Apathetic Avenger

Bacca Thing

Today we had Baccalaureate Service.

Which is a fancy word for last day of school.

The service took place in the hall. People cried. Moving speeches were made. Hugs were distributed widely. Teachers spurred us on to make the most of our lives, and gave us some advice as well.

Towards the end, we all leapt onto our chairs, embraced each other, and swayed in that way, all whilst singing some emo song. I don't like writing cliches but it's not my fault if it's the subject matter.

Last year our seniors did the exact same thing. I wonder if this is some sort of NEVER-ENDING CHAIN OF INFINITY.

It was quite a wonderful experience, the ending of one phase of my life, a beginning of another. I will never be a uniform-wearing student again. This marks the final days of my junior college life.

Well except for tomorrow, I have to go back to school. Oh yea Monday, lessons and mock exam. And there's still the A Levels.

BUT after that, I will no longer be a student at ACJC again.

Oh I forgot about the day when we collect our results.

Oh yes thank you very much Daimyo. I'm really very touched by your present. I feel really special. All the best for your promos. Enjoy your stay in ACJC while you can. Soon you'll be in my position.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 10:15 PM

Exam Procedure

[Never mind. This post has been made stupid due to a paradigm shift.]

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 10:04 PM

NDP, only without the ND.

I was watching the Olympics opening ceremony. I'm not quite certain, but I think it started at 8:08:08 on 08/08/08. I was eating dinner at that time. You can sense my excitement.

That's a freaking lot of 8s. Chinese people believe the number 8 to be especially auspicious. They came to this conclusion because the the number 8 sounds like the Chinese character for luck. The infallible logic of rhyming.

If ancient Chinese voodoo practices are right, then we can apply the Law of Rhyming Co-relation to all aspects of our lives. We can eat honey to get more money. We can drink water through straws (suck) to get more luck. We could also... well never mind.

Well anyway, I was watching the opening ceremony. To me, all these events seem vaguely similar to me. A country wants to show off, puts up this large scale show, where thousands of people are roped into wearing colourful and bizarre costumes. They move in synchrony, waving their thingies and forming words and shapes and other wonderful symbols.

I've seen this performance before. I see it every year. It's called National Day. The Olympics opening ceremony was basically Singapore's National Day Parade, only that it's held in China, and they spend much more money, because they are bigger than us. They are the same in spirit. There's the cheesy song, the cultural thing, the symbolic performance, the dancing.

However, the later part of the ceremony was different. The countries started coming out one by one, displaying their Olympic teams. All 205 of them. You'd think that after a while, watching people carrying a flag and waving would get boring. It did. I stopped watching. But one thing I noticed was the China performer girls that were hanging around were clapping and cheering whilst the teams walked past. Their enthusiasm was palpable. Later in the evening, I walked passed the tv on the way to the kitchen. I saw that the China performer girls' enthusiasm had deflated abit. They were probably tired out and pissed off from all the jumping around in high heels for an hour. That was funny.

So that was pretty much all I took back from watching the ceremony. Girls with tired feet. Sure there was the singing and chinese culture and some strange painting thing where they rolled around on canvases while painting it at the very same time. Okay that last thing was pretty cool. But all the mass dancing and drums and clapping, and costumes and history are so common. I saw similar things on tv at the WorldCup, previous Olympics, and of course, NDP.

National Day is tomorrow. Happy National Day? I <3 Singapore.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 11:38 PM

WOOOOOHOOOOOO!

Rejoice! Let us celebrate the awesomeness of this day, the 1st day of the 8th month of the year 2008.

I have finally removed my braces.

It has been a long an arduous journey. It began nearly 6 years ago. I'm not joking. Back then I was a wide-eyed innocent little boy (really.) that didn't know very much about the world. I was brought to the dentist's office, because as my mom told me, my teeth were hideous and freakishly out of place. We needed to spend a large sum of money to rectify that problem immediately!

I remember immediately after the installation was complete, I thought, 'Eh this isn't too bad, I'm not in that much pain.' However, within 2 hours, the pain set in. I couldn't even lick my teeth (not that it's a habit of mine) without feeling HELLISH STABBING JOLTS OF EVIL PAIN. That night, I had to chew food with my tongue.

So after a while, I became familiar with the routine. Every month I'd go and tighten... the stuff (that's the technical term), and be unable to eat properly for 2 days. Actually I could have made that into some sort of diet, but sadly, no.

However, after a while I just stopped going. I'm not sure why. There was a period of 6 months when I did not go for a single appointment. Maybe I became emotionally attached to my braces. Or perhaps I was subconsciously trying to resist change. Then there was the possibility of a childish fear of pain. But I think it was probably because I'm just a really lazy dude.

After a while, I decided to get my act together, and went for appointments! Woohoo. Within a few months, I could take off the bottom row of braces! Hoorah! But my top row of teeth decided to be pricks, and refused to budge. A year passed. Two years passed. I had to re-attach braces to my bottom row of teeth to use as reinforcements to pull those stubborn upper row fools down.

Over the past 2 years, my dentist would tell me after every appointment "just a little more", or "two more months", "we are almost done". On the next appointment I would be brimming with hope, my heart aflame with the possibility of freedom from the oppression of metal shackles attached to my teeth. I would then die a little upon receiving the dreaded phrase, "I'll see you next month then. We're almost done."

