It is how I see them.
 |
| Image: All Rights Reserved |
| New York : Vanguard Press |
| 2009 |
I shrugged, not knowing what else to say that wouldn’t make it worse.
Solomon stood in the centre of the garden and leaned on the tall wood handle of his plow, waiting for me to continue. When I didn’t, he changed the subject.
“You asked me why I call Victorita Mrs. B,” he said. “You adults are judged by your profession, so I have nicknames for everyone. The world defines people by their work, no? You go somewhere as a man yet people are not interested in the man. They ask first, what do you do? As if what you do matters to what you are.”
“True,” I agreed.
“God sees people as what they are inside, not for what they do. So I have nicknames for people for the emotion they represent. It is how I see them.”
“So what does the ‘B’ stand for?”
“She‘s B for bitterness. She has a lifetime of bitterness from years of hanging on to the things people have done to her. And she worries about things that have never ever happened.”
I stared at the boy curiously.
“Solomon, are you really only 10?” He seemed much older, an 80 year old in a 10-year-old body. He was an old soul.
“I do not know,” he said frankly.
Extract from the book The Compass
By Tammy Kling
All Rights Reserved.
New York : Vanguard Press, c2009.
Call Number: English KLI
Extract contributed by Zhao Mingsha
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If you were to give yourself a nickname, what would it be? Why?
August 7th, 2011 at 11:35 am
Nowadays, people sees qualifications and positions more than anything. Although we always say do not judge a book by its cover, but how often do we really look out for someone’s character and personality before their economic status and career positions? In Singapore, it is clearly illustrated that without high qualifications or degrees, it will be difficult to get a job of high pay and good working conditions. However, high salary and positions act as a motivation to push one forward to strive greater heights. People see it as their goals in life and work hard to achieve it everyday. This prevents people from being lazy and go downhill. A diploma is only a piece of paper that proves one’s ability in learning, on the other hand, only a person of high moral values will be able to discipline himself in learning and every other thing in life. The cultivation of good moral character is the key to success and should always come before what one’s occupation is.
August 24th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
I like the words of “God sees people as what they are inside, not for what they do.” People are losing faith to their own kinds.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:34 am
Nowadays, it is rare to see anyone calling people by their emotions instead of their actions. this is not surprising, especially in Singapore, as people look at others with their achievements, merits, what they have done and what they are capable of doing. Rarely do people see people as what they are inside. Even in employment agencies, they will only look at your Intelligence Quotient(IQ), and rarely will employers look at the Emotional Quotient(EQ) of a person. Friends and colleges would look at the position you hold and the salary you earn to gauge your socio-economic status. Only close friends and relatives would see us as what we are inside. if i were to give myself a nickname, it would probably originate from what I am inside, the emotions I feel.
August 30th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Do you know what it’s like to be judged? I guess many of us don’t. Well,before you judge someone by their appearance, you should get to know that person. Just because others have labelled them nerdy or retard doesn’t mean that really says anything about that person. Most people don’t take the time to really understand others well enough and usually rely on what they hear from rumors and gossips, or what their eyes let them see.
“God sees people as what they are inside, not for what they do.” We are taught to not judge a book by its covers. But now, it seems that more and more people judge people by their looks and what they do, but not who they really are. Even when it comes to qualifying for jobs, majority of the employers will tend to look at what the person has achieved and not what he is. It would be devastating if we all lived in a world like this.
And if i were to give myself a nickname, it will based on my character.
August 30th, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Most of us know that we should not judge a book by its cover, but exactly how many of us actually follow through and do so? Not many do, I admit I am one of those people. I hear myself say “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” and a voice inside me says “yeah, but I do anyway” and right after that I think “I’m such a hypocrite”. Its the sad truth and many people think this way too. Honestly the first thing that we see in a person is the way he or she looks or dresses, we think of their outlook first, then about how they are like on the inside. Even sometimes when we’re picking out books in the library to read, many of us do look at the cover of the book, seeing if the cover looks good if the book is worth reading based on the cover, before reading the blurb and then ultimately deciding if the book is good to read. This is a bad habit that we all have, and we desperately need to get rid of it.