If You Don’t Know Me By Now

I am sitting here in La Bodega with two of my best friends on a cool Wednesday evening listening to an excellent live band entertain the mundane lives of the citizens of Neo-Roma who have come to take a breather from the long day’s toil at work as I fork through an overpriced whipping of Caesar Cardini’s most famous dish, sipping off a glass of ice lemon tea and chatting about the weather. The service is laudable and the cute petite waitress tickles my fancy. The slices of lemon arrive at my table and I squeeze them over the salad to neutralize the salty chicken pieces. A group of young ladies sitting at the table next to us were revelling over the unfamiliar melodies of songs from around the time they were born. A gentleman politely approaches the bonny lass in the blue halter top. A brief exchange of words and soon enough he was back in his sofa seat sipping off his one yard Danish brew telling himself, “No sweat. At least I tried” while his euphoric lady friend takes humour with the situation. Shortly after, the band arrives at the end of the first session as I forked at the last piece of crouton on my plate. The lead vocalist joins us with a glass of beer and lights up a cigarette. We have casual conversation, as the bonny lass in the halter top, unwittingly listens in. A couple of passing remarks were exchanged between the debonair middle-aged vocalist and halter top. The waiter drops by to exchange the ashtray for a fresh one. An order of ice lemon tea and coffee was made. I excused myself and treaded my way to the lavatory. I get a lovely smile from the hostess as I pass the doorway. A dozen or more souls were laughing away at the high tables by the bar. I look around for familiar faces but familiarity eluded me.

I return to the table and pull out my computer to update my blog site. Michelle and Namita were not too pleased, but I have been rather busy of recent and have hence neglected my blog for sometime now. At the back of my mind, a constant concern for a certain young lady that I have only recently commenced a journey of companionship with. A lady of twenty-nine, independent, strong-willed, determined, and most of all caring, a lady with whom I have developed a deep fancy for. We had a tiff on Sunday and I have not seen her since, we only spoke briefly over the phone and her troubled voice disturbed me. There were things brewing inside her mind that eludes me, things she has chosen not to speak about. So, somewhere in between my Caesar Salad and Vijay’s flamboyant elocution with the three musketeers of Neo-Roma, I gave my lady a call and lo to my pleasant surprise she was in a chirpy mood. Her interview had gone well and she was feeling good about herself for the moment.

Just as Vijay lights up his next cigarette, it was time for the band to play their second set. So he takes several quick puffs and he was off to the mic. They start off with a slow number from Lionel Ritchie, followed with another slow one from Simply Red. One of my favourites, “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” – a song that always stir me deep and often makes me wonder about how my relationship with the people around me has been. It’s a song with a deep meaning that many have heard but few have listened to. As the lead vocalist sings the lines, I reminisce on my past – relationships that have long become history and had moulded me much into the person I am today.

All the things, That we've been through
You should understand me, Like I understand you

How we tried to understand each other.
One might think that after going out with someone for many years you may know them. Unfortunately this seems almost as rare as seeing live pandas in the wild. Too often I encounter relationships that lack the basic level of understanding, relationships that have reached a comfort level where blindness takes over logic as frustrations seeps in and takes over the relationship like moss.

Cos we only act like children
When we argue fuss and fight

And then the arguments start and it continues because it was never resolved and it goes on and on until we forget what we started fighting for. We say things we don’t mean and overreact towards each other’s actions even when the intentions are true and noble, we overreact.

We've all got our
Own funny moods
I've got mine,
Woman you've got yours too

We forget that we began as individuals from different experiences, likes and dislikes. We have each had our share of happiness and pain that altered our perception of thing that are, things that were and things to be. What was once a painful experience, we now laugh it off and what was once an idyllic memory can now bring tears to our eyes. Yes, we’ve all got our own funny moods.

Just trust in me like I trust in you

What pains me the most in my relationships was the lack of trust, and how can trust be built if we don’t first communicate with each other, and that my friend is the foundation of a relationship. The root word of communication is “commune” – to be intimately receptive, to share and to live with each other. Acceptance. Yes acceptance of each other’s nature – thoughts, believes, likes, dislikes, fears, and everything that makes each and every one of us who we are. We need to share these things with each other instead of separating them as these are the very fabric of our being, past present and future. Take the water away from the boat and it is no longer a boat.