However, on this afternoon of the 1st day of the 8th month of the year 2008, things were different. He examined my teeth closely, with a look of satisfaction on his face. Very good, very good, his murmurs echoed in my head. Could this be the day?

I was given a choice. My teeth were looking pretty good. I could either wear my braces for a while longer, and make them look even nicer. OR I could take them off right there and then.

I took a moment to look at a mirror, and pretend that I hadn't already made up my mind the moment those words left his mouth. After a minute of contemplative silence, I whispered silently, 'I think they look quite alright. Let's take it off.'

I then danced silently in my mind.

Removing the braces is a wonderful feeling. After years of having to worry about getting food stuck in strange nooks and crannies, wrapping rubber bands around my teeth, and getting massive ulcers, having those metallic bits scrapped off my teeth felt wonderful. It really made my day.

I know this is an insignificant event, but I'm glad it's finally over.

Now my front teeth look massive.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 9:30 PM

Hey

It's been about 3 months since I've posted up anything here. In my absence, I think there's an Argentinian man flirting with me.

Well prelims are coming yadda yadda A levels stress etc etc. Typical story of a JC student. Not that interesting, but it's all I know.

I'm surrounded by peers with incredible work ethics and high hopes. I see students studying hard. I see friends getting invited to scholarship talks. I see people who aspire to enter Ivy League universities.

What about myself?

I barely have my act together. I keep telling myself prelims are meant to be screwed up, so that I'll get terrified and study my ass off for the As. I'm aiming to get a place in a good course in a local university. I haven't really considered going overseas for my education. It's expensive, and since I'm not scholar material, I wouldn't be very comfortable putting this additional financial burden on my parents. They've done more than enough. NUS and NTU are actually relatively decent universities, and at a fraction of the cost, it's very hard not to consider them. Besides, both my parents went local (not that there was any other choice in their time), and they seem to be doing quite alright.

Recently I stumbled onto a few old friends from Japan in facebook. Facebook is great if you want to take dozens of personality tests or send virtual drinks to each other, but it's also great for finding lost friends and acquaintances.. My friends all managed to get into well-regarded universities, a few that I recall seeing were Duke and Northwestern. However, from what I recall, they weren't really all that fantastic in their studies. Maybe they got their act together after I left, but I still think that many of my current classmates in ACJC are at least on par if not better than them academically.

I think the problem with us 18 year olds is that we see getting into a good school as the end, but actually it's only the beginning. After completing our education, that is when we venture into society, and hopefully make a positive contribution in whatever ways we can. That's when it really counts. So screw that, I won't be jealous of people who get into better schools than me, I'll be satisfied with a Singaporean education.

Not that getting into a local university is a sure thing for me. It's time to study.

Hopefully everything will turn out alright. I may not be the smartest, cleverest, or the very best at anything, but I'm okay with that.

Oh since I stopped blogging I realised that the standard of my written English has dropped. Maybe I need practice. Perhaps I'll come back here more often.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 6:31 PM

Yay Project Work

Oh joy! Project Work results are out.

A hearty congratulations to HCJC, for achieving the very outstanding result of 98% distinction for this very important subject.

Yes, that is not a typo. 98% Distinction. Seems just a tad excessive, wouldn't you say? Is it really possible that out of say, 1000 students, 980 had highly commendable work? That they all presented their unique ideas with charisma, and engaged their examiners with witty banter? Yes, it is possible, just like how it is possible that one day I will be bitten by a radioactive spider, gain superpowers, and I'll put on revealing tights and swing around the city at night, dealing with thugs and evil dudes. But then I'll get arrested for leaving all that web behind, dirtying our beautiful garden city with my gross stick discharge. That sentence came out wrong.

Spiderman could never live in Singapore.

Then again, maybe I'm just pretty damn jealous because I didn't get an A myself. I got B. But to be honest, I didn't really know what was going on, even until the very end. And I was the freaking group leader. It's not just me. Many people were the same. We all wandered around the school campus, muttering to ourselves, 'I don't know what the hell I'm doing'. All I knew was that I was glad when our OP, the final exam for PW, was over. I also know that I laughed at the J1s when they were told this year that it was their turn to do PW.

But the thing is that even amongst the classes at ACJC, the PW results varied greatly. There were some which had like 24/28 getting distinction, others with half the class getting the A, then my class with 2 getting the coveted result. That was awesome. It's not like my class is dumb. We're not. Really.

Perhaps I'm just being some crappy sour grapes. HwaChong students probably worked hard, and really deserved their As. Congratulations to them.

But getting a distinction is not really the point. Whether we have learned any new important skills after having been through PW, now that is the real point. Being really good at playing SuperMario isn't really very useful, but then again, it is a skill. Many people that I've talked to don't really know what they taken back from all this. I can think of a few things I've learned. The first is to bullshit. Because that's what PW is about. The second is Leadership. The third is working as a group. And the fourth is... wait, that's about it.

Yes. PW has imparted a few skills to me. However, I believe that all these skills can be taught much better in many other ways. Bullshitting, you learn that while interacting with your friends. Leadership can be developed through CCAs. Working as a group, CCAs as well. The thing is, ACJC has already had it's own PW for many many years. In fact, this year was the 19th year it has been carried out, compared to the 5 or so that the A Level subject was introduced. I feel that I really learned a lot from ACJC's PW, also known as Fun-O-Rama.

