Hiatus and Prelude

As the much anticipated GCE 'A' Level Examination is coming to town, my blog shall officially be on hiatus.

Meanwhile, here's a prelude to what my future entries will be on:

1. 4 kinds of students
2. 4 kinds of boys
3. 4 kinds of girls
4. On old people, death and the old lady near my block.
5. My thoughts on the 'A' Levels
6. Random poems and short stories

Stay anticipated! =)

雨天。晴天。

这里晚上9点半，
风，刮得很大。
染红了的夜空，
你说这是明天下雨的预兆。

那里早上9点半，
天气，怎样？
染红了的是不是天空（你说这是当天大太阳的警告）
还是每月一次的白色睡裤？

当你心仪的洋装，
（蕾丝边，印有粉红色花瓣图案的那一件）
被汗水淋湿时，
记得打通电话
通知我。我会把我手上的伞，
立即快递到你那儿去。

你收到伞时，应该干了吧？

过期

咬过了一口的巧克力，
自卑地躲在包装盒里的右下角。

你在情人节时送我这盒巧克力，
那时我还没陪你度过3个生日。
我在有效日期后吃了19个又一口。
这时我已陪自己度过2个生日。

原本标榜着的甜味，
酸了。
褐色已被白色斑点污染，
最后取代。

而剩下的最后一口巧克力，
我将当成结婚礼物，
送给在加拿大的迈克
和你。

我看到了我不想看到的

于是我闭上双眼。紧紧地
闭上双眼。用力地
闭上双眼。

用力过度，压到了泪囊，
反射性地释放出
眼泪，模糊了眼前我不想看到的。
终于我看不见了。

Commando No More

Perhaps it's a blessing: for both myself and the country.

That I am not in commando.

It's confirmed. Tay Wen Xuan has received his enlistment letter asking him to report at some Special Operations Unit at Pasir Ris. The only military facility in Pasir Ris would be Hendon Camp, where the commandos reside.

On the other hand, I am told to report at Tekong.

No. It's not because I did not get Silver for my NAPFA test and hence I am to have my Physical Training Phase (PTP) at Tekong. Neither did Wen Xuan obtain that silver, and his enlistment date is just one day after mine. Or is it two?

So, let me repeat myself. I am not in commando.

I must admit that initially I was a little disappointed because there goes my money-making opportunity (Yes, commandoes get more allowance than normal NS men). But after much thought, perhaps the freedom from fear of parachuting from 10000m above ground, and going through a less-demanding physical training could outweigh the monetary benefits.

Maybe you girls out there will also heave a sigh of relief. Did I just hear cheers and applause? Oooh.. is that someone throwing confetti?

So people, do not expect me to wear a red beret when I return next year to school to collect my 'A'-Level results. I probably wear a normal green army cap. Or wear the ugly grey singlet that has the word "ARMY" printed at the back in a big, black, bolded font. I probably will look like a malnourished prisoner-of-war working on the construction of the Death railway. Skinny, tanned (almost charcoal-burnt) arms expose.

Less than 2 months to my Tekong citizenship.

Enlistment Letter + Last CT session

THE ENLISTMENT ACT, (CHAPTER 93)
ENLISTMENT NOTICE (FULL-TIME/OPERATIONAL READY NATIONAL SERVICE)

1. You are hereby required under Section 10 of the Enlistment Act (Cap 93), to report for enlistment on 13 Dec 2007 (Thu) at 1:00PM to Basic Military Training Centre School 2.

As you did not attain the required NAPFA Test standard, you will be attending a 4-weeks (sic) Physical Training Phase Programme followed by 9-weeks (sic) Basic Military Training.

2. Please report to the unit at the address stated below for your full-time National Service.

Address: Basic Military Training Centre School 2, Pulau Tekong Besar, Singapore 508450

Incidentally, the notice to beginning of a new phase in my life was received on, arguably, the last day of the previous phase. (Yes, I know that we still have a Math revision lecture to attend on Tuesday and many more mock 'A'-Level papers to sit for) No doubt that I am excited about making new friends while stranded in some remote offshore island, the idea of penning down the last sentence of the current chapter -- on my 12 years of education in institutions that enforce discipline and make it mandatory for their students to wear uniforms -- saddens me.

I guess it's innate in us to want to cling on to our current status, no matter how forward-looking you may be, how positive you are when embracing the (unknown) future.
Like what I had written before (Click here to re-visit), we all have buffer solutions within us. We'll try everything to resist changes, but try as we might, we eventually will accept these changes.

And after two years, I probably would dread returning to civilisation.

Two years is actually a very short period of time. Literally within a blink of an eye, I am no longer a J1 boy who goes around the school cheering randomly with his orientation group mates. Instead, I am now a J2 young gentleman who goes around the school looking for friends who can answer his question on differentiation and integration.

That's why to some extent, I am a little glad that I will be serving a few extra weeks of National Service: to experience to FULL national service and enjoy a few more weeks than others should I find National Service a fun and memorable experience.

During the last CT session on Friday, my CT Miss Chua created powerpoint slides with her message for each one of us on it (she claims that she's better with the written language than the spoken). She also handmade little paper boxes using her incredible origami skills (even my origami book doesn't teach me how to fold a star-shaped box, complete with a cover) and inside it many colourful paper clips. Besides, each of us also received a bag of sweet wrapped with colourful felt. I was really touched by her efforts to personally hand-make all these things as our parting gifts. I understand that as a teacher, she has got a heavy workload, but nevertheless she still spent time and effort to make our last CT session a memorable and sweet one.

