There are no shortcuts!

NEVER trust someone else to finish an important job for you, EVEN WHEN they are paid to do it!!

It is always easy to promise and say words that are music to ones ears, but the sad fact is that people are often built with bigger mouths than balls, bigger butts than brains... perhaps I have also been too comfortably sitting on my butt too much to let the Malaysian High Commission pull this one on me. Apparently all that promise to help me settle my NS deferment issue was just a bad joke and now I am left to fend for myself a month later.

Sigh, what did i really expect when they say they would do it, should have saw this coming and chased them up. Another hard pill to swallow, but a valuable lesson i will not forget... Lesson of the day? Make sure you know whats going on with all the important projects in your life! There is no short cut to getting it done, the surest way is still through your own hands!

When times are rough, remember the good times;
When times are good, remember the rough days...

Remember the Road

The test of a man's strength is within those quiet moments where he has only himself to face, where masks cannot hide lies and each emotion does not escape his own mind.

Strength is not created within the scenarios where a man stands out to achieve and command, but forged quietly within the moments where you have only yourself to face.

The very first step outwards towards a road pursuing dreams and happiness, starts by the moment you answer to yourself. Not with the fancy words you hear from TV or read from the lines of epic plays, it is when you can tell yourself the meaning of your core, the weight of the things you want to protect and your reason to not lose your ground in defending them.

Understand that peace can only be achieved by giving every action your all, not hoping to merely pass it with minimal effort. At this point in time, there is no clearer goal or dream for you. Any half baked achievement is worse than a failure... for you will be stuck with it while wishing you could have done better. Failure, may be the first experience prior to success, but accepting failure all the time will dull the spirit. Failure is not merely another experience, it is a sign that you are not good enough to strike where you aim. If you still hold those dreams dear and true, never give up, train on and get it the next time!

Seek peace through excellence, seek self through honesty. May these words remind me again and again of a journey yet incomplete but worthwhile to march on ahead.

A gift to count on

If God gave us humans a gift to brave all these in life, it will be the spirit to never give in, never give up.

For the many numerous nights we have to face in doubt, fear and loneliness, we are given the strength to be relentless, to be compassionate, to be human as we stand our ground and fight for our own dreams and believes.

Nothing out there is an end to our means, the one real obstacle we will face is the one planted in our own hearts... our own fears and faked believes that led us to doubt the might of our true strength and positive convictions.

May the learning curve of life guide us towards our relentless pursuit of happiness and soul searching, to answer to questions of why are we here and what does it truly mean to be happy and satisfied to laugh at the end of 100 human years.

Don't stop, keep moving. Press on, keep learning!

Post inspired by the movie Defiance, starring the might of human will, conviction and passion in the cruelty and darkness during the Jewish exodus of WWII.

《唔鸣曲》

人在江湖，歌能多久？
血滴剑光，何足杯酒？
黑白面风，冰雪成梦，
白鹤东飞，西光独龙。。。

歌舞轻抚琵琶曲，闺女嘴角笛声幽，
双剑银光迎风鸣，游侠独舞花安知？

黄沙飞尘虽路卷，万里足迹何人连？
醉步糊踩人间道，酒醒方明路仍遥。

山水直泻何清秀？ 壮士腾血放逍遥！
秋影启奏问情歌 ， 雨丝绵绵绘心图。

演唱无名，沧海恭听，
神情自定，此曲唔鸣！

I wish..

I wish I can be wiser, to be less selfish and to love more

I wish I can be braver, to ask for forgiveness and say I am sorry

I wish I can be kinder, to remember all the sacrifices you gave to take me here

I wish I can be better, to thank you with all my gratitude

I pray I will be stronger, to be the pillar, to be the shield

I pray for the wisdom, that will teach me not to hurt

& I pray for the guidance, to bear my destiny as me and as a son...

The Pursuit of Happiness

There are some things that touch you more than other things, especially after experiencing an event that can be related to to that very thing that touches you in the core of your heart.

Three days ago, I was in high spirits. Life is flowing at a pace so harmonious that I swear everyday is like a dance. That frame in time, everything was perfect. I felt that my future is secure, the potential forward was endless when I received an email from my company about receiving their call soon to discuss graduate positions. Those words were magical music notes to my eyes and I believed that my first step into the next phase of life will now materialize in the form of an engineering consultant, something that I wholeheartedly believe will take me towards my dreams of being involved in great projects, meet great people, travel and broaden my horizons once again. It was a moment I had been waiting for this one year since receiving their news that my job commencement will be delayed to next year, and its never sweeter to receive an email like that, an affirmation, a celebration.

I woke up the next day, feeling bright and sunny. I looked back at all the things that I learned within this year and smiled, I knew I had came far. The swell of ecstasy and happiness visible as I kept clearing my throat, all prepared, coffee mug in hand, I awaited the phone call that will change my life, I will finally become a mechanical engineer!

In that moment of time, there are some powers at work that definitely exceed human expectations and our convictions. Somehow, there are somethings that are meant to happen, no matter how many good indicators we received before it. As my little morning unfolds, I got the phone call. I was informed that I had been made redundant. Apparently they reevaluated their need for mechanical engineers and the services of graduates are no longer required. After all that hype about telling us to hold on for a year, I am, to them just another name on the list, something that you can select and delete in Excel. I must confess that I did not feel much pain during that time, and it took another day before I realized how much had I planned next year based on the assumption that I have the job. Thats only when I felt disappointed at my own sense of security, and that I haven't been facing my world realistically at all, no matter how much I believed I did before all these.

Two days has passed since that morning I might not be so quick to forget. I just finished watching a show called "The Pursuit of Happiness", a film acted by Will Smith. Its a fantastic film about a single, jobless father taking care of his 5 year old son after he has lost it all in a failed business plan. The story depicts extraordinary hardship and an unfathomably tough journey unimaginable by me. While his story began without a car, without a house, with 21 dollars in his bank and with all the responsibilities a father has to a child, mine began with everything he did not have, more of anything he has, and less of everything he has to do. It takes contrast to send a clear message, and I am once again touched by the story of Chris Gardner, a true story of the twists in life...

I am writing this to remind myself that life is not an event to be totally planned for and that nothing is as bad as it seems. While I have a wide range of choices that seem to be a headache when it comes to selecting one, some people do not have any choices at all. While things will definitely stuff up at some point in life, there is also no point brooding for them. Life is a pursuit of happiness, and the important word is pursuit.

What that does not kill you makes you stronger. I am glad that I can now at least make peace with a chapter of my life. My pursuit goes on ahead. Theres no such thing as a lasting bad moment, I believe that there will be still a good journey ahead. Fight on! At least now I have another chance to reorganize next year's plans based on what I have learned this year.