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“Words of Wisdom” is an initiative to document and celebrate the stories, insights, and wisdom of Singapore’s senior citizens. It's powered by Folklory, a service dedicated to preserving stories through audio podcasts, who will collaborate with 60 seniors aged 60 and above to create a series of 60 podcasts, each capturing a unique slice of Singapore’s rich history and culture. Find out more info at Folklory.com
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:23:18
Unknown
Hello there. This is Terence from folkloric. What? You're about to listen to a podcast from the Words of Wisdom project, where we spoke to 60 Singaporeans over the age of 64 as you 60 and captured, and life lessons for the next generation. We hope you enjoy it.
00:00:23:20 - 00:00:48:00
Unknown
And we're here today to record this fuckery with Kim again. And maybe the best way for us to start this whole thing, for you to just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself. Hi, everyone. My name is Ban Ki moon. I am 64 years old. I just turned 64 in August, and, I have three lovely girls.
00:00:48:00 - 00:01:15:05
Unknown
Adult girls, and I'm a grandmother of three. Oh, okay. I, I was staying home with my girls when they were younger for many, many years. And then I am now back teaching, in school again. In this scheme, we I call affects your teacher. And I'm passionate about about teaching the, younger generation. Yeah.
00:01:15:07 - 00:01:41:04
Unknown
Okay. So maybe that's a good place that we can start and to talk about your passion in teaching. So I mean teaching is a very people describe it as a very noble profession. And you know something that you need a lot of passion for. What made you decide to jump into teaching in the first place? I think when I was young, we tend to be very idealistic.
00:01:41:04 - 00:02:09:23
Unknown
That's all we can. More than we can, influence the young, to, transfer and teach them to the values in life. So I think that was, that was my motivation to get into teaching in the first place. So and also during my days, my, my father was poor. I couldn't he couldn't afford to send me to university.
00:02:09:24 - 00:02:52:12
Unknown
So after A-levels, I thought the mixed tertiary education I could get, it would be to, to go into teacher training, because during teacher training at that time, we are also given allowance. So straight away I could, you know, support the family financially as well as still continue with my, education. And I'm glad. I'm glad my father allowed that because, with my skills, with my training as a teacher, I was able to even though I stayed home many, many years when my girls were growing up, I was able to still bring in some income for the family through tuition and, you know, teaching part time in that sense.
00:02:54:09 - 00:03:18:21
Unknown
Got it. Got it. So I mean, you mentioned it, it was something that you also did because you wanted to help support your family financially. Right. So when you see, you see any differences between, people who are choosing to become teachers today versus, you know, like young people back then like yourself, that right, who are doing it?
00:03:19:13 - 00:03:47:08
Unknown
A lot of times, also of necessity as well. And you need to, for instance, you see, in between generations of teachers. Yes. I think that is right now I see, many of my younger converts, they they become into teaching, how to, with the mind that they must progress in their career somehow.
00:03:47:10 - 00:04:20:13
Unknown
There seem to be this, expectation of themselves that within five years they hope to be to hold some kind of leadership position, and then after that, you know, they hope to see their career going forward. But in my days I don't know whether we are naive or people are not as clever teacher. So my generation I mean my 60s, for teacher, my generation, when we went into teaching, we were not we were not thinking of like, eventually to be a shorty or to be a principal.
00:04:20:15 - 00:04:53:08
Unknown
We just want to teach. So, so you're saying that now it's there's a lot, there's a lot more to consider the career paths a lot more. Yes. And they think about the long term things and as opposed to just, you know, doing teaching for the passion of teaching. Yes. Not wrong in that way, but I think there's a slight difference, in the way they, they conduct their relationship with their colleagues and in the way they, they handle the students.
00:04:53:10 - 00:05:19:09
Unknown
I see, I see. So with that kind of mindset. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So what kind of advice would you give to a young person who is considering going to teaching as a career? I think teaching definitely is no longer, what it called it. Like, you know, have the kind of work no longer get my, my own.
