Monday Blues

March 26th 2007

Pray for Brother Roger Venne

Monday began with some sad news. One of our Brothers of St Gabriel, Brother Roger Venne was hospitalized on Saturday evening. He came to Singapore and worked in Boy's Town in the 1950s, teaching Tailoring as a skill and art to our boys there. He is hospitalized because of a recurrent spinal injury which causes him great pain. Mr Emmanuel and Mr Simen visited him in hospital and he has not since recovered. We pray for the Good Lord to ease his pain and to make him well. Montfortians are encouraged to pray for him.

Fight Night

Mr Simen spoke about his visit to Clarke Quay with his son and cousin. His 7 year old son was shoved and almost assaulted by an adult who warned him about going near the music stage. Mr Simen intervened and tried to help his son but was insulted in a rude manner. A punch was being thrown at Mr Simen. Fortunately, self-defence skills taught years ago and natural-born instinct, took over. The man fell backwards and injured himself when Mr Simen raisd his hands to block the blow. Mr Simen had to send the man to hospital. He also visited the man in hospital the next day.

Mr Simen told the school that he was not proud of the incident despite the cheers he received in the hall. He said that when trouble comes knocking, the best thing was to always walk away, counting on "1-2-3-4-5...." , focussing on the numbers, your anger waning as you walked on. He forgot to do that and warned the boys that they must not make the same mistake.

"Self-Discipline, self-restraint, focus, attention, performance", "self-discipline, self-restraint, focus, attention, performance" - the very credo of a Montfortian gentleman must always shine through

On Love

After speaking about 'Fight Night', Mr Simen spoke about the importance of love. It had been a terrible day for him. When he returned home, his son was cuddled in his bed asleep. His son looked up, dreamy-eyed, and said, "Dad, I'm glad you're home. I love you". It was the cure-all and eternal salve for for all the pain, hurt and terrible events of the day.

Mr Simen reminded the students to love their parents, teachers and God. Mata, Pita, Guru Devi. (Mother, Father, Teacher, God)

Welcome Mdm Salimah

A principal from Brunei was attached to our school. Montfort School welcomed her with a resounding applause. The students were told to accord her with the same kind of respect they would give to any principal because they are our guests. Mr Simen told our boys to also respect her as they would him.