Forest Gump story !

Saturday, July 14, 2007

In my life, there are a number of people, events, directors, movies, authors , books etc that have a lot of impact in my life, they shaped my thoughts and indirectly shaped my behaviors.

One of the movies that have a lot of impacts on my thinking/perception about people is none other than the movie "Forest Gump". In a circular world, Forest Gump is stupid, slow but if you read it deeper, you know that Forest Gump in fact has many talents that not many people have :). I think the thing that attracted me most about Forest Gump was his honesty and true to himself. He is what you see !

Well in real life, I married a Forest Gump, in fact, I am also quite a Forest Gump. Let me tell you why !

My husband is a very honest men, he is one of the few men whom I knew behave exactly the same at home as he is at church. Sometimes, I got mad at him for being so honest. I asked him why can't we cut a little bit corner, just a little bit... but he won't. And he is kind too. When I came to America to check him out (just to make sure he was not some serial killer :):) ), I wanted so much to get some juicy tales from his friends in his church, his cell group and his group of single friends. The only famous joke I got out of them were he once gave away a whole lot of money from his ATM to a homeless fellow. I would not want to disclose any figure here because I do not want some busy body who read my blog to go around asking people how much is the maximum money a person can withdraw from an ATM and smear my name on the internet.

Well, if you ever hear the saying, same feather flock together ? Well, I am one kind of Forest Gump too :). Today, I got my 1st payment notice from Payperpost (apparently, they pay you 30days after they approve your post) and guess what I read, thank you for your charity to Red Cross Society. Ya, all these while while I was writing for Payperpost, I donated all my payment to RedCross :) because I click every box on the form, not because I am generous :)-. You probably laughed your head off :) but that is just me, Forest Gump :).

It is not a big deal because I had been fooled by a lot of people with a lot more money than that. Put it that way, I was underwater for RM$500,000. Yes, it was pretty stupid of me to let out credit when there were no collateral.

But, you know one thing which I believe with all my heart is karma. Please don't tell me Christianity does not teach karma, what about heap coal on ice ?

At this stage of my life, I look at life with a very different perspective and with very different angle than when I was younger. Back then when I was younger, fame, money, success were no. 1 list, there were all very important to me. Now the most important thing in life for me is how my life can impact other people and how I live now affect the life after my physical death (eternal life).

When you have tasted being millionaire at 35 and near bankruptcy at 37, recovered completely from hemiparalysis, conceived a son after 6 weeks of open-heart surgery were all signs to me that I was given a second chance. I need to live a life that is fulfilling. I need is to live for today, not tomorrow or yesterday. To live a life that can impact others.

I look at life like a life bank, credit and debit. When you give , you are extending a credit line, when you take (cheat, lie etc...) , you are actually taking a loan from your life bank . Don't worry, life will always comes back in a circle.

I think I come to this conclusion in life because of many happenings in my life. I experienced a lot of loses in my life and yet they were only physical lost. Physical lost is the easiest things to deal with. But eternal gain and lost are something that you really have to seriously consider.

There are few things that I enjoy the most in life now. I can name one : make friends who have similar likings and values with you.

Tell you the truth, I don't know much about internet or blog. Though I had a Master degree in Computer Science in the mid 80's from none other than Australia's most prestige University - Sydney University. However, after I left Australia for Malaysia, I under utilized my technical skill . I was very much into management and business world. When I first took over the directorship of a franchise computer school in Brunei, I hardly used any of my computer technical skill. In fact, I was so intimidated by the internet world. I knew zero about about search engine or email servers. The only thing I knew about personal computer is a software called Word Stars (I think most of my young readers might not even heard of the dianosor software , it is a old version of MS words). But, being someone who is going to steer a franchise computer school to its greater height and wider horizon, I knew I got to do something to rectify the owner situation for he was pretty " Forest Gump" to employ a non technical gal to direct a computer school :):). So, I invited the Philippino guy who was my school's computer technician to have lunch with me. Of course, I made it in such a way that I knew the internet well. I wanted him to show me his level of technical competency. I told him I wanted to know where he stood among his peer group (all the technical staffs who reported to me).In order to do that , I told him to give me a review on his knowledge on all the SE/WS that he knew for 30minutes every day. While in the process, I asked technical questions on areas I wanted to know and took note on every question he had given. It did not take me long to have a bird-eye view of SE and WS. I became quite savvy on how to use my web browser, email services, and search engines :):).

