melbourne cap

this draft was first created on 071105 while packing for Kyoto 2005 trip, & continued again while packing for upcoming (place to be disclosed) 2006 trip

[061206] cat pack backpack again. simple process - pick out essentials from various boxes on shelf for travel/outdoor stuff. each time box containing cap + hat + etc is opened, cat will remember e other cap that is not there. black + red with white words, gift from Melbourne Tigers basketball team from kitten-hood days of helping out with organisation of basketball tournaments.

cat gave melbourne cap to friend more than 10 years ago. friend run away from home. relatives hunt for friend. friend need cap to disguise self + hide face. friend empty-handed when friend rang cat's doorbell one afternoon. cat gave its only cap + some cat clothes + cat toothpaste + not much $ (cat allowance approx $5/week) + can't remember what else. friend hide in cat room for e afternoon waiting for nightfall & cover of darkness, then friend gone. friend father + grandma know cat. friend grandma + aunt stay near cat house. cat house not safe. friend church refuse to shelter friend for night, might get into trouble if hide runaway.

friend appeared again more than 7 years ago. cat cannot remember how friend got in touch again. cat was in uni first(?) year. friend met up with cat at Parkway Parade. friend had put on weight - friend used to be stick-thin. friend bought bagel from Aunty Anne's. & then friend gone again.

more than 7 years on, cat wonders where is friend. cat has called friend relatives + asked church friends of friend + called family service centre social worker who used to handle friend case + searched friend name online. no luck. cat only have kindergarten class photo + some old letters from friend + friend primary 2 & 6 class photos in school yearbooks + fading memories.

friend was as tall as tallest guys in cat kindergarten class. friend loved policewoman mother. friend parents divorced. friend live with grandma + father relatives & sometimes father's factory in industrial estate. cat visit grandma house once. friend mother not allowed to meet friend. friend mother sneak into cat primary school to see friend. image carved into cat mind = friend mother talking to & holding hands of friend through metal bars of schoolbus window. schoolbus driver said friend looked like Taiwanese.

in primary 3 friend went for track & field school team selection trials with cat. cat made it but friend did not. after trials friend asked cat dad for 30 cents to buy drink. cat dad + cat know friend no money to pay back. cat dad didn't mind cos cat dad was once dirt poor. cat amazed as cat dad never gave cat that much pocket money (or any for that matter) before! =P

friend had elder brother in infamous secondary school nearest to second house cat lived in in Singapore. friend brother known as 'peh3 hoon4' aka. bai2 fen3 (lit. white powder = heroin). at 19 years of age friend brother still in secondary 5. by primary 2 relative started raping friend. friend family blame friend for causing family shame. around secondary school time friend tried to make police report. friend family threatened friend inside police station to stop report from being made. friend sent to Rose Villa. friend extremely unhappy there. later friend enrolled in nursing school but kicked out for 'doing something foolish'. friend became ambulance paramedic. that was when friend last met cat.

today cat tried Googling friend name again. for first time result appeared. friend name + place of work. cat cannot believe luck! friend now pursuing dream career =)

today also happens to be last day of white ribbon campaign, organised by men to end violence against women (& children). lua3 zun4. real men don't hurt! ;)