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“rRRrrrr”
“RRRRRRRR,” went the alarm
clock.
Yisheng tossed in bed and then
turned over to reach for the snooze button on the clock.
“Aiyah! It’s Monday
again,” he mumbled to himself as he got out of bed.
Instinctively, a hand grabbed
the packet of cigarettes on the bedside table. He lit a
cigarette and took a deep puff. Then he coughed – it was a
smoker’s cough. But, then, he was too young to be having a
smoker’s cough. In fact, he was too young to be smoking. But,
he always coughed this way in the morning. Yisheng had been
smoking since Primary Six and, yes, he had a ‘licence’ to
smoke at home, though he was only in Secondary Three this year.
His mother never bothered to cane him or scold him. You could
say this was indeed a strange household. Father, Mother and son
often smoked together in the living room, oblivious to all of
society’s taboos on such behaviour.
Yisheng dragged himself out of
bed – a foam mattress laid on the ceramic floor – and made
for the toilet. He passed by his mother’s room and managed a
sleepy glance. Mother was asleep on her double mattress, also on
the floor. She worked as a hairdresser in a shopping centre in
North Bridge Road. But, she kept strange working hours for a
hairdresser. She would go to work at 2pm every day and would not
be back till past midnight. He never bothered to ask her about
her work though there was a speck of suspicion in his eyes each
time he walked past her bedroom and sneaked a look. She alone
was responsible for keeping him at school and maintaining the
home.
His father, the elder Seow,
was virtually unemployed. At 45, his old man had not kept a
decent job most of his life, preferring to hang around the
coffeeshops, taking care of his two pet mata-putehs (singing
birds) and hopping into the neighbourhood make-shift gambling
parlour in a flat two blocks away when his fingers itched for a
game or two. What an enormous responsibility on his poor mother!
She had to support her husband on top of paying for the
household’s needs.
Perhaps, that was why he never
respected his father. Perhaps that was why he thought his father
had no right to stop him from smoking and joining the
neighbourhood gang. He was, after all, following in his
father’s footsteps. Yisheng’s excuse was that his old man
did not set a good example for him. He would use this excuse to
convince himself he was doing the right thing each time he got
whacked by the school vice-principal for some offence or other.
Yisheng looked at the image in
the mirror as he brushed his teeth. He had been nagging his
mother to get him a motorcycle for his sixteenth birthday,
barely three months away in January 1989. At last, she had
yielded to his demands, not least because he was an only child
in the family. She couldn’t give him much attention most of
the time, Mother and son did not get to see or talk with each
other. When Yisheng was at school in the morning, she would be
at home, doing the house chores. And when Yisheng got home in
the afternoon, she would have left for work. So, Yisheng was
left pretty much to himself the whole day.
When Yisheng got to bed at around midnight, she was just
getting off work. The two of them only got to meet and talk on
Sundays, which was her off-day.
So you could say, Yisheng was
a typical example of a latchkey kid. For a 15-year-old boy, he
was – you could say – independent. Nobody controlled his
movements. Nobody interfered in his choice of friends and nobody
knew or bothered to know the type of company he brought home
each day. Except for his habit of smoking, Yisheng didn’t seem
to have any other bad habits. He never stole – he had on
various occasions, in the company of friends, been urged to join
his peers in snitching a thing or two from the CD shop in town,
but while his friends indulged in this game for excitement’s
sake, Yisheng had never once stolen a thing. He was proud of
himself in this respect. Though, he was poor, and had peer
pressure, he never once yielded. He had his own set of
principles, and this was one of them. Of course, joining a gang
was not a bad habit, at least he thought so. His gang was made
up of his school mates and friends in the neighbourhood. They
were his “brothers” and part of his extended family. He
would confide in them his deepest problems and they would lend a
willing ear.
