student comes for tuition on a saturday morning. cliff had found out from the student's parent that the student had lied to him.
cliff: did you go out on thursday?
student: no...
cliff: so why did you tell me you had to cancel thursday's tuition?
student: ... because i have not finished my essay...
cliff: (immediately, very angrily) so, you LIED TO ME!? HUH!?
cliff's parent in backstage: huh?
cliff's parents rush out and appear on stage, thinking that cliff screamed for help. they reach the site and see cliff and student in a meltdown, rather, cliff melting the student with a flaming torch.
student remains still, eyes visibly red.
cliff remains angry but is secretly happy because he knows a lesson is taught.
cliff: (softens but still sounding strict) firstly, understand that i'm trying to help you improve here. i know of people my age who are going back to polytechnic to study. why? because they did not study when they were your age. and they say they regret not studying then. maybe you don't understand it now because you are still young...
cliff: secondly, you lied.
student remains a straight face but eyes are still red.
[ed: MUAHAHA]
act 2: egoism
the characters are seated in a lecture theatre for an admission day brief, not knowing what was to happen in the ensuing minutes.
a large, bumbling male walks to the front of the room and talks.
...
top scorer: I don't like boring designs... adding a lot of trees to your design does not make it green... buildings and Architecture are different, buildings are boring, Architecture is living, constantly changing... and I say Architecture with a capital A... don't look at zaha hadid's designs and be dazzled by its beauty...
top scorer: I went into iluma and didn't like the insides... the escalator is a waste of resources... when I went to the third floor and stepped outside, looked at the surroundings... I saw some construction workers welding metal and the sparks' light was reflected off iluma's plates, the white plates for marquees... now that's Architecture...
top scorer: ... it is not like studying, studying is just reading and memorising. I don't care if you're from RJ, or hwa chong, it doesn't mean you can do well... you must think... you will learn concepts like horizontality and verticality... when the tutors argue amongst themselves, while you are presenting your design, that's good... passion is not enough... I don't you if you understand what I'm saying...
top scorer: (looks at clock) oh, I've only spoken for 20 minutes, there's still 10 minutes left for Me...
the rest of the audience seems to be transfixed on the 105kg bagpipe, while cliff is writhing away on his chair, fidgeting and hoping the subsequent speaker starts earlier.
friend: (scribbles note and passes to cliff)
i hope we don't become like him >.<
cliff: yea (rolls eyes)
...
top scorer: I've come to the end. any questions for Me?
cliff: (loud enough for people around him to hear) so, when's the camp?
audible chuckles sprout around cliff
[ed: much of the quotes are paraphrased, owing to my inability to remember exact quotes]
act 3: fun!
cliff and friends help decorate a function room for a friend's birthday :) this is cliff's first time decorating a party venue.
during the party, cliff listens to a conversation.
friend: what is usp...
another friend: usp is like gep...
cliff eats two full plates of food, three bowls of honeydew milk, three small pieces of brownie and pie, and a large chunk of birthday cake, with the cream removed. he feels he under performed (number of plates of food eaten), partly because he was tired and dehydrated, and mostly because he had a queasy stomach and had to use the toilet twice during the party.
***
comments on yesterday:
hopefully that student will be hardworking, because i honestly think he needs a lot of help. i don't remember my peers nor i being anything like him... we'll see how it goes, i guess. i'll have to push the car alone until it reaches the end of the road...
and, what the heck is that dude thinking? was that an episode of the (name of top scorer)'s show?
actually, i understood nearly every thing he said, those concepts and his conscious stream of Himself. they (the concepts) do make sense. and that he kept on talking about being able to think in that philosophical-conceptual-architectural (oops, small caps) way, i'm sure one of the toughest parts of the course must be to be able to do that. ok, that were the useful bits of the oratory.
but, if he's supposed to shed light about the discipline and how to do well in it, why did he include himself in the discursion? but i suppose he should be reasonably accepted amongst his peers else he wouldn't have been asked to speak (and i spotted him joking with other people after his juggernaut of an introductory talk). so he could be a nice person in private who hides a deeply entrenched egoistical self, which springs out when the opportunity arises.
shouldn't people, regardless of their backgrounds, try to communicate as effectively as possible? have an objective for talking, why are you saying these. and have some humility, please.
and! why single out top jcs, huh? is everyone from there arrogant? i see an arrogant dude with a case of sour grapes, i think.
i've great expectations to fulfill, i guess! haha!
since then, well that's only yesterday, i have started to consider alternative pathways for longer than a few moments. i think, if i flunk out of architecture school, i'll enroll myself in mech engine (out of necessity to get a job one day), physics (and one day teach my favourite academic subject) or try damn hard to go to an overseas music college (and become a pop/jazz/rock/whatever i like singer/songwriter/musician like wong lee hom or corrinne may. or just busk or teach in the day and play at pubs at night).
ok, i'll prepare an application to yong siew toh now. haha XD
hrm. i'll help out with rag and flag for usc, many of the seniors and batchmates there are really friendly, homely and down-to-earth... how different from...
if what one of the seniors say about how the different disciplines do mould people into the stereotypes and what one of my friend says about design students become more 'seh' are true...
i'm very sure it's true, i've experienced something like that before last year, when i realised i had to change the way i handled some things. but, i hope i don't change for the worse...
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