WAWAS! - The Last Show

--10 of 19--

Tonight is the night of our last performance. We are prepared to give it our best. There is the usual bustle of applying make-up and getting into costumes. I took some time to actually find out the meaning of my lines. The rest occupied themselves with their final preparations.




Jihad thought of using the two toilet bowls reposing in the lift lobby for SHIT but Haddad thought it was wiser not to do so.

Sarah came to us with the sobering news that there was no one outside. Well, at any rate, we had to put on a good show! We gathered in a circle and had a final mood-capturing session. Then we wished everyone good luck and took our places.

The third and final show went well, except perhaps for a few shortcomings here and there, as would inevitably occur in any production. But there were highlights as well; Haddad's shrill cackling in the middle of Pelita never fails to make the hairs stand on the backs of our necks, and the Prostitute's seduction of the Old Man in Kucing goes on without a hitch (but still the audience is very cold). At the Ending, Didi dances with vigour!

And then the crux of the whole event--*the* Highlight of the Night, if you could call it that--"Wawasan Anak Singa, menyala..."--and at the last word, which means "burns brightly" in Malay, we all raise our hands and produce a flame!


Finally, a use for all those Cricket lighters! We stumbled upon this idea earlier, and we had enough lighters to go around--so why not? A classic Eureka moment. Ingenious!

WAWAS! - Concerning Afro Hair and Purple Corsets

--9 of 19--

The next day we woke up at 11am. We had intended to awake at 8am for a visit to Central Market (suggested by Cikgu) but none of us could wake up at that early hour so the visit to Central Market did not materialise. Instead we washed up, had brunch at Kancil Restaurant (where I was again mistaken for Hadis in my shades), and made our way to Stor Teater. Cikgu had already declared yesterday that there would be no rehearsal today, so hooray!--we lounged about and had little run-throughs of the Opening and Ending.




I remember one completely nonsensical occurrence some days before when we were making props. I was cutting some designs in styrofoam when suddenly a hideous mass of afro hair and purple corsets which turned out to be Nizal paraded onto the stage. It was a complete turn-off. He disappeared backstage and reappeared some moments later, a scarf wound around his huge afro in a feeble attempt as a tudung.

By then we were rolling about in laughter! It was an inside joke; it is rumoured that under Mai's tudung lies a full head of afro hair. If it were to be loosened--whoosh!--hair would burst out of every seam!

Needless to say, Mai was not amused.

WAWAS! - End of the Second Performance, and Our Toilets

--8 of 19--


After the performance, we had the special opportunity of hearing some inspiring words from the famous Yusnor Ef himself! Many photos were snapped with the renowned people within our audience, and we closed the performance that night feeling very elated, in high spirits. My friends kept pestering me for my father's comments on the performance, of which there were none yet, because my father is not a man of many words! (He *did* give his comments a week later during the day of the post mortem, a rightful time for such things.)


Efin and Arif joined us during dinner, looking a bit weary. But all that disappeared later when we played a birthday prank on Shamil by drenching him with gallons of water! A load of fun, it was.


We returned to our bunks, Jihad turning on the music on his self-brought speakers. It was a brilliant idea to bring them--it made our room the more happening one! Everyone was free to contribute their mp3 playlist for our listening pleasure.

Already I can see a clear preference for toilets. The boys' room has two toilets, which are singularly different in design. We preferred to go to the one on the right. I don't know why. After some time, we tended to go to the one on the left. I, personally, preferred the one on the left. I can tell you why.


The arrangement of the components of the toilet on the right were thus: the mirror faced the door, and between the mirror and the door was the shower pipe. Now, showering in front of a mirror is quite distracting, so I moved out of direct sight of the mirror. But then I saw in the mirror the reflection of the towel hanging behind the door, which, out of the corner of my eye proved even more distracting. So I didn't use that toilet anymore after that.

The left toilet is better; it has plenty of space around the sink to put your toiletries. It also has a ventilation window at the top; the other toilet has absolutely None. That toilet feels like a cubicle--it has two walls of blue plastic like most toilet cubicles do, and sometimes we use it to startle the person inside with a great bang! And yes, the mirror of the left toilet doesn't face the door; the toilet bowl does.

And so, after a quick shower, we fell asleep.

WAWAS! - The Second Performance

--7 of 19--

The schedule for today was a full dress rehearsal, plus the curtain call. Nothing much happened, except that Cikgu suggested changing the character of Ray & Do in SHIT to a blind man and a half-blind man. Jeff and I played these roles, and so we were the most affected. We went through the full dress as these disabled people, and decided at the end that they were not suitable.

The idea was scrapped.

That night's performance seemed very prestigious! Even though there were lesser people than the first night, those that came were more renowned. (My parents and grandparents came too!)


A small LED light was set up backstage. It was used as illumination during the show because backstage lights switched on would spill out onto the stage. Sash (our lighting woman) said it did not matter because no light could be seen, but I disagreed with her view. Thus the lights remained turned off and the LED light plus an electric lamp provided sufficient illumination for the backstage area. All makeup and costumes were done outside, and during the show the backstage served as a waiting area for the actors.

The highlight of the night (of every night, come to think of it) was the part in Kucing where the prostitute seduces the old man. Nizal was the prostitute, and Jihad was the old man. On the first night Nizal did not sing his song! He simply forgot, and said out the lyrics as dialogue. Dressing up for him was a hasty affair: he only had about a minute from Pelita to Kucing to get into costume, and even then it was without his purple corset. *That* went on just before his seduction part. Very flustered, the costume people were.

The audience there was very cold. They didn't laugh much, and on the rare occasions when they found something funny, most simply smiled. So the jokes prevalent in our plays carried on in silence.

Jihad's sarong was quite loose. It came off twice in two nights. He managed to hide behind some boxes and correct his sarong, we were relieved to see.

I had the Bright Eyes Syndrome, an anomaly which happens when only one eye is exposed to bright light, and the other left in darkness. Peeping through the curtains led me to suffer this, and I walked for some minutes slightly disoriented.

Didi looked at the box.

3 seconds passed.

Why didn't he kick it?

Then he continued.

All the Kucings were left wondering why he didn't remember his actions. Mai was left to carry the box into its rightful position.

And in SHIT, Jeff mixed up his lines. Luckily I recovered in time with the tempo. "#@!x*& memang hebat..."

WAWAS! - Room Reshuffling, Mama Indias and Cricket Lighters

--6 of 19--

On the morning after the Atrocious Snorings, all of us changed rooms. There were various reasons for this, some of which I shall not disclose, but the general agreement was that it would aid in synchronisation (for want of a better word). These new rooms, 3 and 4, were extremely spacious, 10 beds each and two bathrooms, so all boys took room 3 and the girls went into 4. Any communication between us would pass through faster this way, rather than having to relay messages between four rooms previously.

I also saw for the first time the Mama Indias! Not one, but three of them! They looked exactly like what I imagined: bright floral blouses and dresses, and a sarong around their waists. The Mama Indias were engaged in animated conversation, seated on a bench outside room 10 waiting for us to clear our rooms so they could do housekeeping.

The Malay lady in charge of the rooms was chattering away, reprimanding some of us for sleeping in the corridor. Well, we were guarding the corridor, in case anything untoward happened. She mentioned that she had not heard of any unusual event in all her years working there.

(At that point I remembered the other man's warning about not being too happy at night and wondered if she was wrong.)

In any case, after moving away from the inauspicious rooms (and corridor), we hoped for the better. We got dressed and went down for brunch at Kancil Restaurant.

The first thing I saw there was a sign proclaiming the sale of Roti Prata (or Canai):

"Attantion! Roti Canai ada dijual di sini!"

It led us to wonder about the sort of food sold there, whether it was as bad as the spelling.

Then there was the absurd impossibility of having "no plain pratas but got egg pratas". 17 egg pratas left, to be exact. Some of us chose to eat pratas, whilst the rest went to the rice buffet table.

Brief uproar over Cricket lighters. These are the ones that come in many different bright and solid colours, with exchangeable heads in also as many colours. Hadis had gone off in search of them, and returned with 10 or 15 lighters! Jihad saw one that he liked and a heated exchange of words ensued as to where they were found and whether he could buy one from Hadis instead, with the others joining in.

Our pratas came. They were Very Good! We ate to our hearts' content.


Brunch finished, and we headed to Stor Teater. Someone remarked that I looked very much like Hadis in my sunglasses, which led the others to agree. Photos were snapped for comparison, and yes, we looked quite alike in shades! It looked as if we were brothers! We all delighted in this amusing fact.

