My Kiasu Teenage Life in Singapore (13 page)

Love, Pei Yee

Dear Mei Yee

I was so happy to receive your letter. Thank you. It was very amusing and interesting.

Today I argued with Mr Koh the Maths teacher 'coz he taught wrongly again. Although I had never learned that chapter before, I knew that it was wrong. He was so un-Maths-teacher-like to say that p = 180 degrees. Where got such thing? Actually it has something to do with radian but he said, no need to explain. I showed my classmates the letter I wrote to him (which I had at first decided not to give him) but they all agreed and we gave him the letter. My class is very fed up with him 'coz when we ask him why, and what's the proof of the formula, he said, no need proof, cannot be proven, last time long time ago people already said it's like that so we must follow. Then I figured out how to prove it by myself. After that lesson, he wanted to talk to me so I told him all the things I disliked about him (without being rude). I guess there's nothing that can be done. He said he tries his best, but he has not touched Maths for two years. His deplorable state of mind cannot be improved. So I've to depend on myself. It's 'coz he did not understand properly that he cannot remember. This problem of Mr Koh is bugging me. But at least I've told him. He read the very straightforward letter I wrote in front of me. At least he didn't get angry. Well, I guess it's not his fault that he's stupid. I must ask my classmates to be kinder to him.

The way Singaporeans pronounce Genting Highlands is so weird! The G is not hard as in “god”—as it should be—but soft as in “gender”! Also they've never heard of the expression “new pinch!”

Although Alisa's class (3S3) doesn't like Mr Koh also, they pretend to be very nice to him. Some of them even think Mrs Simons is not very good at teaching. I think Mrs Simons is closer to my class than theirs. There're many lively, energetic, spontaneous girls in my class. I'm glad I told Mr Koh all that I felt 'bout his teaching methods and wasting time. If he improves a little bit, isn't it great for 3S3 who didn't have to do anything? Maybe I should just let things happen and not make them happen.

I want to be good at Maths. It's not fair, me having such a lousy teacher and 3S1 having Mr Tan! To beat the girl in that class with the highest Add. Maths marks, I've got to score 100 for final year exams and she has to get below 94 'coz she got 94 in the mid-year exam and I got 88. Wow, your Maths is good. I think you can excel in many fields if given the opportunity.

Well, I've spent too much time writing. I think I'm the only one in the hostel to write so much. Reply soon and BYE.

Love, Pei Yi

Sunday 19 July

Dear Mei Yee

I just posted a letter to you two days ago but I'm writing again 'coz if I don't, by the time I receive your reply, I would have forgotten what I wanted to tell you.

Yesterday, I didn't eat for the whole day! You see, Nancy, Jen Nee and I are participating in the 30-hour Famine. We don't eat, then we sell coupons to people to raise funds for the starving people in Ethiopia. We knew 'bout this from the man from Ethiopia who gave us a talk. I was so hungry. We are allowed to drink, fortunately. Today I woke up early to have the long-waited-for breakfast. How terrible it must be to be an Ethiopian. They go without food for months, then die of starvation!

The other night, Jen Nee and I were telling ghost stories. Jen Nee has once experienced the presence of spirits. She was alone at home, and her hand on its own tried to touch herself against her will. She tried to control it. All these stories are SO frightening! I was surprised to find that Jen Nee has the same fear as me—looking into a mirror and seeing something other than your reflection.

I think Maths is such a beautiful subject 'coz it's so logical and so extremely clever! I think too many people do not relate Maths to real things. They just work the questions out and get some figures that have no meaning. For example when some of my classmates solve quadratic equations they don't know what it really is or how the curve looks like. Sometimes I don't' really understand everything but I try to. I'm going to do homework now.

Bye

Love, Pei Yi

PS Alisa took the opportunity to starve herself 'for the 30-hour Famine but she's not asking for donations, she just wanted to slim down!

Tuesday 21 July

Dear Mei Yee

I just finished talking to my family on the phone. I told my mum about Mr Koh and my letter to him, and she actually scolded me for being rude to him. She said that she and my dad have had bad experiences with students who think that they're so smart and who are disrespectful to them, and she was disappointed in me for the way I handled it. Gosh, now I feel really bad. I am going to make a real effort to be nicer to him at class.