If last Friday's CT session were to be the conclusion of my current chapter of my life, it would certainly be the prettiest and the most beautiful full-stop I've ever had in my life story thus far.

To reciprocate her thoughtfulness, we sang her a belated birthday song to celebrate her birthday which happens to be on the day before. Despite our wrong pitching, the birthday song was still a catalyst to make her tear.

I seldom blog about details of my experiences, but if I were to do it, the event must be of significance to me.

Miss Chua just made it even harder for me to let go and establish a new social network in the jungles.

Kay Siong asked me what would I miss the most when I go to Tekong. I couldn't answer him then. I think after giving the issue much thought, I know I would miss my life as a student.

The only console, I think, after I enter NS would be the fact that I still get to wear uniforms. And maybe the enforcing discipline part.

Multi-racial country

Sometimes it's really appalling to know how my Chinese schoolmates have such limited knowledge of the other races in Singapore, depsite the fact that they have been residing for nearly two decades in a country that has always pride itself on being culturally vibrant, tolerant and harmonious.

No wonder! We didn't pride ourselves for being culturally understanding and informed, hence the paucity of knowledge about the culture of a different race among Singaporean youths.

For a start, we have trouble differentiating Mee Rebus, Mee Siam and Mee Soto from one another, or not even know what are they called in the first place.

For your information, the traditional Malay dishes mentioned above looked as follows:

Mee Siam:

Characteristics of Mee Siam: Bee Hoon is used, gravy is watery and the colour of the gravy is reddish, that gives the false impression that the dish is fiery hot. Ingredients usually include a hard-boiled egg, tau pok (dried beancurds), bean sprouts and a few shrimps.

Mee Soto:

Characteristics of Mee Soto: Yellow machine-made noodles are used. Soup is semi-clear, with a distinct layer of oil floating above the soup. Ingredients usually include shredded chicken, bean sprouts and occasionally you may find some pieces of tau pok in your bowl.

Mee Rebus:

Characteristics of Mee Rebus: Yellow machine-made noodles are used. Gravy is brownish-yellow and very viscous. Ingredients usually typically include a hard-boiled egg, some pieces of tau pok and bean sprouts. Some stall owners may pour some dark soya sauce over your mee rebus.

Just to digress, that's popiah in the background of the picture featuring Mee Rebus, in case you have a paucity of knowledge on local Chinese food as well.

Next, it's also highly amusing that some of my classmates have no idea that the Malays are fasting now. Some thought that their fasting has ended. Some think that the Malays cannot eat anything at all for 30 consecutive days when they fast. Others confused Hari Raya Puasa with Hari Raya Haji.

To clarify all your doubts, the Malays are STILL fasting. Their fasting season would end on this coming Saturday, 13th October 2007, when they celebrate Hari Raya PUASA. Hari Raya HAJI is the celebration of the conclusion of the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca (extracted from Wikipedia because I need a proper definition (and in case you don't know, Mecca is in Saudi Arabia)). Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji are two different occasions. Please do not mix them up in future or you will only invite mockery.

Also, during the Ramadan (the fasting month), Muslims are only to fast between dawn (as indicated by sunrise) to dusk (as indicated by sunset). Between dusk to the dawn of the next day, Muslims are allowed to consume food. Please do not continue to have this misperception that they are to starve for 30 days. That's inhumane.

Hopefully I have managed to clear some of the doubts or misconceptions that you may have about the Malays and their culture. It would be embarassing to call yourself a Singaporean and yet not know some basic facts of cultures of the other races whom you have been residing with for your entire life.

Analysis of Prelims 2007

Recall my Block Test 2 results:



Here is an overview of my Prelim results:



Hmm... I've made improvement in terms of relative ranking for Mathematics, Chinese Literature and Geography, albeit my raw score for Chinese Lit and Geog are the SAME for both examinations.

A drastic drop in terms of my ranking (as well as the grade obtained) for General Paper and Chemistry. What a disappointment, considering how much effort I had devoted into Chemistry.

Mathematics was not exactly well-done too, given the fact that I had also devoted much time to practising solving problems. Of course, like what Songhua had said, Maths has always been my worst subject, considering that I have improved by two grades since Block Test 2 (and improved by 70 positions), I ought to feel happy.

I did well for Geography again; in fact I topped my class this time round (finally!) and I topped my cohort for H1 Geography! Haha.. (well, there are only 17 students taking H1 Geography afterall...)

Perhaps I really should be happy, but different people just have different expectations. You see Jia Wei feeling grouchy for not obtaining his 'A'-grade in Mathematics; you see Cheong Choon Boon crying over his failed attempt to make it into the "Hwa Chong's top 50 Chemistry student" list; you see some students struggling to PASS their Prelims and are VERY CONTENTED with just an 'E' grade.

For me, I am not so audacious as to dream of getting straight 'A's, but I certainly want my relative ranking to be significantly higher than the rest of the cohort for each subject.

Maybe it's just innate for us to have unlimited wants. I am not satisfied with my performance. The disappointment I get from my poor performance in Chemistry, General Paper (I still feel that my essay ought to be awarded a better grade, and that the GP grade is not at all an accurate reflection of my linguistic abilities) and Mathematics outweighs any exhilaration, mirth and rejoice that I ought to get from topping my Geography class and being one of the top students in Chinese Literature.

I know grumbling on my blog does nothing to help attain what I want. I will certainly, like Boxer in 'Animal Farm', work harder and strive for excellence.

Lastly, my overall performance in J2: