The Last Day Dawns
The path to my house is dark. It rolls out from the road into the small inner street that my home sits on. Its late, but the lights in my house are still on. A faint smell of rotting garbage drifts from the nearby alleyway. The path is short, so I take my time. I walk down it slowly for what may well be the last time. Sebastian and Angeline walk with me. Seb didn't want to go home yet; said he couldn't bear to. I guess I would too if i were him. He walks us to the gate. I fumble it open and step inside, behind me Sebastian looks on forlornly. He waves and steps backwards, Angeline and I do the same. Slowly, he waves again and steps backward again, reluctant to leave. Bewildered I wave back, smiling. He smiles and then turns slowly, saying goodbye one last time before walking away on the path to the bus stop.
I open my front door and shout hello. My mother replies and carries on with the business of making sure our house doesn't fall apart. I walk up the stairs, and dump my stuff on the bed in my room. Some hectic, last minute packing is done. Everything is accounted for, everything is where it should be, yet I am uneasy. I try to write some lousy post for my blog and clear some emails. I don't get anything done though. Later I take a shower in the common bathroom, another thing I will do for the last time. Then I settle down to attempt to finish watching Samurai 7. I fail, stopping with 5 episodes left to go at 1.30 in the morning. I try to catch some sleep, sleep gets sloppy and gets caught and I rest for an hour or two.
In an instant, I am awakened by Dad's gentle hand. I rise slowly from my bed and walk to the toilet. I drench my head under the cold water of its tap for the last time and brush my teeth. Its 4.50 and my Dad wants to be gone in 10 minutes. I carry my bags down, grab a glass of juice and hop into the car. We drive off without looking back.
We get to the airport quickly, the streets were empty and my Dad drove fast. My Dad and I clear the check in que quickly as well. We stand in Changi's 1st terminal, surrounded by friends and family. They pray for us, exchange hugs with us and wish us well, smiling sadly. Dad and I walk past the Bon Voyage sign toward our Gate. Our loved ones wave at us again and we wave back. I smile sadly, catching a final glimpse of them, before turning to follow my Dad.
As we sit on the plane, I glance out the window. There dawning on the horizon is a new day. The last dawn I will see in Singapore for a long while to come. I feel numb, cold, maybe even a little depressed. As the plane takes off, the last day dawns, so calling an end to this chapter of my life.
A Charmed Life
When I hold you in my arms,
And look back on my charmed-
life
My charmed life
I hope, I hope if nothing more
That one day you’ll call your-
Life
A charmed life
Well I never really worried that much
About making lots of money and such
And I always seemed to land on my feet.
Though there’s been some difficult times
The good times where never far behind
I snatched all of my victories from the jaws of defeat
When I hold you in my arms,
And look back on my charmed-
life
My charmed life
I hope, I hope if nothing more
That one day you’ll call your-
Life
A charmed life
Well the course of true love never ran smooth
They broke my heart, and I broke theirs too
And breaking up was so very hard to do
But I knew I’d find the one
And sure enough she came along
And not long after that along came you
Well sometimes this life is like being afloat
On a raging sea in a little row boat
Just trying not to be washed overboard
But if you take your chances and you ride your luck
And you never, never, never, never, never give up
Well those waves will see you safely to a friendly shore
When I hold you in my arms,
I know that this is a charmed-
life
A charmed life
By The Divine Comedy
A Scary Monster
Once upon a time there lived a very mean monster who had tiger's eyes, he was very cruel just like a tiger. He killed many people and destroyed many villagers. He had friends just like him, his friends were like brothers to him soon they became a gang. His friends were as cruel as he was and they ate many people. One day all his friends were caught and he became very kind after he heard the news, he became so kind so that the police would not catch him too.
Done by: Jeremy Tan
Class: P1D1/1K
Year:1997
Yep, I actually wrote that
Hosanna (Praise is Rising)
Praise is rising
Eyes are turning to You
We turn to You
Hope is stirring
Hearts are yearning for You
We long for You
When we see You we find strength to face the day
In Your presence all our fears are washed away
Washed away
Hosanna Hosanna
You are the God who saves us
Worthy of all our praises
Hosanna Hosanna
Come have Your way among us
We welcome You here Lord Jesus
Hear the sound of hearts returning to You
We turn to You
In Your kingdom broken lives are made new
You make us new
Cause when we see You we find strength
To face the day
In Your presence all our fears are washed away
Washed away
By Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown
N'day
Roughly 33 hours ago, Singapore celebrated its 41st birthday with the usual and almost traditional fireworks, parades and loud noise. This year is 'special' because its the last time the National Day Parade will be held in the Kallang National Stadium since our Prime Minister was 18. That probably is a bad gauge but just take it on my word that that’s a pretty long stretch of time. During this momentous occasion, I was busy eating and enjoying life in Ipoh with my relatives. I realise that National Day didn’t really mean anything to me.
Singapore isn’t very old. My Grandfather is twice as old as Singapore is and my Dad and Mom were both around well before August 9, 1965. Even our flag declares that we’re a new country, using a crescent to symbolize it. As a new nation of immigrants we don’t seem to have much in the way of a national identity. The closest thing to that is the whole kiasu/kiasee mentality, which to me doesn’t seem like a very healthy national identity to have. I routinely wonder about the ‘loyalty’ and ‘patriotism’ of my fellow Singaporeans and question how loyal a kiasu Singaporean can be when his cultural identity focuses on getting ahead and gaining materially at any cost without regard to anyone else.
These thoughts go through me as I sit in my Dad’s car on the way back from the causeway. Then I see a big 41 written in Singapore flags on the side of a HDB flat and I feel somewhat reassured. Maybe in time to come, we’ll find our own identity in the world, an identity we can be proud of and collectively own. Maybe we already have it and just don’t know about it, an identity independent of race and religion. However all this is really over my head, right now, all I’ll do is enjoy the fireworks.