00:05:19:14 - 00:06:03:07
Unknown
My youngest daughter is a teacher, and, she leave the house at 630 and some thought she will come back home. It is 6:30 p.m. as well. And after dinner, she may still have, things to prepare. Uno and, scripts and books to math. So it's no longer that. So you really need to to really, have a passion for teaching, for young people or children, which are talking about teaching the younger ones and also to learn how to self manage, because in a sense, the will never get done.
00:06:03:07 - 00:06:36:18
Unknown
You know, there's always things to be done, but don't. We cannot keep going and going and going for the mental health. So I sort of point if, the young person doesn't look after themselves properly, also properly, they are going to be burnt up or few disillusioned or very discouraged. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So what in that sense, what do you think it was the secret to your, you know, remaining motivated, to continue teaching even now and from from early on till now.
00:06:36:23 - 00:07:10:10
Unknown
So what motivates you to continue? Okay. One good thing, mate, motivated me. I was teaching in a very neighborhood secondary school. Okay. And my kids came from, background where, the parents were absent sometimes to necessity because they were, for example, a hawkers. They leave the house early and they come back very late at night. So my students would just get the pocket money for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
00:07:10:10 - 00:07:36:02
Unknown
And they don't really get to see their parents. So there's a lot of, issues where they don't get guidance from their parents. So when they come to school, they come to school at some point to be loved. They come to school to be loved so that they can have that inner strength to deal with the stressors and the challenges of life.
00:07:37:02 - 00:08:02:12
Unknown
So I thought, when I saw I and over the years, because I started of teaching, older children, I was able to see some of these fruits that, that the students will come back to us, many, many years after, after the left school and, and, and thank us not when you will be that, but after many, many years, you know, and have become adults.
00:08:02:19 - 00:08:21:21
Unknown
Some of them, when they started having their families. Yeah. And they will come back and the some of some of them would bother to say, yeah, I, benefited a lot from, from the time I spend with you, I still keep the math exercise books that that you make for us and things like that. I see.
00:08:21:23 - 00:08:51:05
Unknown
So what what has been the, the most, the nicest thing or the most poignant thing that any of your students has told you after, after leaving school. I think it was from one of the parents. I had this Malaysian boy who was in my, one class, and then, eventually he finished secondary school, and he he went to Australia for his uni and all that.
00:08:51:07 - 00:09:12:18
Unknown
And then the mother once told me so we kind of, like, become friends. We are Malaysian. So we will go to, we will drive to Cameron Highlands and on the way up we will say hello to them in KL. And one time I remember the mother telling me, you know, because my child met you learn he loves to study.
00:09:12:20 - 00:09:35:21
Unknown
No. And eventually she went to get his master's from someone who was in the, what he called the at the normal. Normal? A normal program, you know, because of his English. He came in. Yeah. And because he's a Malaysian, his English was not strong. He failed at one in the sense. So he went to settle normal, normal class.
00:09:35:23 - 00:09:59:10
Unknown
So he took five years to finish his secondary education. But no matter. Eventually he went to university. And after his university he asked to do his masters. So. And he is nearly 50 years old now. Well yeah. And just a few months ago nowadays you drive to Singapore with his now with his wife and children.
00:09:59:12 - 00:10:23:14
Unknown
And, I met up with them again sometime, in June. Meet me on June. Oh, okay. Came and he showed me his children, his children and his parents. Oh, well, he was with him, and it was very hard for me to still have that connection. And I know, I know this young man or this man when he was in secondary one.
00:10:24:09 - 00:10:53:05
Unknown
So from 13 years old to till 15 now you see big difference. Yes. Yes. And well it's quite amazing. You know I think you also mentioned that, obviously teaching is one of your big passions, but you've also spent a lot of time and sacrifice of love for your family as well. Right? Yeah. So I do want to ask a little bit about, your family and in general, the idea of love.