As long as we've been together
It should be so easy to do,

Not as easy as it sounds. In fact most people I know would rather a car wreck over communication. The sight of a bar brawl is ever more interesting than listening to our partner’s dreams and desires. The displacement of 1.6 million live and the death of over 180,000 strangers, thousands of miles away worried our tiny little brains to sleep for months but we cannot spend thirty minutes of our time to listen to the person we say we love.

What good is a love affair
When you can't see eye to eye

I just want to say to the people that I love, particularly my darling, my sweetheart, my rose – I cannot love you if I don’t know you. I cannot know you if you don’t let me listen. I cannot listen if you don’t talk. And you cannot talk with your mouth closed. Your past is yours to keep and cherish and regret and so is mine. Each day of the past can build us or destroy us. That choice is entirely up to each and every one of us for the present and the future has nothing to do with the past unless we take it along on our backs. Everyday of our lives is a present from God and that is just why it is called the “present”. Each sunrise and each sunset is God’s message to us reminding us that it is a new day. So stop, and smell the roses. As for the future, who is to say?

If we are to have a relationship, let us embrace each other’s past and know that if it were not to have existed we may never have met. Let us greet each morning with the love and knowledge that we are still alive with yet another second chance. And finally let us build a future together – family, friends and lovers. Our future is ours and ours alone to make.

The choices have always been in our hands.

Burn The Boats

It all started with what seemed to be a great job offer with a friend of mine who was venturing into a business of his own. I was at the time planning to leave my employment as things were not going as smoothly as I had hoped. I was working with the promotion arm of an international advertising agency where I had to coordinate and monitor promotional projects, and conduct training for promoters for several brands. My department was putting in 25 hours a day 8 days a week. In my two years with the company I never had an opportunity to take any real holidays and so I was on a head on collision to burn out. My new employment was offering me a 30% increase in wage and 60% less hours. It was to be a meditation gymnasium or so to speak with a rather interesting approach combining old and new methods of achieving Nirvana. I thought (and still do) that it had potential but unfortunately things did not work out as planned. First like many young and inexperience entrepreneurs who venture into business he swore with absolute certainty that he had three investors pumping in close to RM200K. Much to everyone’s surprise we never saw the initial capital, the investors or Hailey’s Comet that year. Not wanting to loose any dignity after announcing his great plans for world domination; he proceeded to open office without any real funds. Like most business people of today, their main objective in starting a business is to be in control, to be the “Boss-man”, "da Big Kahuna". The office took two months to get into gear and when it finally did we had no funds to proceed for even the simplest classifieds advertisement to hire a sales team. The product was never really conceived as he had a different structure to it every two days and although he was advised to do so in order for Marketing to promote the product, he never came into grips with reality. So everyday he comes in at about lunchtime, gets as much work done as the cleaning lady on a Friday afternoon and leaves at 6pm for a so-called important business meeting at a local Indian restaurant. Just the same, everyone was expected to take him seriously while he insisted that his somewhat non-existing sales team sell imaginary products to real customers. Every marketing plan that was agreed on was perfect until datelines crept up his back and then like an epiphany he would discover a whole new approach – this eventually became a weekly affair. This made marketing about as useful as watching a pair of dogs sniff at each other’s butts. About mid-February, my ex-boss from the previous company offers me a job to run a promotion project that was not going as smooth as he had anticipated. Due to yet another unforeseen financial circumstance coupled together with the lack of expectation management that too was cut-short of its run.

It was in this period when it was brought to my attention that I should start a company of my own and at about that same time I came to realise there were two major epochs in my life which eradicate a large portion of my cosmetic friends. The first was during the reign of my Cleopatra that took me down like she did Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony in 1991. The second time was during my recent financial destitution that I had previously mentioned. During the second epoch, I have had to approach friends for some financial help until I got back on my own two feet. Most of them got very busy very fast - déjà vu. I had to seek for alternatives and I had to find it fast.

Over the next two years I had managed to get myself into a reading habit – a habit not very common of Malaysians. I got into reading self-development books and I discovered that from one book to the next there is not much difference. I was warned about this by friends who were trying to save me from the onslaught of brain-washing that these books supposedly took. Imagine that, a book that controls your mind. I mean – what would a book command of you? As I read these book that repeat themselves, I also realised that as many friends I had known who had ever placed their ocular implants on these taboo books just as many have never practiced anything they read; if at all they had read them. From books I eventually evolved to audio material, and that was a short drive to seminars.

In all this, one story caught my attention.

