when goverment servants are supposed to put down their tools and forget about coming in to the office. There would be some changes nonetheless, either for worst or for the better depending upon one's preparedness to face this new challenge. Fortunately, I had this option then, either to continue working or just fade away. After a week of soul searching, I decided to plod on, perhaps God willing to the age of sixty where it is the mandatory age for retiring at the company I am currently employed. And since then, I have been preparing for retirement and of course have been "practicing retirement" from time to time. With so much free time in the future ( seven months down the road ), what would I do ? Assuming that financially I am okay, upon retirement I will do what most retirees hope to do - taking it easy, do what I have been unable to do before, like reading and catching up with old friends and of course moving permanently to my own house which I bought some 25 years ago in Malacca ( now, a heritage city ! ). With good friends and neighbours in this once sleepy hollow state, I anticipate a good life ahead with zero pressure to top it up. And occassionally would love to travel the country to the small towns and secondary cities in Malaysia which had been overlooked by most people. But of course, the travel mode I would choose would be via coach or the express buses which has mushroomed to take advantage of the increase number of travellers and the excellent road system in the country. Being pampered and driven to work for the past few years, and on most occasions people are doing your chores for you, I must be prepared to do all those daily tasks on my own later. This is where life during retirement will be different. A friend who recently retired after years of being pampered suddenly found out the truth - before he has it all, today he has none. Literally he is learning to drive again, lost his way many times in the process and he even need to ask where the nearest post office is ! Quite pathetic actually. Well, I am not going to fall into that trap, never. So , I had a number of practice sessions over the years.....I rode the bus, I took the train and even took short walks to do the chores. Once I even went to a government clinic to get treatment for a cold, just to feel what it is like to stand in line for your number and waited for your turn to be called by the doctor in attendance. There is one virture after all these and it is called patience. In other words, I got to act as real people do, so to speak.Quite recently, instead of taking to the air for Singapore, my better half and I decided to take the
5 hour journey by bus to visit our dear grand daughter whom I had not seen for some time. Besides, between us we saved quite abit by taking the bus even if we compare the cost of travel by the budget airline. Talking about Singapore, there are many bus companies that service the Singapore sector from Kuala Lumpur. A single journey may cost between RM50 to RM135 depending upon the level of "comfort" that you require. There are ordinary buses and double decker buses -with all the creature comforts of your choice, from on demand videos, WiFi- installed buses with plush comfy seats with an onboard crew to feed you the lunches and dinners depending on the time of travel.. Some even have huge seats to accomodate only 15 passengers compared to the normal 20 something seats. Take your pick ! And the level of service quality also differs, from the not so friendly to the extra friendly type. The companies go by various names and some even have out of this world names too. Names like Transtar, First Coach, Nice, Transnational, Durian Burung, KL-Singapore Express, Aerolines, Airebus, Grassland ( pretty name, perhaps inspired from a geography book ! ), and Odyssey which is my favourite for comfort and service and even a name like Starship Quest Express ! and I am not kidding for one bus bearing this name came zipping by and overtook us somewhere before Pagoh enroute to Kuala Lumpur. Truly a spaceship of sorts ! A lesson here, for as a retiree, one must be mindful of ones expenses and accept a little change in our lifestyle unless you have a bottomless bank account ! Hey, as a retiree, why the rush ?
