Thoughts

Victoria Institution
Originally uploaded by mincaye.

This is going to be a rather rojak-ish post.

Top photo, L-R: Remy, me, Lik Wen and Boon Chong. The four NS trainees who returned for Form 6.

Bottom; outside the hostel dining hall, where all Sixth Formers were gathered on Tuesday, the first day.

It's good to be back in school. Almost everyone seems to have grown older and matured; there is a sense of professionalism even in those who were once class clowns.

Yet I also feel younger, probably for two reasons: we share our recess with the First and Second Formers; and registering in school once again, reminded me of my very first day five-and-a-half years ago.

During our Physics period today, I realised something about learning: nothing we learn is really new; we merely see the same old things through new eyes, from different perspectives, and sometimes for different reasons and purposes.

There are only about 23 students in my class (so far), which is a good thing.

I took the liberty of some free time we had today, to begin reading Peterson's 'The Wisdom of Each Other.' Indeed, the device of writing letters as a mode of communication (and maybe even a spiritual discipline) is something I'm beginning to take more and more seriously.

It probably started during Soo Tian's NS stint, in which we (d'NAers) wrote letters to him, and he to us. This I carried on when it was my turn, and I intend to continue writing letters to some close friends, and my cousin who's in Singapore on the ASEAN scholarship.

I learned, in NS, that diligence in writing letters can be very rewarding, and I received no less than 12 letters during that period. Each brought lots of joy, whether long or short, deep or shallow.

Peterson's foreword and introduction are imbued with lots of food for thought, but I will keep my comments on them for TMsquared, when we officially begin this time around.

In Glad Sounds the other day, we talked about the Worldview Quiz. Perhaps we and our friends share the same 'type,' because we are united by things we hold in common; or maybe, it is that we inter-influence each other, to the point that we eventually share a near-identical dominant identity.

All the d'NAers who took it so far are also Cultural Creatives, i.e. Tien Li, Michelle, Tee Ming, Matthew, Soo Tian and me.

And I had my most successful attempt at 'evangelism' in Nando's, in which I convinced Soo Tian that the burger was good; he ordered it and concurred. (By the way, this was Sivin's observation, not mine... and I do not go about promoting food as an exercise in evangelism).

Reading Cover to Cover last night, it occured to me that idols are substitutes for God when people are afraid to face the Creator, afraid of what Peterson calls 'Creator confrontations.'


On a final note, I need to find a prayer partner. Mulling it over before, during and after Physics, I narrowed it down to four possible friends. After a reply from Soo Tian, I narrowed it further to three.

All have strengths and weaknesses, in terms of suitability as a prayer partner. I will pray for further wisdom in this; it must not delay much longer.

(It is now 4:30 a.m. Came back from Star Wars about an hour-and-a-half ago; decided to finish off these posts before the new day dawns)