Saturday 14 November 2020

Core of my Universe

I recently came across a post on a local gay forum which got me all teary and emotional.

Someone had shared a clip of a same-sex wedding ceremony in Taiwan.

While the clip was indeed moving and the couple's love worth embracing, it was the wedding speeches that touched me.

Two of the groom's friends talked about how life-changing their friendship was back in university.

The fact that they were speaking in tear-holding, trembling voices made it all the more so precious.

And that got me thinking.

If and only if I were to get married (J, if you're reading this, I still want to get married you know), which two uni friends would I pick to make speeches?

I have the candidates, of course.

But first, allow me to reminisce some happy memories.

Back then, I decided to study overseas and so had been studiously looking through the prospectuses of universities - Australia, US, UK - and finally decided on Down Under because the family wealth cannot be spread too thin (younger brother Barry would also like to go on an all-sponsored overseas study trip, so if I took too big a bite of the pie, all that Barry would be left with is the crust).

I very clearly remember the morning of my departure.

Barry wasn't home (he was serving NS and was in camp).

My sis and I struggled to fit two large pieces of my luggage in the car, while Mrs Lee stood in one corner giving us running commentaries (that nobody asked for) and instructions (which added nothing to our effort), and then having the cheek to be pleased with herself after all the moving and shaking.

"Now you know what I had to go through?" our mum said to us.

My sis and I looked at each other, scared to ask what that really meant.

"If it's not easy squeezing two large items into the spacious car boot - imagine how tough it was for me to have you two squeezing out of my tiny pat-pat?"

Yes, the exact term was pat-pat, and Mrs Lee had to impress that on me on my last day in Singapore and the start of my exciting university life.

Thank you, mummy.

Later, at my request, we drove to a nearby hawker centre for breakfast.  

My last local meal for the day, I said at the table.

Mrs Lee started tearing.

My sis started tearing too.

The pork congee was burning her tongue.

At the airport were Stanley and Carl my dense friend, both of whom looking rather timid in the presence of Mrs Lee.

Hugs were exchanged, and before long, I very cheerfully strolled on board the SQ plane.

Seven hours later, I landed in a wintry Australia and was driven to my lodging by a university representative.

My first room in Queensland is the size of two public toilet cubicles, I kid you not.

I was to be holed up in the all-boys hostel where I would spend my first year because it's on campus, and food is provided (back then I still couldn't cook proper meals).

Stanley my sex bunny friend often laments that I didn't make full use of my experience there.

There are boys, and you're Down Under. Do you know how rare those two combinations are?!

That said, I hadn't missed out any opportunities.

In between sleeping at 11pm and waking up at 6am every day to carry out my filial Asian son duties by studying and acing almost all my subjects, I found the time to, among other things, spend many happy moments with friends I made there.

Most of my friends are Singaporean.

And I'm very proud of that.

I'm not about to be stereotyped by anyone who would scoff and say things like why should I be hanging out with Singaporeans when I'm in Australia? You're one of those? Don't you have Australian friends?

Well, first things first, just because I'm not speaking with a bloody overnight Aussie twang and not making an effort to laugh damn hard at Aussie humour doesn't make me any less sociable.

Yes, I'm talking about you, Glen Tan Wei Meng of Lorong Chuan and Amanda See of Hougang Avenue 2.

You bloody pretentious and judgemental Singaporean swines of Pol Science class of 2001.

Thankfully, I had the wisdom to choose my friends.

My years in Queensland were great because of my Singaporean support.

There is, of course, Eric Lim, my room mate in year two (when I moved out with a group of close friends).

My sex bunny friend Stanley finds Eric irresistible - smart and nerdy, athletic and talented.

Eric and I were so close that when he got married, I was his best man and later, became the godfather of his children.

Stanley often tells me that if he and Eric were that close, when Eric got married, he wanted to be the groom and later, be the father of Eric's children.

Eric had been a great support to me - I came out to him in university and he embraced me fully for whom I am.

Moving on from bedroom buddies to classroom buddies is my darling friend Sasha Natasha, whom we all call Sasa for short.

Without Sasa, my life would have been so boring.

We were both enrolled in the same course and had hit it off right from the start.

I remember immediately grabbing Sasa by her girly shoulders once, after we were tasked to do examinable paired work.

We had the most wonderful time in uni - from after-class lunches at the trendy uni library (where peacocks would sometimes strut by) and group house parties to exciting after-exam trips around Australia.

Today, Sasa - who married our fellow uni mate and leads the life of a career-woman-by-day-and-tai-tai-by-weekends lifestyle - remains one of my strongest pillars in my life.

As I reflect on my very happy years in uni, I'm also thankful for the choices I made back then.

The course of my study, which is a great help to my career - Sasa would say the same for herself.

The people I chose to hang out with.

The parties I chose to attend (I met many other great friends for keeps back then, and trust me, those long years away from home were kept colourful and warm because of the group).

Of course, I have other international friends who are now respectable professionals back home - a doctor in Czech Republic, a journalist in the US, a solicitor in China, a singer in India, IT whizz kids in Malaysia, hotelier in Vietnam, and so many others let's not make it a laundry list.

Later, Stanley the sex bunny told me that he keeps a long list too - a dirty laundry list.

And he's been bugging me to air it for him soon.




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Adam's stories are based on real life events and inspired by real people

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