Chua Kah Geok and Chen Yee Xenon
Chua Kah Geok:
In the year 1963, I was a young little girl. I lived at “Cheng Yan Place” between Victoria Street and Queen Street. There was a basketball court behind my house. A Community Club stood not far away from where I live.
Back then, I enjoyed playing basketball, skipping rope and five stone with my neighbours at the Community Club. The Community Club’s Chairman Mr. Tan was very kind and friendly. He loved engaging in conversation with us every time he saw us. He even bought us candies, biscuits, and drinks.
During those days, television was a luxury. My family didn’t have one. Fortunately, the Community Club had a television so that families like myself would walk over to the Community Club to watch shows together.
I remember vividly that Minister Goh Kheng Swee and Mr. Toh Chim Chye had to walk past my house each time they had to go to the Community Club. My friends and I would clap our hands eagerly to welcome them. The Ministers would shake hands with my neighbours, family members, and me!
As I was just a little girl back then, I couldn’t fathom Singapore Ministers and the People’s Action Party. As years went by, I grew older and wiser. I came to understand the People’s Action Party and the incredible work they do to bring up Singapore. In 2013, I joined the People’s Action Party as a Party Activist. I am glad to be a member of this Party and support them in any way possible.
Chen Yee Xenon:
It was 24th February 2017, a day that I will never forget. My birthday had coincided with the collection of my A-Levels results. I was nervous and anxious about my result. This was my defining moment - whether I could go to a university to study History, a subject that I had enjoyed since my secondary school days, or will I have to make a choice of retaking my A-Levels or studying a course that I do not enjoy? My fears were not unfounded; I had barely scraped through all my national examinations to make it this far.
My parents had been very supportive of me. In fact, I am grateful that my parents were unlike my friend’s parents - over excessively giving them tuition, dictating to them what subjects to take, and punishing them if they do not attain a certain grade. I remembered when I got back my PSLE, in which I had attained a score of 208, instead of criticizing me for getting a ‘lousy’ score, my parents encouraged me. They were delighted that I was able to get into the ‘express’ stream. That goes the same for my ‘O’ Levels, in which I attained an L1R5 score of 20, the bare minimum to get into a junior college. Unlike any typical parents who would probably reprimand their child for attaining such scores, my parents celebrated. They were happy that my dreams of getting into a JC came through. My paternal grandparents had even gone as far as to give me a huge ‘Hong Bao’ to celebrate my results.
But of course, my road had not been smooth sailing. I had classmates who looked down on me, mocking me when I had poor results driving my primary and secondary school days. I remembered failing my English paper, and my friend’s friend, who happened to be from a better class than me, mocked my result.
At home, I had family members (thankfully, we no longer contact them/distanced ourselves) who saw my existence as a threat to them. On my paternal side, my deceased uncle’s wife hated my very existence and tried to sabotage my school work. Apparently, she thought that I would be in her way of getting an inheritance. On my maternal side, my two aunts had always scolded my mother for being a bad example to me, hoping that ‘encouraging’ me would bring more harm to me. Ironically, when I enter JC, they scolded my mother for forcing me to study in a “better path”, making me wonder if they are trying to make things difficult for my family.
Thankfully, these are all nothing but bad memories, reminiscent of the past. Back to 2017, it was my turn to collect my A-Levels results. While I slowly walked up to my form teacher, I was chanting, praying that the third time’s a charm and that I would get a decent result to enter into a university to study the course of my choice. The moment I sat down, my form teacher who was smiling at me, passed me the result slip and added the word “Congratulations”.
I did not think much; I had thought this was a customary greeting by my form teacher to all my classmates. But when I looked into my result slip, I knew why she said that. I remembered rubbing my eyes to make sure that I was not seeing things. I was looking at my result in disbelief. I could not believe it; I finally achieved success! I was able to enter a local autonomous university with my score. My parents and grandparents, who were at home eagerly waiting for my phone call, burst into joy and happiness when I told them of the good news. Deep in my mind, I was glad that I had achieved success after twelve years of studies.
Today, I am currently a year 3 History student with a second major in Public Policy and Global Affairs at Nanyang Technological University. Nobody would have thought that I would make it to university, let alone take a double major. My parents and grandparents were extremely proud of me, especially my late grandfather. He had always announced to his friends and family members that I was the first “Chen” family member to study in university, much to my embarrassment.
To conclude, I would like to add that this experience is not to brag about my accomplishment. Rather, I hope that my experience will be a source of inspiration to those facing struggles in their lives. To end off with a quote by Daisaku Ikeda, “Life is a constant battle against deadlock. As long as we are alive, as long as we continue challenging ourselves, we are bound to come up against difficult obstacles that need to be overcome. If life were all smooth sailing, if we never encountered setbacks, that in itself would be a sign of stagnation.”
