A poignant poem by the_fell_bat, based on the song "Ti Tian" (Rice Fields) by Jay Chou:

理圣, 啊

等你飞回来
我的恋爱都谈完了
没关系, 慢慢来
这首歌我自己来
说到中学时期
RI 的一间间间课室
是我看过最丑的剧面

于是也看你们进外国最佳大学
莫名其妙在 NUS 的我
不会写词, 不像个诗人
坐着公车上学的我
看着窗外的树和草
是一种说不出的自由自在

(哦, 亲爱的同学啊...
哦, 跑到哪儿去啦...)

莱佛士初级学院
留着我们长大的梦
绕过天真
收考试成绩
人们的汗水夹杂着满足与欢笑
是我现在最舍不得的画面
恋, 也是我另一项参展作品

靠着回忆, 写个文章, 拿个奖状, 有个啥用
鼓励你多去回忆是吧？
哼我真想撕掉，放弃一切
怎么朋友不见
坐在一家饭店
坐在里面
看着西洋片

考试成绩, 被待为画, 挂在墙壁上
象征我国蒸蒸日上
一堆游客
偶而想看看新加坡观光景点
但只看到比你住的
再高一层的饭店

(哦, 亲爱的同学啊...
哦, 跑到哪儿去啦...)

修读文学, 没什么用
没用对还是不对
自私的人类狼不狼狈
破坏人生的生态, 会不会很累
注重数学科术
否认人生的苦诉
这样, 对还是不对

你说为了国事
请问干我啥事?
是不是只有计算机
纪录自然
拿数字, 给下一代, 给下一代, 回味
可怜, 可悲
人生心事都不如纪录片

闻不到绿意盎然, 只享受到乌烟瘴气

我不能教训你们, 我不是你们老师
我不是校长, 也不能给你们一巴掌
掌掌掌掌掌掌掌长长长长长
长篇大论

你们并不想听
我知道
但我没办法
我就是要写, 你们可能永远不能体会
显微镜底下的我们, 会更现实, 更自私
这种态度真的
很难

领悟


Rough translation by the_fell_bat:

"Lisheng, ah,

By the time you come back
My love affair will have been over and done with
It's alright, take it slow
I'll do this song by myself
Talking about secondary school days
The classrooms, one after the other, in RI
Are the ugliest sight I've ever seen"

And so I watched you all go to the best universities overseas
And I, strangely enough, the one in NUS
Can't write lyrics, don't seem like a poet
And I, the one who takes a public bus to school
Watching the passing trees and grass outside
It's a feeling of being without care that can't be expressed

(oh my dear classmates
oh where have you all gone)

RJC
All our dreams while growing up are left there
passing the time of innocence,
we receive our exam results;
Everyone's sweat and toil contains also satisfaction and happy laughter
It's a scene that I look back on now, unwilling to relinquish
Love, too, that's another one of my exhibits

Depending on memory, write an essay, get a prize, for fuck?
To encourage you guys to reminisce more?
I'd rather tear it up, give it all up
How come my friends have all gone?
Sitting in a hotel
Sitting inside
Watching Western movies

Exam results, treated as paintings, hung up on the wall
A symbol of our country's ever-progressing progress
A bunch of tourists
Sometimes want to experience Singapore's sights and sounds
But can only see a hotel
Taