Goodbye to you, as you leave for a colder place,

keep that smile always on your face.

Wake up each morning and smell the cold breeze,

but make sure not too much, or else you'll sneeze.

You'll be missed, by everyone here,

those who have been close to you, and kept you so dear.

Goodbyes are only for a little while,

so when we meet again, make sure you smile.

Always be healthy, make sure you're good,

eat every day and get enough food.

Sing and dance when you feel lonely,

or dream that you're running off on a pony.

But whatever you do, make sure you remember,

that even though now it's already September,

You'll be in our minds every month of the year,

Because seas may be far but hearts can be near,

If only you remember everyone of us here.

Yahoo! announced today the top 5 In-Demand majors to study in college now.

According to the report: "What's on employer wish lists? Based on the latest job-offer facts and findings, the most in-demand bachelor's degrees may surprise you, or even have you reconsider your chosen field of study."

Apparently, the number 1 thing to study now that will get you rich quicker, is Mechanical Engineering. You can roughly make about US$58,000 a year being a mechanical engineer in the United States. I wonder how much a mechanical engineer makes in Malaysia.


Number 2 goes to Accounting - you can make around US$50,000. "For those who delight in number crunching, a bachelor's degree in accounting can lead to occupations in financial and investment planning, budget analysis, tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll services, and auditing." Not bad for an accountant nowadays. Still, for that kind of money, it's not something I'd want to study. I'll screw up your accounts so badly, you would lose money overnight.


Finance is the number 3 most In-Demand major. "...must feel comfortable with money markets, tax laws, and the workings of the economy, and have good communication skills to explain complex strategies and concepts." I am comfortable with money, but not really with money markets.


Number 4 - Business Administration/Management. With a degree in this field, you could see yourself earning about US$45,000.


And number 5? Civil Engineering. "Civil engineering is considered one of the oldest engineering disciplines, attracting those who are analytical by nature." I am analytical by nature. "These professionals must simultaneously be inquisitive, detail-oriented, and interested in the big picture." Inquisitive - OK for me. Detail-oriented, I could be. The big picture? Sure, why not. Earn about US$51,ooo a year? Sure, who wouldn't want that kind of money.


Guess I should have done Civil Engineering.

Also, the top 5 In-Demand majors now are either business-related, or some sort of engineering. No wonder I don't make enough money!

As a little cute child, I had lots of toys to play with - including those of which were passed down to me from my sister. Still, I always had some fun interesting stuff to keep me company at home: Lego, colouring books, little toy soldiers, toy guns, my favourite Zorro costume, the costumes (which included weapons) of all four Ninja Turtles, and other plastic toys like He-Man. I even had the Thundercats sword that would light up when you pressed it (battery-operated, of course).


Even so, with all this materialism, there still came a time when my imagination was the greatest toy to play with. And with imagination, I managed to explore so much more than just walking around the house fighting evil villains (like my sister) in my Zorro costume.

I have vivid memories of what I used to do at home to pass my time.

I remember a time when I owned my own restaurant. The location would sometimes move around - from my bedroom, to the kitchen, and to the garden sometimes when I felt like opening up my own roadside stall. My bedroom restaurant would consist of my desk that was my cooking area. In fact, looking back now, I don't think I ever had any customers - real or imaginary. I just remember cooking dish after dish, and that was fun enough. Food, of course, was made of plasticine. Still, I cooked up good dishes once in a while. Good enough to allow me to have enough money to open up my other shop down in the kitchen, where I would sell lovely desserts made of tap water mixed with soap. I'd prepare them and pack them to sell. Orders would come in the hundreds on good days. Sometimes I'd be so busy, I'd sell my dessert in this nice pink Tupperware water bottle, unaware whose water bottle it was until overhearing my sister complaining the next day to my mum that she couldn't drink her water in school because her water had a Jif smell to it. Oops! :)

When the food business wasn't attractive anymore, I'd move on to some other entertainment. I had my own TV show called Viewpoints. I got the name from a book that was on one of the book shelves in the house. The show talked about life in Malaysia and around the world - news, views, opinions, and matters that mattered. I hosted the show, and my guests were, well, nobody you'd know.

Later on, my friends and I got together to make a movie with my family's video camera. The movie was titled "The Unexpected Gift". I wrote the script together with another friend. There was no soundtrack; characters were few; and scenes were shot in only one location. But still, the film was good enough to be discussed on Viewpoints :)

I used to invite friends over to play treasure hunt. Being who I am, I'd create the clues, plan the obstacles, and enjoy the fun while everyone else ran around trying to find the treasure. I once had a treasure hunt based on an unsolved mystery. While finding the clues, they had to figure out slowly who the murderer was in my story. I gave them puzzles and signs to help find out the answer to this gruesome mystery. Other treasure hunts included my victims having to run around the house the whole day, not knowing that I didn't even have any treasure for them in the end. The thrill was thrilling enough to thrill me.

Some days I'd be a teacher. I had a whole syllabus of what to teach, and then I'd proudly walk into my classroom and start teaching my invisible students. Teaching was always fun. Even today.

On days that I felt like releasing the musician in me, I'd put in a CD into my sister's old hi-fi set, grab a music book, and then while the music on the CD was being played, pretend to conduct the orchestra. I enjoyed it because the orchestra never made mistakes and I could always count on them to give everyone a good show. When that got boring, I would turn to more intellectual activities like re-arranging songs for choirs.