00:10:53:17 - 00:11:16:24
Unknown
When you hear the word love, what does that mean to you? Yeah. Love has got many aspects of, You say that I sacrifice one of my family. At that point, I was like, okay, I was doing well in my in my teaching career. I felt that if I had continued, I would definitely have been a school leader by, you know, by student.
00:11:18:09 - 00:11:41:17
Unknown
Time in my career. But when I saw the children growing up and when I came home from my work, I give all my energy to my work. When I came back and I only had one child at a time, my baby was, say, mama, play mama. I just didn't have the energy to to play or to read with her.
00:11:41:19 - 00:12:04:04
Unknown
And I felt kind of bad, you know, that, I'm teaching other people's children, but I'm not able to teach my own child because I didn't have the energy. So that was where I thought it may be good to take a break to see if it's staying home. Was my cup of tea, and with, strong encouragement from my husband, then that's what I did.
00:12:04:09 - 00:12:34:07
Unknown
So I did not see it as a sacrifice. But of course, over time, over time, you know, eventually, I stayed home and actually sad to see my husband had a change of heart. He actually left the family for someone much younger. And that was when I felt. I felt that so-called sacrifice. Because if I had been, teaching and earning my income, I wouldn't be inside.
00:12:34:09 - 00:13:01:10
Unknown
I would be so loss because I didn't get married to to be divorced. We don't, I thought that, you know, we I found somebody, I thought we had the same life goals. We could be a family. And, he was a good man, and he was very supportive of building values in the children versus chasing academic, results on me.
00:13:01:12 - 00:13:26:06
Unknown
So this is very strong endorsement. I stay home, and then when, when things happen, they begin to wonder if I had lost people I know I would have been, you know, this is this. I would have this. This is almost like children, but the I can I can, go back to my, career, show up on special call again.
00:13:26:08 - 00:14:02:04
Unknown
But I saw that even in the crisis in that family, my children were still close to me. My children very close to me. So you say, what is love? I think love, love is actually a common, you know, it's not a feeling. So when I decided that out of love for my children, I wanted to to make sure they will be well taken care of, you know, and so on, so forth, I, I sort of gave up my, my career, at the point I didn't see as a sacrifice.
00:14:02:05 - 00:14:25:14
Unknown
I didn't feel that it was a sacrifice. I just felt that at that point of my life, my children were young. I should be, putting my energy and my effort in raising them. So that was my commitment to them in a sense, you see. So I yeah, I think love is commitment. It's it's not a feeling.
00:14:25:16 - 00:14:49:03
Unknown
It's the same thing I, I even though my husband has left and he fought for divorce, I still I still look back and think that I did not regret the time that I, I, I was married to him because I knew that I was committed to the marriage. I didn't want the divorce. I was never prepared that okay, we are hit.
00:14:49:05 - 00:15:21:22
Unknown
We hit something bad. We hit the big rock. Is there something we can work on so that we can, type over, you know, this, this and this, crisis and much more committed to each other. To, he was not on the same page with me. Yeah. Okay. Okay. I mean, you know, you've raised three daughters, and, I, like you mentioned you're even a grandmother yourself now.
00:15:21:24 - 00:16:04:12
Unknown
So what do you tell? What have you told or what? What would you tell your daughters about love? Like what lessons? What's the one big lesson that you would tell them? Yeah, I, I told them, number one, evil, when you are married, you need to continue to grow as a couple and, be able to talk about hot things of hatred, topics that are difficult, and not ship things under the carpet.
00:16:06:03 - 00:16:28:11
Unknown
So that I. And I told them the longer you are. In fact, I recently had a talk with my second daughter, because the, the been married ten years already, so they are facing some issues. And she said, oh, does that mean my marriage is in shambles? I said, no, these are hot topics to talk about because, she's facing a her grief over her miscarriages.
