hi good morning it’s lovely to see all
of you here today it’s my second time to
this school and it’s worth every single
second because it’s inspiring younger
generation my name is Michelle I am the
languor state Assemblywoman for Subang
Jaya which is where this school is
situated and it is my pleasure to be
here when I was approached by Jimmy the
organizer for this event which you saw
just now he asked that I share my story
how I am here today and I had to think
of a way of sharing it in a way that
will be relevant to where you are the
stage where you’re at in secondary
school and going through a piece where
you would soon go to college and so this
is my topic for today
what makes you a free what makes you for
free how many of us have done this
before
come on how many of us have done this
before when you are there we go
Alice has done it before I have done it
before when you’re watching a movie
especially if it’s a horror movie or a
movie where a path is particularly
thrilling and you can’t bring yourself
to see what’s up ahead you put your
fingers over your eyes but you you still
want to see how it’s suppose going on
and you you open that gap between your
fingers and if you’re brave enough the
gap gets bigger and bigger and maybe
just maybe if you’re brave enough you
will be able to see what’s next now I
want you to think of a time when you
were particularly afraid and I’m talking
of things beyond phobias
so not just whether you’re afraid of
heights or whether you’re afraid of
spiders but beyond that in your everyday
life is there something that you are
afraid of that is preventing you from
taking the next step you see fear serves
a scientific function it is not there
without reason the reason why fear is
there is because it tries to keep us
away from how it tells us what is
dangerous and it tells us that we should
stay away from it in other words it sets
boundaries it tells us what our limits
are it tells us what is a threat to us
so the question then is if fear is a
good thing how do we then deal with it
how do we deal with fear I like this
quote by Tim Ferriss who is an investor
and he says this various an indicator
sometimes it shows you what you
shouldn’t do more often than not it
shows you exactly what you should do
when I was young when I was a toddler I
and this is letting you in on the secret
I was afraid of the dark
I was terribly afraid of the dark in my
home there are three floors the lowest
floor is where the dining room is
together with the kitchen the second
floor is where the living room is and
the third floor is where the bedrooms
are
and I recall that the worst part of the
day the absolute worst part of the day
is after the Sun sets and after we have
dinner as a family and from the lowest
floor we adjourn to the living room
and the lights at the dining area and
the kitchen area are turned off
I would then usually have a craving for
dessert I would want my ice cream but as
a young kid and being very afraid of the
dark I couldn’t bring myself to go
downstairs to even turn on the lights
because it was just a bit too far away
to get the ice cream that I wanted as I
grew up I found out another fear and
perhaps it’s a fear that some of us here
in classrooms my experience I was afraid
of participating in class I was afraid
of raising my hand to answer a question
as a seven-year-old and as a
seven-year-old who just entered the
school system I was afraid of being
judged I was afraid of getting the wrong
answer making a fool of myself
I was afraid of what my teachers would
think of me if I didn’t get it right I
was afraid of what my friends would
think of me then as I grew older and I
entered secondary school I discovered
again another fear
I was absolutely afraid of exams
absolutely afraid of exams the exam that
I was most afraid of was at math when I
sit in the hall and as I wait for the
paper for the time to turn the paper
over my heart will be beating so fast I
was convinced that the world was going
to end those are the little fears that
we encounter every day so think of that
fear in your head and now ask yourself
how is it how is it that we are suppose
this is what Eleanor Roosevelt says you
gain strength courage and confidence by
every every experience in which you
really stopped to look fear in the face
you are able to say to yourself I have
lived through this horror I can take the
next thing that comes along you must do
the thing that’s the thing that you the
thing that you think you cannot do
sometimes it’s easier said than done
isn’t it sometimes it’s really easier
said than done people say that you
should do the thing that you are afraid
of but when I think of how I overcame my
fear of the dark it wasn’t very easy so
how do you cope with it the way I coped
with it was really easy I just thought
of what could be the worst thing that
can happen what is the worst thing that
can happen my dad when he discovered I
had such a great fear of the dark he set
me down and said what is the worst thing
that can happen really what is the worst
thing that can happen the worst thing
that can happen is that you were just
