Editor's Extended Note

Dedicated to the Yearbook Team 2016, it was a pleasure working with y'all. It's finally our time to REtire! :)


I can't design for nuts, and this led me to request the role of words person/doer of odd jobs for this year's REP yearbook (the pubs comm's yearly burden undertaking). One of my final tasks was to write the editor's note (the thingy in front that people tend to skip). So having never written an editor's note before, I went to do some Googling and realised that it could contain practically anything. Not entirely helpful, but it did get me thinking about what actually deserved to be said. Eventually I settled for something slightly more eloquent than "please enjoy kthxbye", but when you've followed something over the better part of the year and through the crushing workload of Y5, ~150 words is barely enough to summarise anything.

The main point is that nothing in the yearbook came from nothing. Everything inside and out had to be hunted (when Carina and her camera went shooting), gathered (immense gratitude to everyone we've bugged for all sorts of things), or crafted. And then there was somehow putting everything together into the form of a book - a delicate mix of creativity and anguish. But by no means is this post a form of complaint, take it as some sort of dark humour instead haha. So... Ready? It's time to describe the making of the yearbook in as much detail as I can remember - to all future YBTs, heed a fair warning ;)

Just some general stuff before diving into the specifics. The most fundamental way to describe our work is that we were essentially a team of editors - say about 30% creating and 70% wondering how to make things better. In my domain, there were a ton of edits made throughout the process. Here, there, everywhere! It wasn't just about grammar/spelling/weirdness anymore, but also consistency. Like you wouldn't want to call the same person by different names across the book. Beyond words, there was a whole host of other things to consider and tweak: photos, positionings, fonts, line spacings, brightness, this-one-better-or-that-one-better, like-this-nicer-or-like-that-nicer, and every-freaking-thing else. I can't really speak for the designers, who had to deal with all of the above on top of misbehaving software. But having contributed eye power, I must say that they deserve a hats off for their skill and intuition - knowing what works really isn't easy.

And now on we move to the "troublesome" things. Where in between gnashing teeth and frustrated outbursts, there were bouts of manic sob-laughter when things went beyond irritating and turned morbidly funny.

REClub President's message - edited no fewer than 5 times. The greatest challenge here was really in maintaining the "voice" of Mr. ex-President himself. A message cannot be blitzed the same way as a project report, not unless it is intended to sound like a robot wrote it. Then again, there were space issues to contend with, so unfortunately not every heartfelt word made it to the end. So it's not in perfect English, and overall still fairly unconventional for a keynote message, but it is these imperfections that make it as perfect as it gets. If you ask me though, not as the editor but as a friend, the final version barely sounds like him. But then I remember the reminiscent [read: long-winded], and mildly uncouth first draft, and I think I'm fairly satisfied haha.

Ah, the REP Fellows feature. Seems innocuous enough. That's before it becomes apparent how difficult it is to gather all the individual photos of sufficient quality, before erasing all of their backgrounds. There was this one photo that was so LQ it managed to set the benchmark for the entire book. So during test printing, as we crowded eagerly around the very first copy to see how it'd turned out, there was an easy test for quality. In Carina's words, "if she's OK *jabs finger*, the whole book is."

Nothing very annoying about the middle sections (for me; again I cannot speak for the designers), not until it came to vetting which we'll talk about later. Here I must stress how much I appreciated all those quick responses from when I went into journalist mode, whether it was for quotes or photos or someone's full name. Not everything made it to the end, but every bit of information returned (along with the occasional encouraging message) really made doing this a whole lot easier.

Achievements page was also unexpectedly troublesome, but in a way it was a happy problem. REP students really are a bunch of overachievers! It seems like it is the hobby of some to join all sorts of competitions and win prizes in all of them. Really like free flow. Things actually reached a point where we had to say "k cut liao this one leave for next year", and even bump 3rd placings off the main display into the "additional mentions". In future yearbooks, the achievements spread might just be columns and columns of 1st placings, no more space for photos. Which is a shame actually, because out of the whole book, this spread is my favourite in terms of design.

