The Secret Affair: the aftermath

i wanna cap off this awesome ntuwkwscifoc2008 with a blog entry. but it was so much i dont know how to organise or structure it. so i figured i'll just give a lazy point-form list.

1.
i guess i'll have to start with Linguine, my beloved OG. really, there's just so much to talk about. to summarise e main emotion i felt through n after e camp, is pity i didnt have enough time with u guys n couldnt know u all better. i would have loved to stay with e OGLs n e freshies through e camp, but as u all should know by now i was involved in a whole lot of other stuff. very much like shixiong was last year, as AGL to my Mee Tai Mak. but he made a difference to our OG, so tt was what i wished for this year, tt even tho i had to be away much, i could still be a significant presence in e OG. i hope i was.

i think it's too much to ask for e freshies to understand, coz ive been thru it n it's not tt crystal to freshies e roles of e main comm, CI club, n other seniors not all e time with e OGs. i know most of e time only e OGLs left a stronger impression on e impressionable young minds. by now u should know of my involvement in Initiation, FN, n HC. for e first, i was stationed somewhere (this shall stay a mystery) so i could not accompany u guys all e way, esp at e location after e lorry ride. but i tried my best to protect Linguine from e horrible tekan by other seniors, so i think i did something. u all could have met alot worse shit. haha.

n also just a sidenote here. to tt someone (among a few) whom i cared for tt Initiation night while u were blindfolded n shivering, i did feel a tinge of disappointment after we broke camp on friday, because u never once did come up to me with a bare minimum "thank u". then next morning i realised i havent read e card Linguine did for me, then i saw u had expressed ur gratitude in e card. n i felt comforted. ok maybe ur not a very vocal person.

for FN alone, i had to miss 水天 with all of u. pity. i know it must have been damn fun. i actually dropped by raffles marina in cheryl's car so i could see how u guys were, n appeared at e Meepok Man movie screening as well while other ghosts were busy dressing up outside. haha.

lastly, my last-minute increased involvement in HC did a damage too. because of our OGLs' role in HC, me n mad were supposed to step up n take over e OG at times. but turned out i had a starring role in e whole affair n to successfully pull it off i had to either be away or give a straight face at times. sorry to those of u who appeared beside me but i wasnt friendly. it was part of everything.

n lastly i guess not staying with e OG at Hall 13 played a part too. because Hall 13 is at e northern tip of NTU n my hall is at e southern tip, please understand. haha. i had to go back hall at times, n usually late at night i couldnt walk u all back (altho i did on thursday night can!). urgh. i even missed e filming shixiong did of our OG for e final FOC video coz im e assigned one to look after all ur belongings.

anw. just to reiterate. e sentosa night's talk i had with a bunch of u was real n i meant everything i said, of course except e last HC part. so stop wondering if tt was a whole load of bull. so, true to tt, i think it's a pity i couldnt talk with everyone. some of u were knocked out e moment u hit ur sleeping bags. i personally felt tt session was e one moment i really felt i was with e OG. im sorry to those who were there, coz by tt night i still didnt know who u guys were so i dont remember anyone except huiling, pedro, sabrina n jiahui. it was supposed to be a small group but it just got bigger n bigger, im touched.

oh yes n another revelation. for e sentosa game, Battlefield, e plan to build a sandcastle tt way was in fact coz i was informed our OG would be ganged by e other three intentionally, part of e HC plot. so to prevent us from dying a terrible death, i decided to teach u guys e sandcastle my OG last year built, which was also ganged by e other three OGs but survived til e end.

oh well. i hope i left my mark in Linguine n all of u will remember me as part of ur rite of passage. coz i volunteered to be AGL (i was approached to be OGL but i had my reasons to decline it) for this noble reason. haha. stay together. at least for e opening weeks of school. u guys made e right choice of coming for FOC. everyone who didnt always tell me tt. but even as e months pass n new cliques form, no one takes away what Linguine gave u. trust me on tt. u saw 2007's Mee Tai Mak n Mee Pok at this year's camp. we dont hang out as a clique anymore, but we're still great buds.

