In the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a couple of people comment that I’m a real hippie. What with the fire-twirling, the clothes, the holiday in Bali, the kumbaya music and supposed vegetarianism… oh? That’s giving it away? Right…

First and foremost, I don’t think I even qualify to be a hippie, my view on politics are a blur, I wouldn’t know what to do at a protest, and I don’t subscribe to weed and tie-dyed clothes. Secondly, I am probably too much of a capitalist who believes in the power of money and the scales of economics. I mean, I am Singaporean after-all, it’s built into our psyche the day we’re born on this island. Thirdly, I consume like any old greedy consumerist. I produce too much waste and I don’t recycle enough, I drive an SUV and I definitely consume too much electricity with my love of gadgetry and technology. Needless to say, I am also totally consumed by shiny bicycles and I love dressing up in obscenely tight lycra bike suits.

Finally, I maintain a healthy skepticism about new-ageism and most modern-day sages dressed in flowing white robes. I am just a boring old Buddhist, chanting prayers and plodding along with everybody else. Basically… I think that I would make a terrible hippie. I don’t have that kind of will to change the world/make it a better place/ for you and for me/ and the entire human race…

But then… I did a little more research online, and found the term Neo-Hippie:

someone who believes in peace and love…interested in several of the following things: vegetarianism, the environment, animal rights, gay rights, feminism… paramount among their ideals would be that you need to be happy in life… They will drop everything to help a friend in need, and often feel a sense of family within their community.

Right… erm… I think that I just might be a neo-hippie, if it means that I choose to be happy and I choose to eat less meat, and that I choose to believe in peace and love, the power of a community and align to mostly liberal agendas…

But wait a min! Doesn’t this apply to everybody nowadays? All of these ideas are rampant in the newspapers, and in the everyday media. Everyone knows that they should eat less meat, recycle more, have less prejudices against women or gays/lesbians. In fact, I would say that most of these ideologies are so mainstream, and so grounded in the public conscience, that I think that a neo-hippie label would even apply to those who’ve termed me a hippie.

So… if I’m a hippie… I suspect that you’re a hippie too.