Robotic Routine
March 25, 2008 by haziamyperspective
When the topic of ‘Robotic Generation’ appeared on my alumni yahoo mailing list, I thought the timing was interesting. Apparently, a bunch of them went back to our boarding school to meet up with the teachers.
Their finding was enlightening… Despite having the liberty to wear casual clothes for afternoon preps, the students opted for their school uniform. Wow! I thought kids would do anything to get out of wearing uniforms. It’s a freedom to express oneself through how one is dressed.
When asked why… the reasons: 1) Don’t know 2) Lazy to iron clothes 3) No time. That is shocking. When we were in school, afternoon prep started at 2pm too and the last class ended at 1.15pm, lunch was after that. We bathed and changed. We made time.
During my last visit in 1999, I was shocked by how much the dorms have changed. There was no more partition / cubicle separating 2 students per room, it looked more like an orphanage. It wouldn’t make the students feel special, carefully selected, like we did back then. Someone told me they don’t even have shower curtain in the large communal bathroom now. No privacy at all. 
According to our young alumnus, the new system is very academic oriented, not much on co-curricular activities. The present generation are taught to conform with whatever the society wants which is actually bad for the minds of the future generation of leaders. Everything that they were taught, they’d have to accept. No questions ask and no discussions or arguments.
If you read my previous entries, you’d be familiar with some of the downside practice during my time e.g. priority to boys, etc. But we were given ample room to explore and express ourselves. I remember a time when the girls my class boycotted the boys. It all started from an evening prep incidence. Girls and boys used the library on alternate days. Once, a warden came and asked the girls to vacate the library for the boys - the day before was a public holiday and they didn’t get to use it. Imagine our rage. However, while our teachers gently guided us to reconcile, they didn’t try to force their beliefs on us. It was clearly up to us.
Anyway, I wasn’t robotic as a child so, I hope I haven’t become a robotic adult. Without realising it, I’ve fallen into a monotonous routine again. On weekdays, I wake up, get ready & take the LRT, have breakfast at the open-air food court near my office, work, leave and go home to sleep.
I remember around 6 years ago when I used to have coffee & pastry at the Starbucks near my office every morning. I’d come in in this zombie-like state of mind and without thinking, place my order. One day, the girl at the counter told me off. Her exact words were, "Everyday the same thing, so boring. Order something else laa…" LOL!
What I’d like to do is at least get to the food court early enough so I can read a book or catch up on my writing and, leave earlier so I could meet up with friends or do some relaxing activities for a few hours before going to bed. Time to shake routine!!
