The Irony about Greed

Greed is one of the Seven Sins.
It has earned a place because it gives one party comfort at another's expense.

Being in an economy-driven culture and a very merit-based environment, one might imagine that seeing GREED at work would be a norm. Actually, there are always more than one path to get to a destination - and the GREED path is never even the only choice.
Yet, many fall prey to it's lush path and easy road to cash and material goods.

It all stems from laziness, insecurity and the desire to go on an ego-trip. BUT when that ego-trip is paid for at the expense of another person's sincerity, then the trip becomes expensive. They do not realise that immediate gratification because of GREED has a lifetime of debt for them. GREED will never get away from cheating the SINCERITY. How fast the debt gets logged into the book, would depend upon how far gone they are.

After this week, I'm sure the interest would be accumulated faster than the neighbourhood Ah Long.

My advice to those, who scheme and plan to take advantage of another person using GREED as fuel is:
Don't, because when you haven't paid your dues, you will hurt, where it hurts most.

On the outset, GREED may have won
BUT in the end, one would end up paying more than you bargained for.

That is the truth, and THAT is what life is about.

The problem about greed

Greed is one of the Seven sins.
It became a sin because when we are clouded by greed, all else doesn't matter except us.
It is selfish and a self-centered behaviour.
I guess it wouldn't have been a classified sin if it could not potentially hurt others and cause undeserving suffering.
Although we live in a material world, where we are sometimes judged by our spending power, it's not something to be snooty about and certainly doesn't give us the right to trample on others, who may not be rich in their wallets.
As my recent saga tapers to a close, I notice that although people work for money, people respect others who obtain such wealth fairly. When greed comes between friendships, then what is 'earned' has a worse classification than laundered money. Being a believer of 'the good prevails', I tend to practice fairplay with the hope that greed would stay away. It's an uphill battle, when you're up against greed and the power hungry - but I will get to the top of the pile, because of the good foundation in related friendships. It may be a tiresome climb, but if the beliefs are strong, there will be energy to make that happen.
Greed should be on our watchlist, like Malignant cells, SARS, AIDS - it's toxic and it's intention is to cause a fatality.
If anyone has been in contact with Greed, it's important to take counter-measures immediately and not allow it to invade the life-system.
If death is the outcome, that is just half the end, because our souls are still laden with the virus.

Location location location

When two people plan to get around a corporate policy in terms of payments, it's corrupt.
BUT when two people plan to get around that same policy, only involving a third-party company, then that's cheating.
If that two people are from 2 different companies, cheating a third company, then that's beyond me, if the third company doesn't benefit in terms of money.

If we all think hard about causal factors, then we may see some light.

Between the 2 people, there must be some kind of transaction benefit. Otherwise, it is senseless to spin this huge web and involve so many other spiders who definately have smaller webs.
Of course if your 2 spiders are of the LARGER species, it's only common sense that they would have larger appetites....which meant, you either catch insects often or spin a web large enough to trap larger prey.
As the garden they are living in are almost out of insects, these LARGE spiders have no choice but to increase the size of their web or use other spiders web to get enough spoils.
So what's the deal?

They borrowed web-spinners web to snare a spoil, but instead of sharing, fatso ate most of the meal...sharing meant 50-50 afterall, the web belonged to small-spinner and technically the spoil was hers too..so why would fatso get more than the polite share?

To make it worse, fatso went to complain to legless about not being able to deliver a small share of the spoil to her and legless, obviously got upset.

So legless decided to make it an issue with the head of the pond - the snowman, who really didn't care about anything else except for the snow, because otherwise, he would melt away...and being in the tropics, he's too concerned about his dire situation, to really bother, so he instructed his web-planner, who is a thousand-legged worm (doing a thousand things at one time) to just give in to whatever legless wants lest thousand-legged becomes dinner.

MORAL OF THE STORY - if you want to catch a huge insect and eat it by yourself, make sure you spin that web all by yourself. If the head of the pond is a snowman, then we are all in the wrong place to begin with...spiders do not live in the arctic, and snow doesn't fall in the tropics.
The start of the story is when we all didn't get our geographical location right.

