21

Celebrated my 21st birthday on 21st October 2007, Sunday (actual day is 22nd October 2007) at Hometeam NS Pasir Ris chalet.

Here are some of the photos:

Ordered a 10 course buffet menu from Meng Hiang Catering.

My 4th aunt from Muar happened to be in Singapore so I invited her too.

2 KG blackforest birthday cake from Han's. Yummy!

Sis is 6 years and 5 days younger than me. We always celebrate our birthdays together.

Family.

Friends.

Making a wish. Wanna know what I wished for? I am not going to tell you. Hee~!

The cake cutting "ceremony".

Look at who is really cutting the cake! Both sis and I don't know how to cut the cake, so Eng Hwa and Hui Jun had to help us with it.

I am officially 21. Nothing out of the ordinary happened after I become 21, but I am still excited about being a 21 year old. I have yet to do anything which requires me to be 21 years old and above, but just the thought of not being restricted by age makes me feel like an adult, no longer just a kid. It makes me feel that I am finally part of the society. =)

Essay Showcase I: What are my personal goals and how will a higher education help me attain those goals?

While I was organizing the files in my laptop, I found an essay which I wrote a year ago. The question was, "What are my personal goals and how will a higher education help me attain those goals?"

This was what I wrote:

In the past twenty years of my life, I have seen many people struggle to make ends meet each day, while some others take the basic things they possess for granted. The poor are becoming poorer, while the rich are becoming richer. Poverty is a problem in many countries, more often in developing countries. It is a problem that will exist no matter how hard governments try to eliminate it. It is amazing, yet scary, what money can do to people. It is also astounding to know what people do with money. Money, being an important part of our lives, should therefore be studied in detail and knowledge in the subject should be used to help the needy.

Mr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and also the receiver of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, once said in an interview, "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but only by teaching him how to fish do you feed him for life." I find his words very meaningful. By giving the poor money, it will only solve their problem superficially. Only by teaching the poor how to make money will the problem of poverty be entirely solved. The poor can stand on their own two feet. There is no need for the privileged lot to sympathize with them. Mr. Yunus had helped the poor by making loans readily available to them without the need to put up any collateral, which was previously impossible. Inspired by Mr. Yunus, I hope to do something for the poor as well. I want to help the poor by teaching them how to help themselves.

I always believe in making my money work hard for me instead of me working hard for money. I also believe that money makes the world go round. Though money cannot buy everything in this world, it is irrefutable that most things on Earth are powered primarily by money. Without money, there is much that cannot be done. I dislike the idea of money being a stumbling block in life and so I long for financial freedom.

I am currently studying for a degree in banking and finance. With the knowledge I have and will acquire from the course, I will be able to attain my goals more easily. In the course of my study, I will learn how financial institutions manage risk, how financial markets trade risk and how new instruments to control risks are developed for the benefit of the economy as a whole. Such knowledge will enable me to manage money more efficiently. I will also be able to more effectively educate the poor on how to manage their own money.

The essay was limited to two pages of an A4 size paper, thus the short essay. Though short, it won the praise of a director of a MNC. I am so proud of myself. =P