Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine’s Day. Let me share with you my first Valentine’s Day in NTU. This happened more than twenty years ago. About a week before Valentine’s Day, our tutorial group rep made a sudden announcement that guys with lady lab partners will buy flowers for their partners in the spirit of Valentine’s Day. I was in EEE where ladies were the minority and in my tutorial group of 15, there were only 3 ladies. I was one of the ‘lucky’ ones.
Everyone knows that my lab partner had a steady boyfriend from Accountancy. He was a six-footer. BTW, the Accountancy Department was moved from NUS to NTU to balance the sex ratio in NTU. But I heard of more success stories of accountancy boys pairing up with engineering girls than the other way round. But that was another story.
I thought my group rep was only joking so I didn’t give much of a thought to it. On Valentine’s Day, I notice that almost every girl was holding a flower. I felt sorry for those without any flowers. In the evening as I was studying in my hostel, I heard knocking sound at the door. Almost the whole tutorial group was giggling outside my room. I was dragged and escorted to my lab partner’s hostel.
I was from Hall 3 and she was at Hall 2. The two Halls were about a kilometer apart. But on that day, it definitely looked much farther than that. What followed were the usual pranks that youngsters played. Many photos (printed ones) were taken. It turned out to be quite an enjoyable experience. How often do you become the centre of attraction? The only another time I felt like that was on my wedding day.