to individual freshies.
sufiyan, grace, pedro, zhiyuan, candy, ur attitude n spirit were vital to e OG. thanks for helping bring up e x-factor within Linguine.
joanne, ur quite everyone's favourite at this FOC huh. haha. not just were u handpicked to be sonic e hedgehog, ur face appeared in so many photos n videos!
jiahui n sheryl, i think u twins had/have alot of potential within e OG. rah-rah on.
tiffany, tho u joined late, e seniors never had to worry about ur assimilation. ur outgoing nature n pleasing demeanour ensured u became an important part of e OG too.
nice talking to derrick, yanling, jayne, wanqing, huiling, felicia, maxie, radiah, jeslynn, jianyue, kiahui, sabrina, hanisah, xinyi, kiki.
sze ee, eldon, kimberly, ur quite e iceberg huh. haha. talk more to me when school opens leh.
ok n lastly i save it for yimei n xinyi, my two fave st nicks girls. u two like to form ur own small clique n stand alone right. haha. maybe tt's why i clicked best with u guys lah. coz im e same. im e default loner in wkwsci (yea right). but credit to u two, u contributed alot to e OG. u never hesitated to join back with e rest every time i nudged u two. Fusili has their twin towers, i think u two make tougher twin towers.

2.
i became so crazy... once again. trust me, esp freshies, im not usually like tt. im e quiet one, in fact. what u saw at FOC of me is exactly result of what i told some of u. if u choose to come for camp, u have to play n be up for it. no point making tt decision but being introverted thru e camp. like i said, u gotta be buey paiseh. n i think i left many of u with tt impression of me. bleh.

3.
Linguine. we're damn strong can. haha. i said this to afew of u, but ive never seen an OG so dominant in games at any camps. orientation games are designed to require different skills, tt's why all OGs should be rather equal. but we totally ran away on e first day! we were well into triple-digit in score while e rest were double. what's more, i was abit down on e first day coz our OG abit too quiet n lacking initiative. so it was harder to believe how good we were at games. well, guys, ignore e final results, it's not about winning. u know u took something irreplaceable away from this camp.

i think e seniors might not have reflected to u guys, but we're damn proud of e Starry Starry Night skit lah. partly due to me being from 2007's Best Skit, when i saw u all rehearsing at ADM in e afternoon, i had a feeling Linguine's gonna win it. dont worry about having no progressive plot or not following e theme of e camp, e other OGs are just boring. mine last year was total aimless n we made e whole hall split. ur skit was awesome.

n i have to be buey paiseh abt this. we have e prettiest OG this FOC lah (i mean our girls only, Linguine guys). some of e male seniors in e other OGs almost wanted to transfer to Linguine. haha.

4.
a vow made last year, tt e Mee Tai Mak people would reunite in e same OG this year, could not be fulfilled due to certain reasons. so i joined e OGL team of wenxu n jacq, one didnt go last year, e other was formerly of Mee Kia, so was my fellow AGL mad. a fresh start i suppose. i did go attend seniors camp with e two OGLs n we were then in e same Red Bull OG too. but when i met e three of em for our pre-camp meetings i realised we dont really know each other well. n we had to strike up a chemistry. it was a now-or-never thing. if we couldnt gel, how could we gel our freshies. n most importantly we had to look like we're besties so e camp would look good to e freshies.

now tt FOC is over, i can surely say we definitely are closer.

