and so it ends...

I'm currently high on Mocha right now, so I decided to get this entry up and running while I'm in creative and chatty mood. Just came home from Hwachong's annual MAF. I've got to be honest, this is probably going to be my last year attending MAF. I know I've been contemplating that every year, but after 6 different MAFs, I think this is really it. Its not that MAF has lost its meaning, its just that I think its time for me to take a step back and let it all go. Its time to accept that I've got to embark onto my adult life and to really venture out into the wild and crazy world. Every year MAF serves as some sort of escape route from facing the realities of growing up, where once a year, you can just go back to a school that's my Hogwarts, to feel safe being surrounded by its 4 walls, but I really think its time I stopped relying of this sort of escapism.

I know that I'll probably miss MAF, but the fact is, with each passing year, I feel that there's a new generation of Hwa Chongians who will come back to Hwa Chong and keep the spirit and the flame alive. Its really time for us to hand that torch to them. We'll work to keep that flame burning in a different way, doing our part to build a better home, a better nation, a better world for the future generations to come.

So I've decided that this year's MAF will be my last. Maybe one day I'll decide to come back. But I foresee that that day won't be anytime soon. It probably be a day 10 years down the road, where I'm happily married and I'll bring my wife and kids down to see the tradition that made me so proud to be a Hwa Chongian. But til then, its goodbye MAF. Thanks for all the wonderful memories. You'll be a tradition that will live on and on.

"多年以后又再相逢
我们都有了疲倦的笑容
问一声我的朋友 何时再为我吹奏
是否依旧是否依旧" - 细水长流

MAF 2009

I had a great time at HwaChong's MAF last night! Every year I say the same thing about MAF, how great it is to go back to HwaChong to soak in the atmosphere of being back home again, of being able to hang out with my JC classmates and friends, to laze around the beloved class bench, to do all the lame and incredibly stupid things we used to do. But the thing is, I never get tired reflecting on how wonderful MAF is. I think MAF is what makes HwaChong great. That sense of family and belonging that it manages to generate - no other institution comes up with something close to it.

I did do something different though - I actually stayed to dance in the mass dance session, which is something I never did do in the last 4 years of MAF. I dunno, something got me extremely high last night. I suspect its the fact that I was listening to Sodagreen's 'Summer/Fever' album prior to going for MAF, but that's going to be another story for another time. But yeah, I actually danced in the mass dance session! Its a miracle I didn't drop dead, but I did step on ALOT of people's toes with my totally unco-ordinated foot work and slap ALOT of people with my flailing arms! Totally worth it! =P

Its really nice to go back to HwaChong every year. Honestly, I do feel like I feel more for HwaChong then say, MedFac or NUS. Its a special feeling that I would always look forward experiencing during that special time of the year! I LOVE MAF!