I started out on FB telling myself to only add or accept friends' requests from those that I already know so that I can establish lost friendship and also keep in touch with current friends. I tried my best to make sure I, at least, send a note to all my friends on FB. So far, it has worked fine.
Today, I am loosening some of the self imposed constraints and begin to accept friend request from people that I have not met directly.
Could this be the tipping point? It is time I made friends online as I can't seem to find time to do it 'offline' lately. I seem to know more about my friends' whereabouts and activities through FB anyway as compared to actual physical interactions such as hanging out having coffee or going bowling etc.
Hmm .. if I make a statement like that does that mean I am more optimistic compared to someone who say that the glass is half empty? To a practical observer, the result is the same as the amount of water in the glass is the same no matter how I say it. Anyway, there are a lot of issues running through my mind lately that seems to influence my brain's CPU downtime. I wanted to write about it for quite some time now but I know there is no way I can fully expressed it properly in words. So I won't be writing about it then but for now, I just want to explore others things that may or may not be related to the original intent of me trying to write this blog. Confused? Don't worry ... it is intentional!
Have any of you thought about the term World Champion? For example Best Driver in F1 or Best FIFA World Player for 2008? Is this really true and does the person who won that coveted title really is the best person in the field for that particular year? Or it sexiest man alive is really the sexiest man ALIVE? Or is the world record holder for 100 meter dash is the fastest man on earth?
According to http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html, the total population of the World, projected to 11/24/08 at 15:40 GMT (EST+5) is 6,739,036,009. Is Lewis Hamilton really the best F1 driver for 2008? Yes the statement is true as Lewis Hamilton did indeed beat the rest of the F1 lineup for 2008. I can imagine there must be another person who can, if given the right training program and equal equipment, beat Lewis Hamilton. Another example is Usain Bolt. Is he really the fastest man on earth just because he is holding the world record? Yes, he is the fastest man who happens to hold the fastest recorded time in an atheletic event. But is there REALLY no one else who can run faster than Usain Bolt if that person gets similar regimented training and exposure?
What I am trying to say here is that there is no such thing as an ultimate or perfect person in this world. My highest IQ score was 148 which I got when I took the test in the US and the latest score I took was 132 (as shown in FB). Therefore, it is safe to assume that I am a smart person but I am sure there are smarter people out there. In fact, three out of fifteen of my friends have higher IQs than me, according to IQ Test results on FB. And if I compare my Who Has the Biggest Brain game score, I am nowhere close to the best in the World. Disturbing, right? But the thing is even the person with the best score on FB is not necessary the best because there are other people out there that are not on FB or do not have access to FB. Imagine that! So I should remind myself not to call anyone dumb because to another smarter person, I am dumb! And since this world is continuously changing and evolving, the person I called dumb a minute ago could be smarter than me in the future.
There are a lot of other questions that go through my mind and it seems to be growing exponentially. It feels like someone just sent me an e-mail bomb filled with those questions.
I know I am hardworking but I know someone close to me called me lazy ...
I know I am a smart person but I know people calling me uneducated ...
I think I am a fit person (more on the chubby side :-)) but I have heard people calling me fat ...
I try very hard to be a kind person all the time but people tend to remember the mean things I did occasionally....
I believe my Islamic values are still very strong but many has considered me as a lost cause just because I lack the discipline to pray 5 times a day ... they may be right, I don't know. Wallahuallam ..
I think I am a good dad but I am sure there are those who beg to differ ... :-)
Sure, I strive to be as good as I possibly can but I know I will never be perfect. Just like I know that ..
My eyesight is close to be crappy but I am thankful that I still can see and enjoy the beautiful sights with the glasses on, of course.
My legs are huge and flabby at the moment but I am thankful that I can still walk and go places without much problems.
My face may not be good looking but at least I have a face that both my sons can recognise and smile when they see it.
My money in the bank may not be as much as I want it to be but at least I don't have to go to the streets to beg for it.
My car is not a Ferrari or a Maserati Quartroporte but it does bring my family safely from point A to point B and return safely.
Like I said earlier, there is so much things to write but I can't seem to put them together properly. Nevertheless, I am thankful to what I have .. a wonderful wife who I love with all my heart, the two most adorable and wonderful boys that no words can express how much I love and care for them, my true friends who have seen me through difficult and happy times, and of course, my simple yet interesting worldly possessions that help me keep up with my daily life. So yes .. my glass is definitely half full! Alhamdulillah!
Provide short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump
Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars -- cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon -- on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
My father told me in August this year that 2009 will be a very bad year according to some Chinese beliefs. I just nodded and brushed his comments aside thinking that it is still too early to think of 2009 back then.
