- -[1 List the three best times/things of the year]
[x] Orientation
[x] Founders’ Day dinner and meeting up with old friends
[x] Getting back my O Level results and knowing that I had done well.

- -[2 List the three worst times/struggles of the year]
[x] Adapting to the JC schooling system
[x] Seeing things I wish I never knew while serving
[x] Trying to forget him

Once again another year is about to pass. Every year, around this time I will be doing some reflections, and this time round it’s no exception.

Throughout the year there has been laughter, pain and the tears. In some ways this year had been really memorable, yet sometimes it seems to have been a really tough one. The war, SARS, the death of the Iranian twins and many more incidents have left deep impressions in our minds, as well as many thoughts and unanswered questions. Will 2004 just be a continuation of such incidents, or will it get better? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Met Winnie yesterday to buy Jun’s present (which we have owed her for 2 birthdays and 2 christmases -.-), and met Jun, Linda and Christine after that. Even though we had around 2 months of holidays, that was the first time the 5 of us met up as a group. Before that there were always people that were not free and hence missing. We walked around for a bit and then Winnie and I went to pierce our ears. I had actually planned to go with Ruo Xi since early this month, but we just couldn’t find a time when we were both free to do so. She went out with her Mum yesterday and said that she would pierce then, but she ended up not piercing whereas I did. I’ll just accompany her the next time she goes I guess.

Went to take neoprints after that. All the instructions were in Japanese, so when we were supposed to edit the pictures we were just anyhow clicking… Ended up not writing anything. But at least the pictures look nice enough. Linda left for her cousin’s birthday party (or something like that) soon after, while the rest of us headed to Fish & Co. for dinner.

When we arrived there was still no crowd, so we got seated almost immediately. After we made our orders, we saw May Phua (Pan Shu Qing) coming in with this guy, and they sat somewhere near us. Waiting for our dinner to arrive wasn’t a pleasent affair. We waited for more than an hour, and ask 2 people to check the status of our orders, yet the never got back to us. It was only later, when this lady came over that we knew that their printer screwed up so the orders for some tables were messed up, and we were one of the unlucky ones. No wonder other tables around us had already gotten their orders even though they came later. They made up for that by giving us complementary fries and dessert, which was ice cream and cake, after that. I must say that the dessert was good. Hopefully their service will improve next time, and should similar problems crop up they should try to resolve it and inform us sooner. Imagine being in a rush and after waiting for more than an hour, but your meal hasn’t arrived. If someone was in the situation I bet thay would have flared up.

Today was the J2s last they with us, before they move on to qing tuan. In past years it was the rest that planned the programme, but this year they requested to do it, so we let them. It was more or less like the other years, with songs, prayers and sharing by the J2s. Year by year as I see people leaving, it just reminds me that I too, will be standing up there on day, sharing with others my thoughts after bring in youth fellowship for 6 years. Next year it’ll be my turn, and it just seems too fast. I know I’ll be missing the people there.

What Guo Yuan shared really struck something in me. I’m glad that he decided to come to Christ once again after that first encounter a few years ago which drew him away. Indeed God has a plan for all of us, and though we don’t always see nor understand it, it will all work out somehow. After his speech he sang this song he penned. The words really felt as though they came from the heart, which I’m really sure that it did, as from what he shared with us. I don’t know him well, but I think he’s a talented guy. Thank God for people like him, who are willing to share his experiences with us so that we can in some way learn from it.

Next year’s going to be much more of a challenge as compared to this year. I didn’t really do much this year; actually most of the jobs were done by Darren. But serving isn’t just about doing your duties and ending there. It’s not a Sunday thing either even though you usually only go to church on Sundays. I guess it was easier this year for me since Darren was there to guide me along; after all he had a year’s experience before this. As for next year, Jireh hasn’t done this before so naturally I feel this extra burden of helping him along. I’m sure he’ll do great though. Just have to keep praying about it, for God to push all of us to 100% when we feel as though we are only at 10%. I know he will carry all of us through.

I think it’s sad how some parents think that having their children study in a top school means that they will have the best education possible, and thus scold their children or something when their children don’t do as well as they hoped for in the exams and thus are not able to get into a top school. Isn’t what that matters most the fact that their children have indeed tried their best? Everyone wants to do well in school, and I’m sure their children would have been upset as well. They don’t need to make their children feel any worse.

Sure, being in a top school means that you are surrounded by the best brains, and you are provided with a somewhat challenging education. But that doesn’t mean you will excel. Everyone has different studying methods and we all learn best under different conditions. Someone who can’t work under stress or need s a lot of time to learn something may find it hard to cope in a top school; similarly those who learn quickly and like to be challenged will find the pace in another school to slow, and thus lessons become a bore to them. I understand that not everyone sees this from the same point of view though.

Not getting in a top school doesn’t mean you won’t succeed in life. Look at all the successful people worldwide. Do all of the come from top schools? No. In fact, there are people who make it big without any proper education. I guess success in life is largely determined by how you react to situations, deal with problems as well as your interpersonal skills. If only all parents saw things this way, then a lot of us will not be placed under that much stress from them, and we’ll be a lot happier as well.