Who is “I”? Who am I?

The moment I said “I”,
It was “they” and not me.
Caring for image, for face,
Caring for friends, for family,
I was trapped in this endless frenzy,
In what we define as “duty”.

The moment I said “I”,
I knew mistakes were intolerable.
A mistake done was a cared one lost;
More mistakes done, they’d call me selfish.
So I served, I lived, I spoke for them,
To avoid being the subject of their insults.

The moment I said “I”,
I was but only four years old.
A blink of the eye and I’m already eighteen.
I can say “I” in five different languages,
But all with one meaning: “they”.
My worn out shoulders carried both mine and their burdens.

The moment I said “I”,
I had already thought twice before continuing,
Finishing the speech not how I wanted it,
Rather the way they wanted to hear it.
“I” is human, selfish, mean, greedy,
I am “they”, simply to avoid these sins.


Being raised under Confucianism, I have great respect for my friends, my family, my teachers and those who were strangers to me. The poem basically meant that we were born in a society from which we were supposed to help each other. However, the majority cheated and avoided helping other people. This is because humans were born with sins, and most of them chose to stay this way (yes, I agree sometimes I am quite pessimistic). Obviously, helping others too much was not better as it would spoil them. This also becomes a problem to you; your backpack gets heavier. “Why should I help them? I don’t even know them! They should do it on their own!” they said. There is no why, you don’t need a reason, to help.