I started embarking on my blogging journey a few months back.The greatest thing I found in blogging is making valuable friends such as Kuanhoong, Ken, Bee Ean, J.T, JennyHow and many others. I think the person who help me the most technically is Kuanhoong.When I started blogging a couple month ago, I had no clue on how to measure web or blog traffic. I also did not know what was page rank . Why is page rank so important on monetizing blog and how to increase page rank Well, when I started putting Alex'sa ranking system in my page, it was like 1,850,000. In the beginning, I did not really know if big number was good or not but as I read more and more, I come to a humble understanding that big number is not good, it means your blog is of no interest to people, it means you blog sucks :). It means you better take down your statistics because it is quite 'malu' (an embarasement to yourself :).

Then I get to know Kuanhoong a bit better through blog's comments and some emails' insight correspondences and I started digging his brain (I have the tendency of digging smart people's brain). I found out he's so willing to teach me on technical stuff such as SEO and WS. He would give me little tips here and there to help me to increase my blog traffic. I was amazed that within a few weeks or so, my Alexa page rank has increased from 1,850,000 to 570,000. In a few weeks, I have at least a bird eye view on SEO or a minimum jargon language to make me look like a blog experts in my social circle :)- Of course, compare to all the wiz kids on the internet block, my ranking is no where near them and it is not even worthwhile to mention. But, just imagine how little I knew when I first blogged, you really have to believe the power of FRIENDSHIP, networking and win win strategy. Friends who are willing to help you to be successful in whatever you are doing. And of course not forgetting Wuching whose blog was the first blog I read that got me noticed about making money from paidpost :)-. He is such a funny guy, I love to read his blog.

Beside friends who are tech inclined , I always found out there're a few girlie's kind of blog which I enjoy very much. Women who write from the bottom of their heart (or butt depend on what angle you look :):).. I only discoverd Cirnelle recently but ever since I discovered her blog, I am addicted to her blog's style. I sincerely believe a person's blog style reflects his/her personality !!

And one of the things about blogging that really cheered my heart is knowing a lot of younger bloggers like Ken, Mayank etc... who called me Aunty. It really warms my heart that these young men look up to me as their aunty. In our Asian culture, aunty is a sign of respect :):). I just want to pray that they would not dream of me when they place their shoes underneath their pillows on Friday 13th :):):) !.

So, at this Sunday morning at 1am, my dear readers, I am blogging about things in life that count more than money !

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

something very different from you today ;) I have been silently following your blog thru my RSS feed readers.
Being a Forest Gump is not that bad la ;) It's a good thing.
I really enjoy reading your wise insights about life today ;)

Anonymous said...

Yup, one of my all time favorite movies is Forrest Gump.

"Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're gonna get."

Weig said...

When I first started working, I didn't know how to turn on the computer. Seriously had to go through a course at work where they started from, "Press this button to switch on the CPU" and then "Press this button to switch on the monitor". How did I survive university in Melbourne? The computers in the computer room were always on! Hah!

JamyTan said...

Wow, Kuanhoong, never knew the soft side of you, thought u are all technical man :). Surprised that you know this :""Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're gonna get."

Anyone who knows and remember that line would most likely enjoy watching the movie "Tea with Mussolini" by Cher with me :):)-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_with_Mussolini

Glad that we share same likings on our right and left brain.

Bee Lee said...

Forest Gump is one of my favorite movie, & my cellphone's ringtone is the music from the movie too :)

JamyTan said...

Chee Kui,

It is such a delight to hear my reader telling me that he silently read me through RSS feed :):).
And u know yr blog is one of the daily reads, I am sure you have known by now :)-.

I don't know about my wise insights about life but I know for sure that I can tell you a lot of people who know me think I am eccentric :):), ha ha ha ha.

I knew a couple of my silent readers because some of them have expressed their disappointment that they will not be able to read my funny stories when I left a forum that I used to attend. But, I promised them that I will not disappointment them too long :). See my eccentricness do bring me to know a few geniune friends over the internet. Friends who support me all the way to blog :):).

I love to read your tech blog and I will write to you one of these days because I couldnot understand a few articles you have written and I like to ask you about it :). Might be one day I might have to pretend I know a whole lot about it, ha ha ha ha ha.

In fact, the smartest people can have a lot of forest gumbness in certain part of their brains :):).

My son knows how to recite every verse from Psalm 23 and can read and write ABC when he was 2 1/2 years old but he still want mama to feed him his food. We laughed and said he used all his brain cells for his alphabets and is too easy to learn to eat by himself :):):).

Cheers !

JamyTan said...

BEE, wow, I find myself a few forest gumb fans :):)

Anonymous said...

Wow what a nice wonderful story aunt :) You've gone through a lot and I think you learned the right lesson that friendship, love are the real assets and there are people who still struggle to find this gold.

I'm always proud of myself that I've never earned any enemy or a person who back bites (we always come to know about them) in my entire life.

Anonymous said...

;) Sure, just drop a comment or contact me thru the contact form whenever you feel like it.

Glad you found them interesting. :_

Anonymous said...

Hey, I watched "Tea with Mussolini" too. :P

JamyTan said...

Kuanhoong,

U just want to impress me only :)-
Don't believe any K.L guy would know abt "Tea with Mussolini", wink wink :)-.

JamyTan said...

Ok now Kuanhoog,
How about Patch Adams, now I gotcha :)

Anonymous said...

wow.. you have a knack for writing!! landed up here from KenXu's blog and enjoyed it so much... I loved the way you explain even the hardest of times with such ease and manage to keep such sense of humor! "Women who write from the bottom of their heart (or butt depend on what angle you look :):).." made me laugh out loud!!

haha I am subscribing today :)

JamyTan said...

Pearl,
I am flattered !
I will reciprocrate !
Jamy

JamyTan said...

Cirnelle,
U are in my circle of forest gumpness friends :):).

Anonymous said...

Hey, Seriously I watched "Tea with Mussolini", "Patch Adam", "The Remains of the Day" and even "Shadowland".

If you know about "Shadowland" :P

Bee Ean said...

Jamy,

I like your writing style, also cirnelle's one. You are someone who doesn't mind to share your knowledge. I salute you for this. I enjoy reading your posts in "that forum" and have been following you here. You always have interesting stories to tell.

JamyTan said...

Kuanhoong,
No I did not know about shadowlands prior to this. I googled and if that's the one where Anthony Hopkins acted on ?

If so, I am impressed, I did not know you watch this kind of movie.

Anthony Hopkins is an excellent actor.

Did you watch Silent of the lamb ?

If so, might be we were twins last life :):):).

JamyTan said...

This is a recipocrate kind of feelings :"I like your writing style, also cirnelle's one".

Nothing to imply that we are bisexual :):):).

Do you know we have known one another on the cyberworld for about 2 years now !

In fact, you have became one of my cyber friend where I would check up daily to see if you are alright or not. The 10days u were out of internet was hard on me :)-.

JamyTan said...

Bee Ean,

Do you know in life, there is this thing called win-win strategy, both sides win, "You are someone who doesn't mind to share your knowledge. I salute you for this."
I used to see only black and white, either I win or lose.

My brother though got his education from Western school, he is very into Tao and Zen. He said when you are in a battle (or even in anything you do, you might own a forum, work for people as IT guy etc...), you have to look at end of the game, the final move, the last move (like Chinese chess). To me that is a long term strategy ! When you set up a project or invest or marriage , you need to have the 'end picture' as goal. Do you to complete the project , a net return, die-part kind of marriage, then you know along the way there will be times when part of the project (結論), you know you gonna lost in some stocks and gain some stocks but the bottom figure is a positive and you know some days along your marriage life, there is going be rain, storm but you know there is rainbow at the end !

I think a lot of my life philosophy now is derived from my life experience. I find giving what I know because of my life experience.

My paternal grandma was the best 'nonya kueh' maker in her kampung. Her names spread afar but no one knew her secret receipes except her 3 daughters (her youngest were too young then). She did not want to teach my mom because she consider my mom as outsider. I was not interested then and none of her daughters were really into 'nonya kueh'. Man, retrospect, I wished if only my grandma would help to teach a few women in her kampung, I am sure I am able to get those receipes from one of the women's families. What is the moral of the story, people who are selfish and kiasu will not get too far lah :):).

U also can see on your own eyes now abt the place we have been before, see now it is 'len chin chin'.

I am not sure if it is our culture or what. U look at the internet, you see free flow info., u can find anything in wikipedia ? Does the owner who ever set it up scare of someone is going to snatch it away. There will always be competitors ! In fact, competitors drive you to deliver better products, the reverse is monopoly deliver bad products.

Aiya, I can write whole day about it, but no points better go to makan now :):)

Cheers !

Ps : u are not the only one follow me, my visitors counter show me where my visitors come from :):):). There are quite a few like you who visit my site regularly :):).