麻豆社

听

All the talk these days about education reforms reminds me of my own school days and those dreaded parent鈥檚 evenings when my teachers were seated ominously around the school dining hall, each one gearing up to tell my mum and dad everything I thought I could get away with.

I wasn鈥檛 rebellious or a bad student or anything, but parent鈥檚 evenings were definitely the least of my favourite things. I always used to grimace at the words of one particular teacher who, every year without fail would say: 鈥淲ell, Remona could do much better, but she is a bit of a dreamer.鈥� My eyes rolled behind my oversized, pink plastic glasses. But despite my annoyance, there was some truth in what he said.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have dreamed away my days as well as my nights. Some dreams have been distracting, others unsubstantial, but some have been truly life-changing.

It was actually because of a dream back in the 9th century, that led me to study what I did, but more than that, it changed the course of the world.

It is said that the 9th century Caliph of Baghdad - Caliph Al Mamun - had a dream. He dreamt that the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, told him: 鈥楾he Reason of the Greeks and the Revelation of Islam are not opposed to each other鈥�.

When he woke up, the caliph ordered that the ancient Greek works be translated into Arabic, which eventually led to Europe being taken out of the Dark Ages through the Renaissance, and led to me being able to study the Greek classics - and all this was because of a dream.

Dreams can be powerful things, It was a dream that led to the civil rights movement in America. It was a dream that made Einstein discover the theory of relativity. It is dreams that inspire human endeavour.

The wise words of the 13th century mystic Rumi resonate with me now: 鈥淵ou were born with potential. You were born with goodness and trust. You were born with ideals and dreams. You were born with greatness. You were born with wings. You are not meant for crawling, so don't. You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.鈥�

Dreams let me fly. They can lead to the impossible, the unlimited, the incredible. We are such stuff as dreams are made on. So maybe being called a dreamer isn鈥檛 such a bad thing after all.