Changing fortunes

Last week, i had the opportunity to reconnect with an old friend, jeff, in penang, and i got to wonder, how life moves in funny circles.

when we were roomies in college, he had this DAP banner hanging on his side of the wall, while i had a poster of an atomic blast on mine - not sure which was more politically incorrect then. I used to kid with him that he's gonna get me in trouble with the govt in malaysia.

recently with the political change in penang, he is now part of the state machinery, and somehow it is quite comforting that the state has this brilliant chap on the payroll.

the job ahead of him is not easy, which is to look at how to sustain and increase manufacturing investments into the state. I know it first hand as i used to debate about the situation here in singapore with my colleagues when i was a civil servant.

but the good part is that jeff is still very much rooted and has not changed one bit or taken his new position into his head.

and on the other side of the coin is another friend we know who had for many many years championed the cause for MIC. Unfortunately his fortunes were less good as the leadership team there had overlooked his services. He's not a bad guy, he's got charisma and he's put his career on hold for the party.

wisely, i've been told that he's reconnecting with his career again and screwing MIC, which was just about what ever other voter did during the march 8 elections.

then i look at myself, from an employed person with 3 degrees to an unemployed one. Of course i label myself as freelance, but to be honest it's starting to get stale when project don't pan out and with it, the promise of some windfall.

perhaps i am not an entrepreneur, or perhaps the windfall has not come. Perhaps the problem is within, in that i can't begin with the end in mind because i don't know what the end is. One of my professional mentors once told me, long term goal, short term wins are needed.

to paraphrase mulder: i want to believe. But it gets harder before it gets easier.


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