Are you a Leader?

Are you a Leader?
Yesterday I was one of the judges at one of Bukit Batok Toastmasters Club Table Topic and International Speech Contest. The question posed to the contestants was: "Leaders create more leaders, not more followers". The club President exhorts us to be leaders of change.

I am reminded that each of us are to be leaders, leaders of our own lives, by embracing change and taking a lead in steering our own destiny rather than let the wave of life rock us to nowhere.

As I observed the champions in action, their great performance has put me to shame. I humbly reminded that's so much I need to learn to be a better communicator.

Today, in the news, there is an unsung hero in Mr Andrew Choo. There are 966 secondary school dropouts in 2001. So he set up a school for such people. Started with only 12 people. Found that most of them could not afford the $20 monthly fees. The school cost about $300,000 a year to run. The Presbyterian Church is helping to raise fund.

I admire people like him who sees a need and take action. Yes, for pioneers like him, there are giant obstacles ahead - getting the fund, getting supporters, convincing the 'customers' to stay in the program. But the vision and dream is bigger than the obstacles.

There is another unsung hero in Queenie Tan. She personally delivers food to the poor old people in their single room apartment. She pay about $2000 out of her own pocket money. No sponsor, no fund raising.

These are the true heroes - unsung, unseen, unknown. Yet in their own small way, they are changing lives, and making a difference to the people they touch. That reminds of the classic story of a person who throw starfish from the shore into the sea. A passerby asked why she is doing it when there are thousands of starfish and many are dying anywhere, so what's the deal on a few fish. She replied that it makes a difference to the one she saved.

As I sit next to my 4 year old daughter and teach her to trace the alphabets, I realise that in each of this precious moment, I am moulding her. I have become a god to her. Someone say that the best way to understand your parents is when you become a parent yourself.