文彬 Chapter 3: secondary school days (1998 ~ 2001)

01 December 2023

February 1999
Little Gray

April 2000
Live Your Dreams @ Pulau Ubin

June 2000
Secondary 3 Camp 2000

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文彬 Chapter 3: secondary school days (1998 ~ 2001)   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

#11121985

11 December 2006

December is my favourite month of the year... because it is my birthday (11 December), the beginning of winter, and the season for Winter Solstice and Christmas (X'mas)...

To me, I considered my birthday as the most important celebration of the year. This is because it is the only day and celebration that is dedicated to me. It is the day for me to celebrate my achievements achieved in the past year, reflect on mistakes and set new goals for the next year (advantage of celebrating birthday in December)... These are the reasons why my family takes birthday celebrations momentously.

My first and second birthday were celebrated quite grandly by my extended family. However, from my third birthday onwards, celebrations became smaller and were mostly confined within my nuclear family only. Mumy explained that was because my brother was born and it became more challenging to organize a huge party and to manage 2 young kids concurrently.


1st Birthday #11121986


2nd Birthday #11121987


3rd Birthday #11121988

After I started attending kindergarten in 1990, I was quite envious of my classmates who get to celebrate their birthday during school term. Their parents would wrap titbits in small gift packs and distributed to the whole class. My birthday wish at that point of time was to distribute snacks gift packs to my classmates too. However, I do not have the opportunity to do so as my birthday is in the middle of the December school holiday. Knowing this, Papa and Mumy packed the gift packs and distributed them to my friends before school closed and I am really happy about it. But as I grew older, I am glad that my birthday is in the middle of the December school holiday as I do not need to study or panic for exams on my birthday.

In 1993, I thought celebrating birthday was troublesome and a waste of money, so I told Papa and Mumy there is no need to celebrate that year. But on the actual day, Papa surprised with a birthday cake. He told me that children should celebrate every birthday, which makes me very touch...

Another memorable birthday was my 10th birthday in 1995. Primary 4 was the year of streaming. My close friends and I knew that we were very likely to be streamed into different classes next year. Upon knowing that one of my birthday wish was to celebrate my birthday with them, Bryan and gang decided to give me a surprise on the last day of school. During recess, some of my buddies tried to hold me in the canteen, while they took turn to go to the bookshop to buy me stationery or cute gifts as birthday presents. Although none of these gifts are very expensive, they are all of practical uses and filled with love. It is the sincerity that makes me kept them till now. The cute surprise celebration almost makes me burst into tears (of joy). I am still to thankful to these thoughtful friends.

After entering secondary school, birthday celebration gets simpler at home, with the basic cake cutting and a good dinner at a restaurant. However, celebration with friends became more exciting. I usually celebrate my birthday with respective groups of friends by having dinner at different places every year. My birthday celebration is also incomplete without a ktv session since 2002. I am thankful to friends who remember my birthday.

On my 17th birthday (11.12.02), I volunteered to be an usher for the Fukuoka Girls Commercial High School visit to my school. It was an unforgettable to have so many Japanese girls of my age to sing "Happy Birthday" for me! The event lasted the whole morning and it is an unique birthday experience.

As I grew up, I got used to the default arrangement that my birthday is equivalent to school holiday. However, this default logic of my birthday = holiday started to get threatened since 2004... I am glad that my 20th birthday was during the post-BMT block leave and my Ops Bacinet duty schedule allows me to celebrate my 21st birthday at home. I am thankful to be able to celebrate my birthday with my loved ones and enjoy my birthday with an ease of mind at home. I would like to say "THANK Y♥U" to everyone who remember my birthday and make an effort to celebrate with me.

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#11121985   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

Secondary 3 Camp 2000

03 June 2005

Secondary 3 Camp 2000 at MOE Punggol 24th Ave Adventure Centre
As part of our school's policy to promote character development, all Secondary 3 students who have not been exposed to outdoor residential camping in their secondary school life would need to attend a Residential Camp. Planned by PE HOD Ms Lim, the camp will be held at MOE Punggol 24th Ave Adventure Centre from 1.6.00 to 3.6.00. The camp fee is $60 per pupil, which the school will subsidise $50. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper will be provided and there will be transport from the school to the campsite and back...

