FEBRUARY 20 — I still remember it quite clearly, even though it has been more than a year since I have had an office at UM’s Bangunan Canseleri, where I served as the Director of Corporate Communications Centre.
It was a regular Monday morning when I found myself rushing into the elevator. As the doors were about to close, I spotted someone hurrying toward the elevator.
Instinctively, I held the doors open. The lady smiled warmly and thanked me. It was a simple exchange, perhaps one I would have overlooked had I not been paying attention.
Yet, that small moment lingered with me throughout the day. Why? Because it felt good.
It felt human.
And in a world that often feels hurried and transactional, that fleeting interaction reminded me of the power of small, beautiful moments.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s timeless 1943 classic, ‘The Little Prince’, holds an earnest truth for our fast-paced lives — to look beyond the surface to find what truly matters. — AFP pic
If you haven’t noticed, we live in a society that glorifies grand achievements and milestone moments.
Social media feeds us a constant stream of so-called “big” news — promotions, weddings, glorious food, travels to exotic destinations.
It’s easy to feel as though happiness is always out of reach, hiding somewhere in the “big moments” we’re striving to achieve.
But if we’re always waiting for those monumental milestones, what happens to the days in between? Do we let them slip by, unnoticed and more worryingly, unlived?
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s timeless 1943 classic, The Little Prince, holds an earnest truth for our fast-paced lives. In the book, the fox tells the Little Prince, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
This simple yet powerful line reminds us to look beyond the surface — beyond the obvious, the material, and certainly the “big” things — to find what truly matters.
The “essential” isn’t always flashy or visible. Sometimes, it’s the warmth of sunlight streaming through your window on a quiet Sunday morning.
It’s the first sip of your morning coffee as you settle into your workday. It’s the laughter that erupts during a casual conversation with a close friend.
And recently, I experienced one, albeit in a slightly different manner. It was the Friday of the final week of the semester — the week that typically is a whirlwind of deadlines and stress for a lecturer, what with grading tests, essays, group projects, and individual assignments, all while handling endless emails and last-minute student queries.
Then, amid the noise of a hundred to-do lists, my phone buzzed with a WhatsApp message.
It was from the quietest student in my class, someone who had hardly spoken a word all semester. He thanked me—not just for teaching the subject, but for showing him that a career in biomedical engineering isn’t as bleak as he once feared. “Thank you sir. You gave me hope,” he wrote.
In my 20-plus years as a lecturer, I’ve been fortunate to receive such messages from time to time, but this one felt different. Perhaps it was because it came during a week when exhaustion threatened to overshadow everything else, or maybe it was because this particular student had never drawn attention to himself. Yet here he was, reminding me, with the quiet sincerity of his words, why I do what I do.
These small moments might seem insignificant, but they hold a special power. They ground us in the present and remind us to slow down. They connect us to the world and to each other in ways that grand gestures often cannot.
Yet, noticing these moments requires effort. It’s not always easy to shift our focus away from the “bigger picture” that society so often emphasises. We’re conditioned to keep striving, to keep achieving. But perhaps, as the fox said to the Little Prince, we need to use our hearts more than our eyes.
To really see — to notice — requires us to pause and pay attention.
This brings me to a challenge I’d like to propose: every day, why not take a moment to notice something small and beautiful. Write it down. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or profound.
Maybe it’s the way the evening light casts golden hues over your neighbourhood. Maybe it’s the taste of a meal that brought you comfort.
Or maybe it’s a simple thank-you from a stranger. The act of noticing, of naming these moments, helps us cultivate gratitude (syukur in BM) and trains us to find joy in the everyday.
Life isn’t made up solely of the grand milestones we’re conditioned to chase. It’s in the little moments that fill the spaces in between. And when we begin to pay attention to these moments, we realise that they are not little at all. They’re essential.
They’re life itself.
So, the next time you’re rushing to catch the elevator or sipping your morning coffee, pause. Notice the warmth of the cup in your hand. Notice the kindness in a stranger’s smile. And, most importantly, let yourself feel the joy in that fleeting, beautiful moment.
Who knows? It might just make your day.
* Ir Dr Nahrizul Adib Kadri is a professor of biomedical engineering and the Principal of Ibnu Sina Residential College, Universiti Malaya. He may be reached at [email protected]
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
