Real Voices 2: Youth and the Careless Little Hamster

Careless Little Hamster is my nickname and my blog name. Teehee. My real name is Khoo Su Ting. I'm from KL. What about you? :D

This photo (left) is a picture of me. :D In case any of you out there wanna take a look at how a careless little hamster look like. LOL. I don't look very little here.. But, you know. It's a metaphor.

Anyways, greetings earthlings, this is my first post on realvoices2. Comments are very much welcome! (:

What’s the best thing about being youth today? Do you think the future is bright, for your generation or do you think the future is something to worry about?

One of the best thing about being a youth today is the amount of knowledge available at the tip of my fingers! Using Google alone gives me the opportunity to look for all kinds of information including school project references, major exam tips (UPSR, PMR, SPM), world news and the latest trends.

The second best thing would be all the energy I have to live life to the max! I can go bungee jumping and play paintball for the whole day and still have enough energy to do some shopping at night. Being a youth, I can accomplish 60% of my wish list.

In terms of education, we are so blessed with all sorts of courses and colleges! (Not to mention the scholarships and workshops!) :D

I cannot predict the future and do not really want to think about what the world future would be like. Things happen. One minute the world seems right, the second minute, the world might be upside down. To worry about the future would just bring frowns, stress and more wrinkle lines to my face. We will know the future when it comes, then if things are going bad, I'll start worry.

But I'm worried about my beloved planet. I do not want 2012 (the movie) to happen. Mankind will just perish. Inspired by movies like Lord of The Rings, Avatar, Robin Hood and all the other fantasy movies, I really don't mind living in a world filled with greenery along with the already-there buildings of course. What I mean is that since we cannot shift or just bring down the buildings in the world, why not plant more trees and beautiful bushes and flowers around us? Why not plant something on every tiny inch of the world? Look at the roads now, there are always empty soil here and there, just waiting to giveaway its nutrients. So why not plant something there and make the world look more beautiful? (:

Plant a row of these, everything will look so much prettier. (:

Do you think “youth” (people like you) are rebellious in nature? Do you think youth today rebel like they used to before? Explain. Do you/have you rebelled against anything or anyone in the past? Explain.

I don't know about whether most youth are rebellious or not but I can say I am a little rebellious and so are a few of my friends. But I feel that in Asian culture, the youth still respect their elders and they wouldn't rebel unless provoked countless of times. The youth in the past generations are very seldom rebellious compared to youth today. I may be rebellious but I have not rebelled greatly before. I would always try to find another way to solve the problems and rebelling will always be my last resort.

Do you think youth today have an easier or harder life than our parents’ generation? Please explain your answer.

Harder. Why? All the pressure youth get.. *shakes head* Well, during my parents' generation, they could play outside without worrying that there's a kidnapper nearby. Youth today have to worry about a lot of things. We have to be extra careful of the sex maniacs, gangsters, kidnappers, serial killers and the list goes on.

Besides, youth are getting more pressured by people around us. My mum wouldn't allow me to go to parties for a very long time. The worst part, when she comes to pick me up, automatically, I would receive a scolding/lecture about being at the party, what could have happened, and I shouldn't make her wait so long etc. It makes me lose the party feeling. Although I know she means well, and I know the crime rate is getting higher by the day, I just feel deprived. Parties and hanging out with friends are the only times I can enlarge my social circle. After getting the same lecture a few times, I just stop going to parties. No matter how much I long to go to a party, I would simply not go. Very upsetting.

Conclusion - Youth today are getting more depressed, deprived and stressed.

One of the few parties I went to. (:
(August 2009)

My parents' generation had less problems to deal with back then as they were not as exposed to the world as the youth today. So they have less stress than us. They lived their youth life without the word 'worried' written all over their faces. Youth today may have almost everything they need, but being able to choose from so many choices, the pressure and stress comes uninvited. Why? Cause one may like a few out of all the choices. But if one is only allowed to choose one.. Having to decide and having a deadline to it brings stress.

What is your biggest fear in the world…other than death?

The dark. I'm always afraid of the dark. Afraid of what lurks under my bed and in the shadows. But as long I'm under my blanket, I'm fine. (:

What makes you happy?

Family
We are great in making jokes. (:
From left: Mum, Brother, Sister and I

Photography
My passion. (:

Food
I live to eat all the good food. Not vice versa. :D

Dancing
It makes me feel so alive and high.

Music
I love sentimental music! It touches my heart so much and singing along to the song just makes me smile. :D

Photoshop
It does wonders that gives me so much satisfaction! So happy to be able to do these kind of stuff..

What has been the most difficult hurdle you have overcome so far in your life? What did this experience teach you?

Being hated by my class (for 3 consecutive years). That was when I was in primary school. I was the average looking girl who fought with her best friends. As time went by, none of us even remembered the argument. But then I was getting bullied by almost everyone in class and I didn't know why. Luckily for me, there were a few that didn't follow the crowd to hate me. They realized the rumours about me were fake. Thank god for that, or I would have died of loneliness. Anyway, this didn't really teach me much, but 2 years later, I found out the real culprit who started spreading rumours about me was my best friend. I was stunned. That really hit me to the core. I was so naive and blur back then. I've learnt to be more alert and updated about on going rumours and events now (just in case). Not that I enjoy hearing rumours, but I learnt that if I do keep myself updated with rumours, I wouldn't say the wrong things to people that might hurt them. I just have to keep in mind that I shouldn't spread the rumour.

Which has more importance today in your life - family or friends? Why? In your experience, did you ever have to make a choice between your friends and family? If ‘yes’ please explain your answer and why did you do so?

Family. I find that there aren't many 'true friends' anymore.. Many seem to just come and go. I have close friends, but no best friends now.

Me, my mum and my aunt @ Chiang Mai, Thailand

As for family, well, blood is thicker than water. What else is more to say? (: Many times I had to make a choice between friends and family. Mum would always say, 'you wanna play with your friends so much, go live with them then!' Of course, she was joking.. But I took it seriously. I don't want to live with my friends.. God knows what they might do with me.

Friends and I at school. I'm the 2nd from the right. B)

Tell us more about yourself!

Umm. I'm a food lover. :D Since I was a kid, I always tagged along with my mum to food reviews. Not all the time, but sufficient times to teach me to appreciate good food. I had my first taste of champagne when I was 9! (Note: Tasted, not drink) How many kids get to try that? I was so lucky. (:

About 2 years ago, my mum stopped using her office photographers and used me instead. She found out it was much easier to have me taking pictures of the restaurant and food. I've tried so many restaurants in KL and Selangor. Some are really good! Like High Tide, Sage, Samsaraa, Craft Brews, Yummy Duck and Sanook. I've tried so many kinds of dishes from all over the world! Best part is that I get to try yummy food while improving on my photography skills AND a new thing to post up on my blog! Killing 3 birds with one stone. Ain't that great?

Another thing about me is that I write for Niexter. Niexter is a weekly pullout (Thursdays) in the News Straits Times. There are 8 pages of articles. All written by youths for youths. It only started January 2009.

Me and Jules at the Streets Fair 2009

Through Niexter, I have interviewed people who I wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to meet in my life on my own. Like Mr Daud Vicary Abdullah from Deloitte. A German boy and I interviewed him about Islamic Banking. I interviewed Jules and Prem from the Fly FM Rush Hour as well! I also got a chance to meet up with the Indian Ambassador's wife to talk about Deepavali and 3 Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Organisation (MPYO) members.