My alma matter.
My sculptor.
My educator.
My teacher.
My future.

'MH!' , Mrs. Tan smiles. I thought she was pleased to see me again after 2 years. Walking past my ex-form teacher Pn. Salmah, I excused myself and walked over to the teacher that I admired most, my ex-Guider and Rangers teacher. Happy to see her again (which was the sole purpose of my visit back to school) I gave her my colgate smile only to be greeted with the question 'Will you be around on July 23rd? The alumni is having a dinner to collect funds for the school. The school needs a new coat a paint'. ...
'Join the alumni la. A small donation of RM10 would be good for the school'

What??? I drove back to school only to be asked for donations???
Well, I very much wouldn't mind giving rm10 to the school nor join the life-time membership of the alumni for rm110. I seriously think the school needs a change and seeing the newly expanded staffroom, I'm glad it was done. The poor teachers need a conducive environment and have been sharing tables with the afternoon session teachers for more than 20 years!

Anyway, I'm sad that Mrs Tan is no longer with the Rangers. It was because of her that I could do things that the headmistress does not allow like combining with 8GTS for JOTA-JOTI and going for Combine Training Camp. She was the most understanding and supportive teacher that I've ever had and she didn't even teach me any subject in school. Yet, I see her the most as compared to my Math or Add Math teacher, or my Biology teacher. Somehow, I was more involved in Rangers than Prefects.. which eventually led to Ms Ang complaining to Mrs Tan that I spend too much time doing Rangers stuff when I should be early in school carrying teachers' bags to the staff room. Hah. Looking back, I think I did do a lot for rangers, more than prefects. Think some of the prefects got kinda annoyed with me. Well, they were anti-Rangers to begin with. Don't know why people always have the pre-conceived notion that Rangers are air-heads and only care about gatherings and mingling with scouts. Well, a few black sheeps should be enought to tarnish our image I guess. Haha... I still remember the quarrels that my guides would get into when they're too late to sign up for gatherings, hence missing their chance of meeting cute scouts? Bah.

Anyway, the school's getting a bit foreign. New faces. New corners. Unkept signboards. I remember the days when all of us decorate the boards like crazy. I was not hoping to bump into my teachers but Chern and SY kept saying hello to every teacher we met along the way. Haha. Each time, I just smile but surprisingly, they still remember me. Haha.. I thought being the quiet one gets by unnoticed. I'm not the mengampu cikgu kind, but I work hard and hand in my homework , plus being a prefect...

Anyway,when Sy was talking to Mdm Lim, I spoke to Chern's student, amused by her description on how the students hide their handphones during spotchecks. I told her that during my time, we were merciless and combed every nook and cranny, but I guess times have changed. I guess kids are getting smarter. Well, they hide their handphones underneath the concrete dainr cover and in the big dustbin behind! I would rather not bring my handphone to school than to give it such treatment but kids these days... getting more spoilt too eh? Her student then mumbled something in Hokkien about how some girl didn't do her Folio and lied to the teacher about how she forgot to bring it to school. Quite farnie. Even funnier still was when she described to me how the girls would call their boyfriends from the public phones before school starts. Reminded me of the time some girl who meets her boyfriend at a field nearby every afternoon after school got called up by the school because some parent complained about her. Gosh I miss those days. Anyway, I was surprised Mdm. Lim could remember me. Haha.. I guess it was because we went on the trip to Taman Negara together for for Nature Course when I was in Form 2 together with 9 others. She remarked that I was the quiet one, and still is the quiet one. Haha. Well, empty vessels make most noise.

A pleasant chat with Mdm Lim soon ended and we had one teacher left to visit, Mr Lim YS. He was my favourite Geography teacher. It was because of him that I won the Geog prize that year. And he was the best ever. LK sucked and Ms Ng was biased, but Mr Lim... he's a rare one. Was kinda sad to hear that the dept asked him to teach woodwork and Kemahiran Hidup (Living Skills) the year after mine because I thought it was a wasted opportunity for the juniors to get a great geog teacher. The first thing he said to me when he heard that I was in NUS is 'NUS is no. 18 right? ' Haha. yeah. and UM is no 89.

I realized after talking to all the teachers that:-
1) They give me a kind of look when I tell them I'm in singapore
2) All of them think i was doing some Engineering course... Mrs Tan guessed EE.
3) Mrs Chin said ' You like art? I never knew you liked art. Hmm.. how did you draw in my bio class last time ya? I know Neli was neat, Kiran was neat... ' FIne. I get your point. I was in Science class. besides, how far can I enchance the look of a paramecium and an amoeba? Anyway, like I said before, I don't mengampu teachers. Anyway, I guess she still can't imagine me doing architecture.
4) I think Ms Ong is the only one who's really interested in asking me what I do in Architecture. Sad. She even asked me about conservation in Singapore. Told her about the programme I attended a month ago in Melaka. We ended up discussing about Penang and the sad state it's in now. I seriously think my whole class should run Penang. Kiran can be the chief minister, Mei the municipal chief, I the town planner? Haha. In that case, there shall be no more flats in Penang! Horrible ugly flats. Really awful I tell you. The poor jungle behind my house has been cleared for high rise development. I miss the monkeys and wild fowls, kingfishers and monitor lizards, though not the pythons and grass snakes!
5) Food in the school canteen is still cheap and good, though I don't get my 'lai liu ha' or 'he kor' and I-dun-know-wat-prawn-u-call-it anymore. Darn. The wantan mee uncle is no longer there and the drinks stall uncle is no longer there. The drinks stall uncle and aunty were there way before I entered Standard one all the way through Form Five. Though the uncle was perpetually grumpy and scary, I guess they were part of my school memories. The Char Koay Teow uncle's stall was closed when we had lunch. Probably should have waited till the afternoon session's recess. Nah.. too late.

Anyway, above all, Mrs. Chin whispered to me before she left. She asked me' MH, are you still active in Christian Fellowship?'. 'Erm... no more, Mrs Chin. Have no time to join my Hall's CF. But I do make it a point to go to church as regular as I can!' Oh no.. that look from Mrs Chin again. Think she's disappointed with me. 'That's good, but do be active if you can. Remember you need direction and my word of wisdom for you is to Never Lose the Faith. Remember ya, don't lose the faith.' Thinking back of my back sliding days, which I think was during the lowest point in my life, I'm hoping this faith would grow stronger each day. I think last sem was good for me because I readily invited God back into my life. Full force. I realized how important God is in my life and simply believing alone is not enough. Like Mrs. Chin said, we all need direction and in church was where I was shown the way. I guess my days in school were good because of CF although I stayed away from church, and good in uni although I stayed away from CF. Maybe that's why my JC days were traumatising. I guess I needed to hit rock bottom first.

I must say that this was the best visit back to school by far. It's kinda nice to talk to the teachers on a more mature level. I think we were all quite childish still back then in Form 5. Mr. Lim said' Nice to meet you girls again. No, wait. Ladies! You all are no longer girls, but ladies now' Brrr... 'It's ok Mr Lim. It's nice being called girls once again. It's nice to feel like a young teenager'. heh... Girls. Ah...

Though girl schools churn out great gossip queens, sometimes, the bond between girls is something to treasure. Guys just spoil the atmosphere sometimes... haha. Not making a sexist remark here. I do think that single sex schools produce better students holistically as compared to co-ed schools. No wonder Penang has so many single sex schools. heh.