the Wild Hamster

I like to look at my blog.. because of the nice beach pic on top. Of course, that's why I put it there in the first place. Beach pics are so damn soothing. Or at least that's for me anyways.

Hope its the same for you as well, whomever you are that is here. Y' know.. middle of the afternoon.. feeling stressed.. just pull up this nice dreamy beach pic and gaze upon its splendour. Boo ya!

Just came back from phuket.. will post a detailed FR on it later when I got time. Now I got no time. So I come back later and do it.

Just came back from lunch. Man I'm stuffed. Thanks to me bosses of course.. Lunch with them always means one thing: Great food. Today, their son came for lunch as well, which was great. I happen to admire him a lot as he's very successful. Will I ever get to experience that as well? Probably. Which is the same as most likely not. Oh well, a man can dream can't he?

Had supper with Rake yesterday. Well actually he had supper and not me coz I had already eaten. As usual we went opposite his house for our food, drink and makan. Yesterday's session was pretty short though, coz when we met it was already 12mn. We spent the entire time talking about kung fu and the recession. Awesome combination, these topics are.

It's quite amazing how Rake became one of my super best buddies. We first met in Army through other friends. He was my classmate and sat at the opposite end of the table where I was sitting for our lessons. Truth be told, I never really talked to him till near the end of our course. That's when i realized we had a lot in common.

We were both losers and half-geeks. We had great passion for PC hardware and computer games, RPGs, science-fiction and fantasy... and documentaries. We are also two of the most unfit men around - couldn't jump, couldn't run, couldn't anything.

On the other hand, we were both terrific at enjoying our tea breaks. In our group, nobody appreciated culinary pleasures like we did, and after that we would head to the old arcade machine above the canteen to play some old-school aircraft games.. ah, the life!

Its been awesome having him around. He's dependable, witty, like-minded, utterly corrupt( most important), and isn't afraid to tell it like it is - a rare trait among men these days.

Ok, better not say too much else people think I'm going to do a Duan Bei.

Tonight.. X'mas rehearsals!

I feel that facebook is having a net negative influence on my life, in more than ways that anyone can fathom, including myself. But those few ways that I have already comprehended already makes me feel that I should not fb too much. Hence, I shall stop fubbing.

I shall redirect my textual inclination towards something more productive (I hope), like my stories. As a matter of fact, I have just created a new story though I think that its eventual publishing may cause some ruckus among the authorities. Should I continue with it? I guess I should.. but whether I'll release it or not is another matter.

Someone asked me the other day what I really wanted to do in life. I was shocked that I couldn't reply him. Well actually, I was only half shocked. Because I know I'm as confused as a hamster in a maze. What do I really want to do? I guess my difficult in answering this question is not a lack of options but rather too many of them. I feel like doing everything, though that's not how the World works.. sigh.

I read a report the other day on how the Wall Street peeps are getting millions in bonuses despite the recession. Where'd you think all that money comes from? Stolen from hard-working people that's what. Of course, those who got their fingers burnt should also shoulder some of the blame as they willingly let themselves be sucked into this money-sucking void.

At the end of the day, what's responsible is greed, and all of us are guilty for stoking these flames. Yes, all of us. Except maybe the Gregorian monks. Why? Here's a case in point:

I was having dinner with my SO (disclaimer: usage of this term does not imply that I am a flowerpod.com.sg fan, although I concede that I have been spending some time in their forums) yesterday at the city area and we overheard this guy trying to psycho his friend into joining him in his business. He said something like:

"I tell you ah, I only need to make one deal every few months, because I can get about $40,000 each time. Then after that I slack. Wake up late.. surf the net, do what I want. Damn shiok."

"Really meh?"

"Yah, I even use the money to buy a car, go holiday, do whatever I want. Not enough money then do more transaction lor."

One word: Glamourization, which invokes envy and further along the line motivates others to yearn and eventually work for that kind of lifestyle. Glamourization can be seen everywhere now - in the movies, in magazines, on TV, and many other places. I recall someone telling me that she saw a programme about the lifestyles of the richest youngest celebrities, the list of which includes -unsurprisingly- the Olsen twins, Miley Cyrus and Daniel Radcliffe. I wonder how many teenagers who watch this show are going to want the same things that the stars are enjoying. Maybe someone should tell them that for every one Daniel Radcliffe, there are hundreds of thousands more actors who fail.

Yeah sure, someone says that we should look at the half-full glass. I'm not opposing positivity, but I feel that we should also be realistic. Statistically speaking, someone's chances of being a Hollywood A-lister is lesser than striking Toto.

Anyway, I'm digressing. How many times have we talked to each other about oh, I'm going for this holiday and thinking of buying a new car, and gush about investing in new property and all that. I know because I have been guilty of it myself. How many minds do we seed with thoughts of envy? And in the follow-up, in the search for extravagance -we sometimes lose our rationality.

Of course, in this pursuit not everyone loses. No, not everyone. Only the smartest, the most scheming survives. In our society, it is represented by those who have held the reins of our economy - the high-powered finance executives who put those useless financial instruments together and sold them as if they were things of great value.

Then, they got their compensation and they walked away.

I pity most of all, those who are in the lower echelons. During times of excess, in the previous years of excessive growth, they did not benefit much from it. Instead, all they could do is watch from the sidelines as their superiors redistributed the lion's share of profits among themselves, then lived the high life, buying new cars, houses and other expensive things, with enough to put aside for rainy days.

Then, when the shit hits the fan, these same employees - who had played a part in helping their companies grow and had not shared in the spoils - get a pay cut, or worse, are retrenched. Ah, the joys of Capitalism - a word that describes nothing more than the intelligent and advantaged exploiting those who are not.