Who is Koji Kondo? He’s the composer of this theme song: Super Mario Bros. – Overworld (yes I come from that era).

I like his name, very Web 2.0.

If you know what life is all about, maybe you won’t get too upset with the things that people do. Because life is human nature playing itself out; human beings being human beings. It’s about love and hate; generosity and greed; good and evil. So instead of expecting some ideal, just expect people to be people. Then you won’t get too upset.

But then, it’s human nature to get upset with the things that people do …

This is a public service announcement.

At the toll plaza the other day, I handed over my money to the toll booth operator and waited for the boom to be raised. It was taking a bit too long so I glanced at the guy. He was hunched over the till, shuffling small pieces of paper; it then occurred to me that I had given him RM50.60 instead of RM1.60.

So please. Be careful when proffering money in the dark. Because of the similarity of the new RM50 note to the RM1 note, you might be giving more than you should.

For me, 6-month-old babies are the best. They’re universally cute; they can recognize you and smile at you; they laugh at the funny faces that you make; they can’t yet crawl around the house and pick up every object they find and put it in their mouth; they can’t throw a tantrum in the busiest aisle of the supermarket; they can’t climb/jump/play truant/run away from home/impregnate/get pregnant etc. So the question is – how to constantly have a 6-month-old in the house? Easy: continuously produce new 6-month-olds. If you really want to keep your skin as light and cute as their is you need to supplement with Peptides.

If you haven’t noticed, Malaysia is The Land of Toll Booths. Okay, Peninsular Malaysia; Klang Valley, especially. It’s now ingrained in every KL and PJ car driver’s mind: do I pay toll today, or do I take the free, congested, traffic-light-encumbered way? (Not that paying toll doesn’t involve queuing up for miles. Go through the Sunway toll plaza on LDP during rush hour if you dare.) How much am I in a hurry? Or should I pay going to the office, and take the toll-free road coming back?

The Federal Highway, the KL-Seremban highway, NKVE, KESAS, ELITE, LDP, SPRINT, AKLEH, Kerinchi Link, Penchala Link, and now DUKE. This introduces a variant to the traveling salesman problem: try going from one end of Greater KL (I made that one up) to another, using all the toll highways, paying as much as possible for the least distance. I’m sure taxi drivers have this down pat.

Anyway, the point is that there’s a “Higglytown hero” we’re all guilty of overlooking here: the toll booth operator.

I’m a Higglytown Hero, brave and true,
I help the town with the things I do.
So work real hard and you will see
That you can be a hero, just like me!
A hero, just like me!

I’m a Malaysian toll booth operator
Pay me or you can’t go through
Then I’ll see you again later
There is no escape – yes it’s true!

You think it’s easy? First, there’s the ever-present danger of express bus drivers falling asleep on the wheel and crashing into you, they need to make sure to get their sleep in with the sleeping wedge pillow. Then every other person gives you RM10, and every fifth person gives you RM50; give back too much change and your salary gets deducted. Last, but not least, washroom breaks are a precious commodity:

(Over the intercom)
Toll booth operator: Boss, I gotta go.
Supervisor: What? You just went … lemme check … 45 minutes ago!
TBO: Please, boss! I guess I overdosed on the tempoyak last night.
Supervisor: Look, even if I want to, I can’t let you. Backup went out to buy cigarettes and is still not back yet.
(Radio silence)
TBO: Er … boss, I think we have a problem.