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| A True Friend - Wee Keong and me (photo was taken in Sydney, 2014) |
I am a fan of the US reality TV show called “Survivor”. One of the words which I often hear in that show is “blindsided”. Out of curiosity, I decided to look up the word “blindsided”. According to one of the interpretations, it means “to catch (someone) unprepared”. Oh boy! When I saw that, it brought back some memories of my childhood where I have been “blindsided” by my supposedly good friends. Let me share with you two of my “blindsided” stories:
Story: The Assistant Class Monitor
When I was in Form 1 (Year 7), I wanted to become an Assistant Class Monitor. I wasn’t interested to become a Class Monitor, I only wanted to become the Assistant. In case some of you do not know what a Class Monitor does, let me just say that the Class Monitor is like the Captain or the leader of the entire Class. Therefore the Assistant Class Monitor is just like the Vice Captain. The Class Monitor and the Assistant are usually voted in by the students in the class - a very democratic process. Being only 13 years old, I wasn’t shy to express my desire to become the Assistant Monitor and in fact, let all of my so called good friends know. Everyone that I met informed me that they would vote for me when it comes to the class election. One of my good friends went so far as to say that he would be nominating me and all of our other friends would raise their hands when it comes to the actual voting. Making a rough count of the number of votes that I should get, I have come to a conclusion that it will be an easy win for me.
When the time came for the election of the Class Monitor and the Assistant, I was pretty excited. The way the election was conducted was rather simple. A student would raise his hand, propose the name of the nominee followed by a seconder or two and once the nomination is closed, then the voting would start by a show of hands. There were a few nominees for the Class Monitor position and if I recall correctly, it was a rather close fight. When it came to calling for nominations for the Assistant Class Monitor, a first name was nominated then followed by a second nominee. I was looking around the class to see who would nominate me but no one raise his hand. I then looked at that supposedly good friend of mine who earlier informed me that he would be nominating me but alas, he didn’t even look at me as he was looking straight ahead as if ignoring me. Then someone proposed that the nomination be closed. I was rather disappointed. If I have lost the election, it would have been at least I tried but here, I wasn’t even nominated at all. All I could say is that I have been “blindsided” by my good friends. So, from an early age I learned that in politics, the only person you can trust is yourself as even your so called good friends can backstab and prove to be unreliable. Until today, I never got my answer as to why they didn’t nominate me at all. If they felt I wasn’t suitable to be the Assistant Class Monitor they could at least let me know rather than leading me on. Well, that is a “blindsided” lesson for me.
Story: Leaving for the US
At the age of 17, I left for the US to continue further studies. Before leaving for the US, my parents threw a farewell party for me in the family home. Many of my classmates showed up including those who “blindsided” me before. It was a rather fun and emotional night for me. Many of my friends gave short speeches, praising me and saying what a good person and classmate I have been and they would missed me when I leave for the US. Many of them even asked for my flight details as they would come out in droves to the airport to send me off on that day. Some of them were even saying that would be bringing placards and banners (I know, I know it sounds really far fetched but when you are 17 years old, you want to believe everything!).
On the day of my departure, my family and relatives were in the airport. While queuing up in the check-in counter, I was looking around trying to spot if any my friends were there but unfortunately none were spotted. As I was about to leave the check-in counter, I spotted my friend Tan Wee Keong (who is now a famous obstetrician & gynecologist in Malacca) standing there quietly waiting for me to complete the check-in procedure. I was deeply touched seeing Wee Keong standing there. Wee Keong has always been a brilliant student but rather reserve and quiet in class, so I didn’t expect to see him there in the airport. When I asked him how did he come to the airport? He simply replied he took a taxi from Klang to the airport which was quite a distance away. Apart from that, unknown to him that I know, it would also cost him a lot of money to travel in a taxi, especially for a young person. I was very touched with what Wee Keong did. He made every effort to wake up early, to look for a taxi to take him (him as being all alone) from Klang to the airport plus it cost so much to hire a taxi for a person who had just completed his secondary school education. My late aunt, Ah Mai was there and being a caring person (which she had always been) immediately informed Wee Keong that she would send him home to Klang and no need to keep the taxi waiting. What Wee Keong did was something that I would remember for the rest of my life. His sincerity, reliability and genuineness as a friend impressed me and received great admiration. I have shared this story with my wife and kids and often reminded them what a true friend is all about. You see, when it comes to choosing friends, I am no longer “blindsided”, my “blinders” are off and I can see clearly now. Thank God for that!