The main objectives of the camp includes providing an opportunity for interaction with other schoolmates; experience outdoor life and group living; exchange of ideas; promote teamwork, co-operation and camaraderie; and to bring out leadership qualities... Treasure hunts with Science themes, orienteering, outdoor painting and sculpture building are some of the activities that will be conducted during the camp...

Packing for the camp
Upon obtaining the packing list, I notice that I do not have many of the items listed. Thankfully it is only a suggested pack list, which only requires a few compulsory items like House T-shirts, long pants and painting set... As such, I only bring T-shirts, sports shorts, undergarments, long pants, towels, socks, running shoes, plasters, medications, torchlight, fork, spoon, mug, scissors, nail clippers, notebook (my school's colloquial for exercise book), pen and painting set. Being a huge fan of SPEED, I printed the cover of "my greatest memories", "Red Beat of My Life", "Bright Daylight" and "INORI" and pasted them in the notebook...

Without any outdoor camping experience and this being my first time staying out alone, I really had no idea on what to bring. As a result, I left out numerous outdoor camping essentials...

Being afraid of insomnia, I bring jim jim along, a decision I would regret later...

Day 1 (1 June 2000)
On 1.6.00, I reported to school at 9.30am sharp in home clothes as instructed. After completing the administrative procedures, we boarded the bus at 10am for MOE Punggol 24th Ave Adventure Centre. The bus drove along Punggol Road and Ponggol 17th Ave, bypassing the upcoming Punggol town and a vast expanse of abandoned fruit plantation. The bus reached Punggol Marina at 10.30am, which is the wrong destination further down the rural track. The bus headed back towards MOE Punggol 24th Ave Adventure Centre, which we drove passed earlier. Finally, we reached MOE Punggol 24th Ave Adventure Centre at 10.40am...

MOE Punggol 24th Ave Adventure Centre
Although named after Ponggol 24th Ave, MOE Punggol 24th Ave Adventure Centre is actually more accessible from Ponggol 17th Ave, where its main gate is located. MOE Punggol 24th Ave Adventure Centre comprises the adventure centre, field, rear beach for watersports, toilet and bathroom in containers, air-conditioned container rooms for staff, a big tent and several yellow tents below the slope and on top the slope for boys...

I have a very bad impression on the campsite upon arrival. Contradictory to my imagination, the campsite is considerably shabby... The worst place in the campsite is the container toilet and bathroom, which are the dirtiest I ever visited in my life. It is so disgusting that I have difficulty describing the toilet and bathroom in words. Rust, algae and dirt are basically everywhere, highly concentrated below the shower, on the pipes and on the metal floor. Just by looking at this horrible and disgusting container toilet and bathroom is enough to make my stomach upset...

Passionate Blue Panther
It was already 11am after everyone unloaded from the buses and gathered at the big tent for briefing by Ms Lim. We are divided into 8 teams according to the respective houses. I am under "Passionate Blue Panther", with my PE Teacher Mr Ali as our teacher in-charge. Furthermore, I am lucky enough to have fellow band-mates Xue Han in my team. After the briefing, Ice-Breaking Games started at 11.30am to familiarize us with team members...

Lunch is on 12pm and for every meal, we need to cheer up to Mr Ali's standard in order to receive our meal. At the same time, we are being allocated a tent. Eight boys are allocated to a tent and boys of Passionate Blue Panther are allocated to the tent nearest to the road, just beside the fence...

Activities of the camp officially starts after lunch and each team follow a different schedule. My team change into long pants for our first activity Rope Climbing / Flying Fox, which started at 1pm. This is later followed by Team Work at 3pm. Both activities are being supervised by Mr Ali, who would select candidates to complete a certain challenge with the main objectives of promoting teamwork...

