Saturday, 14 April 2012

Limpeh's birthday today okay?

OK, Limpeh's birthday is today, I have just turned 36. Good grief, I don't feel 36. By the time my dad was my age, he already had 2 children. I still feel restless and still am seeking the next adventure. Here's a song to describe my outlook in life on this day. Why this song? As much as I love my dad, at 36 he had a job that he was going to do for the rest of his life and kids - there was stability but not adventure. He chose stability and was a good father and husband to his family. He gave me a good home and I was well educated - I am very grateful for all that. But where was his grand adventure? Where was his fun?

He seems quite happy for me to have all the adventure I want and is happy to see me traveling, city to city, working in exotic places - he is proud of the fact that I speak so many languages and have so many friends around the world. I just want to tell all the crazy dreamers out there... you're not alone. There are people like me who are willing to say, "I still haven't found, what I'm looking for." Can you imagine if you've found what you're looking at the age of 36? Then what are you going to do for the rest of your life? Maybe it's the journey ... not the destination? After all, that could be why I keep throwing myself into new challenges, constantly learning new languages to keep feeling that I need to work hard, rise to the occasion and be kept out of my comfort zone. Changing industries, moving to new countries - you could say I went out of my way to make my life difficult when it could've been so easy had I stayed in Singapore.

It's been a crazy 36 years to say the least - here's to the next 36 :)

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12 comments:

  1. Hermit14 April 2012 at 04:32

    Hey, we may have crossed swords, but no hard feelings. Happy Birthday. Like your dad, I already had children when I was 36 - three of them.

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  2. Élysée14 April 2012 at 04:48

    Just thought that I should drop a note to say - HAPPY BIRTHDAY :)

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  3. Limpeh Foreign Talent14 April 2012 at 11:14

    Thanks all.

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  4. disorder14 April 2012 at 13:45

    may more colours continue to enhance your life!

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    1. Limpeh Foreign Talent14 April 2012 at 14:22

      Kum siah kum siah - I am actually working today aiyoh. My boss is in hospital and he called me early this morning and said that the wifi in the hospital isn't working so he left me a long list of things to-do urgently today. Whoppee.

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  5. disorder14 April 2012 at 17:14

    of all my previous bosses only 1 acknowledged my birthday. nobody gives a shit otherwise, everything is abt work.

    ok i exaggerate, but almost everything.

    hope work goes smoothly for u! chop chop lollipop balik kampung tiduh (that's like 80% of my entire malay vocab).

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    1. Limpeh Foreign Talent14 April 2012 at 20:43

      Thanks ... BTW, chop chop and lollipop are not Malay words leh ...

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    2. Limpeh Foreign Talent14 April 2012 at 21:15

      PS. I worked from like 8 am till 4 pm, then went out, saw some friends to celebrate birthday, receive gifts etc ... then got back and checked work email and guess what? another load of stuff waiting to be done for the boss in hospital, so it's Saturday night, on my birthday - working ... Such is life. Oh well, at least I got to see some friends earlier.

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  6. Lawliet15 April 2012 at 17:50

    Happy birthday (one day late)!

    Just thought of a question: what language do you use to "think internally" in your head? Since you know so many languages, is there a particular dominant one that you use internally?

    I used to think internally in Chinese when I was young. When my English got better at the detriment of my Chinese, I began to think using English.

    Just curious =)

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    1. Limpeh Foreign Talent15 April 2012 at 19:01

      Thanks Lawliet.

      As for your questions - ask away! I would say my internal monologue varies - it's 50% English 50% everything else. Some core functions would always be in English. For example, maths is always done in English. Say, if I buy something that is £7.35 and I hand over a £10 note - then automatically, when my brain asks, "how much change am I expecting from the cashier?" The sum of £10 - £7.35 = £2.65 now all that would be worked out in English, as in £2.65 will be two pounds sixty-five in my head.

      Whereas when it comes to searching for adjectives or simply a way to express an emotion (as a reaction to something I observe or read), then it could be in a variety of languages - though I tend to have a preference for languages which I deem to be expressive and passionate: Hokkien is the most expressive language I know, the other v expressive ones include French, Spanish, Italian and Malay - there are other languages which I speak rather well like Mandarin, Welsh, German and Russian but I find those languages to be more formal and less passionate. So naturally, when I have a gut reaction to something, it is always going to be in a more 'passionate' language. I hope that makes sense, so yeah, it's no. 1 English, no. 2 Hokkien, then a mix of French, Italian, Spanish and Malay - but then anything and everything can creep in from Hindi to Turkish to Thai.

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    2. Winking Doll15 April 2012 at 22:59

      > maths is always done in English

      Interesting! I vary between English and Cantonese for maths. I wonder if it is because I was first taught to count in Cantonese and had lot of real life addition/subtraction practice using Cantonese before formal schooling. That said, math is often visual and spatial for me (i.e. no language needed). E.g. the problem solving method that they teach in Singapore primary schools this days. The only catch is, it comes naturally for me, but I can tell that it is a nightmare for many Singapore school children.

      Like Lawliet, I switched from thinking mostly in Cantonese to English as I grew up and my English vocabulary expanded. The idea/concept comes 1st, then it is the language with which I have the closest description would be used to express the idea. Often that is English, then a fight between Chinese-Mandarin and Chinese-Cantonese, spiced by a touch of Singlish, French and Japanese.

      I really admire LIFT's polygot abilities. My favourite character from Star Wars was actually C3PO because he was the only one who can communicate with everybody! I only remember selected phrases of the additional languages that I had learnt (and forgotten!). Trying to pick-up Tagalog now, but inertia gets in the way.

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    3. Limpeh Foreign Talent15 April 2012 at 23:14

      Hahaha - hi WD. I was taught maths in English as a child in Singapore, so numbers appear in English in my head. It's not visual/spatial - but that's the way my head processes numbers. I know my mother counts in Hokkien, I have heard her do it out aloud before - and even though I am very comfortable in Hokkien, I just don't do numbers in Hokkien...

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