On Saturday, 2 January 2010, close to a thousand RVHS alumni members joined ex-principals, teachers, staff and students of RVHS to walk the entire distance from the Malan Road campus (formerly ACJC) to the spanking new $79M campus in Boon Lay.
And I was there.
I know, it’s a bit crazy. I’ve graduated from RV for…ages…but I still go back almost every Teacher’s Day…it seems like some link which I can’t cut off. I love going back to campus. When RV’s old west coast campus was taken over, a part of me felt crushed…only memories could console. Going back to visit never felt the same ever again (though the familiar faces of the teachers helped). But this new campus feels, right. The colours, the infrastructure, the spaciousness, even a part of the campus resembles the old west coast campus. Going back physically, or mentally, always gives me a sense of protection and feeling sheltered….I didn’t feel it when I was studying there of course. It was only when I was ‘released’ into JC and Uni subsequently that I realised how safe and sheltered I was in RV…the world out there is a deep blue sea. And discipline and perseverance shaped during my teenage years were the 2 best things that came along with the graduation.
The teachers have aged a lot, and of course, so have I. It was a great way to start the year of 2010 by going back to the roots. And this is what I want to do a lot for 2010, going back to the roots of all things. Be it relationships, music or living. In particular, I’ll sing the way I want to sing, the way I love to sing, and follow the way of singing which made me fell in love with singing at the very beginning. No one else can ever tell me how I should sound like (well except for my teacher hiak).
A friend said recently (in his rarest moments of sanity), “If one cannot find beauty in his environment, he can never find beauty in any other places he goes to”. Again, it’s all about appreciation of, roots.
Happy 2010 everyone. May you find beauty in your roots 
