a yr encapsulated.
so finally i’m 18. had birthday dinner wif my parents. invited my godbro along too. it was gd stuff. enjoyed myself so much dat i'm in no mood do anything productive now. well one yr does whizz by so fast lolz. because i rmb typing a birthday entry last yr, it makes dis blog slightly more than a yr old. when i first did my first post on nov 2nd last yr, little did i realize dat fast forwarded exactly a yr into the future, i wd b in the midst of a lvl exam preparation. n receiving the sji newsletter few days ago, i cdn’t help but feel nostalgic all over again. the future then loomed uncertainly in the distance, very much like the mountains in my paintings, but here i am living it, relishing every moment of it, steering myself once again into the unknown once again.
its time for me to look back on 2006. i will remember nj for ao3, esp cj, jon, qing lun, wang zi, crystal, kexin, melanie, shu-en, eudora, gloria, huiyi..n not forgetting pple like kristine n kelvin n BRAIN haha! chionging coursework together wif those wacky aep pple was realli memorable too. art n late days n nights r an extremely potent n volatile combination. there is a special charm in all dat mess n clutter of the art room. n of course, who can forget our dedicated teachers whitby, gilbert lee n ms sim whom we can always count on to b there for us in our learning journey. i'm full of respect n admiration for these pple, who continue to inspire me in many ways. oh yes n there’s uob n syf. when i first painted the window n my nostalgic sji paintings, never in my wildest dreams had i imagined dat one day, the window will hang in the offices of the uob managing director or dat my other paintings will find their way back to my alma mater. but it did. sat novenas, morning assemblies, ubiquitous art lessons, choir concert, band concert n the coming graduation dinner complete this giant intricate web, highlighting the endless variations n subtle harmonies n textures beneath dat seemingly hypnotic constant.
walking down the campus at hillcrest road once again, i see the apparation of a boy dashing out of florence yap’s class. oh n theres aini, apri n gloria stirring up a storm in the art room once again. continuing straight on, i bump into mrs koh n greet her. n theres austere tc11 in the distance.
like bees to honey, ao3 congregate at dis bench facing the pond every morning. quietly anticipating the man who comes to feed the fish.
the canteen benches r all probably dark n empty now, but with pple, they assume a special significance. over bryani n curry don n fish cutlet for some, we launch into highly stimulating conversations once again. the bell goes off, n u find ur feet dragging itself toward tb11 for gilbert lee’s econs tutorial, followed by civics. tb11 was a very special classroom, located smugly next to the staffroom n raintrees, very lively decorated wif class photos, posters, shelves n even art works. oh but gil lee messages our ever efficient econs rep to say on course, so its a detour to dat library, only to bump into the librarian who wags her naughty little finger at u. ‘u boy, library cannot bring water bottle arh.’
To look down into the drained pool.
Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,
And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,
And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,
The surface glittered out of heart of light,
And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.
Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.
t s elliot, the man with just the right words for anything.
17 november 2006. wad will i b doing exactly 1,2 or 30 yrs from now at 12pm at night? things wd haf changed, but by how much? u noe i always wanted to turn back time n relive those days in pri sch, or sji. but come to think of it, maybe we shd just abide by natural forces n accept our mistakes n appreciate wad we haf. life is short. some say, but its the longest thing u can ever live for. i'm sure we all agree on dat.
alvin ong dozed and watched the sawdust trampled night @ 12:35 AM
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