Tuesday, November 15

Blogger doesn't understand the Chinese I'm typing! Sobs.

I think it's time for me to dig up my old Chinese textbooks and the infamous 词语手册 which everyone wished that they could just burn it (that's hell lot of ashes) and drink it the night before your mother tongue exams. Those were the times when we would all crowd around the best students and hoping to get a piece (or a few pieces if you wanted) of wisdom from the walking dictionaries, because, as we know, we are always a lazy bunch who throw paper aeroplanes in class, whip out our handphones (it was banned in school - it'll be confiscated if it's found in your bag, even if it's turned off - but we brought them anyway), and beg and bargain with our teacher to give "discounts" on homework. You see, we are typical Singaporeans, right from the day we're born on this sunny island.

I still remember the most vocal guy (also the most amusing - in a good sense - guy) who happened to be our chairman. The year he became our "chair-mair" (or "blind" in Hokkien), we kept calling him that 'cos they were known as "class monitors and monitoresses" the previous year, and that's how they pronounced it over the PA whenever they had been called to task. Lols. But, he's witty with words and with vivid expressions, he would stage a mini-drama to get us the stuff we needed. Anyway, before we hear what he has to say, I'd like to tell you that Eugene had auditioned for the Project Superstar before, and had a few seconds of fame on TV. Not bad eh.

"Cher, skip the practice questions, lah. That one so 'chicken feet', leh. We still got Chemistry (this teacher very fierce, cannot bargain), Lit, Geog (never mind that only half of the class did Geog and the rest, Lit), then also got your E Maths, the question a lot of graph, draw until hand pain leh."

"Aiyah, cannot lah, your final year exams coming in 'bout a month, must practice."

"Cher, cannot. You ask E. "Chilli Padi" Lim (our Chemistry teacher), she asked us to finish one mock exam paper by tomorrow. (That means our famous Mrs. Elizabeth Lim is very efficient, term haven't finish we know all the CO₂, H₂O and (NH₄)₂MoOBr₅ already.) Cannot lah. Like that I tonight the midnight oil also not enough oil to burn, you know.."

"Okie lah, okie lah. Tomorrow must hand up also ah."

"Huh. Monday, can?"

And it goes on.

Out of our fond memories of school, 词语手册 and Ammonium Oxopentabromomolybdates (V) and back to the blogosphere, I gave a copy of the digital Chinese dictionary to the Blogger server, complete with all my 8 editions of 词语手册's which all Singaporeans are supposed to know - together with their exact definitions - by heart, and now, it finally knows what I'm talking about.

Yeah, I mean, do you still keep all your 词语手册 not? Lols.

footprint left at 5:15 PM | Permalink