Grad feature. Pretty weird to be doing this for ourselves, but I guess it made gathering stuff easier. In this section, crowd-sourcing for ideas was employed to AMAZING effect. To the 5 people whose words I've borrowed and stitched together, a huge thank you, and I hope the end result works! The rationale was that we were but a handful of people who happened to be from the graduating batch - our views and thoughts may not be representative. [Esp since we were so jaded at that point] I was more involved in conceptualizing this spread, and I remember the days where it was blank white. Well let's just say making this spread was a mini journey in itself, with lots of brainstorming, chucked ideas, and on my end, countless experimentations wrt the words across the page. Maybe one day we will conjure memories of our own just from looking at this spread. Or at least, I know I'll be able to.

Pro-tip for future YBTs: PROTOTYPE. As we headed towards final printing, we thought it'd be good to defend against expensive surprises. In fact, we had two prototypes! Two stapled + taped stacks of paper covered in ink from the RPR printer, post-its with scribbles, and even more scribbles by the end of it. Some of our profs would've been proud. Taken from RE6007 notes: "If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a prototype is worth a thousand pictures", which actually, eerily sounds like a yearbook. Some things read differently on screen and on actual paper (I seriously have no idea why), and this means edits using the good ol' pencil. Also, only a prototype can affirm if a design works - if it doesn't look right on the prototype it damn right won't on the actual print. Good thing the RPR has a paper cutter lying around, although it went blunt and we had to manually scissor the white edges off prototype 2.0. The sheared-down size also felt more "handy" than a full-sized A4, and so we kept it that way, in case you're wondering if this year's edition feels a tad small.

Know that phrase "come out of the woodwork"? Yea, errors loved to do just that after biding their time, hiding from sweep after sweep by multiple pairs of tired eyes. Everyone chipped in here, especially to cover for my super ineptness at spotting spelling errors. [InDesign does not have spellcheck. Whut.] It's actually pretty amazing how well errors hide in the big open. Either that or it's amazing how gone our eyes were. [That's why there should be more young people on the YBT not saddled with the burden of Y5 haha] Eventually (n rounds later), we came to accept that the edits must stop, whether for design or for words, and that we had done enough. So if anyone spies anything amiss... Please be kind [unless one has the dying wish of breaking a string of hearts]. These things weren't in the timeline, like a planned "vetting period", but after working on something for so long it'd simply be very 心痛 to find a careless or preventable error in the actual print. I haven't actually read my own copy. It's like some kind of 职业病, but I can't really bring myself to read it all the way through right now. Macam traumatised ahahaha.

Ah, I mustn't forget to mention the promotional spreads and the videos that I'm guessing many people replayed more than a handful of times ;) The stars were the ones who helped us sell the book, but it took the geniuses in our team to make sure they looked their best! #editingbosses Also, those "books" in the videos were really just our trusty prototype 1.0. See the extent of its usefulness? Even if not everyone bought the (real) books, I'm sure the promos were at least able to deliver laughter, joy, and a great deal of distraction to all who viewed them >:D

The final word is reserved for the team itself. For one, I think it's a good thing we all knew how to work together with one another, especially since most of us had already spent so long as classmates. Otherwise, the final product would've been a chopped up mess. Skill-wise, we also had a good spread. Imagine if 5 of me were to do this; the yearbook would look like an FYP report. Also as with everything REP, it was tough work, but we managed to find our own kind of fun in the process! If you ask me whether those cold nights in the RPR and all those hours spent scanning through drafts were worth it, well, I can say that because of those, we can now say that our job is done with confidence and pride!

If you've got a copy handy and haven't yet done so, please sit back, turn the pages, and enjoy! [If not, please continue waiting xD] That is the best reward that you can give us in the YBT :)

YBT 2016!

Iridescent

O level year. I'd gotten 4/5 for one "define using 7 words or less" vocab section in some English paper, after screwing up the titular word. It's stuck with me since then that "iridescent" doesn't just mean multi-coloured, it also speaks of a shine.

~~~~~~~~~~

A level year. Song of my life following the June common tests: Iridescent by Linkin Park. Google the chorus and try to empathize with the panicky kid who just couldn't chemistry.

~~~~~~~~~~

Graduation year.

Sometime back, us in the Yearbook Team had this bright idea of getting everyone from the graduating batch to contribute a word that summed up their REP journey. [Soz if spoilers for Renaissance Night but it was our idea first ;)] While that plan eventually lost its way and joined the pile of rejects, I kept my word close. No prizes for guessing which word I picked but really, it was the first thing that popped up in my mind. Unwarranted lightning-fast notions sometimes come with a dubious feeling, so I mulled for almost a week trying to find a better word. Well, nothing. Therefore I had to answer to myself why I somehow felt that my REP journey was, of all things, "iridescent". Seems an unconventional allusion, but it all comes back to the definition.

