"The room beside the study room"

Now that it has come to the end of the day, when the bees stop buzzing to rest for the day, Ange's post have really raked up some memories of mine.

For people who have literally, worked, lived, breathed the Photog room for the past four generations, we really had a lot of fun in the room we often grumbled about. The narrow. Dusty. Cockroach infested. Spiders. And always smelt weird until we cleaned it room. It was just more than "the room beside the study room". (Let me be honest, the room really smelt weird...)

It reminds me of the time when I looked into the new dry cabinet, and thought, "wow, this dry box doesn't smell of anything. Is it even OURS?"

(If you're not acquainted with the smell of stale sweat stuck on leather, try sniffing our old dry box.)

Before the Photog room was the photog room, the sign above our door says "Art store".

That's "the room beside the art room".

The art room was our clubroom, where we had all our activities. Many of the just-graduated members would fondly remember Chee Howe spewing pineapple tarts all over the floor while singing Majulah Singapura. The first time the 06/07 EXCO met Ms Koh. Chasing after cockroaches. Laying the telephone cable. Setting up our exhibition.

Behold, the old study room.

With no air con. No furniture. No projector. No carpet. No nothing.

A club of 40 people would still meet every week, week after week at the unfurnished and stuffy class room. Mr Tee would always lovingly nag at us "remember to lock the windows!", or just hanging with Chee Howe playing the stupid Virtual Tennis on our Sony Ericsson handphones at the back of a club meeting.

The place where we played our orientation games. And PPC had to pluck a strand of his leg hair as a dare for one of the poor girls we tekanned. (and Chee shouting, "hey! we haven't decided which part of your body the hair has to be from!")

Our big club room.

Where King, Chee and I would run around the room like little kids, trying to "shoot" one another without "dying".

Where King and I spent the whole afternoon, sweating it out, laying 3 metres worth of telephone cable for the to-be-banned-by-Mr-Tng phone that directly calls the teachers at their staff room.

The art store was like our hideout. We watched movies, anime, played games. We played card games like Uno, Lobo77, computer games like Chess and Deimos Rising, stupid games like Blinds Man (where we make the room a huge mess, turn off the lights and act like a blind man and try getting across the room saftely), and Chee and I would always "fight" each other with the rolls of mahjong paper.

Where Pres will always go "please put back the stuff where you took it, LEH!" and give her dagger glare....

King's "NO FOOD IN THE CLUB ROOM!!!!!"

Chee's jovial laughter.

Moments of difficulty locating our own green tea bottle because the room was full of them (the then official club drink) and sometimes will end up drinking each others drinks.

We definitely had a lot of fun in the room.

The moment of realisation of real recognition was given to us when the sign "art store" mysteriously disappeared and was replaced with "Photography Club".

The proud moment when the four of us put up our first logo at the top of the doorway.

How PPC literally announced to the whole school, like a proud father, of the new logo and motto the Club have.

When King and I first stuck the first collage of the club on the club wall, the last time as EXCO members.

How we just sat around, waiting for each other to go home, when actually we're all ready but just kinda reluctant to leave those cute little green classroom chairs.

How Chee slept on the workbench with a box cover as a pillow.

The times we fought and quarrelled together.

How PPC and Ms Koh tried to keep us out of the room after we step down but to no avail.


May the juniors enjoy the fruits of our labour, and never forget how the seniors strived for every bit of privilege you have and will enjoy today.

Because we really LOVE Photography > MJC.