High School & Beyond

High school is possibly one of the best years of our lives. It's where our belief system is shaped, experiences are made, friendships are forged. It's been 10 years now since I graduated from high school and looking back, I must say, I missed it much. Since I'm back in KL this Christmas season, I decided to take a walk down memory lane. Please allow me to take you on a tour to my beloved high school :)

The name of my school is Catholic High School, fondly known as CHS. This may surprise some of you a little, but it is a Chinese school. *SHOCKED*. Yes, I was educated in a chinese high school for 7 years (completed my form 6 there too!). Yet, I can't really converse in mandarin. It's a mystery even to me. Lol. My school is known for it's high academic achievements. In fact, they just came out front page on The Sun newspaper for their PMR achievement. Needless to say, I'm not one of the high achievers there, I merely "tumpang glamour". It wasn't easy keeping pace academically in a chinese school. Pressure's high to do well. It's in high school that I've vowed a lifetime rivalry against math. Haha. 

SMJK Katholik: 1998-2004

Chinese schools are generally quite rich. For that, I'm thankful. Haha. I was really blessed with relatively good facilities. We have a really nice huge indoor hall that would be great to use for floorball! Haha. It's during "perhimpunan" time that all kinds of nonsense happen. I have my fair share of fond memories in this hall. It's in this hall that I sang my first mandarin song - my school anthem lah. Hahaha. It's also in this hall that I first heard a Jay Chou song played over the speaker. Every other day though, we would gather at the opened air car park. Every day was an adventure in itself. 

Dewan Bro Philippe Wu. 

Blessed with great facilities.

The opened air car park where we would gather every other day before our classes started.

As it is with any other typical high school life, I had my own strings of "puppy love" experiences. I remember the first time I met my "high school sweetheart". I was walking down to the canteen area and there she was, in all her glory, standing at the corner with her friends, smiling. Haha. Please bear in mind, I was a teenager and I was young :P Recess time is really interesting. It's only like 25 minutes but a full-on exciting and chaotic 25 minutes. In my school (and I think this is a chinese school culture), they segregated the girls from the guys during recess time. So the girls canteen would be the one on the outside, while the guys would be the one on the inside, as if we're being caged in like prisoners. But boys being boys, whether we're caged in or not, we would still find our way to our "sweethearts". Hahaha.  

The girls canteen, where I first set my eyes on my high school sweetheart. Haha.

The guys' canteen. Why do we get caged in?? Pfffft.

At that point in time, I hated every bit of classroom time. It was boring, I was sleepy and everyone was speaking in mandarin. In retrospect, I must say, it's in those classroom time that characters' are shaped, knowledge expanded, craziness elevated. I recall trying to converse in mandarin with my classmates, but they would inadvertently reply me in BM! It's hilarious. Two chinese ending up speaking to one another in BM. Lol. 

This is my form 2 and form 4 classroom.

This is the view from where I used to sat.

The walkway where we would lined-up before entering class. 

It's in this classroom that I got yelled at for my atrocity for math. Since then, I've vowed a lifetime rivalry against Math. Grrrr. Math, how I loathe you. As boys, we would often spy outside our windows for girls. Whistling and calling names when they passed us by. Haha. Again, let me remind you, I was young. :P

Oh and if you must know, I was a prefect when I was in form 1 and 2. The only reason I became a prefect was the fact that I didn't want to wear short pants to school! You see, in my school, we had two sessions. The afternoon session (form 1 and 2) and the morning session (form 3 and above). The boys in the afternoon session are all required to wear short pants. Typical of a chinese school. So to save myself from the embarrassment of wearing short pants to school for two years, I decided to become a prefect because prefects are allowed to wear nice long white pants. Hahaha. Such noble reason. Lol. 

Like any other school, we had our own prefect room where we let loose. 

Being a prefect was quite a memorable journey. It was then that I became a well-known "banana" boy. Haha. I guess it was then that I had my first taste of leadership. The nice thing about being a prefect in CHS was that teachers gave us a lot of "power". We were given the authority to pull students out, rebuke them and even punish them appropriately. Teachers would only get involved if it's a serious issue. Other than that, it was entirely up to the prefectorial board to maintain the discipline and character of the students. I learnt a lot out of that.

This is a place where prefects would rebuke and punish students

who are behaving inappropriately. Only the

prefects are allowed to use this bridge. 

I don't really know why though. Haha.

Sports have always been a big part of my life. I was very active in football and athletics. Naturally being in a chinese school, not many people were fond of football. Most were drawn to either basketball, badminton or ping pong. Oh, and chess. Haha. I was one of the few minorities that really enjoyed a game of football. It was in this field that I scored my one and only half-line goal. Macam David Beckham. Never was able to do it again after that. Hahaha. It was also in this field that I almost got into a few fist fights because of anger while playing football. I was not a nice sportsperson on field when I was in high school. I was really bad-tempered, always wanting to win. I would yell at my friends for not passing the ball or for loosing the ball. Not a nice sight to watch really. But thank God, I'm not like that any longer :) We mature over time, hopefully. The only thing I tak puas about my school is the fact that the year I left school, they decided to erect a superbly nice indoor sports complex! GAH! Why never built it while I was in school lah....

Sports have always been an integral part of my life.

The newly built indoor sports complex. Ideal for floorball weiiii.

Can play a full size floorball match and the flooring is great too! :/

So, that's my beloved high school. I miss it much but I'm not here to say that I wish I could turn back time and relive those memories. I'm here merely to share a part of my life that has shaped me into who I am today. 

This post is dedicated especially to all my players/friends who have just recently graduated from high school and are in the process of moving into their next phase of life. I would just like to encourage each of you to remember the positive values and lessons you've learnt in your high school life (don't just remember your "puppy love affair" lah :p), it's those lessons that will carry you far. As you embark into the next phase of life, you will encounter many new experiences, both good and bad. You will need to make tougher and more crucial decisions in life. You will be given greater freedom and heavier responsibilities. 

My prayer for each of you is that as you walk on this journey, you will walk upright in success, integrity, humility and in compassion for others. Greater things are ahead :)