The Past, The Future

Yesterday, I had a casual meet-up with two of my secondary school buddies. And we reminisced about our schooling days back in ASS, just like how guys hark back about their army days. The panoramic view of the city scene and the night sky of Singapore from Ku De Ta didn’t seem to catch much of our attention.

Those were the days, where we had great fun.

We chatted about our classmates, and how it turned out that our ‘predictions’ of their future didn’t seem to come true. Does it happen to you when you look at the top-in-class-guy and envisaged, “He will become the next President!”, “She is sure to earn big bucks!”, “He will be a very successful person!”?

We did.

And we were all wrong.

The plain Jane in our class got hitch a few years after graduation, making her the first to get married among the classmates.
The gorgeous girl who sat a few seats away from me is still single and unattached.
The outgoing girl whose table was often crowded with suitors recently went on a holiday trip alone and is also unattached.
The top-in-class-guy did not land in a money-spinning job.

I guess it might be too early to judge a person’s future by how well he or she score in the examination. Ten years down the pike, no one knows what will happen.

I remembered vividly that my mum incessantly compare my results with the children of her friends, and she would put me down for my poor results. Truth be told, time proved to my mum and I that, having a glorious past without the perseverance, luck and hard work in the future brings one to nowhere.

Of course, having said that, it doesn’t mean that education should come low on the totem pole. On the other hand, being top in class, or awarded with some the government awards or scholarships do not guarantee one a skyrocket career. Everyone still has to work on our fingers to the bone to achieve what we want.

I think everyone especially parents, including myself, have to constantly remind ourselves that we should not judge someone, and especially our own children and sigh, “He failed his English examination, he is going to be a rubbish collector in future.”

I know of a person who did not complete his ‘N’ level and yet earning more than a lawyer.

The past does not determine the future.