Wednesday, November 7, 2012

The MetroDBITan student series : Issue #008 – Teo Zhong Meng

Just a few days ago, we published a blog entry to feature the highlights of the awesome London trip which sixteen of our Year 2 DBIT students participated in.
 
If you are envying these sixteen lucky students, and are wondering who they are, you are going to get to know one of them today! :-)

In this entry, we feature Teo Zhong Meng who is one of the fortunate ten guys selected to go on the trip! Why was he selected, you might ask? One of the reasons is definitely his cheerful and helpful personality.

Anyway, let's find out more about this Virgo guy who was the leader of his four-member team during the trip!  

Zhong Meng posing with "Bruce Willis" in London

Zhong Meng, can you tell us a little about where you came from before coming to SP please? 

I was from River Valley Primary School, and after Primary 6, I went to Mayflower Secondary School.

In primary school, I joined basketball as a CCA just because my elder brother was also in the CCA. I remembered the training was tough and I was pretty lazy, so I often skipped trainings and only attended the basketball sessions when we played matches; I was pretty competitive at that time!
Singapore Scouts Association Logo

In Secondary school, I joined Scouts, as I thought it was pretty adventurous. Training was tough but it taught me discipline, though I was still very slack and thus did not achieve any high ranking.

Why did you choose DBIT and SP?

To tell the truth, if I did not fail my English for O-Levels, I would not be taking this course! ;-)

But I have no regrets because I have such awesome coursemates here!

The original course I wanted to go in was Banking and Finance.  Previously, I was not very interested in IT courses and I don think I am talented in this area. But I figure IT will be so important in our lives, I might as well learn it and at the same time, get to learn half business as well.

I hope I can make use of IT and craft out a business for myself, and am financially free by a certain age. 

Zhong Meng and his poly classmates having fun at Universal Studios!

Zhong Meng,  you sound like you had a "slack" but fun childhood! :) Tell us more about it.

My childhood memories?

Well,  when I was young, my mum will always take me along with my sister and brother to my grandma's house over the weekends to study.  This is because my aunt, who was living with my grandma, could help to teach us!

In the morning, we would buy breakfast from the nearest market for the family. Then we would start doing our homework before we could get out of the house to play. My younger sister was always the last to finish her homework, so my elder brother and I would get out of the house first with our "scooter" and played while waiting for her.

When my sister finished her homework, she would wait for us at the doorstep for us to ‘fetch’ her, how cute was that. :-)  I really missed it very much.

Then we would ‘explore the world’ where we would just ride around the neighborhood with just one scooter, and we would have hell loads of fun, and be back home on time for dinner.

Life was simple, but we enjoyed ourselves to the best we could. If I could, I would want to experience it again.

Zhong Meng and his sister


Tell us more about the subjects you liked / liked in school and how do you rate your academic performance?

I liked Mathematics a lot when I was in primary and secondary. It was pretty challenging and fun to work out the sums. I love challenges but I can be very lazy to try them, partly, this is because I am afraid of failing.

I didn’t like Art which is one of my subject for my O-levels. It was a torture for me to draw, I totally could not.   I tried to drop this subject but failed.  Fortunately, under my teacher’s guidance and encouragement, I took up the challenge to complete it for my O-levels.  However,  it took me a lot of determination and patience to finish my art piece, and I almost gave up at times!  Eventually I finished and passed my Art with a C6. Though I dislike Art, I’m still glad I took it, not because it taught me skills, but it taught me attitude.

I was only performing well for my primary school I guess, with PSLE score of 230 which I’m quite proud of back then, with 3 A and a B+.  But in secondary school, my results started to go downhull, and I was in the top 10 counting from the lowest of my class!  I don’t have any secret to success, but I believe in working hard for it, if you want something, nothing can stop you.  If your want isn’t strong enough, you will find tons of excuses and reasons for it.

Wow, I like your ATTITUDE, Zhong Meng! :)

What is your favourite module in SP?

One of my favorite modules is Teamwork and Communication skills taught in Year 1, Semester 2.

This module taught me how to be a team player and work along with others well, and it is very fun, working along with my teammates. I love talking and interacting with other people.


