I remember three years ago when Adele and I were having a break from our Dance rehearsal for the Qi Concert, we were playing with our iPod minis. I actually remembered her's was green and mine blue.. She let me listen to a song she recorded. I was amazed as it sounded really professional.. Of course I had no clue what the lyrics meant cos it was in Mandarin ;(
We talked a little about whether she's intending to pursue singing... can't remember exactly what we said but I being the practical person did think that it's difficult to pursue music in Singapore... how skeptical.. Look where she is now.. she has a movie and her very own MTV.. I hope it's a stepping stone for her, especially since she is one of the more credible and natural actor on that movie and she looks so pretty...
Perhaps, this is a lesson for us to remind ourselves that we should all learn to follow our dreams and pursue what we want to do no matter what the society pressures are.
As for the movie, it was surprisingly engaging. There was 'heart' and meaning (except for the ending though) but I guess more so because it was set in my time.. my 'era'... The 90's. The days (for a short period of time) when almost every alternate Saturdays, I'll be at a Tea Dance at Shock Odyssey or Fire (embarrass). And the Chantel Thomas bag, Versace hairband and Ferragamo hairclip that were given to me although it was known that I did not like those stuff. I also had a pager back then.. I still have it!!! I thought it'll be something that will be absolete in the future.. better keep it as an antique.. haha..
The movie also brought back memories of my rather forgotten past.... not that I was an Ah Lian .. but like Adele's good girl character in the movie, I dated a somewhat similar character.. Mark Ong.
I must clarify that he's not the Hokkien beng.. strangely, he's from an English speaking family...studied in an all boys' school and doesn't speak much chinese but because of external influence and family background (perhaps), he was involved with other bengs and became like one.
There was such an uncanny resemblance in the movie... two teens - good student /prefect/potential JC kid + quiet but violent beng when provoked, who happens to want to be known as Tian Long...though that wasn't his real name (The ah beng character in the movie is Zi Long)
And there was one scene that really triggered my memory... the scene where Shan Shan (Adele's character) helped Zi Long to study. I recalled the times I was trying to teach Mark E maths... much to both parties' frustration.. (no wonder I ended up being an English teacher instead).
And then there were the down times when I worried for his safety or when he told me he had to "settle something" and the times I feared being spot checked by the police because he carried this ridiculously big swissknife-looking weapon for God knows what reasons, when we were out. In fact, the police did check us on one occasion but luckily he wasn't frisked. There was also a time when he was housing two friends who ran away from Gracehaven (it even came out in the papers). And then there were the tattoos.. chinese character 龙, the thorns around the arm & the dragon & red sun which I totally hated.
Yet, it was the sweetest relationship I ever had...
He was very patient when he's with me. He's muscially & artistically gifted and he would serenade me on his guitar, make me music tapes of the songs he finds meaningful, write me poems and draw sketches of me (during his Literature exam! He gave me his exam question paper with my sketch on it).. very much the SNAGs, a real distinction from the ah bengs. And he always kept his promises and didn't make those he couldn't keep (hmm sounds familiar)...
The relationship lasted almost 2 years and would have gone on longer. There was nothing wrong with us. He initiated the breakup near the end of Sec 4. Reason being that I'll be gg to a JC and he.. most probably nowhere (It turned out, we had a 20 points gap in our O level L1R5). I understood his dilemma and his pain but respected his decision and maturity. He did promise me that he'll be there for me. True enough, he kept me company to church for 6 more months and occasionally went out for movies but he was very careful not to cross the line of friendship.... He slowly distant himself from me... and by the end of 6 months, I had kept myself busy with my JC life and I could let go... That helped eased the pain of breaking up... I think he intended it this way. Considering he was 16 then, he fared so much better than some adult males who just dumps the girl. Sadly, I have never heard from him since...
My friends did though... he asked about me and somehow knew that I am a teacher. I also met his mother too some time when I was in Uni (she really liked me back then). She asked me to visit and gave me their new home address and number. I never called. I read about him in the papers too and cut that article. His band, Straightjacket Experiment, cut an album and was featured in a full page article in Life section. Come to think of it, I still have his first demo tape. I'm not sure what happened to him or where he is now but I last heard that he was working at Zouk briefly and was pursuing music...
I guess it is fate that our paths never crossed since 1996. Perhaps it's better this way. I'll only have sweet memories of him and of THE DAYS when we were together. Wherever you are Mark, I wish you well.
