因为有你，川渝更美好 | Because of you, Sichuan & Chongqing will be better… :]

Simon treated me at New York New York Ang Mo Kio Hub on Tuesday and gave me box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates and a card of encouragement. I appreciated these very much! Thanks, Simon! See the photo below. When I am eating, is it very similiar to the real Kung Fu Panda, Po? Haha…

I finally received my high school testimonial yesterday, after the Higher Chinese O Level paper ended. Yay! The following is a a brief but quite accurate account of my 4 years in high school:

HIGH SCHOOL TESTIMONIAL FOR MA HUAQING

Huaqing joined Hwa Chong Institution in January 2005 and was among the pioneer batch students in the Integrated Programme.

Huaqing demonstrates his flair in the languages and he writes well in both English and Chinese. He has keen interest in social studies and the humanities subjects. In April 2008, Huaqing became China’s national hero of a sort, by successfully making the BBC apologize to China for its fabricated news report about the Olympic Torch Relay in London. In recognition of his efforts, he was widely praised by Chinese netizens and even the Chinese media such as Chengdu TV Station, People’s Daily and China Central Television. 

Huaqing’s interest in the languages is also evident from being one of the minorities to take up Malay as a third language in MOE Language Centre. Huaqing cherished the opportunity to learn a third language and had achieved an A grade for the subject. He was interviewed by Berita Harian in March 2006 and an article entitled, ‘Pelajar China kuasai Bahasa Melayu’ was published on 14 March 2006. Huaqing was also one of the Young Diplomat Gold Award recipients of the United Nations Association.

Huaqing is very passionate about his hometown, Chengdu. He started an English website to promote various aspects of Chengdu to the world on 6 December 2006.

However, Huaqing lacks the perseverance to strive for certain subject disciplines. He is, nevertheless, a talented student! 

Last night, Kia Wee, Edward, Ivan, Sai Meng, Hong Nan and I met up at Ngee Ann City. Our original plan was to eat buffet at Seoul Garden, since we thought the price of S$18.99 per person is quite affordable. But we were wrong. We were shocked at the various “hidden charges”: GST, service charge, etc., which totalled up to more than S$30 per person. WTF?! Even for air tickets, the new regulation says that the price displayed in advertisements must reflect all the hidden charges you know! I am glad that Kia Wee made a good suggestion: go to the Breeks Cafe just opposite Seoul Garden instead. And it turned out to be a right choice: each one of us spent about S$20 and were full. Here are some of the food we ordered:

 

During the meal, we talked about a wide range of things: from a certain teacher’s appearance on ChannelNewsAsia today expressing her emotions towards Barack Omaba’s landslide win of the US Presidential elections, to funny jokes happened in school…and many more. I even shared some differences between Putonghua, Sichuan dialect and Chongqing dialect, such as:

When referring to a person boasting about himself, in Putonghua we say 吹牛皮, while in Sichuan dialect we say 冲壳子, and in Chongqing dialect we say 冒皮皮.

When referring to a person talking nonsense, in Putonghua we say 瞎说, while in Sichuan dialect we say 打胡乱说, and in Chongqing dialect we say 丰都城拉二胡（鬼扯）. 

It was a very fun discussion. After the meal, a young lady passing by was kind enough to help us take this photo for future remembrance. I will definitely treasure my friendship with Kia Wee, Edward, Ivan, Sai Meng and Hong Nan, even as we proceed on to JC next year.

 

The following photos were taken by ourselves: 

Me and Kia Wee

Sai Meng and Me 

 
Me and Edward

 
Me and Hong Nan

 
Me and Ivan: Ivan’s face looks so cute! Haha…

Time flies. I am amused that with the end of yesterday’s Singapore-Cambridge Higher Chinese O Level Paper (the only O Level paper we need to take), 4 years of high school has come to an end. I am also very glad that we have been through many struggles and overcome them together.