In the sixteenth century General Hernando Cortés left Spain with an army of less than 600 to explore the Yucatan Peninsular. He was told of great treasures held by the Aztecs but they had a formidable army. He knew what he wanted and he knew where to find it. Now, there were many who had tried to conquer this nation for their gold and just as many had failed. Having only a small naval force, Cortés understood that he had to change his approach in order to achieve his goal. So when they beached the Mexican shores, General Cortés stood before his people just as many Generals had done in the past before a great battle to give an uplifting speech before battle. But he also knew that a great motivational speech was not going to be enough to defeat a strong Aztec nation on their home ground. So, he said three words that would change the outcome of this battle and forever etch his name into history. He said, “Burn the Boats!” Yes, he had his boats torched. “Why?” you would ask. Well if Cortés’s army had lost the battle they would not need their boats anyway. However, if they won the battle they could build new boats or they could stay and reap the fruits of their victory. Burning the boats gave them no choice but to win the battle cause they could not run. And they did win.

Where am I going with all this?

After spending countless hours on self-development book, motivational seminar recordings and a small dive into the biographies of the successful, I have discovered that they all preach the same thing. Now why would so many successful people in unison preach something that does not work for over the last several centuries? Maybe it is how they keep the masses in check so that they stay rich and we stay mediocre and poor – a conspiracy that spans the books from Alexander the Great to Napoleon Bonaparte, from Stalin to JFK, from Ghandi to Bill Gates and from the White House to the lecture Halls of Robert T. Kyosaki. They were all in it. Come on. Get real. They are successful because they had a set of principle that they followed without compromise. A set of principles that is different from ours. There is a very clear line that divides the successful from the mediocre. And the only reason we are where we are is because we covet our existence so much that we never see the big picture. Those materials brought to my attention a habit that I thought was only distinguishable of my own nature and that was embarking on a journey of change but never achieving it. It was frustrating. I know many people who start a diet they never follow through, or an exercise regime that falls short of a ship wreck. We talk about changing our career paths to get better paying jobs and better opportunities but we end up right where we started. Smokers constantly claim that it is impossible to quit smoking because they have tried and failed miserably. Friends saying that they’d love to develop a reading habit so they’d learn new things but can’t seem to get past page ten. I have had that “No Way Out” conversation with too many people.

Someone once quoted that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Understand this – the laws of physic do not change. If you throw a ball into the air it, will come back down – it’s the law of gravity. Throwing it again and again will never keep the ball afloat. You have to change your approach. You need to leave behind the things that you had known and learn new things. Think about it – not more than a century ago, the idea of sending a man into space was considered unreal and childish but today we are planning manned missions to Mars. My teachers used to tell me that I could achieve anything I want if I only set my mind to it. For many years I misunderstood that, and so have many of you. Most of us just think and dream of the things that we want but we hardly ever think about how we are doing it – setting a course to your destination. Most of us set our minds on the things we want (the destination) but never set our minds to it (the path or method). We don’t want to change what we are comfortable doing on a daily basis – rushing to work, chasing deadline, kissing asses, cursing drivers, getting drunk, crashing cars. If you want great things, you have to do great things. Do things differently and you will see different results. That may even include changing the people you spend most of your time with. I’m not saying that you have to leave your friends behind, you might but you don’t have to. Ask yourself, “Who is it that I spend most of my time with and what influence do they have on me?” Yes, thinking about it may sometimes result in leaving certain friends behind, changing your work environment, moving house, or even moving to another city. If you actually spend the time to think about what is important in your life and not flock to the bars like little sheep to their shepherd’s call, you may find a need for drastic changes. So drastic that you may need to ensure a “No U-Turn” sign is firmly placed in order to force yourself to do something different, something that is not normal of you, something that might even scare you but most importantly – stick with it until it is done.

“Success is the gradual realisation of a worthy ideal” – Earl Nightingale

Change will not happen over night but it will happen. It could take weeks to annihilate a bad habit and develop new better ones but you will need to get on with what is necessary not what you have been doing for the last two thousand years. Give up that evening drink at the bar and spend it jogging at the park. Instead of eating fried, oily and hi-carb meals at the mamak, try some wholemeal bread, a thin spread of butter, tomatoes, lettuce, and two slices of ham twice a week. Pick up a book and spend fifteen minutes reading it everyday before you sleep. Cut back on those cigarettes gradually. If all else fails – tell your friends that you’d buy them dinner at La Bodega for a week if you don’t achieve your goal in a given time.

