Eek! by Precious Nadiah

pg 14 for peek i n a s i sur de pri se

This monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feature:

Is being an adult a fiction?

How to and not to be an adult with sketch illustrations.

What does it mean? Readers eeked out their definition of being an ADULT.

EEK! EEK! EEK! Your monthly challenge to the idea of Adulthood.

November 2017 Issue 1

EEK! Editor’s Note Well, hello readers! Welcome to the first published issue of EEK! So, there comes a point of time in our life where we feel lost and confused of our own decisions in life — not knowing what to do next or where to go or which direction to take to have this “perfect” constructed life that we have imagined it to be. Am I right?

WELCOME TO ...

I am pretty sure I am not the only one experiencing this and I know you’ve been through this “phase” before or maybe you’re actually experiencing it right now, at this minute. Is it not why you’re reading this magazine? If you ever feel alone while going through these downsides of your life, fret not! I’ve got your back and so does EEK! I am the creator and editor of this magazine and its sole purpose is to change all of our perspectives on life, particularly for this phase, this

term called “Adulthood” or known as “quarter-life crisis.” When one says, “Quarter-life crisis is the most critical point in my life. I’m dying..help — EEEEKK!” Here’s what I think, well yeah, it sucks, but it is a norm. Every one faces it and we all have our own version to this. So, get over it. As I’ve said, EEK! has got your back — your monthly dose of relief, escapism, reminder and insight to the tales of Adulthood. Oh! Not to forget, every issue challenges us to the idea of Adulthood — Does it exist? How bad is it? What is the definition of an adult? Is it the same for every individual? How do I survive this and all that jazz. I mean there’s no exact answer but we’ll figure it out here in EEK! In this issue, we’ll start off with the idea of being an adult. C’mon! Let’s get on with it!

EEK OUT!

Nadiah R.

Editor iamnadiahrozali@gmail.com

Is being an adult a

SP E

Peek for a

fiction?

UP!

surprise?

How to be and how not to be an adult.

CONTENTS

01-06 1 2-1 3 1 -1 1 7-27

! K E E PICK OF

GET A COPY

THE MO

ORES!

T S K O O B L A C O L R U O Y M FRO

WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED:

GABBIE HANNA

NTH

IS BEING AN ADULT A FICTION? Nadiah R.

When are you getting married?

25 already, still no girlfriend?

Got my degree! What's next? what do i do now?

Oh no! I'm only in my twenties and i'm having a quarter-life crisis.

NEWS UPDATE: Price rise of HDB in 2018

Can my degree help me achieve my dreams.....

Get a job! Make sure salary is high.

ave you ever had these questions running through your head like, “I don’t know what I want”, “I’m not doing what I want”, “What am I doing with my life...” or “Why is adulting so hard?” “Can I not be an adult and go back to when I was a kid”, and so forth. If you do, then you should read this article. If you don’t, I suggest you read this still as I am going to challenge you and turn the perspective around which you will be mind-blown later...or not. Anyhow, we are all scared of making failures in life (not all but some) and we may think that one wrong move means our life is screwed.

This thinking is very common especially when we are in our twenties and early thirties or shall I say, “adult” stage of life. We could call it ‘adulthood’ for now — that period where you embark onto this “adult” journey of getting rushed to settle down, having kids, getting a stable job immediately after you are finished with your studies, paying bills, owning a house and carrying more and more responsibilities. EEK! that’s a lot to take in, huh? That is probably, one of the reasons why we are being so cautious with every step we take at this stage of life. Adulthood does seem very overwhelming, hence,

