Money (1)

Monday I received my new contract - a 1 year extension of my employment here in BCSIS, along with a pay raise. For starters, I'm really thankful that I have a job. Then I was given a pretty good salary to start with, considering the market rate for graduates nowadays in Malaysia. It's unmeritted favour, really. And now a raise. I should be happy. But a truth has really dawned upon me like never before. And it's depressing really.

You see, after every Chinese New Year, prices go up. They do it in a very obvious fashion. They would first increase the price by 40 cents during the festive season (and senseless, hungry people would still come), and then they will reduce 20 cents after that. Which means a rise of 20 cents. I'm talking about the dim sum shop across my church building. The prices have gone up so greatly, that they are hesitant to put up the prices for their customers now. Probably the boss is still thinking about the right pricing.

And it has been for the past years that the prices are going up at a certain speed, but the raise in salaries is at a slower pace. Maybe I'm dumb, but this shows me 2 things. 1, is that it is getting harder and harder for an individual to break out of the survival stage, which will ultimately lead to my 2nd point - the longing to be rich will be harder and harder to satisfy. So if you're working and you're in it for the money, you'd be constantly and repeatly disappointed. Again, maybe I'm dumb. There are unconventional ways of earning fast cash Malaysians can try - MLMs (no comment), being an insurance agent, the lottery, etc... No, please, don't tell me about it.

I don't want to work for the sake of money, there's more to life than that. I have to remind myself of this for at least another year.