2006: This Is Where I Came In *

2006-12-31 3:20 p.m.

2006 is ending soon and this entry definitely must go up.

The year started with much hustle and bustle, much of it too secret to explain. Even in the last days counting down to my departure from National Service, the workload intensified and more trouble cropped up. It wasn’t a new task to me, but one where patches of innovation helped pieced the whole item together. It did test new boundaries, but despite the results, I’ll still call in my personal best in creating something out of jumbled up items. I still recount the times I stayed back, clicking and typing away what would seem gibberish but be later transformed into substance. Let’s just say that it was God who gave me the strength to preserve through it all.

Speaking of which it was also in between this period or so that I completed my baptism course and was baptized just before Easter. It was actually quite a bit of a struggle choosing whether to give myself to fully to the Lord at that time. The up and downs came and went, and well yes I was baptized. Even so, the journey as a Christian is far from complete. I’ll note that as the first major change for me in 2006.

Then came the official date when I was released from the sphere of National Service. There was a sort of celebratory lunch on my ORD date and outing with Chih Hung when all that died down, but well, I can’t remember all of it. We both initially planned to hitchhike around Australia in May, but he was the one who just couldn’t make it at the last moment. Also, in the time leading up to my departure from the army, I gave myself more stuff to work with. It was how to spend the precious time between my new freedom and before I had to fly off to Birmingham. Naturally, a job would keep me busy.

But what kind of job? I had experience with law firms twice before and although there’s much glamour and fun working in such an area, I did not want to repeat it again. Clerical work was definitely out since I spent more than two years on it.

It was perhaps a little conversation here and there that brought me in contact with a certain Associate Professor Joseph Liow form the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. I had only just come across that place when Chih Hung and I did a our own tour of NTU. “Write a article about 500 words on what research you would like engage in the Institute,” his email said. Research? Was I running before I could walk? Nevertheless, I pieced together something and the reply was an affirmative.

Still not knowing what to expect, I entered the grey building at the far corner of NTU in the second week of June, notepad and pen ready but most likely to scribble random items down. “You have a choice: either Malaysian Foreign Policy with regards to Islam or Islamic Schools in Thailand?” I thought for a couple of seconds, my brain trying to recall if I knew anything vaguely about these topics. The gun-ho me chose the latter at first, but hitting blank walls everywhere, I settled on the former.
As mentioned in my earlier posts, I had a room to myself, a PC, and access to the library as if I was a regular. It was indeed welcoming. Prof. Liow didn’t set a timetable to complete this assignment but naturally I did not want to drag it until the end. But it was a sort of relaxing life, drawing out material and typing my “report”. It was a peace that surpassed the constant drone of noises and tasks back in NS and the whirling life of NJC. Perhaps this was the peace that I always sought after.

Well, as you know, I wasn’t alone for long. In popped the prim and proper Eli and the really helpful Wei Chong as described in my entry Memories of IDSS. But their appearances as you know were less and less and time went by, so as I finished off my first 4000 word report I still had the stillness around me. Best way to concentrate and focus. Still, I always believed that “no man is an island.”

It was the Monday after a night out with Chih Hung, who sort of boasted about the numerous ladies he “had” in SPH marketing and the supposed “wild times” he had with them. It was also the Monday after a rather stressful driving lesson wher I made the same mistakes. If I remember correctly my mind was a little blurry then so my first thought as I twisted the key and nothing happened was that I forgot to lock the door. Oh shit, I thought and turn again but found the door stuck. It suddenly opened and well, I nearly fell down.

In any case, the rest of the story of the great companionship with Claire has been written in various entries. And so the stillness was broken, but rather than disturbance, it was the perfect complement to my work. In between the enriching discussions and recollection of certain memories, came the long brain draining session with Dr. Chew and another Research Assistant. I guess any academic of his stature would naturally have his facts at his fingertips but he really gave the Bible study of all Bible studies . On a short note here, I really haven’t done much Bible reading/studying here recently and I really should do so.

IDSS was one of the times of my life, on the same level as that of my Study cum Immersion Programme in Germany in 2000. I’ve somehow always love being around people with great academic background and experience and yes it while it was all serious work, it was certain beneficial. I learnt about the structuring of academic thesis and monographs and the importance of footnoting and referencing. In fact, as I mentioned elsewhere, the usage of footnotes in academic writing has many benefits over that of the icky Harvard system. Oh yes, I had to return to clerk mode for a while in IDSS, but it was all for an eye-opening conference, as I’ve mentioned.

