Comments on: Turning 21 – what next?

By: cherie

cherie — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:20:12 +0000

Turning 21 means to take sole responsibility for your life, the lives of your loved ones! Happy 21st! (:
Your article struck a chord within me because the transition from sec to jc that you had, I experienced it too. The challenges were there for us to discover our true selves. Take care!

By: b

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:30:00 +0000

I applaud eddie for remembering that society will forever be composed of people from different social classes, even though he may be in an ‘atas’ programme in university.

Turning 21 to me doesn’t mean anything significant really. What truly matters is who you are as a person, the values that you uphold and what you choose to pursue. The world’s your oyster, remember, one man cannot change the world, regardless of what the media would like you to believe. However, what you can change, is your immediate surroundings, your sphere of influence, in whatever you choose to undertake.

By: James

James — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:53:33 +0000

Cheers, nice article :)

21 for me means to eat drink live die for myself, by myself.

By: lmao

lmao — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 06:59:15 +0000

congrats on ORDing. you are finally free. for a while. that is the biggest thing.

By: Loyola

Loyola — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 06:52:05 +0000

Good that you’re reflecting on life early.

Have a great 21st. Stay sharp, stay safe while you serve.

By: Dingfeng

Dingfeng — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:49:07 +0000

turned 21? what next? run 5km twice a week (or more), workout, stay fit. revise the core values. pack your field pack. be ready when your country needs you.

By: Donaldson Tan

Donaldson Tan — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 01:18:46 +0000

This essay reminds me of the series of event after I turned 21.

2 weeks after 21st birthday, I ORDed. Instead of celebrating freedom from the Singapore Armed Force, my joy was turned to sorrow instantly when I learned my favourite Chinese Literature teacher from secondary school had passed away.

Instead of rejoicing for getting back my pink IC, I joined the funeral march of over 150 students and staff members from my alma matter.
His death was a shock. I recalled seeing his cheerful face a year before his death when I visited my alma matter during Founderś Day. He died of cancer. He appeared so thin and frail in his coffin.

Through his Chinese Literature class, I learned about life, joy and pain. He used to exalt the great Chinese intellectuals, officials and military officers who contributed greatly to the welfare of the ordinary people and the successful governance of the State. The class that inspired me the most was the interpretation and analysis of the Red Candle (a poetry volume written by Wen Yi Duo and published in 1925).

Wen Yi Duo was an influential Chinese Intellectual and activist. He gave an impassioned speech denouncing the Kuomintang (KMT) government and was assassinated later that day by the Nationalist secret police. Back in those days prior to the Chinese Civil War, the KMT government was so corrupt that many people were in contempt of it. Wenś work was banned in Taiwan until the lifting of martial law in 1987; whereas, in the People’s Republic of China, he was extolled as a patriotic poet, but the subtleties of his poetry were ignored.

I recalled my teacher´s passion when he was teaching the class. His voice, his tone, his body languages evolved with the language of the poetry. He further qualified the stanzas in the poetry volume by examining the modern history of China corresponding to the period the poetry volume was written in. It was the most amazing class I ever had.