Oh, and for a while, I owned my own University. I think it was called Lucien University. I designed brochures and I even had a whole list of courses offered. I had a logo for the University, and I designed how the campus looked like. I had to meet up parents who wanted to enroll their children in this prestigious University, and sometimes these parents would ask so many questions I would just get annoyed and walk downstairs to watch TV for a while. No wonder no students ever enrolled in the end.

There were other little things I did to make life more meaningful. For example, when my bunch of friends came over to play, we'd make up fake political parties, design our logos, make ourselves a flag for our party, give speeches, and then have an election. And, like in real life, when disagreements arose within our fake country, we'd have war. We would play in the compound outside my house and then declare war. No one ever lost or won. It always ended peacefully with a cold cup of Ribena.

The things I did for fun and pleasure :)


There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.

Perhaps one of the most recognizable lines to say sometimes when referring to life, comes from a movie that depicts life from so many heartfelt angles: Forrest Gump. In a very memorable scene in the movie, Forrest Gump is at the bus stop with a box of chocolates in his hands. He utters this familiar quote that has almost become a cliché, if it hasn’t already—”Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get”.

No explanation is really needed as to why everyone remembers this quote up till today. Basically, in some ways, it summarizes the very essence of how life treats us: with full of surprises. We expect to bite into a creamy soft piece of caramel-filled chocolate, but instead get something very different, like mint (assuming you are eating a box of multi-flavored chocolates - but still, you get the point). It is very interesting that life can be analogized to a box of chocolates. And like chocolates, life can be sweet or bitter.

Indeed, life can be full of surprises. It is hard to predict what could happen next in our lives. Our finances may be secure this month, and start to get shaky the next. Our families might look ideal for a few years, and suddenly someone decides to rebel. A friend of family member might be healthy one moment, and before you know it, they might be suffering from a terminal illness or facing death. That's when your forget about the chocolates quote, and the even more famous quote comes to play: "Life sucks!"

While it is good to remain positive in life, and keep an optimistic outlook at all times, it is also realistic to accept the fact that yin and yang coexist. Unexpected events may suddenly slap our faces without warning, and we may be stuck, not having a single clue where to go and what to do. Then another quote takes the throne: "Shit happens!"

When this occurs, many people fall into depression, sometimes without even realizing that depression has already started to creep in quietly. It is possible to start feeling blue, or down, or simply just sad. Negative emotions start to take control, and because life took an unexpected turn somewhere else without any prior and clear indication, we feel like we have lost control over our own lives. It happens to everyone, some way or another. That's when the quote shortens itself to: "Shit!" and then it may evolve into something more vulgar.

The truth is that life is not supposed to be perfect. The surprises in life, whether good or bad, help build up our confidence and our strength. Albert Einstein even once said that "There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Putting Einsteinian philosophical concepts aside, it's good to remember that there will always come a time when we see and feel the calm after the stormy weather. And that's when a quote will not be needed. All you'll need is a smile.

Or some people will smile, and still insist on saying something, like: "yeah baby!"


"Same shit, different day - SSDD"

8.8.8 - a day that, supposedly, is good to get married, give birth, start a business, or open the Beijing Olympics.

To the Chinese - whose culture is undoubtedly steep in superstition and ancient beliefs - the number Eight brings forth prosperity and wealth, in all aspects of life. It is no wonder that the Beijing Olympic Games this year had its opening ceremony at 8:08:08pm on 8.08.08. Good luck should be floating in the air with all those 8s.

Eight is a composite number. And semantics aside, we all know how often this number is used in Feng Shui - the "wind water" that greatly affects architecture and landscaping. Coincidentally, 8 is the atomic number of oxygen - and we all know how important oxygen is. But let's not get carried away. Let's focus on Feng Shui, where laws of astronomy, geography, geomancy, art, and design, are all linked with health, wealth, energy, and long-lasting life.

Firm believers in Feng Shui believe that metaphysical energies, or Qi, can affect our well-being. Feng Shui is used to rid off illnesses and maladies, and businesses make use of Feng Shui to create better money flow.

While many of us see Feng Shui as some sort of pseudoscience, it is interesting to note that many Asian countries (and slowly, more Western countries too) design their cities and major buildings according to the laws of Feng Shui.

In order to generate an optimal flow of energy, the city of Singapore was designed to ensure that every angle of its major buildings was designed to bring in good fortune. It might have worked, seeing how well Singapore is doing for such a small island nation. Following the traditional practice of Feng Shui, the CHIJMES building in Singapore was designed to follow the shape of a dragon, with restaurants at both the head and tail.

In Malaysia too, many malls like Pavilion and Mid Valley are designed based on Feng Shui symbols. Mid Valley's roof, for example, is shaped like BaGua. In Pavilion, the number 8 warmly greets and welcomes you as you enter.


While the number 8 is infinitely lucky (the infinite symbol!), it did worry some of the Chinese citizens when the May 12 earthquake shook news networks worldwide. Why? May 12 was just 88 days before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. May 12: 5+1+2 = 8. The March 14 protest against the Chinese rule in Tibet brings you again to the number 8: 3+1+4.

Still, the number 8 will forever be a lucky number for whoever believes it to be.

I hope your 8.8.8 was a great day, with lots of positivity, and more importantly, prosperity. I know one thing's for sure, millions of people got married on this eightful day.


"The energy that rides the winds stops at the edge of water and is retained."