WELCOME TO PALLET TOWN!!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
I think that if my blog actually has a lawyer, it would undoubtedly sue my ass off for negligence. Anyway, 3 months or so have whizzed past which is bad because it means I am 3 months nearer to National Service. I know that me whining about National Service is so not me because 1) I love Singapore terribly and 2) I am in National Junior College which has the motto 'Service with Honour' so National Service should be the ultimate culmination of my school's ideals. Well, it's not that I dread serving my country but thinking about 2 years of botakness and being able to smell like a garbage dump, any rational person can't help feeling lacklustre at such a 'welcoming' prospect. I certainly hope that I would have an enjoyable NS experience and that doesn't translate to my desire to be in Commandoes or Naval divers. I would like to believe that I have a fair crack at a bright future and not die meaninglessly in some random military exercise. Hah. I am just kidding and I better change topic before I get 2 Man-in-black at my door steps and that would mean you would probably never see me again.
Anyway, hockey has been quite an interesting journey for me because it has for once, brought the spirit of competition to my life. For most of my education life, I have either been in some geeky club (primary school) or in a uniformed group (secondary school), I have never had to compete aggressively. In NCC, I believe the challenge lies not in competition but rather honing of leadership skills so I had quite a comfortable life at the top where I am protected by the clockworks of rank heirachy. As any economics student will tell you, lack of competition is bad. True enough, over the years, I have grown to be competition-adverse. Maybe it is the success that I enjoyed but I started to dread any contests for fear of shameful defeat and failure. Even when I play recreational basketball with my friends, I would be reluctant to play against opponents.
Hockey has forced me to stare competition in its cold and cruel eyes. Since NJC is not exactly a powerhouse, throughout the U-18 tournament, we suffered quite a few defeats, some heavy ones, to our more illustrous opponents. It was definitely torturing and painful everytime we lost so I would question myself what the shit have I gotten myself into because if I have not joined hockey, none of this will happen to me. But as the law of life goes, shit happens and I, looking back, have never been more glad to have gotten into that shit! I guess the turning point of my fairly short hockey experience was the humongous 0-6 defeat to Raffles Institution. That was the first time in many years that I have failed so terribly. My confidence as a goalkeeper plunged to an all-time low and it wasn't until 1 month or so that I finally got over it. But that defeat was an excellent lesson not only at match mentality but a tremendous one at accepting defeats constructively.
For example, when we played CSC, a far better team than RI in my opinion, we still lost by 0-6 but that defeat was meaningful and I was actually happy even after the loss because I knew that I had put up a more-than-decent fight against them, unlike the match against RI. This made me realise that defeats can be accepted more easily if I had tried my utmost best. And this has definitely made me a better goalkeeper and a better person. If any of you hockers is satisfying your voyeuristic fetishes NOW, I hope my shameless account of my adventure has helped to inspire. Nationals are coming soon. I would not want to have worn the stinky goalkeeper's gear for nothing.
Ps. Hockey Wei Xiang: What's your profession? AA! AA! AA!
7:47 PM;