Thinking back when we were young, we had great ambition and really pushed ourselves to the limit in achieving our dreams. Most of us small town boys and girls tend to dream about living in big cities. We wanted great jobs, city girlfriends/boyfriends, excitement, entertainment, challenges, risks and willing to face all kind of dangers in the cities to achieve our goals. Regardless whether we achieved the goal or not, as we grow older, we tend to get sick of the hectic stressful expensive lifestyle in the cities and longed to return to our small towns. We learn to appreciate simplicity of life, friendliness of small town folks and easy-going nature of life in small towns.
I remember a friend told me to returned to my hometown, Kangar, to work after graduation. He told my parents, "Wouldn't it be good to have your son living with you?". I dismissed his opinion as instantly as junks picking up from the dustbin. Telling myself that it was so easy for him to suggest a ridiculous idea just because he had a family business to run and he could remained in my hometown so easily. I would probably be jobless for the industry I was in as IT industry was almost non-existence in my hometown. Today I think if I took his advice and started my own business in IT industry, I could be doing better and happier as a pioneer in my hometown. Furthermore, my parents would not have to shift to Penang against their wish.
There are a lot of things mentioned by someone less educated but they make sense to me now.
1. One night, as I returned from work almost midnight. I probably looked tired, frustrated, angry and stressful. A security guard I met at the car park told me in Malay, "Come and join me working as a security guard. Life is much simpler. Look at yourself! Working so hard and make your life so difficult. Look at me, I am just sitting around". I know that his suggestion may seem ridiculous because the salary of a security won't allow me to feed my family, but don't you think his opinion makes sense too? Why do we work our asses off till we fall sick and grumpy just to make a living? Is it worth it?
2. I also remember having a conversation with an elderly Malay lady. We started a conversation our of boredom while I was waiting for someone. Somehow our conversation led to her asking whether I was married. I answered, "No" (I was still single at that point of time). She asked, "Why not?". I answered, "No money". I expected the topic to end but she gave me a lecture that career could come later and marriage should come first. She told me something I remember till today, "You will push yourself harder as you have a family. The career will grow automatically eventually". I dismissed her opinion as outdated village people's idea at that point of time. Today, I think it makes sense because if you start a family only when your career is successful, you may not have sufficient time to generate offspring. Just look at the situation of most of the Chinese community in Malaysia/Singapore. How many of us are childless?
When we were young, wild, restless and dangerous, we dismissed a lot of opinion from elderly folks and less educated folks. I guess we were more arrogant but time will prove us wrong.
