From Land to Children...

Over this past year or so, I have had a large variety of experiences. God opened up a job opportunity for me to work at Singapore Land Authority (SLA) & it has been a great joy to have got to know many nice colleagues (some of them have become my friends). It was a stressful job, especially with my manager being difficult to work with. As they say, when people leave their jobs, more often than not, it is because of people issues. But difficult times bring people together, which is why I still find it a blessing to have bonded with my dept colleagues - Melatie, Ru Ying & Galen. Not to mention a few others from other depts... & some attended my recent wedding.

My job scope at SLA was tedious... basically, I work with numbers (i.e. statistics) day in & day out. Numbers & numbers every day can just drive me crazy! But I got used to the job scope after 2 - 3 months, but the way the work was going on, plus the difficult boss... drove us up the wall... literally almost every other day. It just depends whose turn it is each day...

I have never worked such long hours at the office, until I took this job. Its usually dark when I go home... quite a depressing sight initially, until I got used to it. On good days, I could leave by 7pm. However, on average, it was usually between 7 - 8pm daily... which isn't too bad, though I am just too exhausted to do anything after reaching home after 9pm. I remember that I would almost 95% of the time, totally KO on my bus or MRT journey home. It was unbelievable. And on bad days, I would be working till 8.30pm, or 8.45pm... sometimes till 9.30pm... at times till close to 10pm... & even once till past midnight.

It was depressing... clocking 60 hour work week is no joke... & I found the work so meaningless! Even so, the camaraderie among my dept colleagues was strong... but the time came, when I had to make a choice - to either follow my heart & move to another more suitable job, or to hang on & wait till something else happens... it was a very, very tough decision, as I contemplated, sulked, complained, prayed & seeked advice, for more than 1 month... before I decided to drop it all & move ahead with this new opportunity that God had opened for me.

After 5 attempts to apply for this job, God finally gave me a chance to become a teacher - a primary school teacher. Honestly, after 3 months in this job, I still find it difficult to believe that I am actually in this job. It is rewarding in a sense, something which I can never experience while working in the corporate world. But with this job, comes much pains & emotions, which can be quite agonising at times... agonising, not because of the hard work, but because I care & really want to help these kids, but so many are rebellious, bad attitude & disinterested in studies nowadays. I find it so difficult to help those who do not want to be helped. And I am not even mentioning about those 'special' kids whom have learning & communication difficulties.

Its quite sad, sometimes when I think about it, but I have not given up yet. I guess it is about surrendering to God & let Him work out what He intends to develop in me. For all things work together for the good of those who love Him, & who have been called according to His purpose. This verse is somewhere in the book of Philippians... Amen.