I would also like to acknowledge the following people who have brightened up my life throughout the 4 years in High School:

Kia Wee and Edward – for being so encouraging, supportive and caring towards me in difficult times…a friend in need is a friend indeed;

Jing Yi - for being so encouraging and caring and standing so firm together with me in the battle against You-Know-Who;

Zheng Lin - a generous friend so helpful and willing to let me borrow his DVD burner a few times this year; 

Gideon – a humble and interesting soul in 4P; 

Abner and Earnest – for helping me with Maths;

Yin Jiunn and Jiashen – mugging together with me in preparation for tests;

Joel, Bin Hao, Li Wen, Kok Seng, Guo Fei, Ren Xiang, Zhen Yao and Zhe Ren and all other classmates in 4P except You-Know-Who - for making my stay in 4P this year the most enjoyable class experience throughout the 4 years in high school;

Bing Kun - a humble, hardworking and approachable soul and Chemistry PRO;

Xueyan – the very rare but also very kind and understanding person from a class of evil, cold-blooded creatures; 

Larry, Glen, Jordan, Jun De, An Rui, Qiu Lei, Willie, Wilfred, Chin Kiat, Hong De and Zhi Yi – my easy-to-get-along and caring ex-classmates in 2K(2006);

Jie Qi - a helpful, humorous and easygoing Aphelion consortium mate who is obsessed in buses; 

Glendon, Hubert, Bryan Hee, Mark Hee, Aaron Koh, Yi Cheng, Chai Bin and Cai Yong - good friends in Humanities Programme 2007;

Edmund, Tze Liang, Jun Yi and Heng Yang – friendly Ortus consortium mates;

Zhao Xing – for mugging Maths and Physics with me on MSN in the wee hours;

Andre and Sai Meng – who were my first two friends made in Hwa Chong during the Secondary 1 Orientation;

Hong Nan, Ivan, Benjamin, Cavin and Wei Rong - easygoing and very talented souls (in sciences, music and humanities) in iSpark;

Benny and Wilson – very easy-to-get-along Aphelion consortium mates; 

Kwang Chian and Xiao Heng - for being so helpful and easy to work with in Lit class;

Justin – for taking the same bus 74 every morning with me to school;  

Swee Kiat and Dah Wei – who were my Malay classmates in Sec 2;

Jerrold – who has the same opinion about NCC as me and quitted;

Dominic – well-built waterpolo athlete and ex-classmate in 2K(2006) who never fails to poke me for fun;

Kevin Koh, Kevin Ishak and Wei Ern - for having gone through a period of suffering together with me in NCC a few years back; 

Shi Shuang – for generously helping me with Maths, Chemistry and Physics by letting me borrow her 10 Year Series in Sec 3;

Hewlett, Shi Wei, Lian Joo, Marvin and Rui Yi – for being so understanding and patient with me in those NCC days;

Che Jian – for your invaluable advice and encouragements as a senior; 

Mr Chua Chee Siang – the powerful One/master/guru/coach in tuition;

Mr Yeo Kee Sheng and Mr Eugene Chan - for being very helpful, approachable and responsible TAs to aid us in our learning; 

Mr Hon, Dr Hon, Mrs Ke, Mr Bala, Ms Boey, Mrs Chua, Ms Ang, Mr Samuel Lim, Ms Sunita, Mr Gilbert, Ms Huang Si Jian, Ms Hannah Yeo, Mrs Ann, Ms Te Yoke Ching, Mr Chia, Ms Bian Jiang, Ms Adeline Tan, Mr Nan Zhiguo and many other teachers – for teaching me well and rendering valuable assistance and guidance to me in times of need.

I am staying up very late to write this very memorable post. It is already 4 am now. Looking outside my window, the bird’s eye view of Bishan at night is rather enjoyable, and I felt a little nostalgic. Many lights remain lit, and this scene is quite similiar to what I saw every time on the airplane back to Singapore, as the aircraft prepares to land in Changi Airport.

Yes. I will be flying off to Chengdu on 7 November in the morning, which is going to come to pass about one day later. I have worked hard for one year with the initial intention of enjoying the End-of-Year Holidays to the fullest extent in Chengdu, Chongqing and maybe in Shanghai and Shanxi as well. Now that I am leaving Singapore soon and will only come back in January next year, I somehow miss a lot of people and events.

