Written by Jynne Chong
We were taught……
We were taught to be a good kid when we were small.
We had to greet everyone on the table before we start eating, this is manners.
We had to brush our teeth once we wake up in the morning, this is hygiene.
We had to learn how to write our name, read the letter from A-Z, and recognise “A for Apple”, “B is for Boy”, “C is for Cat”, this is education.
We were taught to be a good student when we were young.
We had to obey to rules in school, this is discipline.
We had to work together with our mates, either in class or in activity, this is cooperation.
We had to get passed all the nightmare-alike exams with flying colours, this is education
We were taught to be a leader/ manager when we were in university.
We had to read thousands of journals to broaden our perspective but not merely from one text, this is research.
We had to quote cases of big companies for our presentations, this is learning from example.
We had to get our assignment done, printed, stapled properly and throw into the pigeon box by the due date, this is dateline.
We had to survive through all the workload of assignments, tutorial presentations, exams, to finally get the certificate and the graduation mortarboard on head.
And, this is education.
All along the way we grow, we were taught a lot of things, to be a better person.
But, we were request to work as an employee when we graduate uni.
And, with this, the biggest conflict in our life begins.
We were taught to be a leader with a broaden perspectives with big companies example, putting ourselves very hardly in to CEO’s shoes, how could we know what does an employee work like if we were not taught before?
All along the way we grow, we were taught to be a better person.
But, we were being “cloned” and “framed” to have a better life, to face all tough challenges in life when we are grown up.
We were taught to be a better person, how could we face our loneliness, failures, lost and all the nights with tears?
How could we handle life when we were not taught before?
We were taught with a lot of skills and concepts but they does not “feed” us well to grow up, to be an adult, a powerful individual to pursue our dreams.
We had to walk through the hiccups in life and our life taught us.
We were never being taught enough for our life ahead.
We were never able to carry ourselves in this world ever since we left schools and uni.
We were always being lack of capability for the task that we are handling now.
The lesson that our life wants to teach us is actually failures and loneliness, and this we might take our whole life to learn and unlearn then relearn along the way, till the last breath.
Life is never easy and dreams either, from the last century till today, no dreams were achieve without paying off with tears and blood.
I hope I would have enough courage to go along with all the hardship along before I gave up on dream and there go my life.
