saturday morning i haven't done my customary year in review mainly because i've been too busy with other things. but more on that later.
the two months have been a whirlwind of things for me. beyond ssa and my work, i had to contend with holding together a brand new association, organize a student forum and contend with imbeciles who threatened to undermine the whole thing.
it has taken a lot out of me, physically and mentally. falling sick over Christmas and new year was a culmination of all the late nights put into the project. something that at the end, i can say i am damn proud of.
there were lots of ups and downs for us - people losing commitment, losing sight of what we were doing, people not contributing anything positive, to name a few. but we pulled through and it was a job well done on most people's part.
i'm happy not just because the event went well, i'm more happy because in the midst of planning, organizing and executing to meet the objectives, bonds were formed, great friends were made and that's what i treasure the most out of this whole project.
it was indeed "the meeting point". where a bunch of utter strangers got together, worked our asses off toward a common goal, stuck together through thick and thin and now when it's all over, there's a sudden emptiness. no more meetings every tuesday and thursday from 7 to 11pm and late dinner after. no more sweating in the meeting room at mnd complex, no more friendly banter while trying to get down to work. but it's all good. most of us have become good friends, some close friends even.
so here's to you. the nssa committee that made it all happen.
2009 came to a close about 3 weeks a go. it was a year that has taught me a lot, not just about myself but my family as a whole. we stuck together through 2 deaths in the family, the second one came when i was in the midst of my final exams last semester.
unfortunately i can't recall much of the first semester because everything's swirling around in my head at the moment. the first semester was when i officially joined ssa and got my hands dirty. don, dave, daniel, bjorn and wansze were the pillars of it all and despite some major friction with some others, we stuck through and we headed into the agm with our heads held high. perhaps the same can't be said for a certain few.
i came back to singapore during the short winter break to get away from it all. things were getting a bit overwhelming. it was also in desperation to be home, to be among friends who were heading to other parts of the world. to be able to meet them before i next see them was something i really wanted to do.
the second semester of school was a whole new thing. great things happened in august. and i'm more than thankful and grateful that she has stuck by me despite the many uncountable times i've made her unhappy. her support has been one of the key drivers for me since and though i don't say it to her often, i do miss her all the time despite of my work commitments and everything else.
among the highlights of the semester was when sebastian, chel, tammy, jiayun, yuehan and i worked non-stop for one week in the library and at the computer lab, most of the time spending the night in the com lab before heading to the library at 8am when it opened, just so we could complete 2 simultaneous assignments that were, in my opinion, very heavy in terms of workload.
there was also the lecturer who at the first lesson, took out his guitar and sang a song about project management. in subsequent lectures, he'd throw A$1 or A$2 at you for asking good questions in class. the alternate lecturer to the module liked to ask us questions and gently get us to answer them. comp3120, one of the most fun and practical modules i've ever taken.
heading to melbourne for a week with bjorn was great fun. had by far one of the best scones i've ever eaten, had fun catching up with some old friends, meeting new friends and just having a ball of a time. it offered a different perspective to travelling: going with no agenda, waking up in the morning to decide what to do next. it was refreshing and bjorn and i achieved everything we wanted to.
ssa was to be one of the bigger commitments i've undertaken. i ran for elections (a farce to me) and was made president. it was hard work that i foresaw, given the state of the finances, the shattered reputation and the direction that ssa had taken. it was a sinking ship but i believe that i could make it work and i'm proud to say that the first few steps of the revamp is underway. the first event promises to be something that different and unique in its own right.
the year was also one of the better ones in terms of my floorball. i finished the year as the 3rd highest scorer overall in canberra - 40+ goals in all. it was also the second time i played in the northern beaches open, this time faring much better than i did last year. i scored a memorable hat-trick, 2 goals coming from beyond the halfway line and the other, a wrist shot through my other forward's and a defender's leg and into the top left corner.
the semester ended in tears for me. literally. when news came that my paternal grandfather had passed away, i just broke down. i remember the text message coming at around 1am. i was in a state of shock for a while but that soon wore off when i called home and some sketchy details were made known to me. it affected me so much that i just couldn't concentrate on studying, couldn't concentrate on anything at all.
given my results, i don't think i did that badly after all. the only blip is having to sit for a supplementary paper for comp2600.
coming home in december brought on a whole new spectrum of different challenges - emotionally especially. i went back to my grandfather's house and all the childhood memories flooded back. i went home that night and cried myself to sleep. my grandfather was one who never said much, deeply religious and never said anything that would have made you think that he actually bothered. the whole family was surprised, to say the least, when clearing up the house after his passing.
the mortality of each and everyone of us was made even more evident to me. my grandma isn't as strong as she used to be. she is no longer the hyper lady who would be doing so many things at once and never seemed tired. i'm just ashamed that i haven't had the time to spend time with her more like i know i should.
i suppose dealing with 1 death is bad enough but 2 in a year was a bit of a trigger. my maternal grandfather's passing wasn't painful for reasons that i shall not mention here. but when my paternal grandfather left us, it made me wonder why was i so mad with people and whether it was all worth it.
i've learnt to look at things from very different perspectives since yet that hasn't stopped me for standing up for what i believe in. that then, brings me one full circle to this year. to all the hardwork, sweat and figurative-tears that have been put into nssa and "the meeting point".
things didn't start off as well as i'd hope. so many expressed their interest but few actually committed to it. it was tough all the way through. much of the work that ian and i did were not visible to the rest of the committee but i'm thankful that they understood.
if it weren't for the support from the folks at osu, i very much doubt we would have pulled through like we did. i'm also indebted to my committee. i can go on and keep raving about each and every single one of them but that would take too long so i shan't. they know how i feel and i'm glad to have had the privilege and opportunity to work with such a great group of people.
the biggest surprise for us was the unexpected widespread media coverage in the news - ian appearing all over the english papers and yours truly, on lianhezaobao. haha.. strange eh? but it was all good. pictures are all over facebook too.
and now that it's all over, what next? i'll be terribly upset if there weren't any sort of follow-through. we've put in far too much for nssa to be a one-off thing. there's so much potential in it and we need to leverage on this ecstasy of accomplishment to bring nssa to the next level.
contrary to what one person wrote in the feedback form, this wasn't done to boost any of our resumes. there are far easier and cheaper ways to do that. i, we, did what we did because we believed in it. we chose to face some challenges head on in the hopes of bettering the lives of singaporean students in australia. much can and have been said but without any action, nothing changes.
i will defend my committee against anyone who tries to undermine us, against people who question our abilities or objectives. ian and i can take the shit. but we won't allow people to insult the rest of the committee or the association.
and on that note, the month is almost at an end and i'll be back in canberra within the next 3 weeks or so.
2010 promises so much yet there's so much more to lose...
