With Passion

I was just reading an interview done by The Star with Martin Yan.

For those of you who don’t know, Martin Yan is one the earliest TV celebrity chefs around for the last few decades. He’s also the most successfully Chinese celebrity chef I can think of in the western world. Kinda like Jackie Chan, but in cooking instead of Kung Fu.

I used to watch him on TV when I was a kid. His knife skills are unbelievable. Watch him slice through a tomato and you’ll start to think that perhaps cutting vegetables isn’t all that lame after all.

Nothing extraordinary about the interview. But I really liked it when he said this “when you are passionate about what you do, work becomes a pleasure. I am willing to do it for free”…

How many people do you know are currently earning a living doing something they are passionate about? I’d say that 95% of us are doing what we do because that’s our job. And that’s our job because earlier, that’s what we studied. And that’s what we studied because our parents (or we) though it would give us a decent, steady job. So we all got exactly what we were looking for… but we still got it wrong.

I met someone who was a copywriter not too long ago. I sat down and shook her hand and said “You have, what I would imagine would be my dream job. You write, and you get paid for it.” The response? “You must be joking.” Later I found out that even though writing WAS her passion, being a copywriter isn’t quite the same as being a ‘writer’ in the purest sense. You had to write what other people tell you to write, not what you want to write. Sounded more like a typist if you asked me.

Seldom do you find people who are actually passionate about what they do. When you do, you know it instantly. No one can ever talk about something their passionate about, and not exude a certain sparkle in their eyes and enthusiasm in their voice. For the rest of us, the thing we do are at best ‘somewhat interesting’, or at worst ‘so f**king boring’.

Whenever I get to know someone new I like to ask them this question:

“What’s your passion?”

And there are ever only 2 kinds of response… those that answer in a heartbeat… and those that go “My passion ar??? ermmmmMMM“. And on that alone, you can usually guess just how well a person knows themselves.

Either way, I love listening to the answers people have for that question. Whatever it turns out to be – coffee, cars, stock market, women’s clothing, photography, real estate planning, molecular physics – you can bet it will be interesting. Because nothing spoken with passion can ever sound boring….

I have known a few friends who have really gone down the road less travelled by quitting their day jobs in pursuit of their passion. With little certainly of success, and perhaps even lesser pay, it certainly is a brave move. But I respect people like that. I think that if you ever find your passion in life and manage to run to it, even if meant losing out financially, it would still be worth it. Even though money is such a critical aspect to our daily survival, happiness and fulfilment and success in life isn’t just about filling your pockets with more of it.



I’d love to be able to do what Martin Yan said… to work at something I’m so passionate about I’m even willing to do it for free.

The problem is, the thing I’m so passionate about doing in life is actually this - nothing. I want to sit around and do nothing. And if I really go into that full time…. Well………. I will probably really have to do it for free. XD

Cheers!

Since Graduating

Life’s never dull when you know learn how to observe.

It’s been almost ten years since I left high school.

Thanks to the power of mobile phones, emails and Facebook, the people of our time no longer need to wait to that annual coffee shop alumni gathering before we know how our old friends are doing in life. Back then, you had a once (or twice) in a year chance to talk to them and see how they have moved on in life.

Some people treat it like a competitive sport. They want to know where they stand among the rest of their peers. Whether their lagging behind or far ahead of the pack. As if it was some sort of ‘social race’ to see who is the most successful.

I remember much more innocent days, when everyone was equal.

Everyone left school at the same level playing field. We attended the same stupid morning assemblies, we faced the same crazy teachers and we all ate the same crappy canteen food. Nobody wore make up, nobody had fancy hairstyles… You COULD wear any shoe you liked as long as it was made of canvas and it was white in colour. We all wore ugly green pants and white shirts, blue pinafores with ponytails or baju kurung with white tudung. Did I say equal? I mean identical.

A quick check a.k.a. stalk on Facebook of how my high school friends reveal just how different things are today. Some are single, many are dating, a few are married (perhaps with kids even)….don’t know if anyone is divorced. But we’ve all become different things; accountants, engineers, managers, business owners, tax collectors (gasp!), government officers, bankers, teachers, navy officers……… the list just goes on and on.

Very frankly, I have not kept in touch with many of these friends. I can count with two hands the number of friends I continue to be in regular contact with. The closest I ever got to rekindling any sort of friendship with the vast majority was by adding them on Facebook. I can’t even say I recognize everyone I added. Compared to what I remember from 10 years ago, some have grown fatter, some of grown hotter, not many have grown any taller, though all of us have grown older.

