21 - Forever Young
When we were in school we can't wait to get out of school and go to work probably thinking that the working adults are having lots of fun. In lower secondary we can't wait to be in higher secondary if anything just so that the boys can wear pants instead of shorts. We say we are going to be 16 instead of saying 15. Then we look forward to be 21 because we saw folks being liberated or so they thought and they throw "function" (21st birthday bash). Soon you will realize that you are 39.99 and you will tell people you are not yet 40. Irony of life.
Way before that your dad stop giving you pocket money and your first currency crisis started and till this day it has not ended. We are veterans. Battle-hardened. Today it is different. In the old days or if you were in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand or Malaysia you are alright. You lose your job in the city, you can go back to your mother in the village and eat off the land. Here, your mother will have to sacrifice her food for you. I used to joke that some people have a good life as they do not even have to read the newspapers as they can get the university graduate maid to read to them.
This is actually more appropriate than folks who abused their maids in little small ways. There is this guy where I stayed who needs his car washed and cleaned twice a day before he goes to work and after he returns even if it was 10pm. This will actually damage his car's paint work faster. Once, some friends were done partying and drinking at a condominium and as they left around midnight, they saw a guy sitting and watching his maid washed his car so they wind down the windows and gave him a piece of their mind as they drove past. What about the recent uproar about the NS man whose backpack was carried by the maid? He may actually be a good man but he was never aware that his action or non-action led to this uproar. What could be the problem?
The parents? Society? Our maids can be the foreign legion like Gurkhas. Just like a golf course in Thailand as in a battle field. A flight of four golfers, each with four caddies doing different things and your flight will have twenty people. With all the umbrellas up and when looking from a distance in particular from the top, it does look like a funeral procession.
Talking about this then death is a leveller so why does this Ms Samantha asked heartlanders not to go to Holland V? Why do people like to stereotype? There are obnoxious rich people who are not really that cultured too just as there are cultured poor people. She may have come from a rich family then it is her family that is rich so she is just "fortunate". Even if she is a successful career or business woman she mustn't forget that without the other people she could not be all that successful. But she was not entirely wrong if she were to say some Singaporeans do not dress or speak appropriately or according to the occasion. Her ancestors could have been poor before too. Being rich and successful should make her feel grateful and not detest others.
So all these lead to bigger questions. Can Singaporeans survived without maids? Will the whole system collapse? The economy affected? Your life in shambles? Suddenly you cannot play golf? It is possible. Are you ready for it? This is a weakness so how can we overcome it? These days certain things are too easy that we can go soft and certain things can be more difficult. Netizens were busy bombarding a potential political candidate who spent lots of money on a bash eating expensive food in Japan or a civil servant who took an expensive course in French baking during a recession. They are spending their own money so what's the problem. An elitist Singapore. That is the problem. We may think that it is just another day in paradise but is it? We have to be very curious about it. Here's Phil Collins.
I recommended that we should get some better ergonomic chairs and recommended Duorest with the quality you do expect a certain price but instead they got something else that looked the part. The Civil Service beats us with their Herman Miller. We should have made a bulk purchase and get economy of scale prices.
Meantime, couples should stop carving names on tree barks. Not sure if they still do such things. They carved out your names and when they are angry they will cut a line across to cancel it. Angelina Jolie tattooed her husband's name on her body and even carried a small tube of his blood to wear as accessory. This is worse than carving intitials onto barks. What do you do with the tattoos later when things don't work out. Add a profanity in front or behind? In the case of Liz Taylor, there will be too many names. My last respects to this icon, goodbye my love.
During my time, we do not propose by sending a plane across the sky just to tell you that "I love you" or flash it on the newspapers or a cinema screen. Those are for show-offs. We simply asked: "Oi! Want to apply HDB flat?" This is the most valuable thing a man can give or provide as a commitment only if you remember that a house is not a home until you make it one. Today the JP (Justice of Peace) can come to the hotel while you start your cocktail party then proceed to dinner. They do not have enough JPs back then and we normaly have to do it way ahead some 1-2 years or more before they held their wedding. Listen to German rock group Alphaville with Forever Young:
After many years of marriage, what other gifts for your partner, to each other other than old boring diamonds? I decided that as we grow older our sight could get worse and to watch out for one another we need to see with greater clarity so we have to splurge a bit on quality eye-care. If you miss my last post here it is:
Polaris (Staffan Preutz Design) - Infinity
They stated that if you had seen the "Northern Light in its splendour dancing across the winter sky you will know that certain things in life cannot be explained but still possible." Cool - I want. Infinity was a milestone for Staffan Preutz "the most remarkable glasses in the world can be developoed almost infintely". Fashionable frame tha gives balance to personal expression and discreet elegance.
Philippe Starck
Phillippe Starck is a well-known French designer. He was an partner of Pierre Cardin and has been am interior designer and product designer. Besides the great, elegnat and timeless look what is so special is the "Bio-hinge Concept" which allows ofr multi-directional freedom of movement inspired by ther arm's natural movement. This patented invention involved 8,000 hours of research and development and it takes more than 20 industry steps to make one Bio-link. There is an unique absence of screws and this brings excellent benefit to the wearer as it certainly not only increased comfort but also reduced pressure on the temples.
Most important of all is not the gift but the thought that counts and above all else even without a gift the sincerity. If I've got money I'll go wild, buy you furs, dress you like a Queen....I can't give you anything but my love, but my love!
Let Rod Stewart serenade you:
Eh, handsome or not? Trying to be Peter Pan.
Like Johnny Walker, 21 years still going strong and if you add from the ROM may be 2 more. Not wanting to count chickens before they hatch so one day at a time. Every year added turns it to vintage. Remember the story I told you before? The chicken and pig was crossing the road? I'm not going to ask why the chicken crossed the road but they saw the sign at a restaurant serving breakfast "Egg and Ham $4!" to which the chicken boasted of giving eggs which was a big sacrifice to which the pig retorted "hey, we gave ham and that is commitment". Are you all ready to give ham peeps for one another? Please also do not forget the Fireman's code: "Never leave your partner behind." You can find it in a previous article "Fireproof Your Family".
It is not easy to be a family man. Everything is competing for your time and $$$. Should you spent on iPod, iPad, iCan'thearyou, a new sofa, laptop, camera, holiday or a set of golf clubs? You see tough right? Then you debate with yourself "if things can work why change?" and on the other hand you hear a voice that says "hey you work hard for the money and life is short so make yourself happy!" I mean if you have $2k where buy a handbag that is used to carry things when you can get a good set of golf clubs and there are so many sticks to play with (I can hear the ladies booing).
Spend the money, use it to bless others. If you don't spend there will be another recession. It is the same dilemma beer drinkers face all the time. If I don't drink that beer how are the beer workers going to be gainfully employed? How are they to have a dream? What do they bring back to their family? How can I be so selfish sitting here just thinking about my own liver? It is better to drink that beer. It does not help when you have buddies who walk in and start giving you instructions like this cool dude. Sometimes in life, someone walks into your life and it is never the same again!
I have often told people that husband and wife are two people from two families. Living as friends separately and living together are quite different things. If your best friends were to stay with you, you can end up fighting. Just pressing the tooth paste in a haphazard way and a quarrel can break out. So there must have been a reason you got married in the first place but overtime we are all too busy with so many things and with too many distractions.
When two people are talking or arguing at the same time, nobody could listen. So, everyday a couple stays together, it is a miracle to savour. Humans are so fragile without realizing it. We all have too much ego and pride. So no matter how angry or pissed over issues and difference of opinions, never say the D word - divorce. Confucius said it is better to be pissed off than pissed on. C'mon, get over it. Whenever you have doubts, look at the beginning. Just like the beginning of life. There are no problems, only solutions.
I wish all readers and friends an "Everlasting Love". Listen to Howard Jones spouting his wish:
Before I sign off, I want to make the women angry and get the guys in trouble. Last year I bought the world's largest Pink Diamond for my wife. It was from a popular company.
Ciao! Have a wonderful weekend! Cheers!
Comments