Basket.

The year is drawing to a close, and it's time once again for the annual long-and-very-mushy-and-cringeworthy-post. Yes, I know it is still relatively early, but 1) this time seems particularly appropriate because Prom so recently brought the curtain down for real on two years of JC and thirteen years of education and 2) Tekong has no Internet access.

Over the years, I have had the good fortune to meet quite a number of people who have helped me out greatly in many forms, and I'll like to try and thank them in this post, hoping that I don't leave out any (but I probably will, because I'm so absent-minded). These are people who have seen me at my best and my worst, and have done their best in their own ways to help me along the obstacle-strewn path of life. I have needed the help they have been so kind to render, I have enjoyed their company, and I thank them for it from the bottom of my heart.

The whole of A01C - Yes, I have said this before. You guys have in general been fantastic. Two years of JC was a very trying time, and I could not have asked for a better bunch of classmates to accompany me through it then you people. In two sometimes very difficult years, you people have given me plenty of reason to laugh and suppress the cynicism I oftentimes have to struggle to control. Truly, thanks to you guys, I still believe in the inherent goodness of humankind.

I wish to thank each and every one of you for all you lot have individually done for me, and to apologise for any offence I have ever caused any of you. The order of names is totally random, so please don't accuse me of bias. ;)

Cherylene - Thank you so much for all the emotional support you so readily provided on several occasions when I needed it most. Your kind words and reassurances certainly helped me immeasurably. You've been a friend I can share good times and bad with, and for that I am very grateful. I hope we can stay in touch (I guess that goes for just about every single friend I've made in RJ).

Mark - You are a great person to talk with, humorous and witty. I thank you for all the laughs I have got from you the past two years, which is a not inconsiderable amount. I have some very good memories of you that I will cherish, and for this I am in your debt.

Angelina - You were a good IPW group member, and I am really very thankful for that. You helped the group and I survive the whole IPW nonsense, and I thank you for this. In addition, you have been kind and caring on occasions that it was called for. I regret somewhat not trying harder to know you better.

Yi San - You've been a true friend (and as a bonus, a very interesting character) I could share interesting stories, witty banter and gripes about anything and everything under the sun with. I was never afraid that you wouldn't lend a listening ear whenever there was something I needed to get off my chest, and that is really quite a comfort.

Sona - You have been a good person to talk to, and that itself is invaluable. Sometimes one just needs an opposite number to share tales and inane banter with, and you have been that opposite number on more than a few occasions. I am grateful to you for providing this outlet.

Angeline - I'll like to begin with an apology; I know we have tangled before, and it was mainly my fault. I am sorry for being so petty and I am grateful that you are big-hearted enough to simply brush it all aside. That said, you have been a good classmate and a dedicated Lit rep, and I respect and thank you you for this.

Shuang Ning - You have been a great classmate and I consider you a close friend; I am glad you think of me likewise. You have lent me emotional support and a listening ear on more than one occasion these two years past, and I am very, very grateful for it. You are someone I respect and admire, and I am very thankful for your friendship. As with everyone else, stay in touch.

Roger - Again, I'll like to begin with an apology; if with my sharp tongue I have these past two years given you any offence, I sincerely apologise. Sometimes my mouth runs ahead of my brain and I may have said some unpleasant things to you these two years past. I realise it was all rather infantile, and I'm sorry for the trouble. That said, you have been a good person to interact with these past two years; I have enjoyed conversing with you, and good conversation to me is an invaluable asset.

Elgin - I'm sorry I never got to know you better, but thank you for all the aid you ever rendered me this past two years. Life would have been rather more difficult without it. You have been most selfless in helping others and that is a quality I truly respect.

Qiyan - Eighteen years as near-neighbours and we were none the wiser. Well, thak you for all the entertainment you and Zihao ever provided for us all. You were a great guy to laugh with and laugh at. :)

Sean - I'm sorry we grew apart after the halcyon days of the first 3 months, but you remained someone I could depend on. You have these past two years offered me advice and listened to me when I needed to let off steam, and for that I am very grateful. You've really been a friend to me. Stay in touch, ok?

Daniel - My friend of nearly six years, you have helped me immeasurably in all that time, whether you realise it or not. I'm sorry we have grown apart relatively recently, but I share with you many memories I will keep in my heart and treasure always, and I can only hope this is also the case for you. Nevertheless, you have always been willing to help, to console and comfort and to provide good conversation. I am grateful to have known you, and if I ever gave you offence at any time in this half-decade, I am truly sorry and hope you will forgive me.

Jieqi - I've known you even longer. You have been a great classmate - someone who has been willing by turns to both laugh with me and listen to my troubles. your kinds words and gestures have helped me out very much indeed. You have been a good friend for years and for that I am very grateful. Hope we can stay in touch, unlike when we failed to in four years of secondary school.

Yaxin - I really need to apologise to you. I admit to losing my temper at you more than once, and looking back, I wonder why I was so petty. In the big scheme of things, does it really all matter? I'm sincerely sorry for being so nasty and I hope you will forgive me.