WAWAS! - Mama Asmida, and our First Performance

--5 of 19--

The past few days were not without adventure. Many events have occurred, some which are humourous to the extreme, some which are singularly unusual, and some which I am not at liberty to disclose. I shall describe them as they come to me and as I remember them.

There are two kinds of Mama. One is Mama India. Another is Mama Asmida. Well, Mama Asmida sent a message to Sarah Atiqa on Wednesday afternoon, enquiring about our general health and well-being, also mentioning that we appeared in the newspaper yesterday! It was an interview about Wawas, conducted about 10 days prior to our departure. How thoughtful of her!

Back to the plates of chicken wings laid before us on the table. It is an appetizer before our dinner on the night of our first performance. This dinner is also a post-mortem for the performance (the fastest one I can remember; usually by the time it is held, we would have already forgotten everything.)

Earlier on, there were lots of mistakes and shortcomings (the most fun part of any post-mortem, in any case!) Jihad related how he rushed into position during Kucing.

"5...4...3...2...1.......Vroom!" he darted to his spot. It was Very Dark. And there was a box in his way.

(Crash!)

Nizal's error was a more appalling one. This was what he was supposed to say:

"...menjadi angin, menghembuskan bara..."

And this is what he actually said:

"...menghembus gembra..."

Even worse, he could not help but chuckle to himself! (In full view of everyone!)

During SHIT, Didi startled a makcik in the front row. Twice. Once with Asmida when they screamed at each other and another time during his "Gol!" solo. The makcik nearly fell off her chair!

Kucing had mistakes of the Late, Forgotten and Untuned categories. There were forgotten tails, tails that came off, dropped cat's ears, and tails that lengthened themselves in an alarming way as the show progressed! It was Didi's tail that had this defect. By the middle of Kucing his tail was encircling him haphazardly.

WAWAS! - Dinner at Jalan Kenanga, and the Atrocious Snorings

--4 of 19--

The Highly Entertaining movie ends. We clear the theatre. Outside, all the shops are closed, and it is quite warm in the mall. I have the faint impression that it is 3pm in the afternoon. Must be the overly bright display of one of the shops coupled with the warmth (it is 3am in the morning, by the way!) We make our way back to our bunks, having ridiculous as well as learned conversations about the movie on the way.

We reached our rooms. It was now 3.30am in the morning! The aircon was set to 23 degrees. My iPod was set up, playing soothing melodies. We slept.

Day 2 began quite late. Due to our very late sleeping time last night, everyone (nearly everyone) arose late. Breakfast consisted of two plain pratas.

Very uneventful. Rehearsals were done, and lunch was eaten outside. It was delicious. Nothing much after that. We rehearsed again till 6, then went out for dinner at a Roadside Stall along Jalan Kenanga.

Now--we are at this very same Roadside Stall waiting for our Dinner! Our first performance has just ended at 9.46pm earlier, and currently four plates of savoury barbecued chicken wings have been placed on the table before us, awaiting consumption. We are only permitted to consume one wing and one drumstick per person, following Cikgu's Tips for Preserving Your Voice.

I catch drifts of various conversations around the dinner table. One topic in particular stands out--the atrocious snoring of some of our members!

"I even saw AJ stuff tissues in his ears!" exclaims Aidil. (AJ is the name I am known by in SSP, to differentiate between another Afiq who is a senior. It stands for Afiq Junior.)

Indeed! Of the 3 or so snorers whose snorings were powerful enough to be heard in the next room, Aizat's ones were particularly melodious. Some of them even sounded like a conversation! Stuffing the aforementioned tissues in my ears proved ineffective, so I rose and fetched my in-ear headphones, the closest thing to earplugs that I had.

Not 100% effective--because what is a pair of earphones without music? I got up again and took my mp3 player. It was better.

The others who were forced to listen to the rousing chorus of grunts, sighs and groans sat wide awake, unable to sleep.

Suffice to say, we did not have a peaceful night.

WAWAS! - The Adventure on Christmas Eve

--3 of 19--


It is now 8.38pm, and we are sitting comfortably on the steps of the modern Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka building waiting for Cikgu Hasnah. The older building was the one we rehearsed in. It is quite decrepit. The toilets are currently being renovated, and there are packets of toilet seats and wide-open cisterns everywhere. The urinals have non-existent flushing systems (I pressed and pressed but water only trickled.)

It is 12.31am, and our movie is delayed! Seventeen of us are seated in the movie theatre of Times Square. We are supposed to watch National Treasure: Book of Secrets, but the aforementioned delay has dampened our spirits somewhat (and the rest of the theatre too).

