Scandalous

I’d be damned if anyone dare claim that they’re not a big fan of scandals. For as long as my memory serves me well, scandals had always been the talk of town. In certain places, such news occupies front pages of local dailies when global news and happenings takes a back seat. Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, the OJ Simpson story, Hugh Grant making out with prostitutes, lewd shots of Paris Hilton in action are just to name a few. Closer to home, we have had our own fair share of juicy news – Anwar Ibrahim with his backdoor entrance, the Altantuya murder, Chua Soi Lek and his escpade with a friend are amongst those that are fresh on my mind.

Nonetheless, nothing seems to have created as much mass hype as the latest addition to the ever growing list of scandals. That of Hong Kong star Edison Chen with his many equally renowned beaus. For the uninitiated, the list of those involved includes the Who’s Who in the Chinese entertainment scene including. Imagine the likes of Christina Aguillera, Jessica Simpson and Mandy Moore in a Western context or Aishwarya Rai, Bipasha Pasu and Malika Sherawat from an Indian context. These are pretty much the biggest names in the showbiz industry in their respective regions. Words would do injustice to describe the acts caught on camera and leaked out to the whole world as the poor chap sent his laptop for repair. Those who are really eager to find out more should probably view with their own eyes and a search on any search engine would call out a long list of links. (Use a bit of imagination and you can try wwwdotthegutterpostdotblogspotdotcom)

Apart from this hot and saucy news, tales of how the airlines industry in Thailand are protesting against the airing of a soap opera depicting the lives of flight crew is another stellar example of how scandals always make the front page. Well, it seems that every corner of the world have their fair share of such scandals that instantly becomes the talk of town. It interests me how people would go to the extreme to dig out more stories for such scandals when the same group hardly bothers about other issues which might be of paramount interest such as the looming elections in Malaysia or the fight for the Democrat candidacy between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Whilst the scandals might be interesting, what I find to be more scandalous or outrageous is the fact that people these days don’t seem to be interested in the real thing anymore. In my discussions with friends over drinks, most would tend to drift away when I start babbling on about the state of affairs in the country or touch on the looming elections. Nonetheless, the same group would be all ears when the discussion moves to the latest gossip. I was at a formal dinner recently when a Western companion who was with us popped the question of “what’s the latest talk of town?” All the replies seemed to be around the latest gossip, fashion and entertainment outlet and when the same individual asked about the state of the country’s economy and political situation, there was total silence. Bear in mind, the company we had were all well educated individuals who working for multinationals and that just kept me pondering.

This last example further verifies my hypotheses that people these days are becoming less concerned about what matters and would rather follow the flow. Instead of thinking how one can contribute to a better society and community, individuals would rather spent time worrying about what we should least worry about. If this were to continue, I wouldn’t be surprised if more scandals keep propping up in time to come. This whole phenomenon itself is scandalous and bizarre! For the time being, I might as well just shut up and stop whining but instead; enjoy the scandals that are being the talk of town.

Some Things Will Just Remain Unchanged…

Over dinner, an interesting chat took place as my mom started bringing up stories about my childhood days. It started with me going to a nearby bookstore to browse through some books whilst waiting for the dishes to be served. As I got back to the restaurant, food was already served and the conversation started with my mom reminding me how I was a restless kid running around kicking bottle caps, plucking leaves from trees placed around the restaurant and creating music with the cutlery each time we were waiting for food to be served while dining out. Well…thankfully, I don’t do the same anymore but the part where I can’t seem to just sit and wait for food to be served still remains the same. These days, I would either be browsing a book or magazine, fidgeting with my phone or strolling around nearby shops. She then summed it up with a Chinese saying that goes “Looking at the behavior of a 3 year old, one can determine how that person would be when he’s in his eighties”. How ironic!

To a large extent, the saying does hold a lot of truth if I were to look around me. I’m still restless, impatient and clumsy at times amongst many other traits and behaviors that would be too embarrassing to call out. Looking at my circle of friends, the same saying holds truth again. Chilling out together since our college days, we still talk the same nonsense and act as childish as we were 10 years on. The same guy would still take forever to get ready even when we are already waiting outside his place for ages, the other’s definition of 5 minutes is still an hour while the classic would be this friend whose wife would need to explain to their 4 year old son why it’s not right to be having a “light saber” fight using brooms when “daddy” and his friends are doing exactly the same!

