The students of today and yesterday
I went back to my Secondary Sch last week to celebrate mid-autumn festival. My school is always very active in organising such events and with a couple of my friends, we went down to gate-crash the party.
The school is going to undergo some major renovations and while the renovation is going on, the school is going to move temporary to Teck Whyte for 2 years. I believe this should be the last time I am going to visit the school. Because after the new compound is ready, I believe that the feeling of familiarity and home will be gone, which is kind of sad. That place really have a lot of lovely memories for me.
Anyway, most or should I say all the teachers that were present still remember me despite me having left the school around 5 years ago. Normally in this type of cases, it's either I am a very dilligent or extremely naughty student. I believe it's the former. I think it's the former reason. Should be the former reason.
One of my friends went to have a little chit-chat session with our then discipline master(he still is now) and they talked about the changes of the school and the education system. "Times are definitely different" was the summary of what my discipline master said.
The school used to have a corner set aside for detention. Students who misbehave or didn't hand in homework will have to stay back after school till 5pm, sitting there and finish his or her homework. Plus that corner is near to the gate entrance which meant that anyone going home will most likely be able to see your face. It not only served as a purpose for you to finish your homework but also to let you suffer some humiliation.
When we went back to school that day, we realised that the corner had been removed. There is no more detention corner. I was pretty sad more or less because I was a frequent vistor at the detention corner as well way back then. The discipline master explained to my friend the reason why.
"Now ar, cannot lar. You put the students there till 5pm they go back home complain got mosquitoes bite them lar. No welfare lah. No human rights lar. Some even go back home complain say the teachers make them stay back in school and not allow them to go home. Worse still, the parents even dare to call the school and demand that their children come home straight after school. Of course have to remove the corner lor."
Damn funny. The kids nowadays are really damn spolit. Being made to stay back after school for detention is bad enough. They even dare to go back home complain there got mosquito bite. If it were me, I wouldn't even dare to let my mother know that I have been made to stay back for detention.
My discipline master used to have this habit of shouting at students by calling, "That boy there! Come over here!" Now, he told us, he has stopped doing so. "Cannot lar. You shout that boy there later he go complain that you address him like addressing a dog like that. Shout somemore. Later he can even claim that you scare him and thus making him nervous and it will eventually lead to a deep scar in his mind, making him mentally unbalanced. Now really cannot shout liao."
Wow. Discipline master also cannot shout. Then how do you maintain order in the school? In the society today, it seems that teachers are more afraid of students than the other way round. Any complains directed at you could lead to you losing your rice bowl. Furthermore the students nowadays also very smart, they wouldn't talk back to you or be rebellious on the spot. They go home write petition against you and then get everyone to sign. That is even a more vicious way to get back at you. It's like those scenes you see in the movies. "I will get my lawyers to speak to you. See you in court." Cool.
There is also a new policy that one of the teachers told us. Principals must now be under the age of 40 instead of last time whereby principals must be of a respectable age. The primary reason is because younger people have newer ideas which can gel better with the students. I have no doubt that perhaps it's true that younger principals may really have fresher ideas that students will prefer compared to those of older principals. But a school is still a school and some sets of values can never be changed. We are running a school. Not an enterprise.
I do admit some teachers don't really deserve the respect they demand and I have met a few in my school life. I think I have found the perfect way to deal with them. After I leave the army, I will go interview to be a principal. I am under 40 and therefore eligible. It will really be very very nice to have those teachers addressing me as Mr Principal.
When I was a student (Secondary Sch)
When I was a student in Secondary School,
- I came to my Secondary Sch with an agg score of 250/300 and was categorized under the special stream. 4 years later after I failed my sec 3 the 2nd time, I was dropped to Normal Academic. That is 2 streams down.
- There was this very very stupid lesson called Moral Education( CME if you still remember) that teaches us about morals and we were even tested on it. For one of the particular test we were tested on festival customs where we were to write down our practices during these festivals. My answers? Eat mooncake during Chinese New year. Carry lanterns during Qing Ming. Give Ang Baos during Christmas. Fast during Hungry Ghost Festivals. My classmates certainly laughed their heads off while my teacher almost ripped my head off.
