Episode One - Humanity all around

Introduction to Column

Welcome to the world of modern media. Here, knowledge is infinite - ready to be discovered, debated, and developed - all at the tap of a screen. Just two decades ago, people waded through press reviews and encyclopaedias in search of groundbreaking ideas. Today, information sits in the palm of our hand thanks to the inventions of devices like phones and laptops. 

Yet, somehow, we spend more time trapped in the distractions those devices offer instead of exploring the ideas they contain. We say we don’t lack curiosity, but we often avoid the search for articles and content that actually make us think. We disregard the media that deserves our attention and reflection.

So let me guide you on a journey of personal growth - discovering monthly reads that will challenge your perspective, make you think bigger, and explore ideas that matter. Because cultivating curiosity is the first step to unrotting your brain and discovering the things you didn’t know you needed. 

This is Your Guide to Rabbit Holes Worth Falling Into, curated by yours truly. 

Episode 1

In this edition, and in spirit of the theme of “cycles”, discover a selection of articles from amateur writers and more respectable institutions reflecting on self improvement, historical and cultural exposes, and commentary on society.

Article: Become the person that you would like to be around

Author: Hassif

Media: Postcards by Hassif

We tend to remember the people who aren’t there for us more than we appreciate those who are. And despite how quick we are to judge those who don’t give us the undivided attention we think we deserve, we are less inclined to look within and reflect on whether we have done the same for others. Have I been paying attention to my loved ones in the way I want people to notice me? Why do I want to be the person who lights up a room, yet I never stop to wonder why that isn’t already the case? In this letter-formatted article, Hasif encourages self-reflection, facing the reader with an uncomfortable truth: we want the world to love us without taking the time to acknowledge those who already do. He isn’t judging us for this fact, but instead asking us to consider how we can become “someone worth knowing” and “the reason [our loved ones] don't feel invisible”. 

Investigating the cycles of attention and neglect where we fail to mirror what we seek from others.

Article: 'They hold hands, they embrace, they kiss': The woman who changed our view of chimps - and human beings

Author: Myles Burke

Media: BBC News

You may have heard the name Jane Goodall before - the real-life Jane of ‘Tarzan’ (her idol as a child). The woman who didn’t back down from her morals and values, despite her male colleagues believing her approach to be too “emotional”. In this article, Burke covers the beginnings of “a young English woman with no formal scientific background or qualifications [who] would become a pioneering [researcher] studying wild chimpanzees”. She showed the world how similar chimpanzees and humans really were, and humanized these ‘savage animals’ to the general public. Burke was prompted to write about Jane Goodall after finding a 1986 interview where she first explained to the BBC the affectionate nature of these chimpanzees. Her achievements and her determination as a woman in a male-dominated field are most definitely worth the read. 

Understanding who this admirable woman, with a connection to animals like no other, truly is and why we should all know about her.

Article: Do we owe people kindness or just politeness

Author: Ayushi Thakkar

Media: Milk and Cookies 

In this social commentary, Thakkar depicts politeness as a “choreography”, digging deep to reflect whether goodness has been replaced by politeness in order to avoid putting in the emotional work to be truly kind. As she self reflects, Thakkar shares her insights - that kindness requires presence whereas politeness is the smoothing of time, and further elaborating on how kindness has become “aestheticised” on platforms such as social media. Acts of kindness in our modern society are performances to look morally good but they are rarely out of true belief in good. The article contains multiple aspects of the topic, including how youth are conditioned to be polite in order to survive in their households and recognizing the “expensiveness” of kindness (emotionally). Coming to the conclusion that kindness is not something that we owe to everyone, but it is in the little kindnesses of noticing and valorising our brethren that “shift[s] the emotional gravity of a life”. This metaphysical question addresses the cycle of performance where we rinse and repeat this ritualized "kindness" until it holds no more depth and meaning.

Article: Anti-intellectualism and the commodification of books

Author: Dylan Joseph

Media: So It Goes

In this social commentary, Joseph examines how our expectations of literature have evolved with the emergence of social media. He was prompted by the realization that “we have forgotten what it means to fall in love with literature.” He also elaborates on the origins of the term “anti-intellectualism” and its connotations when it comes to literature. My favorite analysis is on the trend of modern admiration for the quantity rather than the quality of books. For example, the growth of platforms like BookTok promoting repetitive tropes that hold no deeper meaning or symbolism from the authors, and literary classics being seen as boring or outdated to modern readers. Without using a condescending tone, Joseph expresses his frustration with the death of literary passion and reflects on the effects it is having in mainstream media. In the cycle of consumption, literary passion fades, ceding its place to recycled story trends that receive recycled critiques. He examines why that cycle is not yet broken - but rather reinforced - by our generation.

Article: 'He owed his life to those Chinese fishermen': Dongji Rescue and the true story of a forgotten act of WW2 heroism

Author: Emma Jones

Media: BBC News

One of my favorite aspects of media is that it teaches us about cultures and historical events that we wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to. In this BBC article, Jones explores an 80-year-old tale worthy of an adventure novel: wherein British prisoners of the Battle of Hong Kong were rescued from their Japanese captors by Chinese fishermen. It is a lesser known moment of the Second World War that is interesting to learn about due to its link to our region. Should you be looking for a new story to entertain your friends, ‘The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru’ is a tragic but uplifting story. The article compares the real events with the infamous blockbuster film ‘Dongji Rescue' and whether its “lavish” production strays too far from the truth to be an accurate representation; and how that bodes for the historical legacy of this rescue.