Linguine's cheers are damn cool right. e four of us thot of it all man. n for me personally i even had to fight Fusili for former Mee Tai Mak's cheers. if u wanna know why Linguine (or at least e four of us) is so good at cheering, tt's coz, as seen at e pre-camp briefing, we were e only OG practising our cheers loud loud.

thanks mad, for being e fellow AGL, for making e effort to gel us four seniors, for showing enthusiasm when most of us were tired, for being e quieter complement to me whom e freshies could confide in.
thanks jacq, for an irresistable energy, for being always so cute n funny, for tt dry sense of humour, for shouldering massive responsibility thru e camp.
thanks wenxu, for e leadership, for e ceaseless stamina, for always doing e thankless jobs, for going against ur usual self n becoming dumb when required.

5.
of course, it would be criminal to focus on just e four of us. Linguine would not be as awesome without e SAs. thank u for agreeing to join us after we asked u, or coming to join us on ur own. we were still worried we wouldnt have enough SAs! in e end we had e most of e four OGs, after i checked with e rest. haha.

a shout out to super-senior marcus (u guys were lucky to have him), shixiong (having e CI club president around definitely had its perks), philip (e man of wkwsci), cheryl ong, clement (a prominent n relaxing figure who helped e OGLs n AGLs greatly), bernie (one of e most rah-rah freshies last year, glad she agreed to join us), zijie (Chronicle photo editor n FOC publicity head as our photographer, what more to ask for), yiling, huimin, danielle.

n e mysterious amanda mok who's originally our first SA but couldnt make it in e end. freshies, did u spot her cameo during FN?

6.
after a year of studies n all our own lives n into our own small cliques, it's always amazing at this sort of camps when people come together, to relive e past or to know each other better, where lines are not drawn.

from seniors camp, as part of e FN team, i got to know kristle better. she's not just e smart ah lian sia. under pressure to deliver at these two camps she has done well to make things happen, as e able assistant to jeanette. she's damn funny n super 讲义气. her driving me n my stuff around this FOC was priceless.

n symbiotic with her as e other senior who had no OG for e larger part of e camp was my Mee Tai Mak buddy, titus. we all know after last year's FOC we never got into e same clique. but im glad we're still buddies. he's a brudder who will always be there for me man.

n of course, there's my senorita melissa. one of e people i was damn proud of as my OG mate. i was lookin forward to another camp with her. im still so glad she made it as an OGL, tho not being very close to e FOC people before this. just a pity i could not fulfill e one-year plan to be in her OG. still, we hung out abit here n there n i think being from different OGs actually struck up good energies within e whole camp.

part of seniors camp's Red Bull, were amos n pamy, better known together as pamos. never got to know em super well, esp since they're from Mee Pok. but since e last weeks of sem 2, i found em such swell individuals. it brought over to seniors camp n FOC n i must say they're really people worth knowing lah. amos is not very expressive but is good company. pamy has totally changed my impression of her since sem 1, when most MTM-ers thot she's stuck-up. no she's nowhere near tt. pamy is sucha sweet girl whom everyone rightly loved at this FOC.

e oft-misunderstood cameron showed me this FOC he can be a good worker. his clique, esp sara-jean, has constantly reminded me tt below his apathetic n rebellious shell, lies a true friend who will always deliver. i never questioned e fact tt he's alot deeper than what most people know, because he has impressed me when we talked. but he still seemed overly individualistic at times. this time, i had many good opportunities to work n interact with him, n i slowly got to know him better. cameron can be very real n sincere, n once he includes u in his circle of trust, he'll treat u like a brudder. when he got down to work with his OG, he was wholehearted. he's opinionated, n with him around, things will always improve.

cheryl chan became unusually friendlier than she had been e whole year knowing me. i guess it's love tt changed her. haha.

all in all. this was about e seniors coming together. love it.