There is a mandatory free time at 5pm before all teams gather at the rear beach for a tug of war Telematch at 6pm. It was a beautiful experience of pulling the ropes with rising tide level and picturesque sunset. This moment reminds me of the tranquil PV of "ALIVE", in which SPEED is filmed singing and walking along the beautiful beach...

Dinner is served at 7pm. At 8pm, four of the teams set off for their night walk, whereas the remaining 4 teams, including Passionate Blue Panther, remained at the big tent for Talent Time Discussion.

While discussing, members in my team take turn to take a shower... Although extremely disgusted with the bathroom, I managed to conquered my fear and take a quick shower there. However, it is really a terrifying experience and horror is further enhanced with the frequent short and abrupt blackout. It simply makes me want to vomit by just looking at the high concentration of rust, algae and dirt. To overcome this, I simply closed my eyes while showering and minimized contact inside the cubicle. This is the worst shower I ever took in my life. Severely terrified, I only took 1 bath in the container bathroom for the 3 days. Except for brushing teeth and peeing, I did not step into the container toilet unnecessarily...

Night Walk at Punggol Forest
After much anticipation, our Night Walk into Punggol Forest (via Ponggol 17th Ave & Punggol Road) finally kicked off at 10pm. Bus #82, then operated by TIBS and terminates at Punggol Road End Bus Terminal, is the only bus route that ply on Punggol Road, connecting Punggol Point to the City Centre. As Punggol is relatively ulu and undeveloped, most of bus #82 were empty. While walking along Punggol Road, countless bus #82 would speed past us, providing an alternate thrill...

Inside the forest, it is totally dark and we can't see what is beneath our feet or where we are heading to. We were not allowed to switch on our torch, so as not to disturb the wildlife or spoil the ambience. Therefore, the issued light stick becomes our only source of light. It was a cool walk that rely completely on teamwork and verbal communication among teammates. I enjoyed the night walk, but due to time limit, we did not reached the beach, where teams in the 1st batch managed to reached there... Again, this night walk reminds me on the PV of "ALIVE" in which SPEED trekked through a forest...

Insomnia at MOE Punggol 24th Ave Adventure Centre
It is already 12am when we return from the night walk. After consuming supper, I brushed my teeth at 12.30am and tried to get some sleep at 12.45am...

I cannot sleep on the first night because of home sick, the noisy Pasir Gudang port across the Johor Strait and the ultra-irritating mosquito. Besides biting, the mosquito also enjoys flying in and out of my ears. This causing me to develop entomophobia, a fear to small flying insect. The phobia becomes greater especially when small insects fly near to my ears. Luckily, I discovered that Mopiko also function as an insect repellent and I apply generously to uncovered parts of my body, especially around my ears...

Hearing conversation outside the tents, I gave up trying to sleep and joined the conversation with the boys. Tian An, Brandon and I (+ some others) talked for the whole night on the steps, staying awake till 2.6.00...

Day 2 (2 June 2000)
Day 2 starts off with breakfast at 7am. This is followed by Outdoor Painting, our first activity of the day, at 8am...

Canoeing to Pulau Punggol Timor
Canoeing commenced at 10am and it is the best activities in this camp, because canoeing is very fun. I also get to learn a new sport (how to paddle a canoe). Watersports was very rare then...

Split into a pair, I'm teamed with an unknown shy schoolmate from Normal Academic. My partner was super quiet and it was awkward silent throughout the entire activity, which affected our coordination.

We started paddling from the rear beach. We paddled across the mouth of Sungei Punggol to Pulau Punggol Timor, passing by Punggol Marina. As it was about to rain, Ms Lim and Mr Ali decided to paddle back to our campsite. Else, I think we would be able to canoe to Pulau Punggol Barat, or even Pulau Seletar.

As we paddled, sea water keeps flooding into our canoe, making us really wet. After returning our canoe, I took the 2nd and last shower in the camp at the outdoor shower together with my team members...

