[Saturday, 24 June, 2006]

I was at Toa Payoh, feeling so pissed off that I did not feel like talking at all. The fury choked in my chest and went downwards to inflate “gas” inside my stomach.

I thought it was just a normal teen games carnival to promote sports and healthy living. I gladly accompanied Vivi down for the closing ceremony as her team manager insisted her to go down. I could have spent the longest time alone with her if not that we had to reach there by 1815h.

Her two friends including her manager reached earlier than us. The rest were of course late. We went to the MacDonald’s after some waiting and takeaway our dinner when I thought we were late already but we went back to the MRT station instead. We could have a nice meal at the restaurant instead of eating awkwardly, holding the plastic bags and even being the target of some attention-seeking guys.

All was well until we reached the place. Usually prize presentation was swift but it did not seem to end so early this time. I recalled Vivi spent quite some time there for the opening ceremony one or two weeks ago and everything seemed so weird to me.

I did not care who the organisers were though the PA system quite amazed me; the eight speakers powered the air-conditioned place well. It was first time I sat at the middle of the hall where volleyball players dreamed to play their finals at.

There was a big screen powered by the projector from the back and a band with a girl seemed sweet from a distant was performing. However, the way they got all the winners of different games down in large groups was awful and meaningless. Then, there were breaks for lucky draw and I started to find it fishier for the dragging of time.

An insane approach from them was to get a muscular guy to give a speech. Then, he started to preach about his religion and I found it totally no link to the carnival. He talked about how rich he was but all his wealth and family did not matter much to him except for his special “someone” in his heart. I felt like asking him to give me all his money and properties and he would definitely regret his words some months later.

Anyway, there was another muscular guy and both of them gave a tensed feeling, making everyone felt so weak and had to be somehow obedient and comply with them. I did not know it was some psychology game the organisers were playing until they got a very young Thai soccer player to showcase his skill.

The emcee questioned him about his seven days stay in Singapore and he answered everything in Thai language. The emcee would then translate for him. There was nothing suspicious at first until the second question the boy finished his sentences in less than ten seconds but the emcee translated it for nearly a minute and then I realised it was a scheme. I doubted his understanding of Thai language.

With all the apprehensive things going on, I turned to Vivi who explained to me that this carnival was organised by a religion group and then I realised it was a scheme. That was the reason why the opening and closing ceremony were such dragging events and at intervals there were people to preach about the religion.

They obviously had a good vision to influence young people because they would eventually grow up to be rich adults and that at their ages it was easier to manipulate their minds. They were also more naïve and enthusiastic, which could draw more people in.

It reminded me of the past when I was invited to a “concert” and my friend did not even stay more than five minutes on the “stage” to sing. All the songs were about their religion and that everyone just seemed so hypnotized. It was the most uncomfortable place I had ever been to, with the ghostly air all over me and ready to kill my purity anytime.

Although I felt so much like leaving the unholy place, I did not want to leave Vivi behind. She was alright with everything, willing to turn a deaf ear to the craps the organisers were trying to implant to everyone. I could not withstand it that I was indirectly helping them in boosting the total number of people there. I stayed put since I had to keep an eye on Vivi no matter what.

Towards the end of the crap event when I was still calm enough to keep my cool, the emcee asked each manager of the teams to get feedbacks. Logically it should be feedbacks about how the games were conducted, to seek improvement for the future events; however, their ill-intentions were surfaced out instead.

They were not expecting for comments like “the event is fun” or “the referee is biased”, but all about their religion. So, they were asking everyone like “do you want to join my religion?”

It totally disgusted me and I felt like a puppet being fooled to the place like all other people. I got a very clear picture of the real intention of the organisers. The managers of each team were their believers and that was another smart way of preaching through peer pressure. It was so hypocrite of them; it was an insult to sports.

I refused to submit to scheme and in their worthless efforts to breech their religion it turned my attitude negative instead. I was infuriated and the urge to leave the place was enormous for all the threatening brainwashed people polluting the place.

I respected freedom of speech, as well as belief; however, it was irritating to keep talking and pestering others to believe and commit to it when obviously people like me had no interest at all. And if one day I would be so foolishly to fall in love with it, I would throw myself in and need no one to annoy me.

It was the same for all religions that no one should be preaching by underhand methods inclusive of peer pressure, babes or sports. That was also the same reason why I did not intend to join any big charity organisations for their publicity seemed hypocrite sometimes.

I felt so sad. The burning agony in my heart told me how cruel the organisers were to rob my private time with Vivi away. I was also robbed off of speech and was feeling guilty that I was making Vivi worried. I could not start off the explanation to express how disgusted I felt totally.