Young & Beautiful?

Blogger's note: The following article is by Ahmed, a very good friend of mine who was 15 years old when he entered senior year in high school. His is the counterpart to my tale, that of being younger than everyone else in school. Enjoy.

I've always identified myself as a third culture kid, a TCK, a citizen of the world. Essentially, that means that I don’t belong to the culture of the country I was born in, nor do I belong to the culture of the country that I am living in now, but another, international third culture.

Yet it’s not the question “where are you from?” that I struggle with. It’s “how old are you?”

Instantly, the wheels click in my head when I hear those four dreaded words, the bane of my existence. I wonder how to answer the question. Most of the time, I just deflect, change the subject, and try to talk about something else. Occasionally, I tell the truth, that I am 17 (and in my second year of university). It’s a question that really tears me apart, because once you answer it and other people find out, it instantly becomes your only defining characteristic. You stop being that nice guy or that funny guy or that lively guy (I really flatter myself too much), but instantly turn into the guy that’s younger than everyone else. And with that comes its own set stereotypes.

The word “genius” is tossed around a lot. People expect you to possess unparalleled intelligence, they instantly think “oh, I read about this 14-year old kid in the news that’s doing a PhD in neuroscience, who must be like you, right?” No. Not even close.

People expect you to be immature. Those are people that I could never hang out with, people that every time you’d meet the first and only thing they would bring up was your age, and you’d have to sit there and watch them struggle to do math backwards to find out what year I was born.

Then, there were the people that always had it in the back of their minds. The people who, when you try to have a conversation with them, are giving you this blank stare, because you know they’re not even listening to you but thinking about how they could have possibly ended up in this situation where they’re having a serious conversation with someone who, to them, is a child.

To a lot of people, it was as if my age was the only explanation for all of my actions and accomplishments, not because I was smarter or had out-competed my classmates, but because of a number that I had grown to resent and distance myself from overtime. To be honest, I always dismissed these explanations as some underlying resentment or envy from my classmates, not willing to accept that I performed better in school because of factors that were within their control. They would use my age to reassure themselves that was the explanation, and so there was nothing they could do about it.

There are a few that managed to stay above the fray, to be able to accept me for being me and not a product of my age, and those are the people I would count among my closest and dearest friends. Those are the people who were never bothered by my age. They’d be shocked when I told them the first time, then you’d completely forget about it.

Kar Jin writes in his blog post, “At the same time, I also took on with ever greater fervor the perks of being young. Chatting away the wee hours of the morning on the merits of Games of Thrones, dancing and looking like a complete fool in the process, and just YOLO-ing the simple things in daily life.” Life will afford me those guilty pleasures. But then, once I do something that’s more traditionally “my age,” people will respond: ‘Ah, that’s so predictable. It’s because he’s younger than all of us.’ This really makes it difficult to revert back to the way I normally am, because people will just say ‘wait, go back to the silly person you were yesterday, that representation of you makes me more comfortable, because it’s how society has taught me to think you should be like, plus it makes me more comfortable about my own insecurities.’ I’m paraphrasing, of course.

Another thing I faced were girl issues. Girls would NEVER see me as date-able (at least in my grade), but rather as a little brother. This is especially compounded by the fact that girls mature faster than guys. And so, you might be wondering, “well Ahmed, why don’t you date someone your age who isn't in your grade?”

To that, I say that I can never hang out with people that are my own age anymore. That’s because I've spent my whole life surrounded by older people. I am an only child, so I had my parents in the early stages. Then when I went to school, my classmates were older than me, and it has been that way ever since. I've matured at the same speed and level of people that are two, three, heck sometimes four years older than me, and so now I find people my age unbearably childish, ironically just as people older than me sometimes find me incredibly childish. I’m sure this’ll be straightened out in my 20s when we’re all around the same maturity level, more or less, hopefully.

I've decided to tell no one at my university. No one knows my real age (although maybe if they manage to unearth this, my secret will be out). I feel like that’s made people take me more seriously, but I've lost what’s made me unique – I was the child prodigy in ISKL, both a blessing and a curse.

Now, I’ll have to find other avenues to be special. And hopefully, I will be able to find a way to be simply me.

"I've spent my whole life surrounded by older people..."
"Childhood", Taken December 2012 at Napier, NZ. Copyright of OKJ.
Click for larger image.

Egypt- Of Mummies and Mubarak

On the 2nd of February 2011, the great men and women of Egypt made history. Almost two million gathered in the heart of the city of Cairo, in Tahrir Square. It was a call for democracy, a call for equality, a call for liberty. A call for the very fundamental human rights to be restored to the people of Egypt.

As I sat, enraptured by the chain of events, I could not help but feel fantastic. I felt empowered. I felt moved. The sheer solidarity of the people, and the unimaginable scale of protests, sent shock waves throughout the region and throughout the hearts and minds of people. And I stayed glued to Al-Jazeera for the days that followed, more and more convinced that change was soon to come.

And on the eve of elections in Malaysia, I hope that change will come to our shores as well. Our prime minister said there were lessons to be learned from Egypt. Well, he is perfectly right. There are deep and invaluable lessons to be learned, traditions to be thrown away, and mindsets to be abolished.

Number One.
We can exact change.
Look at Egypt today. A month ago, they cowered under the might of the state apparatus, resigned in their fate. They were angry, indignant, but tired. No longer. They have risen up, the great people of Egypt, Muslims and Christians and Jews, for progress. They have begun a process that can never be undone. They have risen, not bolstered by American troops or UN sanctions, but empowered and emboldened by their wills. There's a saying that great men shape the annals of history. And in Egypt, a great people can shape the course of their country. And so can we. Throw away that apathy, that 'Tak Apa', that resigned defeat. Believe in ourselves. And do something about it. Choose the better and empower our future, because as P. Ramakrishnan, president of Aliran put it, 'by our silence, we contribute to the chaos that ensues'.

Number Two.
Society will not collapse because of a collapse in a particular government. We have long heard claims saying that "the 'other side' has no experience." "We are the best because we are the most experienced." "If we are not elected there will be chaos." "Do not let the ghosts of May 13 return."
Utter propaganda, uttered by a desperate government, in a foolish attempt to blind the uninitiated. The people will provide, and ordinary men and women rise up to the occasion in spite of the chaos. In Egypt, in the face of no internet and mobile networks, people have come up with ingenious ways of communication, such as the relay system. Ordinary citizens have taken it upon themselves to direct traffic, provide food, drink and shelter, despite no galvanizing leadership. And when looters threatened the artifacts of Cairo Museum, the people banded together and formed a human wall to protect their heritage. Such incidents have only strengthened my belief that there are good souls who can become great individuals, normal and quaint people that become stronger and braver when the need is great. And as Malaysians, should believe in the worth of the individual, and of giving those who have been deemed as "too inexperienced", "too young" a chance. We should believe, and have faith in Malaysia, that we can weather anything the cronies, the corrupt and the crooks throw at us, and emerge a greater nation.

Number Three.
There is no such thing as an unchangeable situation.
Mubarak has been in power for more than 30 years now. People believed it would never change. That his party would always be almighty, that the police would continue brutalizing them, that true democracy was but a fragile and far off dream. But now, all that is going to change. Now, Mubarak might as well be a mummy, with Egyptians more than eager to bury his evils, and move forward. We can change too. All it takes is for us to do something, anything. Because there is always hope.


And so tonight, as I close my eyes, I pray. To the noble citizens of Egypt, I pray. And to Malaysia, a country where the ISA still reigns supreme, a country where police brutality is still rampant and cronies and corruption are still the order of the day- I pray.

And God willing, I'm hoping my prayers will be answered.