Basket.

My parents lost my handphone yesterday, after years and years of telling me not to (When I pointed this out at dinner, I nearly touched off a full-blown quarrel. People.). They took it out for a spin like so often before, and dropped it in a carpark, all while I was busy at home paying off my sleep debt after having grabbed a mere two hours on an office couch on the morning before AHM. The damned thing was recovered, fortunately, but a number of my friends received calls from the police. A spot of trouble for everybody.

I rose bright and early this morning for a session of mahjong with Zihao, Keng Piang and Conrad, whom I hadn't seen for a good long time. We had good fun, because it's impossible not to without a mahjong set which you know how to use. Lunch was with Keng Piang and Conrad, and we spent a very long while talking in the deserted food centre. Largely, it was about people - from those we still meet up with now to those who have become little more than foggy memories ("Wait... I know that name... damn."). Conrad, after all, was my classmate a full nine years ago. We stayed in contact throughout most of that time. There are plenty others from that time and the immediately following years of prmary school I did not keep up with. I built a whole new social network when I came to RI, and the reason is because literally none of the people I knew in primary school came to RI with me.

I've met, got to know, befriended, etc, plenty of people in my travels and travails all these years. Some have become really close friends, some have become ordinary friends, some have become casual acquaintances and of course some have simply vanished in the mists of time. Some people who were really close years ago, whom I did just about everything with, I have simply lost contact with, except for the occasional word-of-mouth update trickling down the grapevine. I know where they went after it all, where they are now and what they are doing, but I have no way of knowing the difficulties they face, the issues they have in their lives currently, their current hobbies and interests. I may know what they are doing, but not how they are doing. It's a very big difference. And this is not counting those I never knew at all. Those whose names I picked up, whose faces I may still recognise, but whom I maybe exchanged less than 20 words with. I don't even know what they are doing.

Some part of me may feel a little sad, but most of me knows how inevitable it all is. Singapore may be a very small place in the big scheme of things, but it's plenty large enough to utterly lose contact with someone. Especially someone you never "clicked" with, but also with someone who was once close. Time may heal great rifts, but it also creates them. People just drift apart from each other, especially if they don't see each other everyday like they used to. It's sad, but it happens. It's the way the world is.

In the end, when you meet someone you once knew and maybe knew well, after years and years of not seeing each other, you might not have much to say to him or her. The situation could turn awkward. And if there's anything worse than an uncomfortable silence, it is an awkward conversation.

The last time my primary school class gathered was at the end of 2002. Nearly three years ago now, and I still remember how it was quite a surprise to be called up and told about it. Simply because, then, I hadn't seen them all for about four years. Literally. We still got along well enough, but the whole thing had somewhat the air of a formal business dinner - most people were a little too polite and nice to each other. It could be the maturity at work. I don't really think so. And those who did not turn up? They are the ones who have vanished into the mists of time.

Now, again, I don't know what or how most of them are doing. I wonder if there'll be a next one. Perhaps it'll be years again before there is. I'm glad I did stay in touch with Conrad though. Or Keng Piang, for the matter. We have plenty of shared memories. It's a lot easier than building a whole new social network, as I've had to do so many times over.