worse than that - but the fact that they did not enjoy a physical separation from each other and be the individuals they want to be. How many of us willingly give up being an individual, succumbing mindlessly to the most popular opinion, subscribing to beliefs and thoughts without thinking, conjoined to the society? And this ill is something that no surgeon can cure.
Genetic biology has given us a gift - the process of genetic recombination, the creation of a true individual. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, with almost unlimited possibilities of variations. All of us are unlike anyone else! But the perception of perfection by Society's popular opinion serves to reduce us to wannabes; trying to conform and mould ourselves into what others think is correct. Unlike the twins, we willingly give up our individuality to be conjoined to society. This is probably the biggest tragedy of all. We want to be like certain other people; we are too cowardly to hold an unconventional opinion, too unimaginative to hold a unique thought, too lazy to fight conformity; we cannot bear to live our lives different from what society expects of us, more so in Singapore's schizophrenic society where tradition battles liberisation.
At least Laden and Laleh have minds of their own, and they have clearly shown their individualism as two separate persons. They are be less conjoined than we think, and in the spiritual sense, are truly two separate individuals despite what their earthly bodies dictate.
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