At the "Top" of the World...

Yes..that’s me - Shan aka the friendly Giant~ haha. ;D I wouldn’t qualify to be one if I were living in a western country, but I am one over here in my hometown. Why? Standing at 1.74m, I am much taller than the average girl you find walking along the streets of Singapore. I never fail to have ppl ask me, “What do you eat? What do you do to grow so tall?” Erm, frankly I do not know the answer to that too. My family members are not very tall either, about slightly above average. Err..long beans?? I used to eat that quite abit but it’s quite crap I think..haha. Hm what abt milk? And yes, plenty of sleep also..I sleep ALOT. Oh well..I’ve lived with these questions with no answers for 20+ years now and I’m equally puzzled too..haha!

Being a tall girl certainly makes you “different” from the rest of the majority. There’s always 2 sides to a coin - the plus and minus points – things that I needed to get used to and learn to accept as being part of who I am – the shan whom almost everyone remembers only as “the tall girl”..yes, everything about me is ordinary except for my height. Even my boss told my colleagues that I am VERY tall after she saw me for the interview..ghee.

Since pre-primary until now, I’ve always been one of the tallest students in class. During photo-taking sessions or while lining up (according to height most of the time), I’ll just automatically make my way to the back..there’s no need to ponder or think at all..haha. I remember rather vividly that my new friends in sec school then used to call me ‘giant’ whenever they saw in the mornings – my dear clique of close friends that I’m still keeping in contact with today..haha ;P They didn’t mean it in an insulting way but I just didn’t feel comfortable with the teases.. it made me feel that I was different from the rest of my classmates and ppl don’t feel as confortable with a much taller friend. After all, I can understand how it feels to have a tall shadow ‘hover’ around them..I know I might be intimidating people with my height but there’s really nothing I could do about it.

Quite recently, I had a petite female friend told me bluntly in my face, “I’m not going to stand beside you”, then she walked away. I was quite sure she didn’t mean it as a joke. I was basically stunned. If only there’s anything I could do to make her feel better about standing beside me, I’d be most willing to, but the problem is my height is something I don’t have control over, and I hope people can understand that. Her sacarstic remark hurt my pride. But luckily such unhappy incidents are rare; at the most, I get comments from ppl I know or stares from strangers on the streets, some of whom scrutinise you from head to toe like you’re some alien. And I’ve more or less gotten used to it.. it’s certainly not an easy feat I must say..it takes some good long time to master the ‘ignore your surroundings technique’, at least for me. ;p

I know a lot of my fellow girl friends tell me they are envious of my height and that it’s good to be tall. I appreciate it whenever I hear these compliments, and I’m happy because they accept and acknowledge me for who I am and how I look. This is important to me because I am aware that my height inevitably leads to an invisible emotional barrier between myself and others, and people find it harder to approach me than someone who is of around the same height as them as they feel more at ease in their presence. That is why I’m very thankful for the encouragement you girls give me.. it helps to boost my self-confidence a lot, really. =D

One thing I wanna tell you girls is that my height is really nothing to be envious of! I guess it’s just human nature..things that don’t belong to us always seem better..I’m guilty of that myself too! I thought it would be ideal if I were like 8 cm shorter.. haha. Cuz too tall you can’t wear high heels, otherwise you’ll scare everyone away~ Also, it’s very hard to find pants or jeans.. most are too short they will just hang at an awkward length. Well, maybe the only good thing about having long legs is you’ll look good in short skirts.. long legs can be one plus point to hide other imperfections of the body.. haha. ;) Anyway being tall doesn’t mean you must look like a model, and who says that only to look like a model can you look good? I think petite girls look equally great too! After all, different girls with different bodyshapes have their own strengths and uniqueness. So long as we know how to dress to divert attention away from our flaws and focus them on our strengths, everyone can look like a gorgeous princess, whatever your height! Important tip: love yourself and your body and feel good about being yourself :)

I used to be uncomfortable about being so tall because you tend to attract a lot attention wherever you go. I didn’t exactly have 100% positive feelings about my height and thought of it more as a flaw rather than my strength. I felt weird everytime I stick out of the crowd.. sometimes I just wanted to be more ‘normal’ and blend nicely into the crowd without earning odd stares from others. However after all these years, I’ve grown up to love myself more. It’s something that was given to me, so I ought to learn to cherish it and make the best out of it! I’m thankful for all the friends who’ve been with me all these years..esp the 6 fishes.. feelings of awkwardness I have no more, now I enjoy every moment of sticking out like an ostrich more than ever before..haha. KUDOs to all my friends who have helped me to be the better and more confident person I am today..luv u guys lots! *muacks!*

~~~ Beauty on the outside is something that we can’t control, BUT true beauty comes from within, and it is up to you whether you learn to make full use of it :) ~~~