Colourful should be self-explanatory. But in case it isn't... For such a small course the range of characters within it is extraordinary. Haha, and so are the things we get up to together - let's just say that the RPR lives up to its moonlight name xD [Non-REP friends, RPR stands for Renaissance Project Room and is our main classroom by day. After hours though, the 'P' stands for something else.] In Y4 we came back to an influx of unfamiliar faces, and there was definitely some initial uhh aversion (i.e. omg who are all these strangers in the RPR using the printer?!). Well, things got better! Unlike long ago, there are now too many people in the course for everyone to know everyone else's names. So it's good enough for me that I can count friends from across batches. It's something of fortune really, to be part of an environment that allows and encourages people to connect. Everyone is unique, talented in their own way, and has something to bring for the benefit of everyone else. When it matters though, we're all one REP family, one colourful community.

To create a shine, you need the light. Indeed, some of the brightest moments in my life were possible because of REP. Yea, there's that one-year exchange, heavy school support, guaranteed hall stay (this is pure gold for a pasir ris girl)... Everyone knows that. But all the promotional material in the world cannot convey the true experience of being in this course. There's something about the way we were "brought up" here, and it's a sort of environment which I think is extremely rare in tertiary education. Our relationships with one another can be attributed in part to this environment. Because we don't have to compete amongst ourselves, for grades or whatever, we have the full liberty of helping each other out and contributing in almost any way possible. People are extremely unselfish here! Just one example - where else do you get classmates who compile and share notes, and even hold revision lectures for everyone else's benefit? And the history of this goes back to Y1. All this time, I've never been denied help as long as I asked for it, both in academics and out, and I think I've been able to help others in my own ways too. Aside from the wonderful year of exchange and all the other benefits, there are many of these "small and normal" things that hold light in themselves. We are privileged.

One thing we cannot forget though, is that there cannot be shine without the shadow. Without moments of darkness, light is simply blinding/flat/2D - hard to appreciate. Everything is relative, like if you're high all the time you stop feeling so, and so that's where the tough times become essential. Working late into the night and walking back to hall in the dark is a staple of REP life. And then, there's the bigger, scarier things such as feeling lost in a foreign land. Eventually most things turn out fine, and the tougher the experience, the greater the armour and feeling of triumph. Same theory goes for people who come to give hell and teach us uncertainty - they allow us to appreciate those who are genuinely there for us, who care for us and guide us along. The best thing about going through all these though, was knowing that I was never alone. It's true that people bond through adversity, even through horrible times where the worst is always yet to come. We all have the memories to prove it. [It's also safe to say now, that all these years I've never really minded going over to the hall 8/9 side for meetings. Because at the end of crazy days, the walks back to 11 were always moments of serenity in the cool night.]

REP is challenging no doubt, but that's really what helps us grow (fast). We don't face the scary stuff alone anyway; we've got friends to walk with over all those mountains and valleys, sharing the greatest experiences and creating the best memories. It's a journey right? Well today was the end of it all, the final time we'd leave lighthearted from an exam hall as classmates to proceed with our shenanigans at the nearest malls. But those are stories for another day. When writing this post I faced a sobering transition - from today on, I can no longer write about my REP days in present tense. Please pardon any confusion this time round, it's all in the spirit of moving on.

So I guess now's a good time to zoom out and take a look back at the entire picture... That's where I see this glittering myriad of colours that makes REP iridescent, makes it beautiful.

End of Y2S2 (May 2014). I vaguely rmb there being this feeling of "graduating" coz we were all going our separate ways for one year.

(Almost) End of Y5 (Dec 2016). Well look now, graduation's really here.

讲话

Recently, I've had the privilege of meeting some really rude people. Lol that's not because I enjoy being spoken rudely to, but because these ultimately harmless encounters were actually great lessons on how not to behave.

