midnight morning
that was the problem. i was unwillingly early. i traded a comfortable half an hour of sleep just to be ahead of time. just to be there before the others do. it was my first 'stay out' day. the time was 0532hours and i was already at the bus stop awaiting for 985. the first bus leaves the interchange at 0530hours and it would take 22 minutes to reach my stop. great.so that leaves me with another 20 minutes to wait. so i sat at the bus stop patiently. there was no other soul around. no signs of any passerbys. no one. all were still in the safe comfort of their own home. the road was empty. like as if i was the only one living in solitude.
no bright headlights zoomed pass me. darkness all around. a sense of fear permeate through me. like a jolt. my eyelids weighed a few pounds at that moment. just a little too much to handle. especially when i have not been receiving enough rest during my stay-in period during the course. the only company i had that kept me from dozing at the bus stop was the music from my iPod that came through my yellow ONTO audio technica headphones. that headphone was only less than a year old. i purchased it on Hari Raya itself at Challenger @ vivocity. and it works fine. with no signs of wear on it, yet.
i stared ahead, into the wilderness. the trees had always been there. even when i was a kid. no hint of future development. half the reason could be that the land was a huge incline and that would take a whole lot of money to dig and level the ground. second reason could be that the MRT train passes through that hill. they dug a tunnel through it. and its been the same ever since.there was no wind. the air was lukewarm i would say.
still waiting for the bus. it would be 2 minutes till it arrives according to my Casio watch. the battery was running low. so much so that whenever i pressed the Light button, there was only a faint yellow to it. even so, i would not be able to read the time. also, because of the almost depleted power, the alarm clock function sounds rather silly. like a dead cat squealing for its life. even the strap of the watch was the work of a transplant from another knockoff watch.
slowly, more people appeared from nowhere and started to wait at the bus stop. there were obviously more traffic then. as if the world just realised that its time to be out of the captive of their abode. soon, there it was. the wait was almost over. the DAF SB220 with an Alexander Setanta body on service 985 made its grand approach on the fairly lit road. that bus would take me to where i need to be to make a transfer. i'd have to alight at PIE along Jalan Toa Payoh to change to service 5. and that bus would take me to Kaki Bukit Driver Training Centre, my final destination. speaking of which, no, my vocation is not a driver. just that i have to learn how to drive.
let me reiterate my point. i am a transport supervisor. i will be the section commander to my drivers. meaning, i would be the man in charge when the driver needs something. i would also be that man who would be in charge of detailing the vehicles and journey to them. still, i passed my 1st TP driving test and that is a huge feat. especially cos, unlike the civilians, i had to drive a 3-tonner for my test. reason being that im after a Class 4 license as well. yes, i managed to pass. this means that i have an SAF Class 3 and Class 4 license. i just need to clock another 6800km to convert that license into a civilian license. i already clocked 200km in 2 days. well, only 4 hours of driving. and yes, after i ORD, i am gonna forget the fact that i am a Media graduand with a valid Media Diploma. instead, i will be applying to be a bus driver. and on the sideline, im gonna apply for a Class 5 license as well as a Crane license. because if i were to be a trailer driver, i can expect a monthly salary of $4000. so i'll just have to say goodbye to my social life then. but that, another story.
and so, i reached KBC rather early. it was still dark. i already cleared the security checks. i walked slowly until i reached the training shed and then i turned on the lights. i came across a copy of a backdate issue of The New Paper. still, i read it because it has really been a while that i read the news. you could call it deprivation if you wished. i'd just call it a need to know. it was all silence but then something really unpleasant happened...
it was really uncalled for.
but i was lucky.....
to be continued.
no bright headlights zoomed pass me. darkness all around. a sense of fear permeate through me. like a jolt. my eyelids weighed a few pounds at that moment. just a little too much to handle. especially when i have not been receiving enough rest during my stay-in period during the course. the only company i had that kept me from dozing at the bus stop was the music from my iPod that came through my yellow ONTO audio technica headphones. that headphone was only less than a year old. i purchased it on Hari Raya itself at Challenger @ vivocity. and it works fine. with no signs of wear on it, yet.
i stared ahead, into the wilderness. the trees had always been there. even when i was a kid. no hint of future development. half the reason could be that the land was a huge incline and that would take a whole lot of money to dig and level the ground. second reason could be that the MRT train passes through that hill. they dug a tunnel through it. and its been the same ever since.there was no wind. the air was lukewarm i would say.
still waiting for the bus. it would be 2 minutes till it arrives according to my Casio watch. the battery was running low. so much so that whenever i pressed the Light button, there was only a faint yellow to it. even so, i would not be able to read the time. also, because of the almost depleted power, the alarm clock function sounds rather silly. like a dead cat squealing for its life. even the strap of the watch was the work of a transplant from another knockoff watch.
slowly, more people appeared from nowhere and started to wait at the bus stop. there were obviously more traffic then. as if the world just realised that its time to be out of the captive of their abode. soon, there it was. the wait was almost over. the DAF SB220 with an Alexander Setanta body on service 985 made its grand approach on the fairly lit road. that bus would take me to where i need to be to make a transfer. i'd have to alight at PIE along Jalan Toa Payoh to change to service 5. and that bus would take me to Kaki Bukit Driver Training Centre, my final destination. speaking of which, no, my vocation is not a driver. just that i have to learn how to drive.
let me reiterate my point. i am a transport supervisor. i will be the section commander to my drivers. meaning, i would be the man in charge when the driver needs something. i would also be that man who would be in charge of detailing the vehicles and journey to them. still, i passed my 1st TP driving test and that is a huge feat. especially cos, unlike the civilians, i had to drive a 3-tonner for my test. reason being that im after a Class 4 license as well. yes, i managed to pass. this means that i have an SAF Class 3 and Class 4 license. i just need to clock another 6800km to convert that license into a civilian license. i already clocked 200km in 2 days. well, only 4 hours of driving. and yes, after i ORD, i am gonna forget the fact that i am a Media graduand with a valid Media Diploma. instead, i will be applying to be a bus driver. and on the sideline, im gonna apply for a Class 5 license as well as a Crane license. because if i were to be a trailer driver, i can expect a monthly salary of $4000. so i'll just have to say goodbye to my social life then. but that, another story.
and so, i reached KBC rather early. it was still dark. i already cleared the security checks. i walked slowly until i reached the training shed and then i turned on the lights. i came across a copy of a backdate issue of The New Paper. still, i read it because it has really been a while that i read the news. you could call it deprivation if you wished. i'd just call it a need to know. it was all silence but then something really unpleasant happened...
it was really uncalled for.
but i was lucky.....
to be continued.
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