Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Hi all players, present and former,

I am so sorry that I have not been able to train you all for the past few months due to my studies. I have been keeping up with your progress based on what Mr Sim and the other coaches have been telling me, and I am indeed proud of your continuing efforts to better yourself. The desire to improve oneself is the ethos of sports, and I am glad that you are not resting on your laurels and are trying your best. As I watched proudly during graduation at all my ex-students receiving their prizes and certs on stage, I was most proud of the achievement of all of you. I remember when we first started three years ago, you were all but a bunch of goondus who couldn't tell bat from ball. Now, many of you rank among the top 20 players in your age-group, and I am terribly proud of that. We have achieved much, and the National and Zone awards have shown, and there is a little showcase in school dedicated to Table-Tennis prizes (and Scrabble: I call it the Thomas Lim showcase! Heh!). Nonetheless, I would encourage all of you to carry on your efforts into secondary school. To me, you have been the dream team, and you have engraved yourselves in the history of Nan Hua. Before you all, there were zero trophies for TT, zone or National. And now that many of you are gone, you have set the bar so high that it will be difficult to follow, but others will be inspired by your achievement and seek to surpass you. That is how humanity progresses. I would like to offer my deepest thanks for all that you have contributed to the school, and the spirit that you've shown during competition, the endurance for my terrible scoldings and long lectures, the pain that you've endured during training (especially PT!), the joys that we shared when we qualified for the Semi Final at the Nationals, the tears that we shared (i did cry, ok!) when we lost to Nanyang in the Zone, and the fun that we had during training, will all never be forgotten.

It is unlikely that I will meet another bunch of players like all of you, and I seriously doubt if I would manage another Table Tennis team after I graduate. Nonetheless, I give you all my blessings when you leave, and do come back when you are free to pass on your skills to the younger players. Don't let up if you meet each other in competitions, try your best and seek to improve always, but always maintain your friendship with each other. I think the bonds forged during the course of the CCA has been extremely strong, not least due to your collective admiration and resentment of me. Do remember Me. Remember Nan Hua. Remember Each Other. Remember Memories. On a final note, congratulations to all the prize winners at the graduation, especially Kelly who totally deserved the Sportsgirl award. My apologies to Wing Lam and Jovina, you certainly deserved the Prism Award, but due to some administrative errors in my absence and some silly rules set by the school, we were not able to award it to you. My most sincere apologies. Please don't feel sad about it, I am sure the trophies you have received in the past, and in the future, will more than make up for the temporary disappointment, and in my mind, both of you have been champions. As you know, I like the silent assassins, and both of you, like Kelly, Jaime, Jocelyn and Sherilyn, have epitomized that, much unlike the noisy nosy noise-polluters like Yi Rong and Yi Le!!! You P5 goondus, continue to perform well in the sport, and I am sure (I will make sure this time!) that you all will graduate with as many trophies as possible. Continue to do your best, and do post on this blog if you are free. Let me know if you have any problems in school or in the CCA whereever you are, and I will try to assist. Got to head back to my books now, EXAMS!!! AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRFFFGGGGHHHH.....

Au Revoir, A Bien Tot,

Thomas Lim