Translation from Al-Fatihah. The 2nd and 3rd verse of the opening of the Quran. The 3rd verse can also be translated to mean, The Caring One, the Loving One.
I guess I want the opening of the entry to be The Opening. Back in November 2013 I attended a talk by Ustad Nouman Ali Khan on the meaning of these verses. Beautiful. And the meaning supposedly explains the entire Islamic Faith.
Lately, I have met some extraordinarily amazing people who have changed my mindset of the way I see people and life. Each carry their own moral, or message. From them, I garnered firm beliefs and rationales when I approach decisions. Najib told me that being with someone will slowly transform a person to be a little like that someone, quoting himself as an example. Mixing with awesome and nice people will subconsciously make you be a little like them, to fit in. Someone is lame, you counter with a little humor in your response. Similarly, if someone is a little aggressive, you duplicate that person a little. And you carry this slight change in behavior in you elsewhere. This defines you. But there are some exceptional case, in my opinion, when someone impacts you so hard, you consciously will yourself to change. And you succeed. And you find your new principles in life.
Everything that happen is fated. You are here, or there for a reason. You meet someone for a reason. For me, one person deserves special mention. In Junior College, I got hit pretty bad in the beginning of the year. It was to be my first real test of hardship. I didn't know myself, I had little confidence in my abilities. Most of my circle of friends in Secondary School went elsewhere. Some went other JCs, some to poly. I tried to get off on a good start. I signed up for all kinds of tryouts. I failed in every one of them. Floorball, dance, soccer. I got into College Publications. I missed out on being a counselor. I failed in cheerleading audition. I failed for a leadership post for CP. My grades was underwater because it was below C level. Haha. Actually, it was worse. It was straight Us. Ernest joked that his mum was happy when he showed his results and she thought he got 25/80 rank points. But she did not see the decimal place, 2.5. Anyway, these actually scared me. Some people were backbiting and demeaning others. There was class politics. My family was the same. During this time, they fought a lot. On 28 March, after continuously going back to one source who would listen, my then girlfriend, I broke up with her. It was irrational. Partly because somehow she couldn't make me feel any better but mostly because I didn't want to burden her and I can see that she would not fit into my life in the future. It is meant for someone else. That day, when I broke up with her, I was devastated. I went to the sick bay and feigned illness to skip Maths lecture. There, I just cried.
I was in depression and that carried on till end of J1, a very long time. During that period, I hated school and meeting people, I was late to school 1/3 of the time and got a 2 month early sign in from the DM. I rarely did homework. Someone saved me. He offered me a helping hand and I so gladly took it. Ernest Teh, the extremely humble and nice guy I owe so much to. He spent a lot of time with me, encouraging and giving motivation. I was a hell of a burden, but this guy he took so much of his time to help me. He accompanied me to study after school, debate and talk a lot of thought provoking things which I enjoy doing and basically was there for me till I get back on my feet. He is my best friend, my bro. He brought me to church and to meet his church friends sometimes for church events, because he is an active church member and organiser, and we would talk and discuss about our religions. There is so many similarities and facts we didn't know about each other religion. My interest in my religion was piqued. In order to counter the questions posed to me by his church friends, I have to know about my religion. I researched and ask my Ustads about my doubts. I regain my Faith and it have been an ultimate source of comfort and principle for me since then. Always do what is right. This bro have been an idol for me. He is so very humble but ultimately his one great attribute is he wants to do what is right and he helps, really helps, those that needs it. He helped me. In J2 my final year, with just that push, I started to find my momentum. I did not want to fail in life. I started studying like mad. I had so much to catch up on. My grades during Final year promotion in J1 was SUUUU. Ernest and sometimes my other classmates would accompany me study at the library or CC. I booked many consultation slots with Ernest and found myself tuition. Soon, I would go study on my own as I felt it to be least distracting. You can find me in the library studying or sleeping alone on most weekdays. I don't care, I need to catch up. My grades slowly improved. I could feel it. By mid year, I scored some D but still have S and Us. "Strong S and Us". I forgot who said that. When I wanted to give up, Ernest would come and motivate me. "Eh, come on la bro!". I actually started to seriously do my homework and tried not to copy from others as usual. My foundation was really really weak, I had to revisit my J1 topics in addition to the J2 topics. But in the end it really paid off. My grades were not great, mostly Bs. But these Bs meant the world to me. It meant hardwork and sweat and sacrifice. I got into all the local university which I applied to, NUS NTU SMU. In other words, I succeeded this first step. I thought back on the early days from the start of my JC life and I thought of all the help this amazing guy had done for me. I am truly indebted to him. We still meet up, most times just to catch up and also to play table tennis. He changed my life and is my role model, no matter what people said of him.
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| Me, Tian yu and Ernest Teh |
Anyway, I just had to tell this story because it means a lot to me. It impacted me and changed my perspectives a lot. I actually wrote this a long time ago but didn't publish it. God have a plan for you, keep your Faith, believe, and work hard in life. Be nice, humble, fun, funny and smart. :D Thanks brah!
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