Dreams by definition are a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep. Or in a simpler explanation, that drama you saw while you were sleeping which are nice or scary while some are rather… wet in nature.
However, it is not that sort of dream that we are going to be discussing today. Indeed it is still the same succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through your mind, but instead of during sleep, it happens when one is wide awake.
The dream that is associated with words like aspirations, goals, yearning and “if only”.
When I was a young boy back in primary school, students would have to fill in their information on a yellow academic card which was the size of an A4 paper.
It was used as a record of our academic achievements throughout the six years in primary school. One of the things that I distinctively remember was that each year we would fill in three answers as to what was your ambition “Cita-Cita Saya”.
Boys being boys, the usual answers you’d get would be “Firemen/Doctor/Soldier/Fighter” and sometimes things like “Batman/Kesatria Baja Hitam or Ultraman”.
Then these boys would grow up and realise that it is not that easy to be what they wanted to be back then.
For instance they learn that they are not that fit or just too lazy to exercise to be a firemen, or that a police officer’s pay is too low, or that Rangers in brightly coloured costumes with summoned robots fighting aliens do not exist.
After that these boys attend secondary school and a whole new world opens up.
They realise that life is more than just about cool looking guns, uniforms and killing alien monsters that invade earth on a weekly basis.
They fill up the questionnaire again and answer, “Musician/Lawyer/Inventor/Computer Programmer/Architect”... It’s the romantic thought that they want to create, build, design and do something interesting.
They dream of doing something great, building something big, experiencing something good or producing something beautiful. But as they grow older some of them may come to the conclusion that they are not smart or talented enough; pay was too low or the job market was not that good for that industry and pressure from parents or society.
They attend college and due to the restrictions of their grade, cash and other obstacles, they opt for something more realistic. They study Business Studies, Marketing, Finance, Mechanical Engineering, Statistics, Human Resource, Foreign Language, Psychology, Graphic design, Constitutional law and etc...
And still they dream of making something out of life using the path that is beyond them. The dreams stay strong.
They graduate but due to the economy, failed interviews and available vacancies they again re-route their path to something no longer based on their dreams but by necessity to survive in this society. Some become white collar workers, some go into the private sector and a small number may decide to be an entrepreneur or inherit their family business. They become production engineers, multi-level marketing members, insurance agents, etc.
So now dreams are no longer about being someone important, making something great, or experiencing exciting things. Dreams are now merely focussed on getting promoted to becoming an assistant manager before 30; getting 3 months bonus by the end of the year; achieving this month’s sales target, looking cool at Zouk this weekend, buying a new LV bag, going home by 5.30; gathering enough money to get married next year or simply getting a set of new wheels for the car.
And before you know it, that eight-year-old who once dreamed of becoming an astronaut now sits in a cubicle, facing a computer screen, clicking the mouse and reading an online news portal cursing at some doctor who gets to go into space on a Russian rocket.
And that, folks, is how most dreams die. A slow and quiet death. And, etched on their tombstones are the excuses for their death.