Oh man, you really learn a lot from Fun-O-Rama. Dealing with bullshit, other people, and other people's bullshit. And you actually carry out the project, so it's not all just planning and planning, it's also practical. Sure, you're being used by the school, and you're forced to neglect your studies for a bit, but earning money for the school does make you feel warm inside. The Fun-O-Rama atmosphere is really something very special. There's nothing like it. Wait for the one two years from now.

So anyway, what is the point of Project Work? It doesn't seem to fill in any niche. It's just there, filling no purpose, like the dude who you don't like, but you don't object to him hanging out with you, but you don't really pay much attention to him either.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 8:56 AM

CNY CNY CNY

Yet another Chinese New Year has gone by. I've penned down my general thoughts regarding this 15-day-long new year day last year. Go take a look.

Man I can be such a bastard.

Anyway, let me just leave you with a few recollections regarding my journey into this hopefully prosperous year of the rat. (You know how they always wish you good fortune and blessings and prosperity and yadda-yadda yabadabadoo every year? So that means we're supposed to keep getting luckier and richer and cleverer and better in every way every year? Now that's just bullshit.)

Chinese New Year is held in celebration of the return of the 2 noble deities, namely King Bah Kwa Emperor of all things Meat, and His Highness, the Grand Pineapple Tart. They bring along with them countless lesser deities, such as Captain Keropok, the Honourable Orange brothers, as well as Lord Melon Seed, among many others. We, as their noble subjects, celebrate their return by, well, basically just eating them all up. We gouge ourselves. Seriously.

Every year, friends and relatives give us piles and piles of these goodies. There are put on a nice table, that is (unfortunately) very accessible for me. So what happens is that I just stand at the table and eat and eat and eat and eat. Commercial break? Eat. Walking past for no apparent reason? Eat. Going to the toilet? Wash hands then eat. My grandma even had to bright idea of cutting the bah kwa into tiny bite-sized portions, to make it even easier for me to put into my mouth. You know usually when you have to eat a big square greasy piece of meat you feel a bit overwhelmed? Not when that same piece of meat is cut up into a few smaller slices. You can polish off 10 without breaking a sweat.

Then there's the reunion dinner. My gosh. Abalone, sea cucumbers, scallops, crab, shark's fin(Oh no here comes the environmentalists.), and pretty much everything else that you imagine would cost a lot of money. It all went onto my plate. I doubt I'll ever eat anything that rich again, that is, until the year of the Cow/Ox/Buffalo comes.

I fear what the weighing scale will reveal to me.

Every year, there will be quite a large party at my house. The entire family is roped into preparations. I want to talk about this, but this really does deserve its own post. Since most of the people who are invited are about, on average, 40 years older than me, and really have no interest in learning more about my life (the feeling is mutual) I decided to invite a few of my friends to come over. It was really, simple put, an awesome deal for them. They come over to my house, eat a very large quantity of the freaking delicious food, which I helped to prepare, then go on to take money from the various married people handing them out to all the kids. I'm not even sure if the old people know that they aren't part of the family at all. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Going to someone's house, eating their food, and getting paid to do so? That sounds like something I would want to do for a job. Like, EVERYDAY.

Many people get stressed during Chinese New Year, just as they do during Christmas time. There's cleaning to be done, the house must be swept, old things thrown out, decorations to be put up. Those who are married must part with their money, giving it away to little brats who should be kept on leashes and fed only bread and water. Relatives that you've neglected for an entire year suddenly pop up at your door, and you must entertain that cousin you've always considered to be a bit of a freak. Food must be meticulously prepared, to ruin a meal at this sort of time would be catastrophic. It can all be quite overwhelming.

But to me, Chinese New Year is a time during which it is expected of you to indulge in excesses. You eat too much, you drink too much (for those who are of legal age), you buy lots of new clothes, you gamble all your money away, you make merry, and for the little kids, you collect lots of money. It's a time to have fun, to celebrate, to enjoy life.

And that's just the way I like it.

Happy Chinese New Year.

May you be showered with blessings. (Ugh.)

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 9:18 PM

Orientation 2008

[Yes, I know I posted this about 3 weeks late.]

Last year I picked up an OGL form. My friends questioned my intentions. They said hurtful hurtful things to me when I told them of what I'd done. Things like like "Why do you wanna become an OGL? You hate people." or "What the hell is wrong with you?" or "HAHAHAHAHA! Don't joke la."

Even I questioned my own intentions. Most of my friends were honestly surprised when they found out. What was the reason I wanted to become an OGL? To foster AC spirit? To help the new students make friends and get acquainted with the school? To test myself, and see just what I'm capable of doing? Or was it to miss the first week of lessons during school? I didn't know. I picked up a form anyway.

So there was this interview. They asked me lots of questions. We talked about pokemon. It was cool. One of the interviewers would later become something like a friend. Here we are.

She didn't remember interviewing me at the time.

We had a conversation about it.

"There was this question, 'What would you do if the sky fell down', and I answered 'Lie down. Because very pain.' Do you remember?"
"OH! So you were that idiot!"

