After months and months of trying and not getting anywhere, people give up. People give up not necessarily because of the futility of their efforts. They give up because they are tired. They are exhausted from trying. They give up because their body has taken too many punches and the bruises are not healing anymore. But most of all, they give up because their spirit is worn out and they’ve lost all hope.

Although hope can withstand the the hardest pummelling and endure the longest duress, at its tail end, it is a fragile intangible commodity. Once it’s gone, it’s nigh impossible to regain. And when all hope is lost, effort matters no more.

So when Cainer said the following today:

While Venus is passing through your opposite sign, you can expect a change in your love life. For some while you have been engaged in negotiation. Finally it seems that a certain person is becoming more willing to hear what you have to say and to co-operate with you. This in turn is inspiring you to trust that individual more and to let them take the lead with regard to a key plan or project. Either in love or at work, or both, there’s now a real chance to deepen the work of a very productive team.

I laughed.

It’s light at the end of the tunnel, three days too late, on a day when it’s raining and I’ve backed out to where I first started.

Posted on September 30th, 2003 by jl
Filed under: Notable: Personal | 7 Comments »

This article appeared on page B2 of the Kuala Lumpur edition of the International Herald Tribune on Monday, 29 September 2003.

Posted on September 29th, 2003 by jl
Filed under: Intl Currency | No Comments »

This commentary which was published in the New Sunday Times on 28 September 2003 is representative of the official, and general, view in Malaysia on the recently concluded WTO talks in Cancun.

Posted on September 29th, 2003 by jl
Filed under: WTO | No Comments »

What do you do when you realise that the house you bought and lived in for five years is not what you really want? You don’t remember the reasons for buying that house in the first place but you now think that the house:
(1) is too far from your place of work;
(2) is located in a neighbourhood that you don’t quite like, though not hate;
(3) is surrounded by bad traffic, hence you don’t go out much;
(4) is too big and requires too much work.

Selling and moving appears to be the solution, however:
(a) moving is a very tedious affair;
(b) much as the reasons for moving appear obvious, having lived there for so long, you have come to love the house for other reasons;
(c) while living in a new place and environment can be exciting, it also brings anxiety and fear - will it be better? will it be worse? what sort of neighbours would I have? as some say, better the devil you know… .

So, do you sell the house and move out? Or do you stay and bear with it?

Posted on September 29th, 2003 by jl
Filed under: Life with a Heavy Heart | 15 Comments »

What a lovely way to start a Monday morning (from Cainer):

Someone appreciates you more than you realise. Someone cares more than you know. Someone wants to help you and this someone has more power than you perhaps give them credit for. Don’t feel obliged to struggle on alone, or to prove that you can cope without help. The assistance you need will always be available if only you can find the humility to ask for it. Work generally on the assumption that your plan is a wise one and that you are in the right place at the right time. For it is, and you are!

Hmmm… who is this “someone”? Come out, come out, wherever you are…

Posted on September 29th, 2003 by jl
Filed under: Notable: Personal | 7 Comments »