Work

This business called work... It is not easy to juggle.

Some people really sell their life, soul and health to it. Some don't seem to even do any work for their pay (which technically shouldn't be called pay and if you work in a government organization may otherwise be known as welfare handouts). Some try to balance work and life.

It would be nice if we could all work in a friendlier environment, and doing work that relates to us. Heck, I can't understand why some people can be an accountant. Job satisfaction yes I understand but where in the Scottish Highlands do you relate to and like your work? Then again, maybe I just don't see it their way. Heck, some people don't even understand why I became a teacher. Their eyes open wide and they laugh and joke that I simply couldn't get a better job. Truth be told, I concur. There had been a long period of time in my life after uni I simply didn't know what roads were open to me. It can be frustrating being in limbo. I suppose it didn't help I didn't talk to anybody about it. Family and friends couldn't understand the affinity with literature and were pragmatic enough to persuade me from the cooking profession, or a hawker, or for that matter a 7-11 guy working graveyard shift. One day, I just thought I should apply to MOE again, who snubbed me twice in my Uni years. suddenly, it all makes sense that I should teach, to enjoy literature, to help kids and their families, to contribute and change that much detested education system in my teens.

I can't remember the exact class or lesson but I remember the first time I had to step into class. How I felt. Nothing. Stumped. Thoughts and sight in a blur. Oh well, I survived. Somehow. Thank you to Flips and a certain cool Harold Matthieu who prepared me for school. So yes, work is a mysterious thing. We feel we have to do it, we hope we like it, we charge in and do it. We try to survive and make it stay intact. We wait for our pay. We learn to like what we do, or go for what we want to do.

I think Yeo Huan and another friend of mine I met on the streets were right. Salary would probably never seem sufficient. That can't be a perpetual source of motivation in 5, 10, 20 years down the road. Motivation should probably be job satisfaction and responsibility. Thank God for whoever had taught me really early on that finding a job you like is more important than any other factors. Some more geeky and less sensitive people might say you could learn to like your job. Borrowing my idol's word: "balls". I do concur it grows on you, yup... like bringing it home and marrying your work. "Mum, Dad, look who I brought home! My work!" Yup grows on you alright... into a mutant. The naggy social worker in me has dozens of alarms buzzing and words to say on that topic but over the years,I've learnt to shut up when I should. I'm not Jesus, I can't make changes to masses. I can only, as according to MOE propaganda and wise words indeed, remember I'm human and I could perhaps save a starfish as and when I see one. One seen and thrown back into the sea, is one saved. That's it. No glam stuff like parting seas or feeding thousands. But that's alright, God's Work is done in many ways and by many. I'm damn proud to say I'm probably one of them. I remembered going into school thinking that quite a few times- the MOE propaganda. It helps. While in the toilet today, I consolidated some thoughts about the education and governmental systems in general. Things might look very dead and unrelenting. Things might not look optimal and dozens of changes could be made. Things might also look so stuck and many people unready to change. Things might look as if you would not make a difference and one of you would not make a change. But no. Things can change for the better. And if you want changes, you must stick on, press on. If one switches camp, gives up and think no difference can be made, then one loses the fire and the chance to contribute in your own small ways. If there had not been believing predecessors, education would never have changed for the better. It did. So I sincerely urge all people who like their work, hold their own opinions about how things can be made better, with vision, to stay and soldier on! Goose-bumpy yes but... you're not alone.

Though I cannot know your work, but the nature of your work impresses me and makes me proud, very proud of you. For the good of the country, doing something worthwhile, glorifies God in your own way. I hope you find increasing job satisfaction in what you have to do, and someday feel more comfortable at work.