The thing is (I assume), it's not like these people lack education. Well, this one speaker for a Friday lesson was clearly of high caliber, judging from job title as well as past achievements. But why on earth, in all of his fluency and competence, did he speak as though addressing a room full of... I don't even know what kind of people deserve to be spoken to in such a condescending manner. He's gonna get the lowest marks possible if there's feedback. In another situation, a stranger made her grievances known to me (it wasn't about me, but something in front of us) in the form of vulgarity-laden sentences. Firstly, every word has its rightful place and usage, including expletives, but it simply displays a lacking vocabulary when these appear multiple times in a single sentence. Also, I don't feel like it's nice to vent on strangers just because they're sitting and staring at the same thing.

Bad taste, good learning opportunities, as with every other nasty encounter in life. Not everybody is blessed with great language skills, in English or whatever other language. But sometimes I wonder how some people can speak so well, and yet speak so much worse than a void deck hokkien beng.

Not that being a hokkien beng is bad actually. Education does have an impact on the way we speak or express ourselves, but it matters more what is being said. People can be torn down in great fluency, just as much as positive messages can be delivered in the "粗话" of the neighbourhood. I happen to be a bit more proficient in written English, but I don't really speak in the same way haha. It's very tiring to have to keep up measured tones and proper diction, so outside of necessary situations, it's always a great relief to go back to normal singlish. Also, I speak differently to different groups of friends, and there are a few which I speak predominantly mandarin to.

I actually really enjoy conversing in neighbourhood mandarin. I dunno why, but it's more fun? My Chinese is not good lol really I got a C for A levels, and sometimes my 音 a bit off, but who cares hahaha. Some things somehow just flow better on channel 8 (but for anything too cheem to handle I just switch back to english). [It's a bit funny though when ppl cannot speak chinese despite having taken higher chinese?? Haha I cannot understand.]

It is also uncommon to find people who speak this way naturally in REP. So I'm glad that a random event like IVEC actually managed to bring closer a bunch of neighbourhood kids - it's almost like secondary school once again. There's a sort of connection between people of similar backgrounds (relative to whatever situation so it's kinda like finding a Singaporean while overseas), and communication is one of the ways in which this is most obvious. It's great fun to lim <insert favourite kopitiam beverage> and talk about all sorts of random nonsense in a language where we're all extremely comfortable. On exams: "this sem you got 几张纸?". On the thin walls of North Hill: "这里的 walls 不 soundproof..." *cow's epic mishearing* "谁不穿裤??". And that's just the gist of it.

Seems like a pretty weird post I've just written haha. I guess with graduation looming and all, these are just some of the simple, happy times that I want to remember. Also, it's a reminder to myself to use language positively, in whatever manner of speech I choose.

Ought to breathe

These days, it feels like my sense of time's gone a little nuts. Whether this is a cause or symptom of stress I have no clue. Things that happened before this sem, though it's really only been about 3-4 months, feel like they passed a lifetime ago. Things that happened in this sem, however, always feel like they happened "yesterday" or "just 2 weeks ago". This definitely ain't accurate given how we've given September, and oh look October too, nothing more than a glimpse. Whoever/whatever's playing with the flow of time please stoppit.

Well, it's an amusing topic to talk about at least. It's unbelievable how much disbelief there can be in discussions with always the same running topic. 2016, where the heck are you rushing off to?

While it's well and truly the second-last month of the year, let's take a moment to look back upon RE60XX October.

... What actually happened?

The transition from September was pretty fuzzy, and it was only at 10 days deep that realisation hit like a tsunami: "the first third of October's already gone?!" True story. I have no idea anymore what happened back then [but according to my previous posts I'd done some reflection and had some enjoyable meals at least]. And then I think there was a flood that lasted some 20 days before washing us up onto the shores of November.

So really what has happened? Some interviews, some meals, generous helpings of projects, a sprinkling of sleep, and a tiny precious drop of climbing. Yup seems like it. When you live life like a zombie I guess everything's vague at best.

But we make the best of things, we were trained to be strong. Mealtimes become break times, and same goes for the simple act of non-work-related communication. Stress sometimes brings out behaviours which can be amusing to watch. [Though stress for me tends to manifest in ways that cause difficulty in eating, which is a pain. Nice food deserves to be enjoyed :(] Also I've learnt to be savvy or firm about structuring in breaks and things I have to do to keep going. The stage of "don't care anymore" acts as a natural assertion that it's time to go and have some fun; no such thing as "finishing everything" before going out to play - don't try that in Y5 it's dangerous.

