Was in a busy supermarket yesterday
a man walking in front of me
near the entrance
immediate idea flashed in:
my high school Maths tutor
although he doesn't seem to change much,
I was taken back and wondered
how could I recognize him
without hesitation
even from the rear view of his back
alright I know why
because Maths teacher is the one
who does a lot of scribbling on the board
I bet
I took long time staring at the board,
trying to catch the ball
and therefore at the same time
staring into his back
he was always wearing this taekwondo tee with
a dude in full swing kick and clenched fists
clenched fists, great..
where are we again?
Oh damn I think I am lost in the formula again
it's alright because
he will always walk a big round explaining to
each and every dreamy creature like me
after most of the formulae have been
thrown away long time ago
the rare view has actually been
imprinted in mind since then
he is a legend of our time
first he owns the tuition centre
so basically whatever classes that go on there,
he probably taps on commission from them
or the least rent for the classrooms?
at the same time
he himself is personally conducting
the Maths classes
under a Horribly full schedule
two lessons per day at times
during the day,
he has a respectable full time job
he is a vice principle at a girl high school
Cum a taekwondo coach
On top of everything
On weekends
He helped to run the traditional medical hall
owned by his elderly parents and
Up till today
He is still managing the business
after him and his wife retired from
their teaching career
it is one of the oldest in town
more known, to the older folks
eg: my mom
for no-counterfeit drugs
and reasonable price
and it's rumored that
of the whole stretch of old shop lots
his parents own half of them
anyway
what I am trying to say is
he doesn't really has to take the pain to
conduct Maths classes
given his wealth and various sources of income
he could have migrated, really
he mentioned there are children in Australia, I think
or just hang around like a boss
nay.. he is indeed the boss
being a landlord collecting rent from
the shops and tuition classes
i was with him through high school
and thanks to him
I didn't once fail my Maths
and managed to scrape through
the mazes of algebra and trigonometry
Maths is such a nightmare
since high school
especially being in science stream
where everything has a little something
to do with Maths
his shortcut methods work well for me
although some claimed it's kinda ridiculous
Eg: there were cases where the methods were
being rejected by teachers back in school
or brilliant students who quitted because they think
such simplified methods are just
not good enough for them
I am not that kind of student
who will walk up to teacher and
say thank you and whatsoever
it gives me goose bumps,
even the thought of
walking up to say hi
Kudos, Mr. L.Y.F. 廖永華師
not that I don’t wanna spell the name out
I forgot how to actually
the letter F. definitely stands for FAR
because we were discussing
how cool is that
Mandarin translated name that
makes good sense in English
found out a couple of days ago
a fellow classmate in English class
has passed away in the States
not too sure about the reason and
I wasn't so close to him
(or anyone else)
to ask around for the cause
he was that kind that
attracted a lot of attention from girls
despite his humbleness
my BFF Jo was kinda crazy over him,
I didn't even know where she is now,
not even via FB
tanned skin, cute smile
bringing along a basketball to class,
always sitting alone,
doesn't belong to any particular gang yet
he was on good term with everyone
pointing out question (necessarily),
a prefect, a star student
yet not the nerdy kind
no!!! I wasn’t stalking him, not at all
Oh goodness
nothing is predictable
so said the wise men
life that never cross path
we have never talked
and will never do, most likely
but still
it's kinda sad
isn't it so?
therefore
it still feels kinda great
bumping into people from
the past
although I will hardly say hi
it's good to find out
he/she is doing quite well
Well wishes,
Steph