At the McDonald's outlet in King Albert Park, seventeen years ago, this photograph was taken by my mother.

How swift time has flown. It feels like only weeks ago I entered the new Irsyad building in Braddell, feeling weary and uncomfortable because I was so used to the old cozy Irsyad building in Newton. Now, I'm in an entirely different school with all sorts of changes that pushed me completely out of my comfort zone.

Alhamdulillah for another year. Some people say not to be happy when your birthday comes because that means you are a year closer to the inevitable hands of death. However, I feel it's okay to be glad because you realize you've been given yet another year to enjoy and make most of this short life.

To a certain extent, how busy you are is directly proportional to your age. So as you get older, you tend to be more occupied. It's not really a bad thing to be occupied, especially with important things like school work. But the thing about being occupied (especially with school work), there is the tendency to forget about the present. About how truly essential it is to savour every moment. Another thing about being busy is that the future is a large distance away yet constantly worried about. Sometimes the actual free time we have in our hands is invested into worrying about something far away from our grasps.

Maybe that's why I have a tiny bit of dread in officially turning a year older. I do pray I will not stop to take a moment and smell the many existing roses around me; roses filled with beauty and wonderful scents. There is certainly more to this life than just achievements, surely.