A Journey Called Life

Posted by Ruslim Chang at 10:48 PM - Sunday, June 22, 2008

Several weeks ago, I conducted a 3-day IDOC class, and he attended my training. He is Malaysian, but has been staying in Singapore for more than 10 years.

Just like many Malaysians in Singapore, the main reason as to why they are working in Singapore is because of good SGD rate to MYR. He told me that he was actually thinking of coming back to Malaysia, but was still worry about Malaysian government buereaucracy, jobs market, and security. So far, he has been self employed, doing SAP project from one company to another. He was worry that he might not be able to do the same in Malaysia, or might not be getting the same pay as in Singapore.

As we normally walked together back to LRT station, we talked a lot, not only about the training itself, but also about family matters. We certainly have some similarities. Just like me, he is married with one child. His wife likes staying in Singapore because it's secured and the government provides good education with affordable cost. Just like his wife, my wife also loves staying in Malaysia, because it's not as packed as Jakarta, relatively more secured, and relatively good in terms of education too. At least he can learn Chinese language over here, my wife told me the other day.

On the other hand, there is a contradiction between my wife and his wife statement. Since we are coming from the 'big junggle' Jakarta with more than 20 million population, we feel quite comfortable staying here in Kuala Lumpur, whereas his wife is so concerned about security in Kuala Lumpur. Actually every city has its own problem, even in megapolitan cities like London or New York , you may not find many people walking around the street after the sun set, because of security concern. So, Kuala Lumpur, is still OK for me and family. He smiled when I explained this to him.

At the end of the training class, I gave him a magazine entitled :How can you find real Peace of Mind?" (published by Watch Tower Society). And to my surprise, he told me this was what he was struggling at currently. II told him, peace of mind did not have anything to do with material possession, or place where we live, but it is a state of mind. Comfort feeling from knowing that we are here on earth for a purpose. Eventhough finding out the purpose of life itself is a life long journey for many.

Life is beautiful! Let's make it meaningful and colorful!