June 4th

June 4th 1984 - I was born.

June 4th 1994 - I turned 10. And coincidentally, the King's birthday fell on the same day.

June 4th 2004 - I turned 20.

June 4th 2005 - I received my key to freedom.

June 4th 2009 - I turned 1/4 of a century.

As you can see, I have a certain obssession when it comes to my birthday. Either I fuss over my age or I get overly excited (as I do every year!!). This year however, I've got reason to fuss and get overly excited. As listed above, you'll notice that today, I turn 25. That's 1/2 of 50, 1/4 of a 100. I'm finally in my mid-20s!! Although I am excited (as I always am when it's my birthday), the number that denotes the number of years I've existed somewhat "troubles" me.

I suppose this feeling comes with the territory. After all, I've got so many people telling me that 25 is 'a milestone'; or 'a big one'; or 'the right age'. My mum got married when she was 25 and one of my aunts had her second(!!) child when she was 25. To add to that is the fact that a few of my school mates are either engaged or getting married this year!!

What about me? What have I done these past 25 years? What have I achieved? To me, 25 years is actually a short time, when more than half of those years are spent in school and college. But, short or not, I HAVE achieved some level of success.

1) I finished the mandatory 11 years of primary and secondary education, and passed with quite good results.

2) I entered college, took up Law, enjoyed my college years while at the same time, tortured myself memorising the cases, statutes and philosophies that was required. In the end, I graduated and got my Law degree!!

3) I got my first full-time job with a non-profit/non-governmental organisation. How noble!! Haha. This job, at which I am still working at, has given me the opportunity to travel, meet new people from all over the world, get down and dirty with local communities in various places and opened my eyes to the realities of the world. Not bad for a first job!!

4) With my first job, I've managed to buy my own car. Yes! Despite it being a second-hand car, but still....it's MY CAR!! PAID and DRIVEN by ME!!

5) In addition to that, I've also started paying back the study loan that I took. The reality of managing my money at the end of every month has certainly taught me the value of hard earned money and not to take anything for granted. It's also got me thinking of ways to earn more!! I think it has made me more ambitious.

6) I've also started contributing to the household income. Although I may not be contributing as much as I want to, but still...it's a start. :-)

And so...looking back, I do have some things to be proud of. After all, echoing a colleague of mine, 25 is the new 20; 30 is the new 25....

:-) Happy Birthday to myself!!