Mother had left $5 on the
dining table in the living room. That was to last him through
school, lunch, and dinner that day. He had tried squeezing his
mother for more, but was unsuccessful. They always spoke in
Mandarin, though they were Cantonese. She always gave the same
reply – she had to “feed that irresponsible father of his”
too. The negotiation for more pocket money would end in her
getting all fired up and mouthing all sorts of cuss words. In
the end, he would give up. Anyway, things were not too bad; he
had a part-time job at McDonald’s in Marina Square. They paid
him $2.50 per hour and he was pretty happy with that
arrangement. He
also got a free lunch because the meals came with the job. That
way, he could save a little.
Yisheng made his way down the
stairs to the ground floor. His home was on the second storey of
Block 227 in Yishun Ring Road, and school was a five-minute walk
down Yishun Street 21. His bosom friend and classmate, Kelvin,
would join him on the morning stroll to school. Kelvin looked too
young for his age. Anyone would have thought he was in Primary
Six. At 1.48 m, he was a head shorter than Yisheng whose height
was 1.69 m. Everyone at school called him ET. He never once
expressed displeasure over the use of this nickname, and so the
name ET got stuck with him.
“Did you hear about Deborah
and Kee Tong?”
“Nup. What about them?”
“It seems Deborah’s mother
was in the principal’s office yesterday.”
“They say she’s got
pregnant by Kee Tong.”
“Oh? Hah?” Yisheng was
sparing with his words. He was least interested in such affairs
of the heart. Perhaps, because of his parents’ sorry state of
affairs, he was fearful about jumping into a relationship, less
history repeated itself. He did not want to end up like his
father, a good-for-nothing brat. He did not want to be branded
as a good-for-nothing husband. It would be a long time before he
got into a relationship, if ever he got into one. He was sure no
girl would show interest in him, after all, everyone at school
knew his home background. Any girl would be afraid he would turn
out to be exactly like his father.
“What you say, we go to your
house after school?”
“Yisheng… YISHENG!..
What’s on your mind?”
“I.. erh.
Nothing, nothing at all,” said Yisheng. But, his eyes
gave him away. Kelvin and he had been classmates since secondary
one and Kelvin could see that Yisheng’s mind was light years
away.
“Oh, please don’t give me
that again,” quipped Kelvin.
“Well, actually, I am
fantasising about the scrambler my mother promised me for my
birthday.”
“You mean, she’s really,
really going to buy you one?”
“Oh, ya, I reckon so, lor.”
“Wow! That’s great! What
have you in mind?
“Well, I don’t mind a
Honda, you know, the one we saw last week in the carpark where
Chai Seng lives.”
“I wish my mum would get one
for me, but that’s wishful thinking. That’s the last thing
she would ever do. She hates bikes, you know. Says it’s
dangerous.”
“ET.! But, you are
too..too..eh .., I mean..too small-sized to get on a
scrambler.”
“Says who?”
“For goodness’ sake. Your
legs can’t even reach the pedal!”
“They can! And I can prove
it.”
“Oh, don’t let’s argue
over this early in the morning. Leave me alone to my
thoughts.”
“I…Look who’s coming
this way.”
“Argh! She again? Oh my
God!”
“Yisheng. Who asks you to be
so handsome; girls just can’t keep away from you.”
“Alamak!
Here she comes.”
“Hi ET. Hi Yisheng.”
“Hi. Mei Feng.” Mei
Feng’s their schoolmate. She was their classmate last year in
secondary two, but this year, she’s gone to a different class.
“Yisheng, are you going to
Swing Singapore this December?”
“Yisheng.”
“ET, ask Yisheng for me.
He’s not answering my question.”
“Forget about him this
morning. His mind’s far away. Why don’t you ask again, like
in December? It’s only October, for goodness’ sake!”
“ET. Are you going to
Yisheng’s place today? Can I come along?”
“Alamak. Why don’t you ask
Yisheng directly. Why do you always ask me? I don’t want to be
involved in your husband-and-wife things.”
“ET. She and I are not
husband and wife, okay? Please don’t say things like this, lah.”
“Good. Now he’s awake.
Now, he’s back in this world again.”
“Hah? What are you two
mumbling about?”
“Oh, you won’t understand.