But the heavenly experience had to end and it ended, sort of abruptly. My farewell was in a way well noted, with the executive secretary of the Institute shaking my hand and saying, “thank you very much for the service” and promising some sort of token of appreciation. I really did not want to depart and yes I kept my eyes on the grey building as the bus move off. So that was the second change and new realm that I’ve entered.

I said goodbye to someone else to on that day a friend who’s shaped much of my life in JC life. Well yes shaped but not an much of negative life. We spend practically the whole afternoon eating and reflecting on the times passed. A first conclusion was that despite the strain of it all, the two years or so of National Service gave us time to re-establish some friendships and social circles and establish new ones. Frankly, we’ve both done well. The old restrictive vices of JC social life, excluding of individuals and well certain snobbery had given way to a brand new outlook. Even still, I gave the opinion that parts of the past were positive and parts could be build back up. As we stood leaning against the glass balcony, we noted that a great unknown once again lay before us. But our philosophies of life have improved, our perspective of individuals were a little bit wider. The two years after the tumulus ups and downs of JC life had set us ready plane. And then, well , I guess it was a burst of emotions or so, but her gave a tight handshake and a small hug as we parted at the bus stop.

That could be the third new change in 2006. In between that and my departure to the UK, I busied (or sort of busied) myself by expanding my music tastes and working on my own musical. Part of this inspiration, as you would recall, was due to the music talent of Claire and her fellow singer-songwriters and the inspiring performance by Nic Foo and his band. Music used to be just a part of my entertainment arena, but now I looked for the meanings each line, each word expressed along with the accompanying tune. I still subscribed more to those songs that carried meaning or messages from the songwriter or songs that were based experiences. In fact, the young singer-songwriter’s compositions are mainly along that sort of line. So I created a website for my musical and brainstormed for a couple of days of the outline. Several individuals even offered their services but as they remarked they couldn’t do much without an actual script. The script is well, regrettably still under construction. It’s not one of those fading illusions of grandeur, it’ll be done. I’ve also attempted to create musical with Christian themes behind it but that’s just as challenging as my own idea. I do have one song fixed though.

That’s the fourth new realm. Then with two delays and one free meal, I landed in Birmingham, entering the fifth new arena. As I said, the physical landscape was already welcoming and I plunged into tertiary education properly. That was not before the building up of a great rapport with fellow block and flat mates. The Sunday dinners and the laughter and conversations was a stark contrast form the times in JC and I really thought it was just dream at first. But it wasn’t; it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. In other areas, I believed I’ve merged pretty well with the local (British) way of life—as in food and to a certain extent speech. By food, well I’m not homesick of Singaporean food and have not fuss over potatoes and the volumes of vegetables and meat, although I’ve not learnt to enjoy stuff like steak and kidney pie or shepherd’s pie yet. Speech wise, I think I can catch most accents now, be it Scottish (I have to because of Dr. Peter Kerr), Northern, Southern and Midland accents. The local slang, well, I’ve not come across much of it yet although I’ve heard of stuff like “quid” before. Within several weeks, it seemed so natural to hold open doors for people or thanking them by saying “cheers mate” or even not frowning when the sale girls/woman calls you “dear” or “darling”. The only peculiar thing I’ve encounter so far is the keyboards where the “@” symbol on the number 2 key is replaced with the pound symbol, “£” and in its place is the ‘ “ ’ symbol. The “@” symbol is placed where that symbol used to be. Ok, so it eases the typing of the “£” symbol, but it screws up my typing sometimes since I use inverted commas a lot.

Work wise, well, I’ve much of it overhere . But thought it’s taxing having to raid the library every week and speed read readings, it’s the life that I choose and the IDSS grounding has helped a lot. I’m ready for the challenge of the new term and the years ahead. In fact, as I remarked to Shuying, University life or even studying at a tertiary level is real the training ground for you unlike that of National Service or what not. In NS, you are given such and such a responsibility and you have to answer to a higher authority. If you fail, well, you aren’t exactly finished at all. But in Uni life, you answer only to yourself and no one else. You set you r own pace but if you fall, you fall. You learn both academic and non-academic survival in Uni life, especially when you are studying overseas. From cooking to finding your own readings, from washing up to the establishment of social bonds, this is the environment that will turn boys to men, girls to ladies.

That’s number five. And so this year has opened new, exhilarating and wonderful paths for me to tread on. It’s not all the time a bright a shiny road of course, but no travel of life is like that. By God grace, indeed, 2066 can be summed up as “This is where I came in”, to borrow the title of my favourite Bee Gees song. In fact, it should be “This is all where I came in.”

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