Canoeing is another beautiful experience under the grey overcast sky. Canoeing simply strengthens the association of my camping experience with the PV of "ALIVE"...

It is at this point of time that I regret bringing jim jim along as being so far away from my tent, I am afraid that jim jim might be stolen or get wet from the rain. But luckily nothing happened to my beloved jim jim throughout this camping trip...

Rainy Afternoon
After canoeing, we had lunch at 12pm. Thanks to Muslim Friday Prayer, we had a long Free Time. However, heavy rain in the afternoon caused flooding in our tent area. Thankfully, our tent is not badly affected. The tents situated down the slope, were badly flooded by mud and earthworms... In the end, we spent the afternoon protecting our belongings from the water and clearing the mess.

Rafting
Sculpture building started at 3pm. It is followed by the Science-themed Treasure hunt at 4pm...

Rafting take place on 5pm at the rear beach. We are required to build a raft using recycled materials provided. After the raft was constructed, 2 team members must sail on the raft into the sea. However, the raft built by Passionate Blue Panther simply split into pieces shortly after it set sail...

The dusk scenery is marvellous. A few families were fishing and having a picnic on the coast off Ponggol 17th Ave. Almost every activity at the rear beach will remind me on the PV of "ALIVE" and rafting is no exception...

Held on 6pm at the field, Day 2 Telematch is an inter-team relay race very similar to those played during primary school sports day... Although not as great as the tug of war telematch on day 1, the telematch on day 2 is still quite enjoyable...

"P.A.N.T.H.E.R."
Dinner is on 7pm. Several T-Shirts, including the Camp T-Shirt and an additional white-series House T-Shirt were distributed at 8pm.

Teams have their final Talent Time Discussion at 8.30pm before the actual Talent Time starts at 9.30pm. For Talent Time, Passionate Blue Panther presented a recital cheer "P.A.N.T.H.E.R.", which is obviously inspired on the word "Panther". Each of us recite a line, in which I recited the line "T - Tug of war is the needness of our strength"...

With 2 watersports lined up among the activities, Day 2 is a tiring day. Taking into consideration that I did not sleep yesterday, I was so tired during Talent Time that I actually fell asleep while sitting on a chair...

Supper was provided to us at 12am. After brushing my teeth at 12.30am, I returned to my tent for a good night sleep at 12.45am after applying huge amount of Mopiko. I woke up in the middle of the night due to mosquito bites and while touching up on Mopiko, Ms Lim happened to check on my tent and told me to sleep early...

Day 3 (3 June 2000)
Finally, 3.6.00 is the last day of this camp. On 6.45am I woke up to the morning call from Tian An. As it was still early with little people around and I'm really sick of the disgusting ambience of the toilet, I brushed my teeth using water from the Water Cooler and split into the drain. After breakfast at 7am, we packed up all our belongings at 8am and returned the tents at 9am. Due to lack of time, Orientation, which was originally planned as the final activity for Passionate Blue Panther was cancelled. It was replaced with Campsite Clean-up at 9.10am.

At 9.40am, everyone waited anxiously for the bus. Boarding the bus at 10am, we bypassed the abandoned fruit plantation and Punggol town that was under construction again. We arrived school at 10.30am.

I reached home at 11am. I was so tired that I slept for hours on the sofa... It was already late afternoon when I wake up. I went shopping with my family, buying Eriko with Crunch's "Red Beat of My Life" and the OP dragon T-Shirts...

As Secondary 3 Camp is a memorable experience, I wrote diary entry in the notebook... Activities of this camp were really very fun, but the accommodation and basic facilities are just too lousy...

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Secondary 3 Camp 2000   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

Live Your Dreams @ Pulau Ubin

30 April 2005

Pulau Ubin is the 3rd largest offshore island of Singapore. Pulau Ubin is the last rural district, where villagers still live in traditional kampongs.

Since I became madly obsessed with "SINGAPORE STREET DIRECTORY", I have long wished to visit Pulau Ubin. Numerous news reports of Pulau Ubin as a tropical paradise and nostalgic retreat makes me want to visit the island even more...

1st Trip to Ubin (30 April 2000)
Finally, after much anticipation, I get to visit Pulau Ubin on 30.4.00, a cycling trip organized by my cousin-in-law for his 35th birthday...

After a 10mins bumboat ride from Changi Village, the 7 of us landed on Pulau Ubin Jetty... Upon arrival, we were greeted by Pulau Ubin Village, a rustic village centre that serves as the commercial centre of Pulau Ubin. Being the focal point of the rustic island, Pulau Ubin Village is very much self-contained, with its cluster of old-style grocery shops, kopitiams, seafood restaurants and bicycle rental shops. The village also houses a Tua Pek Kong Temple with its huge and unique wayang stage, a basketball court, a police post, an information kiosk and some wooden houses.

Time seems to stop here, as the village looks like a photo of a 1960s kampong as seen in my history textbooks... I really like those old grocery stores, which brings back my childhood memories. It is a pity that we did not have the chance to eat in one of those seafood restaurants...

Pulau Ubin Machor Temple
A group of uncles promoted their taxi hiring service to us. These uncles would drive us to 1 of the many attractions that are more isolated and off the main tracks. We hired a taxi van to the Machor Temple (妈祖庙), which is located on the southwestern coast of the island. Its prime waterfront location offers a panoramic view of the up-and-coming Sengkang and Punggol Towns across Serangoon Harbour. During our visit, we were informed that the Machor Temple is preparing for relocation to its new temple at Rivervale in Sengkang... This is pretty sad, because its current location is really beautiful and tranquil.

Cycling @ Pulau Ubin
Returning to Pulau Ubin Village, each of us rented a mountain bike and embarked on our cycling adventure...

The charm of Pulau Ubin lies in its rural settings with its kampong houses, deserted plantation, disused granite quarry and abandoned fish and prawn farms. With very minimal memories of my early childhood days living in Tampines Kampong, I get a clearer picture of kampong life while cycling. The lust greenery and wild chickens roaming the streets do bring back lost innocence of the old kampong days...

After cycling for quite some time, we took a much-needed break at Pulau Ubin Village, buying drinks and snacks from the old-style provision shops there. Having enough rest, we decided to continue cycling. However, shortly after we started cycling, it started raining and we had to retreat back to the village for shelter... The rain gradually gets heavier and was later accompanied with a "mini sand storm". The strong sea breeze blew across the sandy bay, carrying the sand along with it and hit us with a strong impact. It is very painful to be hitted by sand and we (along with other visitors) had to use various hilarious methods to cover our faces and exposed body surfaces from the sand. Although painful, it is still a rare and interesting experience to encounter such a "mini sand storm". Once the rain stopped, we continued cycling to explore the island...

Live Your Dreams @ Ubin Lagoon Resort
The most unforgettable experience that day would be exploring Ubin Lagoon Resort with my cousin and cousin-in-law (30 April 2000 happens to be its pre-opening open house)... Besides offering the standard chalets, barbecue pits, conference centre and sport courts, the resort also has its trademark lagoon, a private seaside beach and its unique Adventure Training Centre...

By just strolling through Ubin Lagoon Resort, I can already feel the calm, tranquil and relaxing atmosphere, which is absolutely perfect to waste away any lazy afternoon... After walking for some time along the lagoon, we visited one of the double-storey chalet, which is opened for viewing as a showroom. I was truly amazed with its cosy and homely furnishings. For the double-storey chalet, the first storey comprises the living room, a small pantry that leads to an open garden, a bedroom and a toilet, while the second storey houses another bedroom and a toilet. For the single-storey chalet, everything is at the first storey. Besides viewing the chalet, the three of us did some washing up in the toilet to clean away the sands.

Before leaving the resort, I took a copy of the promotional booklet at the lobby and I still cherish this book till now... The beautiful scenery of lagoon and the vast field of lalang set against the orange coloured sky is still deeply engraved in my heart...


