Financial Freedom

I came from a rather poor family background . However , during my childhood days , I was rather contended with the life I was having , i.e the cheerful kid with no worries or problems whatsoever . At that time , I used to believe that my life would continue being lived this way forever and ever being happy and contended . Oh boy , how wrong I was . I was naive.

Upon growing up , my naivete and dream of living happily ever after without any worries was shattered . It all started during primary school life, when the value of money would come into play and forever altering my shallow perception of life . I still remember during my first day of school , when I would walk to the school while my more well-off peers would arrive in dazzling cars , chauffeured by their personal chauffeur or parents . Back then , I remember asking why I have to walk while other parents would personally fetch their children to school . The response then was " because the distance was very short and we can save money by doing it " . Well, true enough , it wasn't much of a trouble to walk , it's healthy right? Besides, we do save money. So , I happily accepted that reason and get on with life.

In secondary school , the same thing occurred , except the fact that the distance is no longer short , in fact it was quite some distant away and I have to take buses home and walked from the bus station to my house every single schooling day ( which by the way is quite far ) . Under the scorching , hot sun , carrying big , heavy school bags while walking back home alone , I remember asking myself repeatedly " Why am I being subjected to such fate while others are spared? "

When I brought that question to my parents , their only response was simply " Sorry son , we can't afford it ( car or other means of transportation to fetch me ) . And the same response subsequently followed whenever I tried to request something that requires monetary funding. While I am truly grateful to my parents for bringing me up amidst the hardship and sufferings they were being subjected to , being the hot-headed , bad-tempered , testosterone-filled youngster undergoing puberty at that time, I would often throw tantrum around and being mad, at nobody , for having to "suffer" like this .

Often there are a lot of times when I would be thinking of the unfairness of life , of why some of my well-off peers were able to enjoy more of the pleasures of life due to some extra cash in their pocket , of why I can only make limited choices and decisions due to lack of funds , of how the world seems to be revolving around money and our current society is too preoccupied with materialism to care about other more realistic and pragmatic priorities in life , such as health, family and love .

As I grow older matures more , I slowly learn to respect and fear the value of money. There's a lot of stuff being said about money ( i.e Money is the root of all evil , Money is indispensable , Money can make or break a person depending on their personality and attitude, etc ) However, one thing's for sure , it is that no matter what one may say or think about money , it is undeniable that money is a necessary tool for survival for most people. Have you ever lived in the street as a homeless beggar ? Have you ever tried not having real food to eat and only survive on instant noodles and breads for months? These may be an exaggerated worst case scenarios , but I assure you , these people are very much real and they exists. In today's cruel reality , it's obvious that money is essential and we need them to survive.

Hence , I had always strive for and advocates financial freedom . It is my main goal in life to attain financial freedom , provide for my family and ultimately educate people and raise awareness of the importance of financial intelligence , in hope that more and more people would be able to achieve it .

For that purpose , I have created a blog called Financial Guide , hoping to share whatever little financial knowledge that I have and hope that more people may benefit from this together !

* for a more detailed and longer post about my past and how I started to learn more about money , click here .

Life Long Learning

Ah.. finally , a small breathing space , a space all for myself , a moment where I will be able to enjoy in my peaceful, tranquil and majestic hometown ,Penang . Finally , a well-deserved small break after all those hard works and efforts spent facing book this semester ( oh well , not really that much hard works anyway lol ,more like facebooking all the time ,and I am actually playing truant , skipping an entire week of class before my actual study break ,but meh, who cares ! )

Home sweet home indeed ~ People say , the heart will yearn for something familiar if you haven’t see it for a while . Why, so true indeed . It referring to my beloved hometown in this case.

I have always felt at ease in home , not because of the conveniences here ( washing machine , soft bed , air conditioner when needed , usable internet and best of all ,unlimited food ftw ! ) , but because of the freedom and flexibility it offers. though the convenience does serve as an added bonus ! And at home , I will have more opportunities to do whatever I wanted to do most and learn whatever I wanted to learn . You see, I am never a fans of textbook-based approach . In fact , I abhorred it. I hate the fact that since young , when we are still the innocent and naïve little sponge who could have absorbed everything easily , we have been drilled with the concept of textbook-based approach .

I can’t speak for other countries , but as for my own country , I can affirm you for sure , that having being subjected to arduous , long hours of digesting facts and figures , then regurgitating them during examinations , and subsequently forgetting them after examination , our education system is not one that I would put my children through . I think it is rather retarded that we should adhere to such rigid education system which , in my opinion , limits our creativity and opportunities to explore other subjects .Take for example , if a student who’s really talented in arts and drawing but not so inclined towards memorizing and studying facts, let’s name him John , be subjected to such education system , spending close to 12 years on learning stuff which may not necessarily be of importance to his future , wouldn’t it be a complete waste of time ? Besides, wouldn’t it stifle and limit his potential ? Wouldn’t it be better if John uses perhaps half of that time memorizing facts to hone and enhance his artistic skills ?

In countries like US , the education system is so much more efficient and effective . For instance , after their A level ( our pre-university equivalence ) , the students there are free to take and explore whatever subject they like in a gap year, before continuing their tertiary education .Now, that’s practical education .

All in all , I believed in life long education instead of a short term one. In today’s society , most people perceive “learning”  in very narrow terms: it’s what we do in school, and once we’ve got our college degree, the learning phase is over – it’s time to work.

Of course, things aren’t really that black and white:we carry on learning after we’ve left school, and not just in our careers but in every aspect of our lives. And learning often doesn’t equate to taking qualifications or passing exams. Approached the right way, learning isn’t a process of ticking boxes on a curriculum or course outline – it’s about exploration, growth and enrichment.

Learning should be a life long journey , something that one should continue doing till the last breath . True education should be an endless pursuit of pragmatic and practical knowledge , no matter in what field or aspect . Great leaders are often people with substance possessing wealth of knowledge .Steve jobs once said “ Stay hungry , stay foolish “ . Once a man stops learning , that’s when he stops living .

Recently , I was hooked to musical instruments and only now starting to venture into this fascinating world of music . And let me tell you , the joy and epiphany of learning something new , is simply fantastic ! As I slowly indulge in this journey of learning , the thrilling sense of acquiring yet another fascinating piece of knowledge from an endless treasure troves excites me and gives an adrenaline rush that’s unlike any activity . Remember that feeling when you encountered a difficult math problems that had you thinking for hours, maybe even days? Frustrating right ? How about the feeling after you solved it eventually ? That euphoria moment , that’s the feeling you will have when you learnt something new.