To tell you the truth, the idea of going through bad period in time crossed my mind many times before that as I noticed the trend for tough and difficult times did come and go every decade or so. So with the oil prices increasing exponentially to almost $150 per barrel in July and sound financial sectors began showing signs of cracks because of the subprime mortgage crisis in the US, I knew someone has already threw s**t in the air and it was about to hit the fan. But I thought, maybe the s**t will miss the fan because in this decade, we just had September 11 ....
Splat! (S**t definitely his the fan and it is all over the place) Lehman Brothers go down really hard on September 15. Damn ... not even a month after my dad told me that bad and nasty thing would happen in the financial sector! Again .. trying to be positive, I foolishly thought that it may be an isolated event because both Europe and Japan seemed to indicate that they are somewhat shielded from the s**t that just splattered all over US. In other words, they could prevent or avoid the Domino effect from US financial sector from affecting them. Well, we all know what happened!!
Here I am ... sitting in front of the computer screen supposedly worrying about the melting rate of iceberg in the Antartic due to global warming (I am currently taking Environmental Management and Policy Masters programme), I too now have to worry about the global financial meltdown that one way or another will affect me and my family even more compared to the melting iceberg in Antartic. Don't get me wrong .. I am still concerned about what impact might the melting of the iceberg be on my children's future here on Earth but the uncertainties from the global financial meltdown is definitely affecting us now.
So winter is just around the corner where I am now ... the days are getting shorter and gloomier. Many people get depressed during winter months and based from my experience living in Switzerland, Japan and now Austria, suicide rate increases during winter. Then comes the global credit crunch that just sent stocks market around the world spiralling down adding to the misery for those about to go through the cold and gloomy winter. Just recently on Monday this past week, a person (I believe it was a guy) lied down on the railway tracks near my office at 6 am attempting to commit suicide. The train driver manning the express train from Salzburg to Vienna was alert and managed to stop the fast moving train thus foiling this person's attempt to take away his precious life. However, this incident paralysed the whole rail network operating between Vienna and Salzburg for more than an hour thus causing more misery to daily commuters heading to their workplace on that chilly Monday morning.
The stream of bad and miserable news seemed unending and any sign of hope was nowhere to be seen or heard of until November 2nd when a good friend, Vic, wrote on a note in his FB site. A note, entitled I got the girl, to his wife and his family on his 11th wedding anniversary ... a note worth sharing with all of you.
Today marks our 11th anniversary! In contrast to the celebrations we've had before, it's becoming more of a family affair.. As in with kids in tow. But, we feel that the anniversary marks the birth of this family, and hence, the celebration should include everyone that is part of this family.It wasn't anything spectacular... Just dinner, with the boys, both of whom were feeling under the weather, but happy to be included nonetheless. To be honest, it wouldn't have been the same without them along. Today also makes me look back at the road that both Jasmine & I have taken. It has not been easy, and neither will it be easy from here on. The future is uncertain, and I for one have been having doubts about a number of things, mainly professionally. As I silently watched my kids and wife tonight, there were mixed feelings.. Fear and panic was one.. for would I be able to provide for all of them in the years to come?
However, I was also infinitely grateful for my brood. For it is the single thing that grounds me, and makes me want to go on. The smiling faces of my wife and children serve as affirmation of the reason I'm alive. More so, now that No.3 is well on the way. I know, whatever happens, they will be there for me.. to save me. So this note is a tribute to my tireless wife, my personal confidante, my patient lover, my beautiful protector, my hero, my saviour.. I may not be the easiest person to live with, but I promise to try to the day I die .. Come what may, whatever life may throw at us, whatever obstacles crop up.. at least.. I got the girl.
Simple, honest and yet beautifully written by my friend to his wife of 11 years and his lover for more than 15 years. Amongst all the s**t that is flying around after hitting the fan, a sliver of hope can be seen as a man, a lover, a husband and a father professes his love to his family and holding on to hope no matter the obstacles. A small beacon of hope from Malaysia and I am sure there are many more individuals out there loving each other ... as love is definitely the best placebo to 'heal' misery and depression. For some, this may seem like a light at the end of the tunnel ..
Then came November 5, a bright flash of hope, in the form of a man riding on a vessel called US Presidential election, inundated the world. Joyus moments were in the air at Grand Park, Chicago when Barrack Obama gave an awe inspiring victory speech. People all around the world also rejoiced this historical moment in the US election history as it gives hope to people that change is possible. His political campaign tagline "Yes we can" gives hope to people that he, as the President of USA with the involvement of every individual with sense of patriotism and responsibility to not only help oneselves but also each other to climb out of the pit filled with problems such as planet in peril and the worst financial crisis in a century. Let's hope that through his leadership and fulfillment of his promise, the nation can start healing ... despair around the world will start ebbing and the future of our children becoming brighter. A daunting task for any person even for President elect Obama and such changes may not happen soon but his victory is the first sign of change. So if everyone do their bit with sense of ownership in making their children's future sustainable without adversely affecting others, then YES WE CAN.
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