The best graduation speech!

Young King Solomon

Now it is that time of the year where a certain group of teenagers aged 17 will be mollycoddled with their favourite cooking and given lots of space in the house. They would be kings, ensuring peace and quiet in the house and metaphorically could get away with murder. Refrigerators would be packed with chocolate and packet drinks. And the queue of parents waiting at the school gate to pass the hot burger or brain soup is a sight to to behold. All these in the hope that the parents would not be blamed for their failures in examinations. As more and more Malaysian parents become rodents in the race for academic excellence, character building, extra-academic performance and development of the non-dominant side of the brain takes a back burner! But that is another story...
I remember back in November 1994, in the wintery chilly winds of Edinburgh, I was walking aimlessly past the museum when I bumped into, of all person, my euphoric varsity mate (BBP) whom I had not laid eyes on over 6 years just manifested in front of me. Euphoric, because he had cleared his professional examinations. Talk about the world being small! Edinburgh is for Malaysian aspirants to specialize in the field of medicine, like Paris was for writers in 1920s - great place to meet the same minded. In another instance, a guy (SS) jumped right in front of me from a moving bus and he happened to be working in the same place back in Malaysia!

Rush with goodies!

RCP, Edinburgh

So BBP became my soul mate for the couple of days before his departure home. I had the privilege of attending his convocation in the ceremonial-rich occasion, full regatta with bag pipes and tartans in the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. The then President of the College made a memorable speech which I thought was very apt and hit the nail right where it should. He said something to the effect of that the scrolls received by the candidates were not just success of the recipients alone. It is also the result of all the sacrifice of the loved one (wives, parents, children) in doing little things like making that thick black coffee and other trivial things. How true!

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