I was just telling Adrian the other day at the Maximise Your Potential (MYP) ceremony that we have completed a full cycle of the Chinese Horoscope.
The newest batch of P4s were borned under the same Chinese Zodiac animal as that of the very first batch of P4s, thirteen years ago.
Time really flew.
ZhiWei was one of the RunForFunds kids when we first started and we are very very proud that he has returned to be our guest-of-honour along with his mom.
We hope to see more kids making the return to continue to motivate and encourage their juniors.
I hope to see these kids taking over RunForFunds when we are no longer able.
Dear friends,
The 13th Maximize Your Potential (MYP) award ceremony held on 23rd April 2016 was special.
The guest-of-honour was a recipient of the inaugural Maximize Your Potential award in 2004.
We also have a bumper crop of 25 award recipients!! (6 P4, 9 P5 and 10 P6).
They have been highly recommended by their teachers for good behaviour and grades and more importantly, potential to excel.
Pictures taken at the 2016 MYP award ceremony are posted here:
https://www.facebook.com/RunForFunds
1. Guest-of-Honour: Tan Zhiwei from the 1st MYP in 2004
Zhiwei, an inaugural MYP award recipient in 2004, is a role model for the MYP students.Despite very challenging circumstances at home, where he helped his mother (Mdm Kek, who was present) to care for and educate 4 younger siblings, Zhiwei excelled at his studies and CCA. He shared his inspirational testimony:
- His academic history. Zhiwei is a first year undergrad at NTU. From GMSP, he excelled at PSLE to qualify for Hwa Chong's 6-year Integrated Programme. While at school he participated in various CCA's and excelled in Taekwondo, winning national awards. He shared time management tips with the students.
- His Naval Diving Unit experience. Zhiwei completed his NS at the elite naval diving unit. Yes, he is a frogman!! The students were thrilled to meet one in person. Zhiwei shared how the Navy taught him discipline and teamwork. It also exposed him to different cultures and countries (Japan, US) when he travelled for overseas missions.
- His responsibilities as the eldest child. Zhiwei is the eldest of 5 siblings. Since young, he has had to share with his mum the burden of educating and raising his younger siblings, who have done well in school. Zhiwei admitted that circumstances were tough but they persevered. He also took the opportunity to thank his mum for loving and caring for the family.
2. Life lessons
Adrian encouraged the students and parents to embrace 3 enduring values exemplified by Zhiwei.
- Being sensible: Making wise choices, self-sacrifice and putting benefit of family before self.
- Being responsible: Being clear about personal accountabilities at school/home and acting on them.
- Being obedient: Parents want the best for us. We must obey them. "Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you" (Exodus 20:12)
3. Target setting for P6's
2015 P6's did very well in their PSLE and they were posted to the following secondary schools: Victoria, Beatty, Cedar Girls, Punggol, Geylang Methodist and Anglican High.
(For those of you who are familiar, to qualify for Cedar, Victoria and Anglican, students need to score more than 240++, a very good score).
Adrian encouraged the current P6's to aim high and study hard (and smart...focus on weaker subjects) like their predecessors.
He will follow-up with them in July and Aug - pep talks over lunch.
4. Award ceremony
GMSP principal Mrs Rina Liang congratulated the award winners and urged them to keep up their good work.
She also encouraged parents to follow the example set by Mdm Kek (Zhiwei's mum) to guide and support their children, especially when the going gets tough.
Mrs Liang then invited Zhiwei and Mdm Kek to give out the awards.
It was gesture that was heart-warming and inspiring.
Some parents told me they are inspired by Mdm Kek.
They aspired to raise their own "Zhiwei's" and give out awards to MYP students in the future :-)
Mdm Sulis thanked RFF supporters for believing in the MYP students.
She also shared her personal story that demonstrated the importance of hard work and discipline to overcome tough family circumstances.
This was followed by group photo taking and a tea reception
5. Accounts Update
RFF account as of 4th May 2015 = S$28,666.23
RFF account as at 2nd May 2016 = $17,748.57 (inclusive of $3,831.08 balance from Nepal village rebuilding fund)
The amount you see above is after $2 monthly deductions for account maintenance and addition of interest.
a. Outflows since May 2015
- $13,543.92 for Nepal village rebuilding in July 2016
- $21,000 for MYP 2016-2018 in April 2016 (see letter from GMSP. I will claim tax deductions for this contribution and recycle the income tax benefit back to the RFF)
- $17,375 from supporters of Nepal village rebuilding in July 2015
- $5,799 from Jaywalk from his Dec half marathon.
- $500 from JQ (Ms morning glory) in Jan'16
6. Special Thanks
Special thanks go out to the following people:
Mrs Rina Liang, Miss Theresa Tong and Mdm Sulis – Thank you for your labour of love. Through you, we have impacted close to 100 young lives in past 13 years. May we impact 100 more in the next 13 :-) On behalf of the students, their families and MYP supporters, I extend our heartfelt gratitude.
RFF Supporters - Thank you for trusting and supporting me when I first reached out to you to start RunForFunds 13 years ago. In our 13-year journey, we've impacted many lives positively. I look forward to your continued support and prayers for RFF.
If you have any queries about RFF, please email or call me.
Blessings,
Adrian
- Voxeros
