blog/enigma

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

3:57 AM

I quote:

Re: Are Hwa Chong students not 'Gentlemen' enough?
From: JARED KOH QIANXIN 10-01-08

Hi teachers and students,

I am Jared Koh from Sec 2C.

This scenario is told with all due respects to all gentlemen.

Recently, I was waiting at the bus stop and the bus arrived. Getting
up, I prepared to board.

At that moment, a Nanyang girl (Sec 3 this year) happened to arrive.

Both of us paused at the entrance as we both reached there at about
the same time.

I ushered her in with my hand signal and she obliged.

Just then, there were two students (maybe Sec 2 or 3) queuing up
behind me. They exclaimed between themselves 'Wah!'.

Seeing such actions, I am disappointed. As Hwa Chong students, trained
to be gentlemen, these little acts should not be seen as awkward.

Furthermore, the school strongly encourages us to serve the ladies.
Hwa Chong even goes to the extent of calling us 'gentlemen', unlike
NYGH which still address them as 'girls'.

I always thought that Hwa Chong is a school that is brimming with
gentlemen, but today I am duly disappointed.

Here are some suggestions that I think of:

- Start practicing to be a gentleman at home, like waiting on our
mothers and sisters before meals.

- We can also practice while in school, like holding the door for our
teachers before they enter our class.

- For 'braver' gentlemen, you can allow all girls to board the bus
then you follow, even though you may not find a seat by then.

As you can see, I do not support PCME lessons as it only touches our
surfaces, not our hearts. So, my suggestions are to strike right into
the core of our 'gentlemanliness'.

Just a charge for all of you- Unlock your 'gentlemanliness'. You do
not stop being a gentleman just because your friend is standing next
to you and may laugh at you.

I hope to see a more 'gentleman' Hwa Chong Institution.

And also:

Re: The Lost Gentlemen of the Chinese High School
From: JONATHAN WONG 14-01-08

I write this as a reply to Jared's post, from the point of view of an ex-student come back to repay his debt to his school.

Jared, brave soul that you are, I salute you. Well done, and keep it up. I too am disappointed at what you have described, and deplore the situation that our beloved school has fallen to. When I graduated in 2003 from this school, it was well-known for the quality of its gentlemen and their conduct more than its academic results. Sure we always ranked second behind that other Institution, but always, we were the first in the quality and integrity of our graduates. And we were proud of it. .

In those days, it was still common to see doors being opened for teachers. What has happened to it since? I have come back to a pale shadow of my alma mater where conduct is involved. Is it so difficult to be courteous to the opposite sex that you must attempt to shame and tease those of us brave enough to do so? To those of you who did so, shame on you. It is you who deserve the excoriation for your behaviour. We are gentlemen, and we shall behave as gentlemen. To come back and see so many of you turned into boors and louts, irreverent, defiant, rebellious, all things you should know better than to become, pains me, and strikes me to the core of what I may presume to call my gentlemanliness. .

I agree with Jared, that gentlemanliness begins from home. Though your choice of words was somewhat inappropriate, yet the sentiment behind was noble and clear enough. To those of you too shallow to understand that, and who merely replied to take issue with his choice of words, I can only blush to see how far Chinese High gentlemen have fallen in the years since my time.

And if it came to that, anyway, is there any embarrassment or outrage in waiting upon your mothers, if not your sisters also, and yes indeed, in waiting upon your entire family? Serving up food to your family at mealtimes is only right. You are a member of the family after all, and will one day come out to work to do your part to support them. Why should you not do your part to prepare the meals for your family? Those of you who expressed outrage at having to 'wait on' the ladies of your family, do you mean to tell the world, as you have in your responses, that you are just a Mouth at home, sitting at the table and waiting to be fed? Do you leave everything to your maids, then? Have you hands, have you legs? Are you your father's son?