We all want change; but are we willing to take that leap of faith and burn our boats?r

I Eat Therefore I Am

Some eight years ago I stumbled into the advertising industry. I was job hunting when I received a call from a friend saying that his company was looking for someone to coordinate a project for three months. I walked into the interview with not a shred of knowledge of the industry and what exactly it was that I was going to be doing for the next three months. The three months turned into a career of nearly eight years and since then I have seen more of Malaysia than most Malaysians twice my age have in their lifetime. My car has burnt rubber in every state except for Perlis.

The breath taking scene of our Rice Bowl in the North is a must. Padi fields stretching beyond the horizon in all directions. The beautiful mountainous view of the Titiwangsa range as you cross from the West-coast to the East-coast. The awesome beaches of the East Coast are evermore complimented by friendly locals and take-it-easy beach bars. Batu Caves and its giant 42.7 meters high gold statue of the Hindu god Murugan. The historical architectures of Malacca and Penang; reminiscence of the Western powers that once controlled the nation. The modern architectures such as the Penang Bridge, The Petronas Twin Towers, Putrajaya and the Federal Territory Mosque. Let us not forget the countless number of super-sized shopping malls. A friend of mine from the US said that he wouldn’t be surprised to find such a mall in the middle of our nation’s forest reserve – Taman Negara.

Having seen most of Malaysia, I am usually the chosen tour guide for friends and relatives visiting our great nation, and it is great. We have no major political issues, very little natural disasters, a booming economy and a peaceful blend of cultures that would rival any other country in the world. Where else in the world can you casually call an Indian “Keling”, a Chinese “Ah Beng”, a Malay “Natha” or a Punjabi “Bai” without getting sued or bashed in the face. However in all this I have discovered that there is one thing that makes Malaysia what it is. Forget the cultures and the sights, that’s a given in any country, some more than others and in Malaysia it’s a whole book. I am talking about the food in Malaysia. I have on every trip sought new adventures for my taste buds and they have never been starved of it.

Recently my cousin and two of his friends from Germany spent almost a week here with me. They were awestruck with the experience as it was beyond their expectation of Malaysia. Just as those who came before and many that will come after, they loved the food. They have never had so much to eat in such a short time. It was of course a plus that they were willing to try spicy food, as most of our local dishes taste better with that touch of chilli or curry. The general first impressions that Malaysian food gets is often of hesitation, but the overwhelming experience their taste buds go through is often more pleasing. Imagine the first impression of a roadside hawker serving coconut milk, with floating green stuff topped with shaven ice and a dark liquid of sort. As the first sip of Cendol hits their tongues they have the expressions of wine connoisseurs attempting to dissect the taste of coconut and palm sugar. Taking foreigners for Indian Banana Leaf Rice is ever more entertaining. When first served with the array of Indian cuisines on a banana tree leaf, you can see the “O My God! What am I getting myself into?” look. Then with brave hesitation they pinch a little bit of everything while registering what taste palatable and what may not. As curry floods over the rice, their faces turn Christmas red from merely imagining the spiciness of the dish. What follows is sweaty foreheads and upper lips as they clumsily eat rice with their hands, gulping gallons of water while saying, “This is really very delicious”.

Do you know what else is amazing about this country of ours, you can find foods from all over the world – from Asian countries we have Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, Sudanese, Iranian, Chinese (but of course), Northern and Southern Indian cuisines; from other parts of the world you can find Italian, French, Greek, Spanish, German, British and of course the ever-all-favourite American cuisine (burger, fries and Coke).

Three weeks after taking my German friends around, this finds himself in little old Setiawan for a wedding. For those of you who remember the name but not the place, it’s that little town you’d have to pass on your way to Lumut to take a ferry to Pangkor Island. Anyway, we were at the bride’s parent’s place being stuffed like a turkey on Thanksgiving with the 5 dishes that were already served. Just I was about to declare the end of my meal with a belch or two, the bride’s mother comes strolling out with a big pot of Tong Hoon Red Wine Chicken Soup. Apparently it is a rather famous and sought-after dish in Setiawan. So there you have it. As much as you may think that you have tried all kinds of food in Malaysia there is always something waiting for you around the corner.

Here’s a tip – Never. Never bring a Caucasian to a fast-food restaurant or for Western cuisines. You just don’t fly half way across the world to have the same thing you can get back home at less than half the price just outside your front door. That would be the definition of insanity.