"Sepuluh minit lagi!" the usher announces. There has been a problem with the brightness of the screen. In ten minutes the show would start!

In due course it begins. It was quite exciting, except for some of us who had already watched the movie. They dozed off halfway.

What, you may ask, are we doing here at 12.31am, of all times? Well, earlier we had an Adventure!

We were travelling to Bukit Bintang on foot when we saw a group of people spraying each other with party streamers and foam. "Nothing to be afraid of," we thought, "just get through this and all will be fine." We continued with some apprehension, constantly wondering whether we would get hit next. Then we turned a corner. The next street was a complete mass of People!

Sheer cacophony! A great din of blaring horns and enthusiastic sprayers! Even the cars were not spared. Abstract designs were sprayed onto them, and for the more unfortunate ones, a free foam wash! There was a huge traffic jam as well (what do you expect?) and human traffic fought against vehicular traffic. We made a beeline through the crowds, always ensuring that everyone kept together. It was supposed to exciting, but how to exciting when people are spraying at you from all sides?

We left Cikgu and Encik Harun (our guide) at a cafe and continued our journey.

The hordes had become more unruly! At one time we walked right through the line of fire of another group. No one was seriously sprayed, and only residual spray got onto some of us. Half of us were held up by the offending group.
(Hadis, didi & Shamil was here! =) *winks.)

After waiting for those caught up behind, we were called together. Then the half of us that were "held up" let loose a spray of foam on us! (Of the names stated above, Hadis and Shamil were among the Sprayers.)

What else--we fled the place! I strode briskly to the other side of the road.

Then the Sprayers caught up with me! I was ambushed from behind at a carpark near the end of the road.

Nadiah looked quite perturbed. She said she wasn't into these kinds of things.

The girls noticed Nadiah's plight and gathered around her, offering words of comfort.

We stopped at a hotel to use the toilet, then made our way back to Cikgu. All of us decided to watch a movie, and we carried on to Times Square, leaving Cikgu and Encik Harun at the cafe.

Pushing through the ever restless crowds, we emerged into Times Square, gathered everyone, and took the lift up to the second floor where the cinema was.

*That* is how we got to be here. End of Adventure! Merry Christmas!

WAWAS! - The First Day

--2 of 19--

The Nasi Goreng, Telor and Teh Tarik from the train's Dining Cabin was delicious! Thus was the testimony awarded them by Nizal and Nadiah, among those of us who went there at the unearthly hour of 4am. (They refer to Fried Rice, Eggs and "Pulled" Tea respectively.)

Aizat was all enthusiasm the next morning. "We ate MacD!!!" he exclaimed.

Well! It is now 9am, and we are seated at McDonald's KL Sentral Station. We have just finished breakfast, and some of us have gone for a smoke.

Then, hailing five taxis, we depart for Wisma Puspanita, our accommodation during our stay.

Wisma Puspanita is actually a sort of hostel. Goodness knows where its students study, for I don't remember any educational institution nearby. It is currently empty, save for one "Mama India" residing in Room 2, who was kind enough to mop our rehearsal space for us, in the South Wing of the building so that we may walk around barefoot.

Girls go into Rooms 9 & 10, boys in Room 12 & 13. (I'm in Room 12.) Each boys' room had 6 beds and a toilet, plus a little balcony full of mosquitoes. Jihad promptly produced a mosquito coil, and it was lit. Everything had to be set up properly on the first day, according to him.

The man who led us up to our rooms told us not to be too frivolous during the night hours. "You guys don't be too happy at night," he warned.

And with this sinister pronunciation, he left us.

After a short nap and a bath, we proceeded to our rehearsal space and had a run through of the plays we were to perform.

Lunch was a tasty affair. The stalls we ate at reminded Nizal of Geylang, back in Singapore!

Enough of that. Now it is rehearsal time again at Stor Teater.

I might as well describe the reasons for us being here in Kuala Lumpur.

We have been invited here to perform our award-winning plays from Singapore. Cikgu Hasnah, our teacher and advisor, had arranged for us to perform in Stor Teater, within the prestigious Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka. All 19 of us were to go to KL, props, costumes, music and all, and perform Dot.Dot.Dot, Pelita Wawasan, Wawasan Anak Geylang Serai Roboh (better known as Kucing), and S.H.I.T, which stands for Selampit Hari Ini Tiada. There was supposed to be 20 people but Efin, our missing person, is to join us later.

