I was born at the
start of the Second World War in a small village in Malaya across the Gulf of
Thailand from Viet Nam. We lived in a bamboo hut at the edge of the jungle. The
Japanese drove the British out of Malaya. I could not say if life was worse
during the war years because we had always been poor both under the British or
the Japanese.
No one tried to change
our way of life which was the belief and worship of one God. We learned to
recite the Koran without knowing what it meant. We were always told that it was
alright to be poor, because in the After Life we will get our reward and
eternal happiness. This philosophy gave us comfort even though we live in
abject poverty. The first 6 years of my life was spent following my mother
around and paying attention to what she taught the neighborhood children to
read the Koran. I thus learned to recite the Koran too without knowing what it
meant.
When I was 7 I was
sent to the Malay School and I must admit looking back I learned a lot. I like
arithmetic and geography.
After 4 years of
schooling it was time to move on to an English School. There I learned even
more. I liked reading books. This was in a town far away from home which I had
to leave for the first time. It was the first time in my life I did not have my
mother around and also it was the first time I saw electric light and heard
stories on the Radio. Life was changing for me even though at a tender age of
11 I had to work to pay my living as it cost money to live in a town with
electricity. After 4 years I had to move again to another school where I stayed
in a hostel and did not have to work as was given a monthly grant by the
government.
Eventually after a
total 14 years in school I won a scholarship to study far away from home. I
went to England and it was really a dream come true. I spent a total of 5 years
in England.
One of my favorite
pastimes was reading.
I have two all-time favourite
authors:
One: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: he wrote the Little Prince. In this story The
Little Prince met the Fox and they became friends. When it was time to bid
adieu the fox was very sad having to say goodbye.
"Goodbye,"
said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only
with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the
eye."
"What is
essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he
would be sure to remember.
In French:
Voici mon secret. Il est très
simple: on ne voit bien
qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.
Then secondly; Kahlil
Gibran the famous Lebanese author and poet, he gave us The Prophet a story of a
man who went to live among the people of Orphalese. After spending some years
among his friends it was time for him to leave for his own country to be among
his own people.
On the day that
he was leaving the people came to the town square to bid him adieu. The seeress
named AlMitra asked him to speak to them about different wisdoms and the one
about children went like this.
You may
give them your love but not your thoughts,
For
they have their own thoughts.
You may
house their bodies but not their souls,
For
their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not
even in
your dreams.
A word of wisdom to
think about:
We should all be
reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not
wealth, status, or power, or fame – but rather how well we have loved, and what
small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.
Now back to reality: I
joined Toastmasters in 2006 which was 14 years ago and I earned my DTM after 6
years but I was never satisfied with what I have achieved and I still carried
on my Toastmasters activities and doing speeches.
I have this dream of
being a competent public speaker and being famous.