Happy Children's Day

For those children out there and those still a child at heart, "Happy Children's Day".

Here is a song I used to sing in school called "Semoga Bahagia" on Children's Day in my National Language Malay. This song is composed by Zabir Said, who also composed the National Anthem of Singapore.

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Lyrics (Malay)

Sama-sama maju ke hadapan

Pandai cari pelajaran

Jaga diri dalam kesihatan

Serta sopan-santun dengan kawan-kawan

Dengan hati bersih serta suci

Sama-sama hormat dan berbudi

Jaga tingkah pemuda-pemudi

Adat dan budaya junjung tinggi

Capailah lekas cita-cita pemudi-pemuda

Supaya kita ada harga di mata dunia

Kalau kita lengah serta lupa

Hidup kita sia-sia

Jiwa besar sihat serta segar

Rajin dengan sabar tentu bahagia

Lemah lembut perangai pemudi

Cergas tangkas wataknya pemuda

Suka rela selalu berbakti

Sikap yang pembela dan berjasa

Capailah nama yang mulia pemudi-pemuda

Rajinlah supaya berjaya semoga bahagia

Lyrics (English)

Together we progress

Clever at seeking knowledge

Take care of your health

And be courteous to your friends

With a clean and pure heart

We respect and do good to each other

Watch your behaviour, oh youths

Respect and honour your customs and traditions

Quickly reach your goals/dreams, oh youths

So that we'll have our worth, in this world

If we are lazy and forgetful

Our lives are worthless

A big heart and a fresh mind

Hardworking and patience definitely brings success/happiness

Soft-spoken is the lady

Energetic and tenacious is the man

Charitable, always contributing

Having a righteous spirit and doing good

Attain a respectable position, oh youths

Be hardworking so that you will succeed, may you achieve happiness

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A Child's Prayer

Prayer for Dad

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Dear God,

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Please send clothes for all those poor ladies on Dad's computer.

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Amen

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[Sent to me by a friend. Author unknown, but thanks for such refreshing humour.]

Fat Hope

"My son loves his slimmer mummy more!" so the ad says.

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Can this possibly be so?

In the story, the little boy merely said that his mum looked more beautiful when she was slimmer, not that he now loves her any less. Besides, children are still pure. They love their mum regardless.

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Slimming clinics should not taint the innocence of children and exploit the fears of anorexic mothers, or women in general, just to get more customers. I wonder what the Media Development Authority say about unethical claims like these.

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Synchronicity - The Gifted Child

Yesterday morning my Indian friend told me about his choice to keep her daughter in the 'normal' class in school, despite being chosen to be in the 'gifted' programme. He wanted her daughter to mingle with 'normal' students, study normally and enjoy the little things in life. So there were no late nights studying for school and she went to bed at 9pm every night. Unlike most other kids in Singapore, there was also no home tuition after school.

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Incidentally, later in the evening, my South African friend told me a very similar story. In her case, when they first came to Singapore, the school principal didn't think that this new African student (her daughter) will make any difference to the school overall grades, and she was put in a 'normal' class. So, when my friend's daughter did famously well in her exams, the principal and the teachers were stunned. They then offered her daughter a place in the 'gifted' programme, but she rejected it, as she too wanted her daughter to live a normally and enjoy school.

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As the school went on, in both cases, the girls excelled and topped their cohort. Both the principals wondered how a 'non-gifted' child could do better academically than the 'gifted' children in the 'gifted' classes.

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These two cases taught me that no matter how school, family or society categorises someone, e are who we want to be, and if one essentially has the belief, one would achieve that belief.

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