Rocking the Boat

When dealing with cheap people, we need to remember that they will try to have their cake and eat it too. I have no problems with that - but let me assure you, they will end up with a very bad case of food poisoning.
When things are good, we remember the people who brought us there.
When things are bad, we pool our resources and stick together.
Unfortunately it's not the principle that governs people who have a price tag which reads $88 on their nose - which shouldn't surprise me at all - since that's what differentiates us from the uncultured and badly brought up. There is nothing snooty about it. People who are cultured and well brought up, never throw their weight around.
So, their plan now is NOT TO ROCK THE BOAT - why because honestly, they could not have done half as good a job as the team they are trying to outwit by lying & twisting facts. So they try to work their way around the system, which has worked well, so as not to be found out.
JK is a cheapo.
MT is a schemer.
Both of them are users - in the ghetto, they would mean drug addiction.
In this context, it's cash addiction.
Either way you look at it, it's an addiction and not good for the health, and certainly bad for the soul.
They don't just need the cold turkey treatment.
They need a whole new meaning to Ethics, Truth and a total makeover of their face. After all, we are Asians, and FACE is everything.

THANK GOD for GOD

This has been a week of a burst sewerage pipes. BUT in spite of that, I had an umbrella which shielded me, in the form of GOD.
Skeptical people will say it's my arse luck.
BUT we were not born to be blind. We always have a guide who keeps us on the right track.
It's whether we wish to 'listen' to the guide or we prefer to 'knock ourselves up' and shortcut our way to what we believe to be, our main goal.
People get sidetrackked and meet ill-meaning people who will pretend to the be correct guide. BUT if we listen to our conscience, we will know that the guide is one on a different track.
I had clarity today. I am a promoter of the 'bigger' picture and lately, I have been having pieces of this 'bigger picture' and was getting disillusioned in the process - but I left it in the hands of GOD, a GOD who is fair and who balances our life for us.
I may be instrumental to set some major record straight - I did not volunteer to be the instrument - but if it's for the better good of all around me, then so be it.
All my life, I am thankful to only GOD to have always given me the foresight to know what is right, and the strength to fight off evil and the perseverance to wake up each day to the unknown. Today, I am especially grateful that GOD sent me a message, in spite of all the swill I'm swimming around in. The message said:
"All you see is shit around you, but if you look at yourself, the shit did not dirty you, because I am with you".

corporates and prostitutes

There are deficient people who have dreams which they could never achieve. They are deficient because usually it's a combination of poor personality, low EQ and are lacking in what most average people have, decency.
I have been fortunate to have met a good dozen in my lifetime and therefore, consider myself an 'expert' in sieving them out. However, being in a corporate organisation, it's difficult to put these people into a mincer, because Corporates do not do that. I am sure many are in the same predicament - cannot say this, cannot say that, must just allow the client to say and do whatever they like.
At times like these, I'm sure even Prostitutes got a better deal than a Corporate. When a client takes too long, the Prostitute will tell them to 'hurry up'. Prices are fixed except for regulars and clients do not have a choice of not using latex.
So, in a bad situation, Corporates cannot say they are like prostitutes, because as illustrated, the latter has the upper hand. Corporates are suckers and ass blowers. The one who manages to blow the most sunshine up the clients ass, will get the job and the praise...it doesn't matter if you use lubricants or not!

Rhymes and Reasons

Mary had a little lamb, it's fleece was white as snow
BUT wicked Mary and cheating deeds, the darkness overflows
So Mary has a little lamb, it's fleece now dark as night
Mary hides and shields the lamb, from everybody's sight.
Now Mary has a little lamb, whose fleece is dark as coal
She went to see the money fiend, and sold the remnants of their soul

She played knick knack on their thumb
She played with everyone, smart or dumb
She had a desperate dream to direct a play
Make people work for half a penny of pay

Pussy cat pussy cat where has Mary been?
She has been to London to pay alms to the Queen
Pussy cat pussy cat what did she do there?
She hid in the Queens' silky underwear

To market to market to buy 2 fat pigs
One with mascara and one needs a wig
To market to market to buy 2 fat dogs
Excuse my friend, they look more like logs
To market to market, they cannot be sold
Because every magnified pore has grown some mould.

