Sailing Forth

Well, SPM is over. We leave the hall and shout and scream and release volleys of catherine-wheel fireworks. My own friends half-jokingly plan to dump all their books and notes into a pile, douse them with gasoline and burn them up. But, best of all, we have FREEDOM!

While most of my friends celebrate with trips to McDonalds or marathon sessions at the cyber-cafes, I spend my time-----GET READY---at HOME! Whopee. Yeah. So much for my social life. I spend most of my post-SPM days on the net, practising the piano and reading Lee Kuan Yew's memoirs, The Singapore Story. (And by the way, after 3 months of not touching the piano, my playing SUCKS! 学如逆水行舟,不进则退! All pianists, take warning!)

But afer the initial euphoria, I experience a more sombre feeling, a feeling of bereavement. This is, after all, our last official day of secondary school, and yet there was little or no ceremony or fanfare. All of us, we SMK BSD 2 students, would probably see little of each other again. True, many of my friends tell me, "Aiyah, we'll meet on 'SPM results day'!" Yeah, pals, but think about it. Most of us probably wouldn't see each other, since we would come at different times of the day.

More importantly, the feeling of 'togetherness', the feeling of identification, would be lost, or at best diluted. All of us would have forged new identities as working adults or college students, no longer part of a student body. True, we might see each other, but there would no longer be that feeling of being a part of a school anymore. (I can say this, because this was exactly what happened when my friends and I left primary school.)

Well, I guess we have to look to the future, come what may. Tomorrow will always be brighter if our dreams always stay in front of us. May all of you ex-SPM students achieve your dreams as you sail forth.