[Wednesday, 16 May, 2007]
It took me great effort to sleep at 4am. I waked up at 8.30am and went to the Singapore Waiting Hospital. I waited one and a half hour at Clinic ‘E’ before seeing the doctor. Somehow, he was similar to the other specialists who did not wish to write a memo to the army’s medical officer for downgrading me. He claimed that the medical officers might not follow their instructions, which was obvious but the medical officers always claimed that they needed the specialist’s letter in order to appeal for my downgrade. Basically, they were pushing the responsibilities around and I had to accept that it was life in Singapore.
Since I was no longer a national service boy anymore, I was able to speak up bravely and claim my right. I told the doctor it was unfair for me if my condition was to worsen during re-service and that the medical officers had asked for the specialist letter so that they could submit my case to the medical board. I won the battle but somehow the memo did not do me very good favour.
After reaching home, I continued with my work. Jianhao messaged me to ask if I wanted to do any design for the advertisement but I told him honestly my inspiration would not come just when I was pleased. In fact, I was so busy these days that I had no mood for artistic work at all. I was also unfortunately having no luck for rental stuffs, which had also demoralized me a lot.
I was engaged with chat messages in MSN while working. Eventually Irwin advised me not to meet up with him for I would not be able to talk to him for more than an hour before his plane took off. It was such a waste that he had only come back for less than two days and I had not seen him for very long already. I also had fun chatting with Xavier where I poured out some of my failure to him.
This evening, I could not get this line off my mind – “你把我的女人带走,你也不会快乐很久” – you snatch my girl away, but you can never be happy for long. It was a song by温兆伦, which my ex classmates during secondary school days used to joke about.
In the midst of everything, I had received a call from Carol’s company, asking me down for a second interview. I felt so weird that I had screwed up my first interview but they seemed to be giving me extra chances.
Since I was not meeting Irwin anymore, Kaven asked me to have dinner with him. He drove me to Chinatown and he treated me at the famous toad’s leg porridge stall. As usual, he ordered some side dishes. I believed he was treating me as very good friend for I was someone who did not appreciate good food and yet he often asked me out for meals. At least, I was glad that this time the meal was cheaper than the previous ones.
After sending me home, I started working again. At night, I called Carol up and she guided me through the possible interviewing questions. She was so clear-minded and quick-witted that I was suspecting she used to be a professional interviewer.