I am a tired.
Lived through May 13th, Great KL flood, the last of MCE, 86's recession, dial-up internet, 97's financial crisis, Y2K, 1MDB, Ini Kali Lah, Apa Malu Bossku, Sheraton Move, "I have FORMIDABLE numbers", COVID and 3 different Parliaments in 5 years !
Now on a shaky UNITY train heading into a dark tunnel where I see a light at the end of the tunnel but very likely it is a bloody train coming head on at smashing speed.
I am tired, of NONSENSE !!! ☝️
See, nowadays there are just too much nonsense everywhere, on national news, FB, IG, TikTok and other similar social media platforms.
In a coffee shop, one old uncle talks like he is a top investment consultant after reading an FB posting by a suspicious investment outfit with charts and graphs showing arrows pointing everywhere.
In a neighbourhood whatsapp group, one aunty is absolutely convinced that boiled ginger, pandan leaves and lemongrass water can cure cancer if drank continuously for 4 months. And the same aunty is also very sure that solar panels installed by her neighbour are electrifying her with nightly dreams of vivid rainbow coloured spectrums.
Then there is an ex-secondary schoolmate who suddenly became a happiness guru after watching two TikTok videos of some AI generated photos with quotes about work and life balance.
Last but not least, in another whatapps group, there is someone who forward anything and everything without going through a simple logic filter that a normal human being would have, something everyone called common sense.
And he seemed quite rushed, he types without commas, apostrophes or full stops.
At times, I am not sure if he was trying to say "lets eat, my friend" or "lets eat my friend".
On FB and IG, people share facts, news, events and at times moments of our life. Maybe get a 👍 or a ❤️ and some kind comments from friends every now and then, it feels good. At least among the thousands of FB friends, some still think you are relevant.
But then again, what you share and how you write can be interpreted in many ways. Like when you think you are telling people about your success, it can be interpreted as arrogance.
You post a photo of a new car and say "I worked hard for this" and then someone will think "show off". And maybe that is exactly what you are doing.
Or you baked a cake and say "recipe passed down by my beloved late mother". Then someone may say "Oh really? I definitely saw this recipe on youtube".
Then there are the comments on people postings. There are those who disguise the actual purpose of their comments. Like one comment which I read on a friend's posting of a photo showing her at the base a Himalayan camp and someone commented "If you look to your left about 10m away, there is a big white boulder. Is it still there?".
Now is the person really asking whether the boulder is still
there?
Arrogance comes in different disguises. Nonsense comes in various forms. When you live long enough, you will develop a highly sensitive and sharp detection of arrogance and nonsense on social media platforms.
See, when someone tells you that the increase in EV cars in the neighbourhood, are the reason that the stray cats are getting more fertile, now, that I really don't know what to say. But if I were to tell it to our good old no-nonsense Mr Bala, the head security guard, I am sure he will say "mana sekolah dia baca?"
On the political front, there are nonsense overflowing endlessly. Every other day you will see politicians spewing out nonsense that are untying every aspects of a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious society and these are the people sitting in the Parliament making policies for the country.
So, when I said earlier that I am on a shaky UNITY train heading into a dark tunnel, I am not joking.
But what can an ordinary rakyat do? You can shout until your BUDI95 allocation runs out and still these political dramas continue like a Netflix series with prequels and sequels.
The only real power you have is your vote. So come next GE, you decide who you want to put in the Parliament. I don't know who or what you are voting for but I will tell you what I am voting for.
I will vote for data not drama.
I have lived long enough to see 10 PMs and have seen enough of those political wayangs. Now I am collecting data, analysing, carefully watching and that will decide my vote.
Really I am tired, at this point if my life, I don't need anymore nonsense.
No whatsapp gurus of happiness, no need for any home boiled recipes for diseases, no shouting in front of Sogo, I don't care if Trump is going to swim across the Hormuz, I don't need anyone recommending me any investment opportunity and I don't need colourful PowerPoint slides telling me how to live my life better.
At 64 and staying as far away as possible from nonsense, arrogance and stupidity, I think I will do just fine.
Most mornings I will have my usual kopi-O while the whole world is debating if ZUS or HTC is better.
Some days I will walk with my Canon Rebel T4i and look for simple beautiful things that are abundance around us but often missed because people are spending more time on social media trying to be relevant.
I have my weekly badminton games with a bunch of people who love chasing feathers as much as I do and who can make fun of each other's weaknesses and enjoy every game regardless of wins or losses.
I have good friends who can sit and talk until the cows come home, laugh at each other jokes that were told umpteen times and interrupt each other constantly, then forget what was the previous topic and somehow everyone goes home happy.
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| Sitting down for a kopi-O with Mrs Shiek |
Lastly, I am enjoying the closeness and companionship of someone who does not need to be pampered with big bundles of flowers or expensive gifts on special days, just someone who is willing to sit with me for a roti canai and a teh tarik, any day.
