Mai luan chu seh!

If I were to make a time capsule, I’d insert a note in it, bury it, and open it again in 40 years’ time. The note will read:

Dear ol’ Joshua

Two questions I'd like to ask you:

Firstly, is your email still johaste@yahoo.com? If you have been upgrading your computer consistently, you must have a “supercomputer” by now. It probably can do all kinds of things with great haste. But you may not have such speed anymore.

Secondly, is your ICQ nickname still Hasten? Congratulations if your “Hasten dream” has come true. But don’t be too hard on yourself if you are no longer as quick as you wished to be.

A few things I want to remind you about:

Firstly, remember not to talk too much about your younger days, or boast about your “glory days”. People may not like to hear about how swift you were back then. The young people do catch up. And they catch on really faster than you think.

Secondly, make sure you do not make condescending remarks about the younger generation by saying “how good you were” or “how great things were” during your time. It will be tempting to reminisce aloud on how they can’t bring back the “good ol’ days”. But don’t do that, because the good ol’ days are in the past, and it will always stay in the past. They can’t bring them back, and neither can you.

Thirdly, you will be wiser, older, and more experienced by now. But don’t forget that you may think you are wiser than you really are. You will feel the urge to share your experiences in an attempt to seek acknowledgement, admiration, or respect from the young ones. It will be difficult resist this temptation, but please remember that real acknowledgement, or any admirable respect is never earned through boasting. It never was, it never has been, and it never will. Age doesn’t change that.

Fourthly, when you feel like you have a lot of things to say, please don’t have the preconceived idea that everyone will love to hear it. You may think that your young listeners will be at a loss if they don’t have the chance to appreciate your thoughts. But please remember that they will not have the heart to tell you if they find you irrelevant or boring. They will never tell you, out of “respect” for an aged man. So please remember to tell yourself that, because no one will. Because if you are not careful, you will have no idea when or how you have turned into a boring, irrelevant storyteller.

Fifthly, please remind yourself constantly to give advice only when your counsel is sought. You will easily become irritating, or even offensive if like to give unsolicited advice. The younger generation may not be as inferior to your generation as you think. They are better, faster, and stronger than you now. Giving them untimely counsel will make them feel as if they do not have a mind of their own. The younger ones do not like to be implied as though they are not wise enough or not able to think on their own, any more than you do.

Sixthly, please don’t become difficult, or give people trouble as you cope with the shortcomings of old age. Not only towards your friends or acquaintances. Even towards your own flesh and blood, because they deserve a shot in life without being hindered by its own.

Last but not least, please give extra caution to refrain from crude comments or jokes. You will easily be written off as a dirty old man. They don’t sound the same coming from an aged person.

Yes, times will get difficult as you try to struggle against the feeling that you’re past your prime. It will not be easy when you feel as though you are not needed anymore. But pride will not salvage anything to make things better. After all these years, if you still remember the kind of respect you gave those who embraced the future with grace, you should know better what to do.

Hey man. (Yeah, no one from the younger generation can call you “boy” anymore) You had your shot. And thank God for that.

From,
Yourself.