Thank you ladies, thank you gentlemen and thanks to all significant people in the audience. And that includes everyone of you. To me, everyone is significant.

It’s a nice feeling to be back here after 31 years. I did my pre-University here in 1975 / 76. This place holds a lot of good and bad memories for me.

My life in Hwa Chong was one of the darkest periods of my life. It was in Hwa Chong that I got my first zero. Kosong. Chee tan! I got zero for one mathematics test. The feeling of failure was awful. I became depressed and suicidal.

It was not just because of one zero. My whole life, up to the time I was in Hwa Chong, had been a difficult struggle. I came from a very poor family. We were so poor that I had to survive on porridge with soya sauce or salted vegetables. My parents could not even afford to buy me a pair of slippers.

Can you imagine how painful it is to walk under the hot sun without a pair of slippers? When I was seven years old, I sold my champion spider for $ 2 to buy my first pair of slippers. Being poor and despised by people in my neighbourhood, the spider was my only friend, my only best friend, my most valuable comrade, my faithful comrade who won countless battles for me. In my moment of greed, I sold my royal title away. I felt a sudden sense of loneliness.

For survival, I chose to sacrifice my champion spider. And I used the money to eat my first ice cream.

I was also badly abused by my father when I was a child. Sometimes, he would tie up his children and hang us on a ceiling hook before he caned us.

Once, my father used joss sticks to burn my face. When I had to get an injection in school, the memory of that incident came back. The needle poking into my arm was like the joss sticks poking onto my face. Till today, I have a phobia for injection.

I felt so lousy when I was growing up. I had a strong inferiority complex.

So when I was in Hwa Chong, my study crisis escalated into a life crisis.

I used to go to the beach – to Changi beach – to throw stones into the sea…. to throw my troubles into the sea. My cousin taught me this long ago, when he took me to the beach for a picnic with his brothers and friends. He told me that each stone represented one trouble. And the waves would wash my troubles away. As one wave subsided, the next wave came. They never gave up. They seemed to be telling me never to give up too.

I would stay at the beach until late at night, and catch the last bus home. Many times, I did not feel like going home. I wanted to just walk into the sea and disappear into the darkness.

This was an important turning point for me. All along, I did things because of my mother’s love for me. I studied hard, I tried to be a good boy… I gave up my bad habits including my addiction to gambling and what I call the 3Vs – vulgarism, vandalism and violence. Do you want to know how I kicked my bad habits? When I was in Hwa Chong, the students were very serious. They engaged in the 3Ls – lecture, lunch and library. I could not find anyone to gamble with me. In the end, the 3Ls triumphed over the 3Vs and I became a good boy.

But when I was faced with a life crisis, I realised that my mother’s love was not sufficient to pull me through. After a while, I began to see the positive side of my father’s harsh treatment. The more he wanted to break my will, the more determined I was to prove him wrong. Though he did not deliberately train me, he ended up toughening me up. I needed both factors – my mother’s love and my father’s tough training – to survive a life crisis.

I must also add that I have always felt protected by some higher force. Throughout my life, whenever I was in a crisis, I always felt an invisible hand guiding me and saving me. So when I did badly for mathematics, out of the blue a kind schoolmate offered to give me free tuition. She helped me pass my first year re-exam and, eventually, I made it to the university.

My lowest period of my life was in Hwa Chong. My major turning point of my life was also in Hwa Chong. It was in Hwa Chong that I broke out from my inferior cage that had imprisoned me since my childhood. In this regard, Hwa Chong also gave me fond memories too.

I like to share with you another story about my Hwa Chong days. I have a confession to make.

When I was in Hwa Chong, I broke the school rules. I stayed overnight to study because my house was just too noisy. I had eight other people at home in a two-room flat and I was the only one who needed to study. My brothers had all dropped out of school. My sisters never went to school in the first place. My brothers and sisters would watch TV in the living room while my father would listen to his radio in the kitchen.

In any case, I was not the only one who stayed back in college. There were about 20 of us. The principal wanted to punish us and he conducted a series of surprise checks to catch us. But he never caught us. Why? We were so corporative. We were so united. We displayed our Hwa Chong spirit. In the end, my friends and I decided not to stay back anymore.

