In most of my social media postings, I will always end with a mocking question … “apa susah susah ???” For those who don’t understand the words, it is a Malay phrase which means … “what so difficult ???”
Yes, what I am saying is … what is so difficult ? You want to live a good life? Take it easy, make it easy ... just live simple and enjoy the many simple pleasures around us. Apa susah susah ???
Many people got this idea that I am showing off … that I am able to retire early, live a comfortable life and now I am telling the whole world how good my life is. Well, yes … at this very moment, I am living a good life. I won’t deny it.
But first, let me define a good life … a good life in my context is that I have enough and I have to live prudently for the rest of my life. I will have make do with simple things … make life easy with simple needs.
So, while an average family fork out 100k for a medium range car … I will have to settle for a used 7k Proton Wira. While all my peers are buying new houses worth millions … I am still living in my house which I bought 22 years ago. While my peers are spending thousands or even millions sending their children to England, USA, Canada or Australia for tertiary educations … my kids will have to settle for local medium range universities for their degrees.
Just a couple weeks ago, while many spent hundreds or thousands in fancy restaurants celebrating Mother’s Day … my wife and I were at home celebrating over a roasted duck I bought from the pasar malam (night market).
And while others shop at Pavillion, One Utama, Mid Valley for clothing and apparels … we go to “Jalan Jalan Japan” for “pre-loved” clothing … where we pay 5 bucks for a pair of shorts and 3 bucks for a t-shirt.
I am not rich but I am not poor either. I will be lying if I say I don’t have money. I do have savings and investments and if I live prudently, I think I will have enough to last me for a while. There is a saying … “if you have 500 bucks, don’t buy a 500-buck handbag … instead buy a 50-buck handbag and put 450 bucks inside it … don’t go broke trying to look rich”. Well, that is exactly what I am doing.
Having said that ... I must also say that not everyone share the same opinion. Just like me, many people struggled and worked very hard too for their money. There are those who want to celebrate and show their successes ... so maybe they will want to indulge in a 500-buck handbag to please themselves and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. How people want to celebrate and show what they have achieved is entirely up to them.
For me, maybe it is the failures that I went through that made me what I am today ... a very careful and prudent person who knows what it is like to have nothing. Yes, there were times, many times, when I was down in the drain with absolutely nothing.
You see, from what they see now ... many people think I am one of those lucky ones who at a fairly early age get to live without financial worries … living a carefree, simple, easy life. It looks like I have had a rather sweet and smooth journey to an early success in my life.
But what many people don't know is that I struggled for many years to come to what I have today. Many don’t know that I was retrenched during the recession in the mid 80s. Many don’t know I went back to study at the age of 26 in the day, sold deserts at hawker market at night and drove taxi on weekends to pay for my studies.
Many don’t know that I started an advertising outfit in the 90s but was forced to cease operation due to the financial crisis at that time … I was the art director, the copywriter, the account manager, the production assistant as well as the debt collector.
Many don’t know that I opened a coffee shop … a bad investment that lasted 18 months and cost me thousands. Many don’t know that I had a major lung surgery at the age of 36 and have to rely on borrowings and contributions from friends to pay the medical bills.
And what many don’t know is that my wife and I re-mortgaged our house and started a small café in Kelana Jaya and worked our asses off to make ends meet.
What I have
today did not come easy … so that is why I am very prudent in managing my
finances in order to live simple and easy with a bit of comfort and some necessities. I have said it
before and I will say it again … I don’t live to show people as if I want to own the world … I live as if I don’t care who owns the world !!!
I have “susah susah” for many years already. I am 56 years
old now and I think I do have some active years to live. For whatever years that is left in my life …
I just want to live it out simple and easy.
I like simple things, I enjoy simple pleasures, I relish
simple moments, I love down-to-earth people, I prefer uncomplicated
relationship and I take things very easy.
So for me ... really, apa susah susah ???
