Cheque, Mate

"When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is."

Oscar Wilde

Ah, my favourite Victorian wiseacre.

I got mail,

My real name is Kok Sen Wai. I know, shocking right?

It's a very modest amount, I know; I'm not one of those blog-for-loot hacks. I started this site more than 3 years ago for the sole purpose of sharpening my proficiency with the pen. Owning a functioning journal I can read years from now and meeting great people are just benefits collateral to that, as are the occasional wads of free money from renting out ad spaces. I said "free money" because even if I did not get paid I wouldn't have written this blog any other way

The last time something like this happened was in April earlier this year when I picked up like 300 bucks right off the ground, finger snap.

One thing you may not know is that I once took an oath promising that I would always write truthfully here in this blog, no matter the subject. This, my lovelies, is called integrity and I like to think I have a lot of it. This is why I don't write advertorials; I refuse to have the honesty of my opinions sullied. I want people to know that when I consider something to be awesome or when I heap big, steaming piles of condemnations on something awful, my readers can trust that they are my own sincere (if exceedingly biased) appraisements. I could have earned at least US$ 400 (about RM 1200, methinks) just this year for like a couple of hours' work, but I have chosen instead to decline all comers all because they require me to oh, I don't know - lie through my fucking teeth? Maybe one day, I'll kick myself in the seat of my pants for this but right now, I kinda enjoy being an insufferable idealist and feeling superior to everyone else who have turned into shills for soul-less consumerism.

Of course, had they come to me with products I actually like, I would have pocketed the cake and eaten it too. Alas, alack.

You know what would kick ass? Some publication paying me to review or write about films; which I can totally do without using any cuss-words, easy. I follow film production news from script to screen religiously on my own volition and I have more than a passing familiarity with both contemporary and classical literature, comics and video games (which are the sources of most movies these days) as well as a pretty good working knowledge of pop culture, if I may say so myself. And I can write well enough to hold a reader's interest, sort of (I held yours this far, didn't I?). All that puts me a head above most film critics writing professionally in Malaysia, a lot of which are journos who got pigeonholed into a media niche they aren't crazily passionate about. This is pure speculation on my part, of course. What I can say for sure, however, is that most film reviews I read in print hereabouts are rubbish.

And nope, I have never tried selling myself to any publications. I have always imagined that they would beat a path to my door someday. I've got all my path-beating tools out there in the garden by the way, in case anyone needs to borrow them.

I'm just rambling, really. Point is, I received money for doing absolutely nothing and I like it. C'est tout.



Ever so slightly richer,
k0k s3n w4i