2005
Looking back, all I can really say is that it's been a truly blessed year for me. A not-so-brief summary.
In the first half of the year, I went through my final, and unexpectedly peaceful Ops Manning, thereby becoming the first ANG 1 Mob Clerk in several batches to ORD without any mobilisation. That was unexpected. But very welcome indeed. And while it might have been an interesting challenge to actually experience a mobilisation instead of just preparing for it...I cannot say I was unhappy that I didn't have to go through a single mobilisation in my 2 years 2 months of army.
Spent a weekend in Bangkok with Laiying and Xuena, too. First holiday in...years. And it was a cool experience; shopping, sight-seeing, eating, and just rediscovering the joys of life outside the army. And I'm glad for the friendships forged during that trip too; thanks, you two, for making that trip memorable.
Then I went back to the army for a little while more, before the long-awaited day finally came. And when I got my IC, that morning on the 4th of June...seemed like all the pent-up stress and unhappiness of the entire army experience simply...disappeared, to be replaced by a feeling of utter peace. That finally, that stage of my life was over.
Then I spent a fairly peaceful couple of months just chilling and slacking off...and slowly re-integrating into society. Then, it was Law Camp. Which was pretty fun - got to know a bunch of people, participated in activities that alternated between being fun and cheesy, and just started to get the feel of the new society that I'd be in for the next 4 years (and more). Along the way, somehow signed up for Presentation too.
And I've never really mentioned this, but Presentation meant a lot to me. Honestly, I know I was never "in the bunch". That's fine - it just so happened that most of the people who signed up for Presentation just happened to be very different from me. Still, I have nothing but enormous respect for everyone who I worked with in Presentation. The tenacity, the good-natured humour, the never-say-die spirit...I couldn't help but be naturally infected by it. And I made friends, too, despite not being part of the clique, and these are friendships that even now continue to touch and influence me. And really, that's all I could ask for. Truly...I was enriched by Presentation. The hard work, the endless rehearsals, smacking my head so many times when rolling around, the muscle aches...all that was forgotten on that day itself, when the performance just...flowed. And not winning hurt; but more importantly, we were all proud of that something we'd come together to accomplish, to create. And the memory of Presentation '05 is something that I'll keep within me in times to come.
Matriculation Week went on at this time also, but in the hustle and bustle of Presentation my only memories of Matric Week are the friends I made, and friggin Quest in friggin Haw Par Villa. Did I ever mention that I really hate Haw Par Villa? Well, stumbling around the place in the dead of the night didn't really change my opinion on this...
Then school started. Lectures, tutorials, etc. And till now I still haven't gotten into the rythmn of studying. But with school starting came the forging of even more friendships. My lovely LAWR TG mates, bonding together over the adversity that was Research Binder, and my fellow Terry-fied Kaansters with our Friday breakfasts... I feel blessed and thankful that so many new friends appeared and promptly started to influence my life in so many ways. It was extremely unexpected to find so many good friends in such a short span of time, but it was an amazing thing to happen that I can only give thanks for.
On top of that, VCF appeared into the picture and started me back on the road towards a spiritual life. VCF brought me back to church; thanks Rebecca! It gave me a group of fellow Christian brothers and sisters to discuss my faith with, to give me strength, to just serve as an example in my life. Thank you, Shalom. Looking forward to another year of good fellowship and spiritual growth with y'all! Thanks also to the Year 1 prayer group; it feels good to grow in Christ with fellow believers who're all going through the same academic challenges. Let's keep encouraging each other and being sources of strength for each other in the years to come, even as we progress in Law School!
Then school ended, and I had a great time spending time with friends and family. Just as good as the chilling time I had after ORD and before school started, but even better because of all the new friendships forged.
And even as I type this it's now officially 2006. Looking back on all this...it's been a year of great changes, and also a year of growth. But, truly...it's been a good year.
