Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Hidden evils... the wonders of language...

Had a realization after trying to persuade some of my "diao4 er3 lang1 dang1"(mandarin) friends to start saving money even though they have like 4 times as much allowance as me and yet they spend every single cent of it. And most of them cited various excuses such as "Spend money shiok mah."," I wanna enjoy mah."," Song leh(hokkien)..." and the most famous one "Money is supposed to be spent wat, why torture yourself to save money?I feel very shuang3!"

I couldn't help feeling sorry for my friends who just refuse to listen to my advices to save money for their future. As a financial adviser, the best thing i can do is just to advise, to try to make people see the importance of planning for their future and not just follow the detrimental saying of "Today got wine, today must drink.", which is what their excuses are promoting,"Today got money, today must spend". Then later rainy days come how?

And then some of their answers would be,"When it comes then we see how lor.","I'll have my solutions by then dun worry." or "Haha, rainy days? I'm not that unlucky one la." I really dunno whether to laugh or get angry with the way they ignore their duties in life. Somehow, when people say they are mature adults and yet they could still come up with this kinda answers, i dun quite believe them. Even as i feel so helpless that i can't save them from their own foolishness since i can't enforce my will on them, i'll have to try to do something that will make people realise it themselves...

So here's the realization:


To illustrate my point, take a look at the picture above...

What i have discovered is that this chinese word, shuang3 has a hidden meaning to it actually.
Alas, the wonders of language... None of us actually paid close attention to this word which we use so often. Basically, this word is used when we wanna emphasize how satisfied we become when we do certain things. Much as i want to recognise this word to have no hidden meanings at all, the 4 forbidden habits seem to fit with the 4 crosses that make up this word.

As i examine the word closer, notice the roof of the word, and the "ren2" associated with it in the center. It could be hinting that this word encompasses human as the main focus, carrying these forbidden acts altogether, and under one roof. Gluttony, gambling, alcoholism and sex, these habits are most commonly practised under the roof, in the confinement of a building, or a room. And definitely, when we do acquire these forbidden habits and do them, i'm sure most of us would feel satisfied, shiok right? Ha ha... how fitting!

But in today's context, is it really outdated already?
I'm afraid thats not the case. How many people today are still indulging in these forbidden habits? How many people are even actually evolving these habits to include things like overspending, not saving enough, or running away from reality, such as, procrastination? I'm sure all of us know the answers to these questions... And i hope i have helped you all realised some truth in what i've been trying to tell you guys...

As i stand in awe with the discovery of this secret, i can't help but notice other interesting codes as well. I will share the next one tomorrow so stay tune ya?

Take care guys!

P/S: Its original and not cut and paste from somewhere else one hor! Haha, and paiseh to Shijia and Deidrea, i forgot i can printscreen then paste onto paintbrush... haha, but good effort for both of them!


alvinz blogged at 1:13 AM

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