Talents, Skills

Today is Teachers' Day cum ACES Day.
Well, I can't expect that much from the school,
but our kind Mr Heng opened the range for us to shoot.
So, there's shooting event in our circuit run.
I hope one day the school will bring in the real Pentathlon,
which I deemed as impossible.

I don't know why, but today left me with a lot of thoughts.
Not about teachers, because I'm grateful to them everyday,
not just only on Teachers' Day.

What left a question pondering in my mind was the concert.

I must say today is another display of talent.
At the circuit race, at the shooting range;
talents on the stage, dancing, singing.

In the past, sometimes when I looked at these talents teens;
I often bring them into comparison with myself,
and start to feel inferior of myself.

But not today, not anymore.

Because I found my true talent.

Educating.

I must say I'm not a very good listener in Education;
but I guess people cannot deny the qualities and Leadership I had in Education.
It's a bit boastful to say so,
but, I doubt even BMTC can trained a top notch platoon in 16 hours(in one month) time.

I always want to find a field to display my skills of education;
well, after some time, I had this little period in NCC,
as a mentor, educator.

I firmly believe that all of us have certain potentials within ourselves.
But what matters most is seeking for that potential,
and then, developing that potential.
The seeking part is a bit hard; I took three years.
But I would say whether if you guys want to develop is or not...
It's directly up o your choice!

I believe that all of us are born with a purpose, a destiny in our life.
And I trust that the potential lying deep in us,
is the key to open our Door of Destiny.
Looking for that door is hard;
but looking for the key, even harder.
But at the end of the day,
what matters is that if we are willing to put the key into the keyhole,
and then, open the door.

Many didn't have the courage to open the door;
because they had to risk something else in their life to open the Door of Destiny.
But some overcome various obstacles,
and found their destiny, leaving a name in history.
Lenin, Churchill, Edison, Einstein...
They were born like any of us, commoners.
But they grew to do things so uncommon.

I lacked many basic skills many had.
I couldn't learn things well,
I couldn't play a musical instrument;
can't sing, can't dance, many things.

But I guess my orating skills and teaching skills will bring me to great heights.

I vow, one day when I achieved something,
I will go back to Zhonghua Secondary School,
and give an inspirational speech.

The first few lines of that speech will be:
"Principal, Teachers, Students;
When I was back here, unlike you all,
I flunked my results badly, and I'm a social outcast.
I was on the negative scale...
But now I'm on the positive.

If Fate allows me to do this...

It just proves that Dreams really do come true.

600th post

It's a god 600th post today, including private postings and drafts.
Over here, I thank all visitors and readers,
for the unfading support over the past two years,
such that your anticipation for the blog's post motivates me to blog more.

It's another average day today.
Same old stuff; work, work, work.
But today i believe that I've done something meaningful.
I've talked some sense into my juniors.

I always firmly believe in the Quaker religion's self-inflicted penance,
as well as the idea of self-understanding and giving chances.
Punishment, sometimes it might be a must;
but I firmly believe that we have to do it in the right way,
such that people would understand what they did wrong,
and most importantly, why they did wrong.

I've never oppose the use of corporal punishment;
in fact, I'm a strong supporter of the use of corporal punishment,
be it under civillian, criminal or military context.
However, I also believe that corporal punishment has to be dealt the right way-
such that it fulfills its requirement of making the condemned understand their err.

After two years in NCC,
and going through much punishments that were dealt wrongly,
as well as various forms of unfairness;
I always believe that punishment is a good opportunity to change one's personality,
be it for the better or the worse.
The result of a punishment- good or bad- can have long lasting consequences.

I'm proud to say that I am very saddistic,
but saddistic in a way that my juniors learnt something.

I never took corporal punishment as a first choice.
Instead, I believe in strict reasoning and warnings,
sometimes to the extent of threatening,
are something that can have better results that dealing corporal punishment right from the start.

Punishment is dealt not because something is done wrong or discipline is flawed,
but it is done so in order to stop an individual in continuing the same mistakes which will lead to more dire consequences.

If punishment, from the start, is to stop things from going worse;
how come most of us use it as if we had to condemned one person, until death?

That's why I choose to talk sense, analysing situations with my juniors,
rather than giving them the 'Death Penalty' right from the start.

That's why I gave chances.

