Every time Chinese New Year comes and
go over the years, I could not help but felt nostalgic over certain matters.
Maybe, I miss good friends, maybe I missed much of the fun of yesteryears and
maybe I do miss a lot of things in life….as I grow older and hopefully wiser in
life.
The other day ( before CNY) , I gave a
treat to my fellow colleagues in the office. It wasn’t a grand gesture or any
of the ego thingy either. Maybe, to some, I might be the biggest idiot and fool
for parting my hard earned money to give a treat to the colleagues but to me, I
was generally moved within my heart to bless the staff with a lunch treat.
Though it was merely a KFC treat of chicken, mashed potato, coleslaw, cheesed
potato wedges and two bottles of soft drinks, the smiles etched on their faces
were priceless to me.
That morning, as I came to work and
seated at my own cubicle, I was contemplating what should I do to bless the
staff. Nothing seemed better than food treat, right? You see, all these years, I have been
thankful indeed with whatever I had but it has never occurred to be on how we
could enjoy a couple of hours stress free time and not feel so inhibited with
one another despite years of knowing one another. Maybe people are indifferent
as we do not take enough effort to strengthen the divide between us. Maybe,
there is a greater need to really feel for one another in these difficult
times. Maybe, we do need some changes in our little mundane daily life.
That day, that change starts with ME
and what better way to start by having a meal together. Sure, we’ve had pizzas
& chicken together before this but somehow, the other day was different.
Maybe, no difference to my staff & colleagues as they have some free food for
the day but to me, I changed. It has to start somewhere and where better to
start than one self, right? Change has
to start somewhere and I took that step to change. Change for the better, I
guess. Still a Hainanese old fool if I may say so! Hopefully, lives will be
blessed and touched a little with some twinkle & sprinkle of goodness and
honesty.
I have to admit that finance has
always been tight for me but over the years, I have been blessed that my GOD
has provided for me thoroughly. Truly I felt so blessed even with the little I
have. I just am plain thankful. There are times, I gave till I bleed but HIS
mercy and goodness NEVER fails as I am blessed three folds and four folds. But
this is not what I am trying to say. I am just blessed beyond words not just
financially but as a whole in my life – family and close friends.
What I wanted to say is that I have
seen over the years how hard every one of my colleagues had worked and what
achievement we have had as a team. But yet, their sacrifices and hard work are
constantly overlooked, deemed unimportant, overshadowed or even hijacked. Yeah,
we screamed, shouted and got angry with one another but NEVER with any malice
intended. There is absolutely no malice intended but merely a lesson to be
learned each time. It is always to re-affirm or to ensure we all do our work professionally
for when we fail, the consequences are really grave, heavy and overbearing
indeed. ( We lose our bonus & increment all in one go! That is how tough it
is over the years with heartless Management or rather donkeys at the top of the
food chain! AND I am not joking either! ) But, somehow over the years, with
selfishness, power play, political games and sometimes uncouth words have hurt
our relationship as colleagues and friends. Yeah, maybe we are growing old and
more sensitive or young, aggressive & overly-ambitious in our quest to
climb the corporate ladder. There are some truths in that, though or simply we
are all getting older and more blardy sensitive!
Anyway, I guess, that day’s luncheon
treat was my way of thanking the colleagues for their great help and sort of simple
recognition for their herculean effort for the last financial year. In fact,
every year, we worked real hard but because we are a small town branch, our
efforts are constantly being played down or overlooked. That often leads to a
very crushed spirit, broken dreams and discouragements at work. Let me put it
this way to you:- NOTHING, absolutely
nothing, satisfy the HQ and the bosses except more hard work, more generation
of money and for more people not to get their bonus paid! I guess, there isn’t an aorta of concern
whether you fall dead on your table or sprawled dead near your table as long as
your work is done! Sometimes, I do feel that our life is just so worthless and
unmeaningful to these bosses. Well, Welcome to reality shit, right? I do hope
one day, it would be the bosses turn to fall slumped dead on their own tables!
Yeah! Yeah ! So much for “don’t bite the hands that feed you”, huh?
Well, I am just being very human about
it and don’t give me the “holy & innocent “ look. Been down that road
before. I am often reminded that a strand of string does not make a shirt but
it takes hundreds and thousands of strands of strings to be intricately woven
together to make a shirt. Yeah, I am thankful for these people whom I call
colleagues. There is no position, race or creed noted as everyone digs into the
food fare. Sticky fingers with ketchup, chilli sauce, laughter and smiles
spread throughout the makan fare. It wouldn’t be a belly bursting meal either
but just enough to get everyone going with the ease, talking, laughing and
smiling. We need those happy elements. We need those smiles, those teasing and
most important ,that confidence back.
I could have sworn that there are
times, I felt our office is like the cold room and as silent as the Mortuary
Dept! Usually, I would be the crack nut who would stand up during a terse
situation/moments and asked “ Who died today?” or even “ Is this an office or
mortuary ?”. Yeah, I am not expecting the office to be like our usual Bachang
Wet Market scenario or whatever with noise throughout the day but suffice to
say that there is a desperate need to laugh, smile and be at ease. Afterall, we
will never know when we will be meeting Our Creator and so, let us all be more
concerned, aware and even more alive, shall we?
That day, we all
had a good time together. There were relaxed faces all around and there were
plenty of conversations, plenty of laughter and plenty of shared chicken bones
too.