This is what Suzana has to say (pardon the informal language):

"They've been rehearsing ALLLL day & I'v been sitting on È steps aLLLL day and I'm sooooo hungry...:("

And this is what Nadiah has to say:

"Not enough sleep!! even afta a "long" rest while the others train for kuching. At least something lar har. It's freaking cold in here!"

The rehearsals continue.

WAWAS! - The Journey to KL, and The Trains

--1 of 19--

(This is the first of many posts to come on Sang Singa Purba's trip to KL in December 2007 for a performance called Wawas. Read on!)

In exactly 23 minutes we are leaving for Kuala Lumpur!

The whole group of us rushed to the KTM station thinking the train would come at 11pm. Upon asking the guard, however, it was found out that it would come at 11.28pm.

We were very much relieved! Aizat was feeling happy--"Woohoo!" he cried out, adding that he "missed his mummy". Hadis was "so excited, going to KL after so long!"

Suzana praised the hipstrap on her backpack for relieving the strain on her back. A good investment, indeed!

A somewhat muffled announcement declares the opening of the gates. We do a quick roll call and pass through them. Asmida is quite eager; this is her first time boarding the trains. As far as I can remember, this is my second time! The last time I rode on a KTM train was when I was 7, coming back from KL after 3 months there. (My family wanted to apply for Malaysian citizenship but was unsuccessful.)

There is a prolonged photo-taking session on the platform. All of us are extremely energetic, though some felt after some time that the multi-burst pictures were quite tiring to take. Shamil chose to conserve energy by standing still throughout one whole series of pictures.



A headlight appears in the distance. Our train is here!

There is a dining cabin somewhere in the middle of the train. On either ends are the sleeper cabins. Ours is L5. I am to occupy bunk 29, an upper bunk.

We climb upon the cabin. The other passengers already inside peer though their bunk curtains, looking at us as though we were aliens. Sang Singa Purba advances through!

It turns out that most of us get the upper bunks, except for those with smaller numbers. Upper Bunk 2 is designated as a luggage compartment, and everything else which wouldn't fit there may kindly be arranged along the aisle near your bunk. Aidil and I, in the last two allotted bunks, ended up doing the latter.


Some of us cannot contain our excitement and burst into a chorus of various Malay songs in the space between the cabins. Over there is a complete ruckus--thuds, creaks and screeches! We add to the din.

Human waste is deposited straight onto the tracks from the train's toilets! I sit pondering this appalling thought for a few moments. The waste is left to rot on the tracks. Not very appetizing, isn't it?

We cast our eyes gravely over Didi on his bed. The whole scene looks like a hospital, with his bandaged knee (a healing injury), crisp white bedsheets and the metal railings. There is nothing much to do now. The rest are still awake, having idle conversations. Aidil begins to snore. I'd better join him as well.

The train roars and lurches through Malaysian terrain! I sleep.

As a Musician in Muzikarama 2007...

Muzikarama 2007 was a success! Of the three Muzikaramas in total, this was the best so far. Good to hear that! Sang Singa Purba can rest in peace for now, until our Wawas performance in December (more on that later).

I was a musician, inevitably, and played my usual variety of instruments: the accordion, the keyboard, and some auxiliary percussion (the claves and finger cymbals, in particular). No piano this year, because the keyboard sufficed. Some of the most memorable music moments in this year's show were the dangdut song Tapi at the beginning, the various musical medleys in scene 2 and 5, and the Mr Bean theme in scene 3. Yes, THAT theme!

I started off on the wrong note (what could be worse?), but managed to make my way to the correct note, then started proper. No one noticed. Well, as far as I could tell anyway. It was hilarious.

In scene 5, I missed a finger cymbal ting!, which left me in a regretful mood for some time after the show, but what to do? Life goes on.

We managed to redeem ourselves from our mistakes last year. The Propstars were excellent with their efficiency, we musicians filled in the gaps between scene changes, and Muzikarama began and ended promptly. The whole thing ended in about 1 hour 20 minutes (the fastest ever)!

After the show we had a long and lively debrief. I do not remember where we went after that (to eat somewhere, I presume) but we enjoyed ourselves proper. Well, until next Muzikarama!

La Veillée on Suria!

