Vivian Balakrishnan shares reflections on children as youngest son finishes primary school

Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said he could "still recall the first day of school six years ago". PHOTO: FACEBOOK / VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN

SINGAPORE - Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan marked yet another milestone for his family on Friday morning (Nov 16), as his youngest son finished primary school.

In a Facebook post at around 7am, Dr Balakrishnan said he could "still recall the first day of school six years ago".

He wrote: "Deeply grateful to all our wonderful teachers who give so much of themselves to our children every single day. May our children fulfil all their dreams and destinies along the 'path of the infinite'."

Dr Balakrishnan ended his post with a quote from Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran's poem On Children.

He wrote: "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far."

Dr Balakrishnan has shared important moments in his family on social media in the past.

On New Year's Eve in 2015, he showed off his newborn grandson to the world in a Facebook post, captioned: "You only truly understand how much your parents love you when you hold your own child for the first time. Today my daughter and her husband will discover this fact of life."

In January last year, he shared a photo of his new granddaughter on Facebook.

At the time, he wrote: "As we gathered for our reunion dinner, we received the wonderful news of our granddaughter's birth - a new life begins, with all the hope and love that she represents."

In November that same year, he marked his 30th wedding anniversary by uploading a nine-minute video of a speech he had made at his daughter's wedding three years earlier.

He wrote: "Four children, two grandchildren later - this is what real happiness means."

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