Here’s another – Two shopping malls is more than enough. If your itinerary reads, “KLCC, Mid-Valley, 1 Utama, The Curve, Ikano” then you need to read my Tips For The Blind.

“As your mother tells you, and my mother certainly told me, it is important, she always used to say, always to try new things.” - Hannibal Lecter

Tips for the Blind

• Bah Kut Teh in Klang, Jinjang or Kepong
• Cendol and Rojak Pasembor opposite the ss15 Shell in Subang Jaya
• For Indian cuisine – Nirvanas at Bangsar
• For Indian vegetarian cuisine you must visit Annalakshmi at the Mid-Valley
• For a good array of Chinese food, the only place to go is the hawker’s stalls at SS2, Petaling Jaya. The best Leng Chee Kang is also located here, between a very delicious chicken rice stall and chee cheong fun stall, all on the end facing the AM Bank. Then get some Chinese sweets and pastries from the two stalls in the middle of the stretch.
• Best Mata Kuching drink – catch the guy at the end of the night markets in SS2, Bangsar and Subang Jaya. You can also find him at Subang Permai in the afternoons.
• Come down to Taman Eng An, Klang for really good Leng Chee Kang, steamed spring rolls, chee cheong fun, Pan Mee and steamed chicken served on garlic.
• The best Ipoh’s taugeh chicken rice can only be obtained from Ipoh in Ipoh town.
• Go to Bawang Merah in Subang Jaya, opposite the Shereton Hotel for some really good Malay cuisines.
• If alas you are limited with time or just indecisive, take a trip to Asia Café in SS15 Subang Jaya.
• A trip to a night market is also a must:
  • Sundays: Bangsar, SS13 Subang Jaya, TTDI.
  • Mondays: SS2, PJ
  • Wednesdays: SS13, S.Jaya

Any other suggestions?

Place in the Klang Valley

• Pertonas Twin Towers – Get to KLCC before 8:00am and obtain some tickets to view Kuala Lumpur from the sky-bridge. Have lunch at the Suria KLCC food court and then take a stroll through the KLCC Park.
• Dataran Merdeka & the Sultan Abdul Samad building (the Malaysian Supreme Court). Do this at night.
• Federal Territory Mosque along Jalan Duta.
• The Blue Mosque in Shah Alam
• Putrajaya
• Sunway Resort Hotel & Sunway Theme Park (FYI: it was built inside a mining pool)
• Central Market & Petaling Street (a.k.a Chinatown).
• National Monument on Jalan Parliament
• Jalan Masjid India
• Batu Caves

Listening To The Wind

Ever so often you’d find yourself lost in the wilderness of a concrete jungle, one that you have chosen to live in. Some of you may have wandered off from your small suburban cities where the local provision shop is a stone throw away and the football field is no larger that the corner house’s yard. Now you live a 5-minute drive from the local 7-Eleven and the football field consist of electrons slamming on a 15” phosphorous screen. You walk aimlessly through an unforgiving city like zombies whilst seeking treasures for Lords and Kings you offer no loyalty to. Your noble quest for the Holy Grail is no longer noble nor is the grail holy. You sweat and toil everyday like slaves for pharaohs of a post-industrial age. You become part of a new history of humankind building an empire for a society of walking dead and while you take your seat in the halls of a Valhalla built by Vikings in designer suits, your friends and compadres become a distant memory. Yet others choose to live their lives feeling sorry for themselves spending every extra Ringgit on the 4-digit lucky draw hoping hopelessly for that strike of a lifetime. Beggars on the sidewalk become more common a sight than birds on the wire. The smells of the city fills your lungs until you become immune to it – immune to the smell of carbon monoxide and uncollected garbage. The graffiti on the wall sometimes remind you of crayons but before you get carried away reminiscing the past you turn to greet a vending machine.

And when the silvery sheets of the moon has risen, you paint the town red in a disco or a pub or any other place of relaxation that neither gives you peace of mind nor rest. You dress yourselves with Dolce & Gabana, Calvin Klein, MNG and the sorts with a spiff of Ralph Lauren – Kent & Barbie’s night out. You will feast like Kings of old and drink mead to your heart’s content and discuss pressing matters of the New Kingdom with the sensibility of a drunken monkey. Sometimes you will plot like senators and play a game of chess where the city is your board and your colleagues are the chess pieces. This is the hustle and bustle of everyday life in a metropolis of the Neo-Roman Empire.

