Parents Showering Children With Luxurious Gifts???

I know people who have access to virtually unlimited funds via a supplementary credit card...I know people who go on overseas holidays every few months and stay in hotel suites and penthouses...I know people who get luxury cars as soon as they get their "P" driving licenses...

All courtesy of mum and dad...

Unfortunately, there is more often than not a significant price to pay for these material luxuries. Most of them grew up with only the hired help for company while their parents trek across the globe in the everlasting pursuit of wealth.

Many resort to attracting negative attention from their parents who would otherwise rather concentrate on enriching their own coffers. This is primarily why they are now chain smokers, heavy drinkers and some are even substance abusers.

After the parents have gained considerable success in their careers, they look back and find the family in shambles. They then resort to material compensation to alleviate their feelings of guilt.

Of course, this is not always the case and there are many families who are successful in balancing their careers with spending quality time with their families.

At times when I find myself feeling jealous over the luxuries available to certain groups of people, I just remind myself about the possible price they paid for those luxuries. It may not be entirely true all the time, but at the very least it makes me feel better ;D

As for me, I too am sometimes guilty of being too embroiled in the dollars and cents involved in running the rat race to take a step back and see whats truly important to me. I would prefer to have an average but fulfilling life with a happy family rather than a successful meaningless life where I'm like a stranger to my own children.

To Be A Good Sport Or Not???

In the course of one's life, there will be many occasions where one is thrust into the limelight with everyone's attention firmly planted upon him or her. I too have had my fair share of incidents when I'm suddenly put on the spot mostly as the butt of a joke or being asked to entertain a crowd.

In these kinds of situations, I could of course opt to get mad at being put into such a situation, thus spoiling everybody's fun and being labeled a party pooper. In fact, I do remember a time where I had a problem about being laughed at but thankfully I've managed to put that behind me.

I think it says alot about someone's maturity when he or she is able to laugh at himself/herself along with others when being made sport of.

Although its more natural for someone to get mad when being made fun of, we all should learn to take things less seriously and be a good sport! After all, life is too short to get mad over stupid things. Carpe Diem!

Really???

You Are 72% Gentleman

You are definitely a gentleman. You're very considerate and you have excellent manners. Occasionally, you slip and do something foolish... but usually no one notices!

Are You A Gentleman?

Perfectionist I Am Not...

Nothing irritates me as much as a stubborn perfectionist who always insists on doing everything perfectly and would never accept alternative methods of doing things.

Don't get me wrong, I admire people who have high standards. There are many situations that call for people who have zero tolerance for errors, such as overseeing the launch of a space shuttle or conducting neuro-brain surgery.

However, in many other cases, such adherence to a perfection as defined by oneself is not entirely necessary. I have been in many situations before where there were additional complications and increased complexity due to insistence in perfection.

Most things do not need to be perfect. I believe that we would all be happier if we adopt a more laid back approach to life. There is no need to frustrate yourself over the quality of something that most likely would never be questioned.

The important point I'm trying to put across is that one should never insist on perfection in every single task or undertaking unless it is life-threatening or a potential cause for disaster. Life it too short to harp on all the small things causing one to miss the bigger more important things.

TITG Calls In Sick...

After so many days of musings and ramblings, I've decided to post this video to lighten things up =P This is a prime example of how technology can make our lives so much harder ;) Enjoy!

People From My Past...

A few doors away from my house, lived a family whose parents did not believe in the Malaysian education system. Instead of sending their children to school, they sought tutors for home schooling at a very young age. My mother which used to teach at the kindergarden would spend every morning at their house teaching them basic arithmetic and the alphabet.

Every day, after walking back from school, I would go to my neighbour's house and wait for my mom to finish her classes. While waiting for her, I would begin on my homework or play with some of the children that had already finished their classes for the day.

Because of this, I grew quite close to some of the children that my mother was teaching. It came to a point where I remember the children would cry if I did not take the time to play with them or at least greet them whenever I was over at their house. Mind you, due to the 8 year age gap, these children were only 3 or 4 years old at that time.

When I started secondary school, my mother decided to stop teaching and began to do company secretarial work. Hence, I slowly drifted apart from the children that I used to 'hang out' with every day after primary school.

Today, almost 13 years after my daily visits to their house, these children have all grown up to be teenagers and young adults. I sometimes see them with their boyfriends/girlfriends and our communication has degenerated into a small smile or in most cases, just a nod of the head.

