Friday 4 May 2012

Cancer Took Emma Yong's Life

http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/blogs/singapore-showbiz/actress-emma-yong-passes-away-36-175311010.html

http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/blogs/singapore-showbiz/remembering-emma-yong-111300824.html

It's a very sad piece of news when a young lady at the prime of her life dies prematurely. I used to think that cancer only strikes the elderly, when we've lived beyond our "natural" life span. But it is occuring at a much earlier age.

I've lost my uncle whom I was very close to, to intestinal cancer around 10 years ago. He was around 60 years of age. I lost my aunt recently to lung cancer and she was only in her 50s. Both were from my mother's side. From my dad's side, I lost my youngest uncle to liver cancer just recently. He was a Hepatitis B carrier. My dad's elder sister has been diagnosed with 4th stage liver cancer recently.

It worries me that cancer is now the biggest killer. It appears to strike us at an ever earlier age. Several theories come to mind; the mobile phone usage, pressing a heated phone against our skull. The mobile phone in our pockets. The hormone infested meat that we consume. The insecticide coated fruits and vegetables we eat. The stressful lifestyle. The lack of sleep. The alcohol consumption. There are so many factors that causes cancer.

All these issues have made me think hard about the meaning of life. We grow up, and through our experience we grow wiser. But at the same time our health deteriorates while we grow older. Finally, all the experience and wisdom that we've accumulated just perishes with us when we die. Perhaps we should learn to be less uptight about things. Perhaps we need to learn to let go, learn to forgive and just be happy.

I think in life success comes on many different levels, monetary success is just one of them, there are many other ways to be successful in life. If you have a happy family and are a good father, this is also a measure of success, if you can help other people this is also a measure of success.

I think our society over rates monetary success and associates success with having a big house, having 3 cars, being able to go on holidays and live the good life when in fact, these are all relatively superficial symptoms of success. - in Investment Postcards

My advice to young people is that the degree is not important. If you have parents that can pay for your degree, then I would take one. If I had to borrow a lot of money, I’m not sure I would take one. I would try to work for someone who is successful and acquire knowledge from them.

Whatever you do, you should do with a lot of passion and heart and like what you do. If you like what you do, you will do a better job than if you are indifferent to what you do at your job. I think there are plenty of opportunities in every field.