Anyway, I made it. So I met up with my fellow OGLS. Here they are.
Amanda Feng

Nicole Lim

Amanda looks anorexic. Nicole not so much. They both love to shop.

So I met my OG on the first day of school. It was pretty miserable. Last year's OGL's had warned us, that the first few minutes are the worst. No one ever talks, and they all just sit in a circle, maintaining a polite yet awkward silence. Many an OGL had been driven to insanity by this evil phenomenon. Some OGLS cry, others feel a damning sense of despair, or even cheer more loudly because they feel sad. That's what someone told me.

So the first few minutes were very discouraging, but we persevered! We led them around playing games, told them insider information about ACJC, gave them a tour of the school, bonded, did stupid things, told jokes, laughed, and eventually, we got along pretty well.

Daimyo
This was the name of my OG. It means "lord" in Japanese. I wrote a pretty good description for it, pity it didn't get printed. Here: Damiyo are the feudal lords that reign over the vast provinces of Kyojin. Trained in the various noble arts, from swordplay, to sushi-making, and even flower arrangement, these virtuous rulers have brought centuries of peace, nourishment, and artistic expression to the inhabitants of their mountainous realms.

Games
We played many many games. Most of them were fun, many of them were gross. They all had dumb storylines. For example, some gibberish about extracting juice from poisoned fruits were fed to us, to justify the game which was to squish rotting fruits with our butts. And this storyline about the hypnotic tunes and a dragon and an egg and something or another meant that we had to play musical chairs with gross sticky starch. That was fun.

Mass Dance
As an OGL, one of my tasks was to teach them the mass dance. Unfortunately, I suck at dancing, and furthermore, the dance was terribly difficult. I remember during my orientation, the dance was quite manageable, in the sense that I had time to think about what the next moves were supposed to be. This years dance wasn't quite the same. The moves proceed quickly from one another, until I'm completely lost.

My OG kids weren't particularly kind to me either. When I'm teaching them the dance, they start laughing halfway, I get distracted, and I forget the moves. Idiots. Yet we somehow managed (thankfully) to get them to reproduce some pathetic attempt at the dance moves. Our job was done.

Saikang
Some may expect that being an OGL is quite glamorous. Not quite. Sure, we don't have to attend lessons, but we still have to work pretty hard. We had to come to school early-er in the mornings, have briefings, prepare everything. During the day, even if we're dead tired, we still have to put on our game faces, and cheer and lead. It was pretty stressful too, having to find games for the OG to play, and to keep them entertained. Then there was the cleanup. After all the J1s have gone home, the OGLs have to stay behind, and ensure the cleanliness of the school. We picked up litter, washed the floors, returned things to their original places, and even washed toilets. It was awesome. Then we would go home and collapse.

OG Outing (Camwhorage To The MAXXXXXZZZ)
On the final day of Orientation, it was time for us to travel beyond the hallowed gates of our school, out of our beloved sanctuary. We delved into the unknown, the wild, the untamed lands of Singapore, finding solace in our packs, marked by the same articles of clothing we wore. If any of us were to be separated, it would be simple for us to find our way back to the protection of the herd.

Basically, we were going to Marina Square, and we all wore the same Orientation t-shirts.

I discovered that taking charge of a group of 20 was no easy task. In addition to ensuring that no one was left behind, we had to make sure that everyone was agreeable with the place for lunch, taking into account everyone's opinions etc etc. Walking around in such a huge group is also terribly embarrassing. Not only are we loud, we also take up huge amounts of space, and annoy every single other person.

Finally, we settled on Cafe Cartel at Marina Square, which was blissfully empty, until we came in, and caused a massive ruckus. That was when the camwhoring began. I shall elaborate with the pictures.

[Notice the same girl appears in all the pictures above. YES CANIDA I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU]

[Contemplating the meaning of life]

[What's with that face?]

[Seeking out unglam-ness wherever it may lurk]

[Scandal!]

[Group Photo!]

Campfire
The campfire was held right after the OG Outing. Unfortunately it began to rain SO INCREDIBLY HEAVY LIKE 1 HOUR BEFORE THE CAMPFIRE. It then stopped 5 minutes before the campfire was supposed to start. The ground was wet. The campfire was shifted into the hall. The hall is made up of a lot of wood, so we had a campfire-less campfire. But there was air-con though. An acceptable trade. It was pretty good, if I remember correctly. Some unlucky fools were nominated to go on stage, there were performances by AC Dance and ACSian Theatre, and some weird campfire games.

We whored ourselves (camera-ly) some more while waiting for it to start.

[Evil]

[Scandal!]

[This is just wrong]

[Gross]

[This is the most unglam photo in the entire universe]

From left to right, emo, wut's dat!, itchy nose, stoned, half a face.

Finally, it was time for the Mass Dance. We did it many, many, many times. When the J1s got tired of dancing, they all joined up and formed massive trains of sweaty, sticky, human bodies, and ran around the hall. They were all wearing the same t-shirts. It was like a prison musical. I could clearly and plainly the joy and delight on all their faces. It was at this moment, that I felt this overwhelming sense of satisfaction. I was glad I chose to be an OGL. All the extra work, all the late nights, the stress, the tiredness. Seeing those gleeful faces, made it all worth my while.

