Camp.
| Hey all. By the time you read this…. (no, I won’t be already dead) we’d have less than 7 days ‘till we’re all….. well, dead; with an exception of those who’ve been putting in consistent + hard + effective + fruitful work AND those select few who are just naturally brilliant. Well, at least we’re gonna face it together. I’m at my sister’s place as I write this. As you might have guessed I got a little distracted by the mouse. And the keyboard. And the monitor. In actual fact, I was mainly distracted by the thoughts in my head. I was thinking ‘bout how fun it’ll be in a few weeks time when it all ends. My face feels hot and my heart is pounding real hard thinking about it. Call me silly, but this entire “ASEAN Pre-University Scholarship” thingy is kinda like an ultra-long summer camp. Y’know, like the ones we used to foolishly join when we were in the Boy Scouts (or Snouts), Persatuan Bulan Sabit Merah, The Girl Guides, St. Johns….. Prefects? (Do prefects go for leadership camps?) We felt emptiness when we watched our parents drive away at Day Zero of camp, just as how they went off when they left us imprisoned here back in December ’03. We’d suffer our way through the mosquitoes, the hunger and the ghost stories. The sleepless nights without air conditioning, without nice music, without our beds! We’d think about doing other more ‘berfaedah’ activities like chatting online, hanging out at the regular mamak stall or shopping (hey, ‘berfaedah’ is really subjective okayy…). Fine, for Andrew’s sake -- We’d think about doing other more ‘berfaedah’ activities like reading The Economist, thinking of what a monkey President George W. Bush is, and writing GP essays for the thrill of it. It hurts even more when the shopping malls and mamak stalls are just 10 metres away from the campsite; in our line of sight, tempting us to just abandon our comrades and run towards that shiny, brown mahogany counter at Coffee Bean before gulping down a cup of Mocha Ice-Blended; with whipped cream, of course. The term so close yet so far never seemed so personal. Just as how Orchard Road and Lido and Plaza Sing and Esplanade are like an EZLink tap away. The confines of those camps are frighteningly similar with the whole concept of curfew. What a terrible, terrible word. But yet, under all that immense stress and all, we got to know each other better. That’s how we learned so much more about the funny and weird people around us, the people who would otherwise be strangers under normal circumstances. I would never know how devilish Carynl could be. I’d never guess that Pereira would be so damn built and huge. I’m still surprised to this very day of the fact that Kean Kwoh is a Mensa member, a yoyo player, a breakdancer-guitar-enthusiast and chessmaster all in one, with that quirky voice of his. I’m astonished by the fact that Brian writes with such power. I didn’t believe my ears when Su first sang, and I never would have thought that Sue Li would eventually be Sue Lee. Hell, I will definitely think back about the laughter I had with Yee Kiat, all the difficult questions that weren’t so difficult after all whenever Wei Jian took over and the stupid head-butts I used to give Alex. I’d reminisce the times Ben was in his bitchy mode and how Elaine’s cards took my breath away. I'd think 'bout Xinging in the Loong and his sharp leather shoes. I already am. Right here, in my sister’s room. And the freakin’ Physic TYS With Solutions is staring back at me. Thinking about the conflicts and how everything fell back in place again. I’m wondering what it’ll be like, when the summer-camp’s over, when we're free from the mosquitoes, when we're in our air-conditioned rooms lying there in our beds, alone again. Well, at least we’re gonna face it together. |
posted by Sky at 10/31/2005 09:50:00 pm
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