luck, just like everything else in life, is all about perception.

to the optimist, 'today's a really sunny day' could mean that Lady Luck has decided to shine down upon our sunny shores. picnic plans would go on as normal, outings to the seaside are made lovely, gay people can get quality tans faster, the stock market will rise, prices of vegetables will decrease and perhaps the general salary of this country's nurses would be doubled.

the realist of course, being the boring realistic people that they are, carry on with life. 'This is fucking tropical Singapore, you moron,' they say 'of course it's sunny today!' picnic plans, seaside outings, gay tans, stock markets, vegetables and nurses salaries will always go on no matter what the weather turns out to be. that's the magic in 'getting real'.

you gotta love the pessimist though. to him, the weather is unpredictable. it's bound to turn cloudy and start raining within a few hours. the weather is never optimal for tanning, the growing of vegetables, the stock market, outdoor activities, etc. and just like death and taxes, there are only two things in Singapore nursing that we can be certain of: high stress and low pay.

there's only one person though, who's the luckiest bastard amongst them all. because rain or shine, he still has an easy time doing his job. after all, for the meteorologist, how hard can it be to forecast the weather in tropical Singapore?


when it comes to draws and contests and anything else that boils down to sheer luck, i'll be the first to admit that i suck at it. well, it's not exactly fair to say that i suck at it, because luck is not exactly a character stat in your typical RPG where all you have to do is put on a 'Ring of Greater Fortune' and all of a sudden one's luck takes a different turn. enemy attacks start missing more often, opening treasure chests leads to greater equipment (a Ring of Even Greater Fortune, anyone?) and perhaps those damsels in distress start turning into damsels in heat. alas, luck in all its truth and reality isn't like that. lady luck seldom grazes my pastures when it comes to lucky draws.

it's a different story for the parents though. they have won a myriad of things before in their entire lives. food hampers, cruise tickets, electric fans, steam irons, kitchen utensils, tupperware. i wouldn't be surprised if half of our electronic appliances are by-products of lucky draws. i know it sounds very 'The Prize-Winner of Defiance, Ohio', but i swear that the parents have never had any intention of winning prizes when they submitted those coupons and slips. they just did it out of sheer convenience and claims of 'because they just happened to ask me'.

so imagine how lucky the mother must have felt when she became 'The First Prize-Winner of (insert corporate hospital the mother works for), Singapore'. apparently, she attended her company's annual dinner and dance last week and she walked away with a delicious dinner in the tummy and a 5 days and 4 night trip to Tokyo for two. i couldn't tell if she was elated or ecstatic because i was running a fever and couldn't even focus on standing. she casually informed me about the trip to Tokyo that night at 11.45pm, to which i replied nonchalantly with an 'Okay, noted'.

for the parents who are old birds at lucky draws and prize-winning, the thrill of winning this Tokyo trip must be very familiar to them. and if you ask me, the prizes seem to get 'bigger' with each passing year. in 2006, it was a rice cooker. in 2007, a Tokyo trip. 2008 should present us with a Class 'C' Mercedes. give and take twenty years, we'll be the proud owners of a space shuttle. alas, i who have never been as lucky as the parents, have only won three times in lucky draws of any sort. then again, you gotta factor in the fact that i'm cynical about these things and will rarely even bother to participate in them. the last time i won was last year. it was an invite to the launch of some lava lounge compilation. the music was too loud and the people were all sitting around trying to make inaudible conversation. there was free flow of Chivas though, so i can't complain. but who cares about the latest when you've got the first? it's always the first that makes all the difference, doesn't it?

that was during the primary school days. i used to be an avid reader of a local kid's publication called 'Young Generation'. it's a monthly magazine filled with comics, word puzzles, short stories from the police force (remember Constable Ah Cai?), plenty of advertisements from stationery companies, and even more lucky draws from companies with kids as their target market. one of those lucky draws that i took part in for some reason, was from Horlicks. maybe it was the catchy marketing slogan (Ho, Ho, Ho and a-grow, grow, grow!) that caught my eye. or perhaps i happened to be a big fan of the tasty malt-based energy beverage back then.

no matter what, i made the mother purchase five packets of their latest product back then: Maltivites or something along those lines. it was basically Horlicks-flavored candy and you had to submit five empty packets of those Maltivites together with a contest form that had a rhetorical question on it. normally these questions would go something like: Horlicks is the only malt-flavored beverage that comes with proteins, calcium, vitamins A-Z, estrogen, whey protein, nitrous oxide, and a mysterious fortifying substance named Chemical X. True or false? i remember giving myself a loud 'DUH?' in my mind as i ticked the 'true' bracket.

several weeks went by and the next issue of Young Generation was published. i didn't think much about winning the lucky draw because what are the chances really? every school-going idiot in Singapore of course knew that Horlicks is the only malt-flavored beverage that comes with yada yada yada. and everybody i knew in school back then loved Horlicks, especially the Maltivites. everyone was offering Maltivites to EVERYONE in school. i'm sure there were a few others who joined the contest as well. so imagine this school-going idiot's surprise when he saw his name printed under the 'contests' section of Young Generation. it was third prize i think. i didn't scream and shout or wave anything about. i think i just did an internal 'yay' and carried on doing my math and chinese homework.

long story short, the mother brought me down to where Young Generation was published to collect the prize. i remember a very nice lady with a saccharine sweet voice handing over the goods. she's the type that would make a very good kindergarten teacher and a very bad bed partner (too clingy and too whiney). but all eyes back on the prize. there was a bottle of that all-fortifying Horlicks powder, a lot of Mativites (and really A LOT of them), some random Horlicks-themed stationery, and several book vouchers.

the mother bought more math and chinese assessment books with the bloody vouchers. which is why lucky draws perhaps, just aren't for me after all.

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