More CAMPwhoring. HAHAHA.

I was a part of Orientation 2008, and it was fantastic.

Thank you to all of Daimyo, Alex(Skinny), Alex(White), Alicia, Andrea, Canida, Darrell, Dolly, Jared, Jiayi, Kenny, Madelene, Marcus, Natalie, Peixuan, Xiaojun, Yishi, Vinesh. Not forgetting my fellow OGLs, Amanda and Nicole. Orientation was an amazing experience, and you were all a major part of it.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 3:57 PM

Cutting It A Bit Close

I still have an about an hour, so...

Merry Christmas.

It's not very often that you have an excuse to overeat, over-drink, over-indulge, and over-everythingelse. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Perhaps you would like to read what I said about Christmas last year?

I'm a bit of a spoiler.

The thoughts I shared then still apply today. I think. Perhaps I'd better go read them again. Things do change.

Yea, they still do.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 10:52 PM

Growing Up

Last week I participated in a CIP at some primary school. I was promised that I would be handsomely rewarded with some words printed on my CCA records, commending me for my supposed service to the community, and that the "job" itself would be quite easy.

It was not easy.

My main task was to facilitate a group of young students around while they played games and took part in various activities. That day, I learned that to facilitate means to lead, cheer on, resolve conflicts, entertain, scold, cajole, and serve. (As in really serve, not leadership serve. Whatever that means.)

Children are fascinating. Not in a complicated or disturbing sense. But in more of a... simple sense. They are such simple creatures. They can experience a myriad of emotions, ranging from anger, to joy, even sadness, and disappointment, all within a few moments of each other. Simple things can trigger their emotions. There was this boy, one moment he was crying, and the next moment his face was lit up by a genuine smile. They experienced delight in eating sandwiches. They seemed to be truly enthusiastic about this treasure hunt game they were playing, as if it were all that mattered. It just seemed to me that they were so set on doing whatever they wanted to, without a care in the world. All the kids were just bursting with energy. Even during break times, when all the facilitators were absolutely exhausted, the kids still brought out all manners of balls (don't think dirty) to their school courts and carried on playing.

I then looked at myself. Oh how things change in such a short time. Here I am, only 17 years young, and I've already lost many of my childhood qualities. I've become exceedingly cynical for someone who is still a teenager. I find myself playing mind games and trying to manipulate people without consciously setting out to do it. I don't find myself all that enthusiastic about anything that I do. I've forgotten how to savour all the simple pleasures in life. In my race to adulthood, I've forgotten to look back from whence I came.

It saddens me to know that those kids I led around that day would soon grow up to be like me. As I reach adulthood, middle-age, and finally my twilight years, I wonder what will become of me.

Sometimes when you help people out, you end up reaping so much more than you sow. All I gave was a dozen or so hours of my time, and I got back an important life lesson.

Oh, to be a kid again.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 10:24 PM

SJIMB 50th Investiture

It was a wonderful day, a significant milestone in SJIMB's history. 50 years. That's a very long time. We're one of the oldest Military Bands in the whole of Singapore.

Investiture serves the purpose of passing down leadership from the outgoing seniors to the new batch of soon-to-be Secondary 4 students. It also serves the purpose of reuniting previous batches of bandsmen, who come back to see this very special parade.

Back in the day, which for me is only about a year ago, we would be very well behaved at Investiture. The band was respected for our discipline. However these days, as alumni, it was more likely that we would go back and make nuisances of ourselves. More on that later.

Investiture was pretty standard. The new leadership posts were given out. They marched pretty well. Sunset, a sombre tune, was played. The flags were lowered. The Drum Major threw his mace, and caught it in this... new freestyle method. We all cheered. The outgoing batch of leaders marched off the parade. It was, and has always been, an emotional moment.

As it was the 50th anniversary, celebrations were a bit out of the ordinary. The dinner was held at the Hall. Many of the old bandsmen, like really old ones, came back as well. There was air conditioning. Tables. Tablecloths. Cushioned chairs. Metal cutlery. Ceramic plates. For us, poor Josephians, it was like Heaven, Utopia, and the Shangri-La all combined together to form The Ultimate Paradise.

Unfortunately, The Ultimate Paradise came with a hefty price. $30. We would have to eat a lot to get our money's worth.

The dinner was pretty good. There was light entertainment, courtesy of the Junior Band, comprising of Sec 1 and 2 bandsmen. Considering most had only 1-2 year of experience, they were very good. Food was decent enough. I don't regret paying $30. There was also this fantastic centrepiece.

An ice sculpture with the SJIMB crest stuck in the middle.

We were all understandably fascinated by it. I heard it cost $600. Which means, if my math doesn't fail me, 20 people paid to eat it.

At the end of dinner, we had Band Toast. With our glasses held aloft, our voices rang in unison as we sang those 3 familiar songs, nostalgia in our hearts. As they always say, once a bandsman, always a bandsman. Some things never change.

Now on to the bullshit.

As the older people started to filter out of the hall, the younger alumni, myself included, could nt longer resist the temptation, and we all congregated around the Ice Sculpture, as Brother Michael noted, like some sort of religious cult. We proceeded to poke it and prod it and touch it. We marveled at how it was cold, wet, and hard, all at the very same time. Some of us were so overcome by amazement that we licked the Sacred Sculpture, consuming its very essence, feeling its awesome power tingling on the tip of our tongues. Others believed the Ice Sculpture to be a vessel bearing the power of SJIMB, and began to rub the face of it, in an attempt to release the crest trapped within its icy walls.