- We had an A-Maths teacher who always keep a straight face be it during teaching or when you greet her along the corridors. Me and my classmates always challenge each other to make her laugh. We succeeded once and regretted it right away. She looks really ugly when she smiles.
- I had no ECA when I reached Sec 3. There was a new rule stating that for those who had no ECAs, they will have to help out with the gardening stuff in school. There was vacanies for librarians then and I joined it then. I stayed there for nearly half a year before quitting. Till today no one really believed me that I told them I was an ex-librarian.
- When I was in Sec 3 me and my classmates used to play soccer almost everyday after school at the street soccer court opposite my school. There was this bunch of Sec 2 guys whom we always chase away and I believed they must have hated us very much. Comes the next year I was retained in Sec 3 and those Sec 2 guys were promoted to Sec 3 and guess what? They became my classmates. What comes round really comes round.
- I used to be skeptical about eating alone in the school canteen. I don't know why but I always feel that there are people watching me and I don't like that feeling. Nowadays as long as I get to eat, I don't give a damn.
- For my Geography homework, I had to draw the rain cycle which involves the cloud formation and those shit. I drew mine very nicely but felt that that wasn't enough. I proceeded to draw a Superman flying under the clouds with an umbrella in his hand. Another drawing is one of the sea breeze and land breeze thingy where you have to draw out how the hot air rises and all those crap. As usual I drew mine very nicely but still decided to put a Batman standing on the cliff by the sea with his cape floating in response to the wind. I got a big fat Zero for that 2 pieces of works. Teachers really don't know how to appreciate art.
- I talked to my A-Maths teacher (the one who looks better without smiling or laughing) about dropping the subject because I really feel I couldn't handle A-maths. She asked me to try my best and see how I fare for the coming mid-year Exams. I put the formula b
2 - 4ac for all the questions in the paper and managed to score 1 point out of 100. I didn't have to ask her - after the papers were marked she came up to me and insisted that I dropped the subject.- I was in the TAF club in Sec school and often had detention too for not handing in my homework. I would tell the discipline teacher that I had to go to TAF club training and then tell my TAF club teacher that I have detention and then walked out of school to play soccer at the street soccer court. I was never caught because I knew that both my discipline teacher and TAF club teacher didn't really like each other so they wouldn't really approach each other to ask about me.
- I quarreled with almost all my Science teachers because I really really hate Science. The most memorable one was when I was demoted to Normal Academic after I failed my Sec 3 for the 2nd time. During the 1st week I had a huge fight (verbally) with him along the corridor. Almost everyone came out to see what happened . I was lucky that he didn't report me to the principal.
The Gathering
The ambiance was perfect with the soft jazz music playing in the background and the lights adjusted to a coral blue. There weren't many people which was good. Too much noise would have spoiled the ambiance and mood, which was otherwise perfect.
It was awkward initially as everyone was struggling to keep the conversation going. There were moments of pauses and after every 2 to 3 sentences, each was lost in his or her own world. It was tragic to see the years of friendship downgraded to such a degree.
We all used to have so much to talk about.The gathering had been long-awaited. There had always been plans to meet up but was postponed eventually due to school or work commitments or some other excuses. The attendance was decreasing all the time and today was no different as only 5 of us turned up.
We used to hang out so much way back in school then. Be it the pool parlor, the library or the nearby shopping mall, nobody seems to want to go home straight after school. We had so much fun and could just find a corner to settle down and talk cock till late evening. There was such a strong bond and unity among all. Until
that incident.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One member then proceeded to talk about the funny things he encountered in NS and how different it was compared to when we were in school. That somehow did the trick. The atmosphere was somewhat brightened up and everyone started to open up.
We reminisced about the past, laughed at our present about how we are all locked up by the Government and talked about the future with great enthusiasm. It was a big contrast from the somewhat sombre mood experienced earlier.
It was as if the shadow that had always been existent had been plucked out and the mist of misunderstanding finally cleared. There was a sense of familiarity. A feeling that had been absent long since. The feeling of us unguarded towards each other. The feeling of trust. The feeling of us not giving a care in the world and just chatting and laughing the time away.
Very much like the good old times.
