Recently, the hot topics seem to be on retirement and giving up when the odds are against you.

We were taught from young not to give up when we are faced with difficulty. My English teacher used to tell me, as the goings get tough, the tough gets going.
My Chinese teacher on the other hand preached on 吃得苦中苦，方为人上人... They didn't tell us to opt for the easy way when it seems that we cannot make it.

I remember I used to be really bad at Additional Mathematics during my secondary school days, failing most of my tests or at best, just achieved a moderate pass. Instead of asking me to drop the subject during O Levels, my teacher sacrificed his weekends by giving me and a few others free tution in his home. The result? We got B3s and A2s for the subject that we thought we could never pass.

Well a certain principle in a certain secondary school apparently advised her students to opt for the ITE instead since they will most probably do badly in their O Levels and can't make it into poly. In my opinion, regardless whatever her intention, such words should never come out from the mouth of an educator, much so from a principal. Even if the students tried and failed, what harm could it possible cause? At least they can proudly say they tried and failed so ya, move on the ITE instead.
Why 泼冷水 and ask them to give up without giving it their best shot? If they really opted for ITE instead of going for the O Levels, this may come back to haunt them someday. They will forever living in the shadows of 'what ifs'?

Same applies to our Team Singapore mah, we are constantly going into the global arena to compete against the very best in sports. And since we are not well known for our sporting capabilities, why bother right? No point wasting taxpayers' money and sending so many representatives to participate in what SEA Games lah, Commonwealth Games lah and dunno simi 2010 World Cup dream, cuz we will never win mah...Well at least dun bother sending the soccer, table tennis and the badminton squad lah... Most they can do is go into semi finals oni lah, why bother rite?

So I cannot understand why the minister can still defend the principal in question. Simi if our young cannot take such comments, he will worry about how fragile our young can be? Not everyone is made of steel lor, though of course the tough ones will not take what was said to heart but what about those who are made of lesser resolve? A simple remark like that could have scarred their sense of self worth and cost long term damage lor... A classic case of high IQ but low EQ... tsk tsk

On retirement, well think I have blogged on this sometime back from my experience with Burger King... Staying connected and active is different from continue working lor... I can be retired and lead a fruitful and active life by keeping myself occupied doing the things I like but never had the chance to when I'm working.
Of course continue to work after retirement doesn't mean you will die later than those not working after retirement lor... Those who are forced to work in order to keep up with the ever increasing prices and fare hikes are not neccessarily better off than those who can afford to retire and dun work lor, for obvious reasons. How hard can it be reading papers to know what's happening in the region and meeting/ talking to people, compared to slogging to make ends meet when you are past your prime and still have to 看老板脸色?

But then, looking at the way things go, the gahmen dun have to worry lah, dun think many of us can afford to retire even if we want to... Most probably we will still be working until the day we kick the bucket...