I have been living in the city for more than I can remember. From Johore Bahru to Subang Jaya with a short stint in Kota Bharu and Serdang, I believe most of my waking hours are spent in the hectic life environment.
As much as I try to train myself to be 'zuhud' sometimes it ain't easy. If you are surrounded with people very close to you and they are so much richer than you it would be difficult not to want more. I personally know a person who has a house and land for each child should he passes on. It made me ask myself, what did I do with my money that I couldn't do the same for my children. Another friend too has properties for her children, land to be exact purchased for the children to own when her time is up. Both cases they earned the properties themselves in their lifetime. Situations close to mine, in terms of earnings and the period that we lived in. The only difference with those two friends and me is where we have lived most of our lives and of course our lifestyle.
I started my married/family life in a town, on the East Coast of Malaysia. Though coming from the southern city, I adjusted my life there quite nicely. After 3 years, I left for the 'big city'. Then, during my early years of working life, I was not able to buy any property yet. As years go by, I managed to buy a 22X75 lot where my link house sits and until today that is where we have lived for 21 years. Living in the city has its' toll. Every time you leave the house you need money. As a single working parent raising three children, I needed more money to maintain our not so lavish lifestyle in the city. It was a no maid, busy working mom, eating out, the movies, going for holidays occassionally kind of life. The fuel and toll costs of going to work, ferrying the children to and from boarding school outside the city was also a part of my normal routine. We had enough as a family but I guess there weren't much left at the end of each month.
Today, the children are all grown up. The first two are married living their own lives away from home and the youngest is still studying scheduled to graduate next year, God willing. The path we took was pre-ordained for us. The environment we lived in also has a large influence on us I believe. If my children had grown up in the town in the East Coast they would have turned out differently maybe but I would probably had more money to buy more properties in the State if they didn't have that policy against 'outside people' buying land in the State i.e. The move from the East to the city brought me closer to my family, my siblings and my children have all their cousins nearby (my nephews and nieces of course). Thus began the close bonding with the extended family since all families are approximately 30km away from one another.
So, though I may not be rich in terms of properties but I dare say the lives of my children and I have been enriched by friends and families in the city which we would be without if we had carried on living in the East Coast. I have no problem with the people living in the East Coast so to say, both my friends I mentioned earlier are from the East coast too. Anywhere in the world I guess if you want to strech your Dollar or Ringgit for that matter, get away from the city. You will be rich. Then again you need to ask yourself whether 'am I rich or is my life rich?'. Both would be nice but for my family, we couldn't imagine not having the people who have enriched our lives not being close to us. For now it's ok if we are not rich. I'm sure my children would agree.
As much as I try to train myself to be 'zuhud' sometimes it ain't easy. If you are surrounded with people very close to you and they are so much richer than you it would be difficult not to want more. I personally know a person who has a house and land for each child should he passes on. It made me ask myself, what did I do with my money that I couldn't do the same for my children. Another friend too has properties for her children, land to be exact purchased for the children to own when her time is up. Both cases they earned the properties themselves in their lifetime. Situations close to mine, in terms of earnings and the period that we lived in. The only difference with those two friends and me is where we have lived most of our lives and of course our lifestyle.
I started my married/family life in a town, on the East Coast of Malaysia. Though coming from the southern city, I adjusted my life there quite nicely. After 3 years, I left for the 'big city'. Then, during my early years of working life, I was not able to buy any property yet. As years go by, I managed to buy a 22X75 lot where my link house sits and until today that is where we have lived for 21 years. Living in the city has its' toll. Every time you leave the house you need money. As a single working parent raising three children, I needed more money to maintain our not so lavish lifestyle in the city. It was a no maid, busy working mom, eating out, the movies, going for holidays occassionally kind of life. The fuel and toll costs of going to work, ferrying the children to and from boarding school outside the city was also a part of my normal routine. We had enough as a family but I guess there weren't much left at the end of each month.
Today, the children are all grown up. The first two are married living their own lives away from home and the youngest is still studying scheduled to graduate next year, God willing. The path we took was pre-ordained for us. The environment we lived in also has a large influence on us I believe. If my children had grown up in the town in the East Coast they would have turned out differently maybe but I would probably had more money to buy more properties in the State if they didn't have that policy against 'outside people' buying land in the State i.e. The move from the East to the city brought me closer to my family, my siblings and my children have all their cousins nearby (my nephews and nieces of course). Thus began the close bonding with the extended family since all families are approximately 30km away from one another.
So, though I may not be rich in terms of properties but I dare say the lives of my children and I have been enriched by friends and families in the city which we would be without if we had carried on living in the East Coast. I have no problem with the people living in the East Coast so to say, both my friends I mentioned earlier are from the East coast too. Anywhere in the world I guess if you want to strech your Dollar or Ringgit for that matter, get away from the city. You will be rich. Then again you need to ask yourself whether 'am I rich or is my life rich?'. Both would be nice but for my family, we couldn't imagine not having the people who have enriched our lives not being close to us. For now it's ok if we are not rich. I'm sure my children would agree.
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