I had to find a new strategy for studying to make it to the university. Do you want to know what I did?

Read my book!

Today, I am managing an international recruitment and head hunting business. I am happy as an entrepreneur. I have also begun a new life adventure as an author and a publisher.

So I thought…. After 31 years, it’s about time that I confess my crime. I don’t think the principal would cane me now. As a gesture of appreciation for all that Hwa Chong has done for me, I’d like to pay my overdue “hotel bills” plus interests for staying in the school illegally 31 years ago.

And so I am donating some of my books, plus a bit of money, to set up the Hwa Chong literary fund and the Alumni Display Section in Jing Xian Library.

BreakThrough was my first book. My second book is Benjamin Franklin – A bright spark! Franklin was able to transform himself from an ordinary man to someone who achieved extraordinary excellence and success. He became one of the greatest scientists, inventors, statesmen, civil leaders and intellectuals of all time.

Franklin was able to do this because he had a Prizedream. His Prizedream was to ‘gain in knowledge and improve in virtue’. He pursued this dream relentlessly throughout his life.

Everything starts with a dream. Everything starts with a vision. Look around you. Everything you see in this library is here because somebody had dreamt about it. Somebody had a vision. And that vision eventually got transformed into reality. This is what I call a Prizedream, as opposed to a daydream, which is merely wishful thinking.

What is your Prizedream? I hope, today, you will discover your Prizedream. And, in so doing, become a master of your own destiny.

Today, if you dream of achieving something – to be a top student or a top banker or a successful entrepreneurship or a best-selling author – that can become your Prizedream. My advanced congratulations to your endeavour.

Franklin has shown us that it is possible for an ordinary person to achieve great things. He is not just a great American, but ranks among the greatest men in history. In many ways, Franklin was no different from any of us. Franklin was ordinary. So are you. He became extraordinary. So can you.

We are launching a book about him here at the Jing Xian Library, in Hwa Chong, because Franklin founded what is possibly the world’s first lending library in 1731. I like to take this moment to honour him for inspiring me. Hopefully, when you get to know him through my book, you will be inspired too.

Many people have helped me turned my Prizedream into a reality. Through the help of many people, I like to create more LifeSparks to inspire people for a better tomorrow. Through the help of more people, I like to touch more hearts in the lost frontiers, new frontiers and old frontiers. This is my Prizedream. I would be most grateful to anyone, who could help me achieve this Prizedream.

And to those who have already helped, let me say a big THANK YOU. In particular, I wish to thank the many people who were kind enough to read my books and give their endorsements.

I like to express my gratefulness to Mr Ang Wee Hiong for his endorsement and support. I like to thank Mr Ng Ooi Hooi and Mr Liew Kian Heng for raising money to set up the Hwa Chong Literary Fund. Also, I like to thank Mr Seow Hwye Tiong for setting up the Alumni Display Section and for his presentation during my book launch at the National Library on 17 Jan, to commemorate the 300th birth anniversary of Benjamin Franklin. Thanks to the management and staff of Hwa Chong Institution for organizing my book launch, and the launch of the Hwa Chong Literary Fund and the opening of the Alumni Display Section in Jing Xian Library.

I like to share one very special moment of truth with you. I was very touched to receive a letter from Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister for Communication Development, Youth and Sports, congratulating me on my two books.

He wrote: “BreakThrough was particularly moving because of your graphic, brutally honest description of your early life in Singapore. I could not put the book down until I completed the last page.”

In closing, I like to share with you the three philosophies instrumental for my survival, and for transforming my rough life into a rich life.

• ‘You owe yourself a second chance. Never give up!’

• ‘Even though no one in this world likes you, you must not despair, you must love yourself.’

• ‘Even though no one in this world loves you, you must not collapse, you must love your soul.’

I hope my books will inspire reacders, children and adults alike, never to give up in the face of challenges, and to discover their full potential for achieving excellence and success.

Back to Book Launch @ Hwa Chong Institution