To conclude this series of posts based on the entries in my primary school autograph book I am taking the one written on the last page of the book:

"By look of a crook
I'll be last in this Book."

Your classmate, Robina.

For this post, I have selected photos of pairs of flowers. They say that all good things come in pairs.

Crepe Ginger Blue Pea

Robina and I were a pair. She was my best friend not in the sense that we shared parts of our lives and thoughts with each other. It was more that we spent a lot of time together because I was her partner in a project where we drew stickmen and made up 4-line poems about them. We shared an exercise book where we put in our poems almost everyday. I do not know what has become of her and wonder what happened to that book of our poems. My ability to rattle of lines that rhyme must have been the result of all that practice.

Allamanda Hibiscus

Heliconia

Autograph Series - Schefflera actinophylla

A Malay teacher wrote in my autograph book:

"Belajar-lah bersunggoh sunggoh hingga menchapai segala yang di-chita chita kan!!!!!" Loosely translated, I guess, it meant "Study like there is no tomorrow until you achieve all that you hope for" Gee, I must have seemed like a lazy student for such a vigorous autograph from a teacher. Five exclamation marks when a full-stop would have done nicely.

About the achievement of hopes and dreams - like the Octopus tentacles that the flowers of this tree resemble, I have reached out in many directions. Some of my dreams have borne fruit and some have withered. On balance, I have my fair share of successes and failures. I learned that in life you cannot be good in everything nor can anyone be perfect if that goes against his or her nature. It is important to take care of yourself first so you can take care of those you matter to you.

Common name: Octopus Tree, Queensland Umbrella Tree

This autograph entry came from a Malay girl called Aminah:

"Choose the bad,
Choose the good,
Choose anyone
You like best".

Choose anyone you like best for what? Apparently, one you would get married to, one you would go shopping with, one you would make it a point to lunch with once a week, one you would call up for coffee once in a while and one you would tell all your secrets to. Actually, never tell secrets to anyone for then they are not secrets anymore.
F.R.A.N.C.E = Friendship remains and never can end.

Kids are so naive but adults know better. Friendships and even kinship do not last forever.

Autograph Series - Calotropis gigantea

Carmillita wrote me an autograph that said, "In the sea there is a rock, written on it is a forget-me-not." It was signed off "With all my love and kisses". I never saw this girl again after I left primary school. What made an impression was the name "Carmillita".

I have never come across another girl with this name. Also, she was one of two Eurasian girls in my class and we were together from Primary one to Primary six. She matured earlier than most of us and so we learned quite a bit from her about growing up especially when we were in Primary six.

She lived in a house with a basement that was designed by her father and she invited a few of us to her house for lunch one day. I only remembered that her mum was a jolly and rotund lady who was very warm and friendly and we had a simple but delicious lunch of home-made sandwiches.

Why I chose to remember her by with these Crown flowers is because we were in a play and I can only recall that she played the role of a King and she wore a crown that we would have loved to wear without having to memorise all the lines she had to.

Autograph Series - Petrea volubilis

From a girl called Irene whomI have not seen since primary six who wrote in my autograph book:

"Boys are plenty
Girls are many
Take my advice
and do not marry."

Well, I did not heed her advice and life did not turn out too badly. In fact, life is wonderful just being able to see such beautiful creations of nature such as this lovely climber with these delicate flowers in bloom.

Common name: Queen's Wreath, Sandpaper Vine, Purple Wreath, Blue Bird Vine,
Origin: Mexico, Central America

Autograph Series - Water Lily

It made me smile to read this funny entry in my autograph book by a classmate called Eileen:

"When you are married and you have twins,
Don't come to me for safety pins."

If I remember correctly, Eileen was an Indian girl who learned Indian classical dancing and whenever there was a school concert, she would be performing. I wonder if she knew what the two lines meant. They looked like they were admonishments from an aunt to her niece about the birds and the bees. The innocence of childhood but of course we grow wiser as we get older and we learn how to read in between the lines.

Autograph Series - Clerondendrum bungei

A primary school classmate, Wai Leen, who later came to live in my neighbourhood when we were in Secondary school wrote this in my autograph book:

"Drink hot coffee
Drink hot tea
Burn your red lips
and remember me"


Like flowers, memories do fade with the passing of time. This cluster of Glory Bower (origins: China and India) hold flowers that are dying amongst buds that have yet to begin flowering.
I remember that Waileen was tall for her age and like her, I sat in the last row of the class. That was when we struck up a brief friendship in the last year of primary school.
We visited each other when she moved into the same neighbourhood and then I moved out.

I would have forgotten about this friendship had it not been for these few lines she left in my autograph book. Since then I have not seen her.

Autograph Series - Bixa Orellana

This autograph came from a girl I can only vaguely remember by the name of Ee Fong:

"The calm waves of the sea
The beautiful clouds of the sky
The person that you always see
Will never say goodbye"

I am not sure if she made it up or it was one of those standard autograph verses that circulated from one class to the next and was faithfully copied without a thought given to the meaning. Looking at the neat handwriting of this person, I guess she must have done all right in life. For her, I post the flowers and fruits of the Lipstick Tree.

I found this lipstick tree with a few blooms still hanging on for life in a garden on Pulau Ubin. The Lipstick tree has medicinal, cosmetic and culinary uses. Imagine growing one in the garden, I can could save quite a bit of money on lipsticks.

The Autograph Series

I found an autograph book from my primary school days. It made me laugh to read those very 'lame' entries from my classmates. Autograph books were in fashion then as almost everyone had one and before we went our separate ways in secondary school these books were passed around the class for parting words to be recorded.

Reading the autographs I collected, I wonder what has become of my friends then such as this girl called Laura who wrote:

"Hope our friendship last and never die." From a girl whom you always know, Laura (James Bond alias Sean Connery)

This plant (Jatropha podarica) reminds me of her because she was a smart kid, had good grades, very well liked by teachers, spoke very good English as her family was English speaking. They raised chickens in the backyard of their house which was some kind of a government quarter and once in a while she would be carrying a bag of eggs for the teacher who bought them from her.