Paws

Something that took place in school

Have you ever felt that the effort you pain-stakingly put in so as to meet the standard of a certain "performance" go to waste, especially at the worst case scenario?. Most probably. Much like the one I spent so many hours rehearsing for it and yet the worst performance happened to be on the performance show itself. You will probably seethe with so much frustration that you would really want to take it out on someone.

Weirdly, the start of the whole incident came from just one harmless-looking sms from my CCA senior.

"Bring full uniform tommorow for BB day rehearsal,"

I hate bring my full uniform, let alone wearing them. Anyone who wears them before wouldn't even hesitate to agree that the uniform is really uncomfortable. To make things worse, there is still uniform mantainence which really is, at times, troublesome. Polishing the boots and belt every so often is really a chore. On a serious note, uniform maintainence actually seems more like a discipline test.

Obediently, I brought my full uniform to school the next day, which coinceidently was the day of the release of O Levels result. Rehearsal for BB day started at around 3pm. We assembled in rows of threes as the highest ranking BB Boy guided us on the steps of the "performance", which actually was just to stand for approximately 12minutes and march out of the hall. And I thought it was going to be a piece of cake.

We later assembled at the hall since most of the graduates awaiting for their result had dispersed already. That was when all hell broke loose. The person-in-charge happened to be a Sec 4 graduate who was in a very bad mood. Gosh. We were given a ear-lashing for every mistake made!

Throughout the whole practice session, we were constantly lectured. Not only did the scolding from the officer infuriate me, but also the aggravation caused by my uncomfortable and soaked uniform. Repeating what first was a really simple process of falling out of the assemby area became really exhausting.

To be honest, we were really intimidated when we were lectured with lines like "you think this is a joke?" and "you think it is funny?". As much as I like to retort back, I would only aggravate the situation. Unreasonable? Honestly, I really think so, reason being we were so tired that we couldn't concentrating on doing our footdrills and marching right, yet we were thought to be playing a fool and constantly scolded.

At 4.40pm, we finally managed to pull off a perfect "performance". I mean, finally! Next thing we knew, we were told to report to school the next day at 6.30am. Oh no. This is really too much. First, we were released late. I live at the extreme east, so it takes me about an hour to reach home. Then we have to washup. What about my tuition? And dinner? As soon as I realised, I finished my homework at 12am. I need about an hour to reach school in the morning, so I need to wake up at around 5.30am. Great. I have five and a half hours of sleep now. I really don't understand why this rehearsal was organised at the eleventh hour. It completely disrupts our schedule, let alone having to sleep late at night and wake up so early in the morning!

I woke up at around 5.30am the next day, and resisted the evilness calling me back to my bed. I really would pay a hundred dollars to sleep right then. But no! I must get up. With sheer determination, I got out of bed and rushed to the toilet to take a hot bath, and the groggy eyes did not help at all. I was so tired I could have slept during bath.

I wore all my full uniform and rushed to school! And many people were napping while assembling. How I wish I had reminded everyone to drink coffee! No more dreaming about it now.

The coffee would have another use as well. Some people seriously move too slowly. I could threaten to stuff a cup full of powdered coffee into their mouth and they would decide to move faster.

We assembled in rows of three like the previous day. And to my horror, there were many people who didn't attend the past day's rehearsal and then come today! I was very sure they were going to screw up. I was just sure. And that is very bad! Screw up in a rehearsal and redo again. Screw up in a real performance and you get the real deal!

We went back on stage and stood still as planned. 10 minutes later, students from all levels entered the hall in the form of a serpentine figure. The hardest part is when classmates see you on stage and try to make contact with you, and you have to battle the urge to laugh, even if it means making ridiculous facial expressions. Especially this guy called Harold who was really persistent in attracting my attention. Harold, you seriously gave me a hard time out there.

Soon, the usual "Good Morning school" was played on the speakers. At that point of time, a secondary 3 boy backed out of the whole "Fall-in formation"! He approached the teacher while we were supposed to stand still and not move a muscle. At the corner of my eye, I saw his really pale face. Stomachache?

Feigning ignorance, we remaind stock-still, cemented to the ground. The school song was played. And a secondary 2 boy, in the midst of standing in attention, raised up his hands! I mean, what was he doing!? It turned out that the boy had headache, and he wanted to ask for permission to fall out. I was really mommentarily stunned. I think it really tarnished to reputation of Victoria School BB which our senior had been upholding over the years.

Last part : March off. The command was given out. By the way, the entire process was supposed to be a silent drill, meaning no stamping of feets, which will be louder due to our boots. The leading boy gave out the command.

"KELUAR BARIS" (exit)

The whole company turned to the right.

"BANG!"

Someone had stamped his feet. The whole company now marched 4 steps. Apparently, the guy with the headache had a 2 second delay, meaning he was 2 second slower than the original time he was supposed to start marching.

This is a total outrage. We trained so hard for this day, I polished my boots for so long, and yet I was let down by a horrible performance. I was really angry and disappointed. Even without enough sleep, I still did my best to stay alert and even fought with my sensitive nose that threatened to sneeze anytime. Not only did we deliver a bad performance, we even left a very bad impression on the Sec 1s, and tarnished the reputation of the CCA. The future looks bleak to me, and I expect alot of scoldings and lecturings coming up ahead.

posted by Ryan :D @ 5:47 AM