A Good Friend Since 1994 - Yusheng

Time started: 4.57pm

Today, a friend popped up in my memory bank. He was part of my clique of 4 girls & 6 guys in secondary school.

We were a tight bunch who'd spend every free moment together, be it clamouring out of class, hanging along the corridors during recess, bowling / cycling / rollerblading during the school holidays, loitering at Mac's almost every single day while completing our homework, playing basketball after school, scrambling to study at the airport at the last minute, slurping on ice-kachang while engaging in idle banter, lazing at Vic's 3-storey house at Bedok Road, relishing the mean bowl of noodles whipped up by Vic's grandmother, researching at the various libraries for project work, popping by Sally's, his or my place for entertainment whenever cash ran low, musing at the corners of our school till late hours, climbing the school gate in a bid to "escape" to the airport to study for our 'O' Levels as we felt that the post-prelim void was a waste of time, sharing a Cheeseburger meal among three of us, breaking into peals of laughter post-class but smirking knowingly during lessons as Tally & Paul churned out joke after joke while incurring the wrath of the Chinese, A Maths, English, E Maths, Chemistry...(hmm...not a subject was spared) teachers, exasperating the teachers who had never handled a SAP class of such defiance while miraculously maintaining our results, constantly hauled up for the slightest thing (eg. not wearing a petticoat underneath the school skirt - probably the most ridiculous school rule to date, not donning the school badge, keeping long hair - the definition of 'long' for GIRLS was when hair grazed against the shoulders, wearing WHITE socks with coloured labels, wearing school shoes without shoelaces - another ridiculous school rule, wearing 'branded' watches like Baby G & Guess instead of plain, black pasar-malam ones). Of course, who could forget the Great Escapade which involved 18 out of 25 people in our class and the "Pizza Hut" Tale? Hey, but our teacher did mention this: "After your batch, it's all downhill." We maintained the school's ranking within the top ten. ( I think it has since tumbled southwards.)

Yusheng was a chummy friend. It was easy to spend many hours on the telephone with him. The Unbeatable Lamer of the group, corny one-liners belonged to the playground of Vic & Yusheng. I recall our mindless pursuits of branded goods like Polo Ralph Lauren & Burberry's polo tees, Guess jeans, DKNY tops, Armani tees, Benetton shoes & our Baby 'G's & Swatches paled in comparison to Vic's Tag Heuer watch. They've since been tucked away as obsolete fashion items.

Under Yusheng's lanky, carefree frame was a diligent pupil who was eager to excel at his studies while appearing nonchalant. Unfortunately, A Maths wasn't his forte and he hit rock bottom with shocking results. 27% was an indelible statistic. Constantly berated & undermined by the A Maths teacher, he never gave up on the subject even though he was falling behind. Even at the prelims, his score was short of a passing grade and the general sentiment was that a pass in A Maths at the 'O's could only be attributed to sheer luck.

To everyone's shock & astonishment, in a span of two months, he'd scored an A1 for his weakest subject. The gem was only starting to unravel. Our clique broke up when 7 of us tottered to Temasek JC while the other 3 went to Tampines JC. He was a student in the Commerce stream at TJ and while some would attribute his A1 in A Maths to a fluke, he went on to wipe out all lingering doubts with his SAF scholarship & a double degree with top honours. The last time we met up, he was still bitter towards the A Maths teacher who had despised him. I'm really proud of Yusheng as he has gone on to silence his critics and naysayers.

Our clique has tried to remain in contact throughout the years, with the exception of YH, whom I had bumped into at Paragon Starbuck's but had turned away upon eye contact.

A sneak peek at the rest currently:
(1) Vic - worked at a local bank for a brief period before undertaking a job in the civil service after getting his arts degree at NUS.
(2) Audrey - undergone a fashion design course midway at La Salle after completing her arts degree at NUS.
(3) Tally - resigned from his shipping company.
(4) Paul - freelance swimming coach & has a cool double storey place of residence near Hong Lim Park to hang out and jam at.
(5) Sally - Returned to Australia after a near mental breakdown. The poor girl's suffered much emotionally since childhood. Got her degree in psychology at UNSW.
(6) Jiasheng - Joined the insurance industry after graduating from Poly.
(7) YH - the childhood friend from the age of ten, last seen at one of the "Big 4" accountancy firms. Has been erased from my list of contacts.
(8) Johan - went to the US to study music after receiving his arts degree at NUS.
(9) Me - The one whom everyone had expected to be a lawyer / psychologist but unfortunately, landed up as an educator & a bank account with fewer zeroes instead.

I miss this clique of buddies and I'm thankful that Audrey organises gatherings now and then.

Yusheng - I'm his "trusty old pal" and he is my "wu di dear friend" as well. How time has gone by, with only our gradual aging to betray these twelve years.

See you in December with the rest, Yusheng! =)

Time ended: 6.48pm