Thank you everybody, for making this such a great year. For all my old friends. My buddies, Ziyuan, Yaolong, Peiyu, Hengfai, Jinwei, thank you for being constants in my life, even as so many changes occur. For my JC ex-classmates, Fong, Jireh, Darrell, Cheryl, Nette, Yanbin, Mich, Jean, Looi Yee, Miah, Jasmine, Jiayin, Liz, Vic, Daphne, Siying...thank you for reminding me of who I was and who I still am. For the army guys...Kok Yew, Jerry, my two brothers, thank you for all the memories. And, Weilong, Ah Wing, Samuel, Yew Chong, Yogi, Mark, Andy, Shaun, Leonard, Qiujie, thank you for making my army life that much more bearable. Laiying, Xuena, thanks for the Bangkok experience! My OG mates, my fellow presenters, my VFC cell, my Year 1 prayer group, my LAWR TG, my Terry-fied Kaansters...thank you all for making my brief time in Law School such a memorable one. Just to name a few names from the enormous number of people from Law who have touched me in one way or another: Isa, Dan, Xiuzhen, Alice, Mui Kheng, Jean, Sixuan, Nelson, Yue-En, Josh, Boon Kiat, Theresa, Wanjing, Chongyi, Al, Jingwen, Hanting, Khairil, Navin, Germaine, Jared, Magdalen, Magdalene, Tris, Petrina, Albert, Sheryl, Ruishan, Kelvin, Jeth, Quan Quan, Itishree, Audrey, Troy, Zah, Huay Ching, Joel, Zhixiang, Huixiang, Jo, Denise, Paul, Rebecca, Bernice, Sabrina, Joan, Zhiwei, Jiax, Lester, Zach, and my mad friend Shauna Loo...thank you for making me look forward to heading to school every morning. It means a lot to me.
And, Claire, thank you for the chance to finally close that chapter of our lives, for being big-hearted enough to leave the door open for us to be friends again. And I'm sorry that I cannot say that I'm ready just yet. But, God willing...the day will come, when we're friends again. When we can sit down and just tell each other about how our lives have been since we broke off contact. I'm looking forward to that day.
And of course...thank you, my family. Mom, Dad, Zhi, Dina...I don't know if y'all will ever read this. And I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable enough to say this in words. But from the bottom of my heart...thank you for being my family. For being there for me, despite whatever difficulties we might have had in the past. For doing all the things that I take for granted. For making so many sacrifices. For giving me a home, not just a house. God bless.
And I don't know what the future holds, or even what the new year will bring. It won't always be easy; I'll probably face my fair share of difficulties and problems. I'll have new challenges to contend with. But I know that my journey will be so much richer, so much more fulfilling, because of all of you. I love you all.
In the first half of the year, I went through my final, and unexpectedly peaceful Ops Manning, thereby becoming the first ANG 1 Mob Clerk in several batches to ORD without any mobilisation. That was unexpected. But very welcome indeed. And while it might have been an interesting challenge to actually experience a mobilisation instead of just preparing for it...I cannot say I was unhappy that I didn't have to go through a single mobilisation in my 2 years 2 months of army.
Spent a weekend in Bangkok with Laiying and Xuena, too. First holiday in...years. And it was a cool experience; shopping, sight-seeing, eating, and just rediscovering the joys of life outside the army. And I'm glad for the friendships forged during that trip too; thanks, you two, for making that trip memorable.
Then I went back to the army for a little while more, before the long-awaited day finally came. And when I got my IC, that morning on the 4th of June...seemed like all the pent-up stress and unhappiness of the entire army experience simply...disappeared, to be replaced by a feeling of utter peace. That finally, that stage of my life was over.
Then I spent a fairly peaceful couple of months just chilling and slacking off...and slowly re-integrating into society. Then, it was Law Camp. Which was pretty fun - got to know a bunch of people, participated in activities that alternated between being fun and cheesy, and just started to get the feel of the new society that I'd be in for the next 4 years (and more). Along the way, somehow signed up for Presentation too.
And I've never really mentioned this, but Presentation meant a lot to me. Honestly, I know I was never "in the bunch". That's fine - it just so happened that most of the people who signed up for Presentation just happened to be very different from me. Still, I have nothing but enormous respect for everyone who I worked with in Presentation. The tenacity, the good-natured humour, the never-say-die spirit...I couldn't help but be naturally infected by it. And I made friends, too, despite not being part of the clique, and these are friendships that even now continue to touch and influence me. And really, that's all I could ask for. Truly...I was enriched by Presentation. The hard work, the endless rehearsals, smacking my head so many times when rolling around, the muscle aches...all that was forgotten on that day itself, when the performance just...flowed. And not winning hurt; but more importantly, we were all proud of that something we'd come together to accomplish, to create. And the memory of Presentation '05 is something that I'll keep within me in times to come.
