Memories...
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
sitting at the clubroom table now..at 3 am..munching on gummi bears given to me by little india..listening to nice old sentimental songs..watching clement black sleeping blissfully on e couch..preparing for my tutorial presentation later..thinking of lotsa stuff..
pumped myself up with 2 big packets of coffee just now..enough caffeine to blast me till 2 pm later i hope.
Close-com meeting just now..hmm..me and chun kiat use to say..sometimes oms seem to throw up more questions than answers to us..
Nevertheless..the com has come far..and we have just completed half of our journey. It has been a personal tough 7 months for me, possibly the toughest period of my life..didnt get a break at all after FOP 2005 as i had to plan ahead and form the new MC..then rop and elections, with so much in my mind..settling the com down, esp when it was so fragile in the beginning..guiding them foward, often into the unknown..struggles within myself, esp the eternal questions which every president has to face, and which only presidents will understand...getting used to criticisms from almost everybody in the world..getting used to people throwing u bad news 24/7..getting used to being wakened up every morning by some call..getting used to making unpopular but necessary decisions..getting used to people misunderstanding you...mending ties with the relevant bodies..working at insane hours to make sure i have sufficient spare cash..
But like i said so many times before, watching the com grow, each and every single one of them..including my 2 fellow lao laos bobsie and rayner..makes everything worth it :)
watching a new generation of freshies coming in for FOP will make everything worth it as well..
The 1st 7 months of any president's term is always the toughest..for he has nothing at the start, only words, dreams and visions, and lives in the shadow of the former president. I am so happy and glad that i have lived thru these 7 months, and learned so many things in this time period, esp about myself. Sometimes i have to reach into the depths of my deepest reserves to draw strength, and having survived these 7 months has taught me that i can survive thru any other thing thrown at me..positive that at e end of my term, that new strength gained will be even more solidified, and make me even more fearless and confident.
The time has now come for the young ones to step foward. And step foward they must, for they are the future. Time for them to raise the bar to a higher level, to assert themselves more, to step out of their comfort zone, take up more responsibilites than they ever had, and to apply what they have learnt from the past 6 months, for FOP. They may not see it now, but they will need all the lessons learnt, be it consciously or sub-consciously, for the last lap of our journey. And should they re-run 1 day, they ll need all these experience to guide the 27th along. And one dae they ll see for themselves, why certain decisions are made this way, and that being a good senior or exco is far easier said than done. It is easy to criticize and pinpoint decisions or mistakes, but far harder and challenging to make them when u re in the same shoes yourselves. And to make the necessary decisions to balance the dynamics of the com makes things even harder.
Time for me to take a step into the background as well, and let the young ones shine :) just make sure things are running smoothly and clear up any mess behind the scenes..i had my own FOP memories as a organizer, time for them to carve out theirs...
I surf for inspirational leadership quotes frequently..and to my delight, i found this refreshing one by Lao-Tzu, which is so different and unique from almost all e other quotes:
"To lead people, walk beside them ... As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate. When the best leader's work is done the people will say, "We did it ourselves". "This quote gave a new meaning and target for myself, for the second half of my term till i step down. It kept me thinking and thinking just now, and i realize i want to give a shot at this target.
Becoz i strive to be the best form of leader.
Honor, praise, fear, and hatred leadership, i have all experienced it at some point of my life, esp during my term in jc 26th oac.
But this last one, i wanna give it a go, and see whether i can attain it....before i retire and live a normal peaceful student's life.
