THE question

Today mum popped that question again while we were having breakfast....

Which question? Noorrrr.. THAT one lor... A clue: Basically it is the equivalent of what you'd ask a single person, "hey, when are you getting married?"; and what you'd ask a married couple with no kids, "hey, when are you folks having children?"

So, to a guy who's married, and who has ONE kid already, what else could an over-zealous mum ask for?

Haha... ya.. THAT question lor.

To be honest, I had consider that possibility (can't speak for my other half tho :P) but thinking about the stress of enduring another 9 months of emotional unpredictability and mood swings from the other half.... then followed by 1 month of "associate" confinement.... then the seemingly endless sleepless nights (it's a 2 hourly automatic alarm! ) and definitely not least the extra financial burden of taking care of another beastie....

Admittedly, it's a scary thought.

Still, whenever I look at that smiling face and into those little eyes of my boy, I cant help but feel this warm fuzzy feeling. It's certainly worth every single ounce of discomfort or suffering any parent would have to go through to get here. Maybe that is why many couples chose to "bite the bullet" again. Well, for those couples who like children, anyway. =)

老了，老了

You know you've definitely moved on to the "next stage" of your life when you attend a wedding dinner:

1) tugging a little one with you, and who happens to the object of attention whenever family and friends talk to you. Conversations are never far from
"Wow, he's so big already? How old is he now?" or
"Hey, you boy is soooo cute! Looks a lot like ____ (either me or my wife, depending on who they know better)" or
"Wah, happy family. So nice! So when's number 2 coming along?"

2) And instead of checking out pretty girls/ladies in the crowd, you spend almost ALL your time/energy making sure the little one is not falling off his chair, or attempting a magic trick - that of pulling off the table cloth, with all the plates and cutleries siting on top of it.

3) And you shake you head with a rueful smile when you see the wedded couple's video onscreen, thinking, "ahhhh... so nice to be young" or "Wah leow... how childish they look!"

4) And every time the emcee(s) request for the guests to stand up (to welcome the bride & groom, as well as to do the toast), you feel reluctant to move your butt off the chair, and can only do so with a audible grunt of effort.

And lastly.... and most sadly...

5) And you have to leave at the 4th dish (typically the roast chicken/duck) because it's already 10pm and past the little one's milk/bed time!

Sigh....

Evil

I read with shock and disbelief about a case on the papers, about a father murdering his 2 young kids (the boy was 5 and the girl just 3!) before falling to his death from a 12th floor parapet. This happened at Ang Mo Kio, not in some western country, where you'd often hear of gunmen firing in crowds, mass murderers being caught with multiple corpses in their homes, etc.. so much so that after a while, you become a little desensitised to such horrific news. Afterall, these events happened at places where the culture is different, the security (or lack of, in some cases) conditions are different, and most importantly, the values of the people are different from here.
But when such a tragedy happens locally, it sends shock waves throughout the nation much more than any foreign-based news would.

This particular piece of news - more than many others - angered me. How can a father bear to kill his children??? He must be either struck with (temporary) insanity, or... or... I dont even have words to describe such selfish behavior. It was reported that the father was deep in debt due to gambling issues, and that the couple was also having marital problems in that his wife was threatening divorce. Regardless of how much problems one has, I cannot believe and I can never, ever forgive a parent for murdering his/her child.

From a toddler's perspective, his parents are the people whom he has absolute trust (and love) in. Speaking from personal experience, I can see it in the eyes of my boy when he looks at me each time. He may be wilful and disobedient sometimes, but there is never any doubt, never any suspicion or guardedness - just complete trust.
So imagine how the 2 children must have felt at the moment their father - a person whom they trusted with their lives - took their fragile lives away by violence means.

My colleagues speculated that maybe he was in large debts and "he didn't want his children to suffer with him". To me, that is completely nonsense... He should in fact have "eased their suffering" by just leaving his children in the care of his wife (whom by all accounts reported, is at least more responsible than him, as a parent) and just go kill himself. Maybe the insurance claims might even help his family a little....

Ok.. I'm sorry for being a little callous about this guy's personal tragedy, but I'm not sure he deserve any sympathies after the things he did. Who knows, maybe he killed his kids partly to spite his wife, who was reportedly considering a divorce due to his gambling problems.

Sigh..

I'm not sure if money the root of all evils, but it sure is the cause of many of them. Imagine next year, with the casinos opened and all...