Wastage In Modern Day Society...

I’ve heard many stories from my parents and grandparents about their lifestyle during their younger days. Whenever something went broken, it was fixed instead of being replaced including the small items like socks, light bulbs, etc.

This was mainly because financial resources were scarce during the war time and the luxury to replace those items simply could not be afforded.

Today, the situation is very different in my generation. Due to a substantial increase in living standards, my family can afford to be less frugal when it comes to material matters. Food not consumed or food going to be expired is simply tossed into the garbage without consideration of wastage. Clothes that no longer fit as well or which colour has faded over time are discarded or thrown to the deepest corner of the wardrobe pending donation to charity.

Is it correct to waste our resources just because we can afford to? Where is the motivation to spend the effort to fix something broken when you can well afford to replace it easily. I believe there is no correct answer to those arguments.

As for me, I doubt I’ll stop throwing away food that I cannot finish nor think twice to pay extra for toll just because I fear getting stuck in traffic as in my mind, I still can easily afford those small luxuries.

Deciding Whats Best For Your Loved Ones…

I have heard many instances where parents exert their authority over the children to the extent of deciding every single detail of their children’s lives from eating habits to career choices. I myself am not spared from being influenced by my parent’s advice as to how to live my life.

Since my younger years, I have detested their intrusion into my life as I perceived it as they were undermining my freedom to live my life the way I see fit. Nevertheless, I was never the rebellious one preferring to keep peace and harmony in the family by bowing to their decisions.

However, as I grew into adulthood, I began to see the benefits from learning from other people’s experiences. I started to realize why my parents forced me to obey them even though I did not understand the rationale behind their instructions. It saved me from making many of my own mistakes which would cause me a lot of misery and pain.

As for now, the situation is clearly different, I am now in my mid 20’s and I consider myself independent and mature enough to make many of my own decisions. If I do make any mistakes at this point, I would have to take full responsibility for them and suffer the consequences. My parents too seemed to have gradually begun to respect my capability for decision making and often leave me to my own devices.

I guess I can understand why my parents felt the need to control aspects of my life in my younger years. They were simply doing what’s best for me as they see fit. I’m grateful that over the years they have come to trust me and respect my own decisions allowing me to learn from my own mistakes in the end making me a better person.

Lately, I seem to be experiencing the same feelings of wanting to decide what’s best for my loved ones. It frustrates me that people I care about sometimes may not heed my self-perceived obviously superior advice.

But nevertheless, I try my best not to interfere especially when I know my advice would not be entirely welcome. Perhaps it’s simply human nature to want to protect your loved ones by helping them avoid mistakes and problems.

Or perhaps we’ll be doing them an even bigger favour by letting them make their own decisions and if they fail, rush forward to support them allowing them to better learn from their mistakes without any disastrous consequences.

A definite balance has to be struck and I’m still perplexed as to how to handle this situation in the future when it will concern my own children. Hopefully then, I can keep an open mind and listen to all sides of the story without prejudice.

A Life Without Goals ...

Why is it that every time I make a conscious effort to revive my blog, the motivation dies out within 1 or 2 posts? =) Anyway, here's hoping the 249038524th time will be the charm =)

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Some events that occurred in my life lately that got me thinking about how important goals are in our lives. Without something to work towards, our lives lose meaning and everyday becomes a boring mundane repetitive experience that we will eventually dread.

A friend of mine recently expressed to me how empty his life felt. He feels his life is so meaningless, so boring without anything to look to forward to. This strikes me as being very strange as he is the same age as me and I have plenty to look forward to.

Right now, I'm in the midst of saving up for marriage (which as it turns out, costs a bomb!) as well for housing renovation and my dream car =) Not to mention I'm really looking forward to completing my MBA course and to the new challenges and experiences with my new upcoming job that will begin in July.

With all these happenings going on, my life seems so enriched and I hardly ever have a dull moment. In fact, I hardly have a chance to take a breather before being thrown in the next challenge or crisis.

That being said, my life is certainly not without goals especially my ultimate goal in life which is to provide a comfortable environment to raise my family in and to give them all the happiness they deserve. =)

Happy 1st Anniversary!!!

Putting On A Mask...