Despite our contradictory beliefs, we were all captivated by it. Remember I previously said that the alumni like to make nuisances of themselves? Driven by some unknown force, the younger alumni decided to carry around the sculpture, along with its base through the halls of our school. We cheered madly and wildly as we paraded around the second floor, and brought it to the classroom where the outgoing batch of Sec 4s were staying.

As it lay there, melty and drippy, our passion turned against our once revered block of ice. Why were we worshiping this fleeting idol. Our passion turned to rage, and we finally saw the Truth. Disillusioned, we wheeled our once sacred monument to the second floor foyer, right above the grass patch between the Sec 3 and Sec 4 blocks. Amidst roars and screams, we sent the sculpture tumbling down, down to its doom. It actually made a pretty deep indentation where it fell. And that, my friends, was how we left our mark on the school.

The sculpture shattered into many fragments, but our icelust was not satisfied. We carried it up again, this time to the third floor, and hurled it off the roof, again with an incredible sense of satisfaction. We were about to do it again, but one of the Sec 4s decided that we had crossed the line, and stood at the bottom, unwilling to move, like those PETA treehuggers protesting deforestation. No matter, the sculpture was destroyed, and we emerged triumphed.

It was at this time when an argument broke out with one of the teachers and the Sec 4s. With the mood no longer there, the alumni took this as our cue to leave. We went to the nearby Esso, our favourite hangout, and with drinks in hand (non-alcoholic of course, we had Muslims among us) we were on our way home. One of us wanted to smoke at the petrol station, but thankfully, we stopped him before he could light up, sending all of us to some other place in a huge flaming inferno.

One thing for sure, I definitely had fun. I always do, with my fellow bandsmen.

There are supposed to be more pictures. Where are you Shaun Ware?

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 9:23 PM

What?

Every passing day is an education in life.

Who can fathom what untold wonders one may unfold with the dawn of each passing day.

Today I learned that likeable and likable are two words that are identical, save for the little "e" that is sandwiched between the "k" and the "a". I discovered this after having a passionate debate with one of my English nerd friends about something I can't exactly recall at this moment in time.

So what is the lesson for today?

It is, simply put, that English is a dumb language.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 10:20 PM

Back?

I can't believe I've neglected this place for more than 2 weeks.

CCAAB camp is over. Chalet 1 is over. Chalet 2 is over. It seems my schedule is starting to free up.

My life is about to get pretty boring.

Perhaps I should start on my homework?

Hmm... No.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 9:20 PM

A Deviant?

One day our GP teacher posed this question to us.

"Would you say that you deviate or conform to the general rules of society?"

I think she asked us this because it had something to do with our GP Exam AQ question, for which I found out I had got 1 mark out of a maximum 8. By the way, Promo Exam results are back, and I'm promoted. So I guess I achieved everything that was required of me.

At first, I was quite certain that I was quite the deviant. I mean, just look at me. I read TIME magazine. I buy a lot of headphones. I type in proper sentences when I sms.

However, I realised that I was just fooling myself. A deviant? Definitely not. For all the things that I think make me unique, there are thousands, possibly millions of other people who do the exact same things. Then there the things that I do, that are considered social norms. I wear clothes. I speak two commonly used languages. I go to school. In the big scheme of things, I'm as unremarkable as can be.

True deviants are, simply put, a bunch of freaks. We're talking about rapists, murderers, those kinds of people. They partake in strange activities that would disgust most ordinary folk. They are the kinds of people that are locked up in mental asylums and prisons, for the protection of the rest of society.

I guess in the end, it's all about the voice of the people. Society wields an immense power. What is the weight of one opinion, in the face of vast opposition? If what you do is deemed to be inappropriate by the masses, they are gonna punish you.

I'm glad that I'm so normal.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 4:58 PM

AC Games 2007

As it name suggests, during the two day span of AC Games, we go to school and play games.

AC Games is held during the blissful period between the end of exams, and the release of our results. At this point, we experience a whole jumble of positive feelings, from relief, to joy, happiness, and an innate desire to stop thinking and do stupid stupid things. Yet we experience none of the negative emotions as well, the Promo Exam results haven't come back to us, and our A Level exams are still (quite) comfortably far away.

AC Games consisted of 8 games, Bridge, Soccer, Floorball, Benchball (Modified Captain's Ball), Captain's Ball, Basketball, Ultimate Frisbee, and Stargate. I'm going to completely leave out all of them except Benchball and Stargate. That's mostly because everyone is familiar with all of them, and talking about them would be boring and unnecessary.

It's also because my class completely sucks at them. I don't really like to recall how we got beat down so badly.

Heck, we didn't even participate in a single Ultimate Frisbee game. And I was the captain. You could imagine my disappointment.

So... Benchball. Basically it's Captain's Ball except with a bench instead of a chair, 4 teams instead of 2, and whenever you score a point, another person gets onto the bench. Eventually, the team with zero players remaining on the court wins. For some reason, we were quite good at this game. We managed to get overall 2nd. Yay SB3.

