I still recall our first orientation in CJ, where all the new recruits donned in their multi-coloured secondary school uniforms flooded in, some with apprehension and dread on their faces, others all brimming with excitement as they wandered about the school premises exploring new ground with their friends. For these people, they knew that their next two and half months would be fun and more tolerable because there was always going to be a group of their secondary school friends by their side. It would be a planned arrangement to take the same subject combinations, and hopefully be coincidentally in the same class, or attend the same group of lectures, and join the same CCA.
However it wasn't entirely the case for me because there were only two people from my secondary school class who got enrolled in as well- Joey (deliberately spelt wrongly so as to protect the person's identity) as well as Candice. And ex-classmates of mine would know about the stark chasm of personality/character between these two individuals. One was the courteous, polite, prim and properly dressed girl who abided very closely to the school rules, a sincere and thoughtful one who came across as a rather serious and mature person, quiet and reserved in her own way. The other was the epitome of bubbliness, the loud personality with the natural tendencies of making childish banters with her friends and even the teachers. She always had a bunch of playful tricks up her sleeve, and was one of the few people I know that can get away with any wrong she committed with that famous wide Cheshire-cat grin, plastered between her two chubby cheeks. She was the kind of girl teachers love, one who would lighten the class's spirits even when their dampened, one who was active in class discussions although often not directly involved.
And so naturally, these two friends of mine were rarely seen next to each other, while for some reason, the Cheshire cat gradually stuck closer to me. I guess its good to have her effervescence rub off on me every now and then. And strange as it may seem, she even bothered and was nice enough to sign up for the same CCAs as me, although I knew she weren't particularly interested. We joined the Band for two days and she was assigned the trombone instrument, that awkwardly long brass instrument which you had stretch your hand and push the lever to various positions to produce different sounds. Meanwhile, I was playing the oboe under the tutelage of a SAF oboist, whom I respect greatly. Playing with him was one of the best and fondest memories of I have being in the band, not to mention the wave of elation that surged through my veins when he commended that my tone was really warm and good. It was funny especially when I was practicing the oboe solo and as he stood opposite me, he would suddenly stop his conducting and close his eyes, as though he was in some sort of trance. Was my music really that spell-binding? Perhaps it was at that stage, but I'm next to nothing now, as bad as a one-year beginner most probably. Since the both of us hated running, and it was compulsory to run every once a week for an exhausting distance of 4.8km, we quitted and joined the Guitar Club instead. Following that, two of my other OGL friends as well as four other ex-crescentians joined the gang and we all had a fun time with each other. I really miss those weekly guitar practice sessions back then, although it can hardly be considered as practice since afterall, we were all newbies trying to act like pros with that six-stringed beauty on our laps. I know it was bad, but the guitar teacher was really the butt of all jokes back in that small confined air conditioned room. The funniest thing was that he was showing us on transparency the different intricate cuttings of the fingernail and advised us to cut our right hand index or middle finger nails to a proper shape if possible. Till this date, I'm not sure if it actually mattered indeed, but nonetheless this was something I'd never forget, something we all wouldn't forget.
Being in separate classes, it was imperative for all of us (the guitar group) to still socialise and mix with our own classmates. For me, I was blessed to have friends from my class I could get along with, although we might have slightly different personalities. In our class of around 25, there were only 6 boys and hence it really felt like I was back in crescent again, since at times some of the boys really acted like girls. Its funny and refreshing to see boys being more childish than what I had expected and it made it more interesting to have a few people from the opposite sex being in the same class as you. The usual scandals arose fast in our class, though thankfully none of them involving me. They were all harmless scandals that helped propel each chapter of a day forward. Apart from that, gossips abound in almost every single break, even during lessons and it was frustrating to see myself veering more and more into the paths of conformed society. I've never met such a large group of people subsisting so much on gossips in my entire life, neither have I found myself trapped in the midst of the organised crime of 'copying'. It could be really trivial and easy-to-do things like chemical equations, biology organelle labeling, and even the most daunting yet daring things to copy each other such as a GP summary, article review or even a GP essay plan. I must admit I was a victim of that 'copying' bug to a large extent, but only in my worst subject- Chinese. SY (
Perhaps that was why personally, I was dying to get out of that class. The class which made me lose my concentration in class and direction in my intellectual, academic pursuits, the school that left a mnemonic impact on my mind albeit all that fun and laughter that came along with it.
However meeting up with my a few other friends from that class, after not seeing each other for two whole years was indeed an exciting experience. I was particularly impressed at SY's little transformation- her hair was trimmed to a short trendy style and she donned a new pair of funky glasses. Both amenda and she were still extremely slim and skinny yet they managed to eat the sizeable portion of the fish and chips set at fish and co. The first thing I said about Stella was that she really looked cuter. lol. She and Amenda didn't change much in terms of personality; it was as though we just left our previous classes a week ago. SY spoke very well in English and we all agreed that she has become more ladylike and less 'chor lor' than before. We chatted at the restaurant and took pictures at the balcony till late at night. We reminisced about our orientation days, teachers, the lessons, the food and the breaks of our old school, sharing on each other’s impressions of each other then and how it has changed. All of them said I've changed a lot when they first saw me (after two years), and I could see sy trying her best to pinpoint why I looked so different. Oh well, two years have gone by and I’m sure I’ve changed quite a fair bit too back then and now. (:But the one thing for certain that stella and sy still haven’t changed is their bad habit of gossiping about others which I really hope they’d learn (and all of us too) to have a tighter rein on that gossiping bug. People should open up more about themselves, and not about others and that’s how real friendship grows. Don’t you agree?
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