An End To Another Chapter

I wasn't every teacher's dream student in Secondary school. I wasn't the favourite student who would carry the books for you or showed much respect for you if you were a twatt, in fact, I was probably every teacher's worst nightmare. Life in Secondary school for me was what I made it out to be. I hated every minute of school so I created my own fun to get me through the 5 years of hell.

Half the time I would skip school and hang out with friends at the East Coast beach or Parkway Parade Mall or wherever our legs and imagination would take us. Of course, my teachers would call my mum and inform her I wasn’t in school but I’d listen to the yelling and get back at it again. Worse was when my father found out, I remember the beatings of my life….yet, I still went ahead and skipped classes.

Got my first boyfriend at 13. I was in Secondary 1. And since them, I was a popular girl, in school, at the boy’s school across from us and even at another school away from the East. I changed boyfriends like I changed socks. But lets not get into that. The whole purpose for this blog post is to talk about closing another chapter in my life and that is the chapter of the most hatred teacher I’ve had to deal with throughout Secondary school life.

Let me tell you, I’ve had about three teachers I really loved and respected and actually enjoyed being in class with. Mrs Shepardson was the sweetest and most patient, Ms Louisa Tan who probably died a million times reading the shit I wrote on my biology papers and Ms May Tan who was probably an angel in disguise for putting up with my nonsense.

I know I have had more teachers but I don’t recall most of them, which means they didn’t leave such an impact on me. But nonetheless, there are two bitches that sticks out clearly in my head.

One was named Mrs Yeow. She was my form teacher for 2 years and what a bitch she was. Of course I was always her target because I simply didn’t obey any rules. But she wasn’t mean or anything. I just didn’t like her and she didn’t like me. Not that bad really. She’s back in Malaysia now so that’s good. She can remain and rott there.

The number one bitch that I’ve had a hatred for all these years (yes even till today) is Mrs L (I shall not mention her full name to protect myself from being sued by her because she is capable of that).

Well this Mrs L taught me English and Literature. She marked me from the beginning because I never paid attention in class, didn’t hand in my homework, wrote love letters during her lessons, and had a mind of my own and was never afraid to speak my mind or fight. The worst year I had was when she was my form teacher. That was one whole year of pure misery, detentions and punishments. She hated my guts. She would kick me out of her class often until I got sick and tired of it. When it was time for her lessons, I would have my bag packed and ready, and the moment she walked in, I would walk out. Of course she tried many times to stop me or ask where I was going, and I would yell at her and tell her off and make my leave.

The year I was doing my N’ Levels examination, I clearly recall her pulling me aside to tell me that I am a useless waste of oxygen, I will never amount to anything in this life and because of the way I am, I will never find a good husband and get married and even if I did, my kids will be flops like me. Back then I didn’t think much of it. Who really cared about what Mrs L said or thought? I had my many friends who would disagree with her (because I was a cool kid and everyone looked up to me because I had balls of steel) and my string of boyfriends would tell her otherwise.

I just about managed to pass my N’ Levels but I was all done with school. I didn’t continue with my O’ Levels and my father stopped supporting me. I worked at Cold Storage as a cashier but after getting my first pay cheque I quit because it was peanuts! I continued to play around and finally after a year, I decided I would take up computer courses. Worked part time at Boat Quay at a friend’s pub as a waitress (illegally) as I was only 17..but thank goodness for my mature looks and behaviour, we pulled that off. I made damn good money also because I was damn HOT back in the day and got lots of tips.

Though I never let what Mrs L told me get to me or bother me, I never really forgot what she said. Never did even till today.

I have a great life now. I am somebody. I married a wonderful man and I have 2 wonderful kids. Everything Mrs L predicted for my future was wrong. I told my husband about her and he was the one who urged me to do something about this especially since my daughter in now in KC Primary and would sooner or later have Mrs L as her teacher.

Last year, my daughter came home with carnival tickets to the yearly KC Family Day at the Secondary school. I was thrilled because I wanted to take that opportunity to go hunt that bitch now and tell her what I thought of her and to show her that her predictions were wrong about me. I looked all over for her but left disappointed because she probably knew I was there and was hiding, since I make it known via Social Media of my plans. But I didn’t let it rest there. I found her on Facebook and wrote her a long message and sent it off. Still I didn’t feel it was enough. There wasn’t a closure even after sending that message because I didn’t know how she reacted or if she actually read it.

Finally this year, KC held the Family Day again (last Saturday, August 25) and I made sure we went. I looked around for her but couldn’t find her. I met Ms Louisa Tan who is still sweet as pie. I asked her where Mrs L was and she said, “Well, she’s supposed to be in this booth with me but she may have gone for her break.” … Ooohhhh my eyes sparkled at hearing that piece of good news.

Without wasting too much time on her, waiting for her….I proceeded to go have some fun with my kids, hubby and mum. They played a few games with the intention of collecting enough tokens so my son could redeem it for the Transformers he had his eye on. Good thing he’s so cute because he got quadruple tokens at a couple games.

