Fizzle In The Drizzle Series (Part 3) - The Classmate With The Mop

The thing about Singapore school culture is very much dependent on that invisible cookie cutter where conformity is the key to climbing the school's social ladder. Everybody has got a certain profile bestowed onto him/her by the school's social community. You don't get to choose to be a jock or a nerd or a freak. It is given to you by the invisible sorting hat like in Harry Potter.

The year was 1993 and I was in NTU. Here's my profile or so I was told by a friend:

1) Repeat Student.
I flunked my first year and had to repeat it again. So by default, I am classified as a paikai. While I am aware of the effect of the paikia thing has on the ladies, what I will never figure out is why?

2) Car.
Ok, so I've got one of the 5Cs covered.

3) Tennis Player.
The defacto attire for male students in NTU is bland at best. Polo-Tee, jeans and deck shoes. Not me. I am always in my tennis garb. Even the class photo in my yearbook showed me in it as I was due to play shortly after the photoshoot. I played a lot of tennis then and so what you would see is a sloppy-joe that waltzed in and out of class every Monday to Wednesday with tan lines on the ankles and left wrist (my watch) like a human zebra.

4) Three-Day Week.
Speaking of Mondays to Wednesdays, my lecture and tutorial schedules, as a result of intricate planning, were squeezed into Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Thereafter, you will find me at Mambo on Wednesday nights, Chaplins on Thursday nights, Zanzibar/Chinoiserie on Friday nights and Hard Rock Cafe on Saturday nights.

Like I said, party animal.

5) I Sit Front and Center.
I think the fatal stab into a lady's heart would be a paikia trying to turn over a new leaf. I was not without regrets when I flunked my freshmen year. I was determined to make good my mistake and chose to sit front and center during lectures and give my fullest concentration. Don't let all the partying fooled you. I partied hard and I worked hard too.

So to sum up in one sentence. I was a sporty-party.animal-paikai-sloppy.joe with a nice set of wheels who studied just as hard in his determination to turn over a new leaf and be a better man.

In one word (and Pam can attest to that), I was "dangerous".

Anyway, Kheng (Pam: Not your "HKheng".), was my classmate in my repeat year and I was grouped with her, together with a couple other classmates, as the tutorial class split further into smaller discussion groups. Tutorial discussions were often held in my hostel block as the rest of the group didn't have campus accommodations. She was a nice girl and I enjoyed her company. Before you know it, she became a frequent visitor to my room even when there was no tutorial meetings. She just liked to hang around and chill, which to me was a welcoming break from the monotony of all the studying in the room. While I was constantly telling myself never to eat and shit in the same place. The caution was thrown to the wind. If the episode with Fern was a sprint, then this certainly was a leisurely stroll. Nothing happened between us or rather, we didn't make it as far.

We were just starting off (we hadn't even held hands yet) and you wouldn't believed what happened shortly after. Then came one morning where I was awakened by sounds of shuffling. It took a while to get out of my sleepiness and...

WHOA!!!! WHAT DA HEOW!??!!

There she was mopping the floor of my hostel room and cleaning the desk. Man, she was even going to do my laundry! Words couldn't begin to describe how freaked out I was. Granted that she was just being sweet but WHOA! DIABETIC ALERT!!! It was too much for me to take in one single bite and our relationship (if you could even call it one) grounded to an instant halt.

She was naturally upset when I said I didn't want to take this further. Can't blame her for hating me with all the scorns of hell's fury but do I really want a classmate classmaid?

- Voxeros

1. Pam left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 12:14 am

eh, I can't attest to you being 'dangerous' lah... I can only attest to the fact that other people 'warn' me that you are 'dangerous'! :) different ok?! :)

2. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 9:05 am :: 

Pam: Ah... thank you for the vote of confidence.
Damn you Kelly!!! Damn you!! May a thousand leeches latched on to thy serpent tongue and forever never to falsely speak ill of anyone again!!
Ahh... I feel so much better now. :P

3. kIm left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 11:41 am :: http://wispsofstars.blogspot.com

WAH!
Ok, I now know what to do: Never appear too erm, motherly or sweet, or guys will run from me like they are escaping from wasps.

4. vanna left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 1:02 pm

this series will teach me not to be nice to guys
hahaha
so i will attract them instead by being EVURL
LOL

5. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 1:11 pm :: 

kIm: Think about it look. Would you feel good if your guy love you like you are his mother?
'Nuff said.

Vanna: Er... aren't you already EVURL to begin with? *run for the hills* :P

6. Zhe Bin left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 3:38 pm

You must be a looker.

7. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 4:04 pm :: 

Zhe Bin: Yah.. how you know har? I always look here look there one. kekekekek....

8. Pam left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 5:43 pm

good to get it out of your system m'dear... afterall, it will all 'come back' to you in oh... 2 weeks? :)

9. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 6:26 pm ::

Pam: Yah man.... I can't wait to see her again. Hur hur hur.....

MeePok: You will finally get to meet Kelly Wannabe too!

10. ahdokboy left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 8:40 pm

i've said it before and i'll say it again - you and I are opposites...

11. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 9:36 pm ::

ahdokboy: You speak too soon my friend, for you are merely still walking on the path that I have trodden.
Mark my words... *evil laughter*

12. Lynne left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 9:41 pm

Wah, what you feed her to make her mop your floor ah? Can I have some of that magic potion?

13. jaschocolate left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 9:46 pm

Ppl is hinting to u that she want to be your "jia ding zhu fu" loh and u break her heart.. Big boy..

14. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 9:55 pm :: 

Lynne: Don't have lah! Don't anyhow say me leh. I didn't do anything. Honest!
She just showed up one morning and back in the hostel days, we don't lock our doors one....

I wake up already blur blur, I saw her already, I lagi blur.

Jaschocolate: But I don't want a "jia ting zhu fu" leh. So how?
p.s. Big Boy??

15. vanna left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 10:17 pm

since when i evurl???
hurhurhur
i always too sweet that's y guys will run away.. LOL

16. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 10:19 pm :: 

Vanna: You too sweet? Sure or not? Want to come mop my floor to prove it? :P

17. vanna left...

Thursday, 1 December 2005 10:32 am

sweet doesn't equals to mopping the floor
:P

18. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 1 December 2005 10:35 am :

Vanna: Er.... not mopping floor har? Wash my car? Oh wait... I don't have a car... dang!

19. akk left...

Thursday, 1 December 2005 2:47 pm

how come no one said anything against the girl ah? I read the entry and it's very clear to me that somebody is acting damn scary leh....as for jay, I salute ur decision to take no prisoners...

say no immediately and everyone happy... even if that girl cant see it at that point.
It's guys who think twice and cant decide that truly makes the girls suffer. Give me someone who knows what he wants (and doesn't) anytime.

20. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 1 December 2005 6:04 pm ::

Akk: Take no prisoners means "宁可杀错， 不可放过" leh....
But I know what you mean lah...
I just needed to clarify it here, lest people start misunderstanding then I jialat liao.

21. akk left...

Friday, 2 December 2005 9:28 am

wah lau...i knew you were going to comment on that phrase one...I couldn't find a better one actually...but i admit it's misleading, heeheheh...

22. JayWalk left...

Friday, 2 December 2005 9:38 am :: 

Akk: I think it is merely a play of words here.

Probably a case of "Take No Prisoners" vs "No Prisoners".

Fizzle In The Drizzle Series (Part 2) - The Teacher With The Halo

I was the Vice-Chair for the Students' Union Orientation Camp that year when I met Carmen. She was from NIE, which technically was part of NTU, despite their campus all the way away in Bukit Timah. So when it comes to activities on a University-wide scale, we would invite them to come join us as counselors. Carmen was one of the 6 counselors that signed up and it was hard for them to fit in initially since they hardly know anyone in the Jalan Bahar campus.

I guessed, as host, I had to make sure everybody feels welcomed and comfortable and so I took it upon myself to . The camp is further split into 6 main groups which means 1 NIE counselor per group. As luck of the draw would have it, she was assigned to Jill's group. I, being in the main committee, was not affiliated to any group initially until Jill had a minor "breakdown", just days before the camp started, resulting in me having to take over her group.

Carmen was certainly glad to see another familiar face in the group as the NTU-side counselors were already a clique to begin with. She stayed close to me throughout the camp as she was a tad on the shy side when it comes to making new friends. She was within sight whenever my main committee obligations did not take me away from the group. That translated into lot of time hanging out and chit chatting. She may be quite shy but once she gets to know you better, she can be very chatty.

The more we talked, the more I got to knew and it was quite shocking for me to learn of such a girl, at the age of 20, to be so innocent. Words cannot describe to you how innocent she was but the camp being her first ever extended stay away from home can give you a pretty good picture there. No prizes for guessing that she never had a boyfriend before and I would be an idiot not to spot that she was looking for one from a mile away.

For those who knew me, I shun fresh recruits in the battlefield of dating/relationships. She was quite the chiobu but something about newbies, just turned me off my radar. Either that or being the first ever bloke to be her first ever boyfriend was too much pressure to bear. I am no Neil Armstrong nor do I have the makings of one. Besides, I had a girlfriend then and she too was in that very same group. I could hear the cat hissing behind my ears. *shudder*

Problem is that the situation from her angle looked totally different. I was getting more and more appealing to her by the day. Like the stock prices in the early 1990s hey-day, my "market value" was riding the bull-run.

Nothing happened between us as I chose to act blur on all the hints and signals that she dropped. However, in a warped sense, my "steadfast faithfulness" to my then girlfriend, drove her lagi nuts over me. If my "market value" was real money, I could have started my retirement even before graduation. Oh well....

So the camp was over and we kept in touch over the phone and emails but had to say no whenever she asked me out. Eventually, the frequency dwindled as time dragged on and we soon lost touch with each other, which I think was for the better for both parties.

Even if I was single and available then, still nothing would have happened for she was just way too innocent for me to tahan.

- Voxeros

1. Pam left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 1:14 am

jay jay jay... never did i think that 'innocence' could ever be a 'negative'!! :) *shake head in despair-cum-wonder*

2. vanna left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 10:14 am

erm..
i hope my innocence doesn't turn guys away.. muahahaha
weird sense of logic leh.. hahahaha.. i tot guys love gals being innocent
:P

3. kIm left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 11:14 am :: http://wispsofstars.blogspot.com

huh? That's that first time I ever heard that guys don't like innocent girls. I thought they always like innocent shu nu type? Haha..

4. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 12:34 pm ::

Pam, Vanna & kIm: All of you are guilty of stereotyping guys. Sigh....
Then again, could I be the one who is actually wrong given that it is 3 against 1?

Actually, the logic is simple. Innocent girls means the guy have to teach everything from scratch. Very tiring one. Seriously, where got time? By the time she "gets it", the mood is gone and you sian half already.

Besides, isn't the "non-innocent" pool a bigger ocean to fish?

Let's do a count. Hands up to those who think they are innocent.

But remember: Liar, liar, pants on fire.