You mentally plan your day ahead and realise that you have not had time for yourself or for the people that you would like spending your time with. You find yourself staring at that digital clock on your dashboard, wondering what time it is. You wanna smack that stupid radio deejay that you listen to every morning and evening on your five thousand Ringgit car audio system. Then right there in the middle of rush hour traffic, caught between a crazed driver of a six-wheels public service bus and the impatient zipping of mosquitoes on two wheels, you say to yourself, “I’ve had enough!” And you’d decide that things must change. From tomorrow onwards you are gonna do things different.

Tomorrow morning arrives and before the cock can sing the song of dawn, the alarm clock rings. You drag yourself miserably away from Elizabeth Hurley just as she was about to unbuckle that black lacy bra and before the hour is up, there you are again caught between that lunatic bus driver and the motorcyclist from hell, listening to that same stupid radio deejay.

So what happened?

What happened to change?

What happened to “I’m fed-up! I want things to change!”?

You probably told yourself, “Not yet. Let me make my money first and then I will live happily. I’d settle down, have a couple of kids and I’d teach them the right things. We’d never have to worry about money anymore.” Or maybe you decided to wait for that promotion in June, and if that doesn’t happen there is still December to look forward to. Caught in the middle of rush hour traffic, you console yourself with pleasant thoughts of owning the latest gadgets and designer clothes, and let’s not forget that fancy dinner at La Bodega.

It’s not that easy. No, Lucifer has a price on your head and he ain’t letting you go. He’s gonna squeeze your juices dry before you ever realise that you have sold your soul to an forgiving, self-centred railroad tycoon named Eddie.

Does it ever bother you?

It bothers me. Sometimes it just wears me out.

It was 2002 – the year of the Horse. I was sitting at the coffee area during lunch one afternoon when I overheard a conversation about the Malaysian economy and how it is affecting the company. Here were two typical colleagues who were about to dive into a bitchin’ session about some unsubstantiated hearsay concerning the company’s status and the effectiveness (or lack of) of their immediate bosses. So I eavesdropped on their speculations of the country’s future economics and their two years British educated solution to the company’s apparent mismanagement. It was rather interesting listening to the two of them go on confidently about things they sparsely knew about. They seem to have derived their conclusions from the expert speculation of people who took no real notice of why certain things happen. Like why would a certain person in upper management make an unjust decision to lay off a couple of employees who have been in the company for too long and are as productive as two stray dogs sniffing at each other’s butt. Not that anybody will miss them anyway. Or what about the reduction of company privileges such as free parking or mobile phone allowance.

But there I was sipping on a cup of hot coffee, controlling myself from asking them, “Why is it that you never suggested your evidently sound solution to management and maybe save us from the unavoidable economic onslaught?”

Several days later I received on the company’s email a somewhat important message from upper management to all employees. Management has decided that we needed to make up for the several hundred thousand dollars our clients have slashed from their budget cuts, by saving up on coffee and electricity (duuhh!!). And so there was not a day that went by that we weren’t overworked or over unappreciated for the efforts that were forced onto us for the benefit of a company that we had not a penny’s worth in. Much to my surprise, those two colleagues of mine continued to play a minor part in the company’s battle with economic uncertainty. To this day they’d have their weekly ritual bitchin’ sessions. The company’s mentality have neither deteriorated nor improved since they have not yet made any severely damaging loses and have re-employed their faithful butt sniffing relatives of the wolves. It does make me wonder about what it is that makes my colleagues and my slave-driving employers tick?

I realised that the most of us spend all our time complaining about how rotten things are. We wonder, “Why don’t somebody just realise that if they’d use that God forsaken gift called a brain, we could just find a solution to all our woes.” If you were at all listening to what I have been saying, then you’d probably have realised that each of us are waiting for someone else to do the job. It’s like listening to the wind - you stick your head out of your window on a windy day but you are not sure what you are listen for. If you see the problem and choose to wait until someone else sees the problem (who’s probably going to do the same as you are) then what’s the point in bitchin’ about the whole affair. We cannot expect different results by doing the same thing all over again and again. So one day while I was sitting at the coffee area in my office, sipping on a cup of hot coffee – I asked myself, “Who else is gonna change my life?”

Guess what the answer was?

First published on Friendster in September 2005.
Written on the 8th of January 2002