thanks for the memories

woohoo! today's officially the first day of my one month break! i'm still quite cynical about the phrase holiday because you usually get to rest and relax during holidays but this time round it MUST be a "working holiday" for myself - ironic. well, the situation now is something like whether i make it or break it, if i still can't achieve my targets set for this exam then i'll be terribly stressed for my prelims and subsequently the A-levels. freakish.

since i had to have a break, my last week of school was spent on playing and enjoying myself. i guess it started since my Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith movie last Friday 20th may. i'm so happy the series finally concluded. Star Wars 3 is an important episode (although not a very fantastic one) as it explains the many unexplained happenings in the Star Wars IV, V and VI movies. oh...those were the classics and i feel they're the best, especially V and VI. haha. me and jason went for basketball finals, witnessed two exciting and dramatic matches then proceeded to lido. we were really lucky to get our 6pm movie tickets as we only reached that place at 5.30pm. woohoo lucky the two of us.

after a great bball match and a great movie comes a great DotA macth! had a great time battling it out with hoa, linh and jason. i think we've been playing almost everyday now. it's stupid to play computer games so often but it really gives you that adrenaline rush, and makes your senses more alert (especially to potential backstabs ^^ ) less important reason why we DotA : it helps us save money. it has come to the time of the year where we scholars are low on our finances and are forced to go on a financial diet. the trend i observed is that we usually spend when we just received our allowances then our spending decreases at an exponential rate like that of a y=e^-x graph. haha.

monday.23rd may. acjc choir concert. an evening with friends. met up with charles, katie n sufen for dinner before the performance. had soup spoon ...so yummy! along the way i met a lotta ppl - jingyi, charmaine, jon ng, n more! i was expecting a seat near the stalls, but our seats were on the 2nd row from the stage! deja vu! last year when i went to hcjc choir concert i was sitting on the same row. argh! anyways, the choir performance was really superb overall. they have interesting stuff like laughing on stage towards the end of the song and during the song 'beattitudes' the alumni choir was creating a scene where people are announcing the beattitudes. cool, huh? there were some songs which were normal/mediocre, some really soothing i felt like just closing my eyes and relax to the sound of music ;)

finally caught the movie Kingdom of Heaven yesterday with jason. after watching the movie then only i realised why so many people have commented that the movie is not worth watching - it's because they do not have prior background knowledge to the crusades during that time and thus find no meaning in the movie at all. i was apalled by how the templars were so fanatical about going to war for the sake of religion. nonetheless, my thoughts were parallel to that of the king and orlando bloom's character(i forgot the name). they wanted a jerusalem for the people where muslims and christians can live together in their holy land. quite idealistic, but always possible. the medieval war fight scenes was our favorite too, so we felt really attached to the movie. haha.

highlight of my week - it's definitely my outing today with hooiching! and hanwen too! they made me travel all the way to kovan mrt. i only decided to give in to their suggestion because i have not visited that place before. so, killed 2 birds with one stone! we had lunch at pizza hut and we ordered this really huge pizza(of which i'm usually the one to have to finish it off --" ) it's been 6 months since i last saw them, and they're as beautiful and sweet as ever in my eyes; friends who helped me pull through my initial year in singapore. oh, they said i looked 'chio' without specs. yippee! after all these years i feel like we're all more than friends already; more like brothers and sisters who can openly share emotions and encourage each other along the way. they're both going to uni soon! wishing them the best of luck with their new phase in life.

hc's gonna be baptised tomorrow. god bless you richly!
tomolo's also my first time playing bass guitar for main service. hope i don't mess it up. must go practice now!

“Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Speak the truth, always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath…”

Knights oath, "Kingdom of Heaven"

fireworks! /the afterglow

31st Students' council stepping down ceremony
32nd students' council investiture - vivace!

the last day has finally dawned on the 31st. last day officially as councillors. well, i'd say i was too tired from yesterday to wake up early today to rush out remaining notes to councillors. thankfully, i still had time when i reached council room.

before the whole event commenced, we played a powerpoint presentation to showcase the life of the 31st. sweet. music was appropriate and nice too. when all the j1's had gathered in the auditorium, the lights are turned off. [ringtone plays in background: tune - 31st's batch song]
*matrix song plays in the background* time for our grand entry: we all were originally sitting with the crowd, then when the music played we marched down the aisle with our lightsticks, heading towards the stage. *music ends - sit down*