7.
ok, let's be honest here, how many of u wernt exactly pleased with e FOC comm before this. CI club had its issues with em, e OGLs had their issues with em, n some seniors were not happy with either money matters or how seniors camp went. but FOC will always succeed because it's FOC. people want it to succeed. n very much FOC comm deserves e most credit. they might have stepped on many toes, but e effort could not be doubted n without em we wouldnt have a camp. n thru e two camps, were chances to know e FOC comm better. i know i did.

i got to know cheryl ong way before this vacation, possibly because of my undying support for FOC n their comm. i gave em canvassing lobangs, i tried my best to appear at their canvassing events, i discussed w her who to find as OGL, i gave my support thru e entire seniors camp tho i wasnt an OGL or subcommer.

then there is ruiqi, e loud, funny n happy girl u'll always see around SCI. i knew her from being classmates, but we only talked abit. but because of FOC, n esp due to HC, we became better buddies.

QQ is another one. we're only acquainted before all this, but interactions at seniors camp n then FOC brought us to another level. i found out she's actually quite a capable girl when work is required. CI club? haha.

jinyong, ive talked to, but never really knew before actual FOC. he was e kind of person, u wanna know better, but never seem to cross paths with. but ive heard alot of positive things about him. this FOC i would say we both took e initiative to open up more to each other, n he came across as a good worker who will be there for u if ur in his circle of trust. dependable lad who brings e right energies.

her job as financial controller is crazy, we all know, but siti never fails to joke n play when necessary. i think she's been a good ambassador of FOC comm who networks well with non-comm people.

of course, e three MTM-ers who made e comm. jeanette, thad n james. except for jeanette, whom ive still been in touch with thru e year, e others have gone on their separate ways after FOC 2007. but every time i see em around school, they still offer tt same friendship from a year ago. im just glad we had e chance to hang out again this FOC. they were definitely much warmer than at seniors camp. whenever i talk to thad n james, i feel like we've known each other for so long. hope e brotherhood lasts!

n e few whom i didnt know before these two camps: keax, jasmine, zijie, christine. i realised u guys are great individuals too n im gonna cherish e new found friendships. jasmine n christine are so funny. zijie is super friendly n unassuming. keax is just loud n bubbly. haha.

8.
pity e whole CI club couldnt be there. e traditional club introduction on e first day was missing quite afew of us. but 老大 still made us look good lah, i feel. he's so charismatic u know. he also led e wee kim wee cheer he invented out of thin air, scrapping e tongue-twisting CS cheer. n thanks for e once-again praise n publicity for ISG 2007. n wth's with "actually my preferred person for e next club president is in this LT now".

still, i felt e club had a good presence n representation at this FOC. it was important. we have to let e FOC comm know that FOC is a part of club activities, tt we'll support it, n CI club n FOC comm is a two-way rship. a shout out to OGL lyon, AGLs sara-jean, kenneth, melvin, SAs shixiong, philip n lastly e effort by zak to show up.

for e man himself, i really wanna thank him for everything at this camp. no gayness though. he was e best spokesman we can have for CI club. although he had so little air-time, im very sure all e freshies now know him well n in e process e club. thanks for joining Linguine too, when i recruited u. n then trying to pull e whole bunch of seniors to join us, including marcus. n thanks for slogging to produce tt final FOC video. even without a voice most of e camp, u still tried to rah-rah e school n talk to juniors. zai.

9.
i became so involved in HC in e end. n to think i only knew e *censored* e night before. being thrust into a key OG within this HC, n as an AGL i had to take up this responsibility. linking up e key characters, be e mode of communication, standing in for jacq at times, partner wenxu when she's missing, create e commotion in place of my OGLs etc.

if e freshies wanna know what i did within this whole *censored*, here it is.

