"I'm too young to retire; I'm too rich to work."
- Allan Waterman
Come April 2013, I'll be celebrating my 20th year in the corporate world.
Yes, I started earlier than most of you. I also got my Bachelor's degree before most of you. In school, I was accelerated twice - first, after the 4th grade when I went straight to the 6th grade, and then from the 8th to the 10th grade.
I could have gone into university at 16, but chose to take a year off, and toured Europe on my own. When I finally entered university at 17, not only was I ready academically, I was also more matured to handle Ivy League education.
Anyways, I'm digressing.
The organizations I've worked for in the last - almost - 20 years
20 years is a mighty long time to be doing what I wanted to do, without considerations for the wishes as well as what's generally good for the people I love; the very people who allowed me to do what I wanted to do vis a vis my career according to my whims and fancies.
As I mentioned in the preceding post of this series, the time has come to finally do things for them.
A few months back, I was asked to meet someone of tremendous power and influence in the country. So I did. We had a good chat and he informed me that he and his people have been watching my progress through the years, ever since I first got his attention when my stance on a particular issue showed him that, unlike most 'orang kita' - a term, I suppose, to mean Bumis - I wouldn't have done what I did.
To make a long, but an eye-opening, story short, he asked me to 'berkhidmat untuk negara' and told me that his team could seriously used the help of my experience and expertise. Not wanting to be seen as rude and dismissive, I replied politely that I would think about it.
Honestly, I have nothing against the man. He's actually one of the decent ones amongst his pack, and he's also one of the most religious among the lot. But while I have nothing against him personally, I do have something against what he and his people stand for and supposedly represent.
Isn't it ironic that my principled steadfastness to stand by what I believed in is what got them to notice me in the first place, and yet, here we are, with them asking me to help with something that I don't really believe in?
Fate is such a funny thing, no?
I wanted to reject the offer and inform them accordingly. But something about what they said resonated with my deepest thoughts and feelings as a Muslim. So I did a lot of reading and research, evaluated both sides of the coin, voraciously read through all reading materials available - both pros and antis - and used my connection to ascertain the veracity of some of the horrors I read and heard.
And what I found out really disturbed the shit out of me.
My political convictions comes second to my Islamic convictions. I am, first and foremost, a Muslim.
I've always had the nagging suspicions that something wasn't right, that something sinister was in play, and whilst I didn't pursue whatever it was that bothered me then, I owed it to myself - and to my parents and family - to play my part in ensuring that whatever sinister plans they have won't succeed.
It is with this backdrop that I am seriously contemplating of going back and accept the responsibility and challenge offered. I don't know where it would eventually lead me to, should I take up the offer, but one thing I know for sure is that by doing so, I am definitely burning the bridge with the Advertising industry in general, and Ogilvy in particular.
But on the flipsdie, and more than anything else, going back and doing what is asked of me will definitely make My Small Baby and my family happy.
Having said that, ya'll already know what I'm gonna do by next year, no?
