Sunday, August 25, 2013

Bumping into X My Maths Saviour: Super High School tutor

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