Gathering of the Old Boys...

GD, Uncle Wong and me met for dinner last night at Toa Payoh Lorong 5. It has been quite a while since we went to that particular Hawker Centre (for the benefit of non-Singaporean readers, it is a place which consist of many open air food stalls, that has cheap and delicious food.) See below:


I remember asingaporeanson, Jen, GD and me doing our “Top Gear” style challenge there a few years back. We took out SGD$10 and with that we are suppose to feed 4 of us with food from the stalls. Scrimping and saving, we managed to have a decent dinner with the paltry budget. It is probably not a possible feat elsewhere in Singapore.

Of course last night gathering of the Secondary classmates, we have a missing member, which is asingaporean son. We ate our satay and grilled chicken wings in tribute to him. Cheers!

How much things have changed, different jobs, different status, and now being in different countries. It amazing how far things have come since the heady days of 1991 when we first met as classmates in class 1A. It’s being 20 years, oh my goodness…

We talked a lot last night; strangely the topic gravitated towards our National Service. Uncle Wong and GD are on their way out of the reserves by next year. They have completed their mandatory 10 year cycle. And Uncle Wong is contemplating if he wants to extend his service. Being a commissioned officer, he has quite a number of perks to keep himself in service. Similarly, a lot of other factors also gave him reservations. We share lots of army stories last night over dinner and coffee. Some funny, some tough, some dangerous, all nostalgic.

I guess as much as we hated national service when we were in it, it also forms a kind of bond among fellow Singaporean sons. Like it or not, it also molded us to become the men we are now….

Yes, in case you are wondering, asingaporeanson, we talked briefly on you too. Take care down under ya?

Comments

  1. asingaporeanson29 December 2011 at 20:42

    im still ok here.
    i hope the next 20 years will be even better for all of us.

    You are right about the army. Eugene (lao peng) and I talked quite often about the army as well. There are always a love-hate relationship about it but the bond is there.

    That's also the reason why the PRs will never be able to integrate and be accepted by Singaporean men. Unless they serve, they won't be in the brotherhood. That's how simple it is.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Running Robot29 December 2011 at 20:48

    Yep, I couldn't agree more. There is always a bond between those who served. Those who did not served will be never understand or experienced that bond.

    ReplyDelete

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