Since getting married and having kids, I don’t hang out with my friends that often anymore except with those that I work with.  All of them are married now and we seldom have our regular guys’ nite anymore.  We only meet whenever there’s a special occasion like weddings, kid’s birthdays, full moon or during Chinese New Year.

Yesterday, I was on MSN with one of my close friends who is the same age as me.  He’s the head of a Singaporean software company based in Malaysia but he does have his own businesses as well.  He co-owns a HR company and has food stalls in a few shopping malls.  His wife is from a filthy rich family and earlier this year, he celebrated the birth of his son.  He’s also a MBA grad.  Pretty good wouldn’t you say?

So we were chatting about how’s life and he told me that every things well with him except that he’s not motivated, he just wants to "pop pills".  "Wouldn’t it be good if I didn’t have to work and everyday can just be at home popping pills".  If you don’t know what pop pills means, it’s taking recreational drugs.

Before he got married, he told me that he took ecstasy.  He started when a MBA course mate of his (let’s call him R) told him to give it a try.  He told me that the first time he tried, it gave him the best feeling in the world.  He couldn’t describe it, he just felt so happy after taking the pill.  So whenever the two of them would be together, they would be on ecstasy or some kind of other drug.  I suspected it when one time at a club, R blacked out.  We had to carry him out of the damn club!  My friend told us that R was drunk but we all knew that was not the case.  R’s a Regional Sales Manager and I can tell you us sales guys can drink ok.  We had drinking sessions before and R could really handle his alcohol.  Besides when we placed him on the floor, his hand was shaking.  It just didn’t seem like he was drunk.  A few days after that, I asked my friend about it and that’s when he told me that he has been taking ecstasy together with R.  I was shocked!

I knew popping pills were rampant in the clubbing scene especially among the Chinese.  That’s why a few years ago, MCA ran campaigns about the dangers of ecstasy.  But I thought it was among the younger crowd, the less educated, the VCD sellers and ah longs (Sorry la, if you’re in one of these categories).  Not MBA grads, Regional Sales Managers, Country Managers, even Managing Directors!

Once we knew that he was popping pills, every time we went clubbing or had drinking sessions, he would comment, "Aiyah, damn bored la. Wanna pop pills ah?", "I got ecstasy you guys wanna try?".  He says it as if there’s nothing wrong with it.  I’ve never taken any drugs to get high before in my life.  I’m a natural high junkie.  I get high from simple things in life like playing futsal, biting into a good Ramly burger or watching Pamela Anderson in a red bikini running in slow motion.  I don’t need a drug to get me high.  Give me Pam’s headlights over ecstasy any day! ;)

I think he feels it’s ok to be popping pills since everyone is doing it.  He had a business partner from Australia who came down for a few meetings and that guy was in his late 30s.  That guy was also popping pills in KL!  So both of them would get high in his hotel room.  These people who get high on recreational drugs don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.  They think the word recreational there makes it ok.  He even compared his popping pills to me taking painkillers for my gout condition, "Painkillers is a drug also what".

He told me he has stopped but I’m not too sure.  The reason is he’s been hanging out with another friend of mine (let’s call him P) which stays quite near to him.  P is the MD of a company providing cleaning services.  He owns the most posh house in his taman, many shop lots, apartments and a few cars.  He claims he has enough to already retire.  His wife is a regular pill popper and is not afraid to let the whole world know.  According to my friend, P nowadays just spend his days popping pills at home, "I wish I could be as rich as P.  Can just spend time at home popping pills".  I don’t see how popping pills at home is recreational. 

Anyway, he says he hasn’t pop for some time now but the urge is there.  He’s feeling down, unmotivated, bored, tired, sleepy, etc.  He wants to feel happy.  Interestingly, all that he’s feeling now are actually side effects of recreational drugs.  I tried to talk some "Yeh so" into him.  How there’s a space in everyone of us that feels empty no matter what you have or achieve.  Whether it’s money, sex, alcohol or drugs, that space can never be filled and you’ll always have a sense of emptiness.  Only God can fill that space.  Even if you pop, that high won’t last long and you’ll feel empty again.  That temporary high is not worth the long term side affects.

I don’t know whether he’ll pop again.

Public service announcement : Kids, say no to drugs. Watch more Baywatch!