section

went cycling for section outing just a while ago

i thought the whole journey was very poignant;

it looked a reflection of our ministry's direction

we set out with a vision of a promised land:

somewhere the leaders knew

but those who followed did not

a land overflowing with milk and honey

err i mean great wind and scenery

nevertheless, everyone followed

covering the rear as last man,

there were some noisy deraileurs and gears

because there was a misalignment

of a few bike chains

it took a desire from me to smooth out their ride

and a willingness of theirs to listen

and together, we ironed out their kinks

and were on our way

heading towards destination

on the path of least resistance

along the way

rain threatened to, well, rain on our parade

we took several pit stops

surveyed the weather

and saw that the dark clouds were catching up on us

instead of hiding and being caught in the rain,

we pressed on towards the plan set before us

to bring everyone out of the impending storm

(it didnt rain btw, but not the point!)

we didn't reach the promised land either

but we were out of the rain

and within striking distance of the place

as pierre de coubertin put it:

"the essential thing is not to have conquered

but to have fought well"

kasi

today i watched kasi run his swansong 5k

and the image wound the clock back a few years

if i could, i would have ordered the entire current acx down

to watch him run

im so proud of kasi

even though like he didnt get top3 or top8 or anything

he really really fought

the race was started badly

but he never gave up

even though there was nothing to fight for

kasi sped up at the most painful parts of the 5k

and ran with a beautiful form

i guess not everyone could have spotted it

but these few months with kasi

i found that though he had weak will

he had the strongest mentality

and he went for it even though it was always out of his reach

he's the only one left in acx with the fire in his eyes

today kasi translated that into sheer willpower

and truly it was soul to sole

its just too bad he had nothing to show for it

but im really really damn proud of my vice captain

watching him run gave me goosebumps today

and i felt really inspired watching my kasi run

go kasi

i am employed

for those of you who haven't been updated

i've finally gotten off my butt, got a job:

i'm assistant coach for acx back in sch

to answer the usual preceding question,

i'm being paid well enough

but by session instead of by the hour

4 times a week, roughly 3 hours a session

these next few days however

is the sch's track&field meet

and like today

i'll be working like 5-6 hours

and will still be getting paid by the session

but i really don't mind one bit

cuz i really love my job

and it really anchors the conviction

that i must do something i enjoy in the future

i think the team is shaping up really well

much better than my initial thoughts before i saw the guys

and it took me back to when i was in their position

thumping the track, forcing out 3:18s

remembered how it was like to believe in the impossible

and, together with my team, my brothers

rendered it possible

my job now is to bring that back

because the boys already have what it takes

but don't know that they do

if they would just believe

"the bell will ring for he who believes"

it's not that hard

because i do believe in them

i love my job

back to ib

i started off friday the usual way

i overslept the lunch i was supposed to have with melvin in school

but nonetheless made it down to have my $2 magi add vege at around 2pm

first teacher i bumped into was ong siu lian

the one whose veins pops out when she carries an empty paper bag

simple hi, bye

i remembered how she was so excited

when she saw me join the chinese karaoke competition in year 6

cos she knew for sure i was gonna sing something from out of her generation

then there was terence chiew

much skinnier than the last time i saw him

he looked like a stickman

as usual he recounted to us about his sporting adventures

this time a 333km track across some desert

the usual parting shot for a teacher meeting old students might sound like

"all right guys, wish you all the best!"

very thiru sounding

i can still picture her merlion-ing politically correct comments

but of course, this was terence chiew

"i really appeared on the news! go google 'newpaper terence chiew' "

at this juncture i went to the irreplacable sac

had my noodles

and for nostalgia's sake

had 50 cents ribena, milo peng and blueberry tart

although i bemoan the shrinking size of the ribena cup

i must commend the apparent R&D that they did on the tart

we went to visit our pioneer batch mural after that

i looked for the little note that i scribbled on that board 3 years back

took in the pointlessness of that little sentence

and found comfort in that i haven't changed much

"If you notice this notice, you'll notice that this notice isn't worth noticing at all"

i went separate ways from melvin and gang thereafter

and spent the next hour sitting and gazing in the sac

greeted teachers who no longer recognized me

bought food from vendors who pointed me out straightaway

looked around at tables and replaced the strangers

with images of those i knew

i saw again the poster of !nk

and was surprised to see karen liau's name on it

so the mighty prefect mistress is back

i wondered if she remembered me

i wondered if she remembered me if not for my surname

i realised i wasn't bothered enough to find out

so i went away and walked

i walked down the corridors and alleys

retraced the familiar routes that i used to take

walked past the b3 classrooms

remembered one valentine's day

when i put that present that took me 9 hours to make in the locker

and made it supremely sandy

i descended the spiral staircase

remembering always to look out for shadows of those coming up

i arrived at the teacher's office

wondered if i wanted to see anyone

wondered if anyone wanted to see me

and like all those times back in school

i turned and walked the other corridors and alleys

i walked past the newly refurbished library

and remembered the cosy, dim library of old

remembered how everyone abused the computers in there

remembered how i always pretended to study in there

i walked to the track via the small path by the library

remembered my 3rd ankle sprain

remembered the deep breaths i always took

as i left the books

and hit the track

i walked past the basketball courts

and tried to wonder something

but it left me as i thought

so i walked again, to the track

i sat at the steps leading up to the boarding school

facing the track

and half-watched the rugby game that went on

i remembered the cheering committee

remembered the last rugby game i watched in uniform

i saw some ruggers sprinting with parachutes for training

thought to myself

"that's not the way to run"

and felt a sensation course through my veins

and saw myself sprinting down the track

black top, red spikes

dark sky, red track

i watched as i rounded the bend

i remembered to swing my right arm more

i felt the tapping on the balls of my feet

i felt the spikes dig into the track

and then i felt the run

i walked back to the main building again

i walked, wondering what i was wandering for

i realised i was looking for something

but couldn't really place it

i came to the circular classroom

remembered the hours feng and i put into the prom dance

i walked some more

and realised i was looking for someone

but i couldn't tell who

i looked down the ib building

saw the pond and remembered fabian the catfish

remembered poking fabian

remembered playing frisbee there

when we were supposed to study

i walked around more

hoping to see someone

i wondered who that was

was it dear old oldham?

i realised i wasn't finding out

so i left

and spontaneously,

like always,

spontaneously,

i went to cut my hair