Never was I given a chance in NCC.
Be it Annual Camps, Freestyle Drill Competition-
Never was I given another chance to redeem myself.
Instead, I was sentenced to 'Death'-
My talents, forever, unrecognised.

These bad memories never taught me to took revenge,
but instead, change things for the better,
so that history does not repeats itself again.

I believe chances are what people need.
Some might realise them, some might not;
but sooner or later, all will realise the true definition of chances.
Which is to lead you to the right path.

I have various cadets who skipped trainings all the time.
Till now, they are still doing so.
But never did I dealt harsh punishments on them.
Because I knew that will for sure,
extinguish the last enthusiasm they had for NCC.

Being an educator and a mentor myself,
I always see the point of my teachers' action.
I understand why they gave detentions,
I understand why they gave extra work;
I understand why they did things in certain ways.

Because I am an educator myself,
and I doing the same of what my teachers are doing.

So I learn.
Learn to feel the feelings of teachers.
I tried to help them, cooperate with them.
Go to lessons on time, hand in work on time;
I didn't want my cadets to make life difficult for me.
Neither my teachers want me to make life difficult for them.

I guess my job as an educator,
is not just to teach and educate them from 1430 to 1830hrs every Friday.

It is to help them in wherever I can render help,
teach them to be morally and justifiably upright;
to stand up for what is right, to stand up against what is wrong.
And to answer they questions, clear their doubts;
To encourage them in areas where they lack of confidence,
to give them chances in areas where they lack opportunity,
and to motivate them in their dreams.

That is my job, as an educator.

When You Believe

It's a beautiful Sunday morning;
and you wake up, finding nothing to do.
I thought of doing some revision today,
but uhh, let's talk about it later in the afternoon.

Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe. -Winston Churchill

I believe all of us do have dreams, all of us do have aspirations;
likewise all of us have fascinations and visualizations.
Things in this world is separated into two kinds;
the fact, and the fiction.

Over here, fiction doesn't mean something is fake or unreal;
it refers to something that isn't true at all.
But then, there are possibilities that it will turn into reality anytime,
or just remain as a dream that meets us during sleep time.

Dreams, fascinations; they don't really take much to be achieved.
One must work hard towards these goals, and they will come true.
But then, we must always take the first step towards dreams;
the first step, is usually something that many realised they missed out in the past.

Which I refer to as, Believing.

As what Buddha have said,
not to believe anything,
unless it correspond with your reasons and your common sense.
We can believe in our dreams.
But at another point of view,
are they really achievable?
Are they something that isn't all talk but no action?
Are they something that isn't too much of a fascination,
such that there is no way that it could happen in reality?

These questions from the harsh reality,
often destroy many dreams,
leaving many people in despair and suffering.

I could say, you couldn't really shape your dreams as according to reality;
relatively, you need to shape them as according to yourself.

It might not happen in reality... Who knows!
Anything that have not take place might have a chance to happen.
What matters is that whether we have the 'capital' to achieve such goals.
If we have, no matter how unrealistic our dreams might sound,
it will soon happen, becoming reality.
However, if we don't have the 'capital'....

There are still ways that we can achieve those dreams,
realising those fascinations.

The greatest power in this world,
is nothing but Believe.

When you believe, it becomes a permanent thought of you.
Ever heard of the saying "Your actions are consequences of your thoughts?"

Believing it, and trusting it;
it will become your actions, your effort.
And with those effort and hard work going on all the time,
no matter how big are the boundaries,
no matter how tall are the obstacles,
no matter how strong are the adversaries...
Your dream, will come true,
turning into reality.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would say, nothing is perfect;
and at the same time, nothing is impossible!
Humans dreamt of flying like birds centuries ago,
and the Wright Brothers turn it into reality;
Woodrow Wilson thought of a world organisation that unite the world decades ago,
and United Nations keep peace and harmony on Earth.

Decades, centuries, and even millennium...
Dream turning into reality, all it matters is just time.
Sooner or later, I believe all those aspirations of ours will take flight,
taking with it the human civilisation,
soaring into greater heights!

"The world... Yes! Seek freedom, and your world will stand stretched out before your eyes. If the endless dream guides your spirits, Conquer it! Bear conviction behind your flag!" -One Piece Anime

them. me.

Well, got some work to zero in on today,
and also some revision for EOYs.
Can't really find fun these days;
not to mention about having the mood to do work.

