Appreciate What You Have

Greeting from Ah Bong or Parno Bong again. After a long while, finally I got myself to write a blog.  Well, life as Parno Bong is not the same with other kids in my younger years. When I was young, I had a neighbourhood friend named Teddy Ponti Sari. As for why he was called Ponti Sari, it's because his father was the owner of a department store called Ponti Sari. It's already closed for good due to certain factors that I don't know, but I do know his father was really angry with me when we were playing inside his big house.

I was kind of tired after playing and I tried to relax by leaning with my dirty feet on the wall. Suddenly he was mad at me because the wall was dirty. I was shocked by the warning, hahaha.

Then when I was in secondary school, I met many friends. Played with a lot with them and didn't care about the future while other were already thinking of saving money bit by bit. But me, I was enjoying the time of my life, playing, going to gaming arcade, read comics everyday until I got my diploma. I was poor, but I enjoyed it because I made a lasting friendship for my whole life for sure.

You know, for some other kids around my age, they have to know how to earn money. For me, it's a different thing. I did nothing. Just played the role of a son that went to school, studied hard and enrolled to favorite college. That was my parents' dream, but I failed to make it happen. It was awful. Bad behaviour. 

Then both my father and mother suddenly opened shops to make a living. As the eldest son, I directly helped both of them to do business. My Mum sold salted fish while my father sold second-hand stuff. I barely adjusted myself in this kind of life, especially after so much leisure time I had, but after some time I got used to it. In the morning, I helped my Mum to open the shop and worked as the shopkeeper. I also worked as a driver sending goods from my father shop. I remember the time when I went to school. A girl told me, "you really smell like salted fish." Hahaha, upon hearing that, I was silent and blushing.

And I carried on doing the job, because this was how we could be staying alive, hahaha. Then until the end of high school I studied hard to pass the final exams. Some of my friends had to work and study in college at the same time. I was influenced by them, so I went to college, too. Frankly speaking, I shouldn't have studied in college if I knew my parents wouldn't come to my graduation, haha. Only a friend that I knew came, hahaha. 

My mindset at time was just to finish college and I did it. I wrote my paper at my Mum's salted fish shop. I bought a typewriter to do the paper and the shop owner came to me, asking if I wanted to open an office here. Well, that was embarrassing. 

I am 40  years old this year, married with two children now. I'm happy and I never regret what I'd done after all these years, even though I'm just an old school guy. I once wanted a decent work, lived my life to the fullest, got married, bought a house, excelled in what I'm passionate at, some thing that made me proud to be who I am, you know. But, huff, it was not an easy task. Things never turned out that way for me, Parno Bong, while others just could just work towards their dreams until they reached them. 

Yeah, let's face it. When I was in my elementary, secondary and high schools, I've experienced an enourmous adventure. The friends that I went through this life with, we had a great time. However, I might have playing too much and was not focus on my education. Could have saved more money, too...