Is results really the most important thing in life?
I wasn’t in a mood to blog (and pardon my delay of uploading the doodles due to plain laziness) but when I saw tweets about this year’s GCE O’ Level results, I just get my blogging bug back again.
Fine, if you were a secondary kid who just got back your O Level results, by all means, moan or groan or be happy about it. Once you grow mature, you will know it’s not the end of the world if you did not do well and neither it is the start of heavens if you did well. Life has lots of stages, go through it; enjoy it; leave it behind.
However, if you were already continuing your studies in tertiary, junior colleges or even private/overseas universities, I don’t see a point of whining or grieving or even mentioning about your “supposedly bad” results. Seriously, no one cares. And you really think that anyone or even you yourself would care or remember how much you get for your L1R4/5 or Distinctions/Academic Units or G.P.A. when you are in your 50s?
No, NO ONE CARES.
Sure enough, a degree is important in Singapore for most sectors but whatever you do, REMEMBER TO DO SOMETHING YOU LIKE TO DO. Yes, it is a screwed up society and I understand how Asian parents can be anal about the results on the expense of their kids’ happiness and childhood. But if it was not something that you were interested in learning and doing, how well could you do; how much effort are you willing to put in?
Unless you are those super smart geniuses who are good in EVERYTHING, don’t give me the bullshit that academic results are EVERYTHING in your life. Get a grip and find something you love to do or just get stuck in the vicious cycle of eat, work, sleep, shit kind of life. Don’t you want to get satisfaction from your job too? So tell me, does the academic results satisfy your ego for the rest of your life or does your lifetime career give that? Want your parents to be proud of you no matter what occupation you choose? Give it your best and do it well! Same for O’/A’ Levels, diploma and degree. If you want good results, work hard for it. If you really couldn’t outsmart the stupid papers that are practically useless in your life, work harder on other areas.
Yes, the results do make some difference in your life, especially in places like Singapore where you have to pass through stages and stages of the crazy academic life in order to lead you to the society to work and feed for yourself. It can bring you to places that you choose to be in. Some people takes longer to reach their goal, some faster. No matter what, you will reach your destination if you really wanted it.
Some people are athletically strong while some others are aesthetically smart so why not just do well in the area that you can strive on?
Those who are academically strong might also go through stages of education that they did not like, just like what I read on daphnemaia.sg about the Singapore Education system. It lacks and is full of misconceptions to parents/students who think that the only way to get an enjoyable career is through its system when the students themselves do not know which direction they could go to or aim for. Thus, the endless sleepless nights just to do well on the subjects that “determines how your parents/relatives/friends/obnoxious people see you in”.
Woah, are you sure you will be happy to be judge like that by ignorant people?
The fact is these paper qualifications only proves that you went through the most basic education and nothing else.
For the observant ones, don’t you notice people around you graduate later and later? It is almost like they would spend their whole lifetime in campus, pursuing degree after degree and delay their working life. So you think being a doctor or a lawyer or even a scientist is something worth being proud of, even if you might or might not love to work as. So you/your parents think that spending the hefty sum on your education just to make you in debt for at least 5 to 10 years just to be able to show off that you have an “honorable” career? You think you learn about professionalism in school? What about those smart ones who misuse their intelligence in embezzlement, murders or dishonest researches?*
Not everyone is smart academically and not everyone is interested in the same subjects so why do everyone judge each other just because of the results? Why not focus on others’ characters and personalities instead of the results. Failures do not mean the end, it is just an obstacle for you to cross over to the road of success. Try and try again till you succeed, that’s the goal.
Results is definitely not the most important thing in life, which is why I do not understand how can people be so elitist and use results to determine a person’s character or future. S/He might not be the smartest in academics but it does not mean that s/he will not succeed in another area of professions!
In my honest opinion, you cannot succeed unless you are willing to put in a lot of effort and enthusiasm.
It takes more than the education system and the paper certificates to determine your future. We are young and we make mistakes, as long as we know how to get up from our falls and learn from our mistakes, who says we cannot succeed? 
I am not even blaming the education system. It takes time to change and society takes time to adapt to it too. What I am saying here is, there is definitely no reason to grieve over spilled milk and neither is there a reason to be less proud of yourself or your child because of a paper. Everyone has their own journey. There might be obstacles but those are what make us stronger and harder to defeat in the future. It is only a stage of life and what matters most in life is actually being happy and motivated in whatever we do. I believe each and everyone of us has our own goals in life and mine does not lie in academics.** Sure enough that I would love to study on sociology or languages if I had the chance but it is because I love it not because the society requires me to do it. ^^
*Disclaimer: Not all are like that of course!