What are your hobbies?

I have many hobbies, here are some of them.

I like playing computer games. It helps me unstressed myself from all the school work, and also socialize with my friends. Games are fun especially when playing together with your bunch of friends.   It can be harmful if you get addicted to it though.   In games, I am pretty competitive and I always wanted to win, so I would spend time ‘training’ myself so I would be a better player.   But not to worry, I always remind myself that the main purpose of playing games is to have fun through the process, and not merely to win.

I also enjoy martial arts. I took up Wing Chun, a kind of Chinese martial art in SP as a CCA, but sometimes I skipped training because I got lazy. I didn’t learn martial arts before when I was young, but I love them, partly because of the Chinese martial films me and my dad always watch. Sometimes I really wish my parents had enrolled me in a martial arts school when I was young so I would have become a top martial arts expert by now as good foundation is always started from young.

Wing Chun - pic from Wiki

I also like parkour.  It's a complement to martial arts. But I don’t do it. Before I learnt the term parkour,  I always liked running about and jumping around, doing random stunts. In other words, I’m a very active child since young.   But I can’t even do a somersault. I always wanted to learn, but I think I’m too old for them now. I always wanted to be the next Jackie Chan. He is my idol.


You sound so active! No wonder you are so slim! Do you eat alot? What are your favourite foods?

I enjoy eating Crabs!! Especially chili crabs! The sauce is awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilli_crab

I also love eating sharks fin soup! The taste is incredible, though I know we should save sharks, but I still love them! Fortunately I  seldom eat them, I only get to eat them when I attend Chinese wedding dinners!

I love eating abalone too! They are so chewy! But I can only have them during Chinese New Year reunion dinner.

I love soft drinks! But I’m very sensitive to alcohol; I only need to drink a little my face will get very red! And I find alcohol so bitter. But I always wanted to learn to appreciate them especially red wine!


Name three persons who inspire you

The person who inspires me the most is Jackie Chan.

He is my top idol. I love martial arts and parkour partly because of him.

His action-packed movies always keep my eyes watching. His movies are so humorous as well. He brought movies to a new high level. I want to learn from him if I could. His movies taught me life. He almost died doing stunts for his movies, but that doesn’t stop him from filming. He never stops doing something he likes, despite all his injuries. And this is what he inspires me the most.


I’m also inspired by Robert Kiyosaki.  He is an investor, businessman, financial literacy activist, self-help author where his books (Rich Dad, Poor Dad) inspired me. He retired at the age of 47, became financially free, where he doesn’t have to work anymore yet money will just come flowing in. I want to be like him, retire at an early age and enjoy my life. Life is meant for enjoyment, doing things you want to.  This is partly why I took up business as a course.





I can’t think of the 3rd thing or people who inspire me, but I respect people who are kind and helpful to older citizens or the disabled. They contributed to our society once and we should pay them back, in any terms. It breaks my heart seeing those old people being left out alone, if can, I would like to do something for them too.


Your dreams and aspirations?

I want to travel the world! I have only been to Malaysia, Malacca as a school trip and Gentling with my family and recently, to London! I've always wanted to travel to other countries but I don’t get the chance.  When I grow up, I would like to leave my footprint in all the countries. I would like to go Hong Kong the most, partly because of all the movies and dramas I watched, they are all from HK. I would like to see how the environment is like, how movies are filmed, and everything about HK, their culture and stuffs.


I have a dream and a goal. My dream is to become an action star like Jackie Chan, my idol where I could direct and act in action-packed movies. But a dream always remains a dream unless you do something about it.

My goal is to be financially free by the age of 30, where I could retire and do the things I want. I don’t want to waste my life working for money; life is about having fun, being happy.

The steps I have to take right now, is to complete my diploma in DBIT and using the knowledge I learnt, hopefully be able to start up a business plan, and also at the same time, learning how to invest in stocks and properties. I wouldn’t think much for now, just taking a step at a time. During holidays, I also would work and gain working experience.

More pictures of Zhong Meng here!

Zhong Meng at a wedding dinner


Zhong Meng and family


Zhong Meng and his London trip teammates at Changi Airport


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