Crossroads

Have you ever been in this situation before? I have, countless times and now I am in it (this situation).

See, I couldn’t decide what to write today. I have a serious one and one, well…not so serious but both, I shoved down the toilet bowl cos I’ve decided on an impromptu post (again).

Inspiration for this post…none other than my tennis idol, Roger Federer, who won his 12th Grand Slam in the wee hours of the morning (my time). A match I didn’t watch because when I woke up around 4 this morning, it was raining heavily and there was no signal on the dum-dum Astro. So, I went back to bed thinking I would wake up again an hour later to catch a glimpse of him holding the trophy. Nope, that didn’t happen either cos I over-slept and only woke up at 8. By the time I went downstairs, delayed telecast of football was on…Damnit!!!

So, how much was his prize money? A whopping USD2.2 mil!! That is equivalent to…a lot of Ringgit Malaysia (sorry la, I am not so good in math and conversion). Needless to say that’s a whole lot of Nasi Briyani I can buy to eat in my lifetime ok. I can even bring back the damn cook who used to make the prawn and nasi dish I used to like at the restaurant I used to frequent ever so often before I got pregnant. I can even take over the damn restaurant and make sure they don’t go changing my favourite dishes as and when they like.

A millionaire at 26, not bad eh? In fact he was already a millionaire at 20 if I am not mistaken when he won his first grand slam at Wimbledon. Now, if I were the parent, I would feel that all my years of investment (in terms of $$) did not go to waste and he actually did earn back the money (and more) I spent on the tennis lessons I gave him, wouldn’t you think so?

And so, I have decided. Actually I decided a long time ago that Ashley will be groomed to be the next “Roger Federer”. Well, the female version. In fact, I had wanted to name her “Rogena” after the great man himself if it weren’t for my hubby who stepped in with his big foot to say “NO, not in this lifetime honey”. Ok nevermind, its just a name. I will contend with Ashley.

Just go along with me and my ideology here for a wee minute. Just think, all of us (average income earner parents) are saving up for our kids’ education in the future. Overseas education since that seems to be the trend. Parents were seen to sell their houses, cars and what not to fund the kids education since its not cheap you know. Of course, parents these days are smarter. They invest in education insurance plans for their kids. A newborn baby, barely even crawling already has an insurance plan to his/her name.

Why overseas education? Better job prospects because ‘cham ko ham sui fan lei hou tit keh” (loosely translated to “Having soaked in salt water before coming back is always better”). You can also negotiate for better entry pay since you have Masters and PhD. Increment also better since you are overseas graduate. You also don’t have to do your own photocopying, get to travel to meet with high end customers, order people around at your first year in the working world.

Is this ultimately true? Yes and No. Yes, there are some selected people who have “made” it in the working world and are earning mega bucks. No because the majority are still hanging around, working hard, waiting for the person on top to vacate their seat so they might have 1/10 chance of planting their bum on that coveted seat but that person is not going to leave anytime soon cos he/she is only 30 and if the person above that person is only 35, well…enuff said. Your salary is nothing to shout about either since you have to share the increment pool with 7 others in your department. You get frustrated, jaded, de-motivated and you hate your job.

Your parents? Seems like the $$ spent all went down the drain isn’t it because you can’t even buy your own Merc with your first pay check or better still, the parents will have to supplement your monthly salary and put a down payment for you to purchase your dream Honda Civic even after 3 years of working.

Roger Federer, on the other hand, do not have this problem. Neither do his parents I am very sure. You see, while all you graduates still have to learn how to use the photocopy machine or how to work the coffee machine (since you are not “big” enough to get the tea lady to serve you coffee) at the age of 23 or 24, Roger has done all the fundamentals in his career at the age of 9 or 10 as a ball boy. By the time he is 17, he already turned professional and probably with his first pay-check, was able to buy himself a S-Class. At the age of 25, while most of you are lucky enough to get promoted to “Senior” because all the seniors have left the company, Roger is already flying to the next tournament in his private jet. Did I also mention that he can already retire at the age of 30, have kids, take a back seat and enjoy life. If he is smart, he can set up his own tennis academy just to have something to do during retirement and keep the $$ rolling in.

So, don’t you think that THAT is the kind of life you want for your kid(s)? I sure as hell do and that’s exactly what I am going to do. Yep, my lil Ashley will be the next tennis sensation. And I will be up on the stands cheering my lil girl on, wearing oversized sunglasses and with my hair dyed blonde.

Before I get all excited, I must first wake up from this fabulously perfect DREAM and make sure she has the talent la. If she is anything like me, she can just resort to playing badminton with her father on the grandmother’s lawn :)