Think about it - life goes on

'TODAY is the day music died,' a distraught, teary-eyed girl wailed on television.

I sat at home watching this report with some degree of scepticism.

Sure, Michael Jackson's death was tragic, but no more important than the death of anyone else that day. The world will keep turning and the sun will keep rising.

He may have been a great artiste, but the hysteria his death has provoked seems wildly excessive.

Such an outcry reminds us to take a good, hard look at the celebrities we virtually worship and with whose lives we have become so intimately involved.

Do they really deserve the admiration, respect and love that they inspire? How many celebrities have had multiple affairs, drug addictions and criminal charges?

If our friends acted like that, would we really be friends with them, and mourn their loss when they pass on?

Mourn MJ, by all means. But at the same time, think long and hard about whether or not he really was an integral part of your life, or maybe just a great entertainer and nothing more.

Alexander Woon, 19, is currently serving his national service

Remember, too, his humanity

I'LL remember Michael Jackson not just as a brilliant dancer, singer and performer, but also as an endearingly eccentric person who dared to be himself in spite of public opinion.

People gossiped about his multimillion- dollar ranch, his multiple rounds of cosmetic surgery, and his alleged paedophilia. Ugly names like 'madman', 'drug abuser' and 'freak' were bandied around.

As always, society was too quick to pass judgment on someone who did not conform to its restrictive expectations.

May I suggest that this man-child had more humanity than many of us.

His idealised world in Neverland Ranch, and the songs he co-wrote and sang - We Are The World and Heal The World - reveal a humanistic vision of all peoples loving each other. As long as I can remember, these timeless songs have never failed to inspire or comfort me.

His experimentation with various religions - first a Jehovah's Witness, then a member of the Nation of Islam, and finally Islam - reveals a profound search for inner peace, meaning and strength, a search so few of us undertake or even recognise the need for.

But in the end, MJ had to leave us early as other musical geniuses (Kurt Cobain, John Lennon) have done. Surely, they were too beautiful for this world.

Jonathan Kwok, 24, has graduated with honours in economics from the National University of Singapore

Let him rest in peace

ONE of my friends made a joke about Michael Jackson's death on Facebook: 'Michael Jackson the white paedophile with that nose is dead.'

My response: Did you know for sure he was really a paedophile? Did you know he suffered from vitiligo, a disorder that causes depigmentation of the skin? Did you find out why he had so many nose jobs?

No, because he did not mean much to you.

But for millions of other people, he was the reason they sing and dance. The reason that pop music is what it is today.

To me, MJ was my childhood personified.

I remember putting the laser disc of Dangerous on repeat when I was four. I knew all his songs by the time I turned five.

I remember trying out the moonwalk in the shower, and dancing to Bad on my bed. I even named my toy bear Ben, after MJ's famous rat friend.

Despite the many scandals and court cases that overshadowed his music career, Michael Jackson still did many great songs, such as Thriller, Billie Jean and We Are The World.

So to those who simply judge him on the surface, don't mock Michael Jackson. Respect the legend, now that he's gone. Let him finally have his peace.

Nurul Liyana Yeo, 18, is a second-year mass communication student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic

My dance muse

TO ME, Michael Jackson was the legendary dance icon and the muse that inspired many.

I remember when I was once quizzed about hobbies at a scholarship interview. I foolishly and inappropriately gushed about how Michael Jackson was synonymous with dance, and how he possessed such a unique sense of style.

The panel of interviewers probably wondered why I was even applying for the scholarship. No prizes for guessing whether I got it or not.

With his signature moonwalk, pelvic thrusts and zombie dance in the famous Thriller music video, Michael Jackson revolutionised the world of dance.

Countless songs by him were used in dance performances and countless dancers have attempted to emulate his trademark moves - including me. I would watch his music videos over and over again to gain inspiration when choreographing dance routines.

Even till today, his style continues to permeate MTV, inspiring the likes of Wade Robson and Chris Brown.

Though he has left us, I am comforted to know that his legacy lives on in many of us - in the passion and dream to dance, and to discover our own niche style.

Chew Zhi Wen, 21, has completed his first year in law at NUS

This article was first published in The Straits Times.