So, people , what are you waiting for ? Start learning and pick up new skills now !

Entrepreneurship, Why Now?

Inthis past few weeks ,I have been engagedwith the idea of entrepreneurship and starting my own business with the passion , vigor and energy more than Iever had in my past 20 years of living . The reason ? Well , for starters , inthis past few weeks ( 3 weeks to be exact ) , I have been attending businesstalks and entrepreneurship workshop conducted by renowned and successfulbusinessman , most noticeably , speakers like YB Tony Pua, former CEO of CyberVillage ,a pioneer in e-commerce , Ms Winnie Loo , CEO of A Cut Above , MrMichael Tan , CEO of myparttimejob.com and recently Mr Jonathan Quek,CEO ofTrue North Asia and Ms Candice Lee, Sales Director of Capital Asia Group.

I havealways been interested the idea of doing business from early age. You see, Ialways thought that working in a 9-5 job , collecting money every month isretarded . I mean , sure , there are lot of high flying employees out there whoare earning 5 figure salaries , living an exciting life , but unfortunately also, in this cruel , realistic world , there are too many people , stuck in themiddle income trap , often just stuck being an employee who works for the rich, deprived of knowledge to excel and achieving their true potential .

Thus , being an employee and working forothers have always had a bad impression in my heart and mind. Though , if I hadto work , I would definitely prefer working for people who have truecapabilities and knowledge , whereby I can learn and gain something ,andworking with people who are fun , friendly and downright crazy.( something likein nuffnang and Capital Asia,I believe) ,instead of being under tyrannyof the inept ( which ,unfortunately happened to a lot of employees in Malaysia).I am always drawn to unconventional work cultures that promote work hard andplay hard. Do you know that in Nuffnang’s office, there’s a place called Nuffie’sZone, whereby people can just sit down and rest on the plush sofa ,relaxinguntil they are ready to work again? Oh and they have a PS3 in their office too.Now, that’s what I called awesome work culture !

Butof course, if possible , I would love to start my own business and making a jobout of things I love doing best . Idigressed . Today, I had the honor to listen to the speech by Mr Jonathan Quekand Ms Candice Lee , both of whom have had a lot of ups and downs in their life,and very inspirational visionaries that strives for big goals ( and arecurrently in the progress of completing them ) .

MrJonathan Quek is the CEO of True North Asia ,a consultancy company aimed topromote youth intelligence and provides alternative investment consultancy ,while Ms Candice Lee is his partner and also the Sales Director of Capital AsiaGroup , a real estate consultancy group .

Asthey shared with us about their core values , what they do , the obstacles theyfaced when they first started , everybody’s eye lit up . Their enthusiasm was infectious , their passion was evident ,and the atmosphere was electrifying . Mere words alone would not do justice tothem . Their stories are simply inspirational and motivational.

Hereare some excerpts from the their talk . “ Imagine a plane , with fourpropellers , flying from K.L to Hawaii. Now , Hawaii is your destination .Doing business is a lot like flying this plane. In order to fly the plane , youmust have four propellers which are a metaphor for the Marketing department ,Human Resource department , Operation department and Finance department. Andyou must always set your destination right first . So, the destination is yourWHAT , the plane is your HOW and thefirst reason that got you flying that plane in the first place is your WHY. Ifyou have a very strong WHY , then you would know WHAT you want and the HOWwould eventually come :.

“

“There’s this one game in Miri where theyoungsters would spend playing .In Miri, there are a lot of monkeys , andmonkeys love peanuts. So ,the youngsters would take a lot of peanuts , lay themon the ground to form a trail , leading to a coconut contraption ( where theyput more peanuts into that coconut ). When a monkey follows the trail ofpeanuts , eating them along the way , eventually it will find the coconutfilled with the peanuts inside , and put its’ hand inside to pick up thosepeanuts. But , because the size of the opening in the coconut is quite small ,just barely big enough for the monkey’s hand , when the monkey grab a lot ofpeanuts , it won’t be able to take its’ hand out . So, the monkey will betrapped , and when it’s trapped , it will scream for help and eventually thevillagers would heard of the scream would come and catch it. Well , you see, alot of people are like the monkeys , they chase after things that they want ,often being too greedy and don’t want to let go . If the monkey just let gosome of the peanuts , it can always return and get more peanuts next time , butbecause of its greed and foolishness , the monkey got trapped. “

“Life’snot how fast your start but how well you end the race “

Theabove paragraph with quotations are excerpts from Mr Jonathan’s talk , notdirect transcript of it , but mere interpretation from my own memories. Anotherinteresting point worth mentioning from their talk is that they actually had instantnoodles for almost 6 months back when they are near bankruptcy.

MsCandice’s talk was also filled with fiery passion and enthusiasm , as shetalked about how had a complete turn over of her life . She shared with us hervery amusing history back when she was 20 years old , and told us that the twomain obstacles holding people back from doing the things they want to do are lackof emotional security and lack of strength of character. I guess one of themain highlights of her talk is when she talked about having the right plan forlife and she had a very detailed plan , in her own words “ to build a hotel ofmy own ,with the profits being used to set up an orphanage , in which we willtrain and provide financial education to the youths in that orphanage ,empowering and grooming them . When they grow up , they will be given sharesfor the hotel and be the ones managing and continue to grow it further . “

WhenI heard that , it truly sent chills down my spine , in a good way of course. Itwas so remarkable to see someone so young having such detailed plans , down tothe nitty-gritty details planned out for her future . After that , sheexpounded the concept of personality profiling , in which people’s personalityin general can be divided to 4 elements , namely fire, water, wind and earth.

Firetype of people are generally bold and courageous ,and are often adventurousrisk takers . While they may be the people who dare to be different and leads ,the flaw of a fire type person is that they are egoistic , proud and sometimeseven too full of themselves.

Watertype of people are generally obedient people who are great listeners, beingemotionally sensitive and very adept to changes , though their flaws would bethe slow pace that they work in , and lack of motivation and little interest inmost things. They would be the best people to consult when you break down andneed a shoulder to lean on and cry.

Windtype of people are typically influential , outgoing extroverts . They arenatural sales man that are very socially active and optimistic people. However,their flaw lies in their lack of discipline , attention-seeker and they oftenhave short-lived enthusiasm .