5. Sheena left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 2:44 pm

Hey, I feel that if she can try to hook you when she knew you had a girlfriend, she wasn't that innocent after all!

6. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 3:58 pm ::

Pam: So now you know why I regard you positively?

Vanna: Well, I doubt if you are scaring any of the guys away. From what I heard you have been trying frantically to shoo quite a number of potential suitors away of late.
Based solely, on that, I think you are failing miserable in the innocence department also. :P

7. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 4:00 pm :

Sheena: She was sooo innocent that she wasn't familiar with the "Rules of The Game" under the sub-section of "Offenses - Potong Jalan".

8. Pam left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 5:34 pm

Jay... it's too early in the morning... so, was that a 'compliment'??! :) hmph..

9. Pam left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 6:02 pm

jay - you are so in trouble dude...:)

10. Jaschocolate left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 7:21 pm

Jay Daddy, you can wait till the apple is ripe for picking mah.. :p

11. JayWalk left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 9:07 pm :: 

Pam: What? What?!

Jaschocolate: Don't you mean till the *cough* cherry *cough* is ripe for picking? *cough cough*

12. jaschocolate left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 9:28 pm

u can say that also.. *bish*

13. vanna left...

Tuesday, 29 November 2005 11:32 pm

*coughs coughs*
since when i have been chasing my suitors away?? how come i didn't even know tat?
hurhurhur
:P

14. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 9:09 am :: 

Jaschocolate: Hmm... the person who cracked the joke about a certain cherry picker in NUS hasn't showed up her yet with a comment...

Where art thou? Show thyself!! Out!

Vanna: Don't have meh? Hmm... let me go check my "source" again....

15. vanna left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 1:01 pm

who is ur "source"
give u wrong info
hurhurhur
:P

16. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 1:08 pm :: 

Vanna: Cannot reveal lah.. or else my agents will be compromised.
Secret secret. Shh.....

17. Zhe Bin left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 3:23 pm

I kinda know how you felt. And may I say being the only other guy than you to leave a comment I am v.stressed! Haha.

But for me, innocent girls are far too fragile. And by fragile I mean 'can be broken easily'. It's like, they tend to belong to the extremes - a lot of attention and pacifying vs totally unresponsive. More often than not, some of these friends I have have fairytale-like expectations from a relationship. Just not practical at all.

I'd have chosen a more independent and realistically practical lady. At least she's clear what she wants. = )

18. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 3:31 pm :: 

Zhe Bin: YES! A guy to speak up finally!!
I TOTALLY understand what you are saying. Truth of the matter is that in order for a lady to be more independent and realistically practical, she would have gone through a few frogs before finding the prince in you.

And so, innocent girls do not fall into this category.

p.s. Bladdy mihuatang chicken out on me here. Normally a lot of comments one.... NB.... :P

19. Zhe Bin left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 9:36 pm

Hahaha. I think he missed this one lah. And ya lor, every girls have been at least once an innocent thing.. Maybe until we came along ba. Muahaha. But of cos like I said, I'd rather not be the one. Hee.
Anyway what is mht's brog ah?

20. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 9:50 pm :: 

Zhe Bin: You are absolutely right in the sense that all girls were innocent once.
The fact that we leave these angels alone proves that we are indeed GOOD GUYS.
Tio bor?

On another note, MHT don't have a blog. Or at least I am not aware of one.

21. vanna left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 10:15 pm

but being innocent doesn't not mean that the gal will not have realistic expectations.
every gal would want attention & care from their guys. who doesn't wants it?
but on another note, r u guys meeting the wrong type of gals who r the needy & also innocent types? muahahahahaha
there are many types of innocence leh :P

22. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 1 December 2005 12:30 am ::

Vanna: Let's not mix innocence up with needy.
This blog entry here centers around being overly innocent while the earlier one with Fern is about being overly needy.

I think we need to discuss each separately.

Can you further elaborate on "realistic expectations"?

What are the difference types of innocence, pray tell?

23. vanna left...

Thursday, 1 December 2005 10:33 am

we discuss this on msn
muahahaha
now brain dead.. can't think well
:P

24. akk left...

Thursday, 1 December 2005 2:39 pm

a very good debate going on here. Let me just add that a cherry-picker is a bloody machine, not a person, however much some women may like to meet such men and some men may like (or not) to be labeled as such. 'Bloody'...hur hur....

OTOH, you don't need the cherry to be picked in order to be less innocent and to pick the cherry and eat it in order to be bad.

Everything is relative. Fairy-tale expectations isn't really a measure of innocence, more like naivete. And being fragile isn't innocence either, more like character and personality and watching too many 'qiong yao' shows= naivete again.

Innocence, I think, is actually being unable to even see and tell the difference in gender....like close guy/gal frens when we're little kids.

the OUT! person has spoken...my 2 cents worth lah....don't comprain..... heheheh..:)

25. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 1 December 2005 5:48 pm :: 

Vanna: Either that or we can take this discussion over to the next Secret Agent Meeting (SAM). ;)

26. Pam left...

Thursday, 1 December 2005 5:55 pm

i think you need to explain what you mean by 'realistic expectations'. what is realistic may be unrealistic to the other party - and that's what most friends/couples find out eventually, regardless of how well they get on. one might think '1x call a day' is realistic. others may think speaking a few times a day is realistic. etcetc.

i agree with the person who said that fairy-tale expectations = naivete. hence the reason why jay steered clear of these people he's blogging about! :) he can be quite clever sometimes. haha.

27. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 1 December 2005 5:57 pm :: 

Akk: Well said there but I have to make a minor tweak there.