I remember walking around the school block in the last days of school finishing off our SPM papers. There was this point when I was walking home. I stopped, turned around and looked at my school and the rest of the kids walking home; and I remember noting to myself – this will be the last time in my life I will be doing this. With the song Graduation by Vitamin C playing in my head, I went home and changed out of that white shirt and green pants and canvas shoes. I never wore them again. For my friends and I, so ended a chapter in our lives.

Fast forward to today, I imagine many of us have advance through a few more stages in life. The time in between then and now has meant that they have changed, and so have I. I can no longer say I know these old friends anymore. To meet up again would not be the simple case of picking up right where we left off. Like a tree growing bigger and taller with time, we are now more than what we used to be many seasons ago.

Unless one of us decides to pick up the phone and call one another, I doubt many of our paths will cross again.

But it might still happen.

Who knows right?

So if we get the big jobs
And we make the big money
When we look back now
Will our jokes still be funny?
Will we still remember everything we learned in school?
Still be trying to break every single rule
Will little brainy Bobby be the stockbroker man?
Will Heather find a job that won't interfere with her tan?
I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly
And this is how it feels


Graduation (Friends Forever) - Vitamin C

Ramblings on Life

I haven’t done any sort of random rambling for a while now, so here goes.

The Tsunami in Japan - with all his brilliance and advances in technology, man is quick to forget one thing – his fate was, is and always will be at the hands of cosmic powers greater than he.

A smiling face and a sincere heart will diffuse everything.

The intelligence of people is inversely proportionate to their numbers. A single person is often smart and intelligent, capable of reason and logic. But a group of them somehow becomes a lump of stupidity devoid of sound judgement.

People are spurn into action (or inaction) always and ever for two reasons only – to avoid a loss, or to make a gain.

The world is full of naysayers. Always telling you can’t do this, you can’t do that.  Someone should tell them they can’t do that.

When someone says “Trust me…” …. You’re screwed.

A bitter truth about society - sometimes, being the best isn’t good enough. But if you ask me, being good is still the best.   

You never know who your true friends are until you start asking for help.

It feels good to be respected. But it feels even better to be loved.

In the world of business, there are no enemies. There are no friends. There are only – frienemies.

When working with people, remember two words – mutual benefit. You always get what you give. So when you win, and they win, you win twice.

When dealing with loved ones, always forgive... and when you can't forget, just pretend you have
.

Hold no grudges. Bitterness is like taking your own poison hoping the other person will die.

Fear; some conquer it. Some are conquered by it. But with no exception, we all experience it.

Life is like a football match. Thirty thousand people will do nothing but sit by the sides cheering, booing, supporting or criticizing. But only 22 people are truly living life playing the game. Ask yourself… which one are you?

That’s all for now…

Cheers!

No Place Like Home

Love is in the air
Everywhere I look around
Love is in the air
Every sight and every sound

Love is in the air
In the whisper of the trees
Love is in the air
In the thunder of the sea


I stood still listening to the band crooning out this song, half bobbing my head, half tapping my feet. A smile crept up my face last night as I heard it. Something about the lyrics was really agreeable with me. To have a long crappy, stressful day, then to suddenly walk into a live band singining 'Love is In The Air' with a big grin on their faces, its.... its.... well, lets just say its a great way to lift your spirits.

Cool night breezes, open air cafes, friendly people, great food, live music everywhere.. sometimes I don't understand why people don't think this is a great country to live in. For all the charm, beauty and wonder of foreign lands, for all the excitement, thrill and adventure it offers, I still find that in the end - there is no place like home...

Not because it's 'prettier' or 'nicer' or anything... but simply because it is what it is - Home.

“Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to” John Ed Pearce

In Everything Give Thanks

Dear God,


I'd tell you you're great, but you already know that.I'd tell you you're generous and giving, but you already know that. I'd tell you that you are the most abstract, yet most consistently present force in my life, but you already know that too.

You're always there, you always know what's best for everyone. And you always help those who come to you sincerely, humbly and with open hearts. I didn't always know that. But now I do.

Thank you... for everything.

Yours sincerely
Me

An Employee's Fate

The Boss is crazy,
the work is busy
I’m so lazy
I wish I just had it easy.

I’ll be home late honey,
trying to earn some money
Boss said he’ll pay me a penny
He thinks he’s very funny.

The office - a cave
And you - the slave
Fight with boss? So brave!
Want your salary? Better behave

Emails to send
Documents to amend
Work never seems to end
I need you, oh glorious weekend!

Doing the things you hate
Till the night is late
That’s how it is mate
An employee’s fate!