Eagle-Sage

I think some people might find this surprising but I used to love to read books. Maybe since my army days, I have become quite a superficial person but I digress. I wanted to talk about a favourite book of mine.

It is called Eagle-Sage and it is the third and final book of the Lon-Tobyn series by David B. Coe. The basic story line is about a world where there are mages and these mages only have their powers when they have 'bounded' to animals which are usually birds like hawks or owls. When bounded, mages can channel their powers through crystal cerylls and shoot power bolts out of it or heal people or even have heightened senses. Mages who bounded to hawks were addressed as Hawk-Mages while mages who bounded to owls were addressed as Owl-Masters (higher rank).

At the first book , the mages were under one body called the Order of Amarid. They would gather anually to discuss matters going on in their world or sometimes to elect their leader. Only Owl-Masters ae eligible to be nominated to be elected and once elected, the whole Order would address him or her as Owl-Sage.

However, in this third book, a mage called Jaryd has bounded to an eagle. In the history of the mages, only three mages have ever bounded to an eagle and these three have always served to led the whole land into war with a bordering country. Mages who have bound to eagles will therefore by default become the leader of the order and addressed as Eagle-Sage. Eagle-Sages have been chosen by the Gods to be the ones vested with great powers (they are more powerful than normal owl-masters) and once the crisis is over, their eagles will leave them.

A very interesting concept and storyline taught up by the author and I think I like this book most of all because of the idea of a hero who has been given great powers and thus great responsibility rests on his shoulders. Which brings to mind the line in spider, "With great powers comes great responsibility". This line was also brought up during my MNO (Management and Organisation) lecture.

In a way, being a leader is like being a hero. Not everyone can be a leader because that is the defination of a leader, "Someone in charge of a group of people". A leader is someone who steps forward for the greater good of other people, just like a hero. And to draw similarities to the Eagle-Sage, a leader is vested with great power to lead and thus expectations and responsibilties weigh on him or her. Being a leader means serving the people. Some people seem to miss that. I shall elaborate more on that now as I bring the context to Arts Club.

Through my one year in the club, I have gained a lot. I have made a lot of friends. I have picked up skills especially soft skills that I think I would have been unable to in the course of my school modules. But I think the most important lesson I have learnt is one of responsibility. And I think the key word of responsibility is doing things for others at the inconvenience of YOURSELF. Something that many people neglect.

The new Management Committee (MC) of the club has been elected and I wish them well. As an MC member, serving the people means serving the FASS students. This also includes your fellow MC members and the affiliates. Simple things like arranging meetings to suit your own schedule instead of the majority of the O-Comm shows selfishness. Not trying to turn up for most, if not most of the events organised by the club shows your undedication. Doing things like being away during the FOP period while your fellow MC members and the affiliates work and toil hard at the FOP projects especially rag shows how much you 'care' for them.

In conclusion, I would just like to say that being an MC member is never easy. However, you will find that doing the right thing, will lead you a longer way than doing something for yourself, enjoying the short-term joys and suffering the long-term consequences. I wish the 30th MC well and hope that they will scale greater heights.