Chapter 02 - The Early Days I

I have been telling so much of my brothers and so little of myself. So I guess I’ll do a short introduction of myself. As you know, I am Dan. I come from the nice and busy city of Kuala Lumpur. I have no special talents whereas I am also not handsome (at all). I could say that I am a man that is a little too optimistic at times. I will not show a worrying face even though I myself am very worried about a certain event or item.

I still remember my primary days especially during primary 3. That time was the most memorable time in my entire life. That was the time I where I met my first love. Her name was Vivian and she was the girl I fell in love during the age of 9. Many people will think that I was too young for love but I do not feel so, at least not at that time. I met her on the first day of primary 3 where she was a transfer student at my primary school.

She was directed to sit next to me and that was the first time, a girl ever sat next to me in class. We had the most wonderful dialogues everyday and until today I can still remember her cute and sweet smile. She was the only girl that ever talked to me that much in my primary days so I slowly began to think that I might love her.

In June 1994, I was so heart-broken when Vivian told me that she would leave to Singapore at the end of the month and will stay there for 3 years. At that time I was so lost thinking that I haven’t even told her how I felt and I knew it was too late. I began to remember all the sweet memories with her including long hour phone calls with her and funny chit-chatting.

On the day before she left, she told me that she will only stay in Singapore for 3 years and will return to find me thereafter. Her last words to me were “Wait for me. I’ll come back to this school and look for you”. Because of those words, I waited for her year after year and until today (2008), I still have no news about her. Until today I still have a small drop of faith that she would return and find me one day.

That however resulted in me losing the most valuable chance in my love life which happened during primary 6. I was still in the same school as I was from primary 3 and to my astonishment in primary 6 I started to notice a girl which I already met 2 years before in primary 4. She is none other than Jess, my deepest crush.

During primary 6, she was arranged to be sat in front of me. During that time, she was the only one who would listen to what I would say. I remember an event during the first week of primary 6 that gave me a very good impression of Jess. On a certain day of the first week of primary 6, my father was admitted to a hospital because his thyroid gland had suddenly swelled and required an operation. Due to that, I forgot about a small bunch of homework that was given from the previous day. I was lost at that time as the current teacher was a very fierce and stern one.




Jess was the leader of my study group at that time and because of that she was responsible for homework collection and other duties. I did not know what to do without completing my homework, so I went to talk to Jess about it. I told her the whole story and she promised to tell the teacher at that time what my true reason was. The teacher accepted her words and told me to finish them up before school ends and so I felt a heart full of gratitude to her. I was gaining more interest towards her day by day.

There was also an incident where primary 6 students were given free BCG booster shots under the government schools program. Every student in the class was to be given a shot except for those who already got them from private doctors. Only Jess and I were left in the giant empty class and because of that, we had a very nice talk and began to know each other little by little. I knew by then that I really fell in love with her.

Before I could express my feelings to her, my memory returned to haunt me. I was forced to remember that Vivian would return in the same year to look for me so I forgone the chance to await her return. I was so disappointed that even at the end of the year, she did not show up.

During our primary 6 final exams, Jess and I were called the “golden pair” by the mathematics teacher because the both of us scored full points in that paper. I found out that only both of us scored the full points. I had a thought at that time that I could be the best pair for her although people around her would be rumoring her partner would be the ever brilliant and bright student Matthew.

So, because I still feel that Vivian might return, I did not express my feelings to her at that time which I feel that it was a chance of a lifetime. The both of us alongside Matthew and some others from my class were transferred to the nearby secondary school where we ended up in the same class. It was also in that class that I met fellow elders Jul and Dwayne.

Prior secondary school times, I did not have any true friends that I could share my secrets with. Thus, the beginning of secondary days marked a new beginning in life.