Coffeeshop Talk - Cyberspace

[Talking to myself while waiting for my Bee Hoon at my neighbourhood corner coffeeshop.]

Where do you live?

Cyberspace.

Where is Cyberspace?

Everywhere.

What do you mean? Can you give me an example?

In the memories of computers. They are interconnected. Ah yes, ... the Internet.

Why do you live in Cyberspace? Did you choose to live there?

No, I was tricked into it. Then it became convenient. Now I can't live anywhere else.

Why can't you live anywhere else?

It's convenient in Cyberspace.

Isn't it more convenient to switch off?

Switch what off? You can't switch Cyberspace off. It is there. Will always be.

I mean, you can switch your computers off. Your smartphone off.

And my smartTV off too?

Yes. Disconnect.

Then where will I be?

Here. Now.

Now? What do you mean 'Now'?

Now. The moment. The breath you take.

You mean, like you and me now? I don't get it. And then what?

And then we are present together. Enjoying the moment.

Enjoy what? So boring.

Have you tried?

Tried what?

Being in the moment.

[Silence.]

Not for very long.

Why?

Cos' I feel that I am missing out.

What will you miss out?

I don't know. I don't even know what I will miss out. Isn't that more scary?

So you are living in fear?

[Silence]

Yes.

Yes what?

Yes,... you know... it is hard...

Say it.

Ok, ok... beat it. Yes, I am living in fear. Fear of missing out. Fear of not knowing what is to come. Am I wrong?

You are not wrong. You are not right either. There is no right or wrong. Only choices and consequences. What have you chosen?

Chosen? What do you mean?

You have chosen Fear haven't you?

Yes. So?

So what are the consequences?

Liddat lor.

Do you feel comfortable? Relaxed? Peaceful?

[Pause]

Not really.

So these are your consequences. Now you can make a different choice. Do you want to make that choice? Live in the moment.

Ok, let us post this online so that more people are aware.

... Oh crap! How come? Singtel 4G is down?!!!


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Coffeeshop Thoughts

My head is 'wandering' and 'wondering'. 'Wandering' because it cannot stay as still as I like it to be; and 'wondering' what is going to come up next. The latter, robbing me of my present. 

The mind is both a friend and a foe, and it is crucial to know when one should call for a separation. A separation when it is needed to allow the soul to continue in peace. I have no two minds about that!

It is with a peaceful soul that one can command the mind to be its servant. Then the mind will synchronise and it too will be peaceful. Just like a grand tree, the soul is always peaceful. It is the emotional winds that blow that make the leaves of the grand tree (the soul) flutter. But emotions do not constitute the soul. They are merely temporary states of mind that will blow over.

 -- written using my iPhone while willing my time away in a coffeeshop.

ps. Why did the first sip of the tea tastes so different from the last sip of the tea? Did somebody swap the cup?


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Coffeeshop Talk - Jailhouse Rock

My regular coffeeshop is in a dilapidated state. The collective owners are not refurbishing their properties because they were trying to get it sold en-bloc. In Singapore, you may get a rich developer offering you a sum of money you cannot refuse. It happens, but sometimes it happens not.

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As I was at the back of the shop, I struck up a conversation with a young chap smartly dressed in long sleeves and a tie (that is an effort amid the tropical heat and humidity), about the state of the shop. We spoke about the previous attempt for the estate to go 'en-bloc'.

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Young Chap: They are en-bloc-ed right?

Me: No. The last attempt failed. There is height restrictions here, so it is not very attractive for the developer. They were trying to make a holiday resort here, when there is a popular one, run by the unions (NTUC) called Downtown East, barely a few kilometres away. Besides, you don't build a resort literally opposite a prison.

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Young Chap: Yes agree, the prisoners won't be coming out to visit the resort.

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I almost burst out laughing, but realised he was stuck in his rigid left-brain logic and sombre about his remark. *LOL*

Coffeeshop Talk - The Simple Things in Life

Today at my local coffeeshop, I saw the aunty preparing empty condensed milk cans for customers to take-away coffee or tea in. This was popular in the old days in Singapore up till the late 70s. After that, coffee stalls prefer to use plastic bags or polystyrene foam cups. The prepared cans certainly look quaint and nostalgic and so I took some photos of them. The aunty was surprised and remarked that only rich people can be fascinated by things like that.

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"Why is that so?" I asked.

"It is only when you are rich, stomach full and have nothing to worry about that you appreciate such simple things," she replied.

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"But one does not need to be rich to appreciate the simple things in life," I said.

"Yes, but people are not like that nowadays," she retorted.

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Then, she told me that her neighbours' children on their first salary (of mere SGD3,000/month) went off to buy a car, spend all their salary away every month, then ask their parents for money. How times have changed! In my time, with whatever little we have, we still give monthly allowance to our parents. Then, these neighbour's children gone on to have extravagant weddings in 5-star hotels, expensive photo shoots, honeymoon, luxury apartment, and got divorced after their second kid. Isn't it akin to running on treadmills?

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One doesn't need to be rich to appreciate the little simple things in life. Just looking at the tin cans reminded me of my childhood and the lifestyle of that time. It is a beautiful feeling, and hence the photos. Besides, I am not anywhere as rich as they think I am. So one can be financially poor to appreciate the simple things in life!

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Perhaps parents in Singapore are too busy working and making money instead of imparting values to their children. As a result, children grow up adoring money and material wealth. After some time, they think that material wealth is all that matters. It is said in jest that when a man is poor, he longs to find a wife and when he becomes rich, he divorces his wife!

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I told the coffeeshop aunty that my nieces and nephews are lucky as their mother stayed at home to bring them up and so they are inculcated with moral values from young. They love the family and gravitate towards home to be with everyone. If home is where love is, kids will gravitate towards it to find their serenity. Such serenity secures them and cushions them against the onslaught of the daily harsh materialism we commonly find in our societies.

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Then just before I left the coffeeshop, she marveled that I am well educated and therefore need not take into buying 4D (the weekly lottery). I couldn't believe what I heard at that instance, so I merely shook my head in reflection and left.

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Coffeeshop Talk

Today at the coffeeshop, I asked the auntie why she is glum and she retorted that she didn't strike 4D (lottery) and therefore there is no cause to smile. I asked if she had noticed if the people queuing up at 4D shops smile, but she didn't reply.

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It is common to see people looking glum in Singapore because they have not struck lottery. Compulsive gamblers become perpetually glum.

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I have two lady friends who have divorced their husband because of the latter's addiction to gambling. And these are educated men in respectable professions, one a teacher and the other a policeman, both fallen to the devil of greed.

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Recently, there is a rich man who lost 26 million dollars within 3 days in a casino in Singapore. It must have been a great pain and suffering for his family and him. It hurts me just thinking of it. More so in this case, as he is someone I know and went to the same kindergarten class in our early years.

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Gambling is a social ill. For one to win, many have to lose. Stay away from it.

Coffeeshop Philosophy

Just noticed this coffeeshop philosophy at 99Central. Many of you in Singapore would have been to this place, but have you noticed or read their philosophy written on their tables? I haven't, as all the time when I have been there, I was merely eating and looking at my food, ie. till yesterday. It says:

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Our Philosophy

Customer is the most important visitor in our premises.

He is not dependent on us.

We are dependent on him.

He is not an interruption on our work.

He is the purpose of it.

He is not an outsider on our business.

He is part of it.

We are not doing him a favour by serving him.

He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so.

"We smile because we want to, not because we have to."

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Would do good if more businesses follow this modest coffeeshop philosophy.

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