Istaq

I know this fellow, Istaq is his name. A couple of years my junior, he's a someone i'm particularly impressed with - an ideal representative of the young, Neo-Malay. Smart, cultured, polite, pious (without being religiously ultra-conservative), amicable, and full of positive thoughts.

He has one quality that truly shines: he's progressive and mature enough to understand that success in life is a progression of many baby-steps rather than a giant leap forward. For example, while waiting for his application to the Foreign Service to come through (and they would be really silly not to snap up this young talent), he's not been idle. He found a job in Citibank, took it, and although he puts up with a ton of crap from his bosses and customers, he's soaking up the experience like a sponge when others may have quit. Instead of turning and running when the going gets tough, like so many other young Malays (yes, i'm singling out my own racial group for criticism), he sticks with it.

Also, unlike so many other Malays, he's humble in his possessions - he knows what he wants, but he realizes that its better to start with something small within his means rather than overstretching himself. For example, he drives a modest little car; friends have trash-talked him about it, but even now when he could conceivably afford something better, he prefers to wait and exercise prudence. For him, a car is about getting him from Point A to Point B. It doesn't need to be flashy. The flash car, the flash house, will come soon enough, he reckons, with enough hard work and patience.

One day, this dude will lead our country in international negotiations with others. I'm glad it'll be him.