Wet duck in the storm

The rain just poured and poured. And it came without much warning. Luckily I had my umbrella with me. But still, water still splashed in when I was walking. I could have just taken the easy way out - flag a cab and get to the office in no time and still dry.

But I chose to weather the storm, the rain. I was half-drenched when I finally got to the MRT station. Been attempting to prevent my shoes from getting wet, but alas, I stepped into a puddle in my haste to get to a sheltered area, and my whole shoe was wet.

From the knee down, my pants were wet too. And behind my shirt, was thoroughly wet. I didn't realise that water had been dripping onto my shirt from my half-broken fragile umbrella. The warm weather made the rain water warm and thus I could not feel the coldness of water on my shirt despite it being almost thoroughly drenched.

I must have looked like a wet duck - not entirely drenched, but wet enough to have my shirt clung to me like a piece of sticky pad.

And which got me thinking.

In life, when we face storms and pouring rain, do we weather the storm, or do we take the easy way out?

And, how would we know which is the correct decision?

Sometimes, life is like reading a game book. At the end of the page, you have two choices - choose A and you turn to page 20. Choose B and you turn to page 52. And the story goes on. With each decision, it brings us to a different path in life and you will keep wondering where will you end up at, if you have chosen the other option...

Life's so ambivalent, isn't it?

If only we know the answers in life...

When we were in school, we have ten-year series with model answers to follow. But what about after we graduate to the working world and time to live our own lives?

Sad to say, there's no right or wrong answers. And nobody can make the decision for you too. Everything depends. Depends on your beliefs, your perceptions, your values, your goals, your priorities in life and others.

I just know that, I do not want to regret my decisions, and I do hope I won't. If in any case I do, I believe everything happens for a reason. I can only be responsible for the decisions I make today, which could affect where my life leads to in the future. Whether I do regret or I don't, I still need to keep on living and take actions to improve it.

Have you ever wondered how would it be if only we know the answers in life? Probably there would be less frustrations, uncertainties, apprehension, trepidation, insecurity, problems and others.

To think again, probably, would it also means, a less meaningful and boring life too?

Be Stern To Be Good

Until now, I still could not forget that look that a little boy had on his face. This boy, which is about 8 years old, wanted something very much which comes up to about $20. But then, the little boy only had $1. He was very persistent that he only want that thing, and not others, even though the others were cheaper and his $1 would be able to have bought them.

However, despite asking the boy to consider other things, he was still persistent. And refused to budge. At first I ignored him. But then, as time goes on, he was still standing at the same spot and I noticed that his eyes and nose were getting redder. And after some time, the tears started to tumble down. I didn't know what to do; my heart pains to see him like that. I almost wanted to take my own money out to buy it for him. But something was holding me back.

I told a mother of three about it. Initially, she also felt that it's no big deal, probably just some kids trying to use tears as their weapon to get what they want.

But after a while - I think she has been observing the little boy too - she went up to the boy and told the boy sternly that if he wanted the thing badly enough, to go back to save up and come back and buy. She asked the boy to speak up, say what he wanted. But the boy just looked insistently at the thing and pointed, without saying a single word. But she was stern with him and insisted that he speak up. However, he still didn't. By now, the boy was already crying. Then she talked to him in a softer way and sent him back.

There's one thing I learnt from her. It was how to be stern with children, even when your heart almost break by being so. I could almost feel the pain that the little boy was feeling - you wanted something so badly and yet you can't get it. I almost succumbed to my soft heart and give it to him as a gift. But luckily I didn't.

As I reflected back on the incident, I was glad that I didn't submit to his pleading eyes, for his own good. If he were to be able to get it easily by crying, what would happen next time? Will he be using the same way to get what he wants and in the end end up a useless and spoilt person? At least now, I'm comforted to know that he will have an even stronger desire to save up, and along the way, learn the importance of prudence. I believe, this little boy will grow up as a successful person, because I can see from the determination and focus he had, and with this hunger in him, he will definitely strive to be successful one day.

