living for the moment

People always say live for the moment. When the moment arrives, joy will overflow. I agree. But to live solely for the moment, I find that a disastor waiting to happen. How can you live everyday waiting for some magical moment while doing absolutely nothing to improve your chances of that happening. Striking the lottery may be easier. At least you put effort into queueing up for the ticket. I do not understand how some people can be so stupid. Lazy or optimistic would be their preferred choice of description.

I believe in remembering the past, living for the future and waiting for the moment. Since I have been living by these 3 principles, I have experienced success to certain degrees. Yes it is true that when the moment arrives, the success you achieve will be beyond your wildest imagination.


Principle 1: Remember the past
I learn from my mistakes so I will not commit them again in the future. Whatever mistakes another does in the past, I will remember because no one can say they have forgotten. But I will try not to bring it up to affect my judgment of the present. It is simply not fair to judge a person solely based on their past. But this is an unfair world.



Principle 2: Live for the future
Don't just sit there and wait. Work for it. Create opportunities for the moment to appear. As a Christian, God saved us by grace but not so that we can go back to living in our evil past. We have salvation but we must show gratitude to be good examples of his followers. In the same way, we must create options for the pass, if not the goal will never come.

Principle 3: Wait for the moment
This principle I cannot explain because it is too simple.

Where have the originals gone?

Everyday as I take the train back, I can't help but people-watch. Yes, the art so many Singaporeans have perfected. Both eyes staring straight down into oblivion but at the same time curiously observing people so that their comments list can be lengthened.

At first glance, it would be easy to spot the originals from the crispys, or so you think. The crispys have since integrated themselves so much into our culture that some look down-right original. You can no longer judge the flavour by looking at the skin. You need to taste to know the flavour.

It is very simple once the chicken opens its skin. The flavour cannot be wrong. No matter how hard you cook it, crispys remain crispy and originals still shine through with their spices.

So where have all the originals gone to? We are now left with a nation eating crispys and no one to support the originals. Remember the spices. They are the ones who brought glory to the name. The crispys may have caused the franchise to go global but it is the original that gives us the name.

Re-living the last day of WW1

November 11, 1918 will forever be remembered as the last day of the First World War. The day the rest of the world heaved a sigh of relief while some power-hungry war maniacs carried out some unforgiveably stupid acts. Was there a need to push on even though the end of war was eminent? Why weren't the troops informed of the impending end? Most crucially, hardly any senior ranking officers fought on that crucial but pointless 11th hour.

Put into perspective the lives we live today. Are we not committing the same mistakes as those senior officers? Are we not guilty of pushing the lower, dispensible foot soldiers to take unnecessary risks while the top vie for greater honours from the comfort of the plush roller-chairs? There is no denying that some great leaders that the share of the blame, if the not the greater, when things fail. That is the minimum of responsibility one should take when leading out a task. However, the danger is the development in the trend of up and coming leaders who seek to replace the topnotch. Because the topnotch is obviously not going to go so soon, the struggle for supremecy becomes heated up as the affluence of the new generation means more candidates for the same number of positions. Dog eat Dog? More like Dog devour Dog.

There needs to be in place a system of renewal with fair chances to all who strive for success. Or at least opportunities for growth should one fail. With that abundance of talent, why not create a new position? Then again, that would be utopic. We live to fight with one another. If not, how can we improve.

P.R.C.

Haven't made any entries in a while because I had someone to talk to and so did not the need to express myself to a reaction-less environment.

I recently made an interesting discovery which I believe the people who heard me did not quite catch. I only discovered it myself a few days later. When asked to describe who I was, I described myself as Practical, Realistic and Calculative. It would of course backfire at a joyous later event.

I've always prided myself as a practical and realistic person. Recently, I developed the calculative nature after several disappointments in our moral system forced me to think harder about my present future. Just like the ideals, I seek equality in treatment and pure democracy and meritocracy, fully understanding that the pure-ness of both would ultimately result in anarchy. But it is the jealousy of unequal treatment that drives me in my thoughts.

But, on the lighter side, these powerful symbols are often idolized on t-shirts and logos worn by people who do not really bother about governance issues promoting an anarchaic world.