I had a wonderful time in the Chinese High Micromouse club and whenever I look back at my time there, I always feel privileged. Mind you, it wasn't easy joining the club in the first place. Had to literally tear myself away from the claws of a certain Mr. Ang Kah Soon, the teacher-in-charge of Track and Field. I had a lovely time in the track team, but after my first year trainee stint had ended, I simply felt it was time to move on. It took a long time coming, but I finally left the ECA at the end of my second year. Mr. Ang must have seen good sense---my case sparked off a weeding-out at the club, and quite a number of no-medal prospects were pushed out. Anyway, I officially joined the Micromouse club at the end of my second year.
Even now, I am still amazed by how we almost always manage to turn things around in the National Secondary School competitions. People see us as a brilliant team of whiz kids, but there was a lot of persistence and a bit of luck in the background. Anyway, we never seem to be any good at the start, as compared to other schools. So it's almost like a fairy tale finish when we win any competition.
My first competition was the National Robotics Science Fair at the Singapore Science Center in the December of 1991. It was a fun experience, and I'm sure the $50 prize money I pocketed helped as well. The following year we entered two competitions, The 2nd National Micromouse Competition in Ngee Ann Polytechnic in June, and The Singapore Science Fair in Victoria Junior College at the end of the year.
1993 was a significant turning point in the scheme of the club's future. Sad to say, I felt it a downturn. My seniors had graduated, so half of the original club was gone. To ensure our survival, we had to merge with the school's Computer Club.
The fun family atmosphere was gone for a start, but I thought the recruitment drive anchored by Haoxin and I during orientation week was rather successful. True to form, quite a number of freshmen signed up, but they were despicably roped away by the Computer Club for them to gain some basic programming skills in the first year. More like brainwashing, methoughts. That year, we entered the National Micromouse and Robotics Competitions, with mixed fortunes.
In 1994, the ultimate insult was dealt as the Computer club was merged with the Maths and Science Society. The ECA simply lost its appeal then. I had gone from a swashbuckling role in the Micromouse Club to attending boring club meetings. Anyway my swan song would be to lead a project team under the guise of the Maths and Science Society for a Robotics Exhibition in commemoration of the school's 75th Anniversary.
I feel spent some enjoyable times in the Micromouse club, and while the last year has been largely forgettable, the first two years more than made up for it. We were an underdog club that always existed against the odds, but didn't we do well for ourselves.