Granted that you don't need to have your cherry picked in order to be innocent, there is however, no such thing as being innocent if your cherry has already been picked. Nobody said anything about being bad. That's judging other people already which I think we should steer clear of that.

In all, I think you've made an excellent point on the difference of being innocent and being naive.

*thumbs up*

28. JayWalk left...

Thursday, 1 December 2005 6:16 pm :: 

Pam: So many chiobus, so little time!!! which is why I steer clear of "these people", they take up too much time!! :P
So now you know. :P

29. akk left...

Friday, 2 December 2005 9:37 am

Jay, 'Bad' meaning the multitude of naive gals who think that the guy who picks the cherry but leaves in the end is the 'Paikia' who deserves the label. And also to your own labeling of 'pai-kia' in your prelude.

Meaning that 'bad', like 'dangerous' is also relative and mostly a term that naive/unknowing ppl tend to use. Again meaning that ur 'pai-kia' label is actually superlative also lah.

30. JayWalk left...

Friday, 2 December 2005 10:09 am :

Akk: Err... so "Bad" is actually not that bad?

Pam: Eh Pam, in accordance to Akk's definition, Kelly is considered naive/ignorant leh.
What do you have to say about that?

31. Pam left...

Friday, 2 December 2005 4:27 pm

i think you have to realise that naivete at say early 20s is quite clearly different from naivete at say, OUR AGE! at our age, naivete is probably quite non-existent, unless said-person's not had a relationship before, which in this particular situation, is not true. so i would revise that and say that said-person isn't naive/innocent, more like having ridiculous expectations. it's too early in the morning to make sense - hope that made some! :)

32. JayWalk left...

Friday, 2 December 2005 4:45 pm ::

Pam: I doubt if there is the so-called "naive person" at YOUR AGE*.

If really zhun zhun got such a person, I really wondered how sheltered her life must have been growing up.

Anyway, I don't think you need to revise anything you said earlier. Anyone who has "ridiculous expectation" would have been naive to begin with. No?

* What OUR AGE?? I still young ok?!! :P

33. Pam left...

Friday, 2 December 2005 6:36 pm

biological age dude, biological. :)

actually there are such people about - well, not necc at this age but say late 20s, who for whatever reason never had a relationship. hence can be quite innocent/naive.

i think the ridiculous expectations can come about as a result of bad tv dramas, media exposure (cosmopolitan mags etc), and what they perceive as their 'rights'. e.g. i am such and such, therefore i have the right to expect this and that. certain careers also seem to impose certain expectations, don't you think?

34. JayWalk left...

Friday, 2 December 2005 9:33 pm ::

Pam: Er... reading between the lines, are you talking about a certain person whom I also happen to know?

35. Pam left...

Friday, 2 December 2005 9:53 pm

dude - i think we've always been talking about a certain person. if it's not that certain person, then i don't think i know who you talking about - unless you want to enlighten me! :)

36. JayWalk left...

Friday, 2 December 2005 10:45 pm :: 

Pam: Ok lah... it's that Kelly lah... but I just thought maybe, just maybe, there could be somebody else?

Fizzle In The Drizzle Series (Part 1) - The Nurse With The Wardrobe

Fern was a nurse in a local gahmen hospital when I was in the NS. We met on a group date at Singapore Indoor Stadium where there was this International Ballroom Dancing competition going on. If you had followed the story in my School Boy series, you would have realised that the meeting was purely by chance. It was a case of she was there and I was there. I liked what I saw, I asked for her number and we went out on a date again.

While relationships may take some time to come to fruition, we were there in one single leap. We were together even before the first official date was over. I guessed that's the thing about being young and hot-blooded as we took the world by storm.

She came from a very conservative family where at the age of 18, she still had a curfew imposed upon her. The father was a strict man who still think her little girl was too young to start dating. This made everything lagi exciting as we had to keep everything hush hush.

It was an adventurous period for me as we were playing cat-and-mouse, cloak-and-dagger. There was even this one time I have to resort to hiding in her wardrobe when the folks came home unexpectedly. Friends in my inner circle would also know the "other" story with her braces. For those who wants to know hear about it, two conditions must be met. 1) I will need to tell you in person and 2) I will need to be pretty buzzed when I tell you the story.

Coming back, it was a time before mobile phones and the numeric pager was as advanced as a guy can get as far as staying contactable is concerned. The best part of a relationship is always the honeymoon period but it's all downhill from there. The honeymoon period is akin to the proverbial "beer googles" where everything and anything is all sweet and dandy at that time. When the dust settled and the euphoria dissipated, the ugly monster in her started to rear its ugly head.

The thing about being in NS is that you do not have free access to the telephone as and when you please, which means that it may be sometime before a bloke is able to return a page. A concept that was sadly lost on her.

Man, was she persistent in the paging department as my pager beeped and beeped and beeped non-stop. I even had to cook up some stupid excuse in order to sneak to the public pay-phone to return her page. Just when you though the furious paging was for something urgent, she "just wanted to hear my voice". *facepalm*

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

After a few subsequent cry-wolf occurrences, I turned to taking my time to answer her page and boy did it really upset her. Every page that I returned thereafter ended up in a shouting match which left both parties upset. And no, there was no make-up sex. It would have been fantastic though, but no.

Anyway, this went on for a few more weeks until I reached breaking point and I dumped her.

I bought the Motorola Bravo Plus pager shortly after. It had a silent vibrating mode. The earlier NEC model only has loud and fire alarm mode.

- Voxeros

1. akk left...

Monday, 21 November 2005 10:49 am

haiz...youngsters...
Did the episode leave a bitter taste in ur mouth after that?