Love, Pei Yei

Wednesday 29 July

Dear Mei Yee

I'm going to enter a chess competition in my school. I hope I can beat at least a few people. I've been playing with Nicole, who claimed that she was an expert and that she has never lost since Primary 5. But it turned out that she wasn't really good. I beat her in five out of seven games.

Recently, Leo (the Sec 1 sissy) has been teasing me with Eric. He also went to ask Eric if “there's anything going on between me and him” and Eric responded with his famous Alvin the Chipmunk grin. I was pretty embarrassed about it when I knew that he asked this in case Eric thinks that I like him. Well, actually, I could like him, but I don't want to 'coz I don't think he'll like me. You know, like you say, control your feelings and it won't become an infatuation.

We know Ekan gave a girl a rose during Farewell and we deduced that it was Alisa. Jen Nee and I bugged Eric to tell us but he won't 'coz he has promised Ekan to keep it a secret. When I bugged him further, Eric asked me, “You can keep a secret, right?” I replied, “Ya”. He said, “So can I!” Afterwards, I was quite bothered in case he thinks I'm a gossip and a
sampat
and don't respect Ekan's privacy. Jen Nee said, if the situation were reversed, I wouldn't have a bad impression of him, so don't worry. You know the Sustagen advertisement on TV last time? The voice of Geno was Wah Yi, a Sec 4 guy now. He was in Primary 4 then. He said he had to sing again and again for a month for one ad! When I said, “Hi, Geno!” to him, he thought that I said, “Hi, gigolo!”

Thursday 30 July

Dear Mei Yee

Hi again! Just now, I was in the newspaper room. I asked Sunny to play chess with me but she didn't want to. She asked me to ask Gaik Teong, who was nearby, so I did. I think guys are terrible 'coz they can't bear the thought of losing to girls. Gaik Teong was very reluctant to play until I convinced him that I'm a beginner. I borrowed this chess book from library but I haven't read it 'coz it looks very boring. Anyway, Matt came along so I asked him to play instead since Gaik Teong kept trying to give excuses not to play. Matt asked whether I'm an amateur 'coz he said it'll “hurt his ego” if he loses. Can you believe that?! Ego. Ego. I can't stand it. I told him I'm a beginner and that I need to practice 'coz I signed up for a competition. Cheng Hoe gave me a tip or two 'coz I made bad opening moves. While Gaik Teong, Sunny and Alisa were socializing, we played chess. I won and then wished I hadn't 'coz Matt looked disappointed and ashamed. No one (I mean guys) will want to play with me again. Jen Nee said it's stupid to care 'bout that—why must they always win?

I just played chess with Nancy. I won. She's a good sport and she said I can play with her anytime I want. Nicole doesn't want to play anymore 'coz she loses most of the time. I'm going to ask Mr Koh to play chess with me. He's actually not that bad. I mean, he's still bad at teaching Maths, but I realize that he's really trying his best, and he's not a bad person.

When I think back on how mean I was to Mr Koh (in May), I feel quite remorseful. It was unfair of me to be judgmental towards him. Even though his Maths is not as good as Mr Tan, it doesn't give me the right to be rude to him. In fact, it was very gracious of him to listen to my “letter of complaint” without getting angry. I talked to Huiwee, Lingling and Serena about this and they said that they'll ask our other classmates to be more respectful of him.

I'm reading acopy of
The Roman World
from the library. Can you believe that I actually like History a little now? I used to despise, loathe, hate and dislike it extremely back in BM. We're going on a History trip to Malacca on 21 August and we'll be staying in a very posh hotel. I like Mrs Jean (History teacher). She's very sweet. You know, like that kind of sweet, pleasant, kind European lady.

Love, Pei Yi

Saturday 1 August

Dear Mei Yee

Hello! (For a change.) Yesterday I received your letter. I giggled and giggled while reading it.

Elizabeth's a great chess player. She taught me some things. I must finish reading the chess book.

