To our readers, welcome to a new year. A year that carries the hopes of everyone, that things will be better.
It has been a tough year in 2020. For those who entered in the new school year of August, the view of Tembusu has always been with masks, social distancing, and many more regulations. You have never seen Tembusu without the virus. A senior once said to me that “Tembusu never sleeps” – It was that way until the virus came. You could hear at almost every hour someone either rushing their work, returning from supper, or taking a shower from a long day of coffee and a pile of assignments.
But the virus has changed us, and it will change Tembusu. Other things, too, have rocked the idea of what it means to be a “Tembusian”. Some of us have been asking ourselves too: “What then, is Tembusu?”
It is not an easy question to answer, neither is it meant to be easy to answer. It requires direction and effort to find Tembusu’s new identity amidst this chaotic world. Most of all, it requires courage. The courage to plunge into the unknown and forge for ourselves a new way forward. It will be hard. It will be painful. It will raise many questions and doubts amongst ourselves, and we have to answer them. But we believe that us Tembusians will eventually find our way, even if it takes generations more of Tembusians to explore and create that identity. There is strength in numbers, especially so if we support each other while going forward.
So dear readers, as you embark on a new semester, join us and grow with us. The process of growth doesn’t stop when the current editorial team leaves. The onus is on us to instill the mindset of growth in our juniors so the generations after us may find a better path forward. So that they too dare to ask questions rather than run in the face of fear.
For the spirit of Treehouse is to continue expressing our thoughts even in the face of adversity, and to keep the flame of knowledge burning.
Feature image by Pablo Heimplatz from Unsplash. Header image by John Towner from Unsplash.