What we don't know, we take for granted

Recently one of my Boy's Brigade junior's mum passed away. It came as a shock to the company. From marching competitions, to funeral wakes, it was an abrupt change no one knew was coming.

And a week before Mother's Day. Talk about heartbreaking timing.

I felt my heart break when I realized everyone including me was celebrating Mother's Day yesterday, while he didn't have a mother to celebrate with anymore. My heart broke even more when he shared this photo;

You don't know what you have till it's gone. That has to be the most truest lyrics of all time. While we're here complaining about the food, someone out there has no food to eat. While we're here complaining about our phones, someone doesn't even know what a phone is. While we're here in the hot sun and cold rain, someone's house just got destroyed by a flood.

And those are the major things that have crossed our minds before, what about the small stuff? Would you ever regret not walking down that road when you had the chance?  Would you regret not sending a message? Would you regret not reading that book?

But we can't even blame ourselves about not being grateful for all these things, because frankly, we don't know. We don't know how it feels like, we don't know what's going to be taken away, we don't know what to cherish. Heck we don't even know what we would miss. We don't know what it is to be disabled, we don't know how it feels to be illiterate, we don't know how it feels to be someone else.

The last time I loss someone was a year back, when my Uncle Simon passed away from a heart attack. Only then did I realize,

"I didn't take a photo with him."

It's just a small thing, but it's one of my biggest regrets in life. Now I take as many photos as I can with the people I love, because now that I know, I don't want to regret.

We've gotta realize one thing before it's too late. Ignorance is not bliss. and with that I realized that I'm ignorant. I'm so comfortable with life that I don't know what are the things I cherish, until the wings of an angel takes them away. Now I just wish I had hugged him more, than acting like I was too mature for that. I wish I had told him how he was like the only father figure I had in this family. How I looked up to him. But now here I am, just wishing, just regretting, never getting that photo I should have taken.

Don't let this be you. In light of Mother's Day, It's not just for a day. In the light of our lives, don't just live everyday in a stupor. Don't just thank God for all that you're grateful for. Ask yourself what you're grateful for. You never know what small things you're gonna miss when they just disappear. Remember that I miss my Uncle, and regret not taking a photo with him. So go out, cherish the ones you love, and take all those pictures you want, so you won't ever have the chance to regret.


This blog post is in loving memory of Phuah Chia Liang's mother. Thank you for raising up such a great boy, and an even greater leader. Thank you for reminding me to be grateful. I hope it's beautiful over there where you are. Rest In Peace.

And to Phuah, keep smiling. Remember that she's in a better place, and that she's proud of you. Stay strong, grow stronger.

What an architect taught me

Before we start, how about we read an inspiring comic first?

What do I desire? What if money was no object?

^Clickkk. Promise that it isn't a virus, unless your computer can't stand 9gag

Okay now let's take it a bit further back in time first shall we?

When I was a kid all I wanted to be when I grew up was a Pirate. Those who know me personally would know about the problem I have with pronouncing R's and L's. So when I told my mum, she was overjoyed! Her little kid, less than 7 years old, already having dreams and aspirations to become a "Pilot". Oh how her heart broke when she realized that I was talking about sailing the seven seas and plundering people rather than flying high up in the sky, bringing back souvenirs from exotic countries, and most important of all, earning a very high and quite stable salary. But hey I was a kid, and kids dream about doing exciting stuff they would love to do. Now lets leave this story aside for awhile and we'll get back to it later.

Fast forward a couple years into the future and you'll see me around Gurney Drive walking from table to table, trying to sell off mum's homemade cakes. Extra money earned from this secondary job helped my family live a slightly better life, with being able to go shopping a little more often, eating better food, and got me the things in life that a teenage boy craves for.

You would think I was happy, seeing as how everybody sees me as a rich kid who has everything.

First of all, I'm not rich. Secondly, I was miserable.

That wasn't what I wanted in life. What I wanted most was to lead a normal life. Sleeping in on weekends, hanging out with friends, spending time with family, going to church, or just staying at home watching television. Simple things that we take for granted, until they're taken away from us.

Mum never understood this concept of happiness over money, until a few months back. She had a good job with a pretty good pay. It was at the top of the ranks too, but she left the company and went in pursuit of something simpler. Happiness. Money is just simply not worth it if you're going to work everyday tired, miserable and dying, like how she realized. Even though she's earning lesser now, she's much happier, and that's enough.

Now back to the story. As the years went by, I disappointed my mother more and more. I started developing my love for music, and with that she was terrified. Even though she kept sending me to music classes, I knew that she wasn't sure about me going into this field. Now with 2014 almost half way through I have heard her words slowly change. From "Study hard first, and then we'll talk about it" to "As long as you're happy", No other words could ever make me happier (well actually there are but you get my point).

I once had a talk with my uncle about me going into AVL Architecture. AVL stands for Audio, Visual and Lighting. Basically I work hand in hand with the architect when building places like theaters, cinemas or halls.

Now, The first question my uncle asked me was "Do you have the passion?".

This makes me think to my tuition teacher. A man who teaches his students that without money, there is no such thing as happiness. That the careers that everyone should go for are medicine, architecture, and engineering (and any other job that has a super high salary and requires add maths). He started talking to us about job interviews the other night, and he said that one of the first questions that we would be asked is "Why should we hire you?". He then proceeded to talk about qualifications and how if we were smart enough we could earn a lot for the company, allowing us to stay and work on.

If my uncle was there he would probably have just laughed and left the class.

I always admired my Uncle. He was successful, humble, wise, loving and he always gave me the best advice. This was what he had to say about careers and money.

"Qualifications are easy to come by nowadays. Now what major employers are looking for is love, passion and dedication. What use are qualifications if a man just focuses on surviving another working day? Or if a man just goes by what he knows when he's making something? It's those who are passionate that change the game. Who comes out with all sorts of exciting ideas. Who love what they do. Who cause revolutions in their fields and build things up that are beautiful, and last. You see there are so many young men who are even more qualified then me. The reason I'm still in this game? I'm more passionate. Architects are in such abundance now that if you don't have the passion you'll never survive. Everybody is fighting with everybody for just a single project. Choose your passion and happiness over a stable job. If you have the passion, then you'll get there. I promise."

I am now hoping to pursue a career in Cinematic arts, which is basically filming, audio engineering and script writing. My message to you is to find what you love doing, and do it. Ask yourself, what do I desire?