I actually lived the perfect analogy for this over dinner one Sunday evening (steamboat with the family). As always, my partiality lies with cheese tofu. For those who haven't seen the way I eat, my preferences are usually observable - leave the best for last right? Turns out in steamboat, "last" is pretty ambiguous with the food continuously streaming in either by my chopsticks or by the parents piling it on. So there I was meticulously chewing on everything else and making sure to keep my cheese tofu to deserving intervals. The turning point came when I was notified that the cheese tofu sitting in my bowl (only my second piece!!) was the final one (no thanks to le sister). I had actually been planning to eat that sooner, but that was no longer to be. And when the time finally came, I was full and it was cold :(

Aside from being a story about a nice dinner, the above proceedings made me realise that the value of respite stems not just from its form, but also its timeliness. Just like that chinese saying 休息是为了走更长的路 - you don't walk until your legs break before you take a break right? In every week that passes, I'll write what needs to be written, and I'll write what I want to write. If spending another 30 minutes or so eating means I get to laugh a little longer with my friends, so be it. Even if it's just once a week, I'll never pass my climbs up for anything that "needs" to be done. There's always time for the cheese tofus of life.

October taught me that I ought to breathe.

Throwback Thursday - Cai Fan on Exchange?!

Over dinner, we talked about food. The conversation revolved around appetite sizes for a while before someone said something along the lines of "I saw that you guys bought cai fan in London".

??? What?!?!?

As three pairs of bewildered eyes stared, "... posted photos of rice with ingredients..."

Ohhh... My old blog post la: http://chalknchowder.blogspot.sg/2014/08/lunch-diaries.html

Hahahaha funny, where do you find cai fan in London or wherever in the UK unless it's home-made.

Then on the bus ride back [it was a spontaneous out-of-school meal, the second in as many days], the spotlight came on our favourite places we've traveled to. After we alighted back at hall 11, Carina and I commented that you know it really doesn't feel that far back even though everything happened 1-2 years ago. Those good days. Now we just have projects and more projects to look forward to.

I went back to find that post, and found it highly amusing to read, as it seems I'd felt when I wrote it more than 2 years ago. Never got around to continuing the series even though I took photos of every single office lunch we had during those times. Here's all the rest of them!

Now which piece of homework shall I attempt to do tonight...

September Symbolism

A is for Acceptance.
So maybe I can't get to the moon, but I still get to appreciate the beauty of the stars around me.

B is for Belief.
It's a magic ingredient in its own right, but at the same time it's as simple as salt. Belief makes all the difference to hazy and uncertain experiences where you don't really know what's going to happen in the end, but still you pour in your all. We don't always need reason to believe, but belief is always a reason in itself. When you DON'T believe in something however, let's just say it's a very tedious piece of (school)work unworthy of the effort needed for completion, but bopian.

C is for vitamin C.
I don't fall sick easily, but in the prevailing conditions I feel my body asking for all the help it can get.

D is for Define.
Was very ready to put "Disappointment" instead, following the last day of Sept. But that word alone doesn't do justice - even through disappointment I have achieved some definition of self. In this month, I got to know myself a little better and it's allowed me to understand and accept why I made some of my choices.

E is for Exhaustion.
18 AUs don't speak of the meetings that run till 1:30 am, the done-with-this-what's-next-on-the-list pace of work during "free time", and those days you really want to pay attention in class, but feel too zoned out to do so. 18 AUs per day rather would be a much closer representation of reality.

F is for Friends.
Running down Orchard Road in orange t-shirts, watching Sing! China, playing Codenames... Even climbing would be so meaningless without you guys. Here's to all of you out there who were with me through the ups and downs of this month, who have seen me smile, grateful for you all :)

G is for Grind.
When things are already so hectic and you know that it's going to get worse and this is the final freaking sem that's slipping away for goodness sake. It's funny that I actually thought Y4S1 was the worse, then same for Y4S2, and now I guess Y5 really takes the cake. Makes FYP feel easy.

H is for High.
Happens when one climbs!

I is for Intense.
Obviously not gonna let schoolwork run my life, so I always make sure to slot stuff that I actually want to do in between i.e. the weekends. Squeezing out rest = intense but worth it while I'm still young and able to tank. 

