Challenging Times

I'm not a Saint, neither do I have a good temper. Friends of long time would know that I hold no bars in lashing out what I think is correct. Today, barely into an hour of work, I received a nasty call from this parent whose kid is not even our student and started to blast his unhappiness at me without an opportunity to defend myself. I won't divulge much here because the thought of this whole incident really makes my blood boil. In short, something happen and he thinks my students intentionally caused it.

I felt worked up at first but somehow found strength to keep myself calm. And I even tried to calm the other party down. Unusual huh? There were many things what this father said to me had so much loopholes and if I didn't really care I would have gone on exposing his statements, but I didn't.

I know who was there to help me but at the same time find it so hard to swallow this bitter pill. Why must difficult times happen when I am trying so hard to restore my relationship with God? Yes, it's nothing new. Perhaps you have also experienced the same many times. And then some self-consolation thought came to me that maybe God has some hidden intention for me. A friend left me a message on FB to ask me to treat this as a form of test. If this is a test to sharpen whatever I need, then I really hope to see the silver lining behind these dark clouds soon.

On the other hand, I kept asking myself the whole of today if being an educator is really worth it? Parents can call anytime and scold us and name-call us (I had it today). This is not the first and probably won't be the last too. Isn't educators human too? Do we deserve this treatment just because you think you paid your share of our salary? As Singaporeans becomes more educated, I wonder if we are abusing our wisdom to only achieve what we want.

In Memory...

Today marks the 10th anniversary of a dear friend who passed away due to a freak accident. How time has passed, 10 years it has been. Each year this time, many people remembers her passing. She is a great colleague, a confidante, a person who fully explains the term friend.

A few nights before she passed away, she was still sms-ing me asking for a meet up. Yes, we met indeed but was at her wake. I'll never forget her signature smile and how she genuinely treats everyone. A few weeks after her death, I dreamt that she came back to bid farewell and thanked us (for whatever the reason). I went forward to try to hug her but she could not give it back. I know then it was a sign that we all had to let her go, not in my dream but in reality. Maybe it was the sub-conscious mind that was helping me, maybe it was a message from the angels.

My friend, you will always be remembered, no matter how many more 10 years is to come. Your attitude to life and friends will always be an inspiration for me. Till someday we meet again...