24/09/2026
[[ DOES THE WORD "REJECTION" MAKE YOU RETREAT OR MAKE YOU RESILIENCE ??? ]]]
I remember in primary schools, i was often laughed at for giving the wrong answers. i was labelled class clown.
Also, my limbs and my eyes did not agree everytime i played foot ball. Its so embarassing. No one wanted me in their team.
In secondary schools, i was often mocked at too. Never the cool guy at school. I would smile at girls but they would laugh at me.
Some boys attracted the opposite s*x easily.
I? attract stray cats, birds and dogs.
Really hopeless... in a way.
When i worked part-time like peddling goods door-to-door, i was never the top salesman. Getting scolded happened hourly.
I like fishing but my siblings called me not fisherman, but feeding-fish-man. Why, more often than not, i return home empty handed. The fish was supposed to feed me instead of them eating my prawns and sotongs.
i was never the boy to finish top in school. But my name was probably announced over the school PA system more often than the top scorers. If there was a trophy for the boy who name was called the highest number of times in school, i would be the Champion, year after year.
I visited the Principal's Office more often than anyone in the same school. I know where he kept the canes. He would marked the canes with coloured markers. Half Black and Half Red was his receipe to cure this naughty boy. After a few strokes, i know why this cane was coloured red and black. These marks lasted weeks.
As i was skinny then, i surprised everyone by my ability to hold the chair above my head while standing outside the classroom for small inconveniences like releasing stink bombs in class.
The same things happened in Poly. Not good at any particular activities, either in class or outside. I tried flying kick like Bruce Lee in Tae Kwon Do and tore my menicus. My N-S days was limited to office works and delivering classified documents.
In the tiny rental flat where i grew up, there was a cupboard full of tall trophies belonging to my siblings for outstanding results in schools. I had a trophy too, its about 15 cm short and its for coming "second place" in fancy dress contest. BEst day of my life.
But, strangely, i never see poor results or lack of sporting skills as Failures. i always pick myself up and move on to the next activity.
i got used to "rejection". i would forget it in minutes.
I got used to being mocked at. And i sometimes laughed along.
To me, rejection is just re-direction. Its a stop and detour sign.
I am sure there will be an activity that i can excel and enjoy doing.
Today i am very good at milking ready properties for passive income. Many people see such properties as hopeless, but yet, every month, the spare money it created would bring me hope.
And now, the same man who was invited onto stage to be caned in schools are now being invited to share his strategies about "Safety First Investing" in other countries.
Same pattern.
Like many, I bought a new condo, did not make much money and yet attend to the complaints of the tenant. Then i bought dirty dusty noisy factories, made millions while Tenants obeyed my Terms and Conditions. .
I followed local and other countries "guru" and bought properties in other countries, i lost money. I u-turn, came back and bought more dirty, dusty and noisy factories, and made more money.
I finally found my groove. ANd it took me a looooong time and lots of soul-searching, plenty of scars and sleepless nights.
I know times are tough for some of you who are reading this.
Dont give up. I know that feeling of tired, doors being slammed shut and called funny names.
Rejection is part and parcel of life.
Retrenchment is rejection too.
If becos of being rejected and you retreat into a cave permanently, then you might miss a chance to discover new things about yourself OR a chance of a BIGGER life.
My way to Success is to be Resilient. And this has to come only from discovering things that do not work for me.
Its easier for me to find a path when the moment i strayed, the path becomes muddy and slippery.
While other people may seem to have a path already paved into a clean road with rose petals, i do not seem to have this.
I do not win 4D, no PhD and not born in Semi D.
My path is not very well-marked like Singapore streets. I have to feel, sensed and moved one step at a time, many times on barefeet so i can feel the path that my eyes cant see.
Fortunately for me, i am gifted with a body of thick skin and wounds that heal easily. A thick skull too, to protect my head when i banged onto walls.
I am not sure which type of roads are gifted to you. But dont despair if your routes resemble mine.
As long as your intention in not harmful to other ppl, other living things and mother nature, i am sure the Universe has a path designed specially for you.
Its either a path filled with rose petals, or a path lined at the sides with pebbles and mud.
Both roads are still good roads when one senses are ground, bent and deformed to perfection.
I believe the Universe has different plans for us. And all hardships are lessons for us to gain, like trainings as we need more skills to become a bigger version of ourselves.
There is no other way to discover your own unique purpose in life. And becos its unique, there is no text book solution.
Dont give up. Take a break is ok. But keep peddling. You can do it !
What do you think ?
Love,
Marko,
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