the position was the same - on the stage in front of half the school population and the VIPs.
the feeling? different. very different. i still recall the anxiety and curiosity for the unknown last year. now, it's just this steady, calm feeling, tending more towards confidence. it's like knowing you've a year of experience behind you and now you're proud of all your achievements. first, the working comms were presented to the school, then followed by the standing comms as we receive our certificates. after that, showtime! the 31st's item - our dance partner item. each dance partner will take turns to go on stage, present each other with their gifts, do some 'moves' then hand each other their personal notes from the board (which has a background saying "fireworks") my item with eunice was quite stupid...act blur as we enter the stage..looking around for each other like the show 'turn left, turn right', then bumming into one another at centrestage. haha. hope she liked her cute smiling 'green dustbin'. i filled it with everything green that i could find =) i got a blue OP shirt with 'graffiti design'. haha. nice nice. thanks! our final item was our batch song. i still feel we sounded like a choir, although as individuals many of us can barely sing properly. the extended version was really touching...but somehow i'm not crying...it's just me, i'm not easily swayed by emotions. maybe i've been through so many hard times in life i'm kind of numbed sometimes to all these emotional things. i think the last time i really teared was tears of joy..when 1st KL won 2nd runners-up in the 2000 Pesta Drill competition.ahhh...those were the times.

our final duty as councillors was to install our juniors into office - officially badge them as councillors. yay..sam badged sam:) and i badged char. hey, thanks for the hug. it really came unexpected to me. i hate to think that all the rough encounters i had kind of made me a little distant from my softer self, but that alone reminded me of some more important things. loving others.
photo taking session!!! achievement- i took 42 individual photos with everyone including AAB!


IT Directors!!! char,me,sam,sam =p


we are...PUB31!


slacked around in council room...adorning its interior with works of art a.k.a. grafitti =) our council really has a lotta artists! lunch, then we went to turf city for softball cheering. cheering is just as fun...haha! some hiccups happened along the way and we had to leave the match early for our council dinner @marche.suntec.city. we all dressed up in our sec sch uniform once more. oh, we're such a loud bunch of people! after a great dinner and more photo-taking... we headed to the underground 'dance area' near esplanade. we did all our hwachong mass dances, speedy and dirty pop there! haha! we were such a tourist attraction...we became the subjects of many cameramen there! other dancers might think we're a crazy bunch of people..haha.

truly a memorable day, and an unforgettable experience over the last one year. thanks 31st.

it ended beautifully with a bang..just like fireworks


the 31st hcjc students' councl [our final webpage background]

the final day beckons

monday was our 3rd last cheering session - basketball semi-finals. it was my first time to singapore basketball centre (SBC) and i felt it was a really nice sports hall specifically for bball. this is probably the last time i'm missing lessons to go for cheering with council, minus our free day from school on wednesday, the day of our stepping down. we came back relatively early and i had to rush for my math 's' paper class coz we weren't excused..ughhh.. we later had an evaluation session as a council. i felt it was quite good because everyone spoke up, and there were many good thoughts, comments, and criticisms about council that we shared. the general tone was tending towards negative, with quite a number of people thinking this is going to be THE END of it all. i was rather disturbed by that thought because i personally feel that there is really nothing to feel too sad about. maybe we may not be able to work on hwachong events together or stay up late doing our work and then studying or just complain about the test on the following day, there's still always a chance for us to meet up, chat, dance and sing together as 31st. in fact, if we are relieved of our duties then perhaps we may be able to speak without so many barriers and restrictions in mind. this idea of mine was almost completely parallel to rosie's, which thinks that our stepping down is the beginning of a new chapter of our journey together. positive thinking!

after a long-awaited dinner at 10pm and 8 hours of sleep, i almost woke up being late for school. today was lucky for me because both lecturers finished 20 minutes before time allowing me time to quickly pen a thought or two on the rainbow coloured cards of all 42 councillors as a stepping down note. i realised i have really loads to write about, but i just can't recollect all my thoughts almost immediately...not like it's at the tip of my fingers. anyways, thank you everyone for all the memories. my day ended early so i was lucky to squeeze some time to go to queensway with jinyee n faith to go buy my gift to my it director partner, samuel! really hope he'll like it! a black adidas sleeveless t-shirt. woohoo! it's so nice i sometimes feel like having it for myself =) today was just rushing from place to place; first to queensway then back to hostel to fetch my laptop for the dance partner item music[which later had to be changed again still due to errors in timing]. i am rather happy when i saw the 32nd's rehearsal and banner, i felt like it's the beginning all over again and also that there's a capable bunch of people to lead the college and add flavour to its life. today was really our last 'work session' for 31st, which ended late == late dinner + not enough time to complete my message cards for my dear PUB31 + have to rush the dance-partner item music.

