Something meant to be shared 真水无香

For those who heard about Al’s joke - ‘Isabel buys dumpling and claims that she made them’ - 

By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher. 

“When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her..”

“After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can’t face each other, but still they stay together.”

“Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them.”

“I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me.”

‘Some people ask the secret of our long marriage.  We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week.  A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing.  She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays.’

Two secrets to keep your marriage brimming 
1. Whenever you’re wrong, admit it, 
2. Whenever you’re right, shut up.

Said by a man

“The most effective way to remember your wife’s birthday is to forget it once….”

You know what I did before I married? Anything I wanted to.

Said by another man

“My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.”

“A good wife always forgives her husband when she’s wrong.”

.…The NO. 1 threat is no longer revolution but the drip of liberal democracy for China Communist! The looming danger is called ‘peaceful evolution’…..As the emergent middle classes of China become more demanding of what they consume, they will also be more demanding consumers of government…They will want more transparency, predictable laws, better education, freer speech and fewer red lines.

I’d be on more democracy and liberty in China achieved through this unstoppable ‘peaceful evolution’, no less.

I think I am ‘nothing’ yet try to be what my dad wish me to be when I am a teenager. 

I think I am ‘extraordinary’ and better than everyone else when I am in my 20s.

I think I am ‘ordinary’ and just like everyone else when I am in my 30s.

What’s 40s going to bring me?

Archie has got Hand-foot-mouth-disease since last Friday. Poor baby now is covered with nasty spots and blister, not to mention the ulcers in his little mouth. 

I feel incredibly guilty - if I am not working, I will be looking after him at home, then he will never have a chance to get all these infections from the Daycare. Is it because he likes to experimenting things just like his mom? Since the moment I had him - without knowing, I had weed, X-ray when he was only a cell in my body, then irregular breathing when he was only 24 hours old, followed with series of cough incidents, German missile, and now HFMD??!! He is only 11 months old and it seems he already had quite a journey.

You know, I was so worried I can’t even work. So I came home early and caught Al was watching his favorite series, The Wire, while he was supposed to look after Archie. Poor baby was playing his toys at a corner feeling ill and lonely. 

A piece of advice - Never trust a ‘big baby’ who promises to look after your baby, but if you have no choice, get a nanny cam!

Once again, Americans did not vote for talent.

I still can’t believe that Kris has won!

Adam is so far the best than ever!

I was annoyed and offended, can’t stop but wonder if this is still a talent show. Al tried to cheer me up, and he said:

“Darling, come on, if a nation can vote someone like Bush to be their president, what else is not possible?”

You’ve gotta point there! Now, I feel better.

I was recently working on a big global project commissioned by this giant international FMCG Company.

This morning, while we are having the briefing meeting with our clients, I had moment of clarity – everyone who was in this room looked all so serious and important, all those fancy presentations slides, impressive figures, complex analysis and unbeatable titles … but all of this still only comes down to one simple thing – how to squeeze more money out of the consumers in every possible way!  

If it’s such a simple thing, why did everyone look SO serious as if they were involved in a ‘life or death’ decision? So, let’s talk about the ‘importance’.

Are these ‘big shots’ that important? It seems they are – traveling all around the world on nothing less than business class and 5 star hotels; luxury cars and big houses; desirable salaries and bonuses (you are eyeing that corporate ladder, aren’t you!)… The list will go on and on. But, all of this is not the kind of ‘importance’ we are talking about. In fact, their importance is only ‘relative’. They are only important to others, in other words, others made them important. Their decisions, big or small, will directly or indirectly affect other people in the organization, especially people with less power and control. These decisions might impact someone’s yearly traveling plans or someone’s decision of putting their kids in a public school or private school. It is that literal.

Does the ‘position’ make someone important? Yes and no. Yes – a decision could make millions of dollars and it also could make the organization lose millions of dollars by a single misjudgment or big-headed-self-indulgence or pure ignorance. The position also has power that determines who gets what or who is not getting what. But, without that position, they are nothing but empty.    

Does the ‘international working experience’ make them important? Yes? I don’t know. How important are these so called ‘working experiences’? Apart from making the resume look good, does it make you a better person? Who do you want to impress? Will these experiences help you understand who you are and what you are made of? Is this the only way to prove yourself?

And the saddest thing is, most of us have been put up to these positions without thinking much, we roll and roll like a machine and we are so conditioned by the way it is. And other times, we either have no choice or very little choice. We’re stuck in this vacuum-like hemisphere. We are serving these positions, money-making machines and endless greediness.

Yes, I finally understood what is meant by ‘Big corporations are the big money-making machine’ and in that perceptive, we are the soulless servants who think we are so damn important.      

My questions to whoever is working for these big corporations; are you truly respected by your co-workers? Do you really love your job and what you do? What is the meaning of your job apart from the big paycheck? And, do you deserve it?  

Finally – are you all that important? 

“Am I mature?”

I can’t help but thinking about this question after last reckless drunken night. I thought I was. Maybe I am not. At least not as much as I thought.

Despite some general problems in life everyone faces and the occasional escapism that I experience, I considered myself a very mature person. However, matter of fact, it wasn’t maturity but combination of other stuff – level of EQ, street-smart, cleverness, self discipline and inquisitiveness etc

Yes, I am not mature, not at level I wished. This might also have implications on other areas, like how I handled some challenge situations in my marriage, which required a decent amount of maturity (especially you another half is also not as mature as you wished).

So, what’s maturity? It certainly doesn’t come with aging; is it boring? Is it another word for responsibility and self-control? Is it about cutting off your ‘edges’? What is it?      

There was this conversation I had with a dear friend of mine many years ago;

“If think of me as a drink, what drink I am?”

“You are a ‘Rose’ going to become ‘Red Wine’?”

“Really, why?”

“You are not quite ‘mature’ yet.”  

Guess I’m still not that ‘Red Wine’ after all these years, am I..  

Al asked me a question when I showed a subtle disappointment after I’ve been told that we will have to stay in Malaysia for at least another 2 years,

“Will it change, I mean even if we move to Australia or Singapore, it’s still me, I haven’t changed, will you be happier?”

It hits me, he is right. Probably is not where we are, really. My unhappiness, occasion dissatisfaction and wanting to escape… In fact, changes of environment will make the situation worse if some of the fundamental things haven’t been fixed.  

I was too eager to make a change and I thought changing places is the solution for all. Think again, it might not be entirely helpful. Since it is a fact that we will have to stay in Malaysia for another couple of years, I need to reengineer my next 2 year plans. 

It is probably a little too old to say this, but yes, I need to learn how to ‘Drink Responsibly’.  

I got really drunk after Google Map launch party on last Thursday. To be honest, I can’t remember the most idiotic part of the night, but I gathered that it wasn’t pretty – I must have fallen because my ankle hurt the next day.

Besides the hangover, I felt really REALLY bad the next few days. I can deal with the hangover, I can deal with writing the report with a spinning head, it is the sense of ‘losing control’ kills me.

I feel dull and foolish. This is so ‘yesterday’- I mean getting recklessly drunk to get that kind of excitement, I am/should so grown out of it by now! I can’t stop but feeling a little disappointed of myself.

I’d like to make a promise myself – never get that drink in future, NEVER.

This is the time for me to announce – I am officially retired from night scenes.