silence

today after my chinese oral, which went ok-reasonably-well (ziyang is pro at bsing in chinese), i decided to walk along the bridge. so i asked laoshi to let me use the toilet, and went for a walk.

while i was walking on the bridge, a certain thought hit me that eventually manifested into a question that i raised at the council forum this afternoon. of course, it wasn't in that form at that point.

it was merely - how does one define friendship, and/or love?

direct definition of this kind of concept is extremely difficult. so i figured i'd try to establish some
ideas of factors that could point towards friendship.

i thought, and i scribbled in probably very bad handwriting on the exam pad that i was carrying:

1. commitment
2. responsibility
3. chemistry
4. bonding
5. respect

for me i know that i am a stickler for (1) and (2), especially (2). (5) is somewhat important for me as well... but technically i do know that eventually all will be necessary. in fact initially (3) and (4) are quite important, i'd find.

most of my friends are found through work - if i can call them friends, that is. if we define it based on the five criteria above, i'd find it hard to give a number of friends bigger than 5 or so. perhaps the 5 criteria are better for describing a close friend rather than just a friend.

so most of my friends are found through work. partly i've been lucky cause of who i've been getting to sit with in my classes (year 2 was henry, 3 and 4 isaac and russell, and this year, i like who i'm sitting with for physics, and sometimes math). starting from work, and then going into other areas.

but when i think of my friends and compare them with these 5 criteria i end up disappointing myself even though i know that probably only those who are close friends can actually fulfill all 5 of those requirements i wrote up on.

i won't go into love since i didn't really examine it properly.

anyway. now to the council forum. the question i asked was something like this:

"I have noticed that in quite a number of the campaigns people have argued for "love", "care", a personal touch or "friendship". I believe these are four very idealistic concepts. Given the large size of the student body, your resources won't be enough to allow a personal consideration for each and every student, which undermines the personal aspect of these 4 concepts. I know this is a hard question, but I think I'll just whack. It has been said that discretion is the better part of valour - how can I place my vote for a councilor if I can't trust that he won't blindly make promises he can't deliver on?"

a mouthful. admittedly it is a tough question. if asked this i won't know how to answer. then again, i don't think i'd be in this situation so much since if i was running for council i would focus more on service rather than personal touch.

the thought of running crossed my mind at one point, actually because isaac suggested that i run. but i knew there probably wasn't much point in running, cause there isn't much i can advertise about myself, other than that i can provide a reasonably serious voice in the council...

the highlight wasn't this or jarrel's question though, i think it was the last question really, or rather the last answer. it was, in its own awkward way, beautiful. ownage.

today during comp science i was really quite drained out. i don't know why, but it was the first time this year i've been having trouble with Java. i guess i might have been too sleepy this morning... i don't know.

ps. shaun, i miss your presence in class too. =)
jk