You-Want's Life

Weeks ago, I came across a small coffee-table booklet full of insightful quotes praising the divinity of friendship. Reading the booklet has triggered me to reflect on my journey through building new bridges and witnessing how some of them destruct in the year (2017). I have to admit that it had been a really wonderful year for me, for I ventured on new experiences in various places and met interesting people of different back stories.   2017 was a year of meeting genuine friends who really showed that they care, and identifying a few who were just putting up their friendliness like a drama act. I truly appreciate the ones who stayed with me while I was going through hard moments in life, like when I was helplessly emotional, stressed out and almost lost the fight to peer pressure in school. I was lucky to have all these faces around me to provide advice on coping work-life balance and tone down my incorrigible competitiveness.   I believe that friends might...

Off I went, in the spring balminess. Flowers bloomed well but it was the time for war.   How I wished that spring lasted forever, with her carefree chuckles always in the air. Her contagious smile wins over all flowers on Earth.   I could still feel her lips lingering on my neck-- that was the last thing I wished to lose.   Tim and I traveled like any other bold soldier to the camp on foot. The Last War, we called  it. In six months, the chaos would come to an end and it ’s time peace and independence ascend.   I marched on,     with my heart picturing her-     the only thing I fought for-     the sacred light at the end of my tunnel. When all the fighting were over, I would come home to her.   We marched on, as soldiers we battled and waved our swords, we prayed this was the final there could be. Non-stop, Tim bragged ab...

Advancement in social media has brought convenience into many's lives. Yet, one man's meat is another man's poison. Social medias have a dark side in secret many could not identify at first sight. The virtual platform is a breeding ground of cyberbullying. The Morbid Headcounts   A recent sharp rise in the number of depression cases and suicide reports has aroused the society's concern. Statistics have shown that 60% of depression cases in Malaysia are caused by cyber-bullying. Teenagers enjoy the fun social medias can bring, where they share their candid moments in life with friends and stay in contact.   Well, that's what most of us thought. In reality, the network is often misused as a battlefield to discriminate specific individuals. The reasons to sparkle online feud is often variable. Some 'gang up' to dominate over a particular person probably just based on his small-sized body frame, a scar on his body, parents' occupations or anything else ...

People are restless out there, anticipating the grand release of Taylor Swift's 6th studio album. There's no doubt that Scott Borchetta (CEO of Big Machine Records) and Joseph Kahn (Swift's No. 1 music video director) are also getting anxious with thousands, if not millions, of people scrolling both their Twitter pages for daily updates. One crucial clue we all know about Swift's upcoming work: it has got something to do with TIME. Coming back to her country roots or not-- we know that she's coming back BIG. Well, I'm waiting. I'm really patient and I don't mind having a few more weeks to spare till I got the physical album myself. News of Swift's 5th album, 1989, was announced in August 2014 and then marketed in October the same year. It then climbed up various sales charts and became one of the best-selling albums in the decade and her most successful release to date. Swifties around are certainly excited as August is approaching...

Gone are the days when luncheons and dinners bring families and friends a joyful occasion as they chat with full liveliness and laughter. Yet, drawing my previous experience, lunch dates have become a gathering of the dead in recent years. Around the dining table, everyone has a electronic device in their hands, looking down at it and swiping for updates. An awkward silence replaces the happy chatter.   Has a similar scenario struck your life? Perhaps, it's the time to reflect on the proper use of technology.   Many may think that electrical devices such as smartphones and laptops are an essential part in life to keep us up-to-date. Without a proper technology in hand, we are left far behind and would not be accepted by the current society. A truth or a myth? I humbly suggest that it is the latter.   Life is not about having all information on our fingertips. It is not about achieving but about finding and cherishing the precious moments with our loved ones. Imag...

Ivan. What a simple name. I-V-A-N, just that simple. But behind this ubiquitous name, there live thousands of stories. The headboy in school is called Ivan and he has the best grades; the gardener of Nong Chik Garden is an Ivan, he lost a leg in an accident last month; even the rising engineer of Soft Lab Malaysia is also named Ivan. See? That is just how common the name is.   Yet, even though it seems common to most, I have to confess that each time I hear it, a tsunami of emotions strikes me. It triggers a feeling of grief from the back of my mind, shoving up an old patch of memory, reminding me of the death of a lovely boy.   He was Ivan Ronan, young and adorable with that heart-melting little smile and bright blue eyes. He used to be one of the students in the kindergarten I worked in. Born into a loving family, life was simple but perfect for him. He had warm milk to drink every day, plastic toys his father bought for him and enthralling bedtime stories whi...

A pen-pal programme was commenced by the Literary, Drama & Debating Society of English College Johor Bahru, in collaboration with the Interact Club of SMK Sultan Ismail,  as a token of friendship and a pursue in the rise of the quality in English writing.  The programme involved  12 volunteered students from each school, in which the paired couple exchanged pseudonymously handwritten letters twice as the one-month plan went.   The word 'EPISTLE * ' was selected as an embodiment of the programme, in which we penned letters and laid our thoughts in handwritten forms instead of other tedious methods such as speaking and typing using electronic devices. * According to   http://www.thefreedictionary.com/epistle  , the word EPISTLE holds several meanings: 1. A letter, especially a formal one. 2. A literary composition in the form of a letter . 3. Epistle Bible      a. One of the letters included as a book in the New Testament.   ...