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. - Oscar Wilde

Is it only me but does everyone in today's society wear a mask to hide their true selves? Its akin to hiding your emotions with a false smile on your face. Are human beings always trying to show only our happy side to everyone else? Is it a matter of pride; to hide their weakness from friends and strangers alike. Or is it a matter of pretending to be happy to forget your sad emotions?

I've always been attracted to jovial personalities. People that seem to have an ability to be happy at anything, to laugh at everything seemingly without a care in the world. It certainly seems like a juxtaposition because although such people have the capability to remain cheery most of the time, they would also be blissfully ignorant about some of the more important things in life depending entirely on other people to fulfill all their needs. That is definitely not a quality that I find endearing.

Perhaps I truly am a cynic at heart, doubting the existence of truly happy go lucky people. Is it a case where such people have such low expectations in life, they are so easily contented and thus can go around blissfully unaware of the toils and tribulations that most people are going through?

Couch Surfing???

In this day of high crime rates involving rape cases and snatch thefts, I'm genuinely pleased to see that there are still people who do believe in the fundamental good nature of human kind.

These would be people who accept offers of help without second guessing the people offering the help to them. The same people who are very willing to return the favour whenever the next opportunity arises.

I'm actually referring to a project called "Couch Surfing" that I heard about over the radio this morning. This project started by a non-profit organization involves hosting travelers from other countries in your home in exchange for meeting new people, sharing your culture and your lifestyle with them together with the opportunity of being able to guest in someone's home the next time you travel. Like most good ideas, you've probably heard of some variation of this before but this is the first time, I've seen a site with such active participation on a global scale.

Safety is of course a paramount concern and the website creators have managed to assuage the fear of being the target of criminal activity by implementing a trust circle in the form of guest and host reviews via a vouching system. In this way, a guest can see all the responses and comments left by other members before deciding on a particular host to stay and likewise, a host can also checkup on a potential guest.

Its' projects like this that warm my heart and renew my faith in my fellow humans. I'm thrilled that many of my fellow Malaysians have also jumped on the Couch Surfing bandwagon. I wonder whether I should sign up too? =)

For more info, click here

Women's Effect Over Men...

In this day of women's liberation and the strive for gender equality, it still seems to me that the two genders still aren't exactly equal. I believe it is not entirely because of our lack of social evolution but merely our human nature to behave in this way.

The greatest difference herein lies in women's effect over man. In my weekly badminton session, we are an all male group with the typical male camaraderie issuing insults and jibes especially when someone makes a silly mistake or loses a game without putting up a fight.

However, a young woman has recently joined the badminton group and her effect on the rest of the badminton team is quite noticeable. Much of the crude insults and teases have ceased especially from the younger men. In fact, when playing against her, I also observed a slight increase in mistakes caused by the men possibly due to lack of concentration. =)

I wonder whether this effect is merely temporary lasting until the rest of the guys get used to her presence or will it last a lot longer. Looks like only time will tell...

The Routines In Our Lives...

While in the midst of my morning routine, I came to a realization that I have been performing each task at exactly the same time every morning. It has been this way for sometime now.

Every morning, the alarm clock will ring the same number of times before I arise from my bed. After a drowsy journey to my bathroom, the hot shower begins to awaken me to meet the new day. Soon after, its dressing and heading for breakfast. It amazes me that I constantly keep the same timing for my entire morning routine. Sometimes, when I happen to sleep in a few extra moments, my body automatically compensates for lack of time and again I find myself getting ready at the same time.

Personally, I think having a routine does reassure me that I have some semblance of control in my life. I know what time I'll wake up, what time I'll be ready, what time I'll head out of the house, what time I'll reach work, etc. Having that knowledge gives me some measure of peace, its as good as being able to foresee what's going to happen.

Nevertheless, no matter what steady reassurance that my routines allow me, I always look forward to a change in routine. Typically it would be a holiday or another unexpected adventure that deviates me from repetition. What can I say, human beings are so complicated. =)

Happy Valentines Day ???

Its that time of the year again, boys and girls. Where lovebirds are pressured into spending lavish amounts of hard earned moolah on their partners based on an idea that its extra special to do so on this particular day in a year while the businessmen laugh all the way to the bank.

Hmm, looks like I seemed to have dropped more than a few hints about how I feel about Valentines Day =) Well, in actual fact I seem to be in a constant inner battle regarding V-Day celebrations. My inner practical side scoffs at paying hugely inflated prices for flowers, chocolates and a romantic meal on this particular day while my another part of me is thinking about following the crowd celebrating coupledom with my significant other.

