Take 5 – 14th September 2015 by Mrs Ong Li Pei

Good morning Mdm Tan, Mr Lee, Mr Tan, Fellow Colleagues and Gessians.

Today, I am delivering the Take-Five of the week. I will share with you on my thoughts about ‘Bonsai Tree’.

When I was growing up, one of my favourite family’s programme is ‘Japan hour’ where we get a taste of Japanese travel, food and culture at home. It is still showing on Channel NewsAsia. That was my first exposure to Bonsai Tree. In the particular telecast, it showed Bonsai Tree lovers come together to display their art in the exhibit. The exhibit would typically feature over hundreds of Bonsai trees. They came in various sizes, shapes, and colors. Some were pretty to look at and some not so much.

Being young, I always assumed Bonsai trees were special trees that only grew really small. It wasn’t until I was older that I learned these miniature trees are no different than any other tree – left on their own they would grow into full-sized trees (much like the trees that composed the forest around our home). But rather than being allowed to reach their fullest size, Bonsai trees are planted in miniature pots, their roots are stunted, and their branches are pruned incessantly. As a result, Bonsai trees never grow to their fullest potential.

I completely understand and appreciate the art displayed in the meticulous work of maintaining a Bonsai tree. But, I also believe that this tree designed for a great and powerful future can also grow more beyond the miniature pots, soil or pruning.

How shall we learn and grow?

Adopt a growth mindset where you believe that intelligence can be developed. That will lead to a desire to learn and therefore a tendency to embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, see effort as the path to mastery, learn from criticism and find lessons and inspiration in the success of others.

This week is the beginning of GCE N-Level Examination for Combined Humanities, English Language, Mother Tongue and Computer Applications papers. The Sec 1s and Sec 2s will also be taking the Mother Tongue oral exam and English oral exam respectively. I urged all Gessians to savour life and embrace all lifes’ challenges with a growth mindset.

Let me end off today’s Take 5 with a quote “Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.” – Wilma Rudolph

Thank you and have a good week ahead.