“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”… After having joined the workforce and having started contributing to the economic growth of Singapore in a more tangible way for about a year and a half now, I’d have to say that this line really does strike a chord in me. It’s almost as if I had crossed this imaginary line that demarcated life before and after CSS. It was kinda scary at first not knowing how life would be after my last Exam Mass.
Well I don’t know if they paved paradise and put up a parking lot but CSS seems to be off to a good start this school year! For one thing, there’s this new online edition of Candle – something we never had during my time.
Technically I’m no longer a part of CSS. I’ve joined the rest of the dinosaurs – that’s what you’re branded as after you return your matric card at the Registrar’s Office. Gone are the days when going to Mass on a weekday was oh so convenient – we had it right on campus! Nowadays, I’ve got to wake up real early – as early as when the roosters start to crow in the kampungs – if I want to be sure that I can be with my Best Friend in the Eucharist. Of course I can always go for the evening Masses but then again you’ve got to factor in Murphy’s Law. Business meetings can unexpectedly drag on for ages or something usually pops up at the last minute and ruins your plans for the rest of the day.
Another thing I miss is the fun and friendly atmosphere at CSS. It was great to be a part of such a loving and welcoming community. Well unfortunately, some people in the working world are not exactly as nice, warm and ever willing to give you a “peace be with you” hug as the people in CSS. When people have mouths to feed, aunties and uncles to walk on weekends and getting a raise and a promotion seem to be the only things in their minds, things tend to be a bit nastier and little horns stick out more obviously. Well I’m not saying that working people in general are a mean bunch. There will always be people that you’ll like and people you won’t like. It’s just that it was rather naïve of me at the beginning of my professional life to expect that somehow everyone would be kind and helpful just because I was new.
It’s hard to live a good Christian life in the working world. The fact that Catholicism is a minority religion in Singapore is more keenly felt outside of CSS. But still I’m a follower of Jesus Christ and he has called me to be salt of the earth and light of the world. I cannot live a double life – one when I’m at the office and one when I’m at church or elsewhere - lest I turn schizophrenic.
It’s high time for me to share the good things I’ve received from CSS with the rest of the corporate world. I have to make them see that there’s more to life than the 5Cs and that they should be aiming instead for the one C to rule them all – Christ.
The good thing is that I don’t have to do anything weird or extraordinary to be able to do that - like turning my desktop to a mini altar of sorts. I just have to give good example through my work and offer it up to God - just as hours of study can be turned into prayer as I once read in one of the previous articles in Candle. For new recruits like me, performing well may seem impossible during the first few months but as long as people see that you’re doing you’re very best and that you’re a person of integrity and good character then they’ll respect you and they’ll be more willing to listen to you when you talk to them about God and religion.
What keeps me going through it all is that I know I am a son of God. Echoing the words from Psalm 2, “You are my son. It is I who has begotten you this day.” People may call me names, but hey, I still have God as my Father and that’s all that really matters to me. As long as I struggle to keep my appointments with Him everyday, with His grace I know that everything’s gonna be fine, fine, fine.
