The 4 Stooges

Tonight, I caught a nice movie on HBO by chance. The movie title is weirdly known as "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants", about the bond between 4 best high-school girlfriends who are separated for the summer. It's a coming of age kind of story - friendship, puberty, emotions and life itself.

I love such shows. This one was set at a nice pace, not too slow. It was about 4 teenage girls who each have to fulfill a certain destiny on their own during summer, and they naively decide on a pair of jeans to be their bonding fabric - the jeans amazingly fit all of them (one of them fat) and would be mailed to the next one after the first had worn it for a week. The jeans began to work its magic the moment a girl wore it, uncannily fulfilling her inner desires.

I guess the way I described it, it must sound like quite a silly teeny-bopper show. But it wasn't. It was a very raw and simple story told from the heart. It reminded me of a group I once belonged to. Now that was silly.

The 4 Stooges.

How "loser" can we get? On hindsight, we could've come up with a cooler name. Kids form or join groups just to be "in" those days. We hammered the final nail on our own coffin the day we called ourselves The 4 Stooges.

More importantly though, I personally very much wanted to form a brotherhood. A bond that bore deep into our roots, unbreakable and dependable. Truth be told, it was a disaster. Far from creating a brotherhood based on loyalty and trust, members of the group were just interested in skirt chasing. I, for one, had always deemed girls then as secondary, preferring to immerse myself more in sports and being loyal and honourable to friends. Well, 1 friend thought I might be gay. I guess I wasn't ready then, for I grew up watching Bruce Lee movies and training martial arts under the wings of a very skilful instructor who had honour and discipline weaved into his entire being.

I guess as kids, many people weren't too sure of themselves then. Puberscent boys were just too busy trying to get into the pants of any other girl then. That caused many ripples in the group. Finally, the 4 Stooges died its natural death, along with a pre-supposed tight friendship among all members. However, the precipitate which did filter through subsequently turned out to be an endearing friendship between one Stooge and me.

Come October 14, I will be attending my secondary school's 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner. It would be a prom I never had as a kid. My dear friend, Ah Tiong, would be there too! I was hoping all founding members of The 4 Stooges would be present that night, but life hardly grants your wishes. One member would be not be attending.

Although I never really gotten along with him, I was hoping he'd show up, just so we could celebrate (for a night) the few years we shared, that we were a part of each other's lives. Unfortunately, a bigger arse would come in his stead. Well, we're not gonna let a thorn spoil everything right?

So I would be there, in part to celebrate a past sharing of lives, and in part to celebrate that some are no longer in my life...


redcocoon

The One With the Billionaire

Today, I came face-to-face with a billionaire! And it happened in his house!!!

One of the wealthiest man in Singapore, he's not just another rich old man. He is THE man in my industry. In school, we discussed about his work; in the press, there's constant mention of him whenever they make out a who's who list; at work, we can only dream of achieving his financial status.

It was a Kodak moment for me, not unlike an excited fan meeting his idol. Well, after all these years, I met THE man at his house, at the invitation of his child, because a wall on one of the rooms in his mansion was damp. Yes, damp.

I suspected it was a leak from a wet area above the room. Well, the catch. No stranger was allowed upstairs. While I was explaining the need to inspect the upstairs to one of the many staff on hand, THE big man walked in, togged in silk PJs. Surprisingly, I wasn't awe struck at all. I just went ahead to offer my professional view on the matter - that it was not entirely possible solve the problem without indentifying the source of the problem.

Still adamant, he bellowed in dialect,"No need to see, so troublesome! Abit of moisture also won't die. Never mind don't do." To which I said,"I really can't help you if I can't investigate the source of the seepage. If you don't mind it, then we'll leave it for now."

There you go, my first words with a billionaire. Well, it wasn't a "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" moment, where I received wisdom from a legend. But it worked for me fine.

I'm still on a high. :)


redcocoon