Whenever we go on our regular evening walks, we would see an elderly Malay gentleman sitting contentedly on a reclining chair in the porch of his big house in this posh neighbourhood. Sometimes he would be just looking out, sometimes reading the newspapers and at other times reciting pieties while counting the tasbih. Whatever he might be engaged in he always stops and greets us in his usual cheerful manner. I wonder what he was like when he was younger, I wonder what he used to do for a living when he was younger...I may never know the answers to these questions, nor that it matters. He seems perfectly content and happy sittng on his reclining chair. He paints a picture of one old man really enjoying his golden years in his own way. That is what matters now.
The complete life, the perfect pattern, includes old age as well as youth and maturity. The beauty of the morning and the radiance of noon are good, but it would be a very silly person who drew the curtains and turned on the light in order to shut out the tranquillity of the evening. Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth.
Author: W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
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