July 14th: I Remember It Well

It’s been 3 years since that day passed.

It was our school’s open day. The morning was just like any other morning – duties here and there; parents sitting patiently while waiting for their individual numbers to be called; the sight of students fidgeting with a little uneasiness, wondering what remarks would their teachers dispense. Beneath all that normalcy, lies a tinge of excitement for a number of us. It’s an odd sort of excitement – a nice mixture of anticipation and worry. Hopeful of the future but worried whether we could ever step out of the brilliant legacies that our seniors have bestowed.

I remembered it well.

While there was a huge brimming of activity on the ground concourse of our school, little did most students know that simultaneously there was also a rush of rehearsals going on in ‘Bilik Teraputik,’ where a group of prefects were frantically patching through the last details of their inaugural play: The Lord of the Pens. Boy, wasn’t those moments great! I recalled exactly our antics in the prefect room, cracking lame jokes and whiling the time away as we tried to put together a comical plot for the rest to see.

I remembered it well.

“ANG JIAN WEI!!! You better faster come here and see for yourself! The stage so small!! How to perform??” screamed a frantic Irna on the other end of the phone. It was pouring then, which resulted in a massive traffic jam towards Holiday Villa. I was stuck in the car, rehearsing my speech that I would later deliver to my retired mentors. Like any other events, it was a science of equilibrium: an art on how to elicit a sense of calmness in public but scuttling behind the scenes to manage unforeseen deviations. Our rehearsal till 4pm was in vain – as the envisioned stage was too small and time didn’t permit us to perform. Nazir, our MC for the day and one of our leading actors, came down with a bad throat after an exhausting rehearsal and after belting out two songs. The walk with Ms Balvinder (now in NZ) to Holiday Villa’s main lobby to catch her a cab was still so vivid in my mind – her words of encouragement and the slight pat on my back: “You’ll do well Jian Wei! I enjoyed the dinner. Thanks so much for the invitation.” It was the Prefect Night of 2005.

I remembered it well.

Hypermedia Library and Burger King were our fortress. I guess much to their annoyance and chagrin, I would cajole Irna, Wei Ling and Sarven to Hypermedia Library for our weekly “G4″ meeting. We would run through the events that had transpired during the week and plan for the next. We were always entertained by the gossips shared and also the funny sight of Sarven throwing his 3310 Nokia phone at the wall – assuring us that it would never break. We would stay there for hours. Lunch was usually at Burger King. We ate there so often that we seriously wanted to start buying shares from it – which obviously didn’t happen. I wonder whether that tradition is still held today.

I remember it well.

Things weren’t always beds of roses. I still cringe at that ONE month – when Irna and I were practically in cold war. Looking back now I couldn’t help but to laugh. But beneath the nostalgic laughters I know that I have lots to learn from that one month. It was just the classic scenario of me being to big headed; too proud to admit that I was wrong; too egoistic to come to terms that I pushed my teammates too hard, sometimes without the considerations of their feelings. I don’t regret the unfolding of these events for I am glad to say that I am now a better person because of it.

I remember it well.

It wasn’t just those potent moments that are currently stuck in my head. It was also those mundane daily routines. The sight of grey skirts and trousers rushing down the stairs for their short 10 minute recess and how we hated lining up for food after we retired. My daily rounds around the school while snapping: SLEEVES DOWN BUTTON UP! My grey Amway water bottle and I, constantly making it through the flight of staircases and endless lanes of corridors. The handshakes, the smiles, the “Jangan lari!” or “Jangan pijak rumput!”…..

I remember them all.

But now I can unequivocally say that I am no longer the same person who was installed as the 3rd Head Prefect on the bright sunny skies of July 14th, nor I am the same guy who retired on the refreshing morning of August 12th. I have seen lots, grew so much, and I’ll let history judge whether I have turned out for the better. Though without much empirical substantiation, I can honestly say that this also applies to the other prefects of 2005/2006.

Sadly and regretfully, I have lost contact with many of you. I don’t know where most of you are, nor do I know how life is treating you now. Whatever the reasons – whether it’s due to my inefficiency of keeping in contact with friends, or it’s just the solemn truth that after secondary school, we all marshaled forward in separate directions, forging new friendships of our own – the fact is we are all so different now. And probably if you put us all together in one room, we would have to start the process of “re-knowing” one another; reheating the warmth of friendship that has intentionally been left to cool.

BUT!

Irrespective wherever you are, or what ever you are pursuing now, or however life is treating you, do know that I shall always be proud of the times we had together in that 5 short years. And nothing in the world can ever erase those memories. Even though our paths may diverge too far for us to remain close knitted friends, do know that once upon a time, we shared a history – a common history – and it was a hell of a good one! So blaze your own paths my friends! Make yourselves proud! Carpe Diem!

All that I ask of you, is that you allocate a small portion of your time, on the dawn of July 14th, to stop and remember those times; those memories and come to know that there is always one boy at a small corner of this earth who will always chant the theme:

I am so proud to have served along side with you! My teammates! My comrades! My friends!

Happy 3rd Anniversary to the Prefect Board of SMK USJ 12 05/06!

Last 5 posts by Jian Wei

• One Minute to Midnight - January 1st, 2011
• Prophecy - December 31st, 2010
• Footprints We Leave Behind - November 4th, 2010
• Budapest: Contradictions Aplenty - August 15th, 2010
• Istanbul Day 3: Masters of Our Universe - August 11th, 2010

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