Most would argue that my 25 years of age could still be classified as 'young' but nothing reminds me more of how old I am than my memories of these children as toddlers crying for my attention and now seeing them as teenagers and young adults who hardly recognize my existence anymore.

Contributing To The Community...

Call me lazy but I have never been one to volunteer for work besides the minimum of what was expected of me. During school days, I would be either studying or attending tuition (Nerd Gila!) instead of participating in extra-curricular activities in an office-bearer position like my more 'sociable' friends.

During my undergraduate college days, I would be among those who only came to college for classes and assignments not sticking around for any college organized activities. The cycle is repeating itself at my present postgraduate college life where I find myself avoiding invitations for college organized trips and formal dinners.

I guess the simplest reason behind my hesitance to undertake more responsibility is I felt that I had already enough responsibilities both at work and at home. I certainly did not need anymore 'unnecessary' stress in the form of actively organizing events as would be required if I held any position on the committee.

Looking back at my life, I wonder what exactly I missed out on...

My dad is the Vice-President of the local Residents Association. On top of that he is also the chief editor of the newsletter published by the Residents Association 3-4 times a year and has been in that position for almost 10 years already.

During the few weeks leading to the publication of each issue, he would stay up to the wee hours of the morning painstakingly compiling all the articles and advertorials for the newsletter. He also is personally responsible for printing of the newsletter as well as distribution to all the households in my local neighborhood.

More often that not, its a thankless job. Due to the non-profit nature of the Residents Association, financial reward should not be expected. Never mind that, the actual percentage of readership among the local residents is also extremely low. Most of the time, the newsletter would get thrown into the rubbish together with the junk mail.

Nevertheless, my dad still insists on upholding this responsibility of maintaining the newsletter. I have often found it peculiar that he would still persevere given the relatively low amount of positive feedback he has received.

Perhaps the reasoning behind him continuing to sacrifice his time and energy into this is the satisfaction of being able to contribute to the local community that my family has called home for the last 20 years. Or it could be pride in his desktop publishing skills believing that no one else could ever do the job as well as him. (No one else has ever volunteered, apparently)

Regardless, his involvement in the Residents Association does have its own share of perks. Due to his communication with the local businesses for advertising as well as his participation in the event organization, he is quite familiar with most of the local residents as well as the local authorities.

I wonder whether I'll ever be in a position where the local police officer greets me when I'm passing by or a shopkeeper waving at me upon seeing my car drive by.

Perhaps I too should start to make a contribution back to the community...

Musings On Online Dating...

Undoubtedly, school and college provide the biggest opportunities to meet your romantic partner. The abundance of people of all shapes and sizes from all walks of life together with a wide range of personalities allow a significantly higher chance of finding someone that you are attracted to.

However, the truth is only a small percentage of relationships involving high school and college sweethearts end up in marriage. When working life begins, finding time to mingle and socialize with potential partners will become a luxury that few people can afford.

Thus, many resort to alternative means of finding romance in the form of online dating websites, Internet forums dedicated to singles, etc. From a convenience standpoint, these online sites provide a wealth of information from photos to personal information and interests as well
as partner requirements without having to even leave your computer desk.

For the busy, huge amounts of time can be saved by filtering out the 'weeds' based on their online profiles down to a select few that share common interests and fulfill their requirements. For the shy, online dating serves as a first step to familiarize yourself with others without revealing too much personal information.

Also, I think that meeting people online has the advantage of bypassing the physical attraction phase and allow people to discover each other's personality and character without the prejudice sometimes caused by perceived physical unattractiveness. This is provided both parties are not shallow and insist on an exchange of photographs even before the pleasantries have concluded ;)

In this way, the Internet allows 2 people to communicate to each other on a personal level allowing them to form a more solid opinion about each other without having to meet up in person. If either party find themselves disinterested in continuing the conversation, a mere polite goodbye will suffice to terminate the relationship immediately. You probably could never do that in a coffee date or a dinner date without appearing extremely rude. :D

Nevertheless, regardless of its many benefits, I would like to emphasize that the Internet is at best, a good place to meet people online and should never be the place where the entire relationship exists. The only way a relationship can progress is for both parties to meet up in person.

When this happens, one must take all the necessary precautions due to the high potential of danger involved. There are unfortunately a large number of individuals who abuse the Internet to seek their prey and thus everyone especially women should take extra care in meeting up with people they met online.