Writing the Final Chapter of Our Lives

We are all authors of our own lives.

Every decision we make, every path we choose—these become the chapters of our story. Some chapters are exciting, some are uncertain, and some we wish we could rewrite. But one thing is certain: there will come a time when we must face and write our final chapter.

And yet, most of us avoid thinking about it.

We often say, “I don’t want to be a burden to others.” It sounds responsible, even noble. But if we are honest, the reality is more complex. In our final years, there may be things we simply cannot manage alone—daily routines, financial matters, or even attending medical treatments. Dependence, in one form or another, may be inevitable.

Speaking personally, I do not have children or close relatives to rely on. My journey is closely tied to my wife—my life partner. Most likely, our final chapters will be written side by side.

But this brings an important question.

How do two people plan for an ending together?

Will we be fortunate enough to move through life at the same pace, reaching the final chapter in sync? Or will life unfold differently for each of us—leaving one to continue writing while the other’s story has already concluded?

Life is not a perfectly scripted story. It does not guarantee a neat, synchronised ending.

And that is exactly why this matters.

The final chapter will come, whether we are prepared or not. But starting early gives us something powerful—the ability to shape it.

When we begin thinking about it sooner, we create space to reflect, to plan, and to make adjustments. We can put structures in place, have difficult conversations, and make thoughtful decisions while we still have clarity and control.

In a way, it is like writing a manuscript.
We draft, we review, we refine.

We cannot control everything, but we can influence how the story unfolds.

This is not about being pessimistic.
It is about being intentional.

Because in the end, a well-considered final chapter is not just about how our story ends—it is a meaningful gift to the person who shares that story with us.

And perhaps, that is one of the most important chapters we will ever write. 

Reflection from Watching Passengers (2016)

This is not a spoiler as I do not want to tell the story of the movie Passengers (2016) directed by Mortem Tyldum. I just want to say something about this movie, more like a reflection.

#1: Why do people want to look for a new colony?
In the movie, it is all about space traveling where a human can be transported to a new colony planet. People are willing to pay and travel hundreds over the years to start a new life. It doesn't matter if space traveling is possible in the future, we are already seeing thousands of people leaving their home every year to look for a new life, or merely just to survive. When we have to leave our home and take the risk to find a new place to survive, it is not a good sign at all.

#2: Can automation replace ALL humans?
Automation is going to be how we live in the future. Basically, jobs can be replaced by robots, in this movie, it's the Android. From bartender, chef, waiter, cleaner to pilot, almost all jobs can be replaced by robots. So, what are the jobs left for human beings? The designer and programmer of robots? As much as automation and Artificial Intelligence (A.I) been used in the movie to show how advanced our future can be, the main problem of the spaceship due to an accident cannot be solved without humans. However, only a few people needed to solve a problem because of the availability of A.I. There go our jobs in the future.

#3: Is the right decision always right?
People make a decision every day and we always want to make the right decision. Is the right decision always right? Somehow, we do not bother what is right or wrong when we come to a stage where we just want to get things done for the good of oneself. In the movie, Jim went through a typical process of decision making to wake Aurora from hibernation. Did he make the right decision? The movie shows some plots where it supports the decision made by Jim, but it was a criminal decision, a decision that is like killing someone. Yet, Jim is the hero in the movie, saving thousands of lives. I say it is complicated when it comes to what is the right thing to do.

#4: Are we differentiated by our wealth?
Another highlight in this movie is on the services available for a different classification of a passenger. The gold class passenger can access to more choices of meals and a much better room but no the economic class. Is this something new? Not at all because we experience this in our everyday life. This is just a norm, a widely accepted practice around the world now and...maybe forever. We are living in a world of differentiation, perhaps the word discrimination can describe this better. Like it or not, this classification of passengers will stay. So if you want the gold class services, maybe you can learn from Jim.

#5: Don't tell Android everything.
Lastly, don't let your android have access to all your data. The android can be a good companion to you but it is just a system designed to serve the user. It doesn't have judgmental decision when it comes to emotional related matters. The morale of the story, be careful with your privacy on Android, it don't mean harm but it can be dangerous.

Be Happy with our JOB

A major part of our life is about work, it doesn't matter if you are at the top of the organisation hierarchy or right at the bottom, we spend most of our time at work; not forgetting the housewives at home who are working round the clock. Doing something that we like at work is very important. Just imagine if you are unhappy with what you are doing and it takes up most of your time in a day; a week, a month or years...
Do we have a choice? Well, the answer is yes and no. Everyone go through a different life where some can decide what they like to do and others don't. You may not agree with me and that's fine. What is more important for us is to embrace the work we are doing now. This job you have now may not be the only job that you are doing for your entire life and as long as you are holding that position now, you got to do your job!
So, happy or not with what we are doing now? - It is all depend on us; how we see ourselves and the job responsibilities, the interaction of our job with the surroundings and the impact of our contribution. Let us all do a "Good" job from now and admire it!
Have faith in what you are doing :)

Are You Being Yourself?

