currently listening to: Lucky Star [Pretear]

i refuse to believe that i'm that black!!! i'm definitely not THAT BLACK!!! *tears out hair in desperation* i may be tanned... but never BLACK.

fine.. i'm deluding myself. whatever. BLAME IT ON ACJC ORIENTATION 2005!!!

returning to blogging. by the way, this is just one of the very strange thoughts that occurred to me today. bet most of you guys won't understand. *wahahha*

i was taking my usual route home from school today. walking under the hot sun all the way from ACJC to the Buona Vista Mrt Station. taking the MRT from Buona Vista to Bedok. walking the stretch of road that led me to the very end of the Bedok Bus Interchange to board my bus (only to find that i lost my water bottle). taking the bus all the way to my stop at Bedok Reservoir [deliberately written to explain exactly how FAR the potato school is].

as i rounded the corner that led me into the awaiting lift, i stopped dead in my tracks when i realized that i almost trampled on the hand of a BLANGADESHEE (ah~ma.. *sobx*), whistling away while scrubbing the walls of the lift.

"ahh.. hello~"
"oh!" *busy*busy*

feeling rather uneasy, i move into the corner of the lift as he continued scrubbing the walls while making space for me to stand. i was watching his every move with every bit of interest. i had never seen anybody washing the lifts before. in fact, i hadn't even THOUGHT about how the loan sharks' scrawls and scribbles (not to mention *ahem* dirt from.. *ahem* the inside of the nose) miraculously disappeared from the walls. as i scrtutinized the man before me, i was deeply impressed and amazed by his dedication to his work even though others hardly notice.
there wasn't any bit of contempt, or annoyance, or reluctance when he scrubbed the walls well and hard with all his might.

scrub, scrub, scrub... pause... scrutinize... spray, spray, spray detergent... scrub, scrub, scrub... pause... scrutinize... smiles... turns... scrub,scrub,scrub...

i am not exaggerating things. he was really THAT involved in his work, and probably only stopped whistling cuz he was embarrassed with my presence. i have to admit i was staring at this man a with a 'what-is-this-man-doing' expression when he suddenly turned and scrubbed the other wall behind him. i heard a really uncomfortable squishing sound and looked down at his feet.

water, soapy water to be exact, was oozing out from his slippers as he moved around and exerted force onto it. his entire feet was drenched and a little wrinkled from the soap water and i couldn't help but wince at that sight. that was when i truly felt impressed by this unsung hero.

i must first declare that i HATE wearing slippers and slippers that are soaked with SOAP WATER completely turns me off. can you imagine? walking around with these 'water-pump' slippers and soaking your feet in soapy water every step you take...

eeks.

but when the man worked, he was oblivious to everything, including his slippers which apparently wasn't very comfortable when his entire feet resembled wilting rose petals. he scrubbed the walls as if he was washing his very own precious car (if he had one). and to think that all these work was being done yet i haven't even taken notice of it before.

i stepped out of the lift and began thinking about the man who resumed whistling right after i left. exactly how many times have he done this? exactly how many people are there who are like this? exactly how many people gave their everything yet did not receive any applause at all? exactly how many sacrificed and yet are still able to be happy without returns?

*sigh* i guess i have lots to learn.

oh, just in case any of you guys wanna know, this is the unofficial ranking of JCs based on the 2004 GCE A LEVEL results..

1. RAFFLES JUNIOR COLLEGE
2. HWA CHONG INSTITUTE
3. VICTORIA JUNIOR COLLEGE
4. ANGLO-CHINESE JUNIOR COLLEGE
5. ANDERSON JUNIOR COLLEGE
6. NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE
7. TEMASEK JUNIOR COLLEGE

first four confirmed but the ones below are tentative. ACJC's number four??? man... maybe i'm missing out on something...

記憶は明日のために強さになるものだよ。きっと。