Hey Seth,
"Welcome to this cruel world" - This is exactly the very 1st sentence I told you. (I mean after hello hello).
And you could probably guess how everyone reacted to it. They all went "ooooo" in disagreement.
Of course, although I wouldn't say I am the conventional dad as you should know by the time you are reading this. My intent is always good.
I told them, "if there's anything bad that my son need to learn, I would rather it be from me than from anyone else." And that's how it is.
You are still in the nursery getting a good wash while I am typing this and your mum is sleeping soundly beside me. I am pretty damn sure you ain't gonna read this blogpost until you are old enough for the internet (yeah, it's a bad bad place) or neither do I think I will be showing you this anytime soon. In fact, you will probably not be told that your dad has a blog until later part of your life. I am not too sure how proud you will be of me writing this silly blog and erm, my poor grammar. Oops.
So why am I writing this letter now? Because
If you are already reading this, you probably agreeing with my morbid opening of welcoming you to a cruel world right? I am not too sure how old you will be when you are reading this but in case I am already a boring old man when you are reading this, please feel free to surf around this space and note that your dad was a really fun and crazy man once.
People have been telling me that I've changed. My blog seems to be a little less funny, less bitchy, a lot more serious, preachy and "adult-like". I too did noticed about this change of mine. I had some problem coming out with silly or bitchy post. It used to be something very easy for me but recently I've been sitting in front of the computer with nothing.
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| Yawnz |
No lah, I am not blaming you but my point is that I guess when you know you have a kid on the way, you start to be a little more responsible and you hope to clean your image up a bit, consciously or not. I might not even sound like the Dad you know when you are reading this and that's exactly why I want to write this now and you can know the dad of yours at 32.
Here's some points that I wish to share with you. I do note that this might come back to bite me when I am in my 50s where you are making some life decisions that I may or may not agree but at least the 32 years old me did felt this way right?
In 2014/15, there is this thing known as the listicles. Which is like articles written in a list format. I know it is 2016 but hell there are still a lot of sites doing it and mass audiences still read them. oh well. So to make it simple for you and them, here goes.
1. Read. I shall kick start the list with one of my biggest regrets. I didn't pick up reading and this suck. It makes work so much harder and learning so much harder. Not only did it make reading difficult but it also make writing so much harder. Reading can be anything, from news to books to even descriptions of your medication or anything. There's never something as know too much. Knowledge is knowledge and you can't die from OD.
2. Be Brave. When in doubt with anything in life, always always take the leap of faith. I read (i know, contradicts point 1 but i do read some stuff sometimes.) this article online that talked about regrets. They mentioned something like how people always regret more on things they didn't do over things they did and it was a mistake. They had their whole life to forgive themselves and make things right but a missed opportunity will always be a 'what-if' in your head and that eats you up. Anyway every mistake makes a good story. Never ever be worried about failing. That's the only way we will be successful eventually.
3. Love. Don't be afraid to get hurt. Don't worry that your love will not be appreciated or even be abused. Love is not like a game of squash where there will always be a return. Love is like cliff jumping. You do not know what will happen out there. What will be underneath the water. Shark? Gold? Treasure? Rocks? In fact you don't even know if you will survive the jump less say enjoy it but you have to be brave and do it. Love, be passionate about things around you. Love someone, love yourself, love a great wins, love the result of hard work or even just simply love the process. And of course, love me lah dude. Always love like you have never loved before but don't rush it. Love will find it's way eventually. #MightBeTooMuchForYou #ButYouWillGetItSomeday
4. Talk. One thing that I am very proud about myself is the way I talk and communicate. Look at me, not the best looking dad but I was pretty popular in my heyday (don't laugh or doubt) and all thanks to how smooth I was(or so I believe at least). I digress. This is not my point at all. My point is no matter what happen out there happened to you, good or bad, always tell me things. If you don't tell me things, I cannot set things right. I may scold you, I might get angry but remember this, I am only doing those things because I care. On top of that, I will always do my best to set things right. If you get bullied, I make sure they get burned in hell, if you knocked someone up, I hope she is pretty, if you killed someone bad, I will make sure we clean it up well, if you killed someone good, I make sure I am the one who put you into where you are supposed to and get you out there after. No matter good or bad, always talk to me(us).
5. I'm Sorry. It is never easy for typical Asian parents to apologize to their kids. I am not sure if I will become one of those people like your grand parents but whatever the case I will say it here 1st. Your dad loves his life. He likes his wine, his parties, Not like he doesn't like you but your dad is a little selfish. He wants to work and achieve more in terms of personal development as well as business wise. One thing for sure is that I will never blame you and say shit like you are the reason I work hard so I can put the bread and bacon on the table. It's not that case. I work hard because I want to. Life is meaningless if at the end of the day you did nothing. Live a life that is short and sharp instead of one that is long and meaningless. Don't look back and realized that you left no legacy behind. I know you are my legacy but you are only part of it. You will live to tell tales of me, the way you know me but I guess I have to do things in order for you to record my victories. I will try my best to develop you the way I want. I will try my best to give you freedom to do the things you like but there are things I hope you could do to kinda like fulfilling my unfulfilled dream - playing basketball. So I'm saying sorry if you feel like I'm forcing you to do anything or worst you are feeling neglected by me because I'm spending too much time on my business and myself. Always refer back to point 4. Talk. Tell me about it and I believe we can always sort things out. The point is nobody taught us how to be a parent. One day we are young and wild and free and next BOOM, we are daddies and mummies and we are supposed to know how to be parents? I will try my best to be patient with you but at the same time I hope you are patient with this old man trying to learn new tricks. Bottomline is no matter what, I love you.
Whatever the case, I hope you grow up well and healthy. Of course I would love it that you grow up powerful and wealthy as well. Every father would want their son to be somebody so please forgive me if I've been too hard with you over the years.
Love,
Your Lao Peh,
Smith, Father Of Unicorns and Seth.
P.S. And also if you find our first photo very familiar, which you probably will not. It's actually a spoof of the great Jay Chou. Jay Chou is this famous Taiwan singer in my era who married a freaking underage young wife.
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