Nobody will be able to accept who you are except yourself; if anyone would accept who you are, they are your parents. If you have been trying to get others to accept you, why not try harder to be who you are?

Or perhaps, start to accept others as who they are, hoping that they will accept you as who you are too.

Life is short, why not just learn to be yourself. We need to take care and love the people we love but to what extend that we need to become someone that they want us to be? How much we can sacrifice to let others to start accepting us? Or is it necessary to sacrifice in order to exchange for acceptance? Can't we just accept the fact that we cannot satisfy everyone, not everybody will like us and we cannot do anything about it. It is just a matter of attitude.

If we need to change ourself to get acceptance, are we being sincere to others? Do you expect people around you change for you? Would it be more scary if everyone is not being themselves?

Well, many may think I am being selfish, but who is not?! If being ourself is called selfish, then who is not selfish then?!

Think Out of the Box?

So far, you must have at least heard of someone telling you to 'think out of the box'! I do agree that we need to find new ways of doing things better or in a unique way. Thinking out of the box indeed is a good way to achieve that. However, you can do so provided you have something in your box; or perhaps filled your own box first.

What is the point if you do not even have anything in the box, or couldn't think within a box to look at things from the fundamentals or basics. You can think big, do different things and look for your 'blue ocean'; but what are the foundations to get you started? Do you have a map or a compass before you sail out to look for the blue ocean? and of course, you need to know how to swim first before you go to explore the blue ocean...

Hence, if you cannot even work within the box and do simple things...going out of the box might be disasters....

Hello Pak Cik, can't you see where is the box for you to park your 'big' car???

What is Plane Water?

We all make mistake; there is nothing wrong about it because nobody is perfect. However, we cannot give ourself excuses and accept mistakes. Some mistakes can be drastic and could trigger big problem in some settings. Therefore, we need to always remind ourself to minimise our mistake and to reduce the damage of our carelessness to the lowest; for your work or personal life.

As a student, you may think why your lecturers always ask you to check and check and check your work before submitting it. Well, this is to train you to be more careful and meticulous; and be responsible for your own work. The moment you graduated and started working with any employer, your carelessness may cause severe problems to the organisation performance (directly or indirectly).

See what happen when a Hong Kong style restaurant in Kuala Lumpur charging RM3.00 for a glass of 'PLANE' water! I wonder what is so special with this beverage.

Thanks to Ms Eunice Tai for allowing me to share her first experience of consuming the very special 'Plane' water

 

Schumacher is in Artificial Coma

Seven times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher is in coma and fighting for his life after a ski injury at the French Alps resort of Meribel. It is a shocking news for me early in the morning when I read the headline of local newspaper.

The news reported that he is suffering badly from the head injury, with internal bleeding. According to the doctors, Schumacher had been placed in an artificial coma. I hope he will recover from the injury very soon. He is the one of the reason I started to watch Formula One and the only driver whom I took the initiative to meet him for his signature. God bless Schumacher.

Right or Wrong Direction?

Have you ever asked yourself if you are heading towards the right direction?

Source: http://choegraphy.blogspot.com/2013/12/road-users.html

I find this question very interesting as we always thought we are doing the right thing in our life and working hard crafting our future. However, if we really reflect on our past decisions or what we are doing now, we might find that our choices of decision may not be as good as we thought. Even if we find our choices are good enough, but try to look around and we may find that many people actually don't agree with us.

Sometime, our thought, stand or approach might be different; we might have chosen for different path...but our purpose could be the same...'to reach at the destination safely'. As long as we don't create problem to others, hurting people along the way, everybody should respect each other and where they want to go. Of course, we may find that some people could be heading to the wrong direction; but again, how to justify if it is right or wrong to the person if this individual (like us) have decided on the direction. Like the cow, can we tell the cow 'hey buddy, you are on the wrong side of the road...this is not the right direction"!!!

In family, at work or in any aspect of our life, we should stop for awhile and reflect on our direction; to see if we know where we are heading to; how are we moving forward and most importantly, are we causing any trouble to others? The cow can head towards its direction as long as our friend know how to use the correct lane or use the walk way.

So, nothing wrong with your direction or the path you want to take, as long as you know where you are heading to...the place you want to be. Once you know where is the destination, don't just keep thinking of reaching the place but to enjoy the scenery along the way. We might miss out something valuable if we passes it while we are heading towards our goal in high speed...

As such, it is difficult to determine if the direction is correct or not, we still need to move on. As long as our concious is clear, we should not simply change our course but to reflect along our journey. Lastly, we should just enjoy the process of life.

A Life Perspective

A very interesting perspective of life adopted from a recent TVB drama series Karma Rider (師父‧明白了)
What if someone you love is leaving you forever?

The one who lives on in this world will be very sad and suffers...

The one who lives on feel sad and suffers not because of the lost of someone, but...

The sadness and suffering are because of the failure to let go of someone; or the life that we used to own