A Singaporean In Australia

It has been 3.5 years. I often stop and wonder how the heck I ended up here. If I may be honest, I will shudder at the thought of doing it all over again. That's because I know it was luck that got me where I am. When my luck runs out one day, my adventure will likely fizzle and pop. Still, I am happy to be in the position to enjoy what has been an amazing run so far. If one day this has to stop, my only regret will be that it couldn't last longer.

Luck is an unexplainable thing. You see, unlike other desirable traits, it cannot be defined. Not everyone is born with a great body structure and needs little work to look perfect. However, anyone can improve their bodies by putting in hard work. There are people who are born smart but the rest of us can play catch up by acquiring knowledge. Most of us are not born with a silver spoon but we have heard of so many rags-to-riches stories that affirms the possibility of doing the same if we are determine ... and perhaps ... lucky enough. So, almost everything that a human desires can be obtain through steely hard work. But how do we improve our luck?

The unique property of luck, unlike the other desirable traits, is that we cannot see or measure it. We can define a great body, wealth or intelligence but not luck. Due to this reason, human beings like to attribute things we receive without hard work to luck. How else would you explain a solo Chinese New Year Toto winner? What has he done that differs from other punters who did exactly the same thing as he did, queuing up to buy a ticket? It has to be luck. This highly desirable yet mysterious element makes human beings crazy over defining it. Gamblers draft statistics of which outlet yields the most winners and interview winners, hoping to gain an insight and replicate the successful man who opened the portal to luck. Luck hunters are willing to do anything. Wear red underwear, pray fervently to idols, perform rituals, bath in holy water, hunt for mutated clovers, you name it, only to be disappointed time and again. The fun part is, luck remains random and that's what makes it such a unique desire.

Another part of the argument is that luck can be made. One of my good friends in Singapore used to tell me frequently that “有买有希望” What he meant was, you have to be in it to win it. There is some truth in it, since most of us can agree that luck is being at the right place, at the right right time. My friends who are Manchester United FC fans used to retort our "Lucky devils" taunts by claiming their team made their own luck by their relentless never-give-up attitude. Thus, perhaps luck can be categorized. It can happen to an individual in complete randomness, or it can happen to one who has intent, or the bravery to pursue something way harder than the rest.