really afraid as you walk through the
dark but nothing really would happen to
you so with that my dad would stand from
afar and he would watch me walk down to
the dining room and for the longest time
he told me a really long time to even
get to the switches as the thing is run
along it gets faster and faster and
before I knew it I overcame my fear as
to being afraid of raising my head in
class what is the worst thing
that could have happened the worst thing
that could have happened was that I got
I would get the answer wrong but the
reality is all of us all of us at some
point will get something wrong in life
we will make mistakes and that is the
reality but the only difference in
overcoming their fear of answering that
question in class is that I took a step
forward in overcoming something that I
didn’t think I would have been able to
at math exams what is the worst thing
that could have happened the worst thing
that could have happened was that I
would have failed their paper and the
reality is all of us feel at some point
and the truth is I did fail my first at
math paper but in at least going through
it in at least facing that fear in the
face I told myself that I’ve been
through this horror and I learned from
it I found out where I went wrong and
before I knew it things progressed and I
didn’t become too good at math but I was
still okay I was still okay you see a
lot of the fear that we face is driven
by a fear of failure but the reality is
that without failure it will be very
difficult to progress Seinfield Jimmy’s
I feel I’m not sure whether most of you
might know him yeah he’s a comedian a
very renowned comedian and guess what
when he took the stage at first his
first ever performance he froze onstage
he was booed and jeered offstage at that
point I don’t think he himself knew of
the success that he was experiencing now
we talked about Steven Spielberg Steven
Steven Spielberg has so many blockbuster
movies over so many years billions and
billions of dollars he has earned such
success but guess what his application
for cinematography to the University of
South California was rejected he failed
he failed as well but it is in facing
these fears and in learning from these
failures that we learn how to overcome
obvious
you see courage is not the absence of
fear courage is being able to do things
in the presence of fear so as I end my
talk today I ask that you do at least
one thing that you are afraid of every
single day may you face your fears and
may you turn your fear into courage
thank you all so much [Applause]
of you here today it’s my second time to
this school and it’s worth every single
second because it’s inspiring younger
generation my name is Michelle I am the
languor state Assemblywoman for Subang
Jaya which is where this school is
situated and it is my pleasure to be
here when I was approached by Jimmy the
organizer for this event which you saw
just now he asked that I share my story
how I am here today and I had to think
of a way of sharing it in a way that
will be relevant to where you are the
stage where you’re at in secondary
school and going through a piece where
you would soon go to college and so this
is my topic for today
what makes you a free what makes you for
free how many of us have done this
before
come on how many of us have done this
before when you are there we go
Alice has done it before I have done it
before when you’re watching a movie
especially if it’s a horror movie or a
movie where a path is particularly
thrilling and you can’t bring yourself
to see what’s up ahead you put your
fingers over your eyes but you you still
want to see how it’s suppose going on
and you you open that gap between your
fingers and if you’re brave enough the
gap gets bigger and bigger and maybe
just maybe if you’re brave enough you
will be able to see what’s next now I
want you to think of a time when you
were particularly afraid and I’m talking
of things beyond phobias
so not just whether you’re afraid of
heights or whether you’re afraid of
spiders but beyond that in your everyday
life is there something that you are
afraid of that is preventing you from
taking the next step you see fear serves
a scientific function it is not there
without reason the reason why fear is
there is because it tries to keep us
away from how it tells us what is
dangerous and it tells us that we should
stay away from it in other words it sets
boundaries it tells us what our limits
are it tells us what is a threat to us
so the question then is if fear is a
good thing how do we then deal with it
how do we deal with fear I like this
quote by Tim Ferriss who is an investor
and he says this various an indicator
sometimes it shows you what you
shouldn’t do more often than not it
shows you exactly what you should do
when I was young when I was a toddler I
and this is letting you in on the secret
I was afraid of the dark
I was terribly afraid of the dark in my
home there are three floors the lowest
floor is where the dining room is
together with the kitchen the second
floor is where the living room is and
the third floor is where the bedrooms
are
