A Tale of two Friends

Recently, there have been a series of disputes between two of my close friends, and I have been quite troubled over this matter. The two of them have been best friends since the start of last year, and it really makes me unhappy when I see them bickering and refusing to talk each other now. As such, I have written a short poem, dedicated to them, to explain how I feel towards them:

WhY AND CHeeky boy

Friendship is a funny thing,

It can make one cry or sing.

Its a lifting angel's wing,

But pain and suffering it can bring.

Two awesome friends

whose chains i thought could not bend

were a queer but happy blend.

One was Why,

he was very shy

who was usually still

and calm like the sea

The other was Cheeks,

who was far from meek

and was hyper, high,

rainbows and sunshine.

A quiet guy,

a cheerful kid

a diverse but contented fit.

They say opposites attract,

and so they were right,

for their uncanny friendship remained intact.

They made a pact,

never to be sad,

and never on their words to go back.

But one fine day,

the atmosphere was gay,

but the clouds of storm were gray.

A trifle matter,

A furious battle,

and the rest was settled

He thought that the storm would be over soon,

and they would still look upon that shining moon,

but alas, it stretched past that very noon.

A cold war had begun

the damage had been done

And none of them could see the sun.

Their relationship astranged,

nothing could be arranged,

and the outstretched hand was strained.

Why, he felt guilty,

and sulked through the day

and his happiness was kept at bay.

Cheeks burining

he turned to solemnity,

and refused to accept his apology.

Why? He was too late

for his feelings could have prevailed,

had he said sorry at an earlier date.

The die had been cast,

and their fates had been sealed,

for the atmosphere remained still.

They refused to go,

should each other show,

and they avoided other but they know,

that deep inside they really want each other to show

that they want each other to be happy, rain or snow.

that they want to get back to the days and throw

away their misery and their sorrow

and revive the feelings that they had before.

And let the flame of friendship soar.

So why not they reconcile?

throw away their facades

and make up now?

start anew and see each other

from the perspectives that they had

when they forged their bonds

and made that pact?

To throw it away

and forget yesterday?

And once again see

the good in each other?

Hope you get the story anyway.

MX

The Silence in the Air

Today, Ms Soh got really pissed at our class.

Here was the situation from my point of view:

1) Ms Soh was introducing to the class a new part of our LA syllabus: War Poetry

2) Ms Soh was explaining to us about current affairs, pertaining to the current wars.

3) Ms Soh asked us questions about the topic, which nobody could answer, despite the fact that she had given us notes

4)She got angry with us, because she put in effort into making her lesson, while we did not bother to read her notes that she provided.

Therefore, 3 minutes before LA was over, this was the outcome of the lesson.

"Lets all go to sleep now".

"2O1, do you know that if a teacher dreads going to your class, it means that you are in deep trouble? Because she will no longer bother to give you notes and extra lessons."

"Ok? So 2O1, I will make sure you get hell."

And with that, Ms Soh threw her marker on the ground and left in a cloud of ice.

Upon seeing this, I felt shocked, but at the same time could not help feeling that our behaviour in class was perfectly normal. Hadn't it been like this for last term, or 2 terms ago last year, or for the whole of last year for that matter?

I think the problem here lies in our fear of speaking up and voicing out our opinions.

I fear being ridiculed. I fear that "paiseh" feeling when I ask or say something that I thought was intelligent, only to be laughed at seconds later when the truth comes crashing down on me that it was actually an idiotic question or remark. i fear being the "extra" one when this eerie air of silence lingers in the air. However, there are some times when I really do not know the answer, and thus I wait in my seat, expecting one of the more outspoken ones to break this silence. Most of the time, this happens after a while, but sometimes, it just doesn't happen.

Not today, I guess.

Sometimes, I also fear the ridicule that I may face if the teacher asks a rhetorical question and I answer. the heat or red on your face can really make you want to jump off a cliff sometimes. And sometimes, I can't even judge for myself if the teacher is asking a rhetorical question or not. This results in me not answering questions, as i fear that feeling above.

