Graduation Marks the Next Stage of Your Life

What do Asian parents aim for?  In my opinion it is the  '4- Angled Cap' which was translated literally from Hokkien (Chinese Dialect).  In simply mean "Graduation Hat".

I believe it is every Asian parents' dream to see their child wearing the graduation robe and the hat on their graduation day and they can finally live their life in peace (which means retirement).

Asian parents are very extreme.  They either boast about their child's achievement like how Chinese New Year drumroll or firecrackers sounds like or they are quiet about it.  Not a single word to be heard from the parents mouth.  It's like the dead calm sea in Bermuda Triangle.   Whichever category they are from, it doesn't matter because on this day, all Asian parents just seem to unite and has this super glowing face.

Have you attended a Convocation before?  If you have, you must have seen how their face shine on that day.  At times I think the parents might just outshine their kids as their face just glow with this pride that you so seldom see in an Asian parent.

Primary school life as I remember it, years seems to come by so slowly.  There must either be something wrong with the calendars or the clock because time ticks just so. slowly.

Then comes Secondary school life.  Chinese New Year seems to come faster now than when I was in primary school and I was taking part in more school activities than ever.

Before I know it,  I am packed and on my way to another State to pursue my Degree.  Some of you even left the country in pursuit of your Degrees and what the heck, I just finished the 1st year of my job now.

It is not a joke when they say time passes in a blink of an eye.  What happened to all the yester-years?  What happened to the time when we played by the roadside or catch tadpole by the drain?

What happened to that time when we have to return home before curfew?  Or simply, what happened to all that time when you hang out with your buddies till the next morning at a mamak stall watching football or tennis simply on a whim?  Seriously, what happened to all those?

My memory provides me with a blurry picture when I try to recall all the things that happened yester-years.  All I can remember is what's happening around in the office and things that I am planning for the future.

6th, 7th, 8th and 9th October 2012 are the graduation dates for Multimedia University (MMU) students and all day long today, I've seen so many graduation photos of my friends and even my own cousin where they received all the heartiest congratulations that were posted to their Facebook walls.

I too, congratulate each and every one of you for this happy, happy celebration.

Wearing that robe around you does make you shelter a few extra pound of burden because from this point on, you are no longer that little bird being caged and fed.  Now, it is time you fly out from your comfort zone and start facing this world from a different perspective:  as a working person.  Now you have to learn how is it to be subjected to seniors.  How is it to get to a higher position.  How to respect others and also ultimately, how to earn respect from others.

This is one of those life changing moments because you feel that you have to take everything seriously from this moment on.  Long gone are the days where you can act recklessly and come the days where you are officially an adult.

You can no longer be that brat who jokes 24/7 because all our life up till this point, our parents has been trying their utmost best to guide us till this point.  We have journeyed on a one way street together with our parents from birth until now and this time, we have reach a T-junction.  We go our separate ways because they can no longer control your journey.  It's time you decide your own path and journey through the ups and downs on your own.  The two paths would occasionally meet but you will notice eventually notice that your journeys don't interweave as often as time pass because you have become more (financially) independent.

Again, heartiest congratulations to all of you who has graduated.  May our path inter-cross each other one day in the future and lets help each other out when the time comes.

Yay! <3