[Friendship & Growing up]

Every minute of the clock tickle as the world around us revolves. Without realize how long it has been, we are gradually moving as we grow up. Sometimes you may look back the days of being a child whose responsibility is only to listen to whatever daddy & mummy says. You wonder... Whatever happened to you throughout these 20 over years?

How much can we remember about our childhood?

I reckon we all have absolutely no idea what happened to us before the age of 3 or 4. Maybe the function of the brain during the time was merely for execution purpose like standing, trying to walk straight, trying to talk.

[Kindergarten]

Our learning curve begins when we all go to nursery or most of us would refer to “kindergarten”. For the dialect brought ups, the first English word that we will encounter would obviously be “A for Apple”. We get to learn to draw more humanlike figures that sometimes look lopsided.

Then we will get to know kids from the same neighborhood who sometimes shared the same hobbies, watching the same cartoons. You feel comfortable when they are around as you always find many things to talk about. You might feel moody if you realize that they are sick or absent. Without realizing it, some of us have already made our first friends.

[Primary School]

Bidding farewell to kindergarten comes life in primary school. Equipped with the friends making skills, we continue to get to know more people. There are more things to learn in primary school with Maths & Science getting into the picture. We would always remember names that grew with us.. “Ali, Bala, Sumei,” that is found in all our textbooks.

Primary school would also be a time that we all get involve in an ECA.. like sports, uniform groups and other groups that brings people of common interest together. The streaming at the end of primary 3 is the first time that most of us would come face to face with our first “stress” & “competition” on the results.

Without realizing it, 6 years had passed and at the end of primary 6.. all of us will be split to other secondary schools. Autograph books are passed around to write sweet friendship notes.. and contact numbers. Girls will always cry at the last day of class and the day we all get to know our next schools.

[Secondary School]

The world is weird at the age of 13, as most of us would wonder how come girls are getting taller. Maybe it’s this reason that brought our attention that life is not just about friendship as we are attracted to female species. (I’m sorry for those in boy’s school.)

There will be a whole new world as we seek and discover within. There’s no Enid Blyton or Roald Dahl in Secondary school and you would be laughed at if you put them as your favorite author list. Magazine is in, story books are out in Secondary school. Teens & Teenage are the 2 most popular reading items in secondary school and most of us would tends to focus on parts where dedications are made.. whether are there any for us..

Friends come a great deal as we advances. Influence is the most significant prove of friendship as if my friend carries this brand of bags, we would all buy the same brand.
Most of us would record our first crush/love/kiss as we continue our path towards the discovery of the opposite sex. Of course, there will be times when the value of friendship might be tested if 2 friends are similarly attracted to a particular girl.

Alas, O levels ended and once again we are split from the group of “brothers” & “sisters” whom we openly affiliate with. And yes, by the time we leave secondary school, most of us would be obviously taller than the females.. and understands why sometimes girls behave strangely at certain days of a month.

[Polytechnic]

If Primary & Secondary School is a place of friendship & relationship discovery, poly life would be one for self-discovery. The rules of education bond are relaxed and bye bye to the “discipline master” we would love to kill.

Poly times would be a time where some of us would ask ourselves what we really want to do in life. Of course, we will still have friends whom we would copy tutorials and females whom we go clubbing with.

We would realize that friendship really comes physically as there are life in cyberspace. Friends are made without seeing one another and deep down. Everyone is hoping the opposite is as handsome/pretty as she/he hopes. Then again, disaster do happens when people meet for the first time.


[Present Time]

We forward all the time to present time. Some of us may be working; some of us may be in NS. If we all look back to the times we had in the past, we may wonder how many friends we have actually had from then till now? Hundreds? Thousands?

How many of them have you last seen, contact?

I’m not perfect myself.. as sometimes I may see someone whom I used to know.. maybe an acquaintance from secondary school. I never really walk up and acknowledge him/her. I wonder it’s the culture or society that makes our life more egoistic or attitude. Or is it I’m too shy.

It’s ironic that some of us sometimes complain that we have no friends when we all grow up by making friends. I once did a rather simple experiment.. as I sat in the middle of orchard, people flooded across me.. Then I realize someone has call out my name.. “Arghh. A long lost friend..” I tell myself how nice as we started the “so how’s life” & “I’m fine, please take care” conversation. The discovery of old friendship lasted merely a minute before we parted our ways.

The strangest thing was.. none of us had initiated an exchange of contact numbers. The new founded friendship is once again lost in the mist of crowds, waiting for the day to be rediscovered again.

Some people said Friendship is made throughout our life as we know new people and made friends with them.

Deep down I believed that friends are found rather than made.. Friendship is discovered, lost and rediscovered as time passes. It’s sad sometimes, but that’s the way of life.. you have to lose something before you realize how important it is without it…

I’m sure you will never forget this phrase, just as you will never forget who your friends are…

“Birds fly high, hard to catch. Friends like you, hard to get..”

Anntonii Lim

14th August, 2004