Yellow Orange Red

Throw away the ketupats and bring on the oranges! Ditch your samping and put on a cheongsam! Off with the green packets and on with the Hongbaos! The time has come for our yellow friends to paint the town red. Shops are closed and malls seem vacant. It’s Chinese New Year and you know it. Take this chance to park on the side of the road. Our fellow double yellow lines are taking a break! And what better way to usher in this New Year for them than to pay a glowing tribute to my favourite Chinese friends.

- Jonathan Tan Zhi Xiang
Also known as Jon or more recently, Jantan. This Jantan certainly looks like one. If not for his sickly defined bulging calves, I probably wouldn’t have given him a second look. I knew him through tennis and he was my constant sparring partner until the day he decided to join NTU and have no life. Jon will always be remembered as the person who failed to differentiate a pig from a dog. Luckily for him, it’s the year of the Rat. All in all though, he has been literally, a solid friend.

- Darryl Lee (Man Hon ??)
This Aussie mate of mine used to be on the covers of Mary France Bodyline until Andrea Forseka decided to lose some fats as well. Well, he’s certainly no Fatty now. While he may have changed dramatically in size, he certainly has not changed as a person and he remains to be one of those friends you know you can really depend on. One of few Chinese friends who managed to pull off the long-hair look. And probably the only one whose hair is wavier than mine.

- Raphael Hong Song Yao
Being brothers to Leonardo Ong and Donatello Lee certainly did not faze him one bit. Raphael is a feisty character or at least he used to be. He’s certainly passionate to the people who matters most to him and for that very reason, he makes a great buddy. He decided to sit between me and Suff during class for 2 years and he has paid the price for it. He had proudly been part of our less sane moments.

- Jamie Pang Er Fong
Jamie looks like a goody two shoes and he most definitely is one. He’s generally nice but even nicer to those close to him. Sometimes the words that comes out of his mouth baffles me. Little shit words like Meow meow boo boo shoo. But then again, I baffle myself too. It’s probably an effect of having me and Suff as classmates but sometimes I think it’s just him.

- Caleb Cheow ($%&* #@!)
This guy calls me a deuschbag and in return, I call him a waterbag. That probably sums up our relationship. It’s been one of calling each other ridiculous names and making a joke out of each other. He was my PW group mate and let’s just say that it worked in my favour. His fashion sense of wearing tapered pants and buttoning up shirts suggest that he’s turning Malay. His unfortunately-sounding surname has resulted in people calling him with Hokkien profanities and to save him from that misfortune, he has been given an affectionate nickname of Kamal.

To all my Chinese friends, enjoy yourselves these next few days. Thanks for giving us such a long holiday. More importantly, keep the pork to yourself. Have a Bak Kwa of a time.