00:16:28:13 - 00:16:50:17
Unknown
My second daughter had three miscarriages. And of course, the men will respond differently from the woman, you know, the grieving part of it. So. So these are things that you have to talk about and things like that. So I think, no, it doesn't mean the marriage is in shambles. It just means that you have to be willing to sit down and talk about hot topics.
00:16:50:19 - 00:17:13:20
Unknown
It could also be something really from your heart and then give each other space to, your dissatisfaction. Remember, you're always on the same team. You are not opposing teams. You were on the same team. And if there are things that need to work at it, you just need it. And if you need to see a counselor go ahead and see someone.
00:17:13:20 - 00:17:52:03
Unknown
It's not a shameful thing to get to talk to a third party who who is neutral, who will be able to help you see things maybe a bit clearer. Yeah. So so that's. Yeah. So that's what I, I told them, I, and I still I used to encourage them to stay in connection with their father. In fact, my ex-husband and I, we, talking posts, I have, I have forgiven him and forgiven the woman who who came into the picture, because, forgiveness is for my own good.
00:17:52:05 - 00:18:23:11
Unknown
So I the one to remain a person. You know, I think a better person is very difficult to live with. And, my, my children can see that. And I do not talk bad things about their father in front of them. So they are still in, in, in communication with the father. But, of course, they continue to feel that loss and that I think that, you know, that their loss and the betrayal, they also feel betrayed.
00:18:24:14 - 00:18:51:13
Unknown
Okay. So, I mean, your daughters, they've all also grown up now and have their own lives. You know, what is the secret to maintain a strong relationship with them even after they've left the house? I think it's that relationship. Is that after they left the house, the relationship I had to start when they were young, you know?
00:18:51:15 - 00:19:14:02
Unknown
So I, I thought, I don't know, this this is only my very limited experience. I got the time I spent being with them when they were young, you know, the fact that I give up my job and so I have more energy and more mental space to be with them. Yeah. And and we just, we are just now that they have their own children.
00:19:14:02 - 00:19:38:09
Unknown
My, my second daughter has her own child, on school going children. And she has to start sending them to school in the morning is so difficult for her because she is not an early she's not a morning person. I think she said, oh, mama, you send me to school and at school I send them to school, from primary one all the way through to for because they were either at school that, you know, allow them to go all the way to sector.
00:19:38:14 - 00:20:07:14
Unknown
So it's like, ten years. For 12 years. I send them to school every day. And, and so this one, how do you do it? But I felt that you do things like that a way was just one of those things. You do a bond with them already. Yeah. It the bond is there. I may be blessed that, that, you know, even in their teenage years and during their teenage years was going to father their father left the family.
00:20:08:00 - 00:20:33:18
Unknown
I, I don't remember big I don't see a big conflict with them you know. Yes. Not that I know I really could remember. Yeah. They had the usual, you know one to drop armor, the one to take my subjects for, for, for O-level because you know, and there's a lot of negotiation and things like that, but there was no like slamming of doors, you know.
00:20:34:06 - 00:20:58:24
Unknown
Yeah, I go out with my friends, don't tell, don't tell mommy or I do some things behind her back. Maybe they did. I don't know yet, but. But I felt that teenage years were relatively calm for me. I don't know, during that time, if they had been rebellious, it would be very, very difficult for me because emotionally I was dealing with a trauma of of my marriage broken down.
00:20:59:01 - 00:21:23:06
Unknown
It was very traumatic for me. I was dealing with that, and if my kids were also giving me trouble, I think I would have gone crazy. But God was merciful to me. Yeah, probably specific to me that that didn't happen. And I thought the teenage years, in terms of our relationship, that was relatively calm. So I think there's a lot that's happened to me already.
00:21:23:08 - 00:21:47:17
Unknown
And so now that they are married, okay. One of the things we have done is to stay near each other. So I actually, shook my apartment, to and bought a the same flat very near to my second daughter so that when she needs help, I offer my help, once a week. She's a stay at home mum.
