A very good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. [I am Shengnan, a student of Raffles Junior College.] I’m very honoured today to be given ten minutes in front of such a distinguished audience.

As a JC-1 student now, I would sometimes look back and reflect on my own growing up in the past sixteen years or so. And I would find that this process of slowly maturing to adulthood is marked by many unforgettable experiences. They have played a very significant role in shaping my character and steering me in the direction that my life heads.

Actually, I believe that everyone has experienced that same eventful and meaningful stage in life. And the story of Break Through by Mr George Tan is a successful reflection of the author’s difficult growing up times.

Even though it is set in a different era, I feel that I can still relate very well to the story and the underlying themes penetrating it. I shall now proceed to share with you a few of my sentiments about the book in greater detail.

One of the most important aspects of growing up is to start making our own choices, to start being responsible for making decisions for ourselves.

For students my age and even younger, we are faced with making choices, sometimes very difficult ones, in everyday life, such as choosing a CCA, choosing the subjects to study, choosing our friends, [or, even choosing our Girlfriends or Boyfriends! Nah, I’m kidding. But my point is, we are making more and more choices as we grow up]. And sometimes, the choices we make not only show us what lies ahead of us in life, they also tell people what kind of person we are.

In the story of Break Through, the author came to a crossroad in life and was forced to make a very important decision on his own. He had the fortune to be deeply admired by a secondary school classmate called Rachel. Rachel had always tried to care for him, like always supporting him at his badminton matches and giving him assessment books to help him in his studies. [I suppose there were no roses or chocolates at that time. Assessment books… Anyway,] at the end of it all, Rachel and her family offered him a chance to study in the United States. They actually offered to provide full financial support for him and asked for nothing at all in return.

But of course, the author still had to make the final choice as to whether or not to accept the once-in-a-lifetime offer. On the one hand, it would be a wonderful dream come true for him and his mother if he could study in the US. On the other hand, accepting the offer would mean he had to depend on a girl for his education.

What do you think he chose? Do you think he chose an easier time by going off to the US along with Rachel? No. He chose to stay. He chose to become a man with backbone. And look at him now with his backbone behind him.

[Pardon the pun but] he has become such a successful entrepreneur and businessman, and has written all these books. I doubt he would have gotten half as far without his backbone. [I mean, how could you live without your backbone?! Anyway,] I have learnt from him the courage to make a difficult choice and the greater courage to choose a difficult path, to take the path less trodden, and struggle against odds to stand on his own feet. For his courage, I salute him.

There is one recurring theme in the story that has left a deep impression in me. It is self-discipline.

Self-discipline is a simple word to say, but it takes an immense effort to practise it. Self-discipline determines how far each of us can go in life. The 17th-century dramatist, Joseph Addison, once said, “Self discipline is that which, next to virtue, truly and essentially raises one man above another.”

In Break Through, under the influence of a rough neighbourhood, the author had, in his childhood, picked up all its bad habits, fondly known as the 3 Vs – Violence, Vulgarism and Vandalism. He was also a young and skilled gambler. By today’s standards, I guess he could be considered incorrigible. Yet he was strongly determined to change for the better and enforced harsh self-discipline on himself. Eventually, he eliminated all his bad habits and turned into a real gentleman. His remarkable self-discipline tells another pauper turns prince story.

Many a time, self-discipline is really what differentiates successful individuals from their peers who lack it. This transpires very well when you look at tuition classes.

In Break Through, unlike his brothers, the author attended only a few weeks of tuition classes. Yet he became the only one of the 5 boys in his family to enter university.

A stark contrast was his younger brother who had the most number of tuition classes and yet he failed all his exams from primary one to primary six.

Personally, I don’t believe in relying on tutors for my own learning either, and my family has almost never invested in tuition classes for me. But I’m proud to say that till now, my academic results have always been better than barely-made-it. So, I think it is really creditable that the story of Break Through actually shows us how a student can emerge a winner in the academic struggles – by being motivated and disciplined.

Now I’ve come to my last point. If you have read this book, Break Through, I’m sure you would have noticed a very striking theme which leaves you a very lasting impression. I’m talking about fairness.

In the first few chapters of the book, readers would be appalled by the author’s father’s absurd biasness against him. He was more than often abusively punished for mistakes he never committed, just because his father had hated him. There’s this instance in which his father hanged him upside down from the ceiling and gave him a very severe trashing.

His younger brother had never been caned once. And although his older brothers also ever got caned from the ceiling hook, they got more food, clothing and other basic necessities, while the author got more canings.

Worst of all, the canings were often for no particular reason, or sometimes because the author was sabotaged by his brothers. Now, where was the fairness, what was the justice? I leave you to ponder.

The author’s eldest sister also had her story to tell. She was forced to give up two marriages, because she was obliged to work and support the family with her mother. She had to give up two possible lives that promised happiness because she had to share the burden of feeding her family and supporting her younger siblings’ education, while she herself was never allowed to go to school. I think at this point I don’t have to point out where the unfairness lies.

As I look around at the society now, I’ve learnt that fairness is something not to be taken for granted. I know friends and classmates who come from families less caring than others; I’ve read on the news about the injustice of corruption in other countries; I’ve learnt about prejudice and discrimination, the Holocaust in WWII and the enslavement of the blacks in American history.

Thus, I’m really thankful that Singapore practices meritocracy and the people here of all races live in harmony. I believe our education system has done its part in helping Singapore achieve this, as books and real life personal recounts such as Break Through would always remind us what our forefathers have gone through, and to appreciate what we have now.

And Break Through has reminded me that many of us could be suffering from unfairness at some point. While society may slowly change to help everyone, I think it best if all of us can show a little more love to the people around us to compensate them for what unfairness has robbed of them.

Just like in the story, the help the author received from his classmates, namely Rachel and Diana, mattered a lot to him. I’m sure Mr George Tan would agree with me on this and a caring society could certainly benefit mankind.

Before I end off, I would like to add that Break Through is not only an enjoyable read, it also tells us, with a touch of novelty, the part of history of a child growing up alongside its newborn nation.

On this 300th birth anniversary of Benjamin Franklin, I shall leave you with a quote by him, “Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.”

Good luck and all the best, my audience, and thank you for your kind attention. Thank you.

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