some day in Sec 2, 1994,
dunno morning or noon (now assume morning bah)
Another boring day. The last lesson of the day was going to start and i was chatting merrily with Cheng Kiat and Weizhang, my sec sch classmates and buddies, and looking forward to playing soccer after lessons. We were totally bochup that we haven't done/brought our maths homework. Miss Tan, our really young and pretty maths teacher, whom we called Hu Li Jing cos she sometimes accidentally revealed a bit, or a whole, of the black lacy straps of her bra, was going to come in for our lesson anytime soon now. We weren't the least afraid or worried about it - from wat we'd gathered, about half the class hadn't done their homework. As for us, serial criminals in this sense, it was just another routine. As we chatted, Miss Tan walked into the class, "Good Morning Miss Tan" the class stood up and chorused. "Good morning class, sit down. now hand up ur homework". A hand shot up into the air,"Miss Tan, i forgot to bring my homework (the common stupid excuse, wonder y we hadn't found it stupid before? lolzz :p)". Another hand shot up, "Miss Tan, me too". More and more hands shot up... She was really angry. Glaring at us, she asked,"who haven't done or brought their homework? Stand up". One by one we stood up, she looked at us from face to face.. Finally she stopped at Qingjie and said to him,"with ur results, if you're not going to buck up, you're definitely going to fail. Why didn't u do ur homework?". "Cher, i forgot". "Squat under the table, Cheng Kiat"
Fair enough, i thought.
Wonder wat it looks like with close to half the class squatting under the table...? Miss Tan was now asking someone else why they couldn't hand in their homework today. After asking about 3 or 4 more ppl, she stopped asking and gave us a small lecture, after which she said, to my horror,"those of u who feel sorry now, u may sit down".
Wat!? i thought.
Cheng Kiat's still under the table!! ya.. he's marked... she's out to humiliate Cheng Kiat... i was now burning with anger and defiance within myself. Obviously i was not the only one who thought tat way, because at her call, only a few of us sat down instantly. Miss Tan had to speak some more and had the rest of the (sitted) class to coax us into sitting down. One by one, they relented. Finally only Shi Hao and me were standing.
Good Shi Hao, you yi qi! i thought. But after 5mins of "Shi Hao~ Yaoxing~ Shi Hao~" from the class, he also relented. Now i was the only one left standing... and Cheng Kiat squatting.
i will not sit unless Cheng Kiat is allowed to sit too... u will nvr, ever, make me betray my friend... i thought defiantly, as i looked into Miss Tan's eyes. She asked,"Why won't you sit down, Yow Heng?". Burning and trembling with anger and devoid of all calm and cool, i could only mutter angrily,"if we should be punished, then punish lor!!", though wat i really meant was
why should Cheng Kiat be the only one who's punished and
i'm willing to squat under the table with him. Looking abit shocked and angry now that her plan hadn't worked as well as she wanted it, Miss Tan slammed her books on the table and said,"i shall not start class unless everyone has seated". Still, defiantly, i stood, amidst chorused calls of "Yaoxing... Yaoxing..." Even Cheng Kiat was pleading with me to sit down now. I turned and looked at him angrily for a sec.. and turned back to face Miss Tan. Finally, Miss Tan could bear it no longer. The class understood, for obvious reasons, why i wasn't sitting down. Crying (i guess she knew wat went wrong too), she picked up her books and dashed back to the staffroom from the door on our right. "Qingjie, come out", i said to Cheng Kiat, still agitated. At this moment, Shanti went to the front of the class and started lecturing us, "Shut up!!" i interrupted her. i walked to the other door and kicked it hard and went out," Yaoxing! Yaoxing!! one of my class Ah Lians (shit, i forgot her name) called after me, worried i'd do something stupid like maybe, running away from school or abandoning my studies for something liddat. We were nvr friendly with each other but she understood and admired yi qi. "Where're u going? If u quit, then you've lost, u know!" She chased out after me and shouted down the stairs where i was going down in a desperate bid to convince me to stay. I sat down on the steps, crying, at loss of wat to do. Miss Tan was actually one of my favourite teachers, who was good and clear at teaching. She comforted me for a while, saying i wasn't wrong. Well, i knew better... WE were in the wrong in the first place, and i
did feel guilty for dragging the whole class down like that. Finally, she convinced me to go back to class and we all decided that we would draw a "Sorry Miss Tan" card with the signatures of the whole class and it would be given to Miss Tan by Cheng Kiat and me with an apology. "Don't lose ur temper now" someone called out after us. Down we went, to the staff room... feeling slightly embarrassed and uneasy and expecting a scolding... And then we saw our music teacher (err... forgot her name) comforting Miss Tan in it.
Damn... i thought.
why must she see this... My music teacher's my no.1 favourite teacher... she's as pretty as Miss Tan and she's always nice and smiling at us, and anyway music was the only subject i'd ever got an "A" for in sec school, not that it helped. She looked at us encouragingly and smiling as we walked in and handed the card to Miss Tan and said "Sorry Miss Tan...". Our music teacher was beaming and she was looking at Miss Tan as though saying
see? i told u. Nodding slightly with her eyes red from crying, Miss Tan said,"you may go now". Relieved that we weren't embarrassed and getting a scolding (especially in front of our music teacher), Cheng Kiat and me scurried out, amazed and lamenting to each other "wah, tis Hu Li Jing so nice now" in an embarrassed tone.
Phew, i sighed with relieve as we went back to class and the bell indicating the end off our lessons went off.
Fast forward to now... Wrote this cos a dream i had last night reminded me of this when i woke up today morning. Really feel sorry for Miss Tan leh~ Lolzz :p Think she had our best interests at heart when she did that, as Qingjie's marks
were really horrible. (Mine was good, mind u... lolzz) But then she really underestimated our friendship and my value of virtue and loyalty at that time. Yes.. i really value loyalty above all else. Doubt she'll ever see this, but anyway still wanna say tis --> Sorry Miss Tan... for all tat. Actually, i really liked u alot although we were always at loggerheads, it was fun, u see <-- Hai~ Tough job being a teacher, with brats like us :p Well, Tat's all folks ^___^