- remember e first NTU game? making e connection between jacq n jason at e rooftop. an impromptu decision was made to sudden-death e game w a senior-vs-senior, n as Ravioli picked jason, i picked jacq, for obvious reasons. so without being planned, all e seniors present started teasing em. unfortunately e blur ruiqi was totally unmoved by e scenes.
- staring at n being pissed with ruiqi, yet laughin with her e next moment, is damn weird. haha.
- e sentosa night's talk. original intention was HC, coz i was told e OG needed to be fed gossip n e OGLs wernt e best people to do it. but truthfully, it was a good talk n true to CS FOC tradition, we always talk on sentosa night. nothing fake about tt.
- where did jacq go? haha. remember i kicked up a small fuss Day 2 morning coz jacq disappeared with jason for a beach stroll? in front of e whole Linguine. then i "called" her, which was in fact *censored* n there was no one on e other end of e line. then i walked all e way down to e beach to find her n jason, we stood there awhile, *censored* like we were talking, then i walked back.
- Amazing Race. ooh la la all e gossip. whatever u heard me talking about e whole day was intentional.
- e climax. began with us being late for tiong bahru, onto e bus, back in SCI, n e *censored*. last minute then they told me im involved in breaking up e *censored*.
- this has nothing to do with me, but it has seemingly become a tradition. e random table tt contains marcus which u guys sat in n listened n interviewed. e catch: e marcus table is always crap only.

10.
one year on, n i cant forget u guys. i believe for those of us who turned up this time round, it was e memories of Mee Tai Mak and I Heard A Rumour that led to it. we were e honorary Best OG, delivered e sterling Best Skit, n was e unanimous enemy of e people, simply because we're so damn good.

altho we see each other all e time in school, we've our own cliques, n nothing beats coming together again for tt same thing tt united us a year ago. i know we didnt exactly have alot of time this camp to hang out, but it was great nonetheless to be together.

for thad, jeanette, james n melissa who signed on to contribute for The Secret Affair, we deeply thank u. i know it was Mee Tai Mak tt drove u guys.

i remember i was asking elicia months before this to come for FOC already. eventually, she did turn up, after thad n i sms-ed her separately, to help mavis n waisze with their sentosa game station. crazily enthu n loud girl lah (did i mention everyone hated Mee Tai Mak last year n she was one of e reasons?). before she appeared, melissa n i were already fighting to take her. n when she showed up at e sapphire pavilion, so many seniors shouted out to her n ran over! haha. i rushed over to drag her to join me, so did Fusili's MTM-ers. how heartwarming.

i will never ever, for as long as i live, forget e cheer fight we had with Mee Pok on Day 2 at sentosa. it was stuff of dreams, really. i never thot we would have e chance to come together again. but miraculously, so many MTM-ers turned up tt afternoon. we got together, talked n reminisced, then decided to cheer abit. then i remembered my teasing of kristle missing her Mee Pok OG, so i continued again with our MTM-ers in her face. haha tt forced her to go gather her MP-ers, n e rest was history. n u thot they're e enthu OG? we seriously outnumbered em. haha. for tt cheer fight alone i lost my voice again.

a shout out to e MTM-ers tt afternoon. melissa, jeanette, james, thad, sara-jean, yiling, cheryl chan, titus, meisee, mavis, waisze, elicia, shixiong n cheryl ong. oh yes n ah lian, yiting, was in e crowd as e fake freshie unable to join us. haha.

11.
i wonder. n im troubled. why am i e perennial second-best. Mee Tai Mak tried all it could, sweat n bled, n still finished second, albeit controversially. this year, most of e MTM-ers were with Fusili, who uncannily lost most of what it competed in n thoroughly didnt exactly have e fighting spirit their seniors had in abundance. n for my Linguine, whom i told repeatedly tt im super competitive, we definitely looked like we're gonna win big this time as we ran away into a huge lead from e first day. but e Mee Pok-inspired Penne caught up n they emerged victorious n stole my Best Skit crown too. so perennially a second-best, my fate is. it gets tiring u know, being second again, while e same faces celebrated once more.