Earthtype of people are analytical people who often have deep thoughts &reflection , driven by laws and principles . They are usually quite reservedand trustworthy . Nevertheless ,they might occasionally have self-pity and theycan be quite judgmental sometimes, and easily falling into mental stress.

Somehow,I felt like I possesses characteristics from all of the elements above , thoughit’s more like a mix of several characteristics from each element . However, I findthis personality profiling very interesting , in the sense that this is whatpeople should be learning. If you read around my blog , you would have noticedthat I advocate the thinking of 3 rd perspective , that each and everyone of usis unique and should respect other people’s opinion even if they contradictours.

Ina nutshell , I guess I have really did acquire something from the talk afterall .People should have big dreams , dare to be different and ultimately make adifference in people’s life. Listening to their motivating talks , I reallyhope I would be able to make it big in the future ,meeting more people likethem and learning from them .

Yousee , I always believed in lifelong learning rather than just school ,textbook-based approach . I find it paradoxical that the formal educationsystem that is supposed to be empowering us , ironically did the opposite ,which is to limit people’s freedom of thinking flexibly and creatively .Learning is an endless process . I believe when one stop continue learning andimproving themselves , that is the time they die. Oh well, more on that nexttime. For now, I am just grateful I had the chance to listen to their wonderfultalks and meeting some right people in my life now. I suppose maybe,just maybe, this is destiny’s intervention too ? Be sure to check out their websites and blogsif you have the time ;D ! OH, by the way , the last tips that MsCandice shared with us was her business philosophy which was P.H.D ,whichstands for…….*drum rolls* Pain ( able to endure pain and work hard) , Hungerfor knowledge , and Dreams for which you should be fighting for , doingeverything to achieve them. That’s all for now , tata!

An incoherent musing~

Fate is a strange thing indeed . One moment , you will be outraged over the place that fate throws you into , somewhere that the you in the past would obviously despise and even cursed incessantly should you even put one foot inside it , yet another moment you would discover that the place fate puts you in is actually not bad after all. , and slowly ,  you would realize that the destiny is right all along , that the one who pulls the string of fate high above have already knew it beforehand that this place, the very place that you once detest , is the best place for you.

The paragraph above somehow describes the situation I am in right now. I used to detest public universities , public local universities to be more precise. The reason? No particular reasons actually. If there was any, it was probably due to my immature , naïve conjecture that all public universities in Malaysia especially are filled with racial sentiments , prejudices and not so bright people. Oh boy , how wrong I was . But hey, you can’t put all the blame on me. For a 17 year old guy , right after SPM , with most of my peers at that that time choosing to go either private universities or going abroad for studies ( mind you , they are an awful rich lots ) , and with all the mass media keep publishing bad news about public universities , coupled with rumors and gossips from relatives , it’s inevitable that my perception about our local universities would be shaped that way.

In a way, studying in  English Educated school is a double-edged sword . Sure, I mean , I am very grateful for my mediocre proficiency in English now, but on the other hand , most of us, eng-ed students ,if not all are incapable of speaking mandarin ( which is a shame really ,considering its importance in the world and that it’s the representation of our Chinese roots ) . Second of all , is that most of the eng-ed students came from a middle or upper income families . ( This is not really a generalized stereotype for all eng-ed students but a mere opinion that I observed from my school ) . This happens to be the case in my school.

So yeah, whenever the topic of graduation and the future comes up , I will be hearing my peers thinking of going abroad , for instance UK , Australia and etc , or some opting to stay here , preferring to go to colleges first before pursuing their tertiary education in private universities .So, there I was , always the guy with a few other , not so fortunate people that came from more frugal background will be raising the idea of going to local universities. And every time , almost immediately the richer peers would glare at us , their face making the expression of fear and horror, as if we have just mentioned apocalypse . Subsequently, we will be bombarded with various horror stories that only happen in local universities , for example , how we would be robbed of our possessions and tortured with incompetent lecturers , being subjected to the tyranny of the inept , staying in uncomfortable , dirty hostel , and for our female counterparts , facing sexual discrimination , harassment ,and even getting raped in the worst case scenario.

Hence, after hearing relentless complains and bad rumors regarding public universities , I actually succumbed to their stories and complained aggressively about going into public universities . In fact , I nearly fought with my parents to get into college . But as fate would have it , due to financial constraints and other factors , I eventually relented and get into this public university , University of Malaya ( UM ) ,after which I found out most of the fears and initial trepidation I had was unfounded , though the part about not so comfortable hostel was quite true, but I did get used to it anyway *chuckles *.

University , or rather should I say , public local university is a very strange place . It is a place where we discover a lot of things . In here , I learnt and discovered a lot , having able to see the world using another perspective . Initially , it was quite difficult to adept because the people here ( the Chinese here anyway ) are used to speaking Mandarin , and having studied in English Educated school for my entire schooling life , the transition was rather abrupt and sudden . I am still struggling to adept now . Though , I reckon I would make more friends ( and maybe even getting the chicks to dig me more xD ) if I had learn Mandarin . But alas, some things aren’t meant to be , so .. I will just have to let it be ;D . Oh, and that rumor about public local universities not having bright students ? Total bullshit . I have met some of the brightest people in UM , some of them having insanely high IQ , while some others possesses intelligence in other areas . In fact , I am quite amazed by their ability . I have seen some people excelling in sports , logical and rational thinking , while some others have superior leadership and managerial skills , with some even possessing very sharp business acumen. Heck , I even have a coursemate that is already earning big bucks every month even when he’s studying , and the best is , he have no plans to work after graduation ! Cool huh ?

In a nutshell , I may have plans to go somewhere else and study other things , but fate knows better I guess . Yes , perhaps if I chose to go elsewhere to pursue my tertiary education , life might have been easier on me , or maybe even more difficult. Either way , I am quite satisfied for my current life , and really grateful for living under a roof right now . It is indeed a blessing when I heard of plights from my other peers in other local universities .

That aside, this week have been quite a productive week . Last Thursday , I attended a business talk and met YB Tony Pua , the former CEO of Cyber Village ,a pioneer in e-commerce and DAP strong man .Also present was  Winnie Loo, CEO of A Cut Above . Today , me and my friends went to Tune Talks Sdn Bhd in Petaling Jaya for a site visit for our course assignment . Surprisingly , the receptionist at the company gave us a very warm reception even though we went there without prior notice . Even more shocking is the fact that they grant us an impromptu interview, when we did not even make a proper appointment ( well , in actual fact , we did , sadly we got rejected due to lack of time , according to their ceo ) Surprise Surprise… But this was a good surprise. It was really unexpected that they showed such politeness and courtesy to an unknown strangers , especially to a bunch of young students like us. It really amazed me .

