The passenger door opened.  "Your keys," she said, dropping a brown envelope on the passenger seat before closing the door again.

The person at the door greeted us with a friendly, "Registration?"  Her face noticeably fell when we answered, "Cancellation."  Likewise the person at the counter.

The second floor was empty.  It took less than a minute for our number to buzz on the clinic-like display panel.

We entered the room, filled up and signed the declaration forms, got our ICs back, and that was that.  The entire process took less than five minutes.

Neither of us said goodbye.

Today I went to the wake of an old NCC friend of mine.  I hadn't seen him in 16 years (ever since we were in Sec 4), but I got a message over Facebook about his passing, and naturally I was shocked.

There were five of us at the wake, two I know well and two that I also hadn't seen in more than a decade.  Yet the conversation was comfortable and not at any point awkward.

We found out from his sister that he had committed suicide, and quite determinedly so too.  He had apparently been depressed for quite a few years now, and this wasn't his first suicide attempt, so his family wasn't taking it as badly as you might imagine.  Ironically, all of us remembered him to be a rather happy-go-lucky kind of a guy, which was also the feedback from many of his other friends, according to the sister.

Over the conversation with one of the two that I hadn't seen in ages, I heard that another acquaintance, this time a JC-mate, also passed away just a few months ago of some heart trouble.  Sad news indeed.

I don't think that I'm really affected very much by their passing in the sense that I was never really very close to them, nor did I keep in touch after we left school.  But more than anything else, this has made me feel the proverbial "wah, life is damn fragile man!"

Guess it would be timely now to re-evaluate my life, and to make sure that I live it fully, and not get mired in anything that would get me down, including (and perhaps especially) the past.  It's time to move on, people!

Last Friday, I found out that eight of my Sec 1 N(T) students have qualified for lateral transfer to the N(A) stream (meaning they got more than 70% overall over the whole year).  That's actually very good, considering that we've got only about 60 Sec 1 N(T) students this year, whereas in the past, with about 75 Sec 1 N(T) students, we'd usually only get about three or four students qualifying for lateral transfer to N(A).

So I'm glad, because I take that as a sign that our programmes are working and bearing fruit, both in terms of academic engagement and learning, as well as overall character development and motivation.  Of course, whether or not they should actually transfer to the N(A) stream is another matter entirely, dependent largely on their individual subject results, especially their English, Maths and Science.

I've already spoken to them collectively and individually on Friday, and then asked them to go home and discuss it with their parents.  We'll see what their decisions are tomorrow.  :)

Oh, why you look so sad?
The tears are in your eyes
Come on and come to me now
Don't be ashamed to cry
Let me see you through
Cos I've seen the dark side too

When the night falls on you
You don't know what to do
Nothing you confess
Could make me love you less

I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you

So if you're mad, get mad
Don't hold it all inside
Come on and talk to me now
Hey, what you got to hide?
I get angry too
Cos I'm a lot like you

When you're standing at the crossroads
And don't know which path to choose
Let me come along
Cos even if you're wrong

I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
Take me into your darkest hour
And I'll never desert you
I'll stand by you

And when...
When the night falls on you, baby
You're feeling all alone
You won't be on your own

I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
Take me into your darkest hour
And I'll never desert you
I'll stand by you