“I feel that something is missing. There is no excitement and life is pretty boring”, an SM2 student told me.

After the initial excitement of being in a new environment, some of us find the life in Singapore dull and slow. Some get depressed because of homesickness. One of my friends even become obsessed with video games in an attempt to break the monotony of life here and cannot pull himself out. Living in Singapore is largely comfortable and it is easy for students to lose not only their focus but also the drive that propels them to work hard.

Despite the problems we all might encounter, the essential thing is to face them positively and to try our best to overcome them. What are we really missing? Actually, it is not the excitement of life. However, what we are missing is the readiness to be a future player in the world and the realisation that we are no longer a Senior Middle School student studying for a satisfactory score in National University Entrance Examination (NUEE).

Before we arrived in Singapore, as Senior Middle School students, the focus in our life was to try our best to do well in the NUEE. However, after coming to Singapore, some of us got frustrated, because they suddenly found that their life in the next few years have been scheduled. No more NUEE, no more former teachers’ supervision on study. With the thought that they have nothing meaningful to do, they got baffled by various problems.

However, in a completely new environment, we should realise that it is no use immersing ourselves in the recollection of the good old days or restricting our mind to the past successful experience. Whether we can quickly get rid of the burden of past success is the key point determining whether we can adjust us well into the new society. It would be meaningless for us to cross the South China Sea, only to get depressed and dejected here. As a pre-university student, we should realise that, now, it is the best time for us to understand Singapore and get used to the new learning style in university. Instead of studying mechanically, we should acquire knowledge more creatively. The important mission in front of us now is to learn how to apply our intelligence into the various fields so that we can become qualified players in the next millenium. When we are clear about what we are going to do, we will feel fulfilled and our life no longer dull.

Furthermore, for those who hold the notion that they have nothing meaningful to do or feel that life is dull, they are actually ignoring the fact that, in Singapore, there are plenty opportunities for us to express our full potential. The history of modern Singapore has shown China-born talent has their own value in the progress of Singapore. Howe Yoon Chong, who was picked as the chief assistant of Lim Kim San, the first Chairman of HDB in 1960, came from South China. Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew remarked that without his support, Lim Kim San and the housing program could not have succeeded. Recently, the Singapore table tennis team led by China-born players bagged nearly all the golden medals in the SEA (South East Asian) Games. Moreover, Under current pressure from the economic crisis, in spite of some suggestion that Singapore government should tone down the repeated statement on the need to draw foreign talent, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong continue to stress on the importance of importing foreign talent and reiterate many times Singapore government’s commitment towards nurturing talents—both local and foreign. Government repeatedly stresses, “all who can contribute to the growth of Singapore are welcomed to the shores of Singapore”. In a nation which aims to be a cosmopolis with world-class economy, Singapore provides us with golden opportunity to manifest our capacity and realise our full potential.

The negative attitudes towards our life will not only affect our own development but will also be irresponsible for the Singapore government’s faith in our ability. We have to prove ourselves worthy of Singapore government’s faith in us and in time to come, we can prove to others that we are truly “talented”. With that thought and current opportunities, there are enough reasons for us to be confident and capable of standing up to various problems. The spice of life can only be created by ourselves. Bearing that in our mind, we will never feel bored and lack of spice of the life.

(By Wang Jun)