Almost Infamous Part IV

One day, a couple of years ago, I tuned my television to Channel News Asia for the first time. There, with some astonishment, I saw someone I never expected to see again.


Eh, relac with the "foxy" jokes can?

I met her in passing 10 years ago at Pre-U Seminar. She was a presenter for TPJC, and I was a presenter for ACJC. We had been allocated to the same discussion group. For reasons that were largely my own fault, I was a presenter in name only. So I listened to presentations. A lot.

I think I must have developed a bit of an infamous reputation during that Pre-U seminar. Because I was free from the pressure of having to present the school in the best possible light, I could ponder and ask questions. I also had the inclination to do so, being pissed at myself for being backbenched.

So I asked questions. I asked a lot of them. I asked very difficult questions that I knew had no easy answer. I did it because I could. I didn't care what the answers were - I just wanted to ask them to watch other people squirm.

As you can see, I was a pretty horrible teenager.

Then there was Cheryl. Cheryl was one of those incredibly sunny people that somehow had a worse reputation than they deserved. She hung around a friend of mine, Wally T, a lot. By extension I ended up hanging around Cheryl a lot. Wally T was one of those people that everyone couldn't find fault with, so he didn't mind the fact that I was a prick and that Cheryl had an undeserved rep. Heck, we even had an impromptu Rick Price karaoke session at the Istana gardens to entertain ourselves while we were waiting for the then-President to grace us with his presence. I sang Rick Price. My falsetto was a lot stronger then.

Then came the day that Cheryl's group had to present. I didn't ask a single question that day. It wasn't because I had a crush on her or anything. The target of my affections that year was someone else that will be consigned to the depths of my memory.

See, I figured that if I was that much of a prick and Cheryl hung out with me anyway, she didn't need anyone to make her life more difficult.Wally T was strangely approving of my unusual silence.

Cheryl, not sure if you remember me at all, but this one's for you.