00:21:48:01 - 00:22:14:20
Unknown
So I offer my help once a week in the evenings so that they can, my Sunday night hook can go out and and build their relationship. And then my eldest daughter also bought a resale flat near where I stayed. So we are very near each other. I thought when, when, when we need help this is much easier because actually what happened about ten years ago I had open heart surgery, had a heart attack, and it was a dream.
00:22:14:20 - 00:22:33:10
Unknown
And that was the time where the girls start to realize that, you know, what mom is is not always strong and hearty. You know, there'll be a day where you become weak, and then we have to look after her. So they they strongly encourage me. Mom, would you like to stay near us when you are older? And so I consider that.
00:22:33:12 - 00:22:59:14
Unknown
And as how we came to this decision to stay near each other. Yeah, I see, I see. Okay. I mean, it's disheartening to see that, the daughters or even as adults are still trying to maintain, physical, physical closeness to us. All right. Oh, yes. Yes, there is something I, I'm very thankful for and thankful for. And we and we got a lot of things.
00:22:59:16 - 00:23:17:02
Unknown
And sometimes my girls, when I don't cross my boundary to them, I cross boundary. Then they will tell me, mom, do you know that my friend don't even talk this kind of thing to the parents? I assume that, you know, we talked about this, you know, so they tell me. No, some of my friends don't even talk like that with their parents.
00:23:17:04 - 00:23:41:07
Unknown
So I said okay I accept it, I have to learn from the young people. So speaking of that, because I did want to, to talk a little bit about relationships outside of family as well. Right. You know, with friends, you know, when you see social media today and how young people stay in touch with each other through social media and all that.
00:23:41:08 - 00:24:04:17
Unknown
Right. How do you feel about that when you see how everyone's on social media using it and all? And, I don't know. I don't know how real social media is because, you see, when, when, when you take a picture. Okay. My girls, will always took pictures of food that be, I think, right. That's one of those things.
00:24:04:19 - 00:24:30:07
Unknown
I mean, we keep thinking, okay. Oh, this this angle is not nice. This, this position is not good. We keep picking that. And I definitely, when we are taking pictures of ourselves to put on social media, there's a lot of acting up, I think, to put the best, best face or the best image forward. So I really, really wonder how real is that?
00:24:31:00 - 00:25:01:01
Unknown
Of what we see. And and of course, we are seeing what people who appear happy on social media. And recently I just at news, of someone, not a personal friend, but a personal friend of my daughter who was, big on social media. And she committed suicide. You know, and on her. And that was when I went into her social, page to see it in every, this picture.
00:25:01:01 - 00:25:25:13
Unknown
She looks so happy. And to me, it's like the epitome of success. But she is dealing with some devils in her life. And, and she of course it must have been to a point where she couldn't take it anymore that this motivation, even when she think about her children being young and all that and she killed herself.
00:25:25:15 - 00:25:52:24
Unknown
So I think this social media is good to build. So high was self-esteem. I think we cannot take ourself too seriously on social media. Is still important to build. Relationship like that real relationship with with your peers or, or people who are older to have that connection. I think we need that connection on social media.
00:25:53:05 - 00:26:20:24
Unknown
There isn't much of a connection. It's just a projecting projecting of your own self-image of what you want other people to see. You sure. And it's true for me. Yeah. During my very difficult period, I actually when my marriage got down, you know, one of those things that keep me, sane and I didn't, like, resort to harming myself or even killing myself because that appeared to me.
00:26:21:01 - 00:26:47:13
Unknown
It occurred to me, you know, I'm in such pain. Maybe if I, I do something and I, I, I may not feel the pain anymore. The physical pain, the emotional pain was so great. Maybe if I die, you know, I won't feel all these things anymore. But I didn't do that because I had very, very close friends who were keeping that for me.
00:26:47:24 - 00:27:20:00
Unknown
And I even had my own in-laws, you know, my, my mother in law who really loves me as a daughter. It came to a point because I was married for 20 years to that family before my husband decided that, okay, once, you know, when he, he had a change of heart. We were married for 20 years and I had built, a close relationship with my mother in law, especially, and my sisters in law.
