i have no idea how to start this. to be perfectly honest, i have yet to find a way to deal with the loss of a dear friend. it came so suddenly, one moment hes standing tall, the next moment he lays lifeless. god really has an unsubtle way of displaying its wrath. 2 deaths in the last 3 months, pieces of my life are slowly drifting away, dissipating into the oblivion.
i have known him for almost 8 years now. we were classmates for 4 years in secondary school, been thru thick and thin together for 4 years in ncc. the first time i met tt bugger i was 1.4m? and he was overgrown for a sec 1 kid, with tt uncanny resemblances to lao fu zi, and tt kampong style and accent. he had always been the clown, the one doing ridiculously dumb stunts for our entertainment.
i was nv exceptionally close to him on a day to day basis, but we always shared tt special connection being platoonmates in NCC, which meant more than anything else from my sec sch experience, the brotherhood tt lasts for life. we put up with sadistic punishments, struggled to endure the augmenting overwhelming burden of our bodies on our arms, relentlessly fought against the urge to fidget, went on countless attempts to become the man of steel, all for the guy standing next to us. the concept of brotherhood has been drilled so deep down the stems tt everytime we felt like giving up, we tot of the others in the platoon, every other guy getting the same shit we are getting, every other guy who will get it worse when we give up, tt brotherhood empowered us with sth way beyond mere determination, but a combination will, selflessness, care and pride.
we are all proud to be part of gess ncc, being the best unit in singapore, an achievement not credited to a single person, but all in the unit; the pride not of being the best, but being part of the best. together we make up gess ncc intake 98, together we made memories, together we forged brotherhood, together we lived through a phase of our lives we will nv have a chance to go thru again.
the first trg which i literally cracked my head and got everyone laughing, the first annual sadist camp in school which we ended up taking weird pills tt made us pee red piss, the first combined part a camp where we first got disgusted by the ncc girls, the first canoeing expedition to seletar island where we were encircled by tons of crows, slpt on the haunting tales of hantu tek tek, and peed in view of the full moon by the beach into the waves, the first overseas expedition to pahang where he had a leech stuck to his tummy for hours, the first annual camp we ran which we snuck out for peanut porridge in the morning, the first intake 98 chalet after graduation where the whole gang watched porn while i served them freshly cooked otaks, he was part of all these memories and he will forever take a part in them.
we drifted further and further apart after sec sch, he went to yjc and i went to nyp. apart from occasional visits to gess, basketball sessions, and the yearly visit to rong tong's altar, we hardly met. and when he got enlisted it became even harder for us to meet, i cant even recall the last time i met him. i havent seen him in ages, and now i will nv have a chance to ever again. i regret not having a chance to see him, i regret my constant procrastination of organising a much-talked-about intake 98 chalet, i regret not being able to see him, laugh at his hilarious countenance, and mindlessly spar with his wushu.
however subtle was the part he played in my life, it was an important part. the connection between intake 98 is nth anything else in life can ever replace. and even tho our late brother will no longer be here with us, our special connection with him will last as long as we live, the brotherhood will nv fade, he will always be near, in place ever so dear to every single one of us, in our memory that will forever take a part of our lives and be drilled deep into our hearts.
Ivan Ong Peng Ghee, GESS NCC INTAKE 98, 1985-2005, our beloved brother.
http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/news_and_events/nr/2005/jun/29jun05_nr.html