This week’s many business related events have set me thinking. In fact , the idea of starting my own business have been playing in my mind for quite some time now. However, there are a few setbacks and problems. The major one being my laziness and tendency to procrastinate. Secondly , capital is needed to start a business and being undergraduate students that are still studying , I don’t have that capital ( though later I would soon realize there are ways to start a business that require less or no capital at all ). Last but not least , is lack of capable and competent partners. You see, business is never a solo work, and when you are starting a business , especially at this age, it is essential to find partner(s) who have the same vision as you in order to avoid complications and at least have a few other brains to help u tackle arising problems.

Well , the first and second problem isn’t really much of a problem , but the real problem is the third one. Often in society , there are too many people who don’t share the visions and aspirations to think big , go out there and realize it . Most people are felt satisfied following the norm , which is to just study hard , work hard , be a good employee , and continue churning money for the their boss. Now, what they don’t realize is that the higher they rise on the pay hierarchy , the more work they have to do , and in the end , they will be trapped in a vicious cycle. I believe this is what they called the middle income trap. Hence, study hard and working hard concept is no good. In order to break through this vicious cycle , one must learn to earn money the smart way , one of which is to earn passive incomes .

Passive income means to let money serve you , work for you , instead of your working for money. One way to achieve passive income is to start your own business. I digressed . Either way , this post’s main focus is neither about passive income nor business ,and I am certainly not the most appropriate man to expound these principles hence I shall stop here. Nevertheless , the main problem here is , so far , I have only found a few friends only who I believe have the vision and ideas to make it big , though they seem to be too busy with their respective activities lately . Oh well, everyone have their own commitments anyway. My only wish now is to be able to find some capable , competent partners who have the same thinking and visions as me , and together, hopefully we will be able to achieve something big ;)

Honestly though , I don’t know what’s stopping us. The knowledge is there , the tools are provided , the only thing left is to make the first step , yet it seems to take an eternity for some people to make that step. When you realize it , it will be too late already. The current me can only pray and wish for the best. That aside , I am still wishing for love, peace and happiness ;) To a better tomorrow yeah!!!

Of Politics

 I don’t usually talk about politics. In fact , in my entire blogging life so far, never have I ever touch about politics. To me ,the political world is far too mysterious , or more aptly put , dangerous to be meddled with. However , the recent Bersih 3.0 which have sparked controversies yet again and caused a lot of mindless people ranting and posting nonsensical statuses just following the crowd had irritates me too far.

You see , at this age and time , we can no longer afford to believe whatever we see or hear from another source , be it the internet , or even so called “ reliable “ sources like major newspaper / broadcaster ( e.g star/ astro ) As demonstrated by the recent squabbling over censorship of BBC distributed by our local broadcaster Astro.

People always blame the top management for most of the thing , if not everything. i.e they blame our prime minister for the outrages in bersih 3.0 , mismanagement in country’s financial acc , corruptions in the country.. bla bla bla . Obviously , being the one at the top , one is obviously liable to such blames and should shoulder some of the blames . but to demonize him and push all the blames to him ? to be the target of all the hatreds and accusations ? This is wrong . It’s immature to put the blame and point fingers only at our PM for all the bad happenings and  political ploy /shenanigans in the country . The thing is , yes, perhaps he may be the mastermind that pulls the string and is responsible for many of the bad political plots being put into action , but there are also chances that he might be the innocent guy that simply want nothing more than peace for the country . Now, before you bash and flame me about this, take a second to think about it  How many of us knows him personally ? How many of us have tried managing or leading a big organization as big as the country  ? I am sure that many of us are just average people that have done neither one of that .

And yes, while I do realize that we as the rakyat , the citizens of this country have the right to judge our leaders , but when you judge, at the very least ,have the courtesy to do research and prepare your case well instead of just hearing from a second handed sources before criticizing ,condemning and berating others. That is just plain immature and childish. People must bear in mind, there are always more than one side to anything.

 Take for example , the case of the policemen crashing into an innocent bystander . Many people blamed the men in blue for his carelessness and clumsy actions , but hey , what about the other side? Have you ever considered the fact that ,  the Bersih supporters nearby were rampaging his car and subsequently blocking his view. Now, if you were in that situation what will u do ? Obviously if you have the time and intelligence to think , you would have opted perhaps to brake and then go out of the car . Nevertheless , what the policemen decided to do was to step on the accelerator to shake off the people and consequently , crashing into the bystander. Is it wholly his fault? I doubt so.

Don’t get me wrong . I am not bashing Bersih or supporting the ruling party.I am not defending any of the political parties either as I practice a non-partisan view for politics. It’s just that , I believe we should take perspectives from two or more sides under account first before making a conclusive statement.The politickings in Malaysia has gone too far and thus unreliable , untrustable and unaccountable for.

Perhaps the ruling party has indeed adopted an authoritarian , dictatorship leadership , suppressing all the bad sides of the country , pulling all the strings to allow mass censorship and just displaying all the good sides , trying to portray themselves as the friendly , good guys while demonizing the opposition , but in the end , they still produce results . And what good would it be if the opposition governs the country ? Only god knows what will happen . What if the oppositions are the one pulling the strings, doing what I have just mentioned afore instead of the ruling party ?

The point is , I am afraid the political tension in Malaysia has reached a dangerous boiling point , and this is serious, as neither the opposition or the ruling party can be trusted anymore due to the excessive politickings displayed by both party. However , given these two limited choices, the more rational and logical side of me would definitely opted for the ruling party now as they have displayed progressive track records while the opposition have next to nothing to show , often just emphasizing on empty promises .  Don’t get me wrong , I trust DAP , as it has a good track record to show and is indeed making a big progress for my hometown . Though, the one that I fear for is its ally.

Oh well, here’s to hoping for a better suitable candidate for our nation’s leaders , or the hope in which our grassroots leaders can have a paradigm shift to rise above the political squabble and instead focus truly more on the nation’s development . Seriously , I wonder how much progress would we made already had they invest the time and money used in politickings in our nation development.

