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Peter Kammerer
SCMP Columnist
Peter Kammerer
Peter Kammerer

Imperfections are perfectly fine

Peter Kammerer says if perfection is a mirage, then a more sensible attitude to life is to rethink our insecurities of being imperfect

I shocked my mother during a visit home a few years ago. She had told me that if she could be given a single wish, it would be for my eyesight to be restored. I told her that being able to see was the last thing I wanted. To say that she was speechless is to make light of the 10 minutes of silence that ensued.

When she had regained her composure, the conversation turned to the topic of perfection - starting with perfect vision. Never having had such a thing, being born blind in one eye and having gradually lost the little sight I had known in the other, it is not a matter I can relate to. Why would I want something I am unfamiliar with? I have adapted to my circumstances, am happy with them and feel no need to change them.

All our imperfections make us perfect. In an instant, the pressure to change is gone

Memories of this came flooding back while participating in an art project in North Point last month. Based around the topic of imperfection, it involved being blindfolded and disoriented on a grassy area at the Oil Street Art Space, listening to a meditation-like soundtrack, indicating perceived emotional deficiencies on a card and then drinking a herbal tea to fill the gap. Called "I'mperfect Xchange", and the brainchild of designers Hung Lam and Eddy Yu, it delves into their fascination with things imperfect.

Their I'mperfect movement began with a statistic. While working with ceramics, they found that up to 15 per cent of items that were produced were being discarded for having minor blemishes. There was usually nothing wrong with the pieces that affected functionality; customers simply demanded that coffee mugs and the like be perfect in every way. That got the pair wondering why people desire perfection not only from objects, but also from themselves and others.

Their project is designed to make us think. Will a drink of tea created from herbs grown in the grounds really make us feel whole again? I struggled to decide which of the 20 emotions marked on the card I fitted - I was not bored, stressed, annoyed or hurt, to recount a few. I ended up marking that I was dry and numb. Lining up for my restorative tea, though, I realised that imperfection is more than skin deep - it is also a state of mind. From the perspective of health and mental well-being, I'd wager none of us are perfect. The global pharmaceuticals industry knows that well, which is why it makes trillions of dollars annually.

There are also those companies that prey on the insecurities of beauty and self-perception with products to whiten or darken the skin, smooth wrinkles and, with lasers and injections, reshape. It taps directly into one of my long-time fascinations: why so many Western women long to be tanned while their Asian sisters crave to be fair.

I have concluded that perfection is about individuality. We each have an idea of what perfect is and many of us spend our lives searching for it. Truth be told, it does not exist. We can pop all the pills we like, buy the trendiest of clothes and drink all the coffee we like, but the effects eventually wear off.

I've got a new way of explaining my thinking about my eyesight to my mother. All our imperfections make us perfect. In an instant, the pressure to change is gone.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: A perfect fix
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