Once a Liar, Always a Liar

Recently, I was faced with one such person.
She was very fond of going behind another's back, twisting truths with one agenda - to make herself important enough to be noticed.
The sad thing is, she is hardworking. As with all hardworking people, one doesn't need very much more to succeed actually - but when one is hardworking at wrecking other people's lives and social links, then as with all things - one would have succeeded in ruining one's own reputation in one sweep.
Imagine a person, going behind your back, talks to your boss and client, then tells another person in the group that she's being victimised. I wonder which book of ethics this person has, considering she goes around telling people she donates generously to those in need. She must think she's Ms Robin Hood - rob the rich, give to the poor - all under her name.
After all that, she tells the few friends she has left that she doesn't like to make enemies and that she has an old parent to take care of.
I suppose, when she robbed these people, she didn't think that they had parents too. Or that perhaps one victim was the sole breadwinner of the family. Or that whatever she robbed could have paid for someone's medical bill.
I tried to tell her that in everything that we do, there are rules. We have house rules, school rules, traffic rules.....that's what keeps society functioning smoothly. We have office rules, show flat rules. We have rules in religion too!
Never mind that, she name drops, to keep insurgents in check.
A person may lie and lie, one day all the lies will catch up and then you are the center of the pile-up, because you forgot which lie you told to whom. A habitual liar. We should do a study on such people and figure out how, a person is able to have lived HALF the natural lifespan of a human and still lie like a 6 year old. It's like, you're holding an empty glass of milk, and then there's this spill on the carpet and your dress - you look at the person next to you and say - I wonder who spilled the milk!

what goes around, comes around

In the corporate world, professionalism is a descriptive important for Best Practice. How do we define professionalism?
For starters, in the application of a rule, it works across the board, not by personal preferances or emotional comfort zones with immunity for the preferred.
When does a person cease to become a professional?
When the person crosses the line between business and personal friendships.
In small business set-ups, most would be able to 'look the other way' when such tiresome situations occur. But in huge corporations, it's sinful for the majority who toil and tow the corporate line.
BUT being a small fish in a big pond, we could simply swim away and go to another part of the tank, where we are more comfortable, playing with other guppies. Why go venture with Lou Han when all he ever thinks about is having you for dinner?
Since there is nothing proactive that can be done to make the waters safer for the majority of us guppies, we ought to just wait for his greed to take the better of him - he could visualise a net scooping down the pond and have hopes of living in a larger pond - when in actual fact, he was going to a 2-feet fish tank in someones aquarium shop!
There is such a thing as the Circle of Life - and life is fair - it just has some wait states....

Wedding Anniversaries etc.

As with all other designated days of celebration, this is another day on the calendar that I find unimportant. This particular occasion is, it's not commercialised like christmas or valentines day - only because it could be any day in a year. I didn't have time to look, but I do wonder, why this day got itself a label on the calendar.
If a marriage is going well, then celebrating it may imply - 'hey, we made it through another year!' If a marriage is not going too well, then celebrating it is like 'duh, we made it through another year in hell' If the marriage has been dissolved, and the dreaded day arrives on the calendar, we say 'it would have been another year of disasters if we hadn't moved on, or is it?'
That's the struggle of life - always having to be one step ahead of whatever.
We say, think and do - just so we are able to move forward - it's called coping.
To simplify my coping ability, I have, for too many years now, adopted the pragmatist approach - I do not attempt to celebrate anything.
Everyday is just as important - because the experiences we undergo become part of who we are. Good, Bad, it's learning how to cope, how to react and how to survive. Imagine if the important days in any given year is just those 5 days : Christmas, New Year, Valentines, Birthday, Anniversary - then we will be seriously short of another 361 experiences which could alter our view of life, entirely!
There are those who tend to really get mad when any of these 5 days are overlooked - well, that is really myopic.
If you need flowers, go buy some for yourself and place them on the dining table - because at the end of the day, you owe it to yourself to be happy.

Companionship

Companionship is something that is important to every individual - eventhough there are many who do not quite admit to it. It doesn't mean a permanent attachment. Friends are companions, good friends are also companions. It's another label for 'same level friends'.
Independant souls value freedom, yet does have this underlying need for companionship. Even animals in the wild seek companionship - it's just nature that there will be times when we do not wish to be alone.
At this point, it's important to note that this could be a strict platonic need. Sexual needs are entirely different from what we seek in companionship.
The problem surfaces when we are stuck in a companionship long term with no visible way out soon. That puts binds which stresses the already stressful situation. It isn't the best situation but most would make do until a more amicable solution pops up. It could take years, but in the meantime, parallel companions would have to suffice - to keep the needs in balance.
We can never understand how time can change the value in a companionship. But as with all things, time does alter our vision as we mature. Needs are changing with time as we taste the sweet and bitter tears. Before long, we have a whole new list of what makes us tick.
It's not a bad thing to have changing wants - it's actually what makes the world go around - it's growth.

