SOME weeks back, I was having an interesting discussion with my students about the concept of happiness, and whether it can be purchased with money.
There were some who agreed and mentioned that happiness stemmed from having a specific object, for example, a rare car or one’s favourite slice of cake.
The acquisition of the said object, which was something one would have been coveting for some time, would automatically make one happy.
It was a solid argument, I must admit.
I happen to love coffee. Whenever I sip on a really good cup of coffee, it makes me happy.
Fair enough, yes?
However, some of my students pointed out that materialistic possessions could only provide temporary happiness.
Now this, I wholeheartedly agree with. I decided to tell them about a little lesson I learnt regarding this.
Some months back, my best friend and I visited an elderly man at his home, as he was her close family friend. She hadn’t visited him in a while and since I happened to be around, I tagged along.
What I did not expect was to walk out of that house a changed woman.
When we stepped into the house, we were greeted by his foreign domestic helper.
We were told that he wasn’t feeling well and would take some time to get downstairs, so we waited patiently for him. As I looked around, I almost could not believe my eyes.
The house was enormous, and almost everything in sight was worth a hundred times more than my most expensive cup of coffee.
It was apparent that he had been pretty successful in life, and was now kicking back and enjoying the fruits of his labour.
Or at least that’s what I assumed.
I noticed some photographs hanging on a wall, and I went to take a closer look.
From the photographs, I guessed that along with his wife, he had two grown-up children who were older than me, and a few grandchildren.
However, what struck me was that the house was eerily quiet.
There were no voices of people having conversations, and definitely, no music. Just silence.
I asked his domestic helper about his family, and she sadly said that he lived alone and no longer had anyone with him.
I was taken aback. The couple had apparently separated decades ago, as she could not take the strain of living with him anymore.
I learnt that the man, for the most part of his life, had only been interested in making money and building his name.
He was hardly at home, and was almost never around with his family.
He was almost always away on business trips and meetings, and as his wealth expanded, so did his pride.
He apparently had no regard whatsoever for people’s feelings, and was only interested in whatever gains that were attainable and of interest to him.
When his children were grown up, his entire family left him and all of them settled overseas, and hardly ever return to visit him.
It goes without saying that he did not make many real friends, and had only one best friend. The best friend recently died and he had no one by his side.
That’s when it finally hit me.
What’s the point of all this wealth when you are all alone?
What’s the point of all these expensive items when you are empty inside?
What’s the point of all these materialistic belongings when you are unhappy?
I hope that this is something all of us can learn from, no matter who we are.
Sometimes, it takes little lessons like this to make us realise how much we have strayed from our true purpose in life, and it is never too late to make the necessary changes.
At the end of the day, it is not materialistic wealth that would give you happiness.
It is the memories that you make with your loved ones in life that would make you truly happy.
The writer, a lecturer at Sunway College, is a Malaysian-born Eurasian with Scottish/Japanese/
Indian lineage. She believes in a
tomorrow where there is no racism and hatred
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