What does Merdeka mean to me ? - Brainbow Kids

What does Merdeka mean to me ?

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Tanggal 31

Bulan lapan lima puluh tujuh

Merdeka! Merdeka!

Tetaplah Merdeka

Ia pasti menjadi sejarah

The late Sudirman sang. We all sang it in school. So what does that mean?

 

I asked my students what does Merdeka mean. They said Independence. But what is independence? They all shook their heads.

 

How does it feel when someone stops you from doing something? They said, yes all the time! We had freed ourselves of colonialism, but have we freed ourselves from self-doubt and the rat race in life?

 

Merdeka means Unity. We were told to respect differences and embrace diversity in our country. What about our children. They are all unique, but there is so much stress on them to be like others. The freedom to identify one’s strength and choose to be someone; the something they were born to achieve is what our children need. Opportunity to live to their fullest potential.

 

When our children are given the power of emotional intelligence, they will continue to question the norms of today and actively pursue new approaches and ideas. Innovation and creativity are some of the top competencies that we teach in leadership. Is also about taking the initiative and seizing opportunities and avoiding procrastination. They will strive to meet excellence, not perfection; doing to the best of their ability. 

 

This Merdeka, we have the utmost respect for our Frontliners. I believe we have forgotten the most important heroes of this Pandemic; our Children. They have adapted so well; They switched to different ways of learning and doing things. This is a key component in Emotional Intelligence; Resilience. Our children demonstrated resilience when they were told they can’t go to physical school but need to sit in front of the computer screen for long hours, Tones of homework, different ways of teaching, some don’t have a conducive learning environment at home, bad connectivity, small screens, less physical movement, missing their social circle and many more. Resilience is having perseverance and diligence in the face of setbacks/adversity. It’s our response to these setbacks which is what we strive to build in our children every week; one neuron at a time. We don’t bounce back in Brainbow, we Bounce Forward!

 

This Merdeka, let’s give our children the freedom to listen to their intuition and tell us what it’s telling them. Let’s tap in together and connect with ourselves before we connect with others. 

Learn more about Emotional Intelligence through Art and Craft at https://brainbow-kids.com/store/

Nandhini Sivanna

Nandhini Sivanna

Nandhini Sivanna is an ISEI certified coach. She is the founder of Brainbow Kids. Brainbow Kids builds resilient children through EQ practices via art craft and storytelling.

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