Pink Tuesdays

Positive parts of the day
- I got a call from Starbucks offering the part-time barrister job to me. Rejecting it though, unless I decide against going to Singapore.
- Heading into the shopping complex next to the bus stop where I have to wait for my second bus to reach home, my friend, who I complained of here, treated me to nasi kerabu. It’s nice to know who your real friends really are.
- That paracetamol helped a lot. She, the friend, may be completely un-Christian, but she was there for me when nobody else weren’t.

Now, the negative
Where do I start? How about the beginning?
- Woke up one hour before I wanted to simply because my mother decided it would be a dandy idea playing some 10-year-old Hillsong tape loudly while she showers in the other end of the house.
- At a rush-rush breakfast, I saw a letter openned - a lawyer’s notice demanding my father pay up his Hong Leong’s credit card debt. It’s RM13,XXX. I’m probably not going to study in Singapore.
- Spent longer than usual getting to work because of exhaustion-induced absent-mindedness forced me to miss my turning on the LDP, heading me towards TTDI. Oh, the jams.
- Had an headache since then
- Played two jobs that morning - my usual, and as replacement teacher - could not sneak off to ProJet to have something to eat and later, Panadol. The hunger pangs ensue. Though playing the teacher role today, I was getting paid 15 times less the person I’m replacing.
- All the kids decided to do their test today (they do a test after each workbook). More work for me. Boss decided to get complete academic records of this leaving students. More work for me.
- Lunch was okay. Coming back from lunch, I decided to head towards ProJet and buy Panadol. Something I really need.
- Car stalled at the traffic light, three cars away from it. Lots of honking. Not particularly good for headaches. Sky just had to be blue at that time - bladdy hot.
- Called just about everyone by the cellphone. Forgotten everyone was observing the National Don’t-Pick-Up-The-Phone Day. The bars indicating battery life on the phone actually went down.
-Some kind soul help me push the car back to around the 6th car away from the traffic line. Noticibly less honking. Still no one picking up the phone.
- After an half hour (I only got a 45 minutes lunch break this time), I decided to walk towards the resource centre - risking my car getting hit by one of those honking cars. Got three boys to help me push my car around 1/2 km away from the main road of honking cars.
- Sky was still blue (that’s bad, in Malaysia). Still, no one picking up the phone.
- Boss and receptionist went out, filling in three people’s job now. More kids decide they absolutely, definitely, need to take their test today. Poor kids, I failed all but three. One even at 55.5% (passing grade is 80%) - he started crying. Should have put that on the positive section. Still, no one picking up the phone.
- One of the guys who I tried to call - the one who got me this bloody job - called back. I was suppose to follow him to Singapore this weekend. My grandunc and grandaunt in JB, across the causeway, was in KL - couldn’t stay with them. His friends in Singapore, well, kinda rejected the possibility of me staying in their HDB flat. Still, no one else picking up the phone.
- Other teachers decide it is against their best interest to lessen the slack I’m holding. Still, no one picking up the phone.
- Headache intensifies, runny nose and fever ensues. Girls claims to put a test paper on my table, I can’t find it, she panics and goes into near-crying. (Positive section again?) Still, no one picking up the phone.
- Left work around 4:30, around 1.5 hours later than I planned - someone had to send me to the bus stop because those blue skies just have to lash out in pouring rain now. Somebody hates me up there. Still, no one picking up the phone.
- Waited 30 minutes for a bus to send me to the said shopping complex. Still, no one picking up the phone.
- Waited 1 hour for a bus to send me from from that said shopping complex. Still, no one picking up the phone.
- Was drizzling when walking home.
- Mother was horrified with the car-stalled-in-the-middle-of-nowhere with the I-will-blame-you-for-the-rest-of-your-life-if-that-old-piece-of-crap-gets-stolen voice. Broke down. Cherry on top of a beautiful day. Hate family.

On Tuesday, I got a rejection letter from the National University of Singapore. Not an offer for another course, as it is usually done, or waitlisted. Outright rejection. But before I could swirl done the deep recesses of depression, I got a phone call from a Johore number - from SMU (they have a Johore office? They have that many Malaysian students?) - to arrange an telephone interview with a professor from the School of Economics and Social Science.

Heh, bangga a bit - interviewed you know. And then the next day, at 9:45pm, I got the telephone call from this certain Prof. Ong who spoke with a thick foreign accent (well, he didn’t puntuate his sentences with -lah, he’s definitely not Singaporean). So speaking of -lah’s, I tried my best not to say that suffix, as with -mah, -kua, and other things that make my grandmother think she has a Cantonese grandchild - instead what came out was ‘-le-’ or ‘-ahh’. I managed to stay away from Manglish/Singlish words - that I’m proud of.

My job did help a bit in the interview - the official title is “Volunteer Helper” (getting paid to volunteer… fine, it is a stipend. But still). He asked me about it, and asked about homeschooling (though I beg to differ whether or not the centre practices homeschooling). Moving on from there, he asked me about my plans - I told him I want to become an economist and pursue postgraduate studies in Economics, preferably research on monetary systems. I went on to say how I have read up a lot on that subject.

He then promptly asked me, “What is the biggest economic problem facing Malaysia”. I would have answered, “Indians”, but I gave a more PC answer of “Inflation, for the inflation rate last month was 4.8″. He then asked how to solve it. I wanted to say mengehadkan money supply - lost for words, I immediately said, “ease”. Stupid me, why didn’t I study in English - the better translation would be “restrict”. I corrected myself after what seem like three century’s worth of a pause, and then went on to say something about decreasing duties and taxes on consumer goods (which is a better answer; inflation last month was cost-push).

I thought I was done for. Until yesterday just before I left work, I saw this in my email account (yes, I surf more than I work):

Letter of Offer : Singapore Management University Bachelor of Science (Economics) programme - REX (X##XXX####)

You have up to 5 June 2006 to accept our offer of a place at SMU. You may accept our offer online at www.smu.edu.sg

Heh. But I have less than a month not only which university to study in, but which country to live in. If I study in Singapore, unless I want to give up the 80% tuition subsidy, I’m bonded to work in Singapore for three years.

But didn’t Edmund Smith say not to go to Singapore? I don’t know, I think an letter of offer for my first choice from Southeast Asia most selective Economics school while outright rejections elsewhere might be a sign. Plus, KL is as liberal as Singapore, if not significantly more (I have many ASEAN Scholar friends, they all would agree). I currently know as much as 15 (or 16 if that “men’s private massage and sauna” shoplot I saw in SS2, Petaling Jaya is, well, just that). I can date other gays - it just never have been my fancy. And my favourite cruising spot - public toilets - is a little out of the question in Singapore.

As for family, my grandfather made the (pigheaded, stupid) choice of staying on the Johore side of the causeway during the Singapore-Malaysia split. I have extensive amounts of family in Singapore and Johore, so while there isn’t an immediate family to restrict and control me, there is an extended family that is just as controlling. So I don’t think I would turn into a hedonistic pro-gay living a life worthy of Queer As Folk in Singapore - quite unlikely.

Singapore sounds good. God, what do you think?