On the point of mothers. These are the noble ladies who have borne you for nine months and borne with you for thirteen to sixteen years more still. These are the women who have gone through agony incomparable to bring you into the world in a blaze of pain, joy, relief and exhaustion. Can we, as men, ever repay them for what they have done for us? Can we even begin to comprehend the pain and suffering they have endured for our sakes or from us? The sleepless nights they went through to nurse us and assure us they were there when we cried? The scraped knees, the teachers' complaints, the rebellions, can you understand every nuance and swelling of worry and anxiety they have endured for your sakes? Is it so hard then to 'wait on' them as perhaps the most inredible and important person in our lives and families, inadequate repayment as it is for the efforts they have put in for us?

Those of you outraged at the idea of 'waiting on' your mothers, shame on you, I say! You have not only exposed yourselves as pretentious nitpickers quibbling over semantics and technicalities to avoid the main issue which you do not dare to face, but furthermore as UNFILIAL children, unworthy of the education that your parents are trying their best to provide you here at the Chinese High School, a betrayal of all that you should stand for, both as a student of the Chinese High School, and as an Asian with all the obligations that your native heritage entails. Your education here isn't cheap, and yet here you are, because your parents believe the school is the best they can do for you, the crowning glory of the sacrifices they have done for your throughout your life so far. Is this the gratitude you would show them, young gentlemen?

Being a gentleman is not only a way of life, a set of hand signals and gestures and kind smiles to ladies. It is a whole moral code. To those of you who cannot even understand this, how can you hope to be an upright member of the society you belong to, a credit to yourself and the organisations you may belong to in future?

I agree with Jared too, on the holding of the doors for teachers. In my time that was the smallest of deeds we could do for them, he3 zu2 gua4 chi3. Why is it such a chore now? Will it kill you to do so? Instead of rushing off to class, overtaking your teacher along the way just so you can get in before he/she does so you don't have to do any door-opening, why do you not instead walk with him/her, offer to carry his/her load, and open the door for them? They already know you are not on time for class anyway; you passed them on the way. So why don't you just help them since you're already next to them?

On Jared's point on letting girls have the seats, perhaps there is no real need to go to that extent, after all they are the same age as you and are just as fit as you are. Perhaps there is some over- fixation on our fairer neighbours across the road. But if you are really and truly a brave and unabashed gentleman, why don't you give up the seats to the elderly, the pregnant, the disabled, those who really and truly would need those seats? Think about it, for those seeking to be attached: girls like gentlemen better because they know their men will care for them and be considerate for their every need. Is going 'wah' going to impress them? More, is staying in your group and teasing the individuals who dare strike out on their own and be courteous going to ever help you to get to know female friends, who are going to feel more threatened and 'freaked out'with your behaviour than with the gentleman's?

Young gentlemen of the Chinese High School, start today, and become the gentleman that you really can be. You are an embarrassment now, to my eyes at least, and undoubtedly to many others, your teachers included. A frank, unadulterated embarrassment. Many of you, particularly the older ones who actually manage to be worse-behaved than the younger ones you are supposed to be a role model to, do not deserve to wear the uniform at all based on your conduct. It's time to change that. Stop being so cynical about things. You have brains, and the country knows that. Can you, DARE you show that you also have a heart? Without it you are just merely an object for pity, derision and contempt, a person who thinks he knows everything but doesn't know just how much he doesn't know. With both you are a leader of men, a pillar of society, a role model that others aspire to, a respected individual well worthy of respect, a successful individual in the human, moral sense of the word at least, if not more. Which would you rather be?

***

I didn't reply to the first message, but I did to the second:

"Isn't this supposed to be a suggestion board? I have the feeling I'm
reading an molestation charge. It's accusatory, it's full of
exclamation marks and capped words (you know you should stop reading
when you see these), worse, it's a blatant generalization. "

Normally I don't care about HCI's meaningless squabbles, but yes, I feel insulted by stupid seniors who usually have no sense of the present. But anyway, since I'm here, and I've given up on doing pragmatic work, let us just comment on the two scandalous messages.

At that moment, a Nanyang girl (Sec 3 this year) happened to arrive.

Both of us paused at the entrance as we both reached there at about
the same time.

I ushered her in with my hand signal and she obliged.