The title suggests the near impossible. But yes, I heard a Tiersen piece on Suria! This occurred on Thursday at about 8.25pm. The news program on Suria (called Berita) usually has a slot at the very end of their broadcast reserved for interesting events. Well, for Thursday, they screened a fashion show for the disabled. I thought it was interesting, of course, until I heard La Veillée. Then I was all ears.

It's quite interesting that they used La Veillée to accompany the catwalk ladies. Don't you have to get permissions for this sort of stuff? They were all on wheelchairs, and rolled around the spacious catwalk.

Yup.

The early morning meal I had at 5.25am just now was quite simple, owing to the fact that I had only a few minutes before we were recommended to stop eating. I bit into some bread, and consumed three dates. There was a cup of tea (now that goes well with bread and dates) and some cold water after we ran out of tea. That will do for today.

My brother didn't wake up at all; he slept like a log. By right we still can continue fasting if this happens, but fearing severe stomach cramps or something, my brother didn't fast today. He'd just finished his lunch.

Ramadhan Est Ici!

Ramadhan is here! It is a month of interesting food combinations, early morning vigils, marathon prayers, and some say indigestion. Oh, and fasting.

When else would you wake up in the morning and eat RICE? (I don't even like rice in the first place.) And have TEA to go with it? (I like teh-O, but not with rice, please.) So, for this morning's sahur (sahur means early-morning meal), I raided the fridge and oven. Discovered yesterday's french toast in the oven, kueh kaswi (is that how you spell it?) and dates in the fridge, and fixed up a mug of hot Milo. Délicieux.

I now seem to understand why some mosques have very short tarawih prayers (performed only during Ramadhan) and some have very long ones. It seems that at Ar-Raudhah Mosque, three imams who have memorised the Qur'an have been invited to lead in the prayers. So the prayers are longer because they choose to recite longer excerpts of the Qur'an.

Compare this with Al-Mukminin Mosque in Jurong, where shorter verses are read. The prayers finish earlier. Even faster at Ba'alwie Mosque, somewhere in Bukit Timah, I think. My mother likens the prayers there to exercise.

I've chosen to focus on unfinished business this Ramadhan. I've to confess I couldn't finish All my Chronicles and compose a song for the SP Symphonic Band, two of the most pressing things that need to be done. But I'm having fun thinking of new NightWalk scares, though. heehee.

I *Must* update my blog. A new skin coming up!

Uncharted Territory

The FOC 07/08 NightWalk will be put on hold. The FOC 06/07 Chronicles are still unfinished (I've been slowing down in the sentence production dept lately) and the FOC 07/08 Chronicles are 1/4 complete. But this I can say: the NightWalk 07/08 was a success!

So, what do I speak about? Here it is.

One of the hardest things to do is to look at something very familiar as if it is your first time seeing it. Look around your home, as if you are a visitor, coming for the first time. At the bustop where you wait for the bus to school every morning, look at your neighbourhood around you. Recently I tried looking at a 50-cent Singapore coin as if it was something new, a coin from a country a thousand kilometres away. Not easy.

But looking at my neighbourhood as if for the first time was easier. Because usually you would know where everything is, all I had to do was imagine I didn't know where everything was! But what if you have lived in it all your life? (I have lived in mine for 10 years now.)

One of the comforts of familiarity comes from knowing what to expect, where everything is, what lies behind that door. Once you let go of this feeling, disorientation and uncertainty arrive...

Try it yourself!

Chronicle of MIT FOC 06/07 in Progress

Finally! I have embarked on the chronicling of MIT FOC 06/07, now slightly more than a month into writing. The first draft was begun just after Christmas last year, and now I am into the second draft.

It is very overdue.

And because of that, I fear I do not have much to write about. I have resorted to interviewing people to glean more information for my text, but the fact is, people do not necessarily say all they remember, some being too unimportant to count as a memory. But hey, that's how I write! The small facts make the text come alive.

My writings thus far have been too passive. I need more active sentences, to convey the excitement of the moment. So I've been reading books lately, to seek inspiration. And nice words to use.

Aperient. Vituperation. Apotropaic. What do they mean? Read the completed chronicle and find out!

The whole text must be finished by mid-February, or end-February. The main problem is getting the events linked. The method used is to write about anything that comes to mind. Soon, you have a lot of discrete sentences and paragraphs begging to be organised. When that happens, write a second draft!

