I remember a famous quote which has been often though inaccurately credited to Ralph Waldo Emerson, about success. The original, a poem on "What Constitutes Success" by Bessie Stanley reads:
"He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction."
I guess the yardstick of my success has always been based on this simple quote. Many times in the recent past I have succumbed to the feeling that my life is going nowhere and that I have not achieved much.
Well, just the other day, I drove home with Jo, feeling that deja vu feeling again when we turned into our driveway; and there was this short but whole person running towards the front door screaming at the top of his lungs, as if it meant the whole world to him that we were home. Believe me, there's nothing more that I could have asked for at that very moment. This was what it all meant.
There will be times when we get bothered and hassled by our relatives; there are times when we feel our friends are not there for us but this was always one thing we could count on.
I'm pretty sure I will do anything for him.
Now to the latest controversial issue at hand. Malaysian Idol.
This year's series just ended in a somewhat farcical result of the clearly less impressive singer being crowned the winner. Don't sweat folks, this will probably be the last year anyway, cos news has it that Freemantle has asked for sky high license fees to air the show for a third time.
Clearly too, Malaysians are NOT mature enough to handle an audience interactive competition like this. Votes are made based on relationships, popularity, emotions and ...yes, sad but true, race. The Akademi Fantasia series further strengthens that claim. We vote and sometimes we vote many many times but do we vote for the best person or the person whom we like? Still, in the end, its a clear contest of "voting power". Daniel's fans (statistically the largest users of SMS) all fervently pounded away at their handphones and got the result they craved. Nita's fans (the vocal minority) tried to keep up but obviously were not in the same league when it came to sms-ing. Those who weren't fans of either but who felt that Daniel shouldn't win, all sat back, nodded their heads in intelligent agreement and said that Nita was the better performer. They then went to bed. When they woke up, a small, likeable but less talented young guy from Penang became the new Malaysian Idol. Probably the last Malaysian Idol too.
Anyway, I wish both of them great careers, as I'm sure they will have.
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