It’s men’s talk. Ah! We have reached school already.”
The two boys were glad to be
rid of Mei Feng. Kelvin was unhappy that Mei Feng was making use
of him to get close to Yisheng, and Yisheng, on the other hand,
was glad to be rid of this girl with hands she could not keep to
herself. She would flex her arms around him as if they were an
octopus’s tentacles and he wasn’t at ease when she was
around.
It was time for the morning
assembly at Yishun Town Secondary School in Nee Soon East. The
whole school assembled in the parade square in front of the
carpark for the morning flag-raising ceremony. When the songs
were sung and the pledge recited, the students were allowed to
sit on the tarmac in the parade square. Mr Ng See Teck, the
vice-principal, got onto the platform. First, he went after
those who were without a tie. They had to form a queue at the
office to purchase a new one. Mr Ng wouldn’t accept any
excuses. Today, Mr Ng seemed to be in one of his black moods.
His face seemed even blacker today as he was wearing a dark-coloured long-sleeve shirt.
“Boys and Girls. Today, I
have an important announcement to make. It seems that one of the
girls in our school has not been on the best of behaviour. In
fact, she has got involved in a Boy-Girl Relationship. I have
told you guys time and again this is not the time or place to
enter into a BGR. But, I guess my advice has fallen into deaf
ears. This school can’t accept this sort of behaviour.
Yesterday, the girl’s parents came to see me in the office.
The girl is now pregnant. Imagine that – she’s only fifteen.
I hope all of you will know better than to follow in her
footsteps. You are here to study, to get a good certificate, not
to make love. I know I am being brunt, but I think that’s the
kind of language you understand. I have referred the student to
the ministry’s student’s health service. I hope there will
be no more of such cases from now on. This is not something
great to be talked about so I will stop here.”
“Does he know who’s
responsible? asked Yisheng.
“Nup. I doubt so.
Deborah’s scared stiff. She won’t give Chai Seng away for
sure. He’ll end up in the Boys’ Home. She’s not yet
sixteen, you know,” whispered Kelvin.
“Simon, are you coming to
Yisheng’s place today?”
“Sure thing,” replied
Simon. He was sitting in front of Kelvin in the parade square
where their class 3A1 was supposed to sit. The whole class sat
in a long column from the front of the parade square all the way
to the middle, in single file, according to index number order.
Simon, a bespectacled tall bony chap, had been the duo’s bosom
friend for the last three years. Both Kelvin and Yisheng knew
they could rely on Simon to come to their aid when they needed
muscles in a fight. Simon was quick with his legs. He was also
rough in his mannerisms.
“Pass me the Mentos, will
you?”
Yisheng took a roll of Mentos
from a pocket and handed it to Simon when the teachers weren’t
looking.
“Here comes Mrs Lee. Quick. Hide the
Mentos.”
A thirtyish woman walked up
the column of students, marking their attendance as she moved up
the column of Khakis. She peered at Kelvin from behind
her spectacles.
“ET. What’s that in your
mouth? Open your mouth and let me take a look.”
“Ahhh…There’s nothing in
my mouth, Mrs Lee.”
“Stand up, ET.” Even Mrs
Lee called him by his nickname.
“Why is your mouth smelling
of mint?”
“My mother says that I
should take a sweet before I come to school. This way, I will
not have bad breath.”
“Don’t be a smart aleck.
Were you eating sweets just now?”
“No! If you don’t believe
me, ask my mother.”
“What’s your mother got to
do with this? Hah? Hah?”
“Sit down. Don’t let me
catch you again.”
“Thank you, Mrs Lee.”
Mrs Trina Lee was the form
teacher of 3 A1, their class. She also taught them English.
Though she was a little petty, she was the sort who could
give-and-take and the students were glad to have her as their
form teacher. Sometimes, she would close one eye on things which
they did in class. For instance, sometimes, one of them would be
caught having a Walkman in his bag when Walkmans were banned in
school. Unlike the other teachers, she would not confiscate such
things. She would give the boy or girl a loud scolding and left
it at that. And she would replay her clichéd phrase which they
loved so much – “Sit down. Don’t let me catch you
again.”
