(Posted on Facebook, December 15, 2010)
要看华文版，请点击这里。
子在川上曰：“逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜。”
Confucius was by a river, he said:"Time passes as the water flows, never ceasing day and night."
- Analects of Confucius, 9.17
Today, December 15, 2010, is the last day of my SPM examination, and the last day I am required to wear the school uniform of Confucian Private Secondary School. Also, today, I have submitted to the Academic Department my application for my School Leaving Certificate. As I have also handed in my Student ID, I suppose today can be considered the day that I leave my secondary school days behind.
Throughout the year, I have been telling my friends that this is my last year in this school. Some responded with "Great! You've made a smart decision," whereas some responded with "...Really?Why?", and some said "YOU, leave school?!? Stop kidding...". To those who replied with "Great!", I thank you for your support. To those who asked me the reason of my leaving, the reply I gave before was "Leaving after I get my SPM results...", which isn't a real answer to the question at all. So, in a few days I will receive my official School Leaving Certificate, and I shall explain the reason of my leaving according to what is written on the Certificate. And to those who expressed their utter, unwavering disbelief, haven't I proved to you now that I did not have any intention to create disturbances of any sort by circulating rumors? Haha...
I knew for sure that this was going to be my last year at Confucian, but time passed quickly without pausing, and I would often forget to treasure moments in time which are now gone forever. However, I am grateful to those close to me who have constantly reminded me, and without them I would have lost much more of such moments. I still remember the first day of the SPM, when I felt that this exam was going to take FOREVER, and I, like all other normal examinees, wished and wished for the end of the exams. Therefore, when the exams which dragged on for almost a month ended for real this afternoon, I didn't expect this indescribable feeling inside me...
To describe it as "reluctance" would be a little inappropriate, because I do not feel reluctant to leave Confucian Private Secondary School, but I do feel a sense of unwillingness to leave the people who made Confucian a place worth remembering. But I intend to remain in contact with these people, so today, I do not feel reluctance because I am only leaving Confucian, not them.
To describe my feelings now as "happy and glad" would also be inaccurate, as I am about to face new circumstances, and as much as I would not like to admit it, I do feel a tinge of fear, and a natural instinct to keep everything the same as it is.
"A little numb, and a certain level of delight", I guess this is a more suitable way of putting it. The numbness, because I have had more than a year to prepare myself for my last day in Confucian, and to say that I find it difficult to accept that I am really leaving would not be true. As to my delight, the reason behind it is that I will be regaining my liberty in certain aspects, and to say that I am only filled with the sorrow of parting would be, indeed, laughable.
Talking about liberty, I suddenly thought about something. During my days in Confucian, everyone seemed to have an impression about me -- "Sun Zhe has a super strict Dad". In the past few days, someone even suggested to my father that he ought to give me some right of speech. I suppose, in regard to this incident, that I should probably make a little explanation here: Our family of four isn't the hyper-conservative type that most people seem to think we are. In fact, we are quite open to diversity, and we respect each and every culture, religion and ideology. We are also quite democratic, as most matters go through a typical process of voting and unanimous agreement before any action is taken.
As such, I would like to clarify a point:
I certainly am given the right of speech, and I also have the right to vote in family matters.
However, as stated in our very own House Rules, the Head of the House possesses...Veto power.
Thus, for the past few years, most of the school staff responsible for activities of my school, class, and societies have received official letters which had the signature of the Executive Secretary of the General Assembly of the House, namely, my mother. The contents of most of these letters can be roughly summarized as follows: Student Ee Sun Zhe will not be attending (insert name of activity here) because this matter has not been approved by the General Assembly of the House. The reason I use "The contents of MOST of these letters" in the last sentence is because a portion of these official letters have different contents. For example, the contents of one of the letters may be roughly summarized as follows: The General Assembly of the House is of the opinion that the school has too many extra co-curricular activities that are irrelevant to the students' education. Due to the fact that the Daughter of the House, Ee Sun Zhe, will be sitting for her SPM examination this year, tuition classes will be arranged for her on Saturdays. As such, she will not be able to attend any co-curricular activities of the school on Saturdays. For any queries, kindly contact the President of the General Assembly of the House.
Oddly enough, Dad never received any calls from any query-besieged person.
Anyway, I won't have to return home at 5 pm everyday anymore, so I'll have tons of free time...Hence, I have decided to use the said free time and also exercise my right of speech to do something meaningful. Not long after this, I will be starting a blog, which will mostly contain articles regarding my days at Confucian, and some bits and pieces of my everyday interactions with Confucian friends, teachers, school staff, etc, in order to ensure that these experiences of mine in Confucian become ever-lasting memories. Of course, any student, alumni, parent, school staff or even non-Confucian-ers are very welcome to share their opinions at this blog. Other than forever preserving these memories, I do very deeply hope that this blog will be able to become a platform for all Confucian people to gather and voice out their thoughts, ideas and comments about anything.
Ah well, this is only the first time I'm using this feature in Facebook, but already I've written so much...Whether or not anybody will read this, I've said all I want to say today, so that's all for now. My best wishes to everybody^^
要看华文版，请点击这里。
子在川上曰：“逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜。”
Confucius was by a river, he said:"Time passes as the water flows, never ceasing day and night."
