Tay Soon Who, By Catherine Lim

“I would not sit waiting for some vague tomorrow, nor for something to happen. One could wait a lifetime, and find nothing at the end of the waiting. I would begin here, I would make something happen.” - Louis L’Amour. Many people will believe that achieving an ambition can be the only result of continuous positive effort and attitude, but it is also merely the same reason to cause negative influences to own self and others. Through the short story, “Paper”, by Catherine Lim, this idea is portrayed through the character of Tay Soon who, in particular, had prioritize his ambition for his dream house before putting the importance of everything else. With this decision, ignorance towards his family and even himself has become the consequence.
As he desperately plans for his ambition, Tay Soon has developed and displayed ignorance towards his own self. After Tay Soon’s obsession with buying stocks to generate more money takes over his daily life, his wife, Yee Lian, agrees by mentioning, “‘He’s cracking up! … he doesn’t eat, he has nightmares,... Oh, he’s finished!’” (Lim p. 79). With this, it illustrates how Tay Soon sees and values a material gain as a more important factor in his own life. It is clear that he has unknowingly put his physical self in danger as a result of ignorance, only to persevere his ambition and provides his self and his family with a house they’ve always dreamed. Not only Tay Soon has shown ignorance towards his own self, he has also shown disregard towards the people around him. Based on Yee Lian, he has become more ignorant to the people around him to an extent where “‘he beats the children’” (Lim p. 79). This quote shows that Tay Soon has becoming more unaware to his surroundings. As his ambition slowly starts to consume his daily life, Tay Soon has unknowingly violently exerting his distress towards his own innocent children. In addition, as he prioritizes money more than anything else, the financial needs of his family are also being put away as it is seen as less important compare to their dream. In conclusion, Tay Soon’s decision to put more effort towards his dream has resulted to
As read from the story, Tay Soon has initially dreamed to gain financial stability to acquire his dream house. But as the process persisted, Tay Soon has unwillingly turned his aspiration to greed to a point where it can be seen as an addiction. After gradually being addicted to the interests in the stock markets, the author corresponded by expressing,“The temptation was great… And now there is no stopping. ”(Lim p. 76-77). With this, we can see that when an ambition is abused and was focused on way too much, the initial intention is now steadily taking up a large segment of an individual’s life. Before, Tay Soon only sees money, a material gain, as a choice that can support them for their dream. Now, his outlook towards it is completely different in a way where it is seen as a must and is obliged to own. In addition to the fact that money has not only been viewed as an important material, it has also been become the ultimate source for happiness and joy for many individual’s everyday life. With material ownership, people often associate it with happiness and content. This illustrates how a physical item can be a cause for a mental incentive which can result to the forgetting the real value of the material. For example, Tay Soon’s only watched his money grow as a source for happiness. He didn’t understand the real value of money and ended up abusing it. He didn’t value it as