They had collected enough tokens and we were pretty tired as we had a long day…started off with my son’s baptism this morning and lunch to celebrate after, and Family Day…

We went back to the redemption counter and my hubby spotted Mrs L first and pointed her out to me. I could feel my heart beating real fast. Was I nervous or excited, I couldn’t really tell. But I calmly walked towards her and looked her straight in the eye…..

Me: Do you remember me?

Mrs L: Errrmmm yeh from way back (DUH BITCH!)

Me: Remember you told me when I was in Secondary 4 that I will never amount to anything? That I was useless. I will never find a good man to marry me and even if I did my kids would be total flops like me?

Mrs L: (You could see the shock in her eyes) Did I say that? What was the situation when I said that?

Me: (BITCH!) You sure did say that and it doesn’t matter what the situation was because as a teacher and having such a major influence on students, you should not have said what you said.

Mrs L: (silent)

Me: We were head strong teenagers back then. Emotionally we were even stronger. If you said something like that to a student in this day and age, they would not be able to handle it. Then it would have been a suicide on your hands!

Mrs L: (still silent…so happy I finally got that affect on her)

Me: Well you were wrong about me and thinking about what you said before made me realize how far I have come.

Mrs L: (Cat finally let her tongue go) Well I am glad I was wrong. You see, God makes things happen for a reason….

Me: (This was when I interrupted her) (Bitch! Don’t use God’s name in vain because you’re going to burn in hell!!) No!! Do not use this as a shield. I did not change because of what you told me!

Mrs L: (stunned)

Me: Well, you said I am useless. You were wrong because I made my own way through College and University. You said I will never find a good man to marry me. You were wrong because my husband is the most wonderful man. You said if I had kids, they would be flops like me? You were wrong because they are wonderful, beautiful, intelligent and kind kids. You said I would never amount to anything? Again you were wrong because I am more than you will ever be in your lifetime or what you have left of it. I have my degrees to back me up, I own my own business and I am successful.

Mrs L: (apparently shocked and lost for words) Well congratulations….

Me: (if you’re saying it just because you don’t know what else to say then don’t say anything bitch! Or mean what you say!) Sure. I will never ever let you come near my daughter! I will not put my child through that same torture. And if I wasn’t so head strong before, I should have told my parents who in turn would have gotten you fired! (Casually I walked away with Mrs L’s mouth still hitting the floor)

I remained in that area even after talking to her. I was all pleased with myself. She on the other hand was a little nervous seeing I was still hanging around the area. I wasn’t there to make her uncomfortable, I was honestly waiting for my daughter to choose her prizes. Hey! It could have been worse for Mrs L. I could have created a scene and made everyone around there (students, teachers and parents) know what a cunt she is!

I saw her looking at my kids. Looking at me. Yes, please do check me out bitch. Good thing I wore my nice tailored dress, my designer bag, Rolex watch… That will prove everything I just said to her!

I felt a huge weight lifted off my chest and my soul. I think I finally did what I had always wanted to do. I felt proud of myself for standing up to her. I think I finally have found closure within that chapter in my life.

Hari Raya and Ghost Month

I never really quite understood how in the last couple of years, the calendars have come to a complete change and we find two races / religions celebrating two different festivals at about the same time?

First we had Hari Raya. After 30 days of dawn-to-dusk fasting during Ramadan, the first three days of Hari Raya Aidilfitri are celebrated on a grand scale. The celebrations are colourful and fascinating. Muslim families often dress in the same colour to signify their unity. The men wear a loose shirt with trousers known as ‘baju Melayu’ and the women wear the quintessential ‘baju kurung’. And if you’re lucky enough, you might get an invite to a home-cooked Hari Raya Aidilfitri feast. A wide variety of spicy dishes are traditionally served during the three-day celebration, including spicy beef ‘rendang’, vegetable curry ‘sayur lodeh’ and Malay rice cakes called ‘ketupat’.

Then it is that time of the year again, when I come back home to see ashes flying around the void decks or around blocks and in my home since I live on the second level.

Hungry Ghost festival is an occasion that is taken very seriously by the Chinese. This festival falls on the 7th month of the lunar New Year so that's how they got the name 7th Month Hungry Ghost Festival. Although I am half Chinese I never understood much of this. 

But it is believed by the Chinese that during this month, the gates of hell are opened to free the hungry ghosts who then wander to seek food on Earth. Some even think that the ghosts would seek revenge on those who had wronged them in their lives. The reason why the Chinese celebrate this festival is to remember their dead family members and pay tribute to them. So does this mean they have evil dead and hungry ghost family? (I'm seriously scratching my head now).

I just want to know why is it ok for them to make a mess of the estates and nothing is being done about the fact it should be considered littering? Shouldn't they at least clean up after their rituals? Why can't all these be done at a temple or a place of worship to save the other races and religions the inconvenience? Why can't town council designate one area for them to carry out these rituals instead of right under someone's home?

I mean seriously, I dread the 7th Month because I wake up thinking my house is on fire! I dread it because the smoke and ashes causes my asthma to flare up and not to mention my kids having breathing problems. But that's just my family. How many other kids and elderly people are having this respiratory problems?

No I have nothing against any religion but I think this issue needs to be addressed and taken seriously.