Here's a story .
Friday, March 25, 2011 || 12:13 AM
"So did you study or are you as lazy as i think you are?"
She narrowed her eyes and glared at me intently, flaying me; her gaze tearing me apart inside.
Not wanting to disappoint her, i uttered, "I'm sorry, Ms Yee. I didn't study."
As i made my way back to my seat, i could not help but let the torrent of tears fall down my cheeks. I called it the first flooding, and this episode will be etched in my mind for life. Meanwhile, my History teacher continued to rant and rave, hurling sarcasm in the most sophisticated fashion at the class.
"It's about time you studied! I know some of you have lofty aspirations while some of you want to be supermodels, but look, your appearances simply disgust me! You should focus on memorising your facts instead!"
This was indeed a rare occasion-Ms Yee was curt and i had told a lie.
But what could i have said? I had studied for this History test but the results obviously did not reflect the intensity of my revision; neither did it reflect the number of hours i had tirelessly put in. Who in the right mind would admit to being stupid, foolish and slow-witted? So, out of desperation, i had told Ms Yee that i did not study; and sadly, she believed me.
I was dejected. No one on Earth would believe i had put in hard work for the History test, except my family. Thus, it resulted in the death of my passion- studying. I gave up. I realised there was no point even if i continued putting in hard work to study because no matter what, i was still slow-witted.
Mother knew that i was dejected.
"It's okay, you can try harder next time," my mother comforted me. But it did not help at all. The impact of the episode was too great. I was still depressed and demoralised. Then i overheard the news that our first prime minister's wife, Mrs Lee Kuan Yew, had passed away. I had heard about how impressionable she was.
That night, the headline read 'Farewell Mrs Lee.'
When i was reading the papers, i learnt that Mrs Lee took on many different roles in life. In public, she was a traditional Asian wife who metaphorically walked two steps behind her husband. In private, she was a devoted mother, a caring and gentle woman and a quick-witted conversationalist who loved literature, classical music and botany.
All the sufferings i had felt throughout this period of time vanished into thin air when i read the very line, "Indeed, she had a life that had its fair share of pain and uncertainty, which was not evident in public."
Then i understand that this was life. Everyone has to work extremely hard to have achievements. I had learnt a lot just by reading about Mrs Lee Kuan Yew. Her quiet dignity and her self-discipline, her selflessness and her modesty, were unique. Even when she suffered from a stroke in 2003, making her frail with weakened peripheral vision, she still remained bravely active, accompanying Mr Lee Kuan Yew on numerous official functions, and continued to read with the help of a ruler.
Her tenacity did not waver despite her illness, and it was this strength that i decided to emulate. Slow-witted or not, i was going to strive doubly hard to do even better; to achieve better results and rekindle my passion.
And i'm thankful to Mrs Lee for the timely confidence-booster. Labels: The best story i've ever had.
