Amalgamating the green luxuriant trees

By SEAN LIM


I think it is quite obvious where the inspiration for the title came from. If there is a word to describe Homecoming 2018, it is definitely "amalgamation".

While I have spoken before about my (ongoing) ad-hoc stint in Qihua, and how the school felt the same as it was in the past, today's event brought it to a whole new level. It was surreal to be back here on a Saturday and see old faces. I knew there would be ex-teachers invited back to Qihua - those who have left the school - but I never knew the names till today.

These are the very people whom I have to give credit to, for grooming me to where I am today. I guess the teacher-student relationship I had with my teacher differs from kids nowadays. Then, we revered and feared our teachers (and I still do today - when I met up with them this afternoon). That's why, casting politics and economics aside, I cannot with my conscience accept the government's decision to charge parking fees across all schools

Speaking on the topic, it felt as if I had a mini "Hero's welcome" today. Some of the teachers were complimenting me for my ST forum letter, thanking me for being the voice against the establishment's decision, even though they were pessimistic the letters would make a difference. After all, MOE's policy dictates them not to speak to the media. It is appreciation like this that motivates me to continue writing to the newspaper and be part of the national conversation.

Discussing this while having cakes at the table with Mdm M - who happens to be my Primary 1 form teacher - and Mr A, Mdm M echoed the same sentiments, lamenting that people nowadays are less appreciative of the upbringing by their parents and teachers, weighing things by money and cents (but no sense sometimes)

I guess teachers themselves were also eager about today's homecoming, especially the more senior ones. The moment the emcees announced the start of lunch, they started huddling in groups, squealing in delight, excited over the opportunity of meeting old colleagues whom they used to work with many, many years ago. In fact, the above photograph was spontaneous. It wasn’t choreographed or anything. Everyone somehow just got together and had a photgraph taken. Considering that a school is often rigid and systematic, such act of spontaneity really warmed the cockles of my heart. Treasured memories indeed.

They rushed over and caught up with one another and connected so easily. It was quite a laughable irony because most of them there are not exactly active users of social media, if they were even using it in the first place. I doubt they text/call each other all day long on the pretext of "catching up" - where got time? Some of them are still working as full-time teachers, you know?

But amazingly, even though it might have been years - sometimes more than a decade - since they met up, it didn't seem to me they were awkward. They still called each other by monikers, and chatted as if they did not lose touch at all.

But what about us young people, so connected yet disconnected with social media? Social media is supposed to help us connect with our friends, yet there were times we felt awkward with old friends or simply wanted to be anti-social. Or worse, some felt it was annoying to meet up with friends. Worth some food for thought.

Let me try to identify my teachers in the photo as much as my memory brings me: Mrs Ruth Tan, Mdm Rosinah, Mrs Patricia Chiang, Mdm Juliana, Mdm Ong SE, Mdm Ng Woan Shya, Mr Ang MK, Mdm Harlina, Mdm Zalina, Mrs Ng, Mdm Sulasteri, Mdm Esau, Mr Roslan, Mrs Guna, Mdm Taw Ai Hiang, Mrs Leng, Ms Tan WC, Mdm Tang, Mdm Li, Ms Jaslin Low, Mrs Gomez, Mrs Singh, Mdm Lee, Mrs Margaret Tan, Mdm Aernie, Mdm Masturah 

A pity some teachers were not here today, such as Ms Ang Moi Nam, Ms Tan Swee Pin, Mrs Cheok, Mrs Sharon Tan (who taught our class briefly in P3 because our incompetent P3 form teacher went on maternity leave), Ms Yun (yes, we still call her Ms Yun because we knew her when she was single, and in fact often teased her for being so. Now, her son should be taking the PSLE soon - maybe next year or something) and Mr Tay ("I may be sick but not dead yet", in 2005)


Sad that Ms Tan WC, who was our Primary 6 form teacher (for 6/2), could not really recall our class. I guess our class was not as memorable..hmm. But we definitely remembered her - no other teachers were as fierce as her. We used to call her (and still do) "Tigress Tan".

