In Times Like This

I have a lot of things I feel like writing about but it is hardly suitable for the scrutinating eyes of the public. If only Blogger has the function of password protecting certain posts!

Anyway, today, a tele-surveyor (is there such a word?) called and I picked up the phone. Since I was free, I decided to help her out by answering her Qs. Her survey was mainly about the economy. As in would I consider buying houses, cars, fridges etc. Or what do I predict would be the state of our economy in the next 6 months. And many more questions like that.

I normally have no interest in economy and stuff like that. But since I'm free nowadays, I have been keeping up with the news. Yes, I'm already an adult, time to do some adult-like stuff :P

And I have come to a conclusion that the present is certainly a depressing time to live in.

Everywhere, the economy is sliding. Prices of assets, investments are nose-diving while prices of the necessities are increasing like hell. Food prices especially have been nothing but inflation inflation.

When we open the newspapers, not only we are faced with this sort of grim news, we are also entertained with the theaterics of our our politicians. This year has been an "exceptional" year in terms of this. Almost everyday, there is something new to read about, something new to discuss. And they never cease to amaze me. in a bad way. -_-

This sort of political instability isn't exactly healthy for the country. Foreign investors are wary of investing while other countries have been taking an unhealthy interest in our politics lately.

I have been wondering, so what sort of picture should I paint for others when I go overseas next year? Should I paint a rosy picture of the imagined and hoped for Malaysia? Or should I go for the nitty gritty details of the real Malaysia? I am torn between the two sides.

And I am not done with how depressing is the hobby of reading newspapers. As always, there are sick crimes done by crazy crazy people out there. If you have been following the news lately, you would know abt the case of a 16 year old girl who was strangled then her body torched.

And what was the cause? The girl did nothing wrong except rejected the advances of another older guy (22 yrs old) as she already has a bf. Tell me, is that reason enough to kill a girl just because she rejected you? A girl who had sucha bright future, a life abruptly snuffed out due to the crazed hatred of a jealous man.

Or how about the man who was having an arguement with his maid, when the wife stepped in to advise them, and he killed both the maid AND the wife? Isn't that insane??

On a bigger scale, how abt the milk powder scare in China now? Just because they want financial gain, they are willing to add the plastic Melamine to the milk powder so that the taste of diluted milk can be disguised. Is that even ethical, wait no, isn't this against morality?? Now 3 babies has died due to kidney stones and thousands are severely ill. It pains and strickens me that humans are willing to do such immoral things for financial gains.

I am sure there are many examples of tragic cases like this. How are humans driven to such an extent that we will kill the people we loved just because of that moment of hot-headedness? Or even worse, we will intentionally do something that will harm others so that we can reap immense financial benefits. If so, we are no better than animals. Maybe even worse.

So nowadays, when I catch myself lapsing into a stupor of depression, I tell myself I am much luckier than most people and I have no reason to be whining at all. Okay maybe I do have some reasons but they are trivial and minute and of no consequence in the big picture at all.

The fastest way to wake myself up is to imagine how much my friend who passed away in a bus accident not too long ago would like to be in my shoes right now. Maybe I can identify with her because like me, she was a medical student. But it could very well have been me or you on that bus.

So every morning I wake up with breath in me, I tell myself I am lucky. And for that blessing, I should at the very least try to make someone's day a little better.

I can't remember the exact words but there is a saying that goes along the lines of this: "If I know my life has made someone's else breathed a little easier, then my life would not have been in vain." It was shared with me by my beloved tuition teacher who has passed on, but these wise words will always remain in my heart to remind me of the meaning of life.

This post started out sad, then angry then ended on a philosophical tone. It is indeed interesting to note how my mind had wandered so in the silence of night's cover.