2. JayWalk left...

Monday, 21 November 2005 10:56 am :: 

Akk: Whose mouth? Er.... don't answer that!
No lah, no bitter taste for after all, we all have our own quirks here and there. That's just her I supposed.
Just not my type lor. Too clingy.

3. milktea left...

Monday, 21 November 2005 2:04 pm :: http://headscratch.motime.com

i like your analogy between honeymoon period and beer goggles. very true.

4. nadnut left...

Monday, 21 November 2005 2:13 pm :: http://nadnut.liquidblade.com

hmmm. we all have to meet a few wrong ones before meeting the right one. =)
wassup with the braces man? lol

5. vanna left...

Monday, 28 November 2005 1:08 pm

abit scary leh
maybe she loves u tooooo much
:p

6. JayWalk left...

Monday, 28 November 2005 1:23 pm

milktea: Heh heh... you also speaking from experience har?

Nadnut: You will need to get me drunk then I will tell you the story. R(A) rated. You old enough to handle it or not?

7. JayWalk left...

Monday, 28 November 2005 1:25 pm ::

Vanna: Not scary lah... just damn " 烦 " lor.

8. Sheena left...

Monday, 28 November 2005 1:37 pm

Hahahahaha... I think all girls of 18 are like that lah. I was like that too with my bf before Andy. Luckily the guy was a clerk in NS and could call me often. And same thing - if he didn't call me, I blew up!

Anyway you only hid in a cupboard once? There was a period of time when the cupboard was Andy's second home. He was in it everyday. His personal record is being in there for 4 hours. He's done everything man: hiding under my bed, behind my door, climbing in and out through my study room window...

9. JayWalk left...

Monday, 28 November 2005 1:43 pm ::

Sheena: Wah.. this Andy lagi champion siah... you MUST blog about this!!!

10. Sheena left...

Monday, 28 November 2005 3:03 pm

Haha... Oh yeah, and my mum caught him nude in my room before. Twice, too. Dunno if she saw anything though. A few times she did catch him in my cupboard. Ahhhhh... those were the days.

I can't blog about it lah, Andy would flip. Then he'd say I'm making him lose face on my blog. He's got a huge ego you know!

11. JayWalk left...

Monday, 28 November 2005 4:00 pm ::

Sheena: Hmm... reminded me of a friend who caught her mom's bf in the cupboard.
I think that would be lagi traumatic for her man.... at least your Andy is not wrinkled and pruned in the cupboard!

12. Zhe Bin left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 2:58 pm

Haha in my warped mind hor, only 2 things can happen with her braces lah. I think I keep to myself = X
Were you her first bf? That's why she's more 'niam'.

13. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 3:28 pm ::

Zhe Bin: I got a strange feeling that you would probably get it right on the first guess. But don't try!!!!!

~LOL

As for the question if I was her first BF? I have no bladdy idea. Didn't ask.

Fizzle In The Drizzle Series - A Prelude

For those who have been following my series, Good News. I shall be back with a new one this week. As you know, I wrote about my crash-and-burns in my Lorbert Series and obviously the idea of writing about the crash-and-burns at the other end came up naturally. I have had this idea for the longest time already but hesitated as it would mean painting a less-than-flattering picture of the other party. Something that I am not used to but still I believe an even-up of the score is in order, lest people start portraying me as the perpetual victim here.

I can frankly say that I am no Saint and I deserved just as many "f*cking bastard" labels as I have "poor guy" ones.

You know, writing about my tragedies is easy as I have learned to laugh at myself. However, I am not sure if the other party share the same candidness when I write about them.

Problem is, writing about somebody else's tragedy is akin to laughing AT the person which I am a bit uncomfortable.

Should I proceed or should I just scrap this Series entirely? A lot of you (you know who you are!) have been bugging me to do this Series (you all damn kaypoh leh!) and I've decided to go ahead but not without this prelude.

This prelude serves as a "Last Chance" station to stop me. If for any reason (that is valid), I should not go ahead with this Series, speak now before I release my Pilot episode at midnight Monday, 21 November 2005 (GMT +8).

EDIT: The Series was originally slated to run from 20 to 25 Nov 2005 (inclusive of this prelude). However, an email from Adrian Lee, later on the morning of 21 Nov 2005, reminded me of his RunForFunds Day on 04 Dec 2005. I want to help spread the word about this project which I personally felt was a very worthy and meaningful cause. Putting it up after my Series will not do it justice for it would be cutting to close to the Marathon Day.

- Voxeros

1. vanna left...

Sunday, 20 November 2005 12:20 pm

who is bugging you too ??
LOL
it's not laffing at people but just looking to the past & reflecting back on memories
:P

2. Zhe Bin left...

Sunday, 20 November 2005 12:25 pm

Ya lor memories akin to yourself mah, so not exactly laughing (men are v.good at keng-ing). Anyway is your past experience so hard to put a balance between saving some grace for the other party and bringing out the most of of it? But of course a v.v.v.large part of me wants to listen/read stories ah. I like your series muahaha.

3. JayWalk left...

Monday, 21 November 2005 2:40 am ::

Vanna: Who ah? Just need to look around the dinner table can liao.

Zhe Bin: Ok lah... man... I feel like the old bloke sitting under the banyan tree with a fan in his fan telling stories over a pot of tea. sigh....

4. akk left...

Monday, 21 November 2005 10:47 am

Bring it on.....:)

5. JayWalk left...

Monday, 21 November 2005 10:52 am :: 

akk: Today is Monday liao. Enjoy the first installment.