12.
to all who contributed to FN's blah-blah Penthouse, whatever its original name was, good job! i think from seniors camp til now, we seriously deserve credit. then, e seniors who trialed e routes wernt frightened by previous routes, so we pledged to give em a good one. n we succeeded. most of em reflected tt our route, supposedly e mildest coz it was held on e familiar fifth floor of SCI, turned out to be e fiercest in terms of scare factor. we made some cry, n made some guys jump. so we had a reputation to protect for actual FOC.

altho, with my experience in both runs, i would say this time wasnt as good due to change in personnel, at times softening our impact for distraught freshies, n having to handle bigger groups, we still earned some accolades lah. NBS n EEE routes could not earn e sort of reviews we did, n i believe it's not about e eeriness of e route, but e ghosts n e stunts pulled. apparently many freshies thot ours was e worst! other freshies observed tt many who did our route broke down here. im sorry for em, but im proud of our achievements.

good job, amos, sheila, danielle, jin, jinyong, keax, ruiqi, siti, ros, bernie, philip, stanley, zhihui, angela, melvin, cheryl chan. e butcher n his kitchen is e awesome. rock on!

anw. im quite surprised no one within e whole huge FN team did any sort of ritual before conducting FN. esp since this time involved alot of Chinese funeral material, like paper money, joss sticks, altar candles, obituaries n paper offerings. i hope my n shixiong's little something as respect to e netherworld helped.

13.
how do u keep coming back. haha. e super-senior marcus once again made his appearance. he is year 6, way into his working career, flying high with mediacorp n just wrote upcoming comedy First Class. but he keeps appearing in SCI.

ive seen him at some random CS events like Academy Awards. shixiong hinted to e camp n esp Linguine right from e start that a "spiritual figure" of SCI will be appearing soon, someone loved by everyone n who can make u laugh non-stop. what a shining testimonial! but we didnt expect him to be sucha big part of this camp. he appeared while e camp was checking into Hall 13 for accommodation, n tagged along from Initiation onwards! wow, committed lah. he even did e whole Amazing Race with us n gamely played along with HC.

i guess this place really means alot to him, from talking to him n judging from his blog posts. formerly of CI club too, he's been involved in all FOCs since his own. who better to offer advice at such events. i heard he even authored n compiled a manual on how to run FOC! Linguine, we're all proud to have marcus in our OG isnt it! n so, like every year, marcus is loved by everyone. shixiong's final FOC video even gave him a cameo tribute right at e end. i remember while into his anus theory, i realised he's e only one in e whole Starry Starry Night hall who had a chair n was sitting on a chair, unlike e floor-warming us.

14.
now i know why e CS tradition of Animal Blindfold Game is so fun for seniors.

15.
actually Initiation was fun. tho tiring, almost playing out like FN. some seniors had hated e idea during seniors camp. it was something associated more with hall camps. when i spoke to marcus about it, he reflected he's not one who supports e idea. but thru this experience, i guess if it's conducted in e right way, it should be fine. gotta explain e rationale, gotta take good care of e freshies, n not go too far. still, i heard a significant number hated it. hmm.

anw. many seniors, esp e AGLs, are still baffled n abit unhappy why we wernt told we're running Initiation. we had no clue what to do at our stations man.

n what a pity i didnt see e storm drain segment. i couldnt follow Linguine there coz i was stuck in SCI.

16.
thanks for all e citings/references, esp e two OGs, including joanne, who reenacted e FN Butcher during Starry Starry Night skits; getting advice from me on how to do song-song-dao-jurong; how to speak hokkien; how to act beng; even recognising my voice (blindfolded) durin Initiation when u wernt from my OG.

17.
dammit i still got cheers n games i haven taught Linguine.

18.
pity 滚滚 was missin at Starry Starry Night! man, FOC comm, u should have done better there. he's another spiritual figure of CS. or rather, his song performance. but yes i loved e final cheer-every-cheer moment, doing e wee kim wee cheer n Ecstacy cheer all together. n finally a 3-cheer for me, n e sweet appreciation card from e OG. thank u.

19.
now is e hard part again. where are all e photos n videos. ha.


p.s. ok i think i broke my record for longest post ever.