“I have a Dream”

My sister’s best friend recently completed her doctorate. She can now call herself Dr Chung. We are all so happy for her.

She had come a long way from that young girl from a one-street village, who was brought up with little money as her dad passed on when she was young. Due to the local education quota system, she was unable to get entrance to the programme of her choice at a local university.

Instead of accepting her fate or waiting for hand outs, she took a chance and went over to Australia to study with only enough money to last one semester. Once there, she got herself a job as a waitress which earned her enough money to see her through university. She told me that those were the worst times of her life. She had to travel two hours to her place of work and rushed back to study. Her determination to succeed in life saw her through those tough times. That’s perhaps why, upon graduation, she left Australia for good, as it meant leaving the memories of her hardship behind.

Then, she went on to Hong Kong and found a career working her way through a few large multinationals. A woman with a voracious appetite for knowledge, she slogged through two Masters programmes whilst working in Hong Kong. Not an easy feat, considering what a powerhouse Hong Kong is when it comes to work and stress. Then, a couple of years back, she was retrenched. She decided then to chase another one of her dreams i.e. getting a doctorate.

Recently, she sent us an email regarding her triumph. Her mail touched me and made me think. Here is what she had to say …

“The thing with 'dream(s)' is just do it when the opportunity comes...worry about $$ later...I have no money now...but God is kind enough to 'arrange' a job for me...although I don't like to be based in Dubai...I will resign very soon...and run my own business.”

“… what is there to lose leh...my home.. flexible one...just sell it and rent....my car is in the market now...although (it’s an) old Mercedes Benz...try already enough la...no need to (be) 'attach' to it...”

It’s a pretty interesting philosophy in life. We are always so attached to material things that we think we cannot leave without them. But if we could only take our blinkers off and view life from a different angle … perhaps these material things are not as important as we think.