In a Nutshell

It's almost midnight, out of the sudden I felt small. Real small. Insignificantly negligible. My mind drifted to this day, every year, for the last God knows when.

It's my birthday. The day I was born. A tiny and feeble boy without much hope, with a fragile health. Well, that boy survived. He almost drowned when he was six years old. If not because of some 'makhluk Allah' that save him, pushing him from the bottom of the big drain in the wet wet wet Bagan Serai.

Life in the kampung, was not exactly all fun and frolics. I remembered that with 50 cents as the duit blanja, I can't afford the 30 cents Vitagen, or the 50 cents Nutella, or the 70 cents delicious ice-cream cones.

I did my best. I did get top of the class. I did go to a boarding school. But you know what, initially I had only 2 pairs of school uniforms, and 2 pairs of baju Melayu, with nerdy-looking spek kerajaan. My dad even sent me with a taxi.

I did became the captain of the school cricket team, a Perak player, a member of the Prefect Board, a Librarian, secretary of the House, a corporal in the Cadet Corps, got a relatively good result in SPM. Had a girlfriend. Went to another boarding school for 'A' Levels, became the Headboy, achieved the 'Tokoh Pelajar' award, went to UK, did Aerospace Engineering. Lost the girlfriend. Travel all over.

Came back to Malaysia, became an engineer, did offshore projects, got married to a great lady, have four wonderful kids, become manager, travel all over etc. ...

Never do I forget my humble upbringing.

That's my life, in a nutshell, as told by yours truly.