They will be printed, perhaps in book form, then placed in the MIT clubroom for all to read. In the meantime, I might as well publish the chronicle of MIT FOC 05/06, of which I was a camper. I just did a word count, and found out that it contained 6005 words, had 150 paragraphs, and was 11 pages long! Enough material. I will publish it.

Next up, The MIT FOC 07/08 NightWalk!

The 26" saw has been obtained!

Well well well, after a hiatus of approximately a month, here I am again. I got the 26" saw!
May I indicate that it wasn't any of those saws I mentioned in the previous post. It is neither the ones produced by the enthusiastic boss, nor the one that cost $12.30.

It is one with a wooden handle, bought at $15 from a shop in Maude Road, seven days after the writing of the previous post (27th December). There were 2 establishments around that area selling 26" saws. Well, I went to one, and they presented me the saw of the aforementioned length. I felt it was OK, but not enticing enough. Quite skinny. I was looking for one with greater taper, from tip to end. I performed some bending motions and rapped it with my knuckles, to the amusement of the shop auntie and her assistants. But still not good enough! So I put down the saw and kindly stated that I will see to other shops first.

The second shop that I went to was a roundabout affair. I had been led here from Toh Guan Road in Jurong East. The man there said he had 26" saws, but they weren't in the warehouse at that moment (11am in the morning I think). He said he would fetch them from the business at Maude Road, but it would arrive only in the late afternoon. Well, I thought I might as well go there to see it for myself. True enough, he called shortly after, and suggested the same. I acceded to the suggestion.

This business was also a lucky break. It wasn't listed on the Yellow Pages or whatever guide. But it had a 26" saw! It was called Chee Fatt Co. Nearly closing time, but I was allowed to go in, quoting the name of a lady whom I was to look for inside. I went in, enquired about a Cynthia, and was led to a table covered with papers at the back of the office. There was Cynthia.

She despatched a workman to get the 26" saw. It came, and I did the works. Bent the saw to alarming extents, rapped it, even brought out my bow and used it. I do not remember any amazed or curious looks from the other people in the business, only one workman who smiled. They were all behind me, but I imagine they must have felt as such.

It was purchased. Originally priced at $19, I got it for $15! What more can I ask?

It is now safely at home. I intend to sand it, so it is even thinner, so that I can bend it to even greater extents. (It is really tiring and cramping on the fist, bending it all the time.)

May I know whether your Company sells Saws which are 26 inches or longer?

Today I went looking for saws. 26 inches or longer. Out of 9 companies I enquired, only two sold anything like what I asked for. One did have 26-inch saws. They had a Stanley 26" one priced at $12.30. That was all. No longer? None, the woman said. So I continued down the list and found SCA Industries. The uncle who answered the phone was enthusiastic enough to invite me over to his establishment to see for myself the range of saws he had. So I did.

The company was located at Ubi Road 1, quite some distance from my house in Bukit Batok. I was of the type who didn't bat an eyelid at having to traverse the whole island to find what I wanted, so I went there, by MRT and bus. It took me about an hour and 15 minutes to reach the place.

Upon arrival, an auntie asked, "Are you here for the interview?" I replied negatively, and enquired what interview was it. The auntie did not give any intelligible answer, so I went into the office. There was a Dravidian man there, on the phone. When I asked him about saws, he promptly put down the phone. He also thought I came for the interview. It was for the position of Operator, whatever that was.

But the company didn't have 26" saws. They only had 24 inches maximum. The boss himself then came out and asked what I was looking for. To cut a long story short, he then instructed the Dravidian man to lead me to the back of the premises, where a machine to cut teeth into sheet metal was. I was supposed to test out the different lengths of saw that came out of the machine, but I remembered what the boss said earlier, "We can cut for you a 26" or whatever length you want, but usually, if customers request only one or two pieces, we won't entertain."

Well, if there wouldn't be any chance of getting a custom-made saw, then I shan't waste my time. So I left amiably.

As for the company that had a 26" Stanley saw, they had closed for the day. Oh well.

I think I shall continue my search in Malaysia, since my family would be holidaying there next week. There certainly should be greater variety there.

Oh yes, I haven't properly said why I need 26-inch saws (or longer). I need them to make music. Just bend them properly, and know where to hit or bow them.

Muzikarama 2006 - Les Musiciens

Muzikarama 2006 was quite strange! If I were the audience, I would find it okay as a whole, except for a few parts, which would be quite memorable.