But it was great to catch up with, albeit briefly, with teachers who taught me before: Mdm Ng Woan Shya and Mdm Li, who taught me in P1 and P4 respectively. Those were the "good" ole' days when Mdm Ng could still pull my ear, which she did.

Then there was the never-grow-old Mr Roslan, famed for his trademark hoola-hoola ACES exercise every year. Mdm Masturah, my P1 form teacher (and it so happen that our class was her first batch of kids omg), where she shared my infamous missing eraser story with Mr Amran and was surprised at how much of a drama-mama I was.

Then we had a couple of HODs, like Mrs Margaret Tan, who was HOD for English and Mrs Chiang who helmed Math. It was hilarious when some teachers were lamenting how old they were and Mrs Chiang quipped, "Oh, c'mon, you guys are not that old compared to me. I am ancient!"

So while we met up with old friends and teachers, there were also those kids of mine - managed to see some of the dreadful ones as well as those whom I missed - that came back for today's homecoming. There was so much nostalgia for people of our batch who returned "home", but I'm really curious how the younger ones thought about today's homecoming. Were they just there to have the free food? Or to play basketball and badminton in the indoor sports hall? What were the feelings they had for this homecoming? Was it just "another gathering with friends" for them?

I had the chance to chat with Nerissa after the event. She shared with me how some parts were boring, which I do not disagree totally. But I shared with her how these planned activities were inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. It was the opportunity to meet up with old friends, catch up with old teachers, walk down memory lane and reminisce a bygone era that was so much more important.

Perhaps that reflected how the younger alumni resonated with Homecoming'18. Can't blame them actually - they had just left the school merely more than a year ago, depending whether they are the Sec 1s or 2s. I would say the connection they had with the school is not as strong yet, or maybe they have yet to reach the maturity and age where they view things in retrospect. After all, they are still in the school system. Qihua, at this stage, is "still another school" to them. It is probably when they reach to my age when they would reminisce of a time where life was much simpler with lesser B.S. to deal with.

I guess the older you get, the more you will look back at the past in nostalgia.

For us - me, Vilynn, Yeow Wee, Zakri, Lina, Haziq and Martin - 2018 marks the 11th year we graduated from Qihua. I am so grateful to have them with me here today so I won't be an awkward turtle. It is undeniable that everyone is busy but frankly, it depends on what are the priorities you have in life. Considering that we have graduated so long ago - we found out that we were laojiaos when we were placed under "1978-2010" at the registration booth - it is quite commendable that we managed to jio people together

But, we still felt awkward when the emcees told the audience to let the teachers and "senior alumni" get to the buffet line first - so are we considered senior alumni? Define senior alumni. The terrible mixed feeling of getting stuck in between. It got to a point we were searching each other's head for white hair as a socially-constructed sign for seniority. (Actually bleh, I have a feeling the organisers did not want a mass of boisterous secondary school kids - which was close to 60 per cent of total who turned up today - rushing for food first, but still...)


So, now shall let pictures do the talking (and some text, of course)

Being back in the 6/1 classroom at Level 5. Surprising how this room remained more or less the way it was when we left in 2007, compared to other classrooms which have since been refurbished with newer equipment etc. "What was once a room filled with notorious individuals is now an abandoned spare classroom" (Zakri, 2018). Adeline used to say she would be on the verge of an asthma attack whenever she climbs up from Level 2 to here for HCL lessons.

Also, this is the very classroom at the central of the most well-known ghost story in Qihua. Not sure how it came about, but well, every school had its own fair share of tales and Qihua is not an exception. Some said it was Johan who made this story up.

I told the kids this story for entertainment and exaggerated the story, saying how someone was crushed by a large stone and his head was crushed like a pumpkin, his body was buried near Riverside but recently got stolen (and told them to flip the newspapers for the article, which they tried to lolololol), and other elements that made the story very unbelievable. I even told them it was totally fake.

