Do you love a challenge? Don’t miss the chance to win great prizes by taking part in our next writing contest! Click here and fill out the online form to apply.
The entry question is: If you had to describe your summer using only one emoji, which would it be? The deadline is at 11.59pm on June 22. We will notify the new contestants on Friday, June 26.
We have prepared some exciting prizes for our top three contestants:
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Winner: Kindle, City’super voucher and a YP certificate
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First runner-up: Instax camera and a YP certificate
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Second runner-up: City’super voucher and a YP certificate
Read the responses to this week’s Write to Win prompt and vote for the answer you like most using this form.
Siu mai: If I were told that I would live forever, the biggest change I would make in my life would be to become infinitely more patient. Right now, my life feels like a race against time. I often argue with my parents over small matters – like what to eat for dinner or how much time I spend on my phone – because I feel that every minute is precious, and I need to “win” to protect my limited time. However, if I had an eternity ahead of me, I would realise that most of these arguments are meaningless and futile. With forever in front of me, I wouldn’t feel the need to always be right. When my mum nags me about my messy room, instead of rolling my eyes and talking back, I would listen. In an infinite life, a messy room for one day is insignificant. I would find it easier to apologise and let small conflicts go because holding on to anger would only waste centuries. I would also take up hobbies that take a long time to master, such as learning 10 languages or achieving a master’s degree in every subject. While these hobbies might take decades to grasp, knowing that I have plenty of time would encourage me to learn more deeply. Deadlines and exams would no longer stress me out because I would always have a “next time”. On the other hand, I think living forever could be a dreadful curse as well. If I were to live eternally, I might completely lose the motivation to do anything. Why bother getting up early every morning or studying hard if I have all the time in the world? Perhaps the knowledge that our time is limited is what drives us to grow and appreciate every single day. Therefore, while I would definitely change my level of patience, I hope I never actually live forever – because the fear of running out of time is what makes life fulfilling and meaningful.
Taco: The first thing that came to mind was: forever! That sounds incredible – until I imagined it. At first, living forever would be the most profound psychological shock imaginable. No shortage of time. No deadlines. No stress about the future. No need to save for retirement or stress over climbing the career ladder. I could become a scientist, a football player, a writer or all of them simultaneously. But as I think more about it, I realise that living forever wouldn’t just change my future; it would also change the way I live each day. If I knew I would never die, I would stop treating life like a race. I could set much broader, more ambitious goals, knowing I have unlimited time to achieve them. By living forever, I might take on the role of a secret guardian, preserving rare books, saving endangered ecosystems and sharing my experiences with the next generation. While I might still feel pain, the inevitable fear of death would vanish. I would become either remarkably daring or remarkably careless, depending on the situation I face. After a few decades, however, immortality could begin to feel like a curse. Watching friends, children and loved ones grow old and die while I remain unchanged would eventually break me emotionally. To cope, I would likely have to stop forming deep bonds with friends and family. Living forever would feel strange. Would birthdays still matter? Would achievements feel special if there was always another year to try again? If I could live forever, the great irony is that I would cease to live like a human, since all the elements that make life beautiful – grief, anxiety, happiness and passion – rely entirely on the fact that our time is limited. The best thing I could do as an immortal, after a few thousand years, would be to live as if I were going to die tomorrow. That is the only way to truly feel alive after living for countless years.
