Artwork & Crafts Previews for Stop It! @ Munky King (Sept 10)

[6 x images in slideshow above]
Artwork and 3D-crafts for the Super Cooper-curated STOP IT! Show at Munky King happening September 10th [blogged]- with the "crafts" shown in slideshow up top, and "art" posted below. As well make your way to his Facebook album for any image updates.


[13 x images in slideshow above]
When I was in Secondary Two in Singapore (about 14 years old?), I had 'progressed' from sitting in the second row of class in school, to about the middle row. I was a student with an unrequited desire to be "popular" and well-liked. I had at that time chosen to emulate slightly more well-to-do "friends" around me, and wearing a necklace was one way to "look cool". I had unbuttoned the top button of my school white shirt, while wearing a school sports tee shirt underneath, that one time after P.E.

I remember the very next day (I was in the afternoon session), I had attended school as usual and hung around the indoor auditorium to await being called in to sing the school song and recite the Nation's Pledge (as we do every day before classes start). I remember being asked by another student to join him around the stairway, as someone was looking for me, and I followed.

At the side-landing inside the auditorium, there were other two students, one of which was an older student in the Normal Stream (our nation splits us into "Normal" and "Express" Streams - having the need to serve 4 and 5 years of class/school respectively) and another guy from my same year, but from the Express Stream, as I was from, but different classes. They were bathed in the silhouette of the afternoon sunlight - the scene was actually quite "drama" looking too LOL

Express-Stream-Same-Year-Guy came up to me and asked why I wore a necklace, and if I had thought I was being a "gangster". And I remember clearly saying "but that other guy wore a necklace too!" - to which ESSYG then exclaimed that I had my top button undone, and that I was trying hard to be a "gangster". I simply said no, to which I was then punched pretty hard on my shoulder by ESSYG. I was shocked and could not react, I just stared back and kept quiet. Hell, I was too shocked to even shed a tear!

I was then warned to keep my button buttoned and not ever wear a necklace again, and I readily agreed, and I remembered saying as all three guys walked away; "I won't wear a necklace again, because I don't want to die!"

All of this I remember extremely vividly, until right now, even while other decades old memories has already since faded. I reckon this had been one of the most extreme situation of being "bullied" I had experienced. Funnily, this never happened again for the rest of my school days. (Then again there was the Army, but that's a whole other life-experience altogether hahahaha). Even until now, I do not agree with bullying, or bullying jock-tactics employed by many a folk of different ages from different aspects of life. They are everywhere, and their cowardly-actions speak for themselves, regardless of how some folks regale them as "nice guys" or "good guys" - they are BULLIES, plain and simple. It does not mean you are nice to SOMEONE and bully others, you are NICE at all.

And imagine this, you might thinking you are "JOKING" about your words and deplorable acts, but to certain others, it might NOT be a laughing matter. Cyber-bullying is rampant as well. You might be thousands of miles away in another continent, but what you say or do affects the person/s right next to their hearts and heads.

Funnily enough, I had subsequently turned slightly-astray (but a failed gangster-wannabe I turned out to be regardless hahaha) and flopped my Express Stream, as did ESSYG, and we ended up being in the same repeat secondary four class (for our additional 5th year), and sat next to each other at the back of class - and become decent friends too! LOL

But i remembered to not bully anyone else since the incident, because the feeling of being bullied is not something I wish upon anyone anywhere anywhen, friends or foe.