Run For Funds 2005 (Part 4)r

As many would have noticed that quite a few blogs have, over the past few days, plugged the RunForFunds project on their respective blogs.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank all those who have so kindly taken the time to help out and spread the word around.

Sheena - Thank you. It was very well written. I loved it.
Nadnut - Thank you. Cheeky kick in the nuts (no pun intended) with the "Gold Tap" dig.
AngKuKueh - Thank you. Glad to hear that you enjoyed Adrian's humourous "history of RFF".
Jaslyn - You were one of the first to respond. Thank you.
KingMeng - Thank you. Glad to see you chip in after reading about it from Nadnut.
Jaschocolate - Short and sweet and to the point. Thank you.
Vandice - Thank you for the pledge even though I am stuck in Ch1na and won't be running. Transferable?
Lancerlord - Thank you. You are truly a Linkmeister as you've gotten Razlan/Taufik and Sha to join in as well.
Razlan & Taufik - Singapore Idol -Taufik Bastisah. Thank you for the banner ad on your website.
Razlan - Thank you for putting it up on your own blog as well.
Sha - Thank you for the link at the side bar of your website. Appreciate it.
Zeenie & WibbleWamble - Thank you for taking the time to plug it even when you are really busy.
Vanna - Thank you. Just when I thought you were going to do a Dong Dong Chiang video plug for it. Oh well, wishful thinking on my part. :P
Juliana - Even though we don't know each other, you were kind enough to plug it on your own accord. For that, I thank you.
Phil - Thank you for putting up your blog too!
Dicta - Thank you as you have been a long time supporter of RFF with a sidebar link. How about you doing a feature blog as well?

There are a few more blogs pledging to plug it as well but I will update them into the list as soon as it is up on their respective blogs. Hopefully the rest would be up before the Singapore Marathon starts i.e. 4th December 2005.

So, did I miss out anyone? Please let me know hor.

Also, if there is anyone else out there who wish to join in and help spread the awareness on their blogs, please drop me a note too. I would like to thank you too.

- Voxeros

1. Pam left...

Saturday, 26 November 2005 1:05 am

i think for annual drives (e.g. NKF etc), people can and do get 'sick' of donating, especially people who already donate regularly (through GIRO or work). however, for specific tragedies (e.g. Tsunami, earthquake disasters recently), people would or should be more generous. I'm not sure how it works in sg, but over here, people were extremely generous when the appeals went out to help the victims of the tsunami last Christmas and the recent earthquake in Pakistan. There was no drama or performance to raise funds (although individual artistes might have contributed profits from concerts or something).

On TV, they had tv/news presenters talk factually about what was going on, and why they needed money. All the major charities (Oxfam, Unicef etc) clubbed together and there was 1 phone number to call in. All donations were also gift-aid, which means that if you pay tax, the charities can get the tax back from the government. eg. if you give 10 pounds, by gift-aiding it, the charities will get 10 pounds +28% more (that's the basic tax level). i think that's really good.

2. JayWalk left...

Saturday, 26 November 2005 7:31 am :: 

Pam: The thing about GIRO is that people will eventually forget about that totally as everything is so automated. Eventually, it would only end up as a "leak of funds". Can you still call it charity from the heart?

Anyway, Adrian and I were talking just last night. We wondered how long can we sustain RFF considering that fact that the marathon get harder and harder each year. Adrian says he is "no more Spring Chicken" unquote.

3. Sheena left...

Saturday, 26 November 2005 1:20 pm

You are more than welcome. Anything for my tang pa pa! LOL~

4. JayWalk left...

Saturday, 26 November 2005 1:51 pm :: 

Sheena: Again, thanks. See you in 2 weeks!

5. Jaslyn left...

Saturday, 26 November 2005 6:20 pm :: http://precious-jas.blogspot.com

U're most welcome Pa.. No need to be so ke-qi lah. Anyway, I copy and paste only. Hahaa

6. JayWalk left...

Saturday, 26 November 2005 6:56 pm :: 

Jaslyn: Must thank lah. This type of thing cannot take for granted one. Kum siah, kum siah. Maybe come back you and I kertok Adrian jialat jialat for the drinks!

7. Pam left...

Saturday, 26 November 2005 8:36 pm

i don't think that you can say that Giro-ing money to a charity is 'less charitable' or 'less from the heart' than if you give money occasionally (whether it's to a tin, or a specific one-off situation). it's still giving. it's just a more convenient, 21st C way of doing things. it's just as convenient for people to stop the GIRO - the fact that people don't is a good thing.

one of the charities that i give to recently 'rewarded' us by giving us free tickets to the London Eye - sponsored by British Airways. that was a nice way of telling us they appreciate our continuous support. there was no expectation of any reward, so this was a bonus. i would have continued giving and i'm still giving.

for RFF to continue, they might perhaps want to either think about recruiting more spring chickens who will be able to do the running more than the old chickens, or they might want to diversify their activities (ie, they could swim for funds, walk for funds, auction for funds, convert airmiles for funds, sing for funds...). i'm sponsoring adrian this time round - coz he sponsored me all those years ago when i walked 25 miles in the hills for charity!

8. akk left...

Saturday, 26 November 2005 11:03 pm

awww....shucks....*blush*....:)
I hope Adrian not getting too much pressure to complete the run hor....tell him to run at his own pace and health, can? It doesn't matter to me how far he can go, altho others might...

9. JayWalk left...

Sunday, 27 November 2005 9:47 am ::

Pam: You're probably right on that point with the GIRO not be less charitable. I stand corrected.

