I’ll Do It All Over Again – Christopher Ho Tjah Tjin

I have decided from the start that I would be the last author to write a post on Christopher, mostly because I would want to read the posts that are already out there and see whether their views resonated with mine. And partly because I am somewhat selfish for wanting to avoid regurgitating posts; I wanted mine to be somewhat unique. But the honest truth is, it is because I am scared. For I take my friendship with Christopher to be somewhat a little special; that we go back a long way. There is this impending fear in me that my perceptions and memories of Christopher would be just be….like the rest. And that something that I once held as close to special will disintegrate into something….normal.

Fact Number One: He’s not normal. =S Look at the sucker with the god-knows-what pose.

I’ve given this post quite some thought and I was quite surprised at how much I could remember. It was as though the yellow fluorescent lights of my ceiling wall fade to give way for the entrance of a nostalgic movie. And one just stare into blank space…remembering what was, and how things came to be.

I remember how we first “met.” He was this 1 Browser dude that people mentioned to be slightly intelligent and thus one of my rivals for the coveted position of being number one academically in the entire form. I soon saw his picture in the newspapers when the Star did a scoop on our school in which he was slightly bent forward over the class table while staring into the photographer’s camera. “Small kid,” I remembered muttering to myself, not aware that he was a year younger than me. Then it was this random twist of fate that 1 Winzip, 1 Browser and 1 Visto would be grouped together at the ground floor classroom beside the bookstore where we would spend our childish time for 3 periods on Thursdays while our Muslim friends went for their respective religious classes. We were just two prefect trainees with no glorious ambitions whatsoever; we were just anxious to survive the next cut. Though in the same class we were, we never talked for we own had our specific friends and there was nothing much to talk about anyway.

Fact Number Two: He comes from Japan and he doesn’t know how to shoot. Hmm..I like to smoke weed. XD

Then there was this fateful Thursday in which we had to spring clean the class. We were both in charge of cleaning the windows near the teacher’s table. And naturally, we talked. Our conversation spiraled from the prefect board, the teachers, exams and friends. I can’t so far remember the exact specifics, but I remembered the topic of friendship broached on the subject of loyalty. And there was this one remark that he made that still stayed crystal clear in my mind. “I will never do that! I am a LOYAL FRIEND.” exclaimed Christopher. A loyal friend – that is what he is to me, from day one till this very second. That fact was never questioned. The only elephant in the room was: Would I be as loyal to him as he was to me?

In form 4, it was put to the test.

Fact Number Three: We are awful posers.

Let’s face the facts: Christopher is popular among the student population of SMK USJ 12. He had his fair share of admirations, crushes and fan clubs. I guess the factor was because he was an eccentric person; a person who did not necessary fit the mold of what we call: ‘the expected norms of society.’ And if one would care to just browse through the blog posts that were written in his honour, one of the most admirable phenotypic traits that he posses was his hair. While his pseudo-thorny-punk hairstyle augured well with our peers, it wasn’t received well among the teachers. Christopher would be held up after assembly to have his hair examined. And time after time, he would do all that he could to alter his hair but there was only so much that he could do. The facts remained stark: his hair to a large extent, wasn’t the product of choice but rather of nature.

Needless to say, one thing lead to another; it came to this final showdown where he was held up before the full disciplinary panel for sanctions. I still remembered how the entire cabinet gathered in the prefect room  during our recess break, mulling over our next step. There was a balanced sense of injustice and defeatism in the air. While we felt that the disciplinary board’s stance against Christopher was unjust, but as students there was a fine line that we cannot cross. However that day was different. It was no longer an issue about hierarchy or conventions. It was about friendship. So I called for an emergency meeting, and gave each cabinet member a choice: we can either officially protest against the school’s actions or we can walk away.

Fact Number Four: He’s taller than me. And he makes sure that I know it! &#(*&%(@*&%(#@%&#%^#&*@&#*@

I still remembered that VERY second. As one by one hands shot up in the air in favour of Christopher. It was a near unanimous vote. For the first time in history, the prefect board officially protested against the school. We knew that the disciplinary panel would convene after recess, and thus time was of great importance. In a span of 15 minutes, we produced four identical handwritten letters bearing all our signatures objecting the sanctions against Christopher. By the end of recess, each letter was delivered to the respected key members of the panel: Pn Teo, Pn Theng, Pn Jill and Pn Yong.

All hell broke lose.

I remembered Pn Jill, the prefect teacher being SO PISSED at us prefects [or me in particular], and rightfully so. I was called into Pn Teo’s room with Pn Yong and got a nice trashing. I was lectured by almost all disciplinary teachers on decorum and the proper lines of authority. But one can’t deny that the letters worked. No sanctions were placed on Christopher and I believe they managed to come to a sensible compromise. And I think Pn Teo still keeps the letter till this day.

I honestly don’t know what made me convene that meeting. And on hindsight it wasn’t the best means to approach the problem. I was never a rebellious child and I have a strong disdain for insubordination. But I just did it and it made me feel happy. For I knew I could be as loyal to him as he was to me. Ultimately, something in me felt that Christopher would do the same if our roles were reversed; that he would never leave a comrade alone in the battlefields.

So Christopher, I won’t write you a poem like what I did for Pn Shirley. I won’t shed tears for you like Riley did. I won’t write heartfelt posts for you like Nic. I won’t even wish you goodbye.

Fact Number Five: It’s now time for him to leave the nest. =)

All I can say is this: If I have the chance to turn back the time to the day when you summoned to the disciplinary board, even with the full knowledge on how things would have turned out….I swear to god….

I’ll do it all over again.

PS: GO ROCK AUSTRALIA!

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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