Of Love, Dreams and Aspirations

Flawless skin complexion , hour glass figures , silky, long jet-black flowing hairs , that sultry lips . She possessed almost all of those ideal qualities , coupled with an amicable personality and a dazzling smile , I could find no reasons to resist giving my heart to her , as though any men in the world would be able to resist her,

The first time our eyes met , everything seems to slow down , the background fades into a blur , leaving behind the only focus , her . You know what they say about falling in love for the first time? Like in a romantic love scene , time seems to stand still at that exact moment . My heart skips a beat , and then another beat.. and slowly but surely began to palpitate at a pace I was unfamiliar with.

My face expression gave in , and the awkward smile began fading away , giving a blushed , flustered look. I guessed Lady Luck was smiling at me . Either that or it must have been a figment of my imagination , because I swear , at that moment , I saw an angel smiling at me.

It was a cute grin at first , but it slowly turned into a mesmerizing , dazzling smile . I was speechless , stunned even. All I could do was to reply with an awkward looking smile . After what seems like an eternity to me , we started talking , with she started the conversation first.  Her voice was an absolute bliss.

It started with a small , casual talk . But I guessed the regular chat through the net and phone did the trick . The once casual talk that we had grew into endless conversation and what began as casual admiration feeling slowly grew into love.  The rest ,as they said , is history ;).

***

Now , that would be how I envision my love life would be after countless watch and re-watch of romantic dramas and movies but unfortunately reality is just too harsh and is totally different from the usual fantasy portrayed in the movies.

Instead of the dazzling , handsome prince riding a white horse , I am but an average-looking Average Joe with no transportation whatsoever except my pair of old , but workable legs. And instead of beautiful , model-like women accidentally bumping into me and we had love at the first sight sort of thing , the closest physical contact I ever got with a women was holding a little kid’s hand while crossing the road. ( A little bit too much of exaggeration but , oh well u get the idea :P ).

Geez, reality sure is harsh huh. Not to mention , instead of elegant , charismatic princess-like women surrounding me , in reality , you are most likely get a bunch of women with different , complicated personality and very little , if not none of that princess like features that I mentioned aforehand. Not that beauty is a big issue . Beauty itself is a very subjective thing and every people viewed it differently . So, someone who you deem as not so good-looking might be very good looking to others and vice versa. However, the things that irate me are the complications, or more appropriately termed  “patterns” shown by some girls.

Over the few years , I have seen much patterns shown by some girls . These includes egoistic, control-maniac, princess syndrome , perfectionist , and etc. Girls that have egoistic behavior and princess syndrome are basically the same , in the sense that they take everything men do for granted , without any sense of gratitude or even appreciation to them. The control maniacs on the other hand , will assume authority in every matter , without even listening to other’s opinions . Whereas the perfectionists , are the one that would demand perfection in everything , insisting that people did not give their best without realizing that everyone’s limitation of giving their best is different .Of course, even us men are susceptible and liable to these “patterns” but in our defense, these stereotyped patterns are found more generally in women.

I digressed. As the main focus of this post today is about how I envision my love life to be , I shall refrain from expounding further on that argument . So, going back to how love life should be.

 As a romanticist at heart , obviously I would want that ideal situation with that ideal model- like women. But as I slowly grew up and attained maturity . Slowly but surely , I realized that if the environment itself is hard to change , then change yourself. Beauty is subjective to your own perspective . And beauty itself may not necessarily be the determining factor. There are lots of other factors contributing to love. Plus, who says love can be predicted or anticipated? When love comes, you just fall head over heels.. And they call it fall in love , because you literally fall into it , something that you can never prepare or anticipate for it beforehand.

And like what one of my friend said, sometimes it’s all the imperfections that made it perfect. For now,  I don’t want to look for the girl with the perfect hour glass figures , flawless complexion and pretty face . I am looking for someone who would love me as much as I love her ;) .

Ah… the things I would love to do with a lover .. They are countless ! Top of my list being to travel around the world , visiting fascinating Mother Nature’s creation , one at a time, a guitar by my hand, another hand holding hers , and enjoying life to the fullest !!!

Oh well, guess that would be left for the future me to deal with. As for the present me, all I need to do is to enjoy the presence , and enjoy life, one step at a time  ;) Till the happiness in the not too distant future comes ,  hopefully I shall be able to continue retaining this positive attitude. See ya ~ 

The scene that inspired this post. Scene from Roraima Mountain , Venezuela .

The Blue Moon

Like the proverbial lonely wolf staring at the moon’s reflection on the pond, longing for something that seems so near , yet so far , I sit here in this unearthly hour , staring at my monitor screen , with a mundane , post-depression feeling , accompanied by a melodramatic music playing in the background. Surreal.

Finally , it ends. The onslaught of activities that once cornered and strangled me , almost killing me in the process, have finally ceased to exist. They have finally ended. No more. I should be happy , shedding the tears of joy , jumping around like mad man , grinning like a clown , and be on cloud nine , yet none of that happens. It was just a simple feeling of relief , and that’s all . Before this I was deeply anticipating the end of it , the beginning of something new , but now that it has ended, I still feel as empty as I was feeling during the activities were held.

I wonder if I have feelings anymore. I feel so tired . Sometimes, I really wonder, do I really have a place to belong to ? It was weird , seeing how the rest relentlessly commit themselves, sacrificing their sweat ,blood and tears to do something that , in logical and rational thinking , will almost contribute nothing much to their future . Yet they seemed so happy doing it , and seems to be fully enjoying themselves every second.

I dunno . Somehow, the things that can intrigue or amused me seems to be gone little by little. Perhaps it is the process of growing up , but I am getting less amused by everyday happenings. It is as though there are nothing much that can bring my moods up and amuse me. It is as though as I give up looking forward for optimism and the promised happiness. It is as though hope has abandoned me.

From the start, I knew that I have strong inter and intrapersonal skills. It may sound abit egoistic and arrogant , but trust me , it is not. This statement is a mere jurisdiction of my analytical skills judging from my interest of people. I also knew that I am easily bored and can be very hard to be entertained from the start. However, I couldn’t imagine it could be this bad.

I know that I am not alone. I know that there are thousands , or maybe even millions more out there that have the same personality or attitude as mine. We, the silent millions are the ones who smile and put on a cheerful persona outside , the ones who are labeled optimists , happy-go-lucky people , the one who never gets tired or depressed. Yet, we know, deep inside, when we are alone , mind tricks began to collude our minds , the inner pessimistic realists take over , and we are left perplexed with the onslaught of confusing questions bombarding our minds.