Love, Pei Yi

Sunday 2 August

Dear Mei Yee

This afternoon, Jen Nee and I watched a free orchestral performance at the Botanical Gardens. The AYO (Asian Youth Orchestra) performed. These people are so lucky. They get to go around the world to perform. And they have Sir Yehudin Menuhin as the music director. There were many spectators. All of us sat on the grass. There were many Caucasians. The family and friends sitting beside us were having a picnic on a mat. Their food looked so delicious and expensive. They had all sorts of rich pastry, wine, huge grapes etc. We had to leave early and rush to make it back for prep.

Nicole wrote a love story. She says it's fiction, but it's actually about her and Wei Keong (Sec 2 guy she likes). People have been teasing Nicole with Wei Keong since last year 'coz Nicole likes him but she denies it. Nicole thinks that Wei Keong likes her. Everything was revealed in the story, which she says has nothing to do with Wei Keong. She used the name Sally for the protagonist, but occasionally she used the word “I” instead of “she” for Sally. At the end of the story, Wei Keong asks her out, they become a couple, and they tell each other that they've been in love with each other since Sec 1! From the story, we know how highly she thinks of herself. She said that guys always give her their attention, and that all the guys are drawn to her, especially Sec 1 guys (Leo and friends). In the story, Wei Keong is jealous of her many admirers and loves her but dares not show it. She's so
perasan!

The assistant manager of this hostel is Ms Lily Sim. She's a bitch. We call her Ass-man (short for assistant manager). She thinks she's very shapely and sexy, and she puts on lots of makeup. She goes around wearing fashionable minis and white stockings. She keeps catching Jen Nee and me. She's the one who gave Jen Nee the conduct form. Recently she keeps knocking at your door if you have guests after 11 pm. I always happen to be in that person's room when she knocks! She recognizes Jen Nee, Nancy and I and loves to see us get into trouble. We're going to play tricks on her. She knows we're out if our slippers, which she recognizes, are not at our door, so we must bring them in. Then she'll be running up and down in Block A looking for us. Or, we put all our slippers outside my door. Then she'll come to my door, go “knock, knock,” and come into the room. Seeing no one but me, she'll ask everyone to “come out,” thinking they're all hiding in the toilet. No one will come out. She'll go open the toilet door and Nicole will be inside, with a towel wrapped around her body. Then she'll open the wardrobe door where we'll have a mechanism that will spring out and punch her face! HA HA HA.

Tonight, we set a trap for Ass-Man by placing six pairs of slippers outside my door but unfortunately, she did not come.

Sunny's mind is very gross. She told us to apply anti-perspirant to our faces so all the sweat would clog up. Then, when you wash your face, all the sweat will gush out.

I noticed that many people here are freethinkers. And many ASEAN scholars have not pierced their ears and a lot of them wear contact lenses.

There's a Japanese student here for a few weeks in 3S1. In Singapore, if you study French or Japanese as a second language, and if you're good at it, they give you a free trip to France or Japan. There are a lot of opportunities if you study in Singapore and you're good at something.

Tuition teachers here earn so much. I heard a girl say that her Maths tuition is S$50 an hour and that the teacher seldom gives any work, just explains a bit! I can't stand it when people earn a lot without doing much.

Love, Pei Yi

Thursday 6 August

Dearest Mei Yee

I wish you were here 'coz there are many things that can't be written in letters, eg jokes, conversations, talking about people, going shopping together and having fun.

Yesterday I slept at three something 'coz I had to finish colouring My Heritage. I drew food and hawker centres. My figures have the same faces, look like rigid dummies and are so stiff. Ha! Ha!

Do you feel selfish, like you don't want to share your knowledge with others? I don't know why I'm like that sometimes. I'm trying to get rid of this attitude. For example, if you were here and I just finished reading
Cezanne
or
Women Who Changed History,
I'd probably tell you this and that. But I seldom do that to Jen Nee 'coz she's always asking for this and that and never really puts any effort to do anything herself. But I guess I'm being selfish for even having thoughts like “Should I share?” so I must change.