Because of the Japanese Occupation in Malaya, my grandfather had to put his schooling at halt. Or really, all forms of education were reformatted towards being all things Japanese.
Hence, when he was already 14, he returned to school at a Standard 5 level (11 years old), with only two words of English known to him, "the" (which he wasn't sure of its meaning at all) and "boy" ( this he knew).
The first time, he sat for an English exam, he failed miserably. Yet, his tenacity and hunger for knowledge allowed him to learn and do a lot better in the months to come.
Fast forward to last week, one of the many times, he shared me this story, it never resonated so clearly to me before. About knowledge, about a man's hunger for it, about a man's desire to 'make it' in despite of compelling situations.
Today, my grandfather may not be the wealthiest man alive, but true hardwork and perseverance, he lives a fairly comfortable life - disregarding the various close calls to death.
Today, he still reads, his Bible, books and whatever he can get his hands on, he bought an iPad to allow himself a means of learning English easier, and more often than not, he is more well informed than I am about the happenings of the world through the news.
A man's hunger for knowledge is evident in the things he plans to do and the things he eventually does. It is not about the perfection to it all, but the more progress of it all.
In school today, I've come to realise the desire for knowledge seems to be lacking. If anything at all, many are uninspired and have the tendency to just 'make do'. Focusing on the end result, the GPA, the scores, the Ds and HDs; compromising on the actual purpose of school - forging knowledge.
fei
No comments:
Post a Comment