It wasn’t the end of school totally after the graduation ceremony. We still had a public exam awaiting us 3 weeks from then. As far as I was concerned at that time, everybody was in high gear for studies and not even one was slacking off. The exam was a whole month when the other students were enjoying their year end holidays.
Paper after paper, I endured the questions one by one. Far from expectations, the questions were not as difficult as the ones set by the school. It was a big relieve that I felt that I could manage the questions. I was having hallucinations that I would not make it in that exam.
During the month of exams, we would still be out on ‘yamcha’ and cyber cafes as we still needed to relax our minds. Some papers were held in the morning and some in the late afternoons. We would be out to ‘yamcha’ if we would not have an evening paper after the morning one.
The results of the exam would be known in 3 months time and during the 3 months period; we were free to roam around. We had constant and more frequent ‘yamcha’ as we had in the past. We also went to town a couple of times and ended up doing funny stuffs.
I remember there was once where I met a girl in ICQ. She asked me to meet her somewhere in Kuala Lumpur and so I went. I asked Dave, Jul and Dwayne to come along as well. The date was scheduled at 2pm. We reached there at about 12pm. We waited and waited but she didn’t show up. At around 3.30pm we decided to head home. Upon reaching home and checking the ICQ again, she changed everything including her address to Taiwan. I was so frustrated at that time but I had nothing I could do so I just learnt a lesson to be smarter.
In the month of February, I learned another lesson. This lesson was very hard and painful as it lasted for almost a month. It first happened when I met another girl in ICQ saying she was from Hong Kong. We had happy chatters together at many times and we began to get close. I had an imagination where I could make her my girlfriend so I tried asking. I was surprised that I succeeded. She actually accepted me online. As such, we continued our relationship on the ICQ just like that for almost a month or so.
I remember I once phoned her and talked to her. I ended up chickening after 5 minutes but still had a small chatter with her by phone. I began to have an aim, to collect enough money to fly to Hong Kong to meet her and date her in person. Still, I continued to maintain a steady relationship with her but that was what I thought. One month after, she disappeared without a reason and did not come on ICQ at all. I never knew what was going on and was worried about her at the same time. 3 weeks later, she came back to ICQ telling me that she found a new man while touring China. I felt completely duped and dumb upon hearing this. I knew that I was so stupid to even believe on an online relationship. From that day on, I vowed never to start online relationships again.
As for future routes, every one of us was very uncertain at that time, though not every one. Jul had decided that going to Secondary Six would be the only way around in getting into public varsity. His original aims were in either marine sciences or veterinary though and so without delay, he attended Secondary Six under science streams. For the rest of us, we were still deciding on where to move on in college life. Dwayne had only thought of going into the IT lines but he wasn’t sure which section he was interested in. France was interested in a government organized IT program, and signed up for that. Alex was first indecisive but later decided to follow Jul to Secondary Six due to financial difficulties. Dave and I were in a dilemma of whether to follow the accounting line or the IT line as we were interested in both.
With each passing month, came the month where the public examination results would be released. Our hearts were in great anxiety and excitement as we will soon step out of the schooling world. The results were due to be released on 20th March 2002 had us worried sick the few days before. The worry came to mind due to the fact that it was the stepping stone for tertiary education and we were all uncertain whether we would obtain favorable grades. As each night passed, our anxiety grew larger and larger but we were still able to control our emotions to the very end.
On 20th of March, we woke up extra early, at around 6.30am, for ‘yamcha’ to calm ourselves before the results’ official release at 10.00am. As each hour passed, we began to feel calm as we know that nothing can be done to alter the results, as we have already done our possible best in the exams. At around 9.30am, we worked our feet toward the school grounds with calmed feelings. As we slowly approach the school, familiar faces were seen waiting in a somewhat anguish manner where they were expecting results that deviate from their original expectations. The atmosphere of the school can be seen as quite tensed as almost everyone were trying to de-stress themselves by diverting their attention to something else.
At 10.10am, the principal was seen walking in with an exams department officer and his assistants, held in their hands, large packs of papers which we assumed were the results. After waiting for another 10 minutes, the principal came out and announced that the results were ready to be dispatched. Every class teacher was given the respective stacks to be examined and confirmed before they were distributed to us. We waited anxiously as each teacher opened the packs and went through the list by themselves. After another 5 minutes of checking, they announced that everybody to be in a line ready for the collection of the slip.
As everyone gathered around to collect the slips, we were in line as well, waiting for our turns to see ours. One by one, our schoolmates obtained their slips, some with smiles and laughter, while some burst in tears. The atmosphere became a mixture of positive radiating aura and negative radiating aura. Not long after, I was next in line and when the teacher passed me the slip, I saw……..
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