In this event, I played the role of musician, along with four or five other SSP mates: Jad, Shamil, Jeff, Didi, and to a lesser extent, Efin. He sang most of the time. (I didn't remember hearing auxiliary percussion, which he was supposed to play.) [Didi, Efin and Jeff are not visible in the picture.]

I had to contend with the piano, accordion, melodion, musical saw and whistle. Usually the piano was used, which I was most familiar with.

Muzikarama's scene changes were quite long for the audiences' comfort, so we musicians had to play something to ease the tension. Some were remarkable improvisations by Shamil, whilst some were early starts of scenes from me. I began playing the song for Act 3 a tad too quick, intending it to fill the silence, but i forgot that three people depended on this cue!

Thus the Lighting Woman, the Singer and the Actress started the scene. It must have been a bit distressing for them. Luckily Act 3 didn't have so many props.

The main thing about Muzikarama 2006 that wasn't so good was the tempo (no pun intended). It was quite slow.

The First Few Visitations

Hari Raya, it seems, has arrived again, and I have just completed a day’s worth of visitations. They weren’t very extensive, though. We only visited about six houses. The day after Hari Raya was a school day, and so visitations late into the night were frowned upon.

Important relatives were prioritized. First was my maternal grandfather’s late brother’s house in Choa Chu Kang (well, we visited his widow), then the same grandfather's late sister’s house in Teck Whye (we visited the other distant relatives living in that house), then to Holland V, to visit a cousin’s grandmother. After that, we were off to Pasir Ris to visit my paternal grandmother; to Tampines, another cousin’s grandmother; finally to Yishun, to visit my maternal grandfather’s sister. It was Maternal Relatives Day, you see.

This Sunday would be Paternal Relatives day, if I’m not wrong. Saturday would be a continuation of Maternal Relatives Day, which was cut short due to the next day being a school day, as I stated earlier.

Right.

The Scène at Jurong Regional Library

There are certain colourful characters of Jurong Regional Library.

First are the security guards. There is a Malay security guard, who is very kind. There are two Dravidian ones as well. One has white hair and the other, a black turban.

All these guards do is walk around looking sinister. The Malay security guard, on the other hand, was kind enough to offer us a table.

They are all very useful guards.

There is one old female Chinese mopless broomless dust-panless trolley-less cleaner, who only carries herself around. She brandishes a piece of cloth, with which she passes lightly over certain places as she deems fit to be cleaned. Most of the time she just perambulates leisurely around, like some Empress from an Imperial Palace.

She is also useless. Soon to be jobless.

Of course, there are the librarians. They appear with astonishing regularity, floating up and down the escalators, carrying bags as if they had just gone shopping, and conversing merrily amongst themselves. That is about all they do.

I must remember not to bring my wallet during my next class BBQ.

I suspect that there is a generator in the JRL basement which generates 3D images of librarians at specific intervals. Those librarians seem artificial to me. Once my associate and I were wondering why no librarians had been sighted lately. As if on cue, the lift close to us chimed. As the door opened, we could see that it was chock full with librarians. They all somehow decided to take the lift!

The escalators of JRL are of an interesting design. They are open-air escalators, meaning you can see whoever is on them at a glance. They are a central feature of the library, and have one property most escalators don't have: efficiency.

Usually escalators are placed in the same position on every floor of a bulding. So once you have ascended one floor, you have to walk one whole round to the other escalator (in the same location on that floor), where you can climb further up to the next floor. Examples of this placement can be found in West Mall, Esplanade Mall, and Woodlands Regional Library, to state a few examples. The escalators in these buildings are placed on top of the other, so from a side view, each escalator is parallel to the ones above and below it. This inefficient design makes us waste a lot of time walking.

However, in shopping malls, this can be justified. Because shoppers would have to walk a certain path to get to another escalator, the owner of the shopping mall can charge more rent for shops that lie along this path. However, for libraries, this reason does not hold water.

The escalators in JRL, on the other hand, are placed rather in a criss-cross pattern. Meaning, once you have ascended one floor, you only have to turn around, and there the next escalator would be! This is extremely efficient, and is much faster than taking the lift (for the lift in JRL is extremely slow). This design is analogous to a flight of stairs; in this case, one flight enables you to climb one floor. Thus, to climb to the 3rd storey one would only have to climb two escalators, one from the first floor to the second; then turning round, another escalator from the second floor to the third. The same procedure applies when going down. Escalators with a similar placement are also found in the OUB Centre.