J is for Jubilation.
I really like feeling happy for others! Jubilation is one explosive form of happiness that is simply there for everyone to tap on (unless of course one is an emotional Scrooge) - one of the most generous feelings around. No UMC representatives in NW finals this time round, but I'm so happy for all the others who managed to promote in their respective categories!

K is for Kindness.
Not everyone is made equal. I guess in that sense, people are made to rely on others every so often. Each person is skilled in their own way, and it happens that coding/wiring really ain't my thing. When a 神 asks nothing in return for a humongous amount of help (to me), there is nothing but gratitude that there are such kind people in the world.

L is for Lightheartedness.
I know I'm starting to sound schizophrenic, but this post covers the whole of September after all. Lighthearted moments ironically become more common with increase in workload. These moments hinge on the relief of burdens - those precious times following the end of some presentation or after erasing the last thing on the homework list, or when you see something through to the end.

M is for Malfunction.
When I forget things, when I slur, and when my English is a bit weird - sorry I'm not usually like that (when less indebted in the sleep department anyway).

N is for Necessity.
When time is tight, lots of things have to be weighed. But I still have to eat right, and I have to eat with my family, so there's very little question in that.

O is for Opportunity.
Unlike the halcyon days of summer, I can't say "ok!" to everything anymore. That said, whenever something comes around that passes my "is it important enough to delay attending to academic burdens for" litmus test, I do not hesitate to act on it. Opportunities now have to pass a filter additional to interest before I see them as such - I have to care enough. Know that if you happen to be spending time with me outside of schoolwork :)

P is for Pun.
Yes, this is an inside joke.

Q is for Quip.
Some people come up with the best jokes around seriously, and I especially appreciate sharp one-liners/double meanings. Can't think of examples now, but sometimes these tend to be directed at certain people haha.

R is for Resilience.
More realistic than resistance. There are some things which cannot be helped at that very moment, what's most important is coming back with a stronger solution, for a better chance.

S is for Sleep.
Which I need more of. Doesn't help that my body has adopted some sort of "high-alert mode" which causes me to wake up either at 7am or after 7 hours of sleep, whichever is earlier. If I decide to pursue the intended waking time, I usually have to extend on the alarm. Bad.

T is for Thunderstorm.
I was awoken at 5am one morning by a frighteningly loud clap of thunder, prob the first time this has ever happened to me. Half the 11 breakfast club also reported the same thing (the rest were extremely sound sleepers, or just too tired). Not forgetting the morning of 10th Sept where our event space was reduced to shambles from a single gust of wind and where a flood rolled downhill to greet us. The weather these days... But as always, 雨过天晴. Storms don't last.

U is for Underlie.
I find myself thinking a lot about the root causes of things these days. Cursory problem-solving methods tend to mistake the "whats" as the "whys", and do not address the true "whys"; these really only get to scratch the surface. It is not easy to identify things that underlie, especially if they're covered by layers of fancy stuff. That said, it is definitely helpful to understand the exact reasons why people behave in certain ways, so that these very behaviours can be turned into teaching tools to drive intended outcomes. Always useful for RE7088, and for those who played the game at DoN, never realised how much you guys were hesitating right? ;)

V is for Value.
Purely negative experiences have no value at all. Although there have definitely been some of those, I feel like I'm now more mature and able to look further. In times where my younger selves would probably have been just very upset, I gain deeper insights and deeper appreciation for things that I truly value.

W is for Where the hell did June July August September go.

X.
The crossroads of life are drawing near. I have no idea what path I will be set on in the future, but I just hope that it will be a meaningful one with flowers to smell along the way.

Y is for Yeesh.
It's the sound I tend to say in my head when in ridiculous situations, and there have been many in this month. [never experienced so much difficulty giving honest feedback to a few simple questions]

Z is for Zeal.
It's been a tough September. But it is my personal belief that it is the toughest times that allow one to learn and grow the most. I guess that's why I'm feeling this strangely strong zeal for life? Outside of the mundane, every opportunity to spend with cool people doing the things that challenge me and that I enjoy is now so much brighter than before.

Simple things

Supper!

Rounds off a day of unusual hunger spikes.

Gratitude.

For a handful of chocolate biscuits, and for the healthy stuff I've just consumed (I don't snack).

The simple things in life that keep us going, keep us fighting, keep us smiling :)