The morning droned on. Most
times, it was difficult going through the day, both for the
students and the teachers in the class. 3A1, after all was a
class in the Normal Academic stream. It was the usual noisy
class, not dissimilar from any other NA class in Singapore.
Still, the class was not as rowdy as those NA classes in boys’
schools. Without girls to act as a buffer, boys’ schools were
much noisier. Mrs Lee had come from a neighbourhood boys’
school. She had suffered at the hands of the students there and
so when she finally got her transfer, she almost jumped for joy
in the vice-principal’s office, but remembered to keep her
calm. 3A1 was loads better than the 2A2 which she had been form
teacher to in her previous school. Still, she pretended to be
just as strict as she was when she was in the boys’ school.
Mrs Trina Lee came into 3A1 at 1.00pm for a period of English.
The class came to attention
and greeted her. Mrs Lee hated the last period of the day. She
knew these students were restless at the end of the morning
session and it was difficult to make productive use of them. So,
she usually did individual reading-aloud during the last period
of the day. Yisheng and Kelvin, who were seated next to each
other at the far back in the third row from the left of the
teacher’s desk, were busy trying to talk above the noise in
the classroom. They did not hear what Mrs Lee was shouting about
in the classroom.
“Yisheng. YISHENG.”
Yisheng stood up hurriedly. He
had finally heard her.
“Yisheng. Please read the
first paragraph of the page.”
“Alamak!” Yisheng fumbled
in his thoughts. “Which page now?” He had not been paying
attention and she had caught him just when he was at his most
listless moment.
Kelvin hastily flipped the
pages of the textbook for him. Both of them were sharing a
textbook for the lesson today.
“Yisheng. It’s page 67
today. Don’t you think it’s embarrassing every time I have
to tell you which page to read?”
Yisheng raised his voice as he
read the paragraph. He was certain the others couldn’t hear
him.
“Class. Class. Keep quiet
while Yisheng is reading. Yisheng. Start again at the beginning
of the paragraph.”
“rrrRing.
RRRing. RRRing.”
The whole class was now like a
fish market. They were all waiting to go home, for the bell for
dismissal had rung. They were oblivious to what Yisheng was
mumbling in the classroom. Mrs Lee sighed. It was like that
every day in a Normal Academic class. It was worse in a Normal
Technical class. It was her fate to be given such classes. She
couldn’t complain. She had just stepped out of a nightmarish
experience at the other school and she was anxious to make a
good impression at this one, at least for the first few months,
anyway.
“Class. If you behave like
this again tomorrow, you will all stay back after school.” She
knocked her pencil case on the table.
“Class, do you understand
me?”
“Yes! Mrs Lee.” The
students chorused in unison.
“Okay, you may go, and
please don’t make so much noise as you leave the class.”
The boys and girls emptied
into the corridors and made their way down the stairs.
It was mayhem now, as other
students had joined them. The girls were chattering away,
swishing their skirts as they made their way down the stairs in
waves here and there. The boys were slightly more dignified at
first, preferring to let the girls go down first before rushing
down, pulling and tugging one another’s shoulders or bags.
As they would always do so,
Yisheng, Kelvin, and Simon shuffled down the carpark to the
school gate, three-abreast, hands in their pockets. It was to
give themselves their very own identity. As they walked, they
would exchange gossip with one another.
Other schoolmates passed them and the usual greetings
were exchanged. Once across the street, the threesome made a
beeline for their good old mama-shop, a provision kiosk next to
the lift lobby in the void deck of Block 210. The kiosk was a
good two blocks away from the school gate and made a good
gathering point as another block of flats hindered any view of
the kiosk from the school.