Just then, there were two students (maybe Sec 2 or 3) queuing up
behind me. They exclaimed between themselves 'Wah!'. "

Hmmm I do wonder how you knew the girl was (sec 3 this year). Perhaps she (is underage and you took note of that.) Y'know, I can imagine how the scene played out. Unfortunately.

Gentlemanly boy meets (sec 3) girl.

Gentlemanly boy and girl stares momentarily at each other, as if falling in hot, carnal love.

Gentlemanly boy waves his hand up spastically (just like how Gideon did at the 10th Humanities Seminar, though no offense here. I love you Gideon), actually wanting to brush his hand over her luxurious hair. The girl mistook it as a sign of dismissal, so, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she got on the bus and was never seen again.

The two students behind (maybe sec 2 or 3) exclaimed between themselves.

"Wah! So gentlemanly leh!"

"No wait, see he's giving us the "shut-the-hell-up" look. He's not a gentleman lah."

"Tsk... Hwachong nowadays..."

***

I always thought that Hwa Chong is a school that is brimming with
gentlemen, but today I am duly disappointed
Oh dear, dear Jared. Hwachong full of gentlemen? Maybe you need to consider corrective eye surgery. Or lobotomy. The term "HC Gentlemen" is meant to be an oxymoron, dude.

- Start practicing to be a gentleman at home, like waiting on our
mothers and sisters before meals.
Waiting on my mother and sister? I'm sorry, but when you have around 2 thousand things (which will come to you in higher sec, worry not) to do right before and during and after dinner, you don't have the temper or thought to do these sort of things. You eat, then you leave. Have fun.
- We can also practice while in school, like holding the door for our
teachers before they enter our class
I hold doors for my teachers, by the way. Like what I did for Yap Shinn. Which his reaction was: Stare, then say, "Go back to your seat."
- For 'braver' gentlemen, you can allow all girls to board the bus
then you follow, even though you may not find a seat by then
Yay! I can imagine this.

"Girls! All the girls! Please get on the bus quick! Then the cute sec 2 boys can sit on your lap and be excited!"

But we should always consider the crowdedness of the bus. Every poor average bus-goer will know how packed the buses usually are, so actually, by getting the girls on first, there will be no space for the guys. Thus, we have to take another bus.

Thus, you're actually promoting homosexual relationships (12% of homosexual tendencies have roots on squeezy buses, where things tend to rub on other things. Source: Random keys on my keyboard.)
Here are some suggestions that I think of:
As you can see, I do not support PCME lessons as it only touches our
surfaces, not our hearts. So, my suggestions are to strike right into
the core of our 'gentlemanliness'
I conclude that HCI people have only a surface. Their hearts had been eaten alive by a certain Horny person.

***

Now for the obnoxious senior.

I absolutely loathe such comments. I don't really identify myself as a gentleman, because I always thought gentlemen were not supposed to bitch about other people (which I do), nor write satrical blogposts about vapid comments (which I'm doing now). The real gentlemen just nod politely and keep quiet.

But I do suppose I'm more of a gentleman than others. I try to be a good person. And this is the type of messages that make me want to stop my good boy streak and be a full-fledged arsonist and rapist-cum-murderer.

Baseline: It is not working. I don't care whether you are a gentleman or not. In my opinion you are not. Anyway, I don't care about your glory hwachong days - get a life. The past is over. I don't give a damn whether pupils used to open doors for teachers, or that you are what, disappointed and outraged. You are a poor misinformed little sad excuse of a senior.

And nobody, except my mother, talks to me about my mother.

My mother is a nice person. I agree. A noble woman. Sadly, I recognized that before you conceived the idea of gentlemanliness. I certainly do not need you to tell me that, hey, you know what, your mother is a noble person. You should wait on them.

My mother would say, "Just concentrate on your schoolwork and don't make me worry." Which ironically brings me to reading your rant. I feel unjust for my eyes.

Really, who are you to call me unfilial (and capitulate it. You misuse words). What is this generalization? Have HCI taught you nothing? You mean real gentlemen scream and shout on paper but maintain meek demeanors usually? I don't think so.

Whoever you are, I supplicate (despite my intense desire to stomp you flat), shut up. Your words are undeserving of my time.

Now disappear.

signed, jiasheng