Indeed, even though the year 2008 had many unfortunate events, I have escaped from many misfortunes. While I will be enjoying my long-awaited holidays in China, I definitely will cherish the fond memories with my friends in this school year.

So, goodbye to all my friends! See you next year! 

Yesterday, Kia Wee and I went to visit the Singapore Army Museum. The decision to visit the museum was not only because we are interested in military stuffs, but I am really bored in the September holidays.

It is very near the exams now. Yes we know. But since the free admission deadline is also just around the corner – 30 September, we decided to visit the museum now before it’s too late. We had a fantastic and memorable experience there. Not only did we see many mighty weapons used by the Singapore Armed Forces, but also appreciated the history of the Singapore Army very much. We even had the chance to try shooting (Individual Marksmanship Trainer) quite a few times. Yay!

The 360 degrees show complemented by special effects, titled From 1st to 2nd Generation, was most intriguing. Throughout the show, there was ‘live firing’ shown on the screen and the tank also ‘fired’, so we actually felt as if we were on the battlefield. There are two segments in the show: Our Army Now and A Day in the Life.

The sound effect was perfect but maybe the idea of the “360 degrees show” could be enhanced. Last year, when I went to the Three Gorges Musuem in Chongqing, China, I watched a show which brought close the enjoyable scenery of the Three Gorges to my eyes. The theatre hall was a circular one and the movie was showing in every direction, as they actually used multiple cameras, installed at different angles, on boats and helicopters.

So for example, when you are looking in front, you are looking at the scenery as if you are on the boat and when you turn around, you can even see the boat. However, the Army Muesum theatre only has four screens, which is not so “360 degrees” in a sense.

Enjoy the photos! =)

Click here to view the photos.

As the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games’ opening ceremony will be held tonight, I am more excited than ever. After hearing opinions from various people such as my seniors Hewlett and Simon and some of my peers such as Kia Wee, I decided to wear the Chinese flag T-shirt to school today. They could understand that as a Chinese, I am proud of my country for hosting the Beijing Olympic Games.

Some may feel unhappy about it, but since both the Singaporean and Chinese flags have red colour, so I have actually “killed two birds with one stone”: celebrated both the Olympic Games and Singapore’s National Day (9 August). Therefore, my choice of T-shirt should not be deemed as an act of “disrespect towards Singapore”. Some students in the College Section even wore the Vitenamese flag and Che Guevara T-shirts.

Kia Wee had earlier asked me to help him take photos of the parade in which he is the commander for Scouts. He has worked hard to attain this position and today’s parade is his last parade before passing out. I understand that he hopes to retain his fond memories in Scouts. From my observation today, the Scout band has high standards under the leadership of Kia Wee.

After the parade at the terraces, everyone went to Kah Kee Hall and Lecture Theatre 4 to attend the National Day concert. Some of my classmates were astonished by the T-shirt I wore, and commented that it was cool. Then I requested Ivan to take a photo of me. Both Kia Wee and I felt that this is the best shot ever.

No one was sensitive towards my choice of T-shirt worn today except those NCC people, who not only jeered at me but also made xenophobic remarks such as “Hey! It’s Singapore’s national day not China’s!” at the bus stop and on bus 74 on my way home. Such an outcome from those NCC people is, I’d say, expected. They are merely being too “loyal” to Singapore.

After boarding the bus, Elffred Toh, one of those NCC people, talked to me in a sarcastic manner and took a photo of us using his handphone. After taking the photo, other NCC people laughed. Due to their xenophobic mindset, by doing so, they somehow felt good.

I don’t know what’s driving them, but no matter how xenophobic they are and what they do to humiliate China, it’s simply pointless. Will China’s dignity be tarnished just because a few jokers did such acts? They are not very important people after all. They are merely a few naive individuals who think too highly of themselves.

Tonight, I shall watch the Beijing Olympic Games’ opening ceremony on MediaCorp’s Channel 5. A few hours to go. =)