Langkawi tomorrow then about a month's break from chess tournaments.

It has been a long journey starting from 2005 when Mark was U12 Champion of Perak to National Junior no.3 in Dec. 2013 and National no.8 in the recent National Close and now we need to take a short break.

I started out wanting to use chess to teach Mark about all these things. Here. But I think we ended up with even more valuable lessons. After Langkawi, Mark will begin his new life in University and then after that he will go out into the wide world as he starts his working/business life.

But he will now start his working life knowing what this world is really about. He will have fewer illusions. He has seen and dealt with the type of people he will meet again later in life. People who will try to steal his hopes and dreams, people who will try to deny him the fruits of his own labour. People who will try to tempt him with the shortcuts so he will lose his way.

However I think he has developed a much stronger character now so that it won't be so easy for them to do that.

More importantly I see that Mark has not grown bitter from his experiences with all those people. He has come to understand that it is they who are suffering. Nothing beats a clear conscience in life. Do no evil to others even if they do evil to you. Otherwise you end up just like them.

Stay true to yourself. Continue to believe in yourself. Do everything you set out to do with courage and fortitude and you will eventually meet success.

Those were the lessons I wanted for Mark. The real lessons. The rest, his success at Junior level chess were actually all secondary. Further down the road, it won't matter. Just like SPM is now over, STPM is now over. It is just a memory and wont amount to much in the larger struggle of life.

But what he has learnt from chess will help to carry him in any endeavour he chooses from this point onwards.

I don't think Mark will quit chess and we are merely marking a new phase in his life and we will need at least a month to prepare all the stuff he will need for his further studies.

We owe much to chess. It has taught us many valuable lessons in life. I believe we have fought the good fight. I only wish I could have helped more during my time in chess. But that was not meant to be. Too many frightened, fear ridden people in a kangkung culture.