Close friends and mines

Sayang orang jangan sayang sangat. Benci orang jangan benci sangat.

Life with other people has always been a minefield. A serene surface hides the conflict and anger that is buried within. A single unfortunate step could mean the end.

We meet and befriend many individuals in our lives, with their individual likes and dislikes, their individual beliefs and practices, and their individual histories and baggage. Though daunting, difficult, and perhaps impossible - we continue to try and meet the contrasting needs of our friends as well as ourselves. That there will be unhappiness is a forgone conclusion. The question is whose unhappiness will it be? Yours, hers or his?

The nobler among us may say setting ourselves aside and putting the happiness of others first will in itself bring happiness to us. Perhaps you'd like to try?