Had long night chats over MSN with a few juniors yesterday night;
late, deep into midnight,
talking about crap from various areas.
Well, sometimes, I would say that my greatest achievement in secondary school is none other than earning the respect and trust of my juniors.
Not all of them, but most.
Unfading loyalty and die-hard brotherhood.
I thought this kind of thing would only occur in Imperial Japan.

But then, a taste of power in this form...
It doesn't really satisfy any greed or lust,
but rather, a form of achievement, as a mentor.

Sometimes I worry too much about my junior's future and career in their CCA.

But these worries are essential.

Rises and Fall, Division and Unity;
cycle after cycle, history always repeat itself.
It does, is because the human race doesn't learn lessons from history.
We failed to reflect upon our mistakes,
we failed to change for the better.
That's why, we always commit stupid mistakes one after another;
how ironic we still refer them as 'stupid' mistakes.
Relatively, it is us that is stupid at times.

"Gary's worth it, to be my successor."
Dog told me this once before.
I shall not hide my true intentions here;
what I want is a straightforward, righteous leader to lead the company;
a leader with a good sense of direction,
who is able to lead the company onto the right rack,
remonstrate the officers when they did something wrong;
that, is what I define as 'Leader'.

Rather than scumbags that only knows how to flirt gals,
and did nothing but get people into trouble.

"Not to do for the sake of doing,
for for your own good, for others."
I told my juniors.
I wanted them all to be righteous and upright gentlemen;
having the right character, thinking with the right mindset.
Time after time, I do see improvement in various cadets,
as well as some of those that demonstrate upright personality:
TiongLei, Matthew, Edmund, Yu Liang, Deon, Chee Keong.

Dog, we don't need a person who knows how to do things;
because one who do things without questioning is a DOG.

I would say, how as the results turns out to be,
I will be the ultimate winner;
all are my subordinates.

It's just a matter of if we are to make the wrong choice and accumulate bad karma.

I think this is my destiny.
Here, no to enthroned myself,
but to enthroned the right leader,
leading the masses out of this mess,
in which had been worsened by useless "leaders" generation after generation.

I...shall make him King!

I couldn't afford to leave myself a bad name,
in which to see that my underlings are the ones who will make the 16 years of hard work collapse in one moment.

That's too heavy a price price to pay.

Understand, Dog?

Righteousness

Well, I must say today is filled with fun.
Really, things happen in certain ways that make you happy.

Err, maybe school ain't that nice,
but surely the after hours are what we enjoy.
For a long time I wasn't down for physical training;
today's PT was sort of fun, as well as refreshing.
Thanks Brandon for the awesome PT session, haha.

And then....yeap.
CK Ng ran around like a crazy person,
spraying everything with deodorant.
Including me and CJ. Holy shit.
Then I think I ran my best record for 100 metres.
We're typically running for our lives.
I think we broke Usain Bolt's record, unknowingly.
You know, the "greed" for survival is very strong.
In order to survive, we find ourselves a bit of superheroes at times.

And one thing, I just found out that crisis is going on in my men.
Well, the same old shit every generation would go through- power struggle.
Don't want to talk too much on it;
I believe the kids have their own ways of solving things.
After all, I believe they're grown ups.

And I really like righteous people.
People who does things for a right reason and moral.

"Not to do things for the sake of doing,
but rather for your own good,
to help other people."
This is what I told my men.
I don't know how many took the advise into their heads-
well, enlightenment is all up to them.
Our efforts, our teachings;
but it is up to them to interpret whatever we say.
Really, sometimes, I ain't God, I can't do that much.

I just hope that the same shit wouldn't happen again;
having a good-for-nothing as the overall-in-charge,
screwing things up, screwing us up.
This time, we need to be serious about it.
One wrong movement, that's the end of ZHNCC.

Righteous people, I would say.
Only righteous people could lead the masses out of dark.
I would say I had a few men who are absolutely righteous;
on the other hand, some that are cunning and evil.

After all, they are all my men.

All that is necessary for the evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
I'm a history student;
rise of Stalin, Hitler, Hirohito, Mao Zedong;
lessons after lessons, I learnt the experience of the past.
But then, am I going to put the lessons I learn into any use?

This time, I am.

I have to do something.

At any cost.