Heartfelt Sentiments

I woke up groggy and bolted out of the house for an appointment in a jiffy. But all that came to naught. The other person canceled the appointment and didn't inform me. My immediate response in my head was "Great! Let's go back to sleep.." hahaha :P

The other person was so surprised at my reaction. I guess she might have thought I would get all worked up and angry at her for flying me aeroplane (fong fei kei). I was somehow glad too, despite the effort to drag myself out of bed in the morning.

So I decided to write something instead, on a post I read on Malaysia's opposition party DAP president, Lim Kit Siang's blog. It is an email written by a Malaysian who is abroad and was voicing his heartfelt sentiments to Mr Lim, which was then posted on Mr Lim's blog.

Interesting read, just don't get too worked up.

ps: link has been removed :)

Buying Spree

On the front page of The Straits Times Singapore today (March 12), there's a picture of people lining up dragging boxes, queuing up for payment I guess, with the headline screaming "Crowds snapped up S$48 million of tech toys".

I chuckled. I thought to myself, I'm also going for a shopping spree but in Malaysia.

The headline should be yelling: "Malaysians snapped up RM 1.8 billion of government trust fund units in less than 6 hours".

I have a plan for the 'shopping'.

I set the alarm at 6am, but didn't hear the alarm go off. By the time I woke up with a shock, it was already 7.50am. My first reaction : I'm late!

I closed my eyes for a while to shake off the heavy head feeling and dragged myself out of bed to get ready. I thought to myself: this better be worth it. Ah, there's a limit of RM 50,000 for each person, so there's still hope for me. I jumped into the shower and was out of the house by 8.15am.

Along the journey, I could not shake off the nagging truth of how RM 1 billion of additional units of Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW2020) priced at RM 1 each were snapped up within 27 minutes during the previous round of units sale in Sept 2006.

By 9.15am, I've crossed the Causeway and walked to the Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB) office in Johor Bahru, taking queue number from the guard. My number: 040. Uhuh.. how long is this going to take? I thought.

By then, the ASNB office was already full to the brim. (actually the office is quite small). The transaction will only start at 9.30am. But the officers had already started calling numbers for people who want to open new accounts by preparing the documents such as thumb prints and filling of forms, to facilitate processing later on.

As the time ticked nearer to 9.30am, the people inside the suffocating room got more restless. When the first two numbers were called, the buzz grew even louder and you could just feel the excitement in the air. Alas, after a few minutes past 9.30am, the computer system hanged.

You could almost feel as if the excitement had been snuffed out suddenly. The people waited and waited. After some time, people started walking away, to grab something to eat or to try their luck at other branches.

For me, I shuttled between the ASNB office and the Maybank next door. I walked pass the information counter so many times that even the maybank officer could recognise me and smiled everytime I passed by. At once, he even asked me how's the situation. I said, "Still checking both sides, not moving yet."

After that bout of exercise climbing stairs and pushing heavy set of glass doors, the buzz is back at 11.30am. The numbers finally started moving. I got even more excited, because the pile of passbooks at the Maybank branch is also getting lower as the minutes ticked by, while my queue number is creeping nearer at the ASNB office.

By forming a 'partnership' with another girl who was also shuttling between two branches (hers was even better exercise - she shuttled between two Maybank branches which are a few blocks away from each other; at least mine was just next door) we both managed to get Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) units after the Maybank officer suggested we apply for ASM instead of ASW2020 as it was easier for ASM transactions to go through.

Only children below 17 years old can open new accounts for ASW2020 while existing account holders could top up the units. It gives out slightly better returns compared to ASM.

At about 12.40pm, the system for ASW 2020 was finally back. And I managed to get mine too! Yippee! What a relief!

That was the best ever shopping spree I've been on. It had all the ingredients of a great super sale - the adrenaline rush, the exhilaration, the strategy planning, the waiting, the jostling and the relief of finally owning it.

And the best thing is, the money spent still belongs to you, cool isn't it?

Where to find such a 'financially healthy' sport?

No doubt, this will be the main item in my 'shopping list' and my 'shopping calendar'. Exercise for the mind, the heart and the pocket.

I'll be waiting to reap the fruits of my labour, effort and sacrifices for many years to come.