言必信！(English version)

要看华文版，请点击这里。

子贡问曰：“何如斯可谓之士矣？”子曰：“行己有耻，使于四方，不辱君命；可谓士矣。” 曰：“敢问其次？”曰：“宗族称孝焉，乡党称弟焉。” 曰：“敢问其次？”曰：“言必信，行必果；硁硁然小人哉！抑亦可以为次矣。” 曰：“今之从政者何如？”子曰：“噫！斗筲之人，何足算也！”

Zi Gong asked, “What qualities must one possess to entitle him to be called an officer?” Confucius said, “One who conducts himself with a sense of shame, and when sent to any quarter will not disgrace his prince’s commission, deserves to be called an officer.” 

Zi Gong pursued, “May I ask who may be placed in the next lower rank?” and he was told, “He whom his clan calls filial and his fellow villagers and neighbors call fraternal.”

Zi Gong pursued, “May I ask who may be placed in the next lower rank?” and he was told, “They who keep to their word and follow through in their actions.  They are obstinate little men, yet they may make the next class.”

Finally Zi Gong inquired, “Of what sort are those who engage in government of the present day?”

The Master said, “Pooh! They are men with little tolerance, why even take them into account?”

- Analects of Confucius, 13.20

During my days in Confucian, the term “eClass” was frequently heard.  eClass is our “online school”.  School staff and students have their own eClass accounts.  Before I left the school, I would login to finish the online exercises and assignments our teachers prepared, or to check out the school’s latest news, or just to check my iMail inbox or send iMails (an ‘iMail’ is similar to an e-mail, but it’s sent and received through the eClass system).  As far as I know, many other schools also use the eClass system, such as Tsun Jin High School and Chung Hwa Independent High School.  This is the login page for Confucian’s eClass:

My apologies – I am unable to show you screenshots of what the system looks like after one logs in, due to the fact that my eClass account has been deleted…or, I don’t know, after trying repeatedly and still failing to login means that your account has been deleted, right?

I still remember clearly – the last time I logged in was around 1 a.m on December 23, 2010 (which, incidentally, is one day after I received my School Leaving Certificate)…And in the afternoon, I was no longer able to login to eClass.  Even after entering my username and password for a number of times just to make sure, I was still led back to the login page.  Why would I remember it so clearly, you may ask? Well, it’s because the last time I logged in, it was to send an iMail to all the school staff, parents, and my classmates to inform them about this blog that I was setting up, and the time and date of that iMail (which, thankfully, I was able to capture in a screenshot before being unable to login) is clearly stated on the iMail itself…

(Contents of the iMail: )

Dear all,

I, Ee Sun Zhe, was a student of class S2Sc, year 2010 of Confucian Private Secondary School.  On December 22, 2010, I received my School Leaving Certificate and have officially left the school.  I will now start a blog, “过而不改·Unrectified”, and the contents of the blog will mostly be about my days in Confucian for the past five years.  Furthermore, I do very deeply hope that “Unrectified” becomes a space for Confucian-ers (and also non-Confucian-ers who are interested) to gather and speak their minds.  I hope to receive support from all of you.  Thank you!

Blog URL: http://unrectified1530.blogspot.com/

After that, I was mysteriously unable to login again in the afternoon…Someone asked me if it was because I had already left the school, and my account would, of course, be deleted…But I said I’m definitely sure that’s not the reason.  Why am I so sure, you may ask? Well, it’s because on the very same day that I handed in my application for my School Leaving Certificate, I had the following conversation with a teacher:

The Teacher: After you leave, you must remember to keep in touch with Confucian-ers…

Me: Yup, I will…

The Teacher: You should do so through eClass.  That way, you can keep in touch with teachers and students.

Me: …Won’t my eClass account be deleted after I leave the school?

The Teacher: No, no…Do remember to keep in touch!

Me: Sure! Thanks, teacher…

And so, I am sure that my eClass account was not deleted just because I left the school, because the teacher mentioned above would not eat her words, right? Democracy and freedom of speech has regularly been mentioned in our ‘Current Affairs Study’ lessons, and I would like to believe that Confucian practices what it preaches and also keeps all promises made.

However, this doesn’t change the fact that I’m unable to login to eClass.  According to a friend of mine, my name can’t even be found in eClass.  This is indeed a tad hurtful, as what I originally thought would be an easy way to contact my Confucian friends has been taken away from me.

Does this mean that I’ll totally be unable to contact my Confucian friends?

Of course not, thanks to the almighty Internet, and an even bigger thanks to Mark Zuckerberg for creating the wonderful Facebook.

Then, does this mean that all trace of me in Confucian Private Secondary School will be wiped clean?

Of course not…After all, I still have this blog.