Dog, it ain't any single shit.
A worthless person like me...
can come to you with something sharp anytime!

Teachers II

Don't know by when, I started to take the right perception.

The past few days had been very bad.
Seeing things you wouldn't want to see,
and having things turning out the way you wouldn't want it to be.
Thought of a lot of stuff I shouldn't be thinking-
gas taps, 'flying without wings', hara kiri, etc.

But then, I guess life took much a change.

Heaven had been trying to stop me from doing all the silly stuff.
First was showing my worth in making me doing good deeds,
and then an ultimatum by making Ms Lee saying that sentence.
After that, a couple of advice from Mrs Ho and Mr Tham,
and then a thrashing from uhh, fatball.

Before I start my 'case proper',
I just want to tell you if you read this;
I heard what you said today,
and the moment you told me to 'just go die',
I really felt like jumping off from the fourth floor.

Thanks a lot, Mr Tham.

You have always been a very 'long winded' person;
no matter whatever you do or say,
you always emphasized to us the importance of it.
I must say that you're a good teacher-
you teach well, you make sure we understand your lessons.
I always knew that the notes you gave us which we failed to file all the time,
are your hard work and effort.
Every sentence, every effort, every question...
You set it just for us.

I must say, you did more than what your job expects you to do.

I believe that the Ministry only pays you for teaching Math to us.
But not for counselling us when we are low and down,
and not for encouraging us when we failed sometimes.
Thanks a lot for your counselling today.
Really, it makes me took another perception towards things,
and felt so much better than before.

Not only you make yourself a teacher,
you're a lifelong mentor to me.

I don't know if the Mathematics you taught me would be of good use in the future.

But as far as I know,
the principles and morals you taught me,
will surely be of good use to me next time.

I met many teachers in my life.
Some were just there to do their job,
some were there to render help anytime,
some were there to screw things up badly and give a bad attitude.

You have your own life,
you have your partner;
but everytime you choose to dedicate most of your time,
not to your job, but to your passion.
Your care and concern for us.
Preparing for lessons, teaching lessons,
and even after hours, there for help;
academic, emotional, or others.

I met good teachers and bad teachers throughout my life.
Some are like Mr Tham, always there to help;
a minimal would screw your life badly,
and make you suffer. Really.

But then, I would like to say;
good teachers, bad teachers, all are teachers.
Whatever they do, they gave me a platform to learn,
to reflect, to understand, to enlightened.

Good teachers, one day my achievements would make you proud;
bad teachers, at least one day I'll make you understand I'm not that rotten.

friends, power

yesterday night, CK Ng called me and said,
"hey, there's somewhat a chance that Daryl Zeng's coming online;
wanna give it go for the last time?"

though things failed badly,
the coup failed, the leader chickened out;
but CK Ng never failed me.
as always, he tried all his best to render help towards me.
i guess that is what i call friend;
being there for you when you need them.

i kept thinking of how friday have been an awesome day.
not only i see the true facets of people,
gained support, understand who are my true friends;
i think, i somewhat reconcile with another friend,
who i had a dispute with weeks ago.

it's kinda amazing to see that this friend could cool down so fast;
usually it takes quite a long time though.
like, one month?
and this friend somewhat reassured me that we're friends, always.

i guess a true bond is so much more precious than anything.

even more than a piece of cloth,
my dear, koh chin, kenneth and joel.

that happiness is still in my heart.
happy that i knew i had so many friends supporting me;
having know that those cadets in which i reformed swore absolute loyalty to me.

i always wondered what does the word, 'Power' defines and meant.
i always thought that power is something like this:
you're a head of a certain organisation,
you have the most say, you're the highest in hierarchy;
and you reigns supreme among all the other people.

when i was firstly recruited into NCC,
power seems to relate with the USM so much.

but now, i can say that the definition above is so damn wrong.

i guess power is the ability to garner support among people,
having people to listen to you,
in which you have a certain influence over them;
power is being able to have people that are truthful and loyal to you,
in which they will die for you under any circumstances.

i guess what i long wanted in NCC,
is finally here!

but at a second thought,
having all these or not,
it does not matter anymore.

really, they say things could change people,
and things could teach something in which is very important.
this time, not only i've seen the true faces of those people;
i learn how to cherish them.

friends are just like stars.
at time you might not be able to see them;
but they are shining all the time for you,
just like stars above the skies.