**FYI: I can’t really remember but I think my L1R4/5 is around 13-19 and I am still living happily in the world doing things I love to do! 
There’s only 2 choices in life
“There’s only 2 choices in my life, one is to die and another is to live as brilliantly as I could.” – Liu Wei (Armless Pianist)
Everyone has a choice, but not everyone can make a decision. This guy here, Liu Wei, is one of those inspirational people that truly deserves our admiration. Despite his lost of 2 arms in an electrical accident and can only rely on his both legs for survival (eg. eat, dress up, play piano), he strives to become one of the best music producers and went ahead to a Chinese Talent Show in China to showcase his superb piano skills.
And I love how one of the judges there rounded up the story:
“I think including me and everyone here, when we are watching him (Liu Wei), when we are listening to his music, the complaints in our lives shouldn’t be there any more. I think we should all be like him, living so wonderfully.”
IKEA Meatballs + Chicken wings
Chicken wings + Salmon main course
Chicken main course + Meatballs
Yuppppppppppppp. It’s my monthly meet up with dears again! This time round, we went to IKEA at Queensway to eat their specialties that I have been hearing a lot of people ranting about!
Great food with great company is the greatest enjoyment of all, though we all seem tired (either from work or somewhere else, I don’t know) in some sense, it’s still good to see them again! Haha. I am talking as if we are not meeting anymore when there is another family gathering in next coming weekend. =p
I felt like we ordered too many chicken dishes (chicken drumstick main course & chicken wings) but luckily the lovely chickens did not disappoint me. They are just plain awesome; tender and juicy. Yum yum yum. Of course, last but not least the legendary meatballs that everyone around me has a fetish of it. A mixture of pork & beef with scoops of mushroom sauce and soft potatoes. WOOTS. As for the salmon main dish, I didn’t really like it much due to its stronger ginger smell (it’s the sauce that ruins it all). I am sure going back to eat these when I have the chance, too bad IKEA branches are way too far for me (one at Tampines and another at Queensway). 
Anyway, Huka was away to Hong Kong and she bought us this…
Souvenirs from Macau from Huka
Speaking of Hong Kong, I might be accompanying my dear mother to her company trip to Hong Kong in August. I am kind of paranoid about it though, since I most probably will be starting school in August. More updates in later dates!
Anyway, after stuffing ourselves with all the delicacies on the table, we went to West Mall to take Ying’s newest Blackberry phone from Hello! store. See her happy face!
she & her new bb
It seems to me that everyone in Singapore is using either iPhone or Blackberry; actually, most people use iPhone in Singapore as compared to other countries where Blackberry is more widely used. Due to the mundane entertainment life in Singapore, we spend more on electronics like laptop, phones and et cetera to cover our lack of social life. Well, the only social life we have here is social networking sites like Facebook and the only way people will communicate is also through networks like MSN when we have the phone which one of its functions is to call.
Blah.
Back to track. We decided to catch Shrek Forever After in Eng Wah Cinemas since we were there already, despite the steep movie tickets price. And this is what happened when we girls have too much time to kill…
Monopoly Deal!
Instructions on How To Play
Monopoly faces M_M
MONEY FACEEEEEEEE $_$ (of course this is not how we played it)
My first time playing this! It’s kind of fun but I think there should be more people playing it, the more the merrier and the funnier! Could be the best game for camps (PSP junior committee, hear this? Go get this deck and I am going to crash the camp!) HEEHEEHEE!
Oh, about Shrek Forever After, I am kind of excited to see quite a number of Asians’ names on the list of crew. Haha, that’s not the main point. Anyway, this movie… is quite… funny, which I like but I think there lacks of something that sparks to make me feel “WOW”, BUT I STILL LOVE SHREK NO MATTER WHAT!
As we all know, feature films like this are usually created with a message to convey to audience, this time round it is about “knowing to cherish”.
Yeah, too many people complains too much and they never seem to understand that what they have now is what that is most important to them, until they lost it. Movies are created, endings are created, scenes can be tweaked. However, this is not the case in life. Once you lose it, you might lose it once and for all.
Once again, I want to send this message to everyone who is reading this post. Cherish your life, your friends, your family. Love life <3!
Perception
I saw this on tumblr and thought that I should share.
- Perceptions of People -
THE SITUATION – In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.
About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent – without exception – forced their children to move on quickly.At 45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.
About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.
This experiment raised several questions:
*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made …
How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?
CHANGE IS WHAT YOU NEED
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