I think I made a mistake. I thought yesterday was the 20th. I'm sorry Shaun. Here. I'll wish you again for a second time.
Happy Birthday Shaun - You Mad Monkey You!

ahem!

It's so hot today I believe heaven is having a baking spree. I'm already stripped down to a tank top and old school short... any less and I'd be arrested for indecent exposure. I used to do that in my single room in my hostel on sweltering hot afternoons until someone told me it's against the law to walk around undressed in your own home. Considering that the hostel wasn't really my 'home' and Singapore's obsession with fining people I decided it wasn't worth the risk.

Ode to Sylvia

Skies don’t turn blue on their own,
She said
I like to make mine
A brilliant shade of pink
I’m not indebted to traditional favour
I just don’t give a damn
What they think

I looked to the heavens
At its rosy hue
And shared with it a sorry sigh
Then the clouds moved in
And the rain conquered all…
… and all she could do was cry

Alas foolish one,
Skies are beyond our dreams
Con our souls not…
It’s the hard truth
And when it storms
Why turn your back on blue skies
They may prove the better
For you…

(27/03/01)

Sylvia was one of my first 3 room mates when I moved into Eton Hall (the desecrated hostel of evil, the dungeon of despair, the... sorry, got carried away). Since she was my only room mate who wasn't from China we hit off immediately. We were both Catholic, from girl schools and we even had the same Chinese names! But, Sylvia was different. Not just different from me, but a distinctly different person from the rest of the scholars at Eton. She was a part of the 30 scholars who were sent to St. Andrews Junior College (a BIG contrast to the teeny group that consisted of 9 'elite' Raffles scholars).
Ok, take it from me... surviving the ASEAN scholar ordeal isn't easy. If I had to publish a book on tips to surviving the nightmare that is junior college in Singapore it would run along the lines of...
Rule no. 1: Try to fit in. I don't mean become completely Singaporean, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Individualism isn't meant to be cultivated in Singapore (unless you're from RJ Humanities...)
Rule no. 2: Don't complain. Even if you think you deserve better, be happy with your lot and move on. Nobody cares about you alone... everything is for the good of the whole society. It's a utilitarian society here!
Rule no. 3: Don't break rules. This is the country of rules galore and challenging them will gurantee you a one way ticket home.
Sylvia broke all three rules and more, and her scholarship offer was withdrawn after 3 months on the grounds that she could not cope with life as a scholar. I agreed with them. I had pleaded with her to stop alienating her classmates and the St. Andrews scholars, to try and like her college, to stop going to the guys rooms and staying in there till after midnight, and to stop wishing she was in Raffles because all the glamour is not what it seems. I guess it was all useless when I came back from school one day to find a note on my table with Sylvia's last goodbye. But I know she's still keeping her chin up, maybe living in a world that is more accepting of individuals like her.