RSS Feeds: A Little Town By The Sea
There is small coastal town in Malaysia, the country where I hail. I was born there and spent a good part of my adolescent years growing up there. It was a peaceful little town with friendly people and every one knew every one. Until the weekend that is. Then this quiet little town wouldl come alive, flooded with holiday seekers, coming from the inner states where the sea was something of a rarity. Most first timers here had never even seen the sea. The moment they set eyes on that massive mass of water, their eyes opened with awe and jaws dropped in amazement. I find it rather funny. I have more than enough of seas to last me a lifetime and yet there are others who have never set eyes on one.
I left this lovely little town after my schooling years, looking for greener pastures in the bright lights of the city. Hard as I tried to adapt, I never grew to like city life. It was simply too hectic and stressful. I yearned for those carefree days when I could just pull over a singlet and take a long stroll by the beach without offending anyone. However, there is a living to make and commitments are starting to build up. The advise that "we choose the way we want to live our lives" seems so untrue. We can't. There is no choice and even if there is, it is not ours to make.
And so it was up by 6, queue up for the bus by 7 and right on time to insert my punch card a minute before 8. Slog it out till 6 and the reverse process took place. By the time I reached my rented room it was past nightfall, tired like a dog with no more energy for any social life. Many a times, I didn't even get a ray of sunlight, being out before the sun rises, and back after the sun sets.
When I did come home on those rare occasions, friends envied me, thinking that I might be having a hell of a ball in the city. Their conception of the city is discos, pubs, magnificent shopping malls and pretty girls. How do I explain to them that I am almost always broke comes end of the month. They'd never believe me. So I just smiled and said, "yea, life's great". A big white lie.
It went on for more than 8 years. Even a stubborn mule would have adapted to anything by then, but not me. The nagging feeling of wanting to go home got stronger by the day. Finally at the end of 1997, after receiving my year end bonus, I handed in my resignation, settled all outstanding bills with my landlord, packed my bags and headed home. Home to where my heart is. Home to where I naturally belong. Home to my sweet little town called Port Dickson.
Similar Articles: