Part 5 - Resolution
We were out priced, out bid and eliminated. Apartments around Dunearn Road cost upwards of a mil for anything 1000 sq ft and up. Unless we wanted to live in a shoe box, there wasn’t anything affordable. HDB flats in Bukit Timah? None at all.
I didn’t have any other ideas so I started railing at the unfairness created by the proximity rule – wouldn’t it just be the rich kids then? The crayolas will be better in another school near my home. They will receive a more rounded education in a non-socially stratified learning environment.
Then something happened. It wasn’t as dramatic as selling our house and buying another one.
It wasn’t parent 'volunteerism'.
I found out that I qualified for membership to the school alumni. As part of the old girl and old boy network, we were still in the game. The system which made me initially panic, scheme and later, rail against social injustice now worked to my own advantage. There was no more ugly wrangling, so I sat pretty.
======
The other day, I met a school canteen operator. She worked in a neighbourhood school. I asked her about the situation in there. Is it true that there are gangsters and the teen students fight?
She started to tell me about how a group of 15 year old girls started a fight due to a staring incident in the canteen. They started throwing soup at each other and tore at each other’s shirts.
I cackled long and hard. Maniacal laughter.
She was surprised that I found it so funny. It wasn’t THAT funny.
I laughed because I felt so SMUG. In the survivor jungle of primary one registration, we had a) averted elimination b) played the game with no ethics c) served self interest and d) acquired the secret immunity idol (membership of the alumni).
There was a time when I swore I wouldn't return to my schooling roots once I left it. I was in the last class, an outsider and didn't really fit. I remember fist fights, breaking classroom windows and wanting out.
But becoming a mom and finally, competing in this jungle has changed this.
I didn’t have any other ideas so I started railing at the unfairness created by the proximity rule – wouldn’t it just be the rich kids then? The crayolas will be better in another school near my home. They will receive a more rounded education in a non-socially stratified learning environment.
Then something happened. It wasn’t as dramatic as selling our house and buying another one.
It wasn’t parent 'volunteerism'.
I found out that I qualified for membership to the school alumni. As part of the old girl and old boy network, we were still in the game. The system which made me initially panic, scheme and later, rail against social injustice now worked to my own advantage. There was no more ugly wrangling, so I sat pretty.
======
The other day, I met a school canteen operator. She worked in a neighbourhood school. I asked her about the situation in there. Is it true that there are gangsters and the teen students fight?
She started to tell me about how a group of 15 year old girls started a fight due to a staring incident in the canteen. They started throwing soup at each other and tore at each other’s shirts.
I cackled long and hard. Maniacal laughter.
She was surprised that I found it so funny. It wasn’t THAT funny.
I laughed because I felt so SMUG. In the survivor jungle of primary one registration, we had a) averted elimination b) played the game with no ethics c) served self interest and d) acquired the secret immunity idol (membership of the alumni).
There was a time when I swore I wouldn't return to my schooling roots once I left it. I was in the last class, an outsider and didn't really fit. I remember fist fights, breaking classroom windows and wanting out.
But becoming a mom and finally, competing in this jungle has changed this.
posted by Carrie at 2:09 AM
4 Comments:
Ouch! Where do people find millions these days??
i remember the fist fights!! they're stored in my "fond memories" box!!
the good memories and friends that have stood by me since the zero-point days outweighs the bad moments so.....
Hey tiff ying, thanks for visiting my zero hit blog :)
Ying - Mee pok, rambutans from the tree outside and pearlie t! Yeah, those were the days.
Tiff - Need to strike TOTO! We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control. Dark sarcasm in the classroom.
Survivor: Primary School.
Glad to see you blogging again.
Post a Comment
<< Home