Count your blessings

Hello, and welcome to 2020.

It has been a year of mythical regard, what with society’s visions of flying cars and monorails (and Malaysia’s Wawasan 2020). But life is stranger than fiction, and the power of nature is on full display in these times.

Everywhere I have seen blessings, where others have only seen curses. Stay at home—do more! Social distancing—more space! No social gatherings—global gatherings! Truly the magic of the internet has made the world smaller and have allowed us from far away to communicate with each other.

I have finally been able to put in work on my magnum opus that I began exactly ten (10!) years ago (by the lunar year 😁🌝), a compilation of my learnings and innovations on Haunt Event planning, with their related stories. Indeed, Rome was not built in a day and I could not hope to complete it by any artificial deadline. I’ve learnt so many new things that I felt obsolete one day and enlightened the next. I am thankful for everything that has occurred to me.

For many things, it is extremely uncertain what will happen. But I believe that if we are genuine, sensible and practical, the important things in life will return. We can already see some semblance of normalcy (which I hope is sustainable), but let’s pray for better fortunes and prioritise the productive.

“The gift of choice, [is] the gift that’s given to you that nobody can take away from you. You have unlimited choices. If you make the wrong choice you can try to correct it with another choice and make it right. Your life is the most precious gift you’ll ever have. And it’s the only one you have. You’ll come into this world alone. You will leave alone. Who you meet in between, is the challenge of how you deal with your life. Remember, no matter how bad something is in your life, it has a time limit. But also remember, no matter how good [something is] in your life, that too has a time limit.” 

—Kathy Buckley

What if NightWalk…?

This post was begun on June 22, 2011 at 10:11PM and I only decided to post it today, after a dawning revelation.

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"........the NightWalk is cancelled!"

–ICT FOC 05/06, May 17, 2005 at 2.50AM, after Battle Royale finished.

And so begins a question of What If... "What if NightWalk was not cancelled? What if it piqued my interest early on? What if I had time to document and know everything about the school before I took part in FOC 06/07? What if—?"

After more than 10 NightWalks, looking back on this, it is a shame—an extreme shame, that I didn't go through it in a virgin FOC setting, when I was completely unfamiliar with the geography of Singapore Polytechnic. Once you become familiar with the twists and turns, the idiosyncrasies of the location, the fear of the unknown lessens. Therefore the best time to experience a NightWalk is when you don't know the place well, which means: when you are a freshie!

But it just goes to show how the ICT Club FOC Organising Committee placed great importance on the campers' welfare. They'd rather us sleep properly than be tired. Then again, NightWalk shouldn't have been placed after Battle Royal. We freshies were dead tired ("A NightWalk? At 2.50am?!") and daylight was fast approaching. I wonder what the NightWalk committee felt then, when the momentous decision was made to cancel NightWalk. Everyone must have been disappointed. Nevertheless, what's passed is past. We have since learned from our mistakes, and now DMIT Club never puts two major night activities in the same night for FOC.

Today, SP is a different place. The school management is more privy to the great interest in NightWalk. But they are taking it in a negative way. Sometimes the rules are relaxed, and NightWalk goes on as usual. But the main sentiment is one of disapproval. I don't know whether it is because of students' carelessness, or conservative thinking amongst the management.

In terms of carelessness, noise is an issue. Screams at night draw calls from residents to the police hotline, which in turn alarm the school management. Conservativeness dictates that all activities must end by 11pm, and resume at 7am the next day. Even a NightWalk. Which is rather ridiculous to me. The most recent ruling recommends that all camps be held outside school, including Orientation Camps. Honestly I don't know how an Orientation Camp is to be held without the Campus in attendance.

There is also renewal and relentless renovation. Previously forested areas with a foreboding presence are cleared to make way for some newfangled study corner. Old buildings are bulldozed without mercy. With sparse commemoration. I still haven't got over the loss of our dear MLT2 and Childcare Centre, and probably never will. (Abit sad.) But to the builders' credit, a sinister path has been cut through the hill where the old Childcare Centre once stood.

Due to the presence of 3 (!) construction sites in SP now, the FOC of 13/14 shall have its sleeping quarters at Terror Sea campsite in Sembawang. I had once asked before, why not try a NightWalk in the campsite? We could do with a refreshing challenge. But once you do it outside school, they will never know a NightWalk is possible in SP. Therefore I stand resolute in the idea of continuing to do FOC NightWalks, specifically, in school. Campsite NightWalks can wait till ICE camps etc, where campers are mostly students already savvy with the school terrain (where a NightWalk would be on familiar, comforting territory) and wish to have a different experience in an unfamiliar location.

"Hold steadfast to our tradition of NightWalk in SP, whether outdoors with ample effort to ensure darkness and isolation, or in conjoined classrooms with tons of partitions."

Rest assured that the tradition will continue.

 

Rediscovery

Slowly, life is settling into a routine. While I would not say life has gone back to normal, it has certainly become predictable (life is considered "back to normal" only when I finally reside in Singapore). Till then, I am a nomad, packing all my sustenance and bringing it everywhere I go. The first of each month always holds some wonder; a month has passed, a month is here, and the year moves on. The days up to the 12th hold eagerness; and once the date arrives, old desires flare up, only to die a few days later (in dismay, I'm afraid). The days after that are spent in deep thought, wondering what I am going to do in the distant future. Planning...

I have made progress on the portability side; for one, I got an iPhone. Unfortunately it was not planned. I forgot that I was supposed to get an iPad.

I am rediscovering things I had long forgotten; the musical saw as a substitute for an ondes martenot, the accordion as a remarkable instrument. These things can bring me to places, if only I will pursue them. They may be regarded as no more than a hobby, but there is a place for everything. The SP Childcare Centre and MLT2 have long been demolished and levelled, but interest in them has rekindled due to my NightWalk Manual (in progress).

If I manage my time I can accomplish a lot in one day (already I'm updating my blog, something I ought to be able to do regularly but don't). Don't shy away from what you want to do. Don't let others dictate what you do. Think carefully. Listen intently.

Is this what you want?