Ms Chan's Story

Ling-ling's Big Ball

My Son's Assignment

     When I was young, I studied in Canada and got a diploma in gemology. It was not a popular subject, but in the past 20 years or so, I was able to apply what I had learned. I had also accumulated much experience in gemstone classification and merchandising and established good connections in the trade. It was not a highly-paid job, but the whole family was able to maintain a decent living. My career developed steadily. Over the years, I had changed my jobs for only several times, and it was a change for a better job each time. As a result, a year ago when the company closed down owing to business failure and I got unemployed, it was a heavy blow to me and my family. I had never dreamt that it would happen to me. At first, I was confident that with my experience and my reputation in the trade, I would soon find another job. 'I may not be able to make as much money as I did,' I thought, 'but at least I will be able to make a living.'

     A few months lapsed, and I was still unable to get a job in the trade. My savings were almost used up and I felt utterly helpless. I have to admit that everything had been going smoothly for me all the years, and I had never been in such a 'miserable' state. I was totally collapsed and I doubted my own value. Luckily, my family never gave up on me. Gradually, I realized that the value of myself should not be weighed by my career alone. My life, my family, my friends, these should be the center of my life and what I should treasure. Losing the job did not mean losing everything. On the contrary, it gave me a chance to look into myself. So I braced up and tried my luck again.

     I explored the various organizations which help people find a job. Finally, I registered with the Labour Department. I learnt about the job market situation of other trades which had been unfamiliar to me. With the assistance of placement officers, I attended numerous interviews, but many of them ended up in failure. With the continuous changes of job market, I made adjustments to my job expectations time and again. After struggling for over a month, I finally got a job as a gemstone merchandiser. It ended my worries and despair, which had been haunting me for months.

     Happy time did not last long. A few months later, just when I was beginning to fit into the job, the company closed down owing to poor business and my peaceful life was disrupted again. The incident dealt a further blow to me, and was more than what I could take. I was so disappointed and depressed that I just wanted to give up. All negative thoughts emerged in my mind. The drive which I had just regained was all crashed to the ground.

     The blow was even worse than the previous one. I thought to give it up. But the Good Heaven had mercy on me and gave me help through my son. My son wrote an essay one day, and he wanted me to correct it. I was not in the mood, but he was so sincere that I did not have the heart to turn him down. Reluctantly, I took a look at the essay. It was written in great fluency. It soothed my heart to see that my son was still working hard though I was in such a miserable state. Then I came to a sentence in the essay, 'A man can be defeated, but not destroyed.' I was overwhelmed. The Chinese proverb says that 'a man does not shed his tears easily', but my cheeks were wet from tears. Yes, I cried. My son threw his arms around me. The embrace not only gave me warmth, but also gave me life. That sentence was so enlightening that it pulled me back from the dark pit of depression. Yes. I was facing failures, but my own value could not be destroyed. I made up my mind to face up to adversity. I would not disappoint the people who love me.

     Two months later, I took the placement officer's advice and attended a retraining course to address my illiteracy in the computer applications. After the course, he found me a job as a stone merchandiser, which, to some extent, required my expertise in my old field. Although I have found a job, I am still learning computer knowledge after work, hoping that I would be able to improve my employability through self-enhancement. I believe that if we could take it easy, accept both successes and failures with a peaceful mind and work step by step, we would be able to overcome all the difficulties eventually.

I believe that if you have the courage to take a step forward, things would work out well in the end.

"A man can be defeated,
but not destroyed."

A Cup of Tea with Milk