I’m laughing my a** off now as I’m trying to imagine how we would be 20 years from now. Try imagining a group of 50 year olds sitting in a Mamak stall on a Friday evening. One is a successful businessman with 2 grown up daughters, another is the CEO of a bank with a 15 year old boy and the others are all well respected men in their own industry or organization. However, the fun creeps in if one were to eavesdrop on their conversation. The businessman would be talking about how he needs to cut down on his expenses so he could afford the latest DJ gadget which would probably no longer be a CDJ or turntables by then. The banker would probably still be whining and bitching about his partner’s nagging and how men will never understand women despite the fact that he would have been in marital bliss for ages by then. Well, the rest of us would then randomly change the conversation from football to the latest console games and pause in between to gawk in awe at the sports car that just zoomed past which then leads to the discussion of which offers the best drive. By the way, I’m ready to put bets on the odds that this other friend would not be there for he has to complete some online interactive gaming.

I can’t assure that this would happen 20 years on but if the saying that some things will remain unchanged does hold truth, I’m already feeling great for I would hopefully still be hanging out with the same colorful crowd that I spend most of my time with for the past decade. Well, that would by then have to depend on whether the entire group can get “permits” from the missus to come out. Nonetheless, I’m sure that would just be a small barrier for we’ll be helping each other out by coming up with possible excuses each time we meet just like we do now.

Some great philosophers used to quote that the only constant thing in life is change. Whilst we should be celebrating the changes that have arrived or those that will be coming along, we would also need to toast to the fact some will still remain the same. Those little traits, antics and behavior that have been and will continue to be identical would essentially be the ones that we would all be so fond of and to that, we should be thankful for that is what makes us who we are.

A New Beginning

The title “A New Beginning” is usually used as a connotation as we enter a new phase but, I find it to be the most befitting title to sum up where I am now albeit a month late (since it would have been nice to have said so at the start of the year). Nonetheless, it seems that there’s plenty of reasons for me to feel that I’m entering a new phase.

To start off with, what was supposed to be a routine, fortnightly scan to check the progress of my fractured calf bone ended up with me feeling ecstatic. I swear I could have almost hugged and kissed the balding orthopedist when the magical words “I will remove your cast today” came out from his mouth. After a month of having to deal with physical immobility and being confined most of the time, it feels as if I’ve been given a new lease of life. What made the moment awesome was the fact that this was happening 2 weeks ahead of initial schedule. Against all odds, I guess the amount of alcohol consumed along with the partying the weekend before did help accelerate the growth of new bone cells.

Though the removal of the cast was a torrid experience whereby the orthopedist seemed to be attempting to saw my leg off as he cut through the cast with an equipment somewhat similar to a chainsaw, the joy of finally being able to move around with a bit more mobility was simply overwhelming. So I thought! My right leg had now shrunk in size by at least a quarter of what it used to be and that was just the start of what would probably be a long recovery process. As I slipped on a pair of slippers (which I brought along since I had a premonition that my cast could be removed today), I realized that I had been so used to moving around with crutches to the extent that it became second nature for me to reach out for the crutches every time I wanted to move around. The first few steps I attempted were akin to a toddler learning to walk as my right leg hardly had any strength and I was told by the medical staff that it would be at least a week or so before I could start walking normally. In the meantime, I’m supposed to take it one step after another and go through physiotherapy to start getting used to walking. New Beginning number 1 – Learning how to walk.

Switching topics, I was in a meeting a day earlier whereby I was supposedly going through a transition for a new area of work which I would be taking on. As the other folks in the meeting went on with their presentation interrupted with halts in between to further discuss some topics, I was pretty much in a different wavelength altogether as I was trying hard to absorb what was being said. In a couple of days, I would be fully accountable for this area of business but in the meantime, a big part of what was being discussed sounded like Swahili to me. I guess I would have to go through a steep learning curve all over again in the next couple of months to ensure that I would at least understand what was going on the next time we have such meetings. New Beginning number 2 – Learning a new business.

Though the 2 topics above are hardly life changing moments, it does bring with it a very strong sense of a new beginning. Apart from learning how to walk and picking up a new business, there are plenty more that comes along with it. The hell I went through with the cast serves as a reminder to be more cautious in taking risk (and not to attempt to challenge for every ball in a football game). It also brings with it lessons on appreciating what we have (as mentioned in my previous babble) and a slight change in lifestyle whereby I’m now surprisingly an early person – getting up and knocking off much earlier than before as I had to follow the timing of my sister who was kind enough to offer me a ride to work daily. Separately, the new area of work calls for better time management and prioritizing apart from several other things. All in, there’s quite a fair bit of tweaks and alterations that is needed compared to how I was running around prior to this.

For the time being, I’m determined to be consciously working on these and if I do succeed with most even if not all, it would be quite a contrast. Hence, I’m looking forward to brighter times ahead as I embark on this new beginning. Meanwhile, the first thing to focus on is to learn and practice how to walk like normal and the rest should follow suit!