One of those things which I never used to fancy about high school was Sports Day. I was never a sportswoman myself (and I’m still as inactive as ever), and I never fancied the idea of watching the clash of sports houses under the sweltering March heat, in a stadium or on a field, somewhere outside school, in the midst of thousands of eccentric fangirls and family members. It was primarily because of this lack of enthusiasm that I never went for a single Sports Day.
For a long time, Convent Bukit Nanas (or as she is fondly known, CBN) used to have annual Sports Day gatherings in the Bukit Jalil Stadium (yes, the celebrated stadium at the south of Kuala Lumpur where the 1998 Commonwealth Games were held). Then, somewhere around 2006 (or was it 2007 ?), the stadium authorities no longer permitted public usage (for some reason or other), so we had to use the track and field at one of our neighbouring schools, Victoria Institution. Till the very end of my school days, all the coverage I got on our Sports Day was through announcements in the school hall, or through pictures in the yearly magazine. And I always had a chance to watch the full dress rehearsal – so I always had a vivid picture of the real Sports Day, minus the guests of honour.
Back when I was in primary school, I was there for every single Sports Day – because every year, I participated. Sports Day in primary school wasn’t at all hyped up – it was simple, it showcased the talents of the young schoolchildren, and the competition was all innocent and clean. No swearwords, no sabotages, nothing. Just pure enjoyment.
When I came to Form One, however, I saw the kind of competition between houses. Of course, it wasn’t so severe to the point that people were swearing at each other, but there were people spying on other houses. I should know (because I partook in that spying too) ! This especially happened for march past. I remember being forced to march (because if you weren’t a cheerleader, you had to march), and my sunlight tolerance is very low. Marching under the hot afternoon sun really took a toll on me. On top of that, we had to scream louder than the other teams, and occasionally, the house commander would hide behind a bush and spy on other houses, and they’d report the details back to us. I had no qualms about the competition back then, but I couldn’t work under the heat, and so I was exempted from march past for the rest of my school days.
Over time I got fed up of the house wars, and I decided to stay out of the radar for as long as possible. My only involvement in the house was – well – attending meetings, undergoing training for field athletic events (particularly high jump and discus throw), and that was it. I don’t know how once I was elected as house vice president – when in actual fact, I did hardly anything.
There are four houses in my high school – Adele (yellow), Aidan (red), Pauline (blue) and Xavier (green). All the houses were named after Infant Jesus sisters who were once heads of CBN. I was originally in Aidan, but because house meetings were on Wednesday and I couldn’t possibly change my hectic schedule to accommodate those meetings, they shifted me to Adele, and there I stayed. Xavier reigned supreme for seven years (or so I think…) and I used to be FED UP of their attitude whenever they were crowned the winners. Among the members of Xavier, there were nice people, no doubt ; but most of them were a petulant, snobbish lot – no offence. And my house, Adele, always came in third or last. It came to a point where I didn’t want Xavier to win anymore, and I didn’t care which house overtook them – as long as Xavier fell, I’d be happy.
In my last year in school, my wish finally came true. Xavier fell to the hands of Aidan (I’d have been in that house had I not rejected it in Form One). The whole school cheered ! Back when Xavier kept on winning, the only people cheering were those of the Xavier house – the rest of us would comply with some minimal applause. In 2007, there was thunderous applause in the school hall. Everyone was happy !
And today ?
I haven’t any memories of Sports Day, but I am still bemused by people talking about it. Just recently, Petra posted a tweet : her house won in the recent Sports Day gathering. I was certain that her house wasn’t Xavier, but still, out of curiosity, I asked. Turns out that she’s in Pauline. The underdogs of 2008 (they came in last in last year's Sports Day) are now champions. This is a true zero-to-hero story.
Well, if you’re currently in school (particularly in CBN) and you’re reading this, enjoy yourselves… enjoy the sweltering heat while you can. Stay active while you can and don’t be a sedentary sod like me. Relish in every moment of it, for there’ll come a time when you’re turning old and grey like me, and you’d just want to feel it again.
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