I wonder why I missed those days.
“Goash!”
It was the first word that came out from my mouth when I was reading the list of the ‘Chosen One’ on the school notice board. Yes, I was chosen to attend the National Service Training Programme for the batch of January 2008.
It was not an easy journey. The long journey seems endless. After 12 hours of traveling from KL to Kelantan, I finally stepped into a place that I would call home for the next 3 months.
It took me more than 2 days to settle down and make some friends that I could talk to for the time in the training. Yes, at the same time, I started missing my family members and friends here in the town. I told myself that I was just wasting my time here and I can’t wait for the training to end and forget everything after that.
“Wao, this place is damn hulu.”
Jeremy is the first guy who had actually communicated with me on the second day. Coming along with him was Ken (I named him Ken Kor); both of them came from the Selangor state. Joining us after which was Jackson, the shortest guy among us (I called him Tai Lou, which means big brother).
Since then, the four of us became good friends. Later, after about a week’s time, Kenny joined our scoop. He was the ‘late comer’ who transferred from another dormitory. Joseph and Kan, two quiet guys also mixed with us after the Chinese group grew from its original 3.
Dorm C Chinese gang turned famous. It is because that we have the largest Chinese group among all dorms (how prejudice!). Another guy who joined us at last was Ken (again) from Dorm A. All the time in the camp, we had never separated from each other. I sincerely thank God for these people that He had brought to me. Without them, I am sure I will never have an enjoyable training time.
Besides the Chinese, I too made friends from other races, mainly the Malays. They were not as bad as I thought. They were very friendly. At times, I chatted with them over lunch, bath time, as well as pillow talk! I learned many cultural practices that I have never been exposed to. Bob, Caer, Ashriq, Razi, Acap, Eddie, Aiman, Yudi… I will never forget those names. We taught each other to write our names in Chinese and Jawi respectively. You guys had made me feel comfortable living in a multiple racial society.
3 months’ period is neither long nor short.
I will never forget the fellowship that we had in class, as well as during those rehat time. We had a surprised birthday celebration for Jeremy on his 18 years old birthday. We also held our own tea time in Dorm C in the afternoon, chatting over cream crackers with Milo. I also remembered the time when Ken Kor and I cracked our head just to write down the lyrics for the song “So Close”-Enchanted movie theme song by listening to the same headset, in which we got scolded by Tai Lou later on because we did that during midnight (how abnormal we were). We often uphold each other whenever we felt home sick as well as physically sick.
I learned about the values of friendship from these friends. Even though we have only known each other for less than 2 months, we were already able to talk heart to heart. We shared feelings at times that we were down. The spirit of togetherness brought us to high achievement in the volleyball games too!
Life is colourful. I missed you guys. All the best in life, my friends, till we meet again!
JK gang: Jackson, Jeremy, Jason, Joseph, Ken, Ken Kor, Kenny & Kan.
“Goash!”
It was the first word that came out from my mouth when I was reading the list of the ‘Chosen One’ on the school notice board. Yes, I was chosen to attend the National Service Training Programme for the batch of January 2008.
It was not an easy journey. The long journey seems endless. After 12 hours of traveling from KL to Kelantan, I finally stepped into a place that I would call home for the next 3 months.
It took me more than 2 days to settle down and make some friends that I could talk to for the time in the training. Yes, at the same time, I started missing my family members and friends here in the town. I told myself that I was just wasting my time here and I can’t wait for the training to end and forget everything after that.
“Wao, this place is damn hulu.”
Jeremy is the first guy who had actually communicated with me on the second day. Coming along with him was Ken (I named him Ken Kor); both of them came from the Selangor state. Joining us after which was Jackson, the shortest guy among us (I called him Tai Lou, which means big brother).
Since then, the four of us became good friends. Later, after about a week’s time, Kenny joined our scoop. He was the ‘late comer’ who transferred from another dormitory. Joseph and Kan, two quiet guys also mixed with us after the Chinese group grew from its original 3.
Dorm C Chinese gang turned famous. It is because that we have the largest Chinese group among all dorms (how prejudice!). Another guy who joined us at last was Ken (again) from Dorm A. All the time in the camp, we had never separated from each other. I sincerely thank God for these people that He had brought to me. Without them, I am sure I will never have an enjoyable training time.
Besides the Chinese, I too made friends from other races, mainly the Malays. They were not as bad as I thought. They were very friendly. At times, I chatted with them over lunch, bath time, as well as pillow talk! I learned many cultural practices that I have never been exposed to. Bob, Caer, Ashriq, Razi, Acap, Eddie, Aiman, Yudi… I will never forget those names. We taught each other to write our names in Chinese and Jawi respectively. You guys had made me feel comfortable living in a multiple racial society.
3 months’ period is neither long nor short.
I will never forget the fellowship that we had in class, as well as during those rehat time. We had a surprised birthday celebration for Jeremy on his 18 years old birthday. We also held our own tea time in Dorm C in the afternoon, chatting over cream crackers with Milo. I also remembered the time when Ken Kor and I cracked our head just to write down the lyrics for the song “So Close”-Enchanted movie theme song by listening to the same headset, in which we got scolded by Tai Lou later on because we did that during midnight (how abnormal we were). We often uphold each other whenever we felt home sick as well as physically sick.
I learned about the values of friendship from these friends. Even though we have only known each other for less than 2 months, we were already able to talk heart to heart. We shared feelings at times that we were down. The spirit of togetherness brought us to high achievement in the volleyball games too!
Life is colourful. I missed you guys. All the best in life, my friends, till we meet again!
JK gang: Jackson, Jeremy, Jason, Joseph, Ken, Ken Kor, Kenny & Kan.
Friends, it is true, Milo will never taste as sweet without you guys.