- Analects of Confucius, 9.17
Today, December 15, 2010, is the last day of my SPM examination, and the last day I am required to wear the school uniform of Confucian Private Secondary School. Also, today, I have submitted to the Academic Department my application for my School Leaving Certificate. As I have also handed in my Student ID, I suppose today can be considered the day that I leave my secondary school days behind.
Throughout the year, I have been telling my friends that this is my last year in this school. Some responded with "Great! You've made a smart decision," whereas some responded with "...Really?Why?", and some said "YOU, leave school?!? Stop kidding...". To those who replied with "Great!", I thank you for your support. To those who asked me the reason of my leaving, the reply I gave before was "Leaving after I get my SPM results...", which isn't a real answer to the question at all. So, in a few days I will receive my official School Leaving Certificate, and I shall explain the reason of my leaving according to what is written on the Certificate. And to those who expressed their utter, unwavering disbelief, haven't I proved to you now that I did not have any intention to create disturbances of any sort by circulating rumors? Haha...
I knew for sure that this was going to be my last year at Confucian, but time passed quickly without pausing, and I would often forget to treasure moments in time which are now gone forever. However, I am grateful to those close to me who have constantly reminded me, and without them I would have lost much more of such moments. I still remember the first day of the SPM, when I felt that this exam was going to take FOREVER, and I, like all other normal examinees, wished and wished for the end of the exams. Therefore, when the exams which dragged on for almost a month ended for real this afternoon, I didn't expect this indescribable feeling inside me...
To describe it as "reluctance" would be a little inappropriate, because I do not feel reluctant to leave Confucian Private Secondary School, but I do feel a sense of unwillingness to leave the people who made Confucian a place worth remembering. But I intend to remain in contact with these people, so today, I do not feel reluctance because I am only leaving Confucian, not them.
To describe my feelings now as "happy and glad" would also be inaccurate, as I am about to face new circumstances, and as much as I would not like to admit it, I do feel a tinge of fear, and a natural instinct to keep everything the same as it is.
"A little numb, and a certain level of delight", I guess this is a more suitable way of putting it. The numbness, because I have had more than a year to prepare myself for my last day in Confucian, and to say that I find it difficult to accept that I am really leaving would not be true. As to my delight, the reason behind it is that I will be regaining my liberty in certain aspects, and to say that I am only filled with the sorrow of parting would be, indeed, laughable.
Talking about liberty, I suddenly thought about something. During my days in Confucian, everyone seemed to have an impression about me -- "Sun Zhe has a super strict Dad". In the past few days, someone even suggested to my father that he ought to give me some right of speech. I suppose, in regard to this incident, that I should probably make a little explanation here: Our family of four isn't the hyper-conservative type that most people seem to think we are. In fact, we are quite open to diversity, and we respect each and every culture, religion and ideology. We are also quite democratic, as most matters go through a typical process of voting and unanimous agreement before any action is taken.
As such, I would like to clarify a point:
I certainly am given the right of speech, and I also have the right to vote in family matters.
However, as stated in our very own House Rules, the Head of the House possesses...Veto power.
Thus, for the past few years, most of the school staff responsible for activities of my school, class, and societies have received official letters which had the signature of the Executive Secretary of the General Assembly of the House, namely, my mother. The contents of most of these letters can be roughly summarized as follows: Student Ee Sun Zhe will not be attending (insert name of activity here) because this matter has not been approved by the General Assembly of the House. The reason I use "The contents of MOST of these letters" in the last sentence is because a portion of these official letters have different contents. For example, the contents of one of the letters may be roughly summarized as follows: The General Assembly of the House is of the opinion that the school has too many extra co-curricular activities that are irrelevant to the students' education. Due to the fact that the Daughter of the House, Ee Sun Zhe, will be sitting for her SPM examination this year, tuition classes will be arranged for her on Saturdays. As such, she will not be able to attend any co-curricular activities of the school on Saturdays. For any queries, kindly contact the President of the General Assembly of the House.
Oddly enough, Dad never received any calls from any query-besieged person.
Anyway, I won't have to return home at 5 pm everyday anymore, so I'll have tons of free time...Hence, I have decided to use the said free time and also exercise my right of speech to do something meaningful. Not long after this, I will be starting a blog, which will mostly contain articles regarding my days at Confucian, and some bits and pieces of my everyday interactions with Confucian friends, teachers, school staff, etc, in order to ensure that these experiences of mine in Confucian become ever-lasting memories. Of course, any student, alumni, parent, school staff or even non-Confucian-ers are very welcome to share their opinions at this blog. Other than forever preserving these memories, I do very deeply hope that this blog will be able to become a platform for all Confucian people to gather and voice out their thoughts, ideas and comments about anything.
Ah well, this is only the first time I'm using this feature in Facebook, but already I've written so much...Whether or not anybody will read this, I've said all I want to say today, so that's all for now. My best wishes to everybody^^
Gratz, a great start of course!Hmmm...I feel stressed as i go through your blog(this one is ok!)...well, maybe there's a little too much of those 'serious' articles. Perhaps adding some of your personal opinions might do the work...share some photos and take note of some of your interesting daily activities?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your suggestions! This is only the beginning...I definitely will try to keep this blog lively and humorous^^ I hope that you will continue to give your support to this blog! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGood article.
ReplyDelete