This year, it is my wallet that makes the decision. Hence, no big plans have been made for today or at least have not been made yet ;) Sometimes, I do well at last minute decision making. =)

Looking at the coverage that V-Day has been getting in, I notice that this year especially there are equally positive and negative sentiments about Valentines Day. I've never knew that the 14th of February was also celebrated as Singles-Awareness-Day (SAD). It seems more ironic than anything, celebrating such a day when all the couples around are together making singles definitely more aware of their singlehood.

Perhaps its not meant to be interpreted that way. Maybe its supposed to be viewed as singles empowering themselves to realize that they too can enjoy Valentines Day with friends and family. Well, the whole point is rather moot to me as I know whom I'll be spending my V-Day with =)

My Scary Office Lift!!!

Yesterday afternoon after lunch, I was unexpected stuck in the lift heading up to my office. Thanks to the help of some of my more ingenious lift-mates, we managed to manually open the door and escape from the lift after being stuck for around 10 minutes. This morning, I had a most uneasy feeling upon stepping into the lift then my worst fears were confirmed when the lift once again became stuck resulting in a reset of the lift systems.

The other people around me immediately pressed their respective floor buttons again acting as if this was a everyday occurrence. I was utterly confounded as to what to do but similarly just followed suit. Luckily, the lift resumed its operations after not moving for a few minutes. The building management has to do something about this!!!

My Lonesome Lunch...

The other day, I had the unique opportunity to go for lunch alone as my colleagues who I normally lunch with were either traveling or not available. It was one of those slow days at work so I took a long leisurely stroll to an out of the place chinese eatery about 10 minutes walk from my office.

Due to the absence of typical conversation between my colleagues and myself, I was able to fully concentrate on soaking in the urban scene playing out before me during my walk. There were foreign tourists sporting backpacks and cameras, office workers walking at a brisk pace presumably not to waste time as well as shopkeepers peddling their wares to each passerby among others.

At the same time, there was an ongoing internal debate as to what to consume for lunch this particular afternoon. I was quite spoilt by the variety of food available. Typically, it would be my colleagues that decide upon the place while I tag along preferring to utilize my brainpower for other matters. =)

After much contention, I settled on a eatery that I seldom frequent just for the sake of novelty. The queue was significant indicating that it was a rather popular eatery and I was satisfied upon glancing at the wide variety of dishes available for selection.

Holding my steaming plate of rice, I navigated the queue while scooping generous portions of steamed fish and boiled vegetables which were still piping hot. When queuing up to pay, a most tempting smell wafted up to assault my nostrils. I turned to look immediately recognizing one of my favourite dishes. However, the brief desire was instantly replaced by a stern reminder which is still playing repeatedly in my head.

Regardless, lunch was still very satisfying and I left the eatery feel very satiated.

RE: Guys, Do You Understand Girls?

As the title suggests, this post is a response to a blog post that I read earlier today. See the full post here.

First of all, this would be a generalisation of the male and female gender as each individual is unique and there are always exceptions to the rule. Well, now that the disclaimer is out of the way, lets get down to business =)

I think the bigger problem is the different definition of the "small things that matter" to men and women. Men are unfortunately bound by their egos. Society has determined that men should be the stronger ones and take care of the women. Hence, men don't want to be perceived as weak.

In some cases, some men relate showing affection as showing weakness. This is because men should be able to handle life's trials and tribulations by themselves without having to resort to physical contact such as a hug or a cuddle for comfort.

As for the matter of sending short notes and messages, some men find it a hassle especially after the so called 'honeymoon' period in the relationship. It also doesn't help that men are also constantly teased about having to constantly "report-in" to their significant other. Although personally, I don't subscribe to this line of reasoning.

Having the ability to pick up subtle hints during conversations is a honed and practiced skill. Most men are even unaware that their women are dropping such hints and secretly hoping that the men take notice and surprise them later. I guess men firstly need to be told outright about this occurrence as most are too ignorant too automatically pick up on such things. Communication is key!