Of hearts and us

Is there really such a thing as 'follow your heart'?

From a jaded point of view, there isn't, because our hearts are always meant to be broken. I came to this conclusion many moons ago and was reminded of it in a conversation I had yesterday with a close friend. No matter what women do, their hearts will always be left wide open for a scapel to disfigure. It's whether they admit it or not.

For the insecure, admitting to something like that is like slapping themselves. Their personality doesn't permit them to dwell in reality. For the secure, they would rather not bother about such trival issues, because they have other things to busy themselves with. For the in-between, they don't even consciously know of the real issues until it surfaces.

Relationships are never easy to manage. Juggling a few work portfolios is a breeze compared to dealing with another person. When a relationship hits mud, the heart gets clogged. When the relationship goes on a glass sheet, the heart skids right past the goal post - like skiing, only the trail never ends even when your feet has given up! When it's on boring bitumin, the heart falls asleep.

So what happens when most follow their heart? Well, a slow death - time to harvest the organ and feed it to the dogs.

Good, Bad, Ugly

After clearing 4 days of leave, I'm in the office, clearing 4 days of mail. Of course, when one receives volumes, there will be the good, the bad and the ugly emails.

Obviously, the good is the rare item, as with all things.

The bad is still manageable, as always.

The ugly, well, I really do not wish to go there, because ugly doesn't just show up, it lurkes and waits patiently to pounce on the unsuspecting.

Which brings me back to the good....since I expect Ugly to rear it's head, I'm prepared.

The bad, well, not everything is within our control....which brings me back to ugly....what an ugly scene this could play out to be....

We cannot win them all, because this is what life is made of - a balance - and we seldom are given the opportunity to decide, because, who in their right frame of mind, would want to deal with Bad and Ugly?

Having said that, good news is, the weekend's just a day away.

have & have nots

I spent some time yesterday, educating my colleague on the differences between the 'haves' and 'have nots'. When dealing with the 'haves', there are some protocols to observe, because in that category, there are the 'old' ,the 'new', and the 'self-made' who operate on different modes.
As they are the 11% of the households here, if you're in the circle, you're in, if you're not, you'll not be until perhaps the next generation, literally.
The ones who are most courteous and probably the most well-bred, would be the 'old haves'. They are extremely polite and observe social etiquette all the time. They are not false but exude an aura of warmth and sincerity - probably because they never did have to work themselves into that circle.
The 'new haves' tend to be a little more difficult to handle, since they have recently arrived, and may need to make a statement to the society at large. They tend to be a little less certain in their general behaviour, always looking over their shoulder and trying to blend in. With that as a priority, sometimes, they overlook the crucial detail that will tell them apart - social etiquette.
The 'self-made' are probably the worst, especially if they have not reached 60 years of age. Their underlying tone is pompous and arrogant without them being conscious. This is probably because there is this unconscious need for them to 'advertise' their success. This group will never be in the 'old' group, simply because it's tough to compete with breeding.
If you wanted a dog with a good bloodline, you'd go into the parentage etc. Breeders take the trouble to know who the parents, grandparents, great-grandparents are.
Likewise, a lot of behaviour has a biological start point.
Luck of course doesn't check our heritage before it comes knocking on our door, but that is again, CHANCE.
Therefore, anyone can go for classes, attend concerts, be visible at gala dinners, without really having being blue-chip. BUT the desire to blend in, usually takes over, and sadly, that's what tells them apart.

Jack of All Trades

Jack of all trades, Master of None.
On a practical note, it's always beneficial to have more than less, of knowledge.
Yet, trouble with knowing bits and pieces is, it may not be sufficiently enough for a solid conclusion. I often wonder if that is as bad as the saying goes.
As the complexities of life become more tightly binded, there some advantage in having a broad spectrum-type of knowledge. In my opinion, knowledge is never a waste.
We need to survive in this fast-changing world and every bit of learned trade, does help.
Perhaps the saying was making reference to building an empire in some business - which to me, may not be the dream of many average people. Most average people simply aim for a good-paying job, with a reasonable amount of extra cash to splurge now and then. There are also some with dreams of being a billionaire, but that's the 'wish upon a shooting star' and not many make it their REAL goal. Who doesn't want to be rich and famous?
For this reason, I do not believe in this phrase - like in the generations past, mothers washed clothes for cash, cooked for her family, sold cakes during the festive season for extra, perhaps also did some tailoring or alteration work for the cottage industry. That's a Jill of all trades - she may not have become a world renowned label, or a chef or even own a laundromat, but she's the master in earning extra income - and isn't that what that matters in the real world?

