M.A.S.K.!

Collected from June 2010 to November 2012, not showing recently acquired Jungle Challenge, Outlaw and Buzzard. All MIB and MOC except Firefly.

Convent Light Street Kindergarten: "But It's A Cap!"

"Darling you drew an egg, not a cap."

"But it is a cap! I followed the drawing on the ABC chart!!"

The next day mum went to inspect the chart.

Thus begun my lifelong love-hate relationship with glasses, at age 6.

Convent Light Street Kindergarten: 1982

One reluctant morning while already half way to school I suddenly remembered Ms Elias had told us the day before to bring along a balloon to make paper meh-shay (I think she used some other words because I'm sure p‪apier-mâché‬ would be too much for 6-year-old Asian kids to comprehend). So I told dad and he quickly U-turned his motorcycle to the mamak runcit stall we just passed by. This is the balloon I got (or how it'd look like, when inflated):

Later you'll see why I remember this balloon so vividly, even after 30 years.

When I got to school (I was normally the first to arrive [or so I thought] because I lived quite near to the kindergarten) I placed the ballon at the bottom of my luncheon carrier, like this:

I don't know why I did this but I suppose it's fated from an early age that I can't part with drama (and this was the build-up to it).

After the afternoon nap it was time for art class so Ms Elias asked us to take out our balloons to inflate them.

As I happily reached into my luncheon carrier to take out my… GONE.

Balloon. Gone. DISAPPEARED.

WHERE HAVE IT GONE TO?? IT COULDN'T HAVE FLOATED OFF WITHOUT ME INFLATING IT!!! EVEN IF I DID INFLATE IT DURING MY DAYDREAM WHILE I NAPPED IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FILLED WITH CO2 AND NOT HELIUM!!!!

I pour every container out of the carrier but there's only so much space a ballon can hide in a bag without compartment!!

The next thing to do was of course to look around the classroom:

GASP.

Out of 20 over balloons none looked like what I had except the one growing from curly's mouth.

Ms Elias refused to believe a word I said and I was sent to stand next to the blackboard while others glued newspaper bits to the bodies of their durians- or porcupines-to-be.

I stood there for half an hour, with tears welling in my eyes until the art class was almost over. ALMOST.

Because it ain't over till the angry lady sings, or throws her mega fit of a tantrum.

In one fell swoop tears flowed and I shrieked and cried and swept the chalks and duster off the blackboard.

I was reassigned from Group A to D* before the end of the day.

*Group A: top students, minimal supervision; Group D: naughty boys and girls, tantrum princess and future drama queen.