When it comes to the matter of giving praise, it can be a very sensitive topic so most men prefer to leave their praises for very special occasions. Imagine how difficult a position he would be in when his praise of "Hey, you look good in this dress" gets retorted with "Are you saying I don't look good in my other clothes?" =)

However, a well placed compliment can do wonders to boost a woman's self-esteem as well as make her day especially coming from a loved one. I totally agree that both men and women should be more tactful in expressing their dissatisfactions regarding their partners. After all, no one is perfect and we all have our insecurities.

The bottom line is men and women are vastly different in many ways but I'd like to believe that He made us this way to complement each other. To allow us to support each other in the best possible manner.

I would recommend that everyone read a book titled "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" to get a better idea into the inner workings of the mind of both males and females. You can find a summary of the book here.

In the recent years, there has been much speculation about "Sensitive New Age Guys" (SNAG) which I believe to be very in tuned to the needs of women. They instinctively know better what women want in each situation and are not bound by society's mold of how men should act. Perhaps us men can learn a thing or two from them to make our significant other's life just that little bit happier...

Self Glorification Of Radio Show Call-Ins???

The other day, my Dad and I were discussing about the motivation behind some of the radio show call-ins, especially those that occur during traveling peak hours where the roads are mostly packed with cars causing dreadful traffic jams.

As an active participant in everyday KL traffic, I've had my fair share of being stuck in traffic jams normally relying on the radio for entertainment. I've always wondered about the motivation behind some of the people who call in during radio talk shows. Obviously, they do not obtain any direct benefit by calling in other than perhaps getting their name mentioned on-air.

So, why exactly do they do it? Could it really be a pure good intention to notify their other fellow motorists of impending traffic jams so that they would be able to avoid them or could it be the thrill of getting their name mentioned over nationwide radio?

I guess I will never know the exact reason but I would like to think that their intention is indeed to do a community service and advise their fellow drivers to avoid potential traffic jams that might extend the travel duration significantly.

Misery Loves Company???

I wonder how the term "Misery Loves Company" came into existence as it really does not make much sense to me. When i happen to meet friends who are miserable, I see no point in joining them to wallow in unhappiness.

Instead, wouldn't it be more beneficial to try to cheer them up and bring them out of their bad mood? Of course, the task of making someone else happy is indeed a elusive art and may require persistence to ensure success. I don't know about you, but being able to cheer up somebody else always makes my day! =)

Similarly, whenever I feel down in the dumps, I would very much prefer the people around me not to join me in my foul mood but least maintain an aura of positivity so that I will recover soon and revert back to my normal jovial self =P

PS: My sentence construction and choice of words in this post seems to be absolutely dreadful.

The Woes Of Pizza Deliverymen...

*Back to regular musings in the New Year*

While driving on the road, I have had the opportunity to witness one too many pizza delivery riders running red lights, weaving between traffic and committing various other traffic offences all with the intention to make haste in their delivery.

The motivation is simple. If they fail to deliver on time, they are required to compensate the customer with a discount voucher or something along those lines. If they continue to make late deliveries on a continuous basis, they will also be in danger of losing their jobs.

I completely understand the rationale behind the pizza company compensating their customers on later than normal delivery. However, considering the distance that the pizza delivery rider is covering, perhaps a longer allocation for delivery time should be allowed so as to avoid potential road accidents?

Famous Amos

I stole the content of this post from another blog relating to an email that she had received from a friend of another friend about her encounter at a Famous Amos outlet somewhere in Bangsar, KL.

Anyways, this is the content of the email:

"This is a true story My daughter and I had just finished a muffin at Famous Amos Café in Bangsar & decided to have some cookies. Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Hawaiian Nut Cookie".

It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and the waitress said with a small frown "I'm afraid cannot". Well I said, "Would you let me buy the recipe?"With a cute smile, she said "YES". I asked how much and she responded, "only two fifty, it's a great deal!" I said with approval, "Just add it to my bill"

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Famous Amos and it was RM285.00. I looked again and remembered I had only spent RM9.95 for two muffins and about RM20.00 for a pie. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, "cookie recipe - RM250.00".

That's outrageous!!!

I called the Famous Amos's Accounting Dept. and told them that the waitress said it was "two-fifty", which clearly does not mean "two hundred and fifty dollars" by any POSSIBLE interpretation of the phrase. Famous Amos refused to budge.. They would not refund my money, because according to them, "What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe - we absolutely will not refund your money at this point."

I explain to her the criminal statues which govern fraud in Malaysia. I threatened to refer them to police for engaging in fraud. I was basically told, "Do what you want, we don't care, and we're not refunding your money."