00:27:20:02 - 00:27:50:19
Unknown
So it's this kind of relationship that, you know, when you have crisis and they come around you, that gives you that strength and stability, someone despite all the trauma that's going on. I mean, I mean it's good to hear. Yeah. There's a support network of friends as well. They're also there for you. Can you tell me a little bit about know what exactly is important to you.
00:27:51:21 - 00:28:19:20
Unknown
In, in your friends circle. Like what? What do your friends mean to you? What my friends mean to you? Now that, I am, consider I would. Yeah. I think my friends are important because we, we kind of like when we were younger we were busy raising our families, maybe some of us trying to, stabilize our career or to be a career.
00:28:20:06 - 00:28:44:07
Unknown
So we didn't have as much, energy to build, friendship. And but right now, in my this season of life, I have more energy for that. And to have friends. To have companions, especially for myself now that I'm, sort of single again. Right? It's good to have friends where we can hang out together.
00:28:44:09 - 00:29:04:01
Unknown
We can talk. For example, these friends have been with me for so long, and if I had things to gripe about, I would just complain to them. You know, if I still think about my ex in a certain way, I can talk to them very honestly, but not in front of my children. Right? Because I don't want to affect them.
00:29:04:03 - 00:29:24:22
Unknown
And I still feel that their father is their father. They are adult. They know exactly what had gone on. They have formed their own opinions. But I don't have to add on to to that. So the sort of things that, having friends is important, we can really hang up. We can, sort of, let our hair down and be ourselves.
00:29:24:24 - 00:29:53:10
Unknown
Yeah. So we, I think this kind of friends and I hope, I mean like that to them so. Yeah. I see so what do you think the important values or traits that you, they use look for in your friends. We my friends. I look for people who, genuinely who, who are not afraid to disagree with me.
00:29:54:00 - 00:30:21:24
Unknown
So that I can if I have some kind of wrong, thinking or, you know, if my friends disagree with me, perhaps they can help me see another perspective. And you check. Recently, I had this experience, I was facing some issue. Some, Yeah. And and, I had two friends who disagreed with what I said, but they told me very nicely.
00:30:21:24 - 00:30:48:00
Unknown
And we have come to the kind of relationship where when my ship desegregated, I don't take it personally. And he helped me. He helps me to see another angle, another perspective that I was blind to. And I felt that, that this kind of relationship helps me to be a better version of myself because I'm sure somehow we have our own blind spots.
00:30:48:00 - 00:31:14:18
Unknown
Right. So when people point it out, I think I want to hold that kind of attitude that I can learn, and I want to have friends like that so that, I, I don't feel judged by them or that I have to portray myself in certain way, lift certain kind of lifestyle to be accepted by them.
00:31:14:20 - 00:31:34:12
Unknown
Know, for instance, many of my friends at this point, they are able to, do you have a retired, they are able to fly all over the world. You know money is no issue for them but I am not in that league. But I don't feel as if they are looking down on me. No, I can do this.
00:31:34:14 - 00:31:57:24
Unknown
You can. So you are less than me. I don't feel that from my friends. Those who are able. Yeah. In fact, they are able. And they are very generous, many of my friends. So to me, what is important. And friends, we have the same, values. We are genuine and we really care for one another.
00:31:58:01 - 00:32:18:01
Unknown
I see, I see. So I mean just to circle back to what we were talking about earlier, you know young people, a lot of them spend a lot of time on social media. But there's also a lot of young people who also say that they feel more lonely than ever. Right. So what kind of advice would you be able to give young people who might be feeling like that?
00:32:19:01 - 00:32:58:09
Unknown
Okay. I think first of all, the, what you call the is a cultural extreme or the identity of a person. Is important because unfortunately in our, well, now in our value system now we place a lot of emphasis on success. And our criteria for success could be that you go to, school, you earn as X dollars, you know, things like that.
