Exams and post-exams

It’s really over… the other blogs have talked about it, I rather I do not, only to proclaim that I’ve done quite well. And that’s that.

HMT O’ levels was indeed a whirlwind. The compo might have been good, might have been not so good; there is ambiguity for the rest of the paper too. A lack of surety. Uncomfortable. But I guess that’s part of life.
It’s a pity though that most claim that they would not read another Chinese character for the rest of their lives. Admittedly, with English becoming sort of a “lingua-franca” in our world (the Chinese too are learning English in droves, with Earnest), Chinese seems to take a much neglected back seat, especially with the international 海外华侨s (Ethnic Chinese outside of Mainland China). Yet, we must not forget our roots, our ancestry. We need something to connect us, a sense of belonging, a sense of history, love (but not patriotism). Perhaps Chinese can be the connection, a heart-to-heart, truthful connection beyond our appearances and our characteristic idiosyncratic ruthless practicality and money-mindedness.

I still read Chinese. I’ll still read Chinese.

Clichéd. Anyway, the post-O’ level-activities came in avalanches. All hell broke loose. We had a class chalet immediately from wed to sat, when I joined the likes of the China scholars, Georshie, Tanuj etc in Counter Strike LANning. Never played CS before, so it was entirely an exhilarating experience. I was particularly impressed (and slightly worried) for the China scholars—they were amazing with the accuracy in their shots. I had a fair amount of beginner’s luck, managing to gun some down out of the many many more times they managed to do unto me. I’d also successfully squeezed into the Mahjong gang of four several times and played several games with a poking Fong, a complaining Ram and a wide-eyed Renyan. Alright, it wasn’t a gang of four; it was a rotating door policy. But mahjong is mahjong, and we had a good time. We watched shows too. Georshie and I watched ‘big bang theory’, with nerd and not, strung together with wit into a sure-win formula of an American sitcom. The China scholars and I watched Inferno affairs. Zhiyu was ranting about how good how good how good it was, and indeed it was. Wonderful.

Outdoor activities were fun too. Barbeque was good (Fong orchestrated the entire thing wonderfully). Food was relatively good at Changi Village (except that it was too oily; I had diarrhoea). Walk at the seaside was very good. I never knew such sunsets, scenery, breezes could be experienced in Singapore.

Sleeping was good too.

Georshie and I were the only ones who stayed throughout.

1st day: barbeque
2nd day: some came and went. Xbox came and went. Only scholars +3 people stayed.
3rd day: graduation day. Returned at 5 plus. Some came and went. Only Ashish, Conan, Renyan, Joshua, Samuel (from another class) stayed.


So it was rollicking fun.