When Guilty.....

I made the right call, retreating positively. I'm glad I did, because days later, the beans got spilled without the need for lengthly conversations.
In a situation where someone goes over your head and then either apologises or denies, and swears never to repeat it, AND repeats it, either knowingly or unknowingly, it calls for a major re-think - especially if it borders around professionalism and ethical behaviour - work.
Not many are aware that our mind leaves many trails as we go about our daily life - consciously or unconsciously. It's how things are.
That no matter what our verbal cues are to the situation, something will give us away - in time.
There is no escape from guilt, when we are discussing average people - regular people.
Just like the cliche of the guilty buying small tokens for the offended, whether or not they are aware that they have been wronged. We try to buy ourselves out of situations not favourable to us. It's survival - yet, that alone gives us away.
So, when guilty, best is, to sincerely apologise and make up for it by ensuring that it never happens again. It's much better than buying lunches or gifts, because some people just cannot be bought over like that. I'm one good example.
Unfortunately, this distinguishes the well-brought up and the pseudo-cultured. The well-brought up lives with a minimal of guilt - the pseudo will have to make costly mistakes and hopefully get away with it.

spoilt for choice

We all have been in situations where either choice would be just as good. What can we do when all options lead to the same conclusion?
On the bright side, we are probably on the right track.
On the flip side, where is the catch?
If I'm sticking to my logical self, I would choose the most economical route.
If I'm sticking to my practical self, I would go with one that would get me there with the least effort.
If I'm lazy, I will just not make the decision and let nature take it's course, if there is any such thing.
If I'm difficult, I would say, if I cannot decide then I'm not ready to make the choice.
That's the trouble with Librans, always on the fence.
I don't think we ever see the grass as being greener on the other side because we always have a reason for whatever it is that comes up.
Perhaps I'm spoilt for choice only because I am a Libran.
Perhaps I should pretend to be born under another sign, so that I can decide.

Positives on Retreating

There are some who like to take the bull by the horns and just deal with whatever. There are others who back-off and allow themselves to be doormats. Yet again, there are the dwellers, forever mulling over a situation.
When at battle, unless you're really loosing ground, most soldiers would push forward and maintain the frontlines. However, like any good commander, foresight and strategic thinking is crucial. Even when the odds are stacked up against you, you need to dwell a little - before executing the next move. Like a chess game.
I used to enjoy putting up a fight. On other days, I would simply just dwell for days on end.
These days, with my freaked out schedule, I would do what forensic investigators do on TV - get evidence, line up the facts, balance the findings and conclude. No ra ra required. If the situation is not worth salvaging, then file the occurence and move on.
It is less stressful, because I do not have to make excuses for people, nor find reasons to explain their socially inept behavior, or even maladaptive thoughts. I could just conclude the issue and retreat to my life.
In the last recent price-tag fiasco, I retreated.
I refuse to subject myself to such uncultured actions by allowing that to halt me indefinately. Therefore, it's not always a bad thing to back off.
Backing off doeesn't mean I condone the tasteless behaviour - it simply means it wasn't important enough to grab my total attention.

If there is a statement that is possible to compile in the English Language, I would say
I have retreated on a positive note.

Time Flies

Having started the Y2007 bitching and literally getting my hands full in work had it's advantages - we are almost done with the first quarter of the year.
My preference is for time to fly.
When time drags, the day becomes a yawn and one would require tons of adrenalin to get the engines warm enough to move. Perhaps this flight happens only at the beginning and end of each year. The middle of the year tends to drag a bit, like going on a long drive trip. You start really excited, get sleepy mid-way and wake-up when your destination is near.
BUT as the clock ticks, it eats up my timeline in completing my post-grad studies and whatever goals I may have set for myself. The fear comes when I get so caught up, loose sight of the objective for a moment and then realise that the sum of all the moments became panic.
It's advisable then to just always take stock of where we are - so that we do not wake up in shock.
Having said that, it's not a bad thing to be caught in a momentum of sorts - as long as we are fit enough to ride it out.