AKK: I spoke to him about it too. He says he will be ok and just a matter of finishing at a later time (before sunrise).
I too worried that he might get himself killed but I think we are just being paranoid. He should be ok one lah.

10. Razlan left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 10:26 pm :: http://www.razlan.name/blog

You are welcome, dude. All the best! :)

11. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 30 November 2005 11:46 pm ::

Razlan: Thank man. Drop by often. Don't be a stranger.

Run For Funds 2005 (Part 3)

Following my previous blog on RunForFunds, I thought I need to emphasise this again. This purpose of this blog and all the other blogs out there plugging this project is not to solicit for funds from the public. Granted that I have mentioned that I am financially supporting the RunForFunds project, this is a personal thing that I am doing on my own. I am not telling you to do the same. Should you be interested, please do so on your own free will and contact Adrian directly.

Anyway, all these charity thing reminded me of the time when I was in Singapore. I was a terrible person as far as being a donor is concerned.

I remembered hating to go down to Orchard Road on Saturdays as I hate getting hounded by students pushing their tin cans into my face and go Ling-Long-Ling-Long. I would donate not because I wanted to support that particular charity (which I never bothered to find out anyway) but to get that "flag sticker" to paste on my shirt so as to tell the rest of these "tin can people" to stop bugging me.

My heart was not in the right place.

I remembered buying charity draw tickets and calling the 1900-numbers to pledge my donations. I donated not because I wanted to donate to charity (which I never bothered to find out anyway) but to win that condo, that car or that return air-ticket for two to London.

My heart was not in the right place.

I remembered when I was in NTU where I participated in collecting newspapers and old clothes and also my fair share of Ling-Long-Ling-Long canvassing. Not because I wanted to volunteer my help in the charity work (which I never bothered to find out anyway) but because I needed the ECA points, for my application to next year's hostel room application, that comes at the end of the activity.

My heart was not in the right place.

And I think I know why I was being so indifferent. The charities involved were too big and/or too remote for me to be able to seek a personal interest.

Take those UNICEF "support-a-kid-in-Africa" charities (or any similar charities), for example. They will tell you that for a few dollars a month, you can send a kid in Africa to school (or something else that is essential) for a month. My question is that granted that the kid in Africa needs help, don't we have kids in our own backyard that needed help too?

Forgive me for I do not mean to demean the UNICEF (or any other charities) efforts but my dolllar can only go so far and I rather take care of those in my vicinity before worrying further. I am only but one man, my resources are limited.

That's why I like Adrian's idea of the RunForFunds so much. It's personal and a size where I can handle. Big charities like NKF, Community Chest, etc. are just too impersonal. Too cold for me to warm up to. Adrian is a good friend of mine from way back during secondary school days. I applaud him for starting this single handedly. Granted that only SGD 800+ was raised at the very first marathon, each dollar was very meaningful and special.

Last year, RunForFunds raised almost SGD 30,000. Considering that the amount is peanuts (no pun intended) compared to the big charities, it certainly had more meaning and heart than the millions of dollars raised in the NKF shows, where we had people doing stupid things to encourage viewers to pick up the phone to make that pledge. I wonder if these donors donate to appreciate the efforts of the performers or to take pity on them making a fool out of themselves.

I support RunForFunds.

I am trying to be a better person.

Image Credit: http://sohip.org

- Voxeros

1. whateverstreet left...

Friday, 25 November 2005 11:12 am :: http://whateverstreet.blogspot.com

wow. long time no come here, 1st thing i see is this heartwarming post.
never mind the past, at least now u are doing something for a bigger heart. =)

2. akk left...

Friday, 25 November 2005 1:13 pm

i think a lot of people think like u did about the flagging, the 1900-numbers and the newspaper collection trips in the institutions.
I agree with u on those NKF shows, that's why i never watch all these shows anymore.

3. JayWalk left...

Friday, 25 November 2005 9:23 pm :: 

whateverstreet: Glad to have you back! Perhaps if I may ask if you would like to join in and help spread a word or two on your blog as well? Let me know! 

akk: These big charities are just to remote from people like you and I. RFF in contrast is very very up close and personal. You can feel the warmth of the heart when you do your bit to help.

Run For Funds 2005 (Part 2)

For the convenience of everybody, I am reproducing RunForFunds' latest entry update here. I would like to encourage all to go over to the site to read the rest of the entries.

Cheers.

Jaywalk

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Run For Funds (Update Nov 05): An appeal for funds

Hi folks, (Superfriends, pls cascade to your sponsors)

This is an email appeal for contributions (funds and volunteer time) for Run For Funds 2005.

(For background info, pls go to runforfunds.blogdrive.com)

It is 2 weeks to the Stanchart Marathon (4^th Dec 2005, Sunday)

The Run For Funds Superfriends have been training hard for their respective 10km, 21km and 42km runs in a bid to raise funds to help the disadvantaged in Singapore.

I look forward to your continued strong support of this movement.

(I'll be running 42km. You can sponsor me on a lump sum or on $X per km completed basis).

Thanks :-)

1. RFF 2004 Snapshot (Dec 04 – Nov 05)

Here's a quick review of RFF 2004

No. of Superfriends: 9

Total distance covered: 219km

Total funds raised: S$ 28,234.60

Major sources of expenditure: (1) Pocket Money fund (not linked to Straits Time's) benefiting at least 30 children from needy families (2) Max Your Potential recipients (13 in GMPS and 5 in GMSS with more to be added) (3) medical beds for old folks home.

