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My ideal home is

***On a high floor
***Well-ventilated and enjoys natural light
***In a quiet neighbourhood
***next to the Mrt
***Not too far away from downtown
***Big enough to let me dance around

But since I’m not a millionaire, not all of these requirements can be met. So dear friends, when you visit my home, be prepared to take a nice long walk from the Mrt if you don’t drive.

It irks me to read about the litany of complaints of my fellow citizens about their housing problems, making remarks like, ‘how can you expect me to live on the 2nd floor?' Some groused that they want to live near their parents, but the flats there are too expensive. And hence, despite spending a long time house-hunting, they still cannot find a suitable place. That is because, what they are looking for doesn’t exist!

My point is simple: no matter what the budget is, there is no such thing as a perfect home. I often wondered why those million-dollar condominiums beside the highways get sold. Obviously some people have decided that there is enough merit in these condos and they can live with the other shortcomings. Surely it should be understood therefore that within a budget, there are limited options.

One inevitably has to decide which qualities are more important than others, and choose accordingly. Why is it so easy to blame others (and society) when one cannot get what he wants? Frankly, if a person cannot recognize basic facts in life, he isn’t mature enough to set up his own family.

A new beginning

Dear Lord,

In the new place you have put me, I pray that I can

move the mountain
walk on water and
feed the five thousand.

Teach me to be wise as a serpent yet innocent as a dove. Go before me and make my path straight, broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles will not turn.

Let my arms bend a bow of bronze!