So, tell me brothers and sisters , how do we solve the age-old mystery of acquiring happiness ? A few days ago , I was walking with one of my friend when we were asked to make a wish on the wishing tree nearby. I wished for happiness, love and joy. Is it that hard to achieve? In retrospect , I had acquired a prediction from a temple . The prediction, or more precisely , premonition about me states that in my life and future undertakings, I will be faced with a lot of obstacles before gaining tremendous success in the end. However, the pain is slowly killing me. How much longer must I endure to taste the sweet victory of success ?

 Just a moment ago , I was reading an article in newspaper that intrigues me. That article was talking about recognition and acknowledgement after death , which truly make a point. The writer cites the case of Amy Winehouse, a singer whose life was plagued with drugs abuse and whole lots of problems . Only after her death , she was recognized and acknowledged for her good deeds, the good side of her , the pain she suffered battling drugs , the fragility and tragedy of her life story. This is terrible. Why do we , humans only notice the hidden sides of someone , only after his/her death ? Why do we fail to know a person’s idiosyncrasies , the story of his life , the multiple facets of him when he was alive ? Why must we wait for his death only to moan and regrets not spending a little more time with him, eulogizing words of appreciation and his good deeds. Why? In the writer’s word “ Dying is the key to getting noticed” .

In a way , I supposed it was true. Maybe death is a way of saying that someone is human. Someone wants to be known , to be noticed . Someone has a story to tell. Someone has desires and wishes , hopes and failures. Someone wants a place in this world to belong to , to be loved and to love. Someone’s life wasn’t just about the things he did or said,but also about the things left undone or unsaid.

When I read the article , I felt a deep sense of nostalgia and a strong connection . Perhaps I am that someone who craves attention , but did not ever have the proper channel to display it, someone who is trying to find a place to belong to , yet fails to fit in any community . I am trying to change. I have had enough of being the “cheerful” guy . Sick and tired of being the joker or clown of the group . People ought to be more sensitive with their remarks.Just because I might fool around and crack some nonsensical jokes, it doesn't mean I can't be serious and emotional .So , please , grant me the strength to change , to overcome the fear of rejection , and to accept the courage of conviction.

As mentioned afore, the premonition states that I have many more battles to overcome before I can finally achieve success. So , I guess that means there will be more emotional , depressing even , gloomy blog posts to come in the future . Oh well , only those who had braved the stormy seas will find glory anyway. I guess that’s all for now. Wishing all the best for myself , and as always , hoping for love, happiness and peace for you and me ;). Until next rant ~. =D

 

The 3rd Perspective

Now picture this situation , imagine there's two people. One of them is someone who is willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of an event , in the name of responsibility and passion , staying up late till unearthly hours almost every night , covered with blood , sweat and tears. The other one, is someone who is rejecting any involvement with the event mentioned afore, because his top priority is that of studies and academic excellence and to him , getting involved in any activity/ event will serve him no purpose, in fact, it may even deteriorates his academic performances and wastes his time.

Question : Who is right or wrong ?

****
That is exactly the situation that is happening in my residential college now. You see , to the uninitiated , in my residential college/ hostel , there's this tradition that all of us , 1st year undergraduates must work together and be united. In order to accomplish that , there are tons of activities or events that relies solely on us, the 1st years only to organize and complete it.One such activity , a rather big-scale one is our very own Malam Kebudayaan Cina ( MKC ) . In this event , there will be alot of performances such as Chinese Diabolo (车龄) , 24 seasons drum(24 ),drama , Chinese Talk ( Xiang Shen ) , Chinese Orchestra () which aims to promote our chinese culture and of course, subsequently uniting us 1st years also.Supposedly the ideal condition is that , through the hard work and difficulty in organizing this big event , it is in their ( senior's) fervent hope that we , the 1st years will be willing to sacrifice their time and energy, and worked together in perfect harmony to accomplish this enormous task , and in the end, emerged from this storm together, hands with hands by our side.

Unfortunately , as with most big events , humans are creature of habits and personality. We are not robots or machines who just worked according to the default given instructions.When we are dealing with humans , it's like working with a machine with infinite variables. It is almost impossible to predict or anticipate what will happen as every human is unique and different in their own ways. Humans, in general, I believe can be divided into 3 categories when it comes to this case.

1) People who just stand there and watch you do all the works , preferring to shun responsibility and works ,unless it truly benefits them in one way or another.

2) People who won't hesitate to sacrifice themselves , waste their time and energy once they have been assigned the specific tasks and responsibility.

3) People who will commit and help more than the 1st type, but not as much as the 2nd type .

Let's break this down a bit shall we? The 1st type of people are usually labelled selfish , evil , cowards,irresponsible or assigned other negative connotations. The 2nd type are the people who are selfless people, the ones who places others' priority ahead of their own. They are the responsible and trustworthy ones , usually basking in the glory of positive labels.

But hey.. stop and think for awhile. Isn't that just one side of the story ? True, you can think of this way and in the olden days , definitely most , if not all people think like that . However, as the world grows larger and more connected each days , and the society evolving into more complicated type , human perception changes too... What was once perceived as negative and evil are now acceptable , or rather more tolerated , whereas positive values are slowly losing its value .

Let's have a take on the other side . If we were to look of it through another lens, the 1st type of people may be labelled as sensible, pragmatic, or even realistic. Realistically , what are the benefits of sacrificing yourself if you gain nothing in return ? And besides , is it even worth the sacrifice? Referring to the situation at the beginning of the post . Would you sacrifice your academic performance which may , in worst case scenario , requires you to repeat the entire semester or even dropped out from university in return of completing an event which you will get nothing in return . ( No fame , no fortune , nothing.. people won't even recognize you after the event . You will just be forgotten , memories of your hard works and commitment fading away with time ). Going back to the 2nd type of people. True, in one hand people praise you for selflessness , but in other hand , that act of yours is not selfless , it's foolish and not pragmatic , insane even. And what's more , in today's biased society , not only your hard works and relentless perseverance and commitment might not earn your recognition , it may even bring disasters and harm. With just some twist of words , other people may claim your works , and you may be left with nothing but blames or claim that you did nothing. Worth it ?Afterall , people tends to remember only the bad news while the good news are forgotten easily.The arguments above might be an exaggeration , but nevertheless ,they are still valid arguments.