I waited for a moment, thinking of how I could get even, or even try to get any of my money back. I just said, "Okay, you people got my RM2-50.00 , and now I'm going to have aRM250.00 worth of fun."

I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in Malaysia with an email account has a RM250.00 cookie recipe from Famous Amos...for free... She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this"

I said, "Well you should have thought of that before you stole from me", and slammed down the phone on her.So, here it is!!!

Please, please please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid RM250.00 dollars for this...I don't want Famous Amos to ever get another cent off of this recipe.....

Recipe may be halved:

2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal & blend in blender to a fine powder)
24 oz. chocolate chips
1 tsp. salt
18 oz. Cadbury bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
2 tsp. vanillacream the butter and both sugars.

Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Cadbury bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.. bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 122 cookies. "

Does anybody want to make the recipe and give me some? =)

Let Me Be Me...

It is my own personal opinion that people can only be truly happy when when they have the ability to totally be themselves. It is inevitable that throughout your life, each of us will be pressured by various forces in the form of the family, relatives, friends and even the significant other to conform to something that they are not.

At many a time, it is just so much easier to bow down to the pressure and just become someone else, to appease everyone else around you. But at what cost? I have learned from personal experience that perhaps in the short term, you can live with it. But as the days go by, you start feeling more and more repressed.

From these feelings, resentment starts to grow maturing into large clouds of anger and hatred until one fine day, everything doesn't make sense anymore. You look in the mirror and don't even recognize the person staring back at you.

I envy people who have found themselves. People who know who they are. What they want in life, what makes them happy as well as what makes them miserable. I'm working towards achieving that, to one day reach that plateau of being able to be truly happy in being one's self without the need to feel guilty or fear due to non-conformance to society's expectations.

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Random thought:

I remember last year when I was in washroom at SEATAC airport in Seattle, Washington. After finishing my 'business', I observed a particularly attractive toilet roll holder which had a most blatant label of "Made In USA".

I was thinking to myself, "What kind of developer would spend so much money to import this from the United States?" Then, it struck me that I WAS in US and it was infact made locally. 'O.O Such a blond moment indeed. =)

The Marvels Of Technology

On certain occasions, even I get amazed about how far technology has progressed regardless of my exposure to technology on a daily basis.

Just the other day, I was downstairs working on my notebook and wanted to print a document. All I needed to do was to click the "Print" button, and the printer connected to the upstairs computer began spouting out my document. It seems so surreal that information could travel through thin air from my notebook downstairs to my upstairs printer at the speed of light.

Technology rocks! =)

Weee...100th Post!!!

Wow, it took me 6 months to reach 100 posts. As my thoughts are slowing to a trickle with the sudden inability to express myself through words, it will probably take another 6 months before I reach 150 posts. At any rate, I'm still doing better than 'someone' else ;)

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Life has been rather hectic recently. Too many things happening at the same time leaving me hardly any room to breathe. Too many issues to address, too many problems to solve, too many things to ponder but to me, the change seems welcome.

I remember thinking just 365 days ago, how life seemed to become meaningless. How everyday was becoming more and more mundane. More and more repetitive without any variant at all. I was becoming increasingly unhappy. With each passing day, my zest for life seemed to be decreasing. I was slowly falling into a slump. I was becoming complacent. Something that I never wanted to become, not at this age anyway.

I can only thank Him for improving the circumstances in my life. I can only thank Him for giving me new reason to live life. I can only thank Him for renewing my vigor to improve myself and increase my quality of life. Most of all, I am so grateful that He has brought her into my life. =)

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Gee, i really miss the therapeutic experience of expressing myself through my blog...

Inspiring Post...

Having recently heard about the Free Hugs campaign, I was curious and wanted to find out more. Google helpfully pointed me out to the Free Hugs campaign website, here. Reading about the campaign as well as its history brought a smile to my face. Seeing how a simple gesture such as a hug has the capability to brighten someone's day is really quite remarkable.

I wonder whether this campaign will ever be successful in Malaysia? Would you be willing to hug a stranger walking along the street? I honestly couldn't imagine doing so. Perhaps this is due to our cultural mindset that is instilled into us by our parents implying that we should respect each other's personal space.

Well, who knows? Perhaps it will be a success locally. Anyone brave enough to give it a try? ;)