Of relatives and relatives
Over honey milk and apple juice with one of my oldest and best friends, L the other day @ Cafe 2046 in Taman Desa, in the midst of other girly ramblings, we somehow came to the subject of relatives.No, not the yi ma ku cheh kind of relative as a noun (n.) but rather relative as an adjective (adj.), meaning in proportion or in comparison to. Sorry, this isn't meant to be a grammer lesson but understanding the two different connotations of the words helps illustrate my point. So bear with me, heh =D
If you really think about it, everything in life is relative to something. Mr X is rich relative to Mr Y who is poorer, but Mr X is poor relative to Mr Z who has a fatter bank account. Hot Babe is fetchingly attractive relative to Not-so-hot Babe but is just blah relative to Super Hot Babe. Someone is considered brainy, only relative to someone who is or appears less intellectual. You get my point?
I might be considered quiet and even tempered relative to someone who is more extroverted and more whiny and PMS-sy. But as L pointed out, I can be considered talkative and unpredictably moody by her standards. *gasps* Hee hee...
Lately, people around me and myself to a certain extent have been sorely feeling the down parts of life. Car accidents, job uncertainty, snatch thieves, crazy workloads, demanding bosses, back-stabbing colleagues, family problems, sticky relationship break up/make up/hanging in the air issues...Matters that to the parties involved are tough, very stressful and invoke feelings of self-pity, depression and rhetorical questions of "Why me?!!"
All very understandable and natural emotions, of course. It has, however, dawned on me through my own astute observation, that relative to other people, I have a lot to be thankful for even if just at a level close to home and heart ie, relative to the ups and downs of our nation of late:
Our PM and his family must be indescribably sad over the loss of a wife, mother and grandmother. Philantrophist and ambassador of the local art and fashion scene abroad.
Nicole David must be indescribably happy as the first Asian to ever win the squash British Open, a tournament regarded more presitgious than the World OpenIn light of these two incidents of extreme emotions- one in the throes of the 7th heaven of happiness and one of mourning despair, our problems I think, fall in between. A pegatory, if it even exists, between heaven and hell.
The saying "Success is relative, the more success, the more relatives" is a play on the pun of relatives (adj.) vs relatives (n.) and is meant to mean that the more success you achieve, the more yi ma ku chehs want to be associated with you.
Hehe, I would actually say that, "Remembering relatives (adj. and n.) in times of fustration as well as happiness is the key to peace of mind." That is, it's always important to keep a wider perspective of things in good and bad times, and also always treasure your yi ma ku cheh cause they're the only yi ma ku chehs you have...=D
Once again, I am reminded to cherish the simple blessings in my life and not to take things for granted. I am really looking forward to going back home to Ipoh.
posted by N.J.A.P.F. @ 10:42 AM
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