It is March, and for many of us in the public service, April is approaching. With it comes performance grades, promotion outcomes, and a quiet sense of anticipation. Every year, I find myself hoping to be validated.
Sometimes I am encouraged. But often, there is a lingering sense of wanting more, a higher grade, a promotion, a step further along the corporate ladder.
At the same time, we are in the season of Lent. A season that invites us to pause, reflect, and realign what truly matters.
Recently, I came across a reflection by Father Eric Mah, who spoke about the journey of the singers behind the hit song “Golden” in K-Pop Demon Hunters.
I have to admit, I have not watched the movie. But I have heard the song often enough at home, much to the amusement of my sons, who have been teasing me about it. Behind the eventual success was a long season of uncertainty. Rejections. Adjusted expectations. Learning to stay the course even when external validation was absent.
It made me reflect more deeply this Lent: • Am I seeking validation, or am I seeking purpose? • Am I chasing outcomes, or am I being faithful to the work entrusted to me?
Lent reminds us that growth often happens in the unseen. In the waiting. In quiet perseverance.
In our work, it is easy to measure success by grades, titles, and recognition. But perhaps the more enduring question is this: Am I doing my best, with integrity, in service of others? Because not all growth is visible. Not all progress is recognised in a single cycle. And perhaps, not everything is meant to be on our timeline.
This season is a reminder for me:
▪︎To stay grounded
▪︎To serve faithfully
▪︎And to trust that there is a bigger plan unfolding, even when I cannot yet see it.
By Sebastian Jerome Chew