00:32:58:11 - 00:33:22:23
Unknown
And so if a young person who may not have this sort of experience and, it can affect their identity. So I think it's important for, for young people to realize that, you are more than a piece of paper or that, you know, I never go to university, so therefore I'm not successful as, my friend who has gone to university.
00:33:23:00 - 00:33:46:08
Unknown
So I think it's important for young people to realize that we are more than a piece of people. We are more than, the. Our worth is not in how much money we earn on the kind of house that we live in, or the kind of handbag that I can carry or the kind of events I go to.
00:33:46:14 - 00:34:08:12
Unknown
We are more than that. So I don't know how to do that to other young people, except that to my own children. When they were growing up. That was what that was what, we try to instill in them. We expected them to be their best, but if they did not school it academically, they did not score well.
00:34:08:13 - 00:34:36:10
Unknown
So be not all. Yeah. And we are not earning so, so, so much more money. So be it. But they are happy. They are people who who have integrity. They are compassionate. They are able to see the good in people. I think they're not enough. So I don't know, as a society, maybe we need to define what's us.
00:34:36:12 - 00:34:59:19
Unknown
Real success is not just this is the fictional talk about. Because at the end of life, now that I'm older, now that I'm I'm at my stage, I don't need to buy a lot of things if I can go to the shopping center. In fact, I have nothing to buy because I don't need to. I don't need those things.
00:34:59:21 - 00:35:32:04
Unknown
So so it's not getting more and more things that will satisfy me is how we are satisfied with life, right? By having quality relationships, by being comfortable in our own skin. Yeah. That's, that's, that's my, my experience. Got it, got it. Okay. Yeah. So you know we've, we've been talking a lot about your experience in your life lessons that can be passed on to future generations.
00:35:32:07 - 00:35:57:16
Unknown
Right. So because we're recording this as part of history 60 as well, is there any parting words that you want to leave for future generations of Singaporeans who might be listening to this and how what the how they should live their lives, in the days ahead? Well, what is very deep.
00:35:57:17 - 00:36:25:12
Unknown
Yeah. Because in life we need to just do our best to, if we can how to put, if we can make a difference to just one person. It's like I think okay. It's good enough for all of us. Need to be influencers. Like now this is a very, important work to a lot of people.
00:36:25:14 - 00:36:51:18
Unknown
Not many of us, can be big influencers that we influence. Just 1 or 2 person in our circle of friends. I think we have contributed. And I'm very thankful to be in Singapore because as a mother of young girls and growing up, I can be so comfortable with my girls growing up on their own and I know that they will come home safe.
00:36:52:06 - 00:37:27:08
Unknown
That is not something that, mothers from other nations, around can can feel, you know, so I'm thankful that there were people who make sacrifices to build this country in this stage, you know, but I am not at a kind of position to influence this, this at this level. So in my own level, I want to bring up my children who will be contributing members of society.
00:37:27:10 - 00:37:53:14
Unknown
I don't know how to contribute. Maybe they contribute by raising, good children. My eldest one is doing research on breast cancer so she can contribute in the area to help, women. Or I realize men also can have breast cancer. That's what I learn from her. You know, in their areas of influence, they can be impactful.
00:37:53:20 - 00:38:19:10
Unknown
And that's good enough so we don't have to reach a big audience. But as a young person, do what you can, what you receive, give it back to society. Help someone do something that is bigger than yourself. Don't just be some exalt and self center. If we are able to be involved in something that's bigger ourselves, so I think we will find it.
00:38:19:10 - 00:38:28:10
Unknown
Life is more meaningful and I.
00:38:28:12 - 00:38:57:13
Unknown
Hello again. I hope you enjoyed listening to that full query. Words of wisdom is a project by Charlotte Go, powered by Phil Cleary and supported by our Singapore Fund. To find out more, please visit our website at Folklorico Comm. That's f o k o r y.com. Goodbye.