Good luck and bad luck

F is a young man, tall, obese and although he holds two degrees from the prestigious University of Indonesia, for business administration and chemistry, it seems that bad luck follows him in life. As well as his two degrees he is also an accomplished pianist and gives piano lessons to make ends meet. In spite of his educational achievements he could not land himself a well-paying job. Now that he is almost 40 years of age, no company wants to employ him because he lacks experience.

A few days ago, he suffered an eye affliction. The opthamologist diagnosed that F suffered a stroke because of his blood pressure. It will take at least six months for him to recover. This will involve large expenses and certainly make a drain on his shaky financial position.

Therefore, I would say that to be successful in life, one needs a great deal of good-luck: brains and diligence alone are not enough.

It reminds me of an article I read in an American magazine: a young man with a Ph. D (doctorate) has fruitlessly hunted for a job for five long years. His frustrated mother wrote to the magazine, in order to vent her anger against society and as might be expected, the reaction of the readers were many and diverse. This fact only emphasizes my conviction that 'good luck' or 'hokkhie' in Chinese plays an important role in our life.

A. DJUANA

Jakarta