the ‘afraid of screwing up’ happens. I think it’s because of this thought of not being able to follow the “example” of life that we were thought or told to be in our society. For example, in a Singaporean context, or let’s just say, most asian families (I know... stereotyping) that are strictly devoted to their traditions, they tend to have their whole life planned out by following the examples of the older generation. You will hear these often in an asian family — “Get married before you hit 30”, “Have kids before you’re 32”, “Get a job as soon as you graduate from school”, “With your degree, you can get better paying jobs”, and the list goes on. Thus, it is a norm to see most Singaporeans live their life according to that “guide book,” hoping to get the title of being an adult. (The perfect definition of an adult?) Moreover, screwing up is not a part of the equation to this “perfect” constructed life that we planned it out to be. This is why we feel the pressure or stress especially when we failed to fulfill the desired steps, hence, disappointing ourselves and others around us who put a certain expectation on us. It is as if, (imagine this) if you missed a turn and you cannot make a u-turn so your course of direction changed from the original route from that point onwards and now you have to stick with it and go with

the flow, not knowing what to expect ahead of you cause it’s not the usual (exemplary) route that you “should” have taken. In this situation, there will be two types of people. One being the calm (maybe a little rebellious) one who is adaptable to changes and don’t mind leaving their comfort zone and breaking the rule. This kind would be curious of what is ahead so they kept moving forward till they get to their destination despite using an unknown and alternative route. On the other hand, the second type would be the ones that are more of “I’d rather stick to what I know or the safe zone” which is the exemplary route. Since, they’ve gone out of the way, the second type would probably just stop and stay there for who knows how long while ranting on how shitty their life is right now then breaks down and then starts ranting again and the cycle repeats. They are basically hung up on the fact that they accidentally went out of the allocated route — so focused on bringing up the past into the present day when they could brush it off and focus on the present and coming up with a new solution or an alternative. But hey! I am not saying that there are no possibilities for more than two types of people in that kind of situation. There are some who will be type two and then they changed into

type one because they needed to dwell on something for a while to make themselves feel better and then they get over it and restart their life back once again. It is fine to take a break and pause life for a minute (or however long you need) before getting yourself back together when facing a tough situation or during your downsides of life.

Regardless, none of the types that I’ve mentioned are considered to be good or bad or the exemplary type. What I’m trying to communicate is that, every one has their own individuality. Every one of us are different and we

handle different situations differently. We all have our own versions to dealing with life or adulthood. We all have our own shitty moments in life. So, as you can see, there is no exact way to handle a situation or manage your adulthood. Think about it, if all of us handled life the same way, wouldn’t it be boring? You have nothing new to share among each other when you reminiscence back on those shitty days. (It may not all be shitty but hey, shitty gives a more powerful statement right?) Therefore, this applies to the term called “adult”. When exactly do we become an adult? How do we become an adult? Nobody knows. Why? Cause we are not the same person. We don’t all adult together at the same time. It’s not like we (maybe for example, all the 1996 born squad) all set our alarm clocks at the same time at 5.02am on this very Thursday and we will all transform into an ‘adult’ together. No! That is not how real life works. Now, bring back the picture or visualisation that I asked you to imagine before, if

every one of us used the same route to get to the destination (in this case to Adulthood) there would be a huge traffic jam right? You probably would have to wait a long time till you reach your turn to get to your ‘Adulthood’. Do you see where I am getting at now on this ‘adult’ thing? Remember when I mentioned about Singaporean’s “guide book” to adulthood? (It’s not a literal guide book by the way.) You think that if they followed the steps, they’ll magically turn into an adult. You’re wrong. Some may be married but that does not mean they are an adult if they actually abuse their partner or not treat them with respect. Some have kids but if they abandon their kids or do not provide them with care and finance? Do you call them an adult then despite them married and have kids? Maybe there is this single 35-year-old man but he never fails to provide financially every month to his parents. Maybe there is this 22-yearold woman who is still schooling but she helps out with house bills every month with the help of her part-time job. Maybe one can adult one day and then goes back to behaving like a non-adult another day. Maybe one thinks an adult is when she does a good deed. Who knows, right?

A wise man once said (my lecturer):

“Jobs and people don’t define you. Neither does your ethnic background. You have emotions and own personal issues that can affect your ‘adulthood’. You have your own individuality. He has his own. She has her own. They have their own. So there are many and different kinds of adulthood.”

