If you have read this for the past 5 years, you'd know it is not only my musings. I also include pieces I find interesting that speaks to me and my circumstances. These will therefore all be captured in posterity (or for as long as Blogger.com remains in operations).
Naturally, the last 3 entries and now this 4th one are not written by me. There are essays by my children but clearly I found these meaningful and worth recording. This one was written at the end of 2016 and got J admitted into a number of US universities.
Photocredit: discoverdruham.com
The continuous high-pitched whine had my soldiers at wits’ end. The cloud of mosquitoes around our heads bore the distinctive stripes of the Aedes genus: carrier of the dreaded Zika virus and Dengue fever.
As the insect chatter rang in my ears, my boots bit into my heels and thorns wedged themselves in my arms. Never before had I felt so alive. I urged my platoon on.
We had a destination to reach. For this exercise, arriving undetected mattered. This depended not only on our training and knowledge, but also our attitude and resolve, turning away from the path of least resistance to stay concealed.
Navigation was tough; the challenges I faced in the mountains of Australia and Taiwan, the rainforests of Brunei and Indonesia, the arid plains of Mongolia and the savannahs of Zimbabwe taught me that nothing in these majestic yet relentless environments came easy. Their inaccessibility underscored their mystic beauty, and my resolve to unravel them grew. Years of training with my scout troop and the military honed my ability to visualize terrain to the finest detail, to know instinctively where we came from and where we had to go.
Nonetheless, there was still much I did not know, and the deeper understanding I craved could only come through completely immersing myself in Nature: its communities and its vagaries.
I am reminded of the Silver Desert Ant (Cataglyphis Bombycina) every time I traverse unknown terrain. Clothed in reflective armor to minimize radiation from the sun, it is easily the hardiest creature in its barren habitat. Using this to its advantage, it ventures out for food in the heat of the day, when predators scurry for shade. Yet, it can only withstand a few minutes of such thermal stress. Hence, its sense of direction, derived via vectoring the sun’s position and an internal pedometer, is absolutely crucial. Should it fail to find its way to the nest, death follows swiftly.
More than the grab-and-go missions of the specialized desert ants, the living rafts of Amazonian Fire Ants (Solenopsis Invicta) and even the colony building efforts of Garden Ants in my ant farm display selflessness that I initially thought was beyond the humble insect. Yet day after day they bravely risk lives and limbs for the survival of their colony, protecting their queen and her larvae.
In the animal kingdom, short lifespans mean there is little difference between survival and sustainability - continuity is essential. Somewhere in our evolution though, we seem to have forgotten this. Around me, an increasingly affluent Asia is bombarded with invitations to “The Great Singapore Sale”, “Black Friday Discounts”; even Mother’s Day and Christmas have been commercialized. They encourage self-centered consumerism, which could well lead us down a path of unsustainable over-consumption.
A man of the jungle, living in a small city-state devoid of natural resources leaves me yearning to be closer to nature, knowing that the demands of modern society can be met without depleting Nature’s capacity. A man of hope, I believe we will remember our responsibility to future generations. I want to live and leave a better world.
Looking for a way to realize this dream, my vocation found me. While undergoing military service, I discovered an organization with a purpose I identify with: to protect and serve. I am proud to be part of it and hunger for the guidance of a strong education so that I may better shape the system from within, to be better able to battle the insidious forces that threaten the natural environment, our physical and spiritual home.
Democritus advised: “Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul.” I draw inspiration from the way nature intended us to live; the betterment of the community is not so much an ideal as it is an absolute necessity to protect the world that we so dearly love.
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