美夢成真

Do you have dreams?

I asked some friends. They asked me what is dream. Dream sounds very remote and unreal. It doesn't belong to our age group.

As years go by, it is getting harder and harder to provide an answer to those philosophical questions such as "what is dream".

Jocelyn was delighted that she was chosen as a school prefect. She had been dreaming for the last three years. With dream, she had the strength to work towards realizing it and bang! There you are.

Howard was delighted that he finally managed to perform better than before in his languages. I have no doubt that his English vocab is stronger than mine now. I also observe a sudden change that he begins to use more idioms in his daily conversation, concise and precise. It actually makes our conversation more lively than before. To better master the languages was one of his dreams.

Did I have my childhood dreams? Like many others, I did. But I didn't have that far-fetch vision. In those years, we lived by day and battled for survival for another day. Vision was not a vocab in our dictionaries. Short term goals helped. Walk a journey, look up, and decide for the next journey. Step by step, we strived for a better life.

How to achieve quantum leap? Education was the best bet. It helped to bring in better income. With money we could do more to improve our quality life and living condition. Money is not everything, but without money it leaves nothing in today's world.

There is always a need to strike a balance - yingyang.

1999, London. One lazy afternoon, I walked into the theatre and watched Mama Mia. It brought me back to the Abba's era in the 1970s. I was still a school boy then and pop music such as Abba's was not tolerable. As years went by, my thinking changed. I became more receptive to the different types of music and culture, including Abba. Mama Mia ended with the song "I have a dream". Somewhat it touched my heart. I asked my Malaysian friend who married a Hong Konger and permanently stayed in London, "Do you have dreams?" She said of course. I recommended her to watch Mama Mia so that she could convert her dreams into reality.

2004, ShuZhou. I met a local teacher cum tour guide who graduated from QingHua University. He briefed that he had made a comparison and concluded that the local had adopted a slower pace than many Singaporean. The local people work, but they also spent time to appreciate life and beauty. Singaporean were the hardworking lot. They traded health with money, the local people traded money with health. Who were happier? No right nor wrong deduction.

In 2005, New Zealand. My pace of life was even slower. 採菊東籬下﹐悠然見南山。風吹草低見牛羊。We adopt a certain life style with a price. Many people dreaming of owning a farm at old age. Some who had realized their dreams decided to give up and returned back to the busy city life style. You choose something that really suits you after experiencing the different aspects of life. No right nor wrong.

You choose your own paths. You choose your dreams. Wishing you a great year ahead.