Track of faith

This journey had been an arduous one. In retrospect, I somehow have this belief that most things in my life are preparing me for this. My dad told me that we'll never know what He planned for us, until we're there. Then we can see better. And appreciate every little deviation that we did not expect. Failures were there to strengthen our resolve. Obstacles were there to keep us on our feet. We had to rack our brains, we had to dig deep, to have trust in things we have no control over. It is true. The more we know, the more humbled we get by the very fact that we realise that we do not know much about anything.

I wasn't born to privilege, nor to poverty. I grew up in a humble home which was filled with love and tolerance. Of course, there're bound to be challenges that we face as a family. Typical problems of financial instability, differences in opinions, squabbles, quarrels and plain mood swings were imbued into the fabric of our lives. I thought that it gives some kind of colour to it, which defined us to whom we truly are.

I'm proud of my parents. They had no formal education to land them illustrious careers or big jobs. They have 5 offsprings. And yet, they defied some common logic of sorts and succeeded in building a wonderful home and a warm family. Despite the disagreements between various schools of thought, I somewhat believe that the best social leveller is still education. Our education minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam had recently reinforced that perception. He once quoted:

"An example of how Singaporeans have done well in life is how 50 percent of students who lived in 1- to 3-room flats, had gone on to tertiary education some 10 years ago. Today, 80 percent of them do so."

And thus, I'm thankful for having parents whom are consistently conscientious in emphasizing the importance of education and had been ultra accommodating in assisting us pursue the vast knowledge that we seek, discover the envelopes of our talents and the honing of our life skills. Few would disagree if I said, we owe too much to them - from the day we were born, they have showered us with unconditional love. This, in itself - is a priceless commodity.

As I sat down, in the southern skies again today - contemplating the next phase of my life, I prayed. That I will be granted the strength to do what is right and not what is easy. That I'll make my parents proud, one day. Everyday.

And whilst hard work, discipline, being street smart and even a tad of luck is imperative to success - I think that there is this ingredient that connects them up all in one. And keeps us going, when all seems like a lost cause. It's called - faith.