The Simple Life

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

Now you must know that a Town Mouse once upon a time went on a
visit to his cousin in the country. He was rough and ready, this
cousin, but he loved his town friend and made him heartily
welcome. Beans and bacon, cheese and bread, were all he had to
offer, but he offered them freely. The Town Mouse rather turned
up his long nose at this country fare, and said: "I cannot
understand, Cousin, how you can put up with such poor food as
this, but of course you cannot expect anything better in the
country; come you with me and I will show you how to live. When
you have been in town a week you will wonder how you could ever
have stood a country life." No sooner said than done: the two
mice set off for the town and arrived at the Town Mouse's
residence late at night. "You will want some refreshment after
our long journey," said the polite Town Mouse, and took his friend
into the grand dining-room. There they found the remains of a
fine feast, and soon the two mice were eating up jellies and cakes
and all that was nice. Suddenly they heard growling and barking.
"What is that?" said the Country Mouse. "It is only the dogs of
the house," answered the other. "Only!" said the Country Mouse.
"I do not like that music at my dinner." Just at that moment the
door flew open, in came two huge mastiffs, and the two mice had to
scamper down and run off. "Good-bye, Cousin," said the Country
Mouse, "What! going so soon?" said the other. "Yes," he replied;

"Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear."

While I was at Kuala Terengganu to drop my sister back for the new semester it made me realize how simple the life people live there. No big shopping malls, no traffic jams, no Mamaks and 7-11 every corners. Family institution is strong and people are not so individualistic. Such a peaceful and relaxing place to be.

Being a city boy, growing up in Kuala Lumpur has been astounding. Shopping malls and buildings poping up like mushrooms, new roads, new tolls, McDonald's and KFC's going 24-7 and fastfood chains are blooming faster than 7-11. People are in their own world, kids playing PSPs, teens listening to Ipods, parents on phones all the time. Such gloomy and tense feeling every corner.

With all the pursuing of gadgets and knowledge we would become more efficient, more work is done to obtain pride and wealth. But along the way we get lost in relationships, health, our sanity. As the world advance in many ways, social issues like poverty, violence, pollution, injustice, discrimination, crime, as well as abortion and autism to name a few.

We believe that with education and knowledge will make us a better person yet statistic and facts tells us otherwise. We have seen, heard and some of us have experienced the consequence of social ills. Have we lost our way? Should we get back to basics of being human? Is less more?