Daily Lesson from Life 14 July 2008

"Mon, Jul 14, 2008 The New Paper From drug pusher to SGX scholar

ONCE, he was a drug pusher who was wanted by the Central Narcotics Bureau. Now he is a Singapore Exchange (SGX) scholar working there full-time as an operations executive, earning more than $3,000 a month.

In 1998, he was sentenced to eight years and five strokes of the cane for his drug-related crimes. Today, he will graduate from the Singapore Management University (SMU) within the top 35 per cent of his cohort.

Mr Jimmy Boh, 33, now has a double degree in business management and accountancy. He said: 'The overwhelming desire to survive and prove to others that I can do well is why I am here today.'

In 1999, while in jail, his mother was dying of a blood disorder. He recalled: 'I was sitting in the prison yard when an officer came to deliver the bad news that my mother was seriously ill. 'I went to see her in the hospital and I was with her for only 20 minutes. 'I told her I will change and that she should go in peace and not worry about me anymore.' She died later that day. Her death was a major catalyst for him to change.

Months later, he signed up for A-levels in prison and began a vigorous regimen of self-studying. He spent on about six to eight hours a day studying. He did reasonably well for his A levels (one A, two Bs and one D, as well as an A1 for Mandarin and a B3 for English) while still in prison.

Because of his good conduct, he was released after five years and four months.
He spent the last year of his term helping out at the Kaki Bukit Prison School where he taught and counselled inmates and organised activities. He got accepted into National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and SMU in 2004, and chose SMU

The people around him have been impressed with his achievements and motivation. His professor Tan Teck Meng, 61, who selected Mr Boh to be his teaching assistant for two years, said: 'I knew he was an ex-convict, but he was very mature and driven and I think his achievements are fantastic.'

Even after achieving so much, Mr Boh doesn't think he has arrived yet. He said: 'I still have a long way to go. The finale of my story is still not finished. I have so much more to do.' "

This is an inspirational story. Finally I found something worth my while to share at this blog and to include a big part of the news report as it appeared.

The lessons for me are:

1. sometimes people do not know what is good for themselves until they got themselves into the deep end of troubles and a certain event triggered the need to CHANGE! In this case, it is the death of his mother;

2. while there is a trigger event, the self-discipline, the self-motivation, and the determination to take actions and actually change by Mr Boh is probably what made him who he is today. It will be interesting to learn if he has strong allies and supporters along the path to reform to encourage, remind, push, and keep the fire going whenever he wavered or weakened his resolve!;

3. it is rare for the 'establishments' like NUS, NTU, and SMU to accept an ex-convict. I applaud them though SMU was the one who got him! Like leaders, we must be opened to taking risk with people who had erred and failed in the past. As long as we have assessed the person adequately and without prejudice, it is possible to get them a second chance and some of them will excel. Some may probably argued that Mr Boh is an exceptional rather than the rule, and I do not dispute that. All that could only happened before someone took a chance with him! Are you ready to take a chance with your people?

Congratulation to Mr Boh for his achievement. At the same time I like to share this with him:

Do not believe too much of the good things that the popular press said about you. Do not fall in love with yourself. Focus on the worthy goals of sharing your extraordinary life journey thus far to influence and inspire many who had erred and gone astray to the path you are experiencing now. You are right that your life journey is not over yet. There are many great chapters you can pen for yourself and the people you can help. Not just the posh office nor the salary!