Saturday, June 21, 2008

We will keep learning

As a matter of honour, if you’re a member of a team, submit yourself to your authority as you would expect submission from your team under you
As a matter of honour, you don’t pull a punch on someone when he/she’s turned away, or conspire among other social circles
As a matter of honour, you speak straightforwardly and uncompromisingly, directly- one to one- and the buck stops there
As a matter of honour, you unflinchingly refuse to take sides within the same team, should it happen, for the maintained unity and well-being of the team
As a matter of honour, you don’t allow yourself to believe all that is said about another teammate, especially if it induces prejudice or disrespect for him/her
As a matter of honour, you show the same grace to your teammates as you would receive it from them for your own shortcomings
As a matter of honour, you don’t fight fire with fire, or unfairness with unfairness- because it is already enough that the mistake has been made
As a matter of honour, others' shortcomings must never be forum discussions or unnecessary e-mail threads, or coffee talk
And

if performing the above puts you in a less than desired position, you try to do them anyway- accepting the hard lessons - as a matter of honour.


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-To tickle your funny bones... :> One of my favourite YouTube videos

When You Ask Her About Monsters

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Happy 20th

To Han Sheng who has been a dear buddy to me in all the years of our academic lives: SKDU (primary school), SMDU (secondary school), HELP (pre-uni), and presently, Monash University.

(...and unless the trend is proven otherwise, it looks like there will be more pictures like this taken of him, years from now.)

Flag bearers

Personal reflection (faith)
The war stories tell of soldiers who march out to face their enemies and perish by the blade of the sword or the bullet of the gun. Some march out valiantly, some march out reluctantly, but the bullets don't favor anyone. At the battlefield, a prominent soldier carries in his arms the pride of the army, and the spirit behind their foolish march onward: the flag. He knows very well that everyone in the opposition will take their aim to bring him down, just as everyone behind him will take their aim to kill the other flag bearer. But he also knows of other foolish ones like him who wait to pick up the flag when that happens.

The flag bearers in the war know that they run into their deaths for representing their army and taunting their opponents, if only for a few moments. They don't whine when the bullet meets the flesh- they subscribed for it. They don't quit at the prospect of being shot. They share the same fate of their commander-in-chief, in victory or in suffering.

Likewise in the matter of faith, the flags we carry bring, and will bring

slander, false accusations/labeling, punishment for standing up to the right thing, betrayal, rejection, disrespect, mockery, deception, being used, abuse, assault, misrepresentation...

..but grace abounds for us to march on.