In pursue of the arts and humanities

There has always been this unspoken, understated allure of the arts and humanities that i could never be able to express well enough. "Why do you study the arts?" is a question i get asked rather often. Out of convenience i'll just say, "Oh, cos i really love it." So what do i love of it?

My Chinese teacher once said that studying the humanities will make a person more sensitive and aware of the people and situation around. Humanities are essentially the study of human behaviour in special circumstances, or even just everyday life. History follows the ideologies and actions of mankind, literature involves the dissecting of human thought, geography studies role of people in environment, etc etc. But somehow, the intrigue of the humanities is still vague. So what is so great about doing all that?

Today, the answer chanced upon me. Thanks to Xin Hui, who expressed it succintly. Studying the humanities open new perspectives to life. Yes, that is so right! Isn't it all what the humanities are about? Life!

The humanities reflect ambiguities and paradoxes of life. There can never be one straight route any destination, and there are limitless destinations. Answers can never be absolutely correct or wrong, and not every question is meant to be answered. Every action is never formed by a parachiol intention, and not all consequences of the actions are just how it was expected to be. Nothing is absolutely black and white, and every conclusion is just a personal interpretation.

These subtleties in life are well reflected in the humanities. They always say that in a college, the arts students are usually the more vibrant bunch. Perhaps an explanation would be that, in the study of the humanities, realisation of life makes living it more interesting.

As for me, living life itself is the meaning for my existence. As silly as it may sound, think about this. How many people actually could say that they have truly lived life? How many people could actually even be close to fully comprehend the complexities and ambiguities of life? I aim not to become a philosopher nor an ideologist, i aim not to influence humanity nor write history. I just want, as much as i can, to understand the broad spectrum of life and form my own perspectives.

Perhaps that is prime reason for my passion for the arts and the study humanities. It is in pursue of these areas that i could seek to understand life better, and to open up new perspectives to how i live.

Despite the beauty of the subject matter itself, our educational system is still something which we have to circum to. Tests, exams, and all the practicalities of schooling could diminish the interest to some extent. In the controlled environment of secondary schools and junior colleges, the true depth and breadth of humanities could never be explored enough. There is just so much out there, awaiting our discovery.

I do feel a little sad sometimes, for how the humanities subjects are being treated in schools. Teachers with such a wonderful depth of knowledge and fresh perspectives, yet could not afford to share because of the practicalities of rushing the syllabus and meeting the examinations "quota". The arts and humanities have such flexible content and approach to studying them, yet to meet exams expectations, shortcuts and tested-and-proven methods have to be enforced on students. Then again, it is probably not worth putting the blame on anything. Our nation is build on pragmatism, and we won't be where we are if not for this principle. Thankfully, the trend is changing, abeit rather sluggishly.

Perhaps it really takes a great deal of passion of individuals to continue to pursue a seemingly impractical arena of the humanities. Yet, the joy and fulfilment of this process could only be understood by those who are willing to go through it. =)