As you can see, I have laid out the general arguments for both sides. So, where does this leave us? And what conclusion can be drawn form the above manifestation ? If you noticed , I have yet to mention the 3rd type. Yes, the hint is right there. The 3rd type, the neutral ones . These are type of people who thinks of the 3rd perspective . Now, what is the the 3rd perspective really ? If you have read Stephen R. Covey's book entitled " The 3rd Alternative", you are most likely to have some rough idea of how it works. Typically , most people tends to have only two perspectives that is your perspective and mine. In other words , it is either you are right or I am right , either you're on my side since you are thinking with the same mindset as mine, or you're my enemy, on the opposite side since your thinking differs from mine.

The 3rd perspective is to take a neutral stance , to place yourself in both side's shoes and think about both the sides , without disregarding any of them as right or wrong. Truth to be told, right or wrong , evil or good , these values are very subjective , and are perceived differently by every people.

But we , human are creatures of habit, emotions and feelings. We are emotionally-inclined creatures , with our hearts being sensitive and susceptible to various vulnerable feelings. Regardless of how we tried to contain our emotions and feelings , in the end , we still cannot deny that we are mere humans and being fragile ,vulnerable humans we are , our judgements and perceptions are easily influenced by these emotions. When emotions come to play , rational and logical thinking became impaired , and we are unable to judge accurately and justice or fairness may be compromised. But then again , what is justice anyway ? What is true or fake ? Right or wrong ? Again , up to people's perception ;).

Referring to the earlier question posted at the beginning of this post , what do you think may be the answer? I believe, in a nutshell, there is never right or wrong . It is best to just adopt a neutral stance instead of outright defending your views first . Place yourself in the other people's shoe. Try to think from the other perspective , however conflicting it is with your own views. If everybody can just think this way, then perhaps the world will be much better place. ;)

* End Note : this way of thinking is quite similar to the spirit of ubuntu which promotes the thinking that a human cannot survive without another , dictating that the community is placed above the needs of the individual . Do check the link out for more information ;D *

Liberation

After what seems like an never ending eternity , the proverbial sunshine after storm finally arrived. It was such a surreal experience. The end of da yao concert yesterday marks the end of my 2nd major event that I joined in university in my first year.The first major event being the choir competition. 2 down , 1 more to go = ). I am so glad that they have ended .

Though I have no regrets that I joined these events , things could have been better if I had known earlier what I am going into when I first made those decisions. As I have mentioned before, there are many things that you won't know unless you entered and get your hands dirty yourself. One cannot predict the future . And recently I stumbled across an awesome quote which goes like this "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat". -Theodore Roosevelt-

Cool ! Aha, at least I tried greatly , and in this case , even triumphed successfully !!! I have learned a lot from this episode. One important lesson that I have gained is regarding people.In general , there are two types of people in this world , those who are on your side, and those who are not . However , if we were to let ourselves be confined within these two school of thoughts only, we are doomed to fail .

People's mindset ,learning style , and way of thinking varies and differs from one person to another. This may be due to the different environment,culture, or even their predisposed genetic make up. If you and me disagree on something , it doesn't necessarily mean that you are right and i am wrong or vice versa ,it just means that we think differently , and no one should be blame for that.It is not a matter of choice that we were wired this way.However, if you were
to insist that you are right and i am wrong just merely because my perspective is different from yours, and impose your thinking on me, you are just portraying yourself as a mere fool,hypocritical,selfish person incapable of understanding this simple logic.

Therefore, in order to success and to get out from that two school of thoughts trap , we need to rid ourselves of the conventional wisdom , think out of box, beyond the norm , think of the 3rd perspective , the one perspective where we think of each other's perspective, accept our differences and compromise to come out with a consensus which will satisfy both sides .

Ah.. I digressed.. anyway , it was a very interesting experience after all. It was a very pleasant experience , being able to engage with some of the amazingly talented people who composed and performed their own songs .Seeing how talented some of those people in my university just made me yearn to learn more and more. I vow not to stop learning and continue to improve myself ,until I can stand on the same level as them and hopefully surpass them someday.

Moreover, it is the first time I felt such sense of gratitude towards my parents and family. Seriously , before my departure to university , I was completely ignorant of the fact and even occasionally hates them for restricting me and forcing me to make choices that satisfies them rather than myself.

However, as they say , going somewhere far makes your heart yearns. How true, after leaving do I realized that my parents are the best parents in the world ,especially my beloved mother. The realization hit me right on the face. It's amazing how one's mindset can changes so fast after leaving to other place. And oh yeah , my hometown's the best state too~ ;) . I may be biased in saying this , but truly Penang is a fantastic place to live in . It's not too crowded,very peaceful,has VERY GOOD FOOD and still developed enough for you to find a good job to make a living.

On the other hand, I am starting to familiarize myself with the K.L environment . The fragile , but livable hostel , the 2 noisy and wacky roommates , the tasteless ,limited choices of food , and the hectic lifestyle of sleeping late everynight and waking up in the wee hours of around 7 am. Oh well, they say familiarity breeds contempt . I guessed I have already went past that contempt phase, for now, I am just happy I have a roof on top of my head when I am sleeping ;)

Undeniably , after this episode, the best place to be in is definitely my home sweet home, my beloved hometown, Penang , together with my family. Now, with just one more big event to go , life is less hectic now , though my personal troubles and mid term exam still haunts me, one big dilemma still resides in my mind : Should I join these activities again next semester? or should I just quit everything and focus on my self-development and studies. A balanced, non-partisan analysis reviews that there are merits and disadvantages in both choices , though when emotions are involved , me being the lazy person in nature would probably choose the latter.

Oh well, the time to make those choices is still far away. For now , I guess I will just focus on the things right in front of me, and cherish them ;). I thank the higher authorities in the universe , for making my prayers come true and blessing me with an amazing family. Now , I hope things can only get better from now on, as the darkest hours , the worst, lowest moments of my life so far , the excruciatingly painful physical and mental torment that I have endured this past 2 weeks have ended. ;) Here's for a better tomorrow and more optimistic and cheerful posts in the near future ~ Toodles !

Reflection of the midnight circus.

*BAMP* BAMP * BAMP* Noises everywhere. Buzzes .,Slowly but surely , the clattering noises echoed around the empty room , filling it entirely and plunging the entire atmosphere into a cacophony of mess and disasters. There is nothing but a chaotic mix of mess and turbulence. Then, the entire thing stopped. An awkward,dead silence ensued . And such.. is the metaphor for my heart now.

