13/11/2026

FRIDAY | NOV 13, 2026

10

Under One Roof

In search of retirement bliss Q: After decades of looking forward to retirement, I find the promised carefree lifestyle isn’t quite what I expected. I worked hard to attain this goal, and now I’m struggling with discontentment. What do you suggest I do? be your situation, schedule an appointment with our counsellors. It would be our privilege to help you work through this transition so you can embrace this new season to the fullest.

Q: I know I am supposed to love and honour my wife but there are times when she is incredibly rude and unkind to me, our children and even family and friends. How can I “honour” her when she is behaving badly? Focus on the Family Malaysia: There are many ways a husband can honour his wife. Admittedly, that is a lot easier when we are happy and the relationship is rosy. But unkind and selfish behaviour is something we have all been guilty of, and it is how we respond to our spouse when we are on the receiving end that is the key. Here’s an approach we find helpful. 0 Separate the person from the behaviour. As a person, your wife is of value and worthy of honour regardless of her behaviour. 0 Recognise that your perception of your wife is impacted by her behaviour. It is easy to “switch lenses” when you are frequently hurt or frustrated by her. Consequently, you may be tempted to see everything through a lens that accentuates the negative and eliminates the positive. Psychologists call this “confirmation bias”. The remedy is to flip the lens and begin actively looking for the positives. 0 Consider how you may be distorting the problem. Is it possible that you have a trigger button? It could be a pet peeve, an old wound or an issue in the past that makes a particular behaviour consume ability to think independently shrinks. I was reminded of this reality during one of my classes. I normally allow students to use their gadgets to complete in-class activities but on one occasion, I insisted they rely solely on their own minds. The task was simple, yet many struggled. Several admitted afterward that without their devices, even basic problem-solving felt difficult. That moment revealed how quickly dependence on technology can erode the resilience of our thinking, even in situations where the challenge is not complex. However, this isn’t a call to abandon AI entirely. In a modern era defined by technological advancement, we must keep pace. The key is to be thoughtful in how we use it. Let AI be a tool in our arsenal, not the sole engine of our creativity and problem-solving. By maintaining a balance, we can ensure that our own cognitive abilities remain strong and resilient. Billionaires envision a future where intelligence is treated like a power source, one that we must purchase

Focus on the Family Malaysia: Restlessness and discontent often stem from false hopes and unrealistic expectations. Advertisers and marketers often condition us to picture retirement as an endless existence of leisure and luxury. The problem is that most of us never make it to this “paradise” – and even those who do sometimes find it leaves a bittersweet taste in their mouth. Perhaps your dissatisfaction stems from your experience not matching up with the hype. If retirement isn’t delivering what you really want out of life, try shaking up the status quo. Start by taking an honest inventory of who you are and what you desire. May be you are a person who prefers an opportunity to keep giving back. Focus on the Family Malaysia has been blessed by the invaluable contributions of retirees who volunteer their time, skills and experience to help us in our outreach. If you feel something like this may provide the fulfilment you have been lacking, we can assure you that there is no shortage of organisations needing your help. You can start with your community or local schools – they always need mentors or teaching assistants. And many nature preserves, museums and fine art centres are searching for volunteers. That said, it is also possible you may be struggling with depression that sometimes accompanies a major change in life. If you think this may Yet, beneath the glossy marketing lies a harsher truth where AI is increasingly a tool for billionaires to harvest our cognitive abilities, turning human thought into a commodity like a utility they control. What appears to be empowerment is often exploitation. Every time we rely on AI to generate ideas, write essays or solve problems, we surrender fragments of our thinking. These fragments are aggregated, monetised and sold back to us as “innovation”. The consumer is not empowered but abused, trapped in a cycle where dependence fuels profit. Think back to the days of sitting for major exams. Students once wrote full essays using only their own minds. Today, many ask AI for ideas before they even begin. The more we outsource thinking, the less we practice it ourselves. AI becomes not a helper but a crutch. Dependency grows and with it our

Advertisers and marketers condition us to picture retirement as an endless existence of leisure and luxury. The problem is that most of us never make it to this ‘paradise’. – AI-GENERATED IMAGE/SUNPIC

supporting and strengthening the family unit. It provides a myriad of programmes and resources, including professional counselling services, to the community. For more information, visit family.org.my. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

For help on navigating conflict in a respectful, appropriate and effective way, you can schedule an appointment with our counsellors. This article is contributed by Focus on the Family Malaysia, a non-profit organisation dedicated to

your mind? 0 Finally, confront the negative behaviour, not the person, using healthy conflict-resolution tools. It is critical to do this with a spirit of honesty and humility versus anger and pride. This ultimately is how you will honour her.

LETTERS letters@thesundaily.com

COMMENT by Faizul Hadi Shaul Hameed

AI: Billionaires’ dream, humanity’s decline ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) is often celebrated as the pinnacle of human progress. It promises efficiency, creativity and convenience. because we can no longer generate it ourselves. Studies already warn that over

Protect consumers, end telco trap WHEN Malaysians walk into a telecommunications shop to before the contract expires, an early termination penalty will apply.”

It explicitly states that customer satisfaction is entirely irrelevant to your legal obligation to keep paying them. If their network crawls like a snail or drops out entirely, you are legally caged. If you attempt to walk away from substandard service, you are hit with prohibitive financial penalties. This is not a free market; it is a retention trap. Consumers should be able to subscribe to a service based on quality and trust, not be tied down by a multi-year financial anchor that penalises them for the provider’s poor performance. We urge the authorities and regulators to step up and reform the telecommunications sector. We need robust regulations to curb one-sided contract terms, eliminate forced multi-year lock-ins and ensure that providers must compete purely on the actual quality of their services. It is time to put everyday consumers first. Concerned Malaysian Consumer

subscribe to a home or mobile service, the expectation is simple: we are purchasing a vital utility, much like electricity or water. We are signing up to receive a reliable digital lifeline, not signing away our freedom or becoming legally shackled to a corporation. Yet, walk into any telco provider today and consumers are treated not as valued clients but as a captive audience. At the heart of this issue are rigid multi-year contracts, typically locked in for two to three years. If left unregulated, these mandatory lock in periods threaten to stretch even further, potentially trapping subscribers for up to five years. These contracts are engineered to protect corporate interests rather than consumer welfare. Consider this explicit reality check from a major service provider’s terms: “The contract commitment remains applicable throughout the stipulated period, even if a customer is dissatisfied with the service. Should you decide to terminate

reliance on AI may lead to cognitive decline. When machines do the heavy lifting, our brains lose resilience. The more we depend on AI, the more our natural ability to think for ourselves erodes. This decline is not accidental; it is profitable. Every query and outsourced essay is another transaction in a marketplace of thought. What we lose in independence, billionaires gain in revenue. In the end, AI is not just a neutral tool. It is a system designed to reshape intelligence into a commodity. I am not saying we must reject it but we need to be smart and intentional. Let’s ensure that we remain creators of thought rather than mere consumers of it. Faizul Hadi Shaul Hameed is a language lecturer At the Centre of Foundation Studies, Universiti Malaya. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com