I wake up at 430am to speak to my niece and nephew in the UK - both of them finally tested negative for COVID19 after nearly 3 weeks of being positive!

And my notification brings me to this.

I don’t know her all that well in person but I do know that she’s genuine and her advice on certain issues (eg suggestions on my niece’s wedding) to me on many occasions have been nothing but helpful. She’s also respectful - and as far as I know, hasn’t done any harm to anyone or berated or bullied anyone of these forums.

There was another forum member that inexplicably challenged her to do a tarot reading for me, without my consent. I politely declined and she never once approached me, even just to test the waters.

In my opinion, the internet in general and this forum in particular offer us an outlet - an escapism if you would, and in my case, a little taste of home and all the fond memories of such.

What I have or have not, what I am or am not - at the end of the day - is something only I have to live with. If I’m not who I say I am, that’s a shameful lie that I have to take to my pillow every night as I weep myself to sleep. And, if in reality, I’m financially fraught and economically emancipated, then it’s my family and I who have to bear the suffering at the end of the month when the bills stack up and the collector comes calling.

The forum would soon forgot - it would have moved on to the next sound bite and the internet couldn’t care less. At the end of the day, we are a lot less significant in the grand scheme of things, as we like to otherwise believe.

This, I dare wager, should be the same principle when dealing with the subject matter of this thread - or any other person who frequents these forums.

Live and let live.

When I’m retired in Sydney - in a couple of years’ time - I will send out PM invitations to a few chaps here whom I’ve truly enjoyed meaningful conversations: TheBornLoser, BillCollector and Ladytarot99 amongst others to join Audpower for shrimps on the Barbie at my Sydney house - Audpower ostensibly because I promised him and his Sawadee the same in lieu of a SGD50 “consultation fee”.

Then, for those who can come, who knows, we might be able to take our handle names offline and be friends in real life.

Until then, perhaps allow all involved a chance to enjoy the forum for what it is supposed to be - a place to be free and anonymous and where everyone can have a good time.

The person who mentioned my name was another - but in his defence, healthy skepticism is fair game in a forum like this on the internet. It’s only after one has had a chance to interact and communicate with a person that guardedness is replaced by respect and finally (hopefully) trust and friendship.

To answer your question, yes I am.

Any person who has read our replies or comments on these pages and who has a proper grasp of the language would know that my utilisation of it differs significantly from that of the other two names mentioned.

And most with a working knowledge of sentence construction would see that BillCollector’s preferred methodology often involves the inclusion of bullet/numerical points, whereas I prefer to sub segmentalise my thoughts with the employment of paragraphs and hyphenates - as demonstrated.

I am most certainly not the doppelgänger of either of these two persons, and you are further correct to discern that I have in fact, spent a large proportion of my years in Sydney - and I still do. In a couple of years’ time, that will become my permanent home.

This post has been edited by hksgmy: May 13 2020, 08:00 AM

In all fairness, I've never had the pleasure of her gate-crashing any of my (rather dry, admittedly) threads. Would you mind terribly if I did a look-see around to read some of your threads? A little pointer would be much appreciated - if only to get me started in the right direction (or, sub-forum, as the case may be).

You flatter me ... but, I'm a practical kinda of person: handkerchiefs can trap all sorts of germs, so I make do with a packet of Kleenex in support of the old aunty that hawks them at $1 for 3, and I'd rather wear loafers but if I must, brogues ... not oxfords. The perforations help with the hot and humid weather

Thank you! I should "follow" your threads more often, if you continue to titillate with pictures like that! Had to google "Tarp" to confirm the meaning though. In my book, Tarp is either a contraction for tarpaulin, or an acronym for Troubled Asset Relief Program (aka money printing exercise) during the Lehman Brothers' collapse a decade ago.

Ooi... I know I'm old (I never made any attempt to hide that fact), but I'm not Jurassic yet! No tongkat for me, and no bowler either.

But, why does she or anyone else, need to "validate" anything to anyone? I could easily say I have ½ a million ringgit at home, sitting in my safe, and sure, you'll be correct to challenge that I write a note next to my stash and post it here for your approval - but, what if your approval, or that of /k's in general, isn't important or worth attaining?

And, knowing how /k works, the minute I accede to your demand, you'll come up with another excuse to say "Oh, that money is your father's/uncle's/next door neighbour's tuition teacher's, and you're just posing". It will never end.

Just live and let live, I say. Whether or not it's real or not, she didn't scam you, you didn't lose time or money to her, and it's only a few lines of texts and a couple of bytes of code on an internet forum.

Life's too short, bro ... life's too short.

Wise words, my friend, wise words. Life's too short to sweat the small stuff, I always say.

I see. You mean if a challenge is issued, and the gauntlet is thrown, I should indeed take out my ½ million ringgit and post it with a handwritten note? I apologize, as I'm really not at all familiar with forum decorum.

Is that a real challenge? And will you then ask me to dig up other nonsensical things to "prove" to you?

I appreciate your very kind comments. Thank you!

I didn't know you were an ornithologist!

OK. I will PM you later - but only if you promise not to redistribute what I will show you. And only because you asked nicely.

I see, thank you for the explanation. I will PM fun_feng that which I said I would then.

Yes, but that’s in the bank, and knowing how some of them think, they’ll say that I could have somehow engineered a photoshop of my Maybank2U phone app blah blah blah ... see how it never ends?

But, I will send @fun_feng a snapshot of what I said - in addition to the liquid funds I mentioned in the Finance forum, my accountant of a wife insists we have some cash at hand, just in case the banks collapse (I’ve given up trying to argue with her years ago).

I have to wait till I’m home for lunch though.

Oops, duplicate post! My first one ever!

This post has been edited by hksgmy: May 13 2020, 10:51 AM

Thing is, @ladytarot99 has never done me harm. In actual fact, none of the forum users here have - we may have our disagreements on opinions and views and what not, but this is what a forum is for, is it not: a medium for healthy exchange, debate and argument - and at the end of the day, we can all agree to disagree and move on with our ways.

Sure, you get the occasional obnoxious ones that lie outright to put other people down ... well, those sometimes deserve to get hammered, and you get racists creating truly divisive environments, but last I checked, the person in question has never been guilty of these actions.

What gives, I have to wonder?

Well, when it ceases to be enjoyable, a user will just leave it behind and move on to something that brings more joy to their life. It's not like their lives are going to be defined by what goes on in an internet forum.

I enjoy the interaction, I enjoy exchanging ideas - and even chatting with certain people (present company included) - once the toxicity builds to a personal level, and if at anytime, I feel it threatens to spill over and infect my loved ones in real life, that's where the enjoyment (and participation) ends.

This post has been edited by hksgmy: May 13 2020, 11:37 AM

I will never claim to belong to that stratum of society, but I will say that it behooves me, as a functional, contributing member of society, to behave in a manner befitting my upbringing.