Big fish Small Fish

That where and when we were born already determines for us what we can and cannot do, what doors are opened and what doors are closed to us. That our birth determines for us through what lens we see the world already. The potential of our dreams.

What it means to be born rich or poor. What it means to be born a boy or a girl. What it means to be born Chinese, or Malay, or Caucasian; Asian, or African, or European; Singaporean, or Filipino, or Bangladeshi, or British , or American. What it means to be born impaired. What it means to be born in a third-world country.

Big Fish Small Fish

Big Pond Small Pond

Big Dreams Small Dreams

I’m not saying that we should not dare to dream but that we should be more realistic at the same time. First we learn to crawl then we walk then we run then we fly. That we should be more aware of our world and what it allows and does not allow us to do. To analyse, recognise, and then accept the situation we are in before we are ready to move on. Acceptance. Of our freedom, our boundaries; our possibilities, our limitations. To be “free in the captivity of freedom”. Or to have the “liberty of limitations”? I know “Slumdog Millionaire” is an inspiring movie and it still is. But how many “Slumdog Millionaires” are there?

So the next time you see me, don’t ask me why Singaporean actors cannot compete with Hongkong actors or cannot break into the Hongkong market, and why Hongkong actors cannot then easily break into Hollywood. Don’t ask why the S-League cannot compare to the English Premier League, nor why Singapore hosted the SEA Games and China hosted the Olympic Games. Don’t ask why we have different skin colours or eye colours. The answer is simple. It’s not whether we are necessarily better or worse in terms of quality but that we live in vastly different conditions, cater to different markets, some only so big and some only so small, some lines can be crossed and some lines not, that certain things are already predetermined for us.

I’m not saying though that doors closed to us will forever be closed to us. A few of them, some of them can still be opened along the way. With enough determination, with more effort, with spirit, with correct method. There is that possibility. Since they say “nothing is impossible”, right? Right. I hate this “nothing is impossible” cliche by the way.

Do you want to be a Small Fish in a Big Pond? Or a Big Fish in a Small Pond?

Does the Small Fish belong only to the Small Pond? And the Big Fish only to the Big Pond?

Can the Small Fish one day make it to the Big Sea? Or the Ocean? And can the Small Fish survive?

Are you a Big Fish or a Small Fish?

No, you’re not belittling yourself when you say you’re a Small Fish; it’s a matter of relativity. No, you’re not getting everything just because you’re the Big Fish. What the Big Pond offers, the Small Pond might lack; but what the Small Pond has, the Big Pond might not.

That’s my “Big Fish Small Fish” story. That’s my “Big Fish Small Fish” theory. Of Dreams. And of Life.

What kind of Fish are You?

I think it’s getting a little Fishy out here.