Stargate. It's one of those games that you played while in primary school. It has been revived to satisfy the cravings of your deprived childhood. One team stands on a row of lines. The other will try to run through the 10 or so lines of defenders without getting tagged. The teams will then change sides. The one with the most people across wins.

Stargate is one of those games in which distracting your opponent is of utmost importance. Some of the girls would just keep screaming, and the defender would be too stunned to do anything but let them pass. It was quite a friendly game, if there was one attacker and one defender, you could just slow things down and have a nice chat. Other times, one would use questionable methods to get past defenders, such as saying things like "Hey baby, look into my eyes." And when they start laughing, just run past them. Heh.

I particularly enjoyed this game. That's probably because we got 1st overall. I don't know how that happened. It just did. We managed to beat an entire class that was made up of ruggers not from that class, and another very athletic class.

Overall I enjoyed AC Games. It was pretty fun, and a good time to relax with your class, share a few laughs, and just not think for a while. However, there were quite a few complaints about how AC Games was organised. Some were a little lost and confused about where to go for their games. Others didn't like the way the points were counted. There were even a few who thought it was quite boring, and a failure.

People, I think we need to lighten up. It's just a bunch of stupid games. It's for fun. That's all. True, on the first day things were pretty messy, with people not sure which court they must report to, but let's give the councilors a bit of a break. This is their first major event. It's not like they weren't trying. And on the second day, they were much better organised.

Then there was the rain. On the second day it rained in the morning. So games had to be postponed. Then it rained again. So games had to be postponed again. Many classes chose to stop playing and go home. Now this really isn't anyone's fault. None of us can control the weather. It was unfortunate, but that's how things are sometimes.

Those who found AC Games to be boring, I think you can only blame yourself. If you decided it was a waste of time, and chose not to take part in anything, of course it was boring. I had fun. Those people from my class that turned up had fun. Let's stop putting the blame on others, and start shouldering some of the responsibility.

It seems that we only know how to complain, complain, and complain.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 10:35 AM

Another Cryptic Message?

Things just keep getting better and better.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 12:35 AM

Thankful

Thank heavens for the rain.

It calms me, the murmur of water droplets easing the strain of my heart.

And thank the stars for the sporadic streaks of lightning that accompany it.

They force me to log off the computer, lest it explodes into splinters of flaming shrapnel from a massive surge of electricity.

Back to studying for stupid exams I go.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 10:02 AM

An Exercise In Self-Indulgence

Based on all the self-initiated hype, one would expect ACJC's Open House to be the social event of the season. From what I'd heard, I conjured up images of the school overflowing with boys and girls, throngs of crowds at even the most secluded places, and other general instances of noise and excitement.

This was not to be.

Perhaps it is partially my fault. We were told to help the college advertise, by spreading word that ACJC was cool and that everyone should go and have a look-see. I didn't do that. To be honest, it was because I was lazy, AND because most of my friends are in my age group.

When you're 17, and you say your friends are in your age group, it means they are at the same level of education as you. I don't have that many younger friends, or friends who were retained last year and made to do their O Levels again.

Anyway, the preparations actually began the day before, the various CCAs were setting up their booths, tour guides were being trained, and signs were put up in all the walkways. Noticeboards which had been neglected for an entire year were cleaned up, made suitable for the viewing of the general public.

I was involved in the assembling of goody-bags. Why would I volunteer myself for such a cause? Why, CIP hours of course. There were quite a number of us who were enticed by the offer of satisfaction gained from community improvement, but we had to pack 1500 bags to achieve it.

It wasn't very difficult, but it was extremely tedious and dull work. I wonder how people can tolerate working in assembly lines. I guess money is a better incentive than CIP. Each one of the bags contained lots of random crap, in addition to a good amount of our sweat (Literally. Gross, I know.) and toil.

I have a newfound respect for those involved in the NDP.

On the actual day of Open House, I had three duties. The first was to be an usher. I was given a tag and made to tuck my t-shirt in. Essentially, I was a goody-bag dispenser. I was also an information counter. Once again, it was for CIP. My second duty was to demonstrate for the track and field showcase. I was afraid some secondary school thrower would come and completely humiliate me, but fortunately, it had rained rather heavily in the morning, and the field was flooded. My final duty was to sit at the track and field booth. I sat there for one hour. No one came to talk to me.

Open House seems, to me at least, to be quite a pointless exercise. First of all, I don't think that many people came. At least 1500 people came, because at the end of the day, all the goody bags were gone. However, the 1500 include parents and younger siblings, people from other JCs who were bored and had nothing better to do, and J2s who were also bored and had nothing better to do than come here dressed in their secondary school uniforms. Everywhere I went, I saw huge crowds of students wearing ACJC t-shirts. The performances (choir, chinese orchestra, band, etc.) gained the loudest applause and cheers from our own people.

I don't really see how much one can learn from visiting Open House. Unless one is interested in specialised ACJC programmes, such as the English Language subject that will be taught here in the future, there isn't very much to see or inquire about. The CCA booths don't really have much information for visitors. Students who want to apply through DSA have already done so. I can't imagine someone coming to a school just based on the fact that they would like to join a certain CCA. Everywhere I turned, I saw bored students sitting behind their booths, staring blankly into space. However, I think the guided tours were probably the most useful, giving people the chance to see what facilities our school has to offer.

