where thoughts materialise.

So we're into the sixth version of my blog after the last version hung around for a year or so.

Now, a bit of info on this image. This photo was taken one lovely spring afternoon, featuring the iconic Old Well from the UNC Chapel Hill campus. I would like to think of this image as a tribute to my time in UNC Chapel Hill, the awesome friends I made and the memories I now hold dear.

A milestone in my life indeed.

I've dropped the tagboard cos its useless and taking eons to load. But thanks to Angela who helped me set it up, I still do like and will miss the pink interface.

So yeah, it's the sixth one you fellas!

Yours.

27 April 2008

you know you miss my older entries

October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008

Monday, February 27, 2006

Sometimes, all it takes is to meet the right people at the right time to bring about a change that would last a lifetime.

I was just looking back at all I have had achieved so far in life, and trying to figure what I can attribute these to. Scouring through the layers of memory long laid to rest, I found the definitive person who made me the person I am today.

Thus, I dedicate this entry to the woman who believed - Mrs Tan Poh Teng.

Mrs Tan was my maths teachers back in my lower secondary days, and eventually my form teacher in Sec 2. She was never a teacher whom students asscociated as someone who made an impact, for she sang the national anthem each morning with such high a pitch we swore she could break glass. She was a conservative teacher who could never be categorised as fun or motivating. An alumni of RV herself, she was firmly entrenched in chinese roots.

I was quite a nobody in my Sec 1 days. Fairly introverted, life pretty much revolved around school and home. I never made the effort to know people beyond my class, and to make matters worse, I was placed in one of the most notorious class famed for having produced RV's first public caning candidate in years. Fuckin nerd with a side parting.

But Mrs Tan saw something in me I never knew. She firmly recommended me to the Student's Council, which I finally got in somehow. It was a shaky start but she believed I could do it. And I did. I remember afternoons where she would sit me down and make sure I was coping well with both school work and council work. And in Sec 2, she pushed me to run for the Executive Committee.

I made the cut and the rest was history.

Moving on to become the President, I only realised on hindsight that I would and could never have done it without her encouragement and support. And then on, the doors of ooportunity swung widely open which I embraced with much confidence. I got to work with the most talented and motivated team (many of whom I am still close to today, in fact, I just had lunch with WanXuan and Waisiong), I was sent to the inaugural Sing-Thai Exchange Programme, sat on the board of the Millennium Young People's Congress and became an extrovert of sorts. And so much more.

All I am trying to say is, Mrs Tan guided me slowly but surely, and placed me on a platform to excel. And I am most grateful.

I just heard she retired a couple of years ago. Which explained why my teachers' day cards sent to the school never got replied. Truth be told, I sit up and think of her some nights. And recognise what a pivotal role she played in my life - something I rarely publicly acknowledge.

Yes. It is indeed true that sometimes, all it takes is to meet the right people at the right time to bring about a change that would last a lifetime.

So this is my silent tribute to a woman who did nothing except to believe in me and unleashed the best I had to give.

And that made all the difference.

nimgnoy let the night fall at 4:08 PM

2 comments

2 Comments:

At 4:49 PM, jun said...: yeap i remember her alright she did taught me math during sec1 and 2 and i was the math rep i think haha
At 4:55 PM, nimgnoy said...: your comment was fuckin fast! wat a life you have. haha.