Your choice.

"The strong will survive, the weak shall die. Never forget that son, it's the law of nature."

I am in primary school. I see Albert from another class, he isn't quite as popular as I. He asks if he can join our game. He can run faster than me, I must not lose favour with my own friends. I say no, no you can't join us. He says its okay and walks away, but I know he isn't. I just didn't care.

I am in secondary school. Benjamin approaches me in the classroom corridor and asks if he can copy the homework we were assigned a week ago. He hasn't even started on any of it. I am confident of my work. I say no. The teacher finds out, he is forced to drop the subject. The subject is compulsory for a future course that he is interested in. I could have helped with his homework, but I didn't care.

I am in polytechnic. The teacher gives us hints on the final exam. Calvin went to play soccer instead. I conveniently forget to tell him about the hints. I comfort myself with the thought of his own irresponsibility to miss that class for his own pleasure. He fails the module. I shrug my shoulders. I know I could have told him, I just didn't care.

I am in army. I finish digging my shell scrape much earlier than my buddy. I had trained months prior to enlistment. My buddy looks exhausted. He is weak and has been dragging me down since the beginning. I too am tired but I allow myself to rest and watch him dig. He faints from heat exhaustion. I look away, it's his own fault for not wanting to condition himself prior. I didn't care.

I am in university. Daryl and I share the same FYP professor in charge. I had built a close working relationship with the professor and he invites me out for dinner one night. He asks if I know the students from the other group. I say I know Daryl. He asks for my opinion. I say nothing positive. Daryl didn't get perfect grades for the project and because A was a prerequisite to secure First Class Honours, he drops one class lower. I didn't care.

I just didn't care. Because they didn't care for themselves either.

"The strong will survive, the weak shall die."

Albert beats me in the 400m race. He was just naturally athletic. I wasn't born with the runner's built but I had trained so hard prior to the event. At the finishing line he looks at me and says: "you'll never beat me even if you trained for a hundred years." He smirks. He took home the gold medal, I took home a soaked shirt. It wasn't sweat.

I login to my computer after completing the difficult assignment. Spent the weekend working on it and after completing it finally afforded myself sometime for online gaming. I see Benjamin online, his game rank is ten times higher than mine even though we started at the same time. I asks for help for a quest, he types back to me and says that the quest is too low level for him.

Calvin tells me that I can never succeed in any sports. He tells me that education is a waste of time and that people should always put play in front of work. Enjoy first, talk later. "Nerds like you will never understand."

My buddy looks at me and tells me that he is going to weasel his way out of the tough trainings and opt for a lower health status to get a desk job. He gives me a cheeky smile and says: "I am going to "geng", if you don't want to, you can "chiong" yourself, siao-on kia."

Daryl tells me that I cannot be part of his final year project group. "Because we only work with first class honour students." I form my own team. I put in 110% to succeed.

Strong or weak, it's a choice. It's the downs that get you up.

We've been presented with the same opportunities, the same chances ever since we were kids. No doubt under different circumstances. No doubt different backgrounds. No doubt different timings.

But if you just take two steps back and look at the entire picture, I guess you'd realise that we are all more or less the same.

Every decision you've made has led up to what you are today. If you feel that those have been wrong, look at those that you've made right instead. And for all the future wrong decisions that you will make, this time round change them. Make yourself count.

Note: stories and examples used are all fiction. no seriously, I didn't do any of that. Hahahahaha!