Back to Singapore

Gonna try something new for this post. Instead of a first person hindsight perspective that I always right up, I thought it would be more apathetic to write in the form of a first person present narrative instead.

*******

The music blared in my ears as I looked outside the car window. From the toll road, which is the main expressway spanning across greater Jakarta (if not further) everything outside seemed like a blur, yet they held so many dear memories to me. The sight of the malls where I hung out with friends, the sight of the slums where I had to teach as part of the community service program and all the food places that I will not patronize again for a long time. 

The billboards zoomed by as my car went faster and faster, something that I would not be able to see in Singapore due to visual pollution regulations, as well as the farms that would be too expensive and thus cost ineffective to create in Singapore. 

I thought about my friends and my teachers, my school life as a whole. I wondered what would happen if I were to do things differently. What if I said yes to this, or no to that? What kind of different experiences would I have had and would they be better than the ones I had already? Of course, I would never know nor would it be possible to ever find out. 

I looked at the time I first went to school in Jakarta, where I met many people of different backgrounds for the first time. In Singapore everyone came from the same background relatively but it was different for international students: each kid had a story to tell, and I was fascinated with each and every one of them. 

Questioning them about their background often arose questioning looks from my peers as I looked overinterested at what they thought was their dull life. Yet I continued, and little by little I learned a bit from everyone I knew. 

There were some good experiences and bad experiences in school. Often involving grades or my social life. Ending with acceptance or regret with both aspects. I recall times that I have been peer pressured to do things that I swore never to do, and how it changed my life forever. Whether or not for the better or for the worse, it certainly opened up my eyes even more about the world around me. 

I have changed a lot since I first came to Jakarta. I have gotten fitter, stronger, taller, more mature mentally and more aware of the outside world than I ever was before. 

As the new year comes and as I spend the remainder of my IB life in Singapore, I hope to continue improving myself, to keep saying yes to all opportunities and to open my eyes to more of the world, all from this small tiny island. 

"Goodbye Jakarta" I said as I looked outside the airplane window "I will never forget you..."

Cheers,

Matthew Tan