"Live Your Dreams" Ubin Lagoon Resort promotional booklet

Mumy falling down from her bike
Another memorable experience of that day would be Mumy falling down from her bike twice on the island...

The first accident happened at Jelutong area, where mumy fell into a patch of tall grass. Cycling fast ahead, my brother and I stopped to take a look behind us and saw my cousin-in-law struggling to pull something from the grass. This was quite a comical move, because we though he was pulling some grass for my auntie, who likes flowers. It becomes a greater joke after knowing that he is actually trying to pull Mumy up from the grass...

The second accident happened at a bend near the village. Witnessed by Papa, Papa said that 2 aunties had already fallen off from their bikes. Upon seeing this, Mumy started panicking, which makes her lost control of her bike and became the 3rd victim on site. Mumy suffered some scratches and bleeding on her knees, but fortunately nothing serious...

After cycling for a day, we returned to Singapore to celebrate my cousin-in-law birthday...

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Live Your Dreams @ Pulau Ubin   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.

Little Gray

17 July 2004

My class had our end-of-year barbeque at Pasir Ris Park in December 1998. As a birthday threat for myself, I went to catch longkang fish in Pasir Ris Kid's Kampong. My catch is pretty good; I managed to catch more than 50+ little fishes of all kind, all not exceeding 7cm in length. I decided to bring these little fishes home and take care of them.

All is good, until one day, I did something terrible that makes feel guilty for the rest of my life. I really regret doing that. :(

I forgot the exact date of the incident; I only remembered it happened between December 1998 and February 1999. On that afternoon, my younger brother (2 years younger than me) and I caught 2 of the fishes, both gray in colour, one with a lighter tone (I shall name it "Little Gray"), and the other with a slightly darker shade (I shall name it "Deep Gray") out of the community and transferred them into a small pail. We went to get some toothpicks (I forgot who suggested it) and we started attacking the innocent fishes. One of our toothpick poked into Little Gray and it started struggling in pain. Both of us continue attacking Little Gray until its head was detached from its body, with just a layer of skin connect its head to its body. Quite a lot of blood (considered a lot for its size) flowed out from its wound.

The eyes of Little Gray was wide open, starring right at me. The stare was as if it was pleading to me: "Why did you murdered me, an innocent little fish that was your pet?", "Why are you so cruel to take away my life?", "Did I offended you to deserve this?". Suddenly, I was awaked from my evilness. My mind was in a loss, immersed with guilt.

My brother and I were afraid that our act of evil mischief would be discovered by Mumy. As such, we decided to throw the body of Little Gray into the toilet bowl and flushed it away. However, after three times of flushing, Little Gray remained in the toilet bowl, staring at us. I suggested washing some soap bubble into the toilet bowl, and Little Gray was flushed away successfully... While it succeeded in flushing Little Gray away, it did not wash away our guilt. We confessed our act to Mumy that night.

Deep Gray was lucky enough to escape death. In guilt and perhaps as an act of redemption to Little Gray, I vowed to take good care of Deep Gray. I placed Deep Gray in a separate tank (consider big for its size to let it swim freely), hoping the soul of Little Gray would accompany Deep Gray. True enough, Deep Gray survived the longest among its community of longkang fish. If I remembered correctly, Deep Gray lived till Autumn 1999, while the rest of the longkang fishes died months before Deep Gray.

4+ years had passed, I still feel really terrible while typing this now. I still feel really very bad to Little Gray. I am not afraid of Little Gray and Deep Gray would seek revenge on me, because I really did them wrong. Maybe, I might even feel better if they do.

Little Gray inspired me to want to compose a ballad-rock single "forgiveness" in memory and tribute to both Little Gray and Deep Gray. I imagined the cover art of the single to be a crayon drawing of Little Gray's death condition. I pray that Little Gray, Deep Gray and the other longkang fishes would rest in peace.

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Little Gray   © 文彬 2004~2024. All rights reserved.