YWednesday, June 13, 2007
Pre-University Seminar 2007 (Part Four)
As I've said before, Pre-U Sem is a very prestigious event organised by the MOE, and as such, should be a held in an appropriately formal setting. All this is done to reflect the seriousness and the importance to our nation of the matters that were discussed during the 5 day event. It was the gathering of some the brightest young minds of our nation, from various institutions across our island nation. They were dressed in their finest, upholding the honour and pride of the schools that were emblazoned on their attire.
They made us wear blazers in the stupid Singapore heat.
Most of the schools Number 1 attire (the most formal one) consisted of black leather shoes, and a blazer and tie over their normal school attire. However I come from ACJC, and ACJC has to pride itself as being the most outstanding bunch. So our formal attire is completely different from our school uniform. Cream pants, white long sleeve shirt, blazer, ties, and black shoes. How I envied those who were able to wear short sleeves shirts and not have to worry about watching where they sitting down out of fear of dirtying their pants. However, my hardships were mere triflings when compared to those faced by girls of ACJC. They had to wear stockings, which I hear are a terrible injustice, as well as court shoes, a heinous crime against the feet. After hearing their horrific tales of extreme pain and discomfort, I thanked the stars that I was born a boy and could wear Hush Puppies which felt as comfortable as sports shoes.
Of course, ACJC had to be special, so we had to put up with strict rules regarding our attire. We were NOT ALLOWED (this was drilled into our minds over and over) make any unauthorised modifications to our attire at any time while in public. Unbuttoning our top shirt button would result in us having 12 days of shunning, while taking off our blazer would be reason enough for public stoning. Actually, I could have done lots of illegal stuff, but there were council electives around. I wasn't afraid of them, definitely not. I just didn't want some annoying kid using their "authority" and telling me what I "must" do. I also didn't want to force those nice ones to have to come up to tell me to do something that they themselves didn't want to do. So in the morning canteen while people took off blazers, rolled up sleeves, and loosened ties, I sat in my full attire, and looked on, with longing in my heart.
[Though I may be smiling, I am weeping inside.]
Despite all the effort put into the formalities, it was still not that formal. There were several who were dressed very sloppily, their shirts tucked out with rolled up sleeves. During breaks, ties were off, and blazers thrust onto the floor in an instant. (Not ACJC.) Court shoes soared through the air as girls sat down on the floor and sighed of relief as they massaged their feet.
SG7 & SLOs
SG7 was the best group of people I could have hoped for (with the exception of... ahem.) They were incredibly fun, and made Pre-U Sem a most memorable event. Before panel discussions, we would go to the nearby 7-Eleven to buy provisions, to make the panel discussions more bearable. After eating, we would sleep. This led to us playing a game of Survivor: Pre-U Sem, seeing who was able to withstand the intense boredom and stay awake. The winners were awarded with waffles from the canteen. I did not get a waffle. During breaks we would rush out, and amass huge plates of food and drink to be shared among all. We played many of those trick question games, (Fuzzy Wuzzy, MRT, etc...) it's incredibly fun when you know the secret and others don't. We talked, shared many laughs during the various activities, and contributed to the general silliness.
[SG7]
Our SLOs (Student Liaison Officers. Very long words that mean tour guide.) were also wonderful. They bought snacks for us, wrote little notes of encouragement, and did many other nice things. They became an actual part of our group, instead of just people who would bring us around to places we needed to go. Winnie had an incredibly quirky sense of humour, and her upbeat personality was very effective in keeping our spirits up. Redzuan was surprising sensitive (emo). He had no problems being the target of insults, and was not afraid to dish them out as well.
[Winnie. She usually looks happier than this.]
[Emo Redzuan. This is an unintentionally very good photo.]
SG7 moments. Redzuan and Jocelyn calling each other shorty. Zhan Ming being too tall, and his Mr. Bean impressions. ChunMeng from HCI and speaking as little Mandarin as I do. Jastin for the weird spelling of his name, and sleeping as much as me. DJ, a really fit guy who can do many types of crazy pushups. Zak, sitting next to me all the time, and always laughing at... stuff. Lina and Rina confusing us on the first day with their similar names, and the great big hoo-hah over the STALKER. Winnie and her Lunchtime and Tea Reception cheers, which were very strange, to say the least. Deepa for her wacky sense of humour and laughing at nothing ALL THE TIME. Daryl for his British voiceover. Andy for the lousy game he created. Joel who had the willpower to study for his exams while we had fun. ChenChen and Evelyn as our Chinese-speaking Older Sisters. Yvonne for looking angry all the time, and pretending to answer her phone to avoid a certain someone. Charis and Biwen for being quiet and reserved most of the time, but having periodic outbursts of insanity. Julian for his incredibly expensive camera, whose pictures I still haven't seen yet.
[The tall and short]
For some reason that I cannot recall, we became "Sisters and Brothers". We had an effeminate hand action for the girls, and a rather violent one for the guys. I later came up with one that merged the two, something that was gay yet full of rage at the same time. Whenever there was a cry of "Sisters & Brothers!", sharp ears would pick up the call, and heads would snap to the direction of the sound, and all would rush to assemble, hand actions at the ready. One would expect the boys to be part of the Brothers, and the girls the Sisters. However, that is not completely true. For some inexplicable reason that I cannot recall, I was part of the Sisters. They christened me with a new name, Tandy, which came about by merging Tan and DeYong. According to them, it sounds like a really hot girl. However, for the sake of clarity, and to avoid any misunderstandings, let it be known to everyone that I'm not a hot girl. I will not entertain desperate boys.
[Sisters & Brothers]
[Tandy and the SLOs.]
SG7, you have been wonderful. Thank you so much.
Okay, there will be a fifth part.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Five