Also, there are times that the questions posed are really quite one dimensional, such that I do not know if the teacher will answer it him or herself. Thus, I keep my words to myself and bide in silence.

Back to the original topic once more, I do not find Ms Soh's actions surprising at all. If I was the teacher, and I provided all the answers to my questions a week before my lesson, yet during my lesson, nobody could answer my question, I would feel insulted too.

I believe that this has happened many times before in the history of 2O1, the more memorable ones being the "Animal Farm Cold war" during LA last year, and the "Javascript Outburst" which happened during a IS lesson recently. This seems so much like deja vu to me, and most likely the rest of the class. How many times do we want to commit the same mistake over and over again? How many times do we want to make our dedicated teachers angry and pissed again?

How long more will we allow this cold silence in the air to linger?

Friends

Friends.

This Simple word, consisting of only 7 letters, play a major part in the lives of most people.

But different people have different perceptions of the word "friends"

To some, friends are the people around them who play and laugh with them everyday.

To others, friends are merely tools to help them to achieve a certain goal.

Sad Cases, I guess.

To me, friends are the people in life who go through thick and thin with you, and go through not only happy times, but the sad ones as well. They stick up for you when you are confronted by others, and help you out when you are having difficulties in life, and at the same time, share the fun times with you. To me, that is the definition of a true friend.

However, others may think differently. To some, their friends are their playmates. They are "friends" with each other possibly because they share the same interests and usually play together. These friends are just friends, bonded by the thin line of a common interests.

To some others, however, friends to them are people who can be "used" to achieve their goals. for example, some people, bent on getting a job would "make friends" with the boss of a certain company to get into his good books and thus get a job, possibly a higher one, in his "friend's" company. I feel that If one's perception of friends is as such, he or she would lead quite a sad life. In this case, his "friends" are not really true friends, but rather tools to gain what he wants. A life without true friends is dull and mundane, and is not especially fufilling. If one puts on a facade everyday, so as to be "friends" with someone of high power, then he is a cunning person, and his entire life would be superficial.

In my life, my friends make my life cheerful and happy, and are probably the only reason, besides studying, that i go to, (or rather endure) school everyday. The motivation and anticipation of getting to see my friends after school everyday is enough to get me through the day. It is also my friends who spur me on to strive harder and accomplish my goals, and at the same time, I know that I can rely on them, should I have any problem on my mind.

Friends, a major reason of why I live in this world.

What about you? What is your perception of the word "friends"? Do you have "true friends"?

Regards,

Lim MX

Tragedy in the Black Box

A really Harrowing incident happened 2 days ago in the Black Box.

Now, I am sure that you all are fully aware of what happened, but here is a brief summary of the incident.

1130: 2O1 entered the Black Box for Chinese Drama Lessons. There was no teacher in the room. People start to get wild and play, like a horse when it sees a large, spacious field. Some highly intelligent individuals start to play with the Black Box's light controls. People start running around the Dark room like the infected in Left 4 Dead 2.

1135: The teacher enters the Black Box, late, and 'A' certain 'Ho' continues to play with the switches, literally "in his face".

And so we got a really stern lecture about cherishing our facilities, and about chinese moral values and the mannerisms of a Hwa Chong Student by our Chinese Drama Teacher.

But that was not all.

1230: The teacher calls for the class to greet him. This command is greeted with slow processing from the class, and a generally rowdy noise. (and to add on, a certain high jumper rolling on the floor for godknowswhat reason)

And we got the craziest lecture from the most idealistic teacher I have met.

The Chinese Drama teacher, angered from two incidences occurring in an hour, Ordered us all to stand in silence for 10 minutes, and if we made any sound or fidgeted a little, another 10 minutes. At the same time, we received the most expressive lecture I had ever heard. It appeared that the teacher's fuse had blown. We would have thought that it would be over in 10 minutes, but the teacher was so enraged that he made us stay for 3 times of the original planned time. His rationale went something like this:

"I want to blow up this matter! I'll make it so big that the principal gets involved in this! Make the whole school involved in the biggest ever search in Hwa Chong for a missing class! I want your art teacher to call everyone and frantically search for you!"

But in the end, after thirty minutes, we were ordered to vanish, and when we reached the art studio, the art teacher calmly replied: "Ok, guys, you must finish your designs for today."

But that isn't the point. From this entire incident, (which Dexter named "the tragedy in the black box" hence my title) our class lost 30 minutes of official curriculum. But then, who do you think is in the wrong? Is it our class for making the teacher angry, or the teacher for making a mountain out of a molehill by robbing us of 30 minutes of art lesson? Perhaps this could have been prevented? Anyone has any insight towards this incident?

Cheers,

LMX

Materialism = Happiness?

Here is a message from Adam Khoo, which I read on his blog a while ago, regarding money. This is what he wrote:

Recently, someone came up to me on a plane to KL and looked rather shocked. He asked, 'How come a millionaire like you is travelling economy?' My
Reply was, 'That's why I am a millionaire.' He still looked pretty confused. This again confirms that greatest lie ever told about wealth (which I wrote about in my latest book 'Secrets of Self Made
Millionaires'). Many people have been brainwashed to think that millionaires have to wear Gucci, Hugo Boss, Rolex, and sit on first class in air travel. This is why so many people never become rich because the
Moment that earn more money, they think that it is only natural that they spend more, putting them back to square one.

The truth is that most self-made millionaires are frugal and only spend on what is necessary and of value. That is why they are able to accumulate and multiply their wealth so much faster. Over the last 7 years, I have saved about 80% of my income while today I save only about 60% (because I have my wife, mother in law, 2 maids, 2 kids, etc. To support). Still, it
Is way above most people who save 10% of their income (if they are lucky). I refuse to buy a first class ticket or to buy a $300 shirt because I think that it is a complete waste of money. However, I happily pay $1,300 to send my 2-year old daughter to Julia Gabriel Speech and Drama without thinking twice..

When I joined the YEO (Young entrepreneur's organization) a few years back (YEO is an exclusive club open to those who are under 40 and make over $1m a year in their own business) I discovered that those who were self-made thought like me. Many of them with net worths well over $5m, travelled economy class and some even drove Toyota's and Nissans (not Audis, Mercs, BMWs).

I noticed that it was only those who never had to work hard to build their own wealth (there were also a few ministers' and tycoons' sons in the club) who spent like there was no tomorrow. Somehow, when you did not have to build everything from scratch, you do not really value money. This is precisely the reason why a family's wealth (no matter how much) rarely lasts past the third generation. Thank God my rich dad (oh no! I sound like Kiyosaki) foresaw this terrible possibility and refused to give me a cent to start my business.

Then some people ask me, 'What is the point in making so much money if you don't enjoy it?' The thing is that I don't really find happiness in buying branded clothes, jewellery or sitting first class. Even if buying something makes me happy it is only for a while, it does not last.

Material happiness never lasts, it just give you a quick fix. After a while you feel lousy again and have to buy the next thing which you think will make you happy. I always think that if you need material things to make you happy, then you live a pretty sad and unfulfilled life.

Instead, what make ME happy is when I see my children laughing and playing And learning so fast. What makes me happy is when I see by companies and trainers reaching more and more people every year in so many more countries. What makes me really happy is when I read all the emails about how my books and seminars have touched and inspired someone's life. What makes me really happy is reading all your wonderful posts about how this BLOG is inspiring you. This happiness makes me feel really good for a long time, much much more than what a Rolex would do for me.

I think the point I want to put across is that happiness must come from doing your life's work (be in teaching, building homes, designing, trading,
Winning tournaments etc.) and the money that comes is only a by-product.

If you hate what you are doing and rely on the money you earn to make you happy by buying stuff, then I think that you are living a life of meaningless.

After reading this, I found myself agreeing to what Adam Khoo had said. Most of the time, true happiness does not come from material gains, but from other non-material things. As a teenager, I feel that this blog post is rather true, as we teens are rather well known for being spenthrifts and people who do things only for material gain. What do you guys think?

MX