Awestruck
Got to be a tour guide for the VIPs with Xiaomin during SMU's City Campus Opening Celebrations last Friday. Most of the guests were CEOs of major companies and ministers. Before the guests came, we were made to line up and every pair would just take a group of 15 distiguished guests around the school, so it was totally random. You can imagine how nervous Xiaomin and I were when we were told that the both of us would have to bring Chief Justice Yong Pung How around the campus with a few other guests. I mean, this man IS THE LAW (no, not like Judge Dredd).Brought the group to the Networked Seminar Rooms, the Concourse, the $400k gym (which they were very impressed with), and just gave them statistics about the school and what SMU is all about. It was particularly intimidating because CJ Yong kept asking us questions, such as the gender ratio in SMU, and why there are more girls than guys (he seemed to imply that Singaporean ladies are smarter than their male counterparts. OUI!). He asked about our opinion on being able to teach creativity (something SMU prides itself on) and whether it was realistically possible, and whether SMU students had more opportunities than their NUS/NTU counterparts.
It was quite an experience being able to interact with a man of such stature and very often it's so easily to get overwhelmed with this imaginary "aura" around such people. The way I calm myself down is to tell myself that this person is still, after all, a man. Human. Like you and me. Don't get me wrong, I do not disrespect people of high status in society. I do acknowledged that such people deserve the respect for getting to where they are in life. There is, however, a thin line between respecting someone, and putting that someone on a pedestal that it borders on idolatry.
After all, we are all human, and death is the equalising factor among all men. When we do pass on from this world, our social standing, material wealth and other worldly concepts would mean nothing. It's so comforting to know that there is life after death through believing in Jesus.
Only God deserves to be on that pedestal.
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