Back in primary school, the cohort was split into essentially 3 groups, from Primary 5 onwards (so when we were abt 11-12).
The first group, which had 4 classes, were the ones who weren’t doing so well academically, and were assigned the strictest teachers. The second, consisting of 2 classes, were the so-called best classes, wif all the “smarter” students who were expected to perform the best during the PSLE. And then the third group, which had 3 classes, who’s somewhere in the middle, essentially the most normal ones.
There was also a foundation class. These were the guys whose grades suggested they were going to a more “technical” route after primary school, and were therefore sort of taught a little differently.
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This streaming thing was sort of an open secret. While the class names didn’t hint at any segregation, it was already known to everyone dat certain classes were better than others. The other day, my friend was telling me how his school used to rotate the “good” and “not-so-good” class names around. I think my school shld look into doing dat too…
Anyways, I used to be a smart boi back in the days, so I got put in the best class 😎. Das rite, all the future lawyers and doctors and professors…
…and me 🙃
So dat class seemed generally ok. The ppl there were just like any other class, only difference being dat they did better in exams. They seemed pretty alright…. initially….
Later on I realise dis group of classmates were quite… how u say…. detached from the rest of the cohort. Like u noe how the whole level wld be having recess at the same time. So it was sorta the time to hang out wif ppl from other classes?
But my classmates didn’t rlly do dat. I mean, some of them did. The more chill ones. But the majority either stayed wif themselves, or only mingled wif the other “top” class.
Tbf, maybe it’s just lack of exposure or smth. Maybe they’re shy. It’s sorta awkward to just go up to cliques from other classes and play with them, after all.
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Me being me back then, I had end up befriending the most random ppl. It was a scattered group of ppl ranging from bullies to nerds from random classes, who I had met either thru CCA or sum friend’s friend and things liddat.
I rmb I had dis one friend from dat foundation class named JM. He was a sweet boy. Very child-like and wholesome. Once he brought me to his class to show me his class’ duty roster, as he was very happy to be given the task of sweeping the floor at the end of the lesson.
It was a lil weird, ngl. But it didn’t matter. His face lit up while he was taking abt it, and I was just happy dat he was happy 😊
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But my classmates found it weird dat I was hanging out wif ppl like dis. They had some not very nice things to say abt my friends, like their behaviour, the way they talk, and their grades (which I found to be quite an insensitive low-blow). Some of them straight up told me to stop talking to certain friends.
Things got personal when they started saying bad things abt JM. I was like ayo wtf? Dats not very nice. Dats actly pretty mean, in fact. Like, wat has JM ever done to u?
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Dat sort of put me in a weird position. It was like a moral dilemma. Was I supposed to ditch my friends to appease my classmates and get along better wif them? But why wld I wanna do dat? I dun like them dat much at the end of the day…
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Either way, it changed my perception of my class. I noe they were still young and it was likely upbringing dat made them dat way. But I cldn’t help but see dat fitting in wif the “smart” class sorta came wif the cost of compromised values.
Unfortunately, being 12, I didn’t think too much of dis, as I didn’t realise it was going to be a problem. Dis led me choosing an “elite” secondary school, where the whole school now was essentially filled wif ppl like my former classmates. Dat….. was not a good decision, looking back….
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But I learnt something valuable from all dat. Work matters, but the environment ur in is oso a significant factor to consider 👍
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24.03.2026
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