Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

Excerpts from my National Day Message to Anglo-Chinese Junior College (Thursday August 8, 2019)

Address

Principal Dr. Shirleen Chee, Vice Principals Mrs Choo, Mrs Lee, Mrs Yee. Reverend Raymond Fong, Members of the OBA, Distinguished Guests, Staff & Students of ACJC

Introduction

My name is Alvin and I was a student here 22 years ago. When Mr Leong Jenn Yeong first asked me to be Guest of Honour for today’s National Day Service, my response to him was “Surely not Sir! I did so badly here. Surely there are many others better qualified.”

But Mr Leong was insistent. He said that my experience was unique, and that my story would resonate with and inspire you. Academically, my years here were a disaster. I failed Year 1 and had to repeat a year. I did not know if I should read Science or Arts, and vacillated between head and heart in my choice of subjects. When the “A” Levels came around in my third year here, all I could muster was a “CDD”. These grades were not good enough for a place in a local university.

Over the last 22 years, I’ve experienced the ups and downs that life inevitably brings. Looking back, my time here was formative. It changed my life, and taught me lessons that stick with me to this day. Here is what I learned:

4 Lessons I Learnt at ACJC

Lesson 1: It is Okay to Wander and Explore. At the time, it seemed like I was indecisive. Later in my career, I moved from non-profit to government, to diplomacy, to finance and then to tech. Again it might seemed like I was wandering and fickle. But as JRR Tolkien wrote in the Lord of the Rings, “All Who Wander Are Not Lost”. I was wandering, exploring, figuring out my strengths and weaknesses, learning about the gifts God has given me. I learned that it is okay to wander, to explore, try, fail and try again. Over time, I learned that my calling and aptitude wasn’t in the physical sciences, but in the arts, the humanities, and the social sciences.

Lesson 2: We Must Toil. I mentioned that I was tennis captain. But I was far from the best player in the team. So why was I chosen to be captain? The short answer was that I picked the balls. I picked the balls up after every training session, I cleaned the courts and locked the balls up in the cage long after most of the team had left. Unbeknownst to me, my tennis teacher Mrs Roberta Tan and my seniors noticed from afar, and they thought that I could be counted on. I learned to be faithful in the small things even when you think no one notices (Matthew 25:23).

Lesson 3: Don’t Give Up. Oftentimes in our wandering and exploring, we fail and we fall. When I failed JC1, I had good friends and teachers that never gave up on me. Teachers like Mrs Roberta Tan and Mdm Aw Seanling, my Chinese language teacher. Another is the late Mr Lee Thean Hoe, who passed away last month. At his wake, he was ACJC to the end - he wore a college tie as he lay in rest. They were among the many who encouraged me, believed in me and told me never to give up. Today I stand on their shoulders. I am grateful for their faith and belief in me.

My good friend Melissa Yang was another fellow retainee. Melissa never gave up despite failing here. Through hard work, perseverance and the support of mentors, family and friends, Melissa is today a Program Director at NASA supporting science mission operations. She didn’t give up.

Lesson 4: Serve One Another. I recently met Mdm Aw at an event in Chinatown, where I’ve been volunteering for 15 years. Mdm Aw is one of the kindest and most gentle-hearted teachers I’ve had the pleasure of learning from. At ACJC, she planted the seeds of community service in me and she was beaming when I shared with her about our community work in Chinatown. Mr Leong asked me to share more about this work.

In Chinatown, our volunteers devote our time to serving the vulnerable elderly, youth and families, and build and preserve our racial and religious compact. (Share stories of Chinatown).

But Mdm Aw isn’t the only inspiration we can draw from. This National Day and Bicentennial year, we can find inspiration in the stories of our forefathers, who built our country. And the lessons that we can learn from them mirror but more so, dwarfed the ones I just shared. Let’s explore how.

4 Lessons Our Forefathers Taught Us

Lesson 1: They Wandered & Explored. Our school anthem describes where our forefathers came from. They left their homes for Singapore thousands of miles away to seek a better future for their families without any guarantee they would succeed. They were wanderers and explorers in every sense of the word. When they arrived, they tried their hand at a variety of jobs, learnt a variety of skills, created businesses and opportunities and communities and built a nation.

Lesson 2: They Toiled. Our forefathers toiled. Many worked hard under the hot sun, and in unsafe working conditions often with little pay or prospect. Many had difficulty making ends meet in the early days. Yet they never shirked from working hard to make a living. In Chinatown, we still have a small number of majie and Samsui women now in their 90s who worked as construction workers and maidservants in the 1920 - 1940s. They would tell me stories and show me their hands. My own grandfather worked long hours at Raffles Hotel cleaning rooms. Mum told me how at the end of a week at work, he would take leftover soap discarded by hotel guests, combine these leftover soap fragments and moulded them into a ball of soap enough for mum and her siblings to use for a week. It helped supplement the meagre income my grandmother got from working long hours as a majie for a British family. What was the result of their toil? Look around us. Singapore today was built by the toil of our forefathers. 前人种树，后人乘凉 (our generations benefit from the shade provided by the trees our forefathers planted).

Lesson 3: They Never Gave Up. Life was tough. It took our forefathers from India months to reach Singapore by sea, subject to the capricious Indian monsoon. Ditto the journey from China and other parts of the Far East. When they reached Singapore, they found life tough, and they missed home. But they eventually found their way.

Then the Pacific war struck and many lost their lives and livelihood during the Japanese Occupation, the racial riots, the Communist Insurgency and the Cold War.

Despite the odds, they never gave up. Like Lefttenant Adnan bin Saidi, who in 1942 led a 42-man platoon from the Malay Regiment to defend Singapore from the invading Japanese Imperial Army. He and his platoon held Bukit Chandu for three days despite being heavily outnumbered. Leftenant Adnan died defending Singapore. They never gave up. He was faithful in the small things - the defence of a small hill. 23 years later, when Singapore was separated from Malaysia, those that came after him also never gave up despite the odds. They were also faithful in the small things and they helped build our modern metropolis.

Lesson 4: They Served One Another. Away from their homes and families, our forefathers built communities and served one another regardless of race, language or religion during the darkest days of the Japanese Occupation and the racial riots. They built the foundations of a multi-racial and religious Singapore.

When we separated from Malaysia on 9 August 1965 54 years ago, our founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew anchored this promise:

“There is nothing to be worried about. Many things will go on just as usual. But be firm, be calm. We are going to have a multi-racial nation in Singapore. We will set the example. This is not a Malay nation; this is not a Chinese nation; this is not an Indian nation. Everybody will have his place; equal."

This is the most precious gift our forefathers have bequeathed us. Today, my fellow inter-faith and inter-religious volunteers work hard on the ground to serve one another regardless of our faith and ethnicities. In many ways, this echoes Jesus’ call to love one another.

Conclusion

So Wander, for Not All Those Who Wander are Lost

Toil, for The Reward Will Be Around You

Persevere, for Faith is Found in the Small Things

And Serve and Love One Another for That is the Call of Christ - the Author & Perfecter of Our Faith

Majulah Singapura, To God Be the Glory, The Best is Yet to Be.