and I recall that the worst part of the
day the absolute worst part of the day
is after the Sun sets and after we have
dinner as a family and from the lowest
floor we adjourn to the living room
and the lights at the dining area and
the kitchen area are turned off
I would then usually have a craving for
dessert I would want my ice cream but as
a young kid and being very afraid of the
dark I couldn’t bring myself to go
downstairs to even turn on the lights
because it was just a bit too far away
to get the ice cream that I wanted as I
grew up I found out another fear and
perhaps it’s a fear that some of us here
in classrooms my experience I was afraid
of participating in class I was afraid
of raising my hand to answer a question
as a seven-year-old and as a
seven-year-old who just entered the
school system I was afraid of being
judged I was afraid of getting the wrong
answer making a fool of myself
I was afraid of what my teachers would
think of me if I didn’t get it right I
was afraid of what my friends would
think of me then as I grew older and I
entered secondary school I discovered
again another fear
I was absolutely afraid of exams
absolutely afraid of exams the exam that
I was most afraid of was at math when I
sit in the hall and as I wait for the
paper for the time to turn the paper
over my heart will be beating so fast I
was convinced that the world was going
to end those are the little fears that
we encounter every day so think of that
fear in your head and now ask yourself
how is it how is it that we are suppose
this is what Eleanor Roosevelt says you
gain strength courage and confidence by
every every experience in which you
really stopped to look fear in the face
you are able to say to yourself I have
lived through this horror I can take the
next thing that comes along you must do
the thing that’s the thing that you the
thing that you think you cannot do
sometimes it’s easier said than done
isn’t it sometimes it’s really easier
said than done people say that you
should do the thing that you are afraid
of but when I think of how I overcame my
fear of the dark it wasn’t very easy so
how do you cope with it the way I coped
with it was really easy I just thought
of what could be the worst thing that
can happen what is the worst thing that
can happen my dad when he discovered I
had such a great fear of the dark he set
me down and said what is the worst thing
that can happen really what is the worst
thing that can happen the worst thing
that can happen is that you were just
really afraid as you walk through the
dark but nothing really would happen to
you so with that my dad would stand from
afar and he would watch me walk down to
the dining room and for the longest time
he told me a really long time to even
get to the switches as the thing is run
along it gets faster and faster and
before I knew it I overcame my fear as
to being afraid of raising my head in
class what is the worst thing
that could have happened the worst thing
that could have happened was that I got
I would get the answer wrong but the
reality is all of us all of us at some
point will get something wrong in life
we will make mistakes and that is the
reality but the only difference in
overcoming their fear of answering that
question in class is that I took a step
forward in overcoming something that I
didn’t think I would have been able to
at math exams what is the worst thing
that could have happened the worst thing
that could have happened was that I
would have failed their paper and the
reality is all of us feel at some point
and the truth is I did fail my first at
math paper but in at least going through
it in at least facing that fear in the
face I told myself that I’ve been
through this horror and I learned from
it I found out where I went wrong and
before I knew it things progressed and I
didn’t become too good at math but I was
still okay I was still okay you see a
lot of the fear that we face is driven
by a fear of failure but the reality is
that without failure it will be very
difficult to progress Seinfield Jimmy’s
I feel I’m not sure whether most of you
might know him yeah he’s a comedian a
very renowned comedian and guess what
when he took the stage at first his
first ever performance he froze onstage
he was booed and jeered offstage at that
point I don’t think he himself knew of
the success that he was experiencing now
we talked about Steven Spielberg Steven
Steven Spielberg has so many blockbuster
movies over so many years billions and
billions of dollars he has earned such
success but guess what his application
for cinematography to the University of
South California was rejected he failed
he failed as well but it is in facing
these fears and in learning from these
failures that we learn how to overcome
obvious
you see courage is not the absence of
fear courage is being able to do things
in the presence of fear so as I end my
talk today I ask that you do at least
one thing that you are afraid of every
single day may you face your fears and
may you turn your fear into courage
thank you all so much [Applause]
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