It was the group’s favourite
place near their school. They liked to sit on the bench next to
the kiosk, surrounded by the shoulder-high paraphernalia sold by
the provision kiosk, which were hung on several racks around the
bench. Here was their little private space where they could
gather after school. The Indian owner of the kiosk, Mr Nair, was
their friend. They could count on him giving them credit when
they were low on pocket money. Of course, they would pay Mr
Nair the next time they were loaded with pocket money. And Mr
Nair wasn’t the money-minded sort of chap. He gave them credit
quite freely. Perhaps, it was because they had been giving the
kiosk business since they started school at Yishun Town
Secondary three years ago. Perhaps, it was because Mr Nair
enjoyed having them around the kiosk. They certainly made the
place lively with their anecdotes of school happenings.
Yisheng headed straight for
the staircase nearest the kiosk. He reached behind a drainpipe
and retrieved a packet of Marlboro which he had hidden the
Friday before. In his rush to school this morning, he had
forgotten to bring along the packet of cigarettes in his
bedroom. He borrowed a lighter from Mr Nair and drew a deep
puff. He had not smoked a single stick since he left the house
this morning and found relief in the cigarette he was holding in
his right hand. His pals, Kelvin and Simon, were non-smokers.
Though they had been with him the past few years, they had not
taken up the habit. Kelvin didn’t quite like the taste when
Yisheng pestered him to try a stick way back in secondary one.
Since then, Yisheng had not insisted on trying to convert him.
Simon had a fierce father who would kill him if he dared hold a
cigarette in his hand.
Four of their schoolmates, all
girls, came by the mama shop and joined them in chit-chat. All
four were smokers. Margaret, Mei Chen, Jing Ying and Daisy
weren’t the type of girls any decent boy would want to get
tangled with. For one thing, all four were not exactly dainty
creatures. They came from broken homes and were street-wise.
They hung out with teenage ruffians in the neighbourhood.
Although Yisheng and his group were part of a neighbourhood
gang, the three boys likened their own gang as a tame version
compared to the unrestrained girl gang that these ‘ladies’
belonged to. The boys were always careful not to provoke the
four girls, who were notorious for getting into fights. The boys
thought that as long as they kept their distance from the girls,
it was alright to engage in innocent chatting. It was getting
crowded in the small area, but it was fun. The teenagers
exchanged stories and laughed at each other’s antics.
“That Mrs Tan – Dawn Tan
you know – went into the toilet to look for trouble. She
thought she had caught me smoking, you know. Heng-ah, I threw
away the cigarette in time or else,” boasted Jing Ying.
“Did she find any cigarette
on you?” asked Kelvin.
“Wa! ET, lucky for me, it
was my last stick. Otherwise, you know.”
“You mean she didn’t smell
your fingers, hah?” Simon pitched in.
“Oh! We girls are smarter
than her anytime,” taking out a ballpoint as she demonstrated
how she smoked in the toilet.
“You see, I clip the
cigarette in the handle of the ballpoint and hold the ballpoint
instead of the cigarette. That way, she can’t smell anything
cos’ there’s nothing for her to smell,” she continued.
The small group broke into laughter. Then,
they restrained themselves. One of the girls stood up and looked
above the toys and foodstuff hung on the racks.
“Coast is clear.
Continue,” said she.
“Aiyah, let’s talk about
the Tea Dance this Saturday,” Daisy, who had been quiet all
this while chipped in.
“Aren’t you boys going to
Fire Disco this Saturday?”
“Of course, lah,” was the
reply.
“Shall we go together?”
“I think it’s best we meet
you girls there. You know how it is with you girls, taking so
much time making up. I don’t think we all want to wait and
wait and wait for you, especially on a Saturday,” said Simon.
The other two boys nodded their heads in
agreement.
“Wa Lau! You are talking as
if we purposely delay meeting you. OK lah, set lah,” said Jing
Ying to the boys who were getting ready to move off.
“Where are you chaps
going?”
“To Yisheng’s place.”
“See you!”
“ Luckily you came up with
that excuse, or else we’ll be stuck with these Ah Lians for
sure,” quipped Yisheng.
“Don’t worry. Trust me. I
know how to handle these girls,” was the reply.
Continued
HERE! (Part
2/3) |
The
Latchkey Kid
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