FW: looking back before Monday 14 April
Chun Yen
truckloads of love, chunyen ♥
From: eddi...@ri.edu.sg
To: jesl...@live.com.sg; chu...@live.com.sg; vanath...@yahoo.com
CC: bryan....@gmail.com; arjunv...@gmail.com; janet...@yahoo.com.sg; andrewy...@gmail.com; gooey_s...@hotmail.com; christ...@yahoo.com.sg; yewc...@yahoo.com.sg; danl...@yahoo.com; elis...@gmail.com; jazell...@hotmail.com; jlu...@gmail.com; joleneo...@yahoo.com.sg; kimmy...@hotmail.com; mic...@hotmail.com; mira.vi...@gmail.com; rachel...@gmail.com; radiy...@gmail.com; sara...@gmail.com; seanh...@gmail.com; sylvia...@gmail.com; tessa...@hotmail.sg; tim_...@hotmail.com; wen...@hotmail.com; ching...@gmail.com; xiao...@yahoo.com.sg; xing...@gmail.com; ongya...@gmail.com; zhir...@hotmail.com
Subject: looking back before Monday 14 April
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 01:25:26 +0000
Dear PW batch of 2014,
Release of results may take on an impersonal format here due to its timing. This is the least I can do- to cushion the impact, acknowledge the uncertainty and find you where u might be.
To those who have done well, congratulations. Know that you have not achieved it yourselves. Somewhere down the road, a chance encounter, unexpected stakeholder, a team-mate, your team-mates has or have led you there. It will be like that for much of life.
To anyone of you who may have attained less than what you expected or perceived...sometimes in life, hard-work and effort may not always translate into an "A". It doesn't lessen who you are as a person. Remember that always. Let us also not assume that getting an "A" means that you have truly learnt as well. You could still be the same person whose mind may have grown but not your heart... Be sensitive to those around you who may not feel as good as you esp next Monday.
Lastly, be contented with what you have or you will always be a restless soul.
To entire groups who have done well, go celebrate...All your fieldwork, time spent, commitment, team charters, late night conflicts etc and unity have brought you far...you ought to have achieved something more special beyond an 'A'. To groups who have mixed scores, do that too...if you wish, becoz in life, one will never go far if we allow an alphabet to define our identity or how we value life. Finger-pointing does not help. Like all national exams, SEAB maintains a bell-curve to align to national standards too. Open secret. No one knows. We don't have to know. But in my heart, you have a place, especially your batch and you know how much you have really worked in the 9 months spent in PW. You ought to have unpacked other important truths beyond a printed grade.
I will always value you as a person and remember the self and effort you gave, all that cannot be captured by exams & grades.
Lastly, this may be the last contact point in group-work for all of you and it has to end with an alphabet. It is not true. The same demands in team-work will come again and university and beyond in the workplace. Do not ever forget what you learnt (about yourself) or others, in the process of working with one another...that proverbial / perennial sense of acerbic cynicism, immaturity and a closed or self-centered mind does not bring us far in life. You will know very soon once the As are over. Every graduating batch returns to testify so...
I will remember your batch of 2014 in different ways...and always in the form of individuals and groups and abundantly cheerful class spirit: that quiet rebellion and wry sense of humour in one class…the cheeky warmth of 2 others, the reflective walks with another ‘rojak’ class and another whom I regard in a special way…everything that makes the tough journey such a joy and open adventure to teach each year...my prayer is that all of you will allow yourselves time and space to reflect more deeply about what it means to learn and recognize the inherent dignity in people, solid networking, social adaptability and ethics that must shape your life as a Rafflesian, beyond that of a thinker, leader and pioneer.
I like this clip and so, in dedication…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaWA2GbcnJU
Ignore the commercial strand in the end. I hope you will see bits of your own self and world in this clip…the courage and stubborn hope to believe and work on things that matter most, even if the world around you jeers, scoffs or tramples when you cast everything aside for a better truth.
Fare thee well...my blessings always on your journeys ahead...
And see you, if it’s meant to be, next Monday.
Pax et bonum,
Eddie Koh
Senior Teacher
Knowledge Skills Department
T: +65 6419 9844| Fax: +65 6419 9898
Raffles Institution | One Raffles Institution Lane, Singapore 575954 |
http://www.ri.edu.sg