Matriculation Week went on at this time also, but in the hustle and bustle of Presentation my only memories of Matric Week are the friends I made, and friggin Quest in friggin Haw Par Villa. Did I ever mention that I really hate Haw Par Villa? Well, stumbling around the place in the dead of the night didn't really change my opinion on this...
Then school started. Lectures, tutorials, etc. And till now I still haven't gotten into the rythmn of studying. But with school starting came the forging of even more friendships. My lovely LAWR TG mates, bonding together over the adversity that was Research Binder, and my fellow Terry-fied Kaansters with our Friday breakfasts... I feel blessed and thankful that so many new friends appeared and promptly started to influence my life in so many ways. It was extremely unexpected to find so many good friends in such a short span of time, but it was an amazing thing to happen that I can only give thanks for.
On top of that, VCF appeared into the picture and started me back on the road towards a spiritual life. VCF brought me back to church; thanks Rebecca! It gave me a group of fellow Christian brothers and sisters to discuss my faith with, to give me strength, to just serve as an example in my life. Thank you, Shalom. Looking forward to another year of good fellowship and spiritual growth with y'all! Thanks also to the Year 1 prayer group; it feels good to grow in Christ with fellow believers who're all going through the same academic challenges. Let's keep encouraging each other and being sources of strength for each other in the years to come, even as we progress in Law School!
Then school ended, and I had a great time spending time with friends and family. Just as good as the chilling time I had after ORD and before school started, but even better because of all the new friendships forged.
And even as I type this it's now officially 2006. Looking back on all this...it's been a year of great changes, and also a year of growth. But, truly...it's been a good year.
Thank you everybody, for making this such a great year. For all my old friends. My buddies, Ziyuan, Yaolong, Peiyu, Hengfai, Jinwei, thank you for being constants in my life, even as so many changes occur. For my JC ex-classmates, Fong, Jireh, Darrell, Cheryl, Nette, Yanbin, Mich, Jean, Looi Yee, Miah, Jasmine, Jiayin, Liz, Vic, Daphne, Siying...thank you for reminding me of who I was and who I still am. For the army guys...Kok Yew, Jerry, my two brothers, thank you for all the memories. And, Weilong, Ah Wing, Samuel, Yew Chong, Yogi, Mark, Andy, Shaun, Leonard, Qiujie, thank you for making my army life that much more bearable. Laiying, Xuena, thanks for the Bangkok experience! My OG mates, my fellow presenters, my VFC cell, my Year 1 prayer group, my LAWR TG, my Terry-fied Kaansters...thank you all for making my brief time in Law School such a memorable one. Just to name a few names from the enormous number of people from Law who have touched me in one way or another: Isa, Dan, Xiuzhen, Alice, Mui Kheng, Jean, Sixuan, Nelson, Yue-En, Josh, Boon Kiat, Theresa, Wanjing, Chongyi, Al, Jingwen, Hanting, Khairil, Navin, Germaine, Jared, Magdalen, Magdalene, Tris, Petrina, Albert, Sheryl, Ruishan, Kelvin, Jeth, Quan Quan, Itishree, Audrey, Troy, Zah, Huay Ching, Joel, Zhixiang, Huixiang, Jo, Denise, Paul, Rebecca, Bernice, Sabrina, Joan, Zhiwei, Jiax, Lester, Zach, and my mad friend Shauna Loo...thank you for making me look forward to heading to school every morning. It means a lot to me.
And, Claire, thank you for the chance to finally close that chapter of our lives, for being big-hearted enough to leave the door open for us to be friends again. And I'm sorry that I cannot say that I'm ready just yet. But, God willing...the day will come, when we're friends again. When we can sit down and just tell each other about how our lives have been since we broke off contact. I'm looking forward to that day.
And of course...thank you, my family. Mom, Dad, Zhi, Dina...I don't know if y'all will ever read this. And I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable enough to say this in words. But from the bottom of my heart...thank you for being my family. For being there for me, despite whatever difficulties we might have had in the past. For doing all the things that I take for granted. For making so many sacrifices. For giving me a home, not just a house. God bless.
And I don't know what the future holds, or even what the new year will bring. It won't always be easy; I'll probably face my fair share of difficulties and problems. I'll have new challenges to contend with. But I know that my journey will be so much richer, so much more fulfilling, because of all of you. I love you all.
posted by khel at 12:16 AM
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