***
It's march. And i am getting used to this kind of writing style now. A short story-like description of my feelings and then the direct musings to follow up. Mm.. yeah.. I like this style. Without further ado, let's move to our main topic of musing tonight , as the title suggests , it's a self-reflection for the latest happening in my life so far. Woah.. I am feeling rather melancholy tonight, so this post is gonna be crazy long I guess .

It's march , the month of hustle and bustle ,the much dreaded and yet anticipated month of the year so far. Ah.. the irony . Such contradiction warrants a logical reasoning. Indeed, the question is why ? Why the dread ? Answer : because of the various activities that requires commitment will be having their main event on this particular month ,coupled with a few mid sem exams , hence the stress level is once again elevated to its maximum potential. Paradoxically , it's the same reason I anticipate march to end, because the end of march also marks the end of my hectic , busy , activity-centric life .Hooray!! Oxymoron much.

Hmm.. so what do this month mean to me? It means a lot. I have noticed that in this month , the focus of my uni life is more towards activities more than studies. In other words, I commit more to activities ( due to I taking in too much, more than I can handle , my fault anyway ) rather than to my academic performance. But that's fine , as I totally believe in the principle of getting on the job hands down rather than relying on second-handed information. I mean, if you never did get involved in that activity , how can you rate / comment on it based on just what other people said ?Besides, what rumours and gossip dictates can be falsely misleading ,and you will never know what to expect unless you joined it. So, bearing this principle behind my back, I resolved to join as much activities as I can in sem 1, which results in serious repercussion haunting me back now in this sem 2.

But it's alright. It's fine . I will just think of this semester as my experimentation sem . Now that I have done it all , seen it all , it's time to be selective and decisive the next time. I would have that wealth of information backing me up the next time I make a decision. I would be able to make an informed decision then. So , yeah.. this semester, this month in fact, have been such an eye-opener. I have seen and heard so much that it exceeds my expectation. It has been a harsh revelation to me for I have seen the good,bad and ugly nature of human.

The good,the bad and the ugly . These elements are fundamental in every human being, in fact , it's safe to say that almost everyone have them , it's just a matter or who have which element more . Call me cynical if you will, but I believe, deep inside, everyone did something for their own happiness/ benefits. Even the most good natured ,selfless people you have ever met, will do something for their own good one point or another. This is the basic survival instinct of human.And my hypothesis have been proven right. This month,I saw how some people, will for their own benefits , backstab others , badmouth the rest and do other seemingly trivial stuff that demeans and demonizes others . No matter how trivial it may seem, the motive is still there, to make ourselves happy , no matter the cost. Not that I am surprised with such clear results.

It's just that.. I expect something more in this university life. It's the big phase in our life afterall , University, the last schooling phase before we move on to the so called real world, working life. But no.. nothing much have changed after all. Pigs wearing human mask continue to rear their ugly heads , fools that don't think before they say anything , idiots that continue to baffle me with their idiotic mindset of pointing fingers and judging before putting themselves in others' shoes,people who keep on pretending and faking to gain sympathy, trust and benefits ,and worst of all , insensitive people who are incapable of sensing emotions and feelings. Tsk. it's frustrating really . Why are there people like that? But of course.. nobody is perfect, even I myself is susceptible to such fallacies. Yet, I can't help to think.... WHY? Why in the world do people fall prey to the above mentioned fallacies? IF , if and only if people can do more for the sake of others rather than for the sake of themselves just once, then definitely this world will be a much better place.

In the recent article that I read for the sake of my critical english course , there's a quote which I find very intriguing. " Love is the prime mover of relationships between human " . In this world, there's so many people who preach and teach about how love can save the world, yet how many of them are actually practising them ? I gave up being a good ,selfless person a long time ago when I saw how corrupted has this world become. In this cruel,realistic world, it's each one for yourself. There are indeed true, selfless people who sacrifices themselves for the sake of others ,but they are rare and few .Besides, will self sacrifice put food to your table? Will it make you and your precious ones happy ? It will, if everyone acts the same way, but unfortunately this world is filled with more pigs donning human mask rather than actual benevolent human being .

Hence, I came to this conclusion that in befriending people , one needs to be selective. Social network is important , but to get too close to another people will just expose you to his/her myriads of problems and ugly sides. Getting too personal may in turn hurts yourself. And it's best to avoid or just maintain minimal contact with other well-known cynical ,striving for personal gain bastards. Ah.. in this harsh world of reality , looking for a good friend/ love is like finding a needle in an ocean.

Recently , I re-watched a Hindi movie called "3 Idiots " again. ( Watch it if you haven't , it's a MUST WATCH ). The points made and its take on life is so spot-on that anyone who have intellect and a humour sense would definitely enjoy the movie and the message behind it. The movie talks about how one should have passion in whatever he/she is doing, as "striving for success is futile , we should strive for excellence, and if we do, success will come chasing us, pants down " ( quote from the movie ) and to strive for excellence, we must have passion in whatever that we do.

Then , a random thought hit me. What will I be feeling on my convocation day? In a mere blink of an eye, semester 2 has began and it's slowly coming to an end. What felt like an eternity suddenly became so close. The bitter reality that has sunk in is that in mere 2 and a half years, I will be leaving my university life and making the transition into working soon. How do I see myself in the future 2 and a half years? I will definitely be asking myself.. what have I done in this university life. Did I enjoy it ? Did I hate it? Are there any regrets? Resentments even? All these questions suddenly popped in my head. Am I doing the right thing now? The important question being " How should I live my next 2 and a half year in order to have no regrets in my convocation day? "

So many questions, yet so little answer. But that is life. Life is full of unanswered questions. And then there are questions with no real right or wrong answer. This reminds me of one of the late Steve Job's quote. "“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” , his response to few of life’s challenges that hit him over the course of several years, , and looking back, he realized that that ended up being hugely significant towards later realizations in life. I think it’s really a great way of putting life’s challenges into perspective, or really, anything you do in life…looking back and seeing how they connect with where you are now.

So, right now , I still can't quite connect the dots yet.. but I trust that if I live my life in accordance to this question " How should I live my next 2 and a half year in order to have no regrets in my convocation day? " , I believe happiness can't be far from this huh? Oh well.. let it be and we will see... Till the next rant. Tata

Quote

I walked a mile with Pleasure,
She chatted all the way,
But left me none the wiser,
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne'er a word said she,
But oh! The things I learned from her,
When Sorrow walked with me.

Robert Browning Hamilton,
extract from Mitch Albom's " Have a little faith " .