Like I said, we will all adult in our own ways at different points of time, at any age and through any actions. Every one is their own version of an adult so there isn’t exactly a specific set of criteria to be an adult. Just be your own adult. So, is being an adult a fiction? Think about it and ask yourself. So with that, I am ending off with a comic on “adulthood” (look to the next page on your right). Eek out!

The Future by Sarah Andersen One of the most relatable life moments, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you think?

Comic on the right:

EEK!

If you think that Adulthood or “Quarter-life crisis” means its the end of your life and shit is about to get real. Guess what? You’re right, that shit is about to get real but “the end of your life?” That’s just an exaggeration. It’s not totally bad plus, it’s actually,

only the beginning…..

and trust me, you’ll get through it.

COLLABOREEK!

OF THE MONTH

SPEEK UP! Readers of

EEK! shares their definition on the term called ‘adult.’

“

Being a mature human being with a stable job and income for a comfy life.

When I watch movies with adult content.

WHEN I GOT MY MENSES!! I got my menses when I was 9, and I lost my rights as a child to go outside and play with neighbours, go to the playground, go to school must not be too close with boys, unless school-related only because my parents were so worried if got boys, they will take advantage of me. LOL but true.

Being an adult means knowing what is right and what is wrong. In my opinion, adult is not measured by age. But it is measured by level of maturity. Some people may be an adult (25 & above) but they run away from problems. Some are like teens but they are able to make better decisions.

Independence and being able to support my family financially.

Adults should know everything. Adult to me is being responsible for your own well-being and choices.

Being an adult means you have to pay everything on your own.

I felt like an adult when I was serving NS because as a policeman and handling with people in airport, it requires you to filter and make wise decision on what to say and what to do because you are technically an ambassador of Singapore security.

EEK!

Sorry, I lied. About the surprise? There’s none. But hey, since you’re already here, on this page, why not browse around and read up on my article on “Is being an adult a fiction?” which is at the front few pages or you could turn to the next few pages to ease your mind with some sketches on expectation vs reality of being an“adult.”

What are you waiting for? GET A COPY

! S E R O T S K O O B L A C O L R FROM YOU

HOW TO BE

AND HOW NOT TO BE

AN ADULT EEK! PICK OF THE MONTH

EXPECTATION VS REALITY Compilation of confessions from Singaporean eek-ers, turned into sketches. Oh! Not to forget, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s some new terms to learn from our deektionary.

E E KTO P I A Where one can find our fellow citiz-eeks escaping and hiding from their reality.

E E K- E P E D I A The online platform that our fellow citiz-eeks go to for information on literally any-eek-thing (especially when theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re freeking out.)

E E K- C I T I N G The adjective used by fellow citiz-eeks who are experiencing a great amount of enthusiasm, not forgetting their current alarming state.

E E K- C U S E M E This is how our fellow citiz-eeks who are already in an alarming state, reacts to inconsiderate people and alarming news.

G E E K- G L E The fake laugh our fellow citiz-eeks do when their mind are unable to comprehend any information (both good or bad news) due to their current troubled state.

COLLABOREEK!

OF THE MONTH

NEXT MONTH COME AND EEK WITH US! Calling all eek-ers out there to write to us and share your eek-y tales on adulthood, even if they’re really shitty. Your entries will be published in our SPEEK UP! section for our coming June issue and wait! That’s not all! If your tales are truly inspiring that it deserves to be transformed into a sketch illustration, then congrats to you for making it into the hall of fame. When we say hall of fame, we meant, it’ll appear in the How to be and how not to be an adult: Expectation vs Reality section. Eek your heart out with your nickname or anonymously to eektome@eek.sg with your subject as

‘Eek Me Out.’

Can’t wait to eek with you!

EEK! That exclamation sound you make when you are alarmed or surprised — especially when trouble awaits you but you can’t seem to avoid it.

K! K! K! K! K! K! K! K! K! K! K! K!

EEK! EEK! EEK! EEK! EEK! EEK! EEK! EEK! EEK! EEK! EEK! EEK!

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