The TV, My Teacher

Snitched a quote from some Singaporean channel
while telly watching over Merdeka weekend last year.
(I was in Muar at the time. Click here and here to read.)

"What is eternal life with only
memories of your loved ones?"

That made me think, you know. Isn't this a sad way to make it through the remaining parts of life? To have a glorious past to remember and to think fondly of... but not a future to behold. I can't see myself living a life held together by memories alone.


There needs to be something there for me to look forward to every day. There needs to be stimulation that will grow my memory bank. And not keep it stagnant or deplete it as the days and years go by.


I want more than I already have. (And no, it's not me being greedy or anything.) It's just that if there's no growth, then where does that leave me? What does that make me? An empty shell? What?

A vessel with a great portfolio...
and zero potential – that's what.

The more I think about it, the more I realise that I see it in the lives of many successful people. Those who've chased power, glory and riches... and forgotten their roots, only to leave behind the things that really matter. The things that used to matter to them. Like friends. And family. And loved ones.


And no matter how much richer and more popular they are compared to me, I pity them. Because they've gained the world and lost what really counts. You see, it's the people you invest in that, in turn, invest into your memory bank. They grow it. With dividends and interest. Your best interests. And if and when you have none of that, you have nothing.


Some people find traveling alone deeply fulfilling. They say that it brings self growth. Though I believe that it's true to some extent, I wouldn't want to try it. Because to me, it's not the place that makes the memory. It's the people you're with who make those memories with you. You wouldn't want a brilliant sunrise with nobody by your side to enjoy it with, right? You wouldn't wanna laugh at a street comedian with nobody to join you in laughter when you suddenly remember it again later in the day, right?


I know I've strayed from the quote somewhat but it's brought me so much further from where I stopped thinking. You see, I stopped building memories when I started working. Sure, my colleagues are great and I have heaps of fun with them. Good memories I'll remember for years and years to come, even. But there are so many other friendships I've neglected because of my hours at work. And I need to start investing them again. Because my memory box hasn't been invested in for awhile. Its contents stopped growing.


I'm glad I've got the DGMB-ians. They're pretty much the only friends I don't work with whom I have communication with daily. They remind me of my life before work began. They remind me of the friendships I used to have. And they remind me that work isn't everything. That success is pretty much trivial if, because of it, your social world crumbles.

Thanks, guys. I'm glad that our spur-of-the-moment,
tiba-tiba-tengok-wayang-bersama friendship has grown. =)

So here's to friends. And here's to friendship.
And here's to the people I don't see as often
as I'd like to, but whom I still dearly miss.

I miss the special people in church I used to have time for. I miss my college groups of friends. I haven't seen The Back Row Committee as a whole group since, like, forever. My Degree mates? Well, long gone and some so very far away now. (Malacca's pretty far. Thank goodness there's Skype, eh, babe? =p) I miss my highschool mates. The ones whom I now only meet once a year. (Pathetic, I know.) I miss my highschool tuition mates. The Chinese-speaking ones and the English-speaking ones alike. I miss the folk who used to actively spam communicate online in the SRKBL 6 Cempa Forum (that barely lasted a year). I miss them all.

It's time I get my social life back on track.
But right now... I gotta get to work. =(