Money

Money: you can't live with it, you definitely can't live without it. Our lives are consumed by the mere thought of chasing after the printed rectangles. People would do anything for money. Even the unthinkable. Our daily lives revolve around money. I would rank it as one of humanity's best, and at the same time, worst invention.


One thing is for sure: you need money to survive. Food, shelter and clothing - the three basic necessities of life - all need money. All other activities which assist you in obtaining them also require money. But what is living without some entertainment, right? Yup, you need moolah there too. Not only do you need money, with each passing year you need ever increasing amount. This is just to maintain your current standards of living - and we haven't got around to the improvement part.

Have you wondered how much is enough? When I started off in government service eight years ago, my take home pay a month was about say RM 2,000.00 only. Oh yes, that is how bad it was. Yet, it was enough. I could still send home about 25% of my pay to my parents. Of course at the time, you had no life. You virtually lived in the hospital. Over the years, the pay package improved. I had the opportunity to make extra money by doing legal (and illegal) locums, and managed to build up some savings through careful planning, delayed gratification and investments. Early this year when I was about to leave the service, my take home pay was about RM 3,500.00 to RM 4,000.00. It was still enough for me, that is. Then again each individual's requirement is different. I cannot possibly project my scenario to another person's.

During my limbo period, I wondered whether I could get through without working. I mean dabbling a bit in the stock market just enough to meet my monthly requirements - but the answer was clear soon enough. My pockets were not deep enough to sustain me. Looking for a new job was never about the money. I could probably live with a pay of about RM 3,000.00 comfortably. But I had to have some safety net. One of the problems when I had doing my resume, was how much my expected salary would be. Not too much, and also not too little. Apparently, I must have sold myself cheap, hence the quick grab.

I don't mind spending money. Just not on myself. I'd rather spend money on friends. Serious money. Seeing that little sparkle really brightens up my day. I just wish I had a bit more friends to do it with. There has to be some limits of course, but generally I don't exceed them. Of course you have to have some prudency - you can never expect anything in similar in return. Every year I pick a friend to be the 'lucky recipient' of a gift; hopefully he/she appreciates it. Perhaps deep inside, I was hoping to be an example. Of what? Just watch Pay It Forward.

We Chinese are notorious when it comes to money; we work hard and then hoard all of it - for ourselves and future generations. Thus the impression of the rich, kiasu Chinese. To some extent it is necessary but some people go overboard. On the other extreme, there are those who are sacrificed at the altar of over-expenditure, and spend most of their lives just keeping afloat from paycheck to paycheck. Life is also a balance between these two extremes.

So, how much money is enough? In my opinion, enough for one to serve all his expenditure and debt, and some amount for savings and investments. Don't chase after the cash. You can't take it with you when you die. Spend a little, live a little. Make a difference in another person's life.