the final day has arrived

Daniel 6

Daniel in the Lions' Den

1Darius reorganized his kingdom. He appointed one hundred twenty governors to administer all the parts of his realm. 2Over them were three vice-regents, one of whom was Daniel. The governors reported to the vice-regents, who made sure that everything was in order for the king. 3But Daniel, brimming with spirit and intelligence, so completely outclassed the other vice-regents and governors that the king decided to put him in charge of the whole kingdom.
4The vice-regents and governors got together to find some old scandal or skeleton in Daniel's life that they could use against him, but they couldn't dig up anything. He was totally exemplary and trustworthy. They could find no evidence of negligence or misconduct. 5So they finally gave up and said, "We're never going to find anything against this Daniel unless we can cook up something religious."
6The vice-regents and governors conspired together and then went to the king and said, "King Darius, live forever! 7We've convened your vice-regents, governors, and all your leading officials, and have agreed that the king should issue the following decree:
For the next thirty days no one is to pray to any god or mortal except you, O king. Anyone who disobeys will be thrown into the lions' den.
8"Issue this decree, O king, and make it unconditional, as if written in stone like all the laws of the Medes and the Persians."
9King Darius signed the decree.
10When Daniel learned that the decree had been signed and posted, he continued to pray just as he had always done. His house had windows in the upstairs that opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he knelt there in prayer, thanking and praising his God.
11The conspirators came and found him praying, asking God for help. 12They went straight to the king and reminded him of the royal decree that he had signed. "Did you not," they said, "sign a decree forbidding anyone to pray to any god or man except you for the next thirty days? And anyone caught doing it would be thrown into the lions' den?"
"Absolutely," said the king. "Written in stone, like all the laws of the Medes and Persians."
13Then they said, "Daniel, one of the Jewish exiles, ignores you, O king, and defies your decree. Three times a day he prays."
14At this, the king was very upset and tried his best to get Daniel out of the fix he'd put him in. He worked at it the whole day long.
15But then the conspirators were back: "Remember, O king, it's the law of the Medes and Persians that the king's decree can never be changed."
16The king caved in and ordered Daniel brought and thrown into the lions' den. But he said to Daniel, "Your God, to whom you are so loyal, is going to get you out of this."
17A stone slab was placed over the opening of the den. The king sealed the cover with his signet ring and the signet rings of all his nobles, fixing Daniel's fate.
18The king then went back to his palace. He refused supper. He couldn't sleep. He spent the night fasting.
19At daybreak the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. 20As he approached the den, he called out anxiously, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve so loyally, saved you from the lions?"
21"O king, live forever!" said Daniel. 22"My God sent his angel, who closed the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me. I've been found innocent before God and also before you, O king. I've done nothing to harm you."
23When the king heard these words, he was happy. He ordered Daniel taken up out of the den. When he was hauled up, there wasn't a scratch on him. He had trusted his God.
24Then the king commanded that the conspirators who had informed on Daniel be thrown into the lions' den, along with their wives and children. Before they hit the floor, the lions had them in their jaws, tearing them to pieces.
25King Darius published this proclamation to every race, color, and creed on earth:
Peace to you! Abundant peace!
26I decree that Daniel's God shall be worshiped and feared
in all parts of my kingdom.
He is the living God, world without end. His kingdom
never falls.
His rule continues eternally.
27He is a savior and rescuer.
He performs astonishing miracles in heaven and on earth.
He saved Daniel from the power of the lions. 28From then on, Daniel was treated well during the reign of Darius, and also in the following reign of Cyrus the Persian.

(the message)


i was very troubled recently of some knowledge that has come to my attention. it was very painful to hear, and sometimes i wished not to know it in the first place. however, if i have not known then how can i correct myself? how then can i improve?
chem lesson was sort of substituted by a heart-to-heart talk between our chem tutor and my class today. we discussed certain issues that would affect how we, as a class, are going to make the best of our remaining time in hwachong, how not to be shortchanged by our very own actions. it was a really thought-provoking session, although i've already anticipated quite a few of the points raised..such as certain possibilities of the outcome of our actions NOW. also, to see beyond the present. i was listening intently till something that my teacher said seemed like to answer to my prayers regarding my situation.

(in life, especially the working world)
"we may not be able to change others, but we can definitely change ourselves"

rhetorical, yes, we may ask why should you adjust to others and others to you? but really, if we have that mindset then nothing changes, both parties might end-up feeling the same and decides not to put in any effort to improve themselves. sigh.

i've only this to say:
adapt, but never compromise your own standards.

Hilang Bersama Masa

Tidakkah kita dilahirkan dengan bekalan
Kesucian hati sejernih embun pagi
Dengan ihsan sesejat alam tak bertepian
Bersama keberanian para mukmin dan wali

Lihat saja pada bayi di tangan insan
Berserah dalam timangan kesayangan
Maupun dalam tangan kekerasan penuh kekejaman

Senyumnya sejujur kata luhur
Tangisannya betul kerana kebulur

Tapi ke mana semuanya ini
Di mana saki-bakinya lagi

Manusia tertawa tanpa bahagia
Menangis untuk bersandiwara
Berkata semata menokok dusta

Sayang
Sekalipun hidup ini buat sementara
Mengapa harus ertinya hilang bersama masa.

(f. r. Bahamid)