Letters To My Boys

To my precious boys, I just want to tell you I love you both very much. You give me hope and joy everyday. And every night in my prayers, I pray that you grow into mature, sensible, hardworking, healthy, happy and successful men. I pray you'll find love, and will be loved. I wonder a lot if I parent you boys right. I made mistakes, and am still learning. I hope I can make things right. There has been a lot of bad opinions about millennials these days... you know, entitled, lazy, unfocused, no delayed gratifications etc. Sometimes I think I am raising you to be such. I'm sorry if I am. The world is changing so much I feel can't keep up. Everyone my age is always starting their sentences with "Back in our old days...". Yes, back in my days. There weren't many TV programs or HD Pixar animations, there were no smartphones, no mobile phones, no iPads, no DVDs, no computers even until I was a teen. And there weren't many websites, no YouTube, no Facebook, no games, no tutorials, nothing. I basically entertained myself with my imagination. So I'm sorry if I don't get it that these modern gadgets come naturally for you. I want you to be able to be comfortable with yourselves, it's OK to talk to yourselves. I do that when I am stressed, sad or when I am lonely. Talk to yourselves. Learn how to. I also want you to be able to persevere. Work hard and don't give up when things go bad. Keep going. Mull over the bad things if you need to, then move on and face another new day. Keep going. Keep going. Remember, nothing is permanent. Good things will come too. Failures are not permanent. Bad times and sadness are not permanent. Have faith that joy will come. I did. Commuting daily to Singapore for work was arduous sometimes but I kept going. A day at a time. There were good days and there were not so good days. But I kept going because of you. Because of my loved ones. The income was stable and good and I know how important it is to be financially safe.  Maybe it's my conservative risk-taking attitude, I go for safe options. So I kept going. Building that safety net for all of us. Encouraging you to save too. I went for many parenting workshops. How to raise financially-savvy kids. How to talk to your children. How to raise positive teens. I wish I can still impart all those knowledge to you. It feels scary sometimes to be growing up and living in this challenging world. I really hope Malaysia will change for the better. For you and your generations to come. But what I know now is true. Love makes you endure. Love makes you persevere. Love gives you the power to go on.

I love you and will always be in your heart. Yep, that's where you can find me.