2. RFF 2005 Target

No of Superfriends: 15+ (numbers to be finalised as those who are not well prepared are encouraged not to run)

Total distance covered: 350km

Total funds raised: S$40,000

Your contributions this year will go into pocket money and "Maximise your potential" programme in more schools in Singapore. (These programmes have been highly successful in helping the needy).

I'm also hoping to use RFF as a vehicle to fund improvements in the living conditions of the old, sick and destitute, as well as children's homes like Chen Su Lan @ Serangoon Gardens.

3. RFF November 2005 Update

The full report is attached at the end of this email. It will cover:

a. Appeal for funds for RFF 2005 (Yes, Superfriends are running the Stanchart Marathon on 4 Dec 05 Sunday). We need your support ! J

b. Reflections of RFF 2004

c. Year to date expenses

4. Personal thanks.

It's been 2 months since my last update.

In the interim, I've been out of the country most of the time on biz travel.

With the help of friends and teachers @ GMPS and GMSS, I've been able to manage Run For Funds (RFF) remotely.

Thanks guys.

Again, let's make a difference in the lives that we touch.

Cheers,

Adrian

p/s As always, the report below is very cheong-hei (long-winded). Pls take the time to read it though (esp the reflections bit). Would love to hear from you re my thoughts and opinions as RFF's directions continue to evolve to best assist those in need.

============================================================

The full report can also be viewed at the RFF blogsite: www.runforfunds.blogdrive.com

Highlights of November 2005 Update

1. Appeal for funds for RFF 2005 (Yes, Superfriends are running the Stanchart Marathon on 4 Dec 05 Sunday). We need your support ! J

2. Reflections of RFF 2004 eg. Max Your Potential scheme to launch at Geylang Methodist Sec School

3. Year to date expenses

1. Appeal for funds for RFF 2005

The Run For Funds Superfriends will be running the Standard Chartered Marathon on 4^th of December 2005 (Sunday).

This year, we should have in excess of 15 Superfriends.

As in previous years, each Superfriend will be asking friends for pledges.

Many of them are attempting the distances they've registered for the first time.

Hence they've been training hard to make sure they complete the race SAFELY.

As for me, I'd like to thank all the folks who have supported me since the inception of Run For Funds in 2002.

I look forward to your continued support this year.

It's been a real struggle for me to train for the event due to my frequent travels in 4Q 2005 to countries in temperate regions.

I bring my running shoes with me on the road and hit the hotel gym almost every morning for my 1hr run.

However, running in the gym is so different from Singapore road conditions.

Did my 15 km prep run last Saturday and I looked like I walked through a hurricane (3 times) when I was done.

I was soaked through and through and was quite dehydrated.

I'm in Hong Kong this week and I will only have next week to acclimatize myself back to Singapore weather.

I expect my run this year to be a greater challenge than past years.

My body is starting to say no, as it takes longer to recover after each prep run

However, I've set myself a timing of 5h 30 min to complete the 42km run.

By the way, I'm also looking for sponsors for ko-yok (medical plasters). I've been using quite a lot lately.

2. Reflections of RFF 2004 (Dec 04 to Nov 05) 

a. Of golden taps and peanuts

It has been a challenging year managing RFF.

There is more pressure to communicate better and create more transparency due to more funds raised than RFF 2003.

And of course, Mr $600k peanut and his golden taps did not help matters.

It put our plans to bring RFF public on hold as we wait for clearer guidelines for charities post the NKF debacle.

I also hope that the peanut, I mean, NKF incident will not dampen the public's desire to care and share.

The public can roast the peanut but should not stop giving to worthwhile causes J

b. Why RFF should continue to exist

The past year also marked the expansion of my social networks to reach out to the needy via welfare organizations.

I've been exposed to more facets of Singapore's society that may have been forgotten. Eg. The one-roomers and single parent families.

To be honest, I think our government has done a great job in providing support for this group of people (eg. Free healthcare).

However, there is a need to find ways to cut the red tape.

Until that happens, the RFF movement will continue to exist to plug these gaps in the system

c. Learning to call someone's bluff

It was also interesting to note that word has gotten around in Geylang about RFF. Hence there is a greater need to screen cases that are deserving.

There are able bodied pple looking for free hand-outs.

More discernment is needed to handle these cases.

Since RFF's inception, I've learnt to call the bluff of these free loaders.

Sometimes I wonder if I have what it takes to become a pro poker player. Hahaah!

d. Major achievements in RFF 2004

The inaugural Max your potential (MYP) scheme in Geylang Methodist Primary School was a resounding success.

The first batch of recipients excelled in their academic work and co-curricular activities.

As a result, we increased the number of recipients from 7 to 13 and increased the grant level from $250 to $350.

The pocket money fund has also come a long way in helping feed students sent to school hungry.

After discussions with Geylang Methodist Secondary School (GMSS), we've decided to kick off the MYP programme with 5 students in Jan 2006, set up a pocket money fund and also a "GCE O level exam fees" fund to help those who can't afford the fees (approx $200).

Lastly, the 8 medical beds we bought for Geylang East Home for the Aged was money well spent.

Out spent the old, rickety, bug ridden wooden beds.

And the smiles on the old folk's faces when they saw their new beds …… priceless.

I'll see if we can further fund this in 2006.

3. RFF year to date expenses

Balance as of September 2005 update: S$ 17.439.95

Expense in 4Q 2005: S$10,000 (to set up MYP, pocket money fund and O level exam fees fund)

Outstanding balance: S$7,439.95.

The balance will be carried over to 2006 to fund 1Q 06 activities as funds typically take up to March to roll in.

Pls note that the intent is not for RFF to build up reserves that can last 30 years, unlike some organizations.

End of note.

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- Voxeros