P1

Mr Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and guests,

Let me share with you a quote by Mr. Thornton Wilder,” We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” To me, I believe that my treasures are the people who I loved and the memories that I hold dear.

So, let me share some of my treasures with you.

I live with my father, mother and my sister who is 1 year younger than me. My father is a typical Asian father, who never says how much he loves us since he chose to express them with his actions. My mum likes to nag at us and although I do get irritated at times, I know that it because we are her everything. My sister is someone whom I can find when I need advice to buy my clothes and she really goes all out to help me when I ask her for favors.

I was born in 1990 during the Chinese New Year, well not exactly since Chinese New Year lasted for 15 days and I came to this world on the 11^th. I lived with my maternal grandparents for 2 years because my parents were working then my mum quitted her job when my sister was one years old to take care of us. I don’t have much recollections of my childhood, only that I was very mischievous. I chewed on the wood of my sofa, and got my sister to do the same thing as me; I jumped down many things, like my sofa and the stairs and got my sister along too; I even pulled the chair away when someone was about to sit and got scolded pretty badly. But I had fun.

Then, school came along. First was nursery then kindergarten at PAP childcare centre. Still, I only have vague memories of it, only that:

1.      1. I skipped all the breakfast because they were not hot

2.      2.I like birthdays since they mean presents and food

3.      3.I was very playful and I once roll down a flight of stairs in the auditorium and got a big bruise on the left side of my face. It took countless boiled eggs before my father finally “rubbed” it away.

Life was carefree then and I watched every cartoon that was screened. For an extended period of time, I sincerely believed that I was a power ranger and my bed, together with my bolsters and pillows were my base and its peripheral machineries.  Episodes of power rangers were screened at 9am every Saturday so I would, well, foolishly as I looked back now, programmed my bolster so that I would wake up at 8. 55 am, just in time for a quick brush of my teeth and ready for the show. Miraculously, never once did my bolster fail me, which probably entrenched my belief that I was a power ranger.

My mum signed us up for swimming and I still remember vividly how she has to do the balancing act, where I would be in the front seat and my sister in the back seat of the bicycle that she would use to ferry us to and fro from the swimming pool. Once, it was raining and the bike slipped and all of us fell. I blamed my mum for causing us to fall but if I had another chance, at that point of time, I would hug her and say that it’s okay.

Primary school was like a whirlwind for me since I had to learn many subjects at once and to meet many different people. During my lower primary school days, I was very talkative so I was often by punished by them. For instance, I was called the God of the Table because I was banished to the top of the tables when the others were sitting on the floor so that I couldn’t talk to anyone else and I was called Jurassic Park because of my uncanny resemblance with dinosaurs---my big mouth. In my upper primary days, I was teased by my classmates who called me “big head”. Well, I didn’t think that the size of my head is abnormal so I was irritated by their labeling so much so that I chose a secondary school whereby no else in my batch went. It is Dunman High, in case you are wondering.

Speaking about my treasures has certainly brought back fond memories which I would give anything just to relive them.  I hope that all of you will live for the moment and cherish your treasures.

Thank you Mr. Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and guests.