Now, you may be wondering why I left a job I liked. Well, for some time, I had the feeling I had been there too long. I joined The Straits Times shortly after national service, at the age of 21, and left twice to study, but returned to the same paper each time. It was time to explore other options.

You may wonder what I've been up to. Immediately after leaving, I dabbled in another love, the theatre, as a guest actor with a professional drama group.

Then I committed to my best love, and got married on July 4th in a very cosy, family-sized civil wedding. No honeymoon is ever long enough, but there has been lots of travel after. And, hopefully, there will be lots more this year.

I met my wife on a tram in Boston in the United States when I offered her a seat. Now, she lives here. The chance manner of the meeting belies the years and years of waiting, and the miles and miles of searching, for the right person to come along and exchange the halves of our lives.

They say everyone waits for the perfect partner -- and in the meantime, he or she gets married. Well, I decided long ago it would be better to spend my life alone, than just give in. It is not a plan that works for everybody. It is easier to go through life like a ship just navigating the shoals, ending up wherever the calm waters take it, content to have avoided discomfort of any kind.

We all know it is harder to set a direction, and say, that way or bust, because you might just end up busted. But you see, it sometimes works out. And even if dreams do not come true, they are nice to hold.

So that is what I wish you in this final year of the old millenium: time. If your dreams have come true, time to enjoy them, and dream anew; if you waiting for your dreams to be true, the right time to seize them, and hold them to you; and for those who don't know what to dream, time to reflect, and time to choose.

All the best to you in the new millenium to come. Be good, but do not be boring.