Finally, it is difficult to get a good impression of what ACJC, let alone what a JC education, is even like in such a short timespan. After visiting the school, having some random guy give you a goody-bag, listening to the choir sing, and walking around the CCA booths for 10 minutes, honestly, how much can you actually learn? To be frank, the JCs are probably more alike than they are different, though I'm sure people who think ACJC is much better than some other JCs would be quick to disagree with me.

In the end, it was pretty much an exhibition that we put up for ourselves.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 9:54 PM

O Brave New World

Some of you may find this post to be very dull.

I recently read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

I am not a Lit student. I read it voluntarily. Much to my literature-studying friend's surprise (wow this is a really complicated sentence), I found it interesting and very thought-provoking. I didn't exactly like it, but this is the sort of book that is, for the lack of a better expression, too screwed up for anyone to really like.

There are many ideas in this book (no wonder it was chosen as a literature text), but the one that spoke the most to me was the one regarding the conflict between happiness and truth.

Perhaps I should give a quick synopsis. The book is set in the distant future. People live in what appears to be a utopian society. They are all cared for, no one suffers from diseases, there are no wars, everyone is happy.

However, drastic steps have been taken in order to achieve this stability. People are given different ratings based on their intelligence levels, which were decided before birth by basically being given different amounts of nutrients. (Sort of like Primary School Streaming... TO THE EXTREME.) This way, everyone has their own place in society. Some are born roadsweepers, others destined for greatness.

Another measure taken to ensure that society doesn't collapse was to have everyone socially conditioned. Essentially, people are brainwashed into believing ideas that are beneficial to their society, such as solitude being bad, that everyone belongs to everyone, and class-specific lessons which ensured the separation of the various classes. You can't have an Alpha Plus mixing with an Epsilon Semi-Moron, can you? Strict censorship has also been put in place, and any ideas considered old, are deemed unfit for the general public. Religion is prohibited.

Despite all these restrictions, people are generally very happy. If they're feeling depressed, people are given soma, which is rather like marijuana in tablet form, which will make them feel happy and relaxed. They are allowed to have sex with as many partners as they can, in fact it is encouraged. (I know of some people who wouldn't mind that.) Those who have been condemned to do the worst jobs are glad with what they have been given, because it is all that they know. No one suffers.

However, many sacrifices have been made to achieve this happiness. It is almost as if humanity had been taken away from the humans. There is no such thing as passion or love, because these sort of feelings make us feel strongly about those around us, which lead to a sense of loss when they are taken from us. Indeed, we suffer for our love, and there is no more need for suffering. The people that live are happy, true, but what exactly is the point of their existence? Their lives have been virtually mapped out from the day they were born to the day they perish. To me it seems as though they exist purely for the sake of existing. There is no such thing as nobility or heroism. After all, in a perfect society, what need do the people have for heroes? There is no evil tyrant to overthrow. Happiness is never grand, but then again, everyone is happy. However, is it true happiness? Isn't it true that the bitterness of tears only makes the taste of joy that much sweeter?

This was the main argument between Mustapha Mond, the World Controller for Western Europe, and the Savage, who had only been thrust into the society recently. I found both arguments very compelling.

In the end, the Savage claimed the right to be unhappy, tried to escape from society, and ended up killing himself.

How much are you willing to sacrifice for happiness?

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 10:07 PM

National Education

We had a National Education talk this morning.

It was great that the teachers scolded us for misbehaving even before the thingy began. If I remember correctly, we were told to be on our best behaviour. We were to appreciate everything that was being done for our sake.

However, if I remember correctly, none of the students ever requested for such... an act of kindness.

What I found hilarious (though unfortunate) was the girl who had to introduce the guest speaker, whose name I cannot recall. She had to wear the school No.1 uniform, which is, the blazer and tie and shoes and everything else. The girl had to put on all that crap just to stand behind a podium, which left only her head exposed, to talk for about 30 seconds.

Implementation of absolutely unnecessary formalities. There's nothing quite like it.

The guest speaker was some government representative, MP of someplace and he worked as the Secretary in some branch of our government. Pretty admirable stuff. He looked smart.

The topic for the day was Religion in Singapore. I found it quite surprising that they were willing to have an open dialogue regarding such a sensitive topic. As far as I can recall, the government doesn't really like to touch on this subject. However, it ended up being pretty much the same old stuff. Still, it's quite something, considering we're in Singapore.

Strange how someone can make terrorists and war and violence sound as dull as an instruction manual. That takes talent.

As usual, after the guy finished talking, we were allowed to ask have our say. There was something this one girl said that struck me as being quite blunt. This girl stated that some religions have the belief that "I'm right, everyone else is wrong", and that it was quite contradictory to Singapore's policy of accepting all the major religions.

Now, who said Singaporean students can't think?

But of course, the rest of us didn't understand what she was saying, and decided to laugh at her for a few moments, so as to hide our embarrassment and ignorance.

After the thing was over, the intro-girl was allowed to recite some standard message of thanks lasting about 30 seconds short to the guest, and we were allowed to leave.

At least intro-conclusion-girl was able to make good use of her formal attire.

Labels: Musings

Blogged @ 9:43 PM