When life lost its sense of excitement.

*something written 3 years ago...

Almost eight years ago, I finished my studies and graduated into the new world, waiting for me to conquer it. looking back, those eight years have flew by very quickly. No doubt there were times when I was sitting in front of the computer with an empty gaze, but then again in terms of the people I have met and things I have learned.

The culture in Malaysia is very much, you are worked for every single penny (or sen) you are being paid for. There is minimal holidays - some as little as 7 days for the first year at work and most Saturdays you are expected to work. Compare this to the 5 days nine to five job I now hold in London, I think that it is good for personal learning over here as I have absorbed so much more compared to the 6 years working in Malaysia.

But then again, in Malaysia, you are not paid to learn. You learn on the job and bear the brunt when the shit hits the ceiling. And you learn to hide under the table in fear that the swinging fan above you may swipe that same shit back at you. Thus comes the blame culture. Of course it happens here in the UK too, but I suspect when there is actually a proper system developed before hand, (or through hundreds of years) the impact is more minimal, unless you really screw things up.

Which coming back to my initial point, life has become mundane.

Knowing that the chances of you actually cocking up is ultimately in your own hands and unless someone has a bone to pick with you, you will not be fucked. This leads to the workplace being very superficial. On the surface once we meet colleagues around 8.45 am we are all in full smiles asking each other, "How ya?" when you actually don't really mean it. You then to go and complain and moan about certain things the company is going through and some of the national news throughout the day. Almost everyday, there will be the usual chat on the weather preferably over a cup of tea. Come 5 pm, we all rush out of the office and either go home or meet up with our own set of friends. Most of the time we wont know where our colleagues stay and they will be the last people we think of calling should anything happen.

How different is the culture in Malaysia?

Colleagues become our second family, all the good vibes and even the usual bickering amongst 'siblings' and some rivalry within the organisation makes it so much more interesting. At times, one just has to love the way the 'Chinaman' style of operations is handled. There is always the 'evil' one within the office that has a seemingly tight relationship with the bosses and which every staff seems to hate. And the whole point of the organisation seeming to run would be the need for money every month end to feed the bills of housing, cars and phones. Not to mention the occasional night out with the mates and everyday food.

So, how come this seems so enticing compared to the 'leisure' life in the UK?

Eight years ago I was raring to go, albeit not knowing really where to go. To end up in a profession that you didnt study for is one thing. To actually think eight years later if you should have made certain moves a few years back is just sad. We don't live in the past, so whatever happened, happened for a reason.

Whatever I learned will one day be put to practice. So, how did life end up so mundane?

Looking to the future, it looks bleak. Minus another year and it would mean I need to effectively work another 25 years before I can think of retirement. And that is the minimum. Current retirement age in the UK is 60 (or 65).

So just chill out and relax. Life has just begun.

Relativity.

It's funny how things can change in a matter of years. Once the hunter, you can become the hunted and vice versa.

It's also the matter of time.

For a long time it's been known that when you wait for someone, time moves slowly. Very slowly. Where as the person you are waiting for, say for a cup of tea may be in the process of getting there, but due to a mini jam, may have been a bit delayed.

But at the time of getting there, that person would actually be doing something.

So, time moves. Unlike for the person waiting.

Then, after a long wait - comes the tea session that could last hours. Those hours could pass by in a blink of the eye. And all the waiting previously endured would be forgotten.

So, I guess it's best we make ourselves as busy as can be - so as not to fall in the trap of waiting.

The year in Review

What can I say?

After witnessing the magical powers of the Iguazu falls on Christmas Day, it pretty much sums up my whole 2009.

You just end up not only having a great year, but you forget all the pains that happened along the way. At the end, we ended up shouting all our frustrations away only to be drowned by the powerful sound of the Iguazu.

Let's just hope 2010 has much better things coming up!

Axiomatic Lavatory Readings

The call of nature usually gives an opportunity to read up more on my housemates never ending supply of Glamour magazines.

It's not that I'm turning into a big softy, but rather I'd like to think in the mind of the audience reading its material - since most magazines know their target market. Yes, I'd like to know more about women and how they view themselves.

Recently though I read this article that was rather disturbing. It was about this 'gold digger' whose sole purpose in life is to, well literrally, dig for gold - meeting rich men and becoming their trophy 'girl friend'.

Although she made her motive quite clear, I couldn't see the difference between her and a high class escort.

Worse was in such a high profile magazine - to promote her 'business model' encouraging wannabes to be a gold digger like her, I just found it disturbing.