Although the organiser had arranged for transport to pick us up at the Commonwealth MRT station, R decided to give me a lift and so I met them at Ms J's house directly. Ms J now stays at Farrer Road, which is an area R and I are not very familiar with. But nevertheless, we managed to get there relatively effortlessly.
When I first stepped into the house, I was greeted by excited friends of yesteryears! Several came up and said hi and hello and all the hugs etc. Then I saw Ms J at her dining table, sitting quietly and looking.
I went forward and held her hands, greeted her and instantly, I saw that she was not exactly the same as when we parted 24+ years ago. She seemed to be very much slower and there was a look of uncertainty on her face. In case she couldn't recognise me (which wouldn't be surprising since I had never paid her any visit all these years), I explained who I was - Band Major in 1986, led the band in raising funds so as to go on its NZ trip but was unable to join the band on the trip, etc...
Then, she appeared to recall and she hugged and hugged me. It was all very touching. She told me that she is suffering from Parkinson's Disease and has become very slow in everything. So my friends and I had to comfort her and assure her that it is alright, we all will take things slower and more easily.
Ms J needs help to move around and cannot stand for anything more than 10 minutes or so. We did all things that we could as 'normally' as possible, chatting and making some noise in the house. Naturally, everyone started to reminisce about our years in TK Band, basking in its glory and all, once again.
But we also kept a lookout to make sure that Ms J was comfortable and had the fruits and water that she wanted etc. We took turns to chat with her and it pained me to see how soft her voice has become. Sometimes, she would also not complete her sentences.
Ms J's sister Mdm O lives with her. Mdm O is Ms J's principal caregiver. Mdm O, together with the maid, prepared some snacks for us and later, chatted with us all, too. Later, we watched 2 video clips with Ms J and time stood still for many of us during the screening.
The 1st video was a clip called 'The Making of a Band'. According to Mdm O, this was a documentary created by the professional media people in the 1970s because they had wanted to track the progress of school bands in the post-Independence years. The video recorded footage of 2 secondary school bands - ACS band and TK Band. The former was regarded as an elite school and so 'contrast' was made against the 'poorer' neighbourhood school, TK.
Mdm O went on to explain that it was LKY's idea to get schools to form school bands so that the band would become a platform for racial harmony. The idea was to get students of all races to come together and through music, more constant interaction and socialisation, become more cohesive. In short, the band programme had been for a 'unity' purpose in the post-Independence years.
Ms J explained softly to us that the TK Band was founded in 1967, as she pointed out to us parts of the video. It was quite amazing that she could remember the names of several of the boys and girls trying out the instrument in the 1970s. I was particularly surprised when she pointed out to me (I was sitting next to her) that a particular band leader in the video had already passed away. Ms J's power of recollection seems to be even better now than before, leh!
The 2nd video was a clip entitled 'IJ Award'. This was a tribute to Ms J for her contributions to the TK Band. Apparently, TK Sec School created this Award as a sort of annual prize for the top music student (or something like that). We all loved this clip so much that we let it run twice!
Mdm O later showed us the handicraft that Ms J has been doing during her physiotherapy sessions. They really looked like what the kids would do at the kindergartens. And Mdm O explained that to help Ms J retain her dexterity, she also got Ms J to practise her handwriting. During their move to the current place, Ms J had become very stressed and during that time, could not move her limbs at all. This was what the doctor had called 'freeze', and I think it sounded really very scary. I am imagine the love Mdm O had showered on Ms J. Mdm O is truly a very admirable sister.
We stayed on until late afternoon. Then, as we took turns to bid her goodbye while she was seated at the dining table, she pulled my hand and held it tightly. She drew me nearer to her, looked in my eyes and said to me, "LP, you are very, very, very, very, very. very... dear to me."
On hearing Ms J's words to me, I broke down and started sobbing quite badly. I hugged Ms J close and told her that we understood, I understood. By her words, I am very, very sure that Ms J has remembered me and the NZ trip episode, and everyone's heartbreak years ago.
My sudden outburst shocked some of my friends there, but I regained composure quite quickly as Mdm O invited us to visit again soon. "Bring your children to swim," she said, "and you can take her (ie Ms J) on a stroll around when you next come."
Although it had been taxing to stand and walk around, Ms J insisted on seeing us to the door. We slipped on our shoes quickly and waved bye to her and Mdm O.
Our very efficient organiser had also arranged for transport to ferry us 'anywhere we wanted'. So 4 of us accepted the offer and whilst we chatted and joked around in the mini-bus, we started to give instructions on where we would like to go! Eventually, I dropped off first at Circuit Road, and the others would follow at Parkway Parade, then Simei, then finally Pasir Ris.
The visit left me with many, many thoughts and countless rounds of tearing. I now wish I had visited her sooner and regularly. For Ms J was the one who roped me into the active band life I had led in TK Band. The TK Band years had been, without doubt, the moulding years of my life. I hope I will visit Ms J again soon.
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