Genevieve - You have been a friend indeed. Again, someone I could both laugh with and share my troubles with. That is, to me, invaluable. Great as a classmate and even better as a friend. Thank you very much for everything.

Justin - To say you have been a good friend to me would be doing you an injustice. I wish I could find better words. Suffice to say that you have played a very large role indeed in making these two years livable for me. You have seen me at my best and my worst, and never been shy to do your best to help me out. You are really someone I can trust implicitly and call upon whenever I need help. You have done so much for me, and I only so little for you. This is something I should be ashamed of. I am really in your debt, and I can sincerely say I could never have survived two years of JC without you as my classmate and good friend.

I look forward to your continued friendship.

Zihao - What can I say about you? Another who has been more than a good friend. Very much more. One who has helped me so much and asked for so little in return. I am very, very fortunate to have got to know you, and by accident of fate, have you end up in the same class once more. For more than half a decade you have helped me in so many and various ways I cannot even begin to list them. You are really someone I can go to no matter the problem, someone I can laugh with no matter the joke, and someone who will always give his all to help me along whenever I am in trouble.

I wish words were adequate to express the gratitude I feel towards you for what you have done for me over this past half-decade. I guess I have to make do with an extremely inadequate thank you. Yes, thank you for everything you have ever done, and sorry for throwing at you hissy fits you have for the most part not deserved. Again, I could not have survived secondary school or JC without you. I really hope we stay in touch.

Now, to move on to other friends who these years have helped me so much in their own ways.

Winston - I don't have a best friend, but you are certainly one of the closest friends I've got. Thank you very much for the SMS, I will certainly take good care of myself and contact you the moment I leave that bloody island. We have known each other for nearly four years now, and I have always enjoyed your company. Thank you for always being willing to listen, for all the crude jokes and songs and stuff, for laughing with me and consoling me on the occasions when I have felt down. Thank you very much indeed.

Yihong - I'm glad we stayed in touch. Your company has been so enjoyable these few years. You have been someone I can truly talk to about anything and everything under the sun, and by being this, you have been a great help to me.

The rest of 4E 2002 - Sorry, if I tried to list all 33 of you it would be much too long a post... I guess I have to thank you as a single entity. Thank you very much for a very enjoyable two years in RI and thereafter. You guys were a truly wonderful class.

Special mention: Jason Tan - Whatever we have slung at each other these past two years, you have been a friend, and one who has always been willing to listen, to advise and to comfort. You have always been there whenever I needed someone to talk to. Truly, you have helped me greatly these two years. Stay in touch.

And of course, I can hardly leave out my dear CCA-mates.

HISSOC Exco - Thank you so much for being such amazing people to work with. You guys somehow managed ot be both serious about work and humorous at the same time. It made all those long, long evenings doing Tse Yang's bidding so much more easy to bear. I'm very fortunate to have had people like you guys to work with, and I am grateful to every single one of you simply for being the people you are.

RJC Archives: Nizam, Jen and Aaron - Special tribute to the three of you. We certainly made our little sub-committee (?) a force to be reckoned with, didn't we? Nizam, you were a good leader and not above sharing a few laughs too. Jen, thanks so much for all the good times and laughter. Aaron, you have truly been a friend to me and I am very grateful to you for that. All three of you, thanks so much, and I will remember you lot forever.

And then there are the teachers.

Mr Brian Ng - Thank you so much for being the teacher and more than you were. Not above mixing with us guys, your constant fodder of Irish, Mat or Singh jokes never failed to brighten my day. You were unquestionably one of the best form teachers I ever had, and I am very grateful for it. Thank you so much for everything, including hosting so many class gatherings all these years, and all the best for your book.

Mr Aaron Loh - Thank you so much, too, for being a teacher and more. For all the concern you showed us and your endless willingness to help; to console, advise and share a joke or two. I, we, could not have asked for a better CT to ease us into JC life. You did a wonderful job. All the best in your future endeavours.

Ms Mona Chew - Thank you, Ms Chew, for always trying your best to help us tide over what has at times seemed an absolutely impossible JC2 year. You have always been willing to listen, to be concerned about your students, without even once losing your temper. That is very, very admirable, and I salute you for it. You have been a great CT. All the best for the future.

I know this list is not exhaustive, and I apologise for it. Plenty more have undoubtedly in all their little ways helped me through these two years, and the four of secondary school, and I am sorry I cannot mention you all. The best I can offer is a thank you and an apology if I left you out. Rest assured it was not intentional.

Truly, I could not have done it without you people.

Once more, thank you everyone. You have helped absolve me so I can go in without any regrets. For those who sent in good wishes, thanks very much, I really, really appreciate it.

IThis will be the last post for a while, but 'll be back soon enough. Till then, good day everyone, and for those who are reading, thank you for taking all that trouble to look through a long list of ramblings.

Exeunt.