But alas, seriously, they insisted the story was true. They went to search for a copy of ST during recess. They went to the grass patch near Riverside to look for the body (lol). The story started spreading and many hankered me to continue, because I deliberately left them hanging for that story. I was so afraid they believed it was true! I was sh00kened when they told me, "no, cher, you are lying".

No, they were not saying that I lied my story, but rather, I was lying about the confession that the ghost story is fake. So, Mr Lim the storyteller? Hmm...

Amazing how, as the years passed and the world moved on, the art pieces still remained there, as a signpost of the times.

Something significant happened here in 2003. I guess this is a secret that our batch would like to bring to our graves. It is an event that we still broach on when we meet up. It was so epic and unprecedented, I don't think anyone had did it before and will be doing it any time soon. Perhaps that is why 15 years down the road, we still remembered. I certainly did, and I suppose P will remember it as well (maybe it is something she would rather not recall haha)

If there was a physical infrastructure that survived through the years, it must be this pavilion. Gosh, this darn piece of shelter has been around since the 80s!

We shared many, many stories along the way, of the times where we were punished by teachers or did funny things in class. The details of those stories are something that we would bring down together to our graves, but it was hilarious as we looked back. Indeed, these are the memories that we will recall, not the formulas or concepts learnt in class.

Everything comes with an opportunity cost. While it was great spending time catching up with some teachers and mostly with my batch mates, it meant I spent lesser time with these people who made my first year teaching in Qihua so worthwhile. This is a batch that is so memorable, no other levels come close to it, frankly speaking. Quite a pity that due to time constraints, I did not even meet up with some other folks who came and left. I did not interact much with the Sec 1s, who left pretty early to sing K.

But really, kids say the darnest thing.

Like Yun Hui who asked, "Cher, why is there a halal gap between you and Ashley?"

Ugh.

And there were Shannon and friends, freshly graduated last year. I am very sure the whole place still felt familiar to them. It has only been four months, compared to 11 years for me?!

Didn't manage to catch up with some of these girls today, as much as I want to. I am not omnipresent, unfortunately.

Shannon - I remembered consoling her during her PSLE results release day. She was already upset with her results, so I consoled her. But I was amazed by the power of my consolation, because as I consoled her, it was evident she was on the verge of breaking down. And that was very, very sad. But it looks like she is doing well now, and I am glad if she did.

Siriporn - the rare (or should I say "only") kid that reads The Straits Times on print. In this day and age, it is really hard to find kids that read the newspaper as religiously as me. She even remembered the days when ST ran the Mind and Body supplement every Tuesday, if I recall correctly.

So touched Jane and Xinyu stayed back and waited for me to appear even though everyone else have dispersed, if what they claimed was true. These are the kids with so much maturity, I wonder if I used to deal with Primary 6 kids or lower secondary teenagers. Xinyu especially, she is one that can really engage in solid political debates with you. I remember debating with her over the reserved elected presidency in 2017. Best debater Qihua can ever have. Then there is Jane, intelligent like her sister. Maybe intelligence runs in the Yang family. But I was sad the more boisterous elder sister did not come today. Oh well...

Homecoming 2018 was definitely fun and nostalgic, while it lasted. A pity that I did not manage to meet everyone I want to today, but at least I'm consoled by the fact there will be 80th anniversary coming soon, and it should be a rather big one. 80 years leh. I understand that the GOH would be Mr Ong Ye Kung - touted to be the fourth Prime Minister? Shall see when cabinet reshuffles next week. Hopefully The Straits Times does up a nice piece on Qihua. Probably a feature, not a diary story where they quote heavily on Ong's speech, if any.

Mrs Singh, who was our principal from 1998 till 2005, used to have these signature slogan:

"Keep the Qihua flag flying high!"

"Qihua is the first, Qihua is the best, Qihua is number one!"

We've got the old and the new, reminiscing the past and at the same time looking forward to see what Qihua can achieve in the future. That is why, ladies and gentlemen, this is an amalgamation of the green luxuriant trees we have grown so accustomed to.