I will cease to post any more articles on this weblog. A word of appreciation to those who have visited.
Please feel free to visit me at:-
http://www.blogigo.com/basement39
Thank you!

I will cease to contribute articles on this weblog for the time being. This is just a replica of what I've on another weblog.
A word of appreciation to my fellow bloggers who have
visited.
Feel free to visit me at http://www.blogigo.com/basement39
or simply under the pen name of henry.

With times heavily on hand before night class started, I would go for a beer or two. For theory, we combined with trainees from company 'A'. We were the noisy lots, more like a market-place rather than a class. The instructor intervened. He said, 'for those who are not interested, you can do whatever you like, just don't disturb those who are interested.' Hearing that, I pulled for myself
another chair, lying flat...for a nap. On seeing that, he was furious.
Instructor : 'Henry, what are you doing?
Henry : 'sleeping!'
Instructor : 'who says you can sleep?'
Henry : 'you just said so! Sleeping does not generate any disturbance.?
Instructor : 'by that, I don't mean you can sleep!........'
I noticed that quite a number of trainees in front were looking to their right, towards the door. Standing over there was a tough guy looking all over the class trying to fish out who the trouble-maker was.
Some trainees urged the instructor to continue with the lessons. With backers around, he said he wanted to continue.....lashing at me mercilessly. I was left a poor soul without any chances of retaliating. For once, 'the fighting cock' became a lamed duck. I lose the battle not to a kung-fu master but a strict disciplinary master.

Today marks the 40th years of my country's nation building.

Gambling was the norm of the day, during break times and even when classes were in session whenever instructor was not around. Trainees from other company, let's say company 'A' joined in. Caught on numerous occasions and reprimanded by
instructors, bad habits die hard. Gambling persisted and instructor somehow gave up.

Once, I was looking at the cards of a trainee from company 'A'. His cards were so rotten, I could not control myself but to laugh. He ticked me off, showering me with abusive languages. I just picked up a five-pounder metal slab, a counter weight, from the table and smashed it onto his forehead. He was stunned by my reaction. Soon, blood started oozing out and a big lump started appearing. His
forehead was badly swollen. He left the class without a word. Few minutes later, I noticed that two trainees from company 'A' were attending to another of their fellow colleague. He was bleeding profusely from his mouth. I was told that the
metal slab flew to his mouth after smashing onto the forehead of the first person. Two of his front teeth were gone. Feeling bad, I offered him some money to consult a dentist.

The two of them went to seek permission from the Institution's training instructor (the tae-kwon-do black-belt holder) to consult doctors. The one with
the swollen forehead told the instructor that he bumped against something. The one with two front teeth missing said that he tripped and fell. Though
permission were granted, the instructor felt that something fishy was going on. He started to rope in trainees, to find out as to what actually happened. No one dare to speak anything. Finally, one trainee from company 'A' told him the truth. And that trainee told me not to get angry for letting the cat out of the bag as he was pressurized. He was afraid that I might bash him up.

Came face to face with this instructor in class. Shaking his head slowly, he gave me a faint smile.....a smile that's trying to convey a message across:- 'fighting cock, have another fight again?'