Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

Yesterday while I was reading newspaper, my eyes were caught by a 10 year old girl's 150 words essay. The title of her essay was "If I were a millionaire ...". In one of the paragraphs, the girl wrote:

"If I were a millionaire, first of all, I would like to buy a big house for my parents. Secondly, I would buy my parents things that they want but might choose to forgo because they want to save for me and my siblings. Thirdly, I will keep a reasonable amount of money in the bank for my education and I will ask advice from financial analyst for better financial planning. In addition, I will donate some money to help the poors. Last, I would buy books and travel widely to widen my knowledge horizon".

Don't these words ring a bell? When we were 10, these were also our dreams and goals. For some of us, these dreams and goals still guide us in our life. Unfortunately for a few, they will call us "idealistic" or "too naive".

3 days ago, I read in the newspaper that a 75 year old Malaysian woman was left by his son by the roadside near a dumping ground. She was found 5 hours later by a journalist who also alerted the nearby police station. I pondered and kept thinking what was the son's dream when he was 10 year old, I am sure dumping his old mother with nothing but a sack of her old clothes was not one of his dreams.

Recently, I read about an 8 year old China girl died of heart failure because her family (her parents earned their livelihood mainly from begging) could not raise enough money (ie. approximately US$2,500) for her heart surgery. The ironic fact is that at the same part of the physical world, the Forbes magazine Top 40 richest man report quoted that the youngest, richest Chinese entrepreneur has a wealth of US$2.2 million at the age of 38. I am not suggesting "an even distribution of pie for all" in this posting, but many people have forgotten their 10 year old promises and dreams when they are high up at the top end of the social ladder.

There are many dreams we don't have to wait till we are millionaires. Buying your parents lunch sometimes to show you haven't neglected them despite your busy schedule. Save at least 15% of your pay every month because $1 not spent is $1 saved! Buy your favourite books on pay days and travel during off-peak period would cost less. There are many ways for us to feel millionaire at heart, it's all depend on how you perceive your life. Just like my ABCs of playing Monopoly: We advance not attack. We build not break. We calculate not criticise.