Life ain't all about cameras

I'll let the music video and article by Kenny Gan speak for themselves




she’s all layed up in bed with a broken heart
while i’m drinking Jack all alone in my local bar
and we don’t know how
how we got into this mad situation,
only doing things out of frustration
trying to make things work,
but man these times are hard
she needs me now but i cant seem to find the time
i got a new job now on the unemployment line
and we don’t know how
how we got into this mess is a god’s test,
someone help us cos where doing our best
trying to make things work,
but man these times are hard
but we are gonna stop by drinking all cheap bottles of wine
sit talking up all night,
saying things we haven’t for a while
a while yeah
your smiling but where close to tears,
even after all these years
we just now got the feeling that where meeting
for the first time

shes in line at the door with her head held high
well i just lost my job, but didn’t lose my pride
and we both know how
how we are gonna make it work when it hurts,
when you you pick up yourself up you get kicked to the dirt
trying to make things work,
but man these times are hard
but we are gonna stop by drinking all cheap bottles of wine
sit talking up all night,
doing things we havent for a while
a while yeah
your smiling but where close to tears,
even after all these years
we just now got the feeling that where meeting
for the first time

yeah thinking all cheap bottles of wine
sit talking up all night,
doing things we havent for a while
courtesy OriginaLyric.Info
smiling but where close to tears,
even after all these years
we just now got the feeling that where meeting
for the first time

I started working as a young graduate electrical engineer in 1983 in an engineering firm in Kuala Lumpur. My starting salary was RM1200 which was pretty typical in those days. This may not seem much now but mixed rice was less than RM2.00 with Chinese tea and petrol was RM1.00 a litre. After 6 months and an increment under my belt I plonked down for set of wheels; a cute little Toyota Corolla which I paid off in 3 years. Two years later I put down the deposit for a double storey terrace house in a thriving suburb near the capital.


Fast forward to the present and it would be very hard for any graduate to follow my act without substantial help from their parents. No, I wasn’t from the privileged class and I didn’t get a leg-up from my parents, save for the education they gave me. Present day graduates start their working life at RM1800 to RM2000 a month, not a lot of difference from 25 years ago but prices of everything have tripled and quadrupled. A hawker meal now cost RM5 (drinks extra), prices of cars and houses have grossly outpaced income and there are new expenses like toll, hand phones, Astro and internet. Our ringgit has depreciated against foreign currencies making consumer goods and overseas travel more expensive. To put it simply, real income has declined.


Today we find that graduates have to ride motorbikes if their parents do not help them buy a car. A car loan has to be stretched to 8 or 9 years just for a basic family car. The middle class is burdened by high car loans which they have little choice due to the stunted public transport. We find couples who are both working graduates lamenting that they cannot find any house within their means. Many of them have to get help from their parents to pay the house deposit. Unfortunately they will have nothing to give a helping hand to their children in future.