To Whom It May Concern,
Hajimemashite. First as a gesture of goodwill, I bow to you in respect and admiration for having to complete and attain remarkable results for your “o” level examination. Owing to this achievement, I hope you will stick conscientiously to your studies and I am sure you will get through with flying colours for examination to come. It had been almost a year since we parted at Dunearn and went on our own separate path to achieve what we really want. Since I had nothing to do except eating, sleeping and sought refuge on my praying mat, accompanied by my book of guidance, the holy Quran and turned to the first chapter, Al-fatihah or “the opening”, the chapter even some Muslim kids aged 3 can read eloquently for its brevity and repeated recitations in prayers and Islamic gatherings for now. I decided to write in to know how you are coping and to wish you a happy school starts-up in advance. I am sorry if I had sent this letter rather late.
With absolute silence, it has been 2 months since I last heard from you. How are you getting on in your new school? I suppose things are different there compared to Ngee Ann polytechnic. Perhaps you are still settling down and adapting to your new environment. As for me, life here in the polytechnic is very hectic. My time is fully occupied in attending lectures, tutorials and field trips to hospital but I am coping well except some problems with the mathematic portions. It began to have a toil on me as a person but a few weeks ago, I decided to sum up all my courage to fight this phobia of math’s so as to be on par with my course-mates.
I been very disappointed all this while with some of my “o” level results for example history (A2) and design technology (B3). Before the first term in 2002 starts, I made a vow that failing to do well in this two subjects, I certainly not “qualified” to go to junior college although I did surprisingly well for the other 5 subject. Because of this commitment, I decided not to go to a tertiary institution whereby I could get my GCE ’A’ level. I knew that you would contradict and said how stupid of me? Nevertheless, a vow is a vow. However, since it is all over, I decided not to brood over it anymore. To me failure teaches many things that success cannot. Most importantly, we learn to be more humble and not look down on others who failed. I learnt not to be cocky and proud. I also learnt that we must pick ourselves up again and strive to do better next time. The most crucial thing is not to indulge in self-pity and shame. Failure is neither pitiful nor shameful. It is just something that happens to all of us one time or another. After falling down there is no way to go except up. Therefore, up, I came and carried on with my life since a completely new metamorphosis awaits me.
Sincerely I salute you for having through thick and thin for the past 4 years of my secondary school life. We had always discuss, study as well as talk on different chapters of life ranging from education to social. We encourage each other along the way. It was a healthy and friendly competition among my closest friends that helped me make a difficult climb to where I am now. In addition, you must consider the vagaries of life, which have the habit of destroying all our hopes and dreams. The truth is, none of us knows for certain what the future will bring. We can only do our best and be willing to face the circumstances courageously and optimistically whatever comes in our way. Always remember to take things in your stride otherwise; you will pay the price for your complacence and procrastination.
Although it been only a few months, I am beginning to miss our secondary school’s life. Nevertheless, I should move on and carry on with our natural course of our growing up years. Regardless of our race, nationality, status and mother tongue, I am sure all of whom who studied in class 5N1 had either fond or sad memories of our yester years. Personally I think that due to the fact that we as a class had been through a whole line of pep talk, criticisms and what not from all our former teachers, it begin to change us holistically and see the world in a different perspective. In this era towards modernization, industrialization and urbanization, I think you should learn how to live for today. To understand that you should accept the things beyond your control and not take everything so seriously. Respectively you must hold on courage and hope, and not let doubt discourage you from doing what you aspire to do.
Remember that the world needs the sunshine of as many smiles as it can get and we should always do our part to transform this boring planet earth into a vibrant intellectual oasis. Similarly, you could build bridges instead of walls and keep in mind that without friends and loved ones, your world would be nothing and thanks them for everything. Besides seeing your good points, you must see the bests in others and to acknowledge their inner beauty and strength with your outer appreciation. In addition, please realize that there is an entire lifetime ahead of you, but precious little time should not be wasted. In spite of having obstacles along the way, work for your goals and know that it can be achieved if you reach for your dreams with ability, determination and belief in order to become a strong, righteous and contributing Muslims. Finally, in the end knowing that life will be good to you if you can do your best to be good with life.
Do you remember the letter you had given me before the start of our first GCE “o” level examination together with the Aidilfitri card, I am sure you do? Firstly, I was utterly stunned by the contents of the letter. It appeared that you sound that you certainly like me without a doubt thus, you wrote the letter to prove it. Nevertheless, I must be clear that I do not have the chemistry for you or it is just infatuation on ur part. I just felt comfortable and good chatting with you. Mind you, it is mentally torturous to write this (paragraph 7). Well I thought no more dilly-dallying about this kind of stuff anymore. I hope we could just be platonic friend since both of us are still studying. Anyway thanks for the card you had given me. I was very touched by what is written inside. I did not know that you have the proficiency in writing such short yet profound string of words that are captivating and pleasant to the ears.
In conclusion, let the school motto-Determined and Disciplined be firmly rooted in your hearts. Let us continue to propagate this core value in all our future achievement. I wish you success on your future endeavor and hope you will achieve victory in whatever you do. Please send my warmest regards to your family members especially to your mother and extend it to our schoolmates if you happen to meet them. Do write and let me know how you are? We would not want to lose contact with each other, would we? We have been friends since secondary two and I certainly would not want our friendship to fade away just because of the distance. In this modern times, there is no such thing as distance in a friendship since we are always available on the phone. If you are happen to be free, you can always phone me if you are too lazy to write. However, let us pray that you had made the right choice for your next step of your educational tour. Hopefully, we could meet again in the near future and conceal our friendship again or just to have a cup of coffee. So here, wishing you all the best in the coming years. I will see you soon, if God willing. Until then, sayonara for now and stay healthy. Last but not the least let us us pray to God that peace and harmony will prevail on earth since there is enough violence and mayhem in this world already. Please call immediately if you have received this letter. I leave you with a few words of wisdom in Chinese proverb for you to ponder on,-
To become an able man in any profession, three things are necessary=Nature, Study and Practice
Fondest Regards,
AFIQ
From an old Friend
5N1(class of 2002)
Dunearn Secondary
P.S. Friend’s forever
