I always want a balance type of living, but in the end of the day, I don’t know what balance is.
When I started working, 3 years back, I stayed in Kepong. I used to wake up before Subuh, take bath, prepare myself and rushed to the komuter station, or sometimes I drove to my office at Jalan Ampang. I had to take 2 trains, komuter and LRT Putra to reach the office. You know how public transport here, especially KTM… Spending 2-3 hours commuting is normal.
As my Wan said “Pegi keje tak kena cahaya matahari, balik pun tak kena cahaya matahari”.
I sacrifice most of my time, for my job.
Worth? Of course, cos at the end of the day, I have some amount of money banked into my account.
But, sedar atau tidak, for ages, we trade our time for money, and for middle to lower class, it is directly and inversely proportional, respectably. More work, more money. More work, less time. More money, less time. Simple example, you’re working 8-5 with certain amount of salary. You need to make more money for certain event, so you do overtime. You give your time for that money, ain’t it? You maybe lose a nice soap opera slot.
For makan gaji like us, what some people call ‘rat race’. We’re running in the same circle. We make money, and make more money from our job, by trading our time, to buy things that deplete their values over time. Do you see the equilibrium? I don’t think so.
But I think half of our 24 hours is dedicated to work alone. Let alone overtime or shift works or on-call and part time jobs, or even ‘take-home works’. Especially in KL, I used to get out from home at 6.15am (to avoid traffic jam & sardined commuter) and reach home at 6.30pm. Now the same thing happens to Abiy. 6.30am goes out, 6.30pm comes home. Usually the whole night is sleeping time after a long, exhausting day.
But we have no choice. We have to work for a living. Like myself, when I take unpaid leave, I have no money! But sure ample time to spend with the kids. Let alone Abiy’s salary that just enough to make ends meet.
Let’s forget about ourselves. How about our children? What do we want them to be? An engineer? A doctor? A lawyer? A professor? An Einstein? Whatever it is, they’ll still be one of the ‘rats’ and keep on playing the same game like us.
We are happy having little time to spend with our love ones.
I have a friend who has a job on travelling basis, so does her husband. Sometimes they meet at the airport or KL Sentral before both of them make another business travel to different places.
Yeah, we can’t pull ourselves off from having job. Many of my friends furthering their studies to have a better job or better position in the organisation. Because from it we can create our life. Someone with no job will be looked down. For now I am safe cos taking unpaid leave, if I told my parents that I’m gonna quit, for sure the first thing they’ll do is kick my ass on the face. Cos why? They sent me to study until I get my B Eng. Staying at home? What a loser.
Sedar atau tidak we’re always preparing ourselves to be rats. We were sent to school, to learn, get good grades and get good jobs. This will be inherited to our kids and the next generation. Day by day, working world becomes competitive and hectic. Especially during recession. Retrenchment and fully utilisation of the small number of workers, making most of us lost the ‘makan gaji life equilibrium’.
Usually our life’s triumph measured by our achievement in life, most of the time relating to JOB we’re doing. What people will look at you is what position you’re holding, make sense? People will astonish upon you when you’re an engineer but will look down on you if you don’t have a job.
So I rather say, we are work-oriented people, as long as we makan gaji. Even if you say you’re not, but your daily life proves it.
Do you think we still can have a balance life this way?
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