What Do You Do?

I was sitting down at one of my friend's wedding enjoying the view (ermm .. not really), comes one auntie, which I assume is my friend's relative from Negeri Sembilan, and her family asking me whether she can sit at the table. Of course, as I am a good and friendly man (lol), I said "Silalah makcik". From then we started chatting about typical "strangers" topic; "Duduk kat mana?", "Macamana boleh kenal pengantin?" etc.. I really enjoy talking to her. Its been awhile since I've been to my hometown in Muar so It is quite refreshing.

But this one particular question that bothers me the most is "What do you do?". I'm so used to saying "Buat kerja sendiri" as we may know as Entrepreneur but this time I quickly think maybe I try telling them what exactly I do for a living to see the reaction. So I answered "Saya main muzik, makcik". She automatically glanced the other way confuse and the husband replied "Oh.. Anak sedara pakcik pun buat muzik jugak. Dia bukak studio tapi dah tutup. Boleh ke hidup?". Oh man, usually that's a trigger for a debate but since I'm at my friends wedding and I'm trying not to be a bad guys so I just answered "Boleh la. Sikit-sikit".

Well, there you go boys and girls, is what I call a typical Malaysian thinking. Me and my mates have discuss this many times. We Malaysian are so used to think that 9-5 work is the best bet to make a living. We never think out of the box. That's why we are not as bold as the Americans nor Europe's peoples. Even my parents did not believe in music. I'm not allowed to play any instruments at home other than the recorder until I was 18 years old. This is not me trying to blame them or anything. I love them so much. I just making a point here.

We seldom think that music is essential to children's education. If we look further to our fellow Europeans and Americans, they do sent their children to music classes. There is where they let them create or think creatively without any limits or borders. These children usually the ones that succeed in life because they think outside of the box instead of being limited to certain things that their parents lead them to believe. By saying this, I'm not trying to implied anything bad but rather than think negatively maybe we can start thinking outside of the box for a change.

When it comes to "What do you do" thing, I would say I did quite good. My income nowadays if not tripled, doubled compared to what I usually get during my so called 9-5 days. I have more time to myself. I've arranged my own meeting during my own time. Stress free! I'm happier than before I might add. I control everything according to my own needs not trying to satisfied "the boss". So if you have the opportunity to do what I do, just go for it. Know what you actually looking for and you'll be OK.