Made in Macao | I think therefore I create: on traffic and romance

Jenny Lao-Phillips

One of the greatest miseries we face living in Macao is traffic. Being stuck in traffic is not that bad if we compare to those who are still trying to get a cab or waiting for a bus. Yes, living in a city as small as Macao, one can walk anywhere within half-an-hour to one making it the best traveling option, but only if we put aside the temperature variable. So, unless we work in a place with the possibility of taking a shower in the premise before getting to our desk for work, we are stuck ‘with’ traffic. But there is a solution to our miseries.

In studying the mystery of our brains, I came to realize the miseries of lives that are ultimately, merely in our minds. In our brains’ attempt for knowledge acquisition which is its utmost function, we are genetically wired through the cerebral cortex that envelopes our cerebral hemispheres (that form our brains) to collect information via our different senses, and through the higher function of our brains, we create synthetic concepts as to what things are and/or should be. According to Semir Zeki’s book, Splendors and Miseries of the Brain, our brains tend to create synthetic concepts in the forms of images, or scenarios, or phenomenon, whatever you want to name it, that is perfect from information it gathers. But in fact, there is no perfection, because the concepts in our brains keep changing but reality does not, just as ambiguity exist only in our mind, a painting is a painting no matter how we interpret it. Therefore, it is not as much as “I think therefore I am” as it is “I think therefore I create”. And so, the problem of miseries vs. happiness can be solved as long as we can control our perception of things or situations.

Now, to solve the miseries of being caught in traffic. What is the main villain? The never ending construction work, the unintelligent urban design that puts a zebra crossing right at the turn of a road, and the many double or triple parking outside of almost every schools.  But we are not going to dwell on those miseries. Imagine how romantic it is to be in a comfortable seat whether moving a machine slowly through the streets, or watching the rest of the world slowly passing by, and yes, it can be as slow as 10km/hour, the point is, we are in a comfortable seat disregard of the rain or heat outside.

Or better yet, when one is riding with an object of one’s affection (just a term, not objectifying lovers or potential lovers), one is given the opportunity to spend time with them, which without traffic, we will have to depart with them in a few minutes. If one has no target yet, how about the possibility of giving someone miserably waiting for a cab a ride? Forget about all those love stories about waiting for “the one” like the popular Hong Kong romance Café Waiting Love (된寧個훙엣렸). Imagine the love story that can happen as one waits through traffic in a car Before Sunrise or Before Sunset.

Being caught in traffic can, after all, not be that miserable if we can synthesize a sense of romance in our brain. Or wait for someone to create a movie of “Traffic Waiting Love”. And then, we would give thanks to our government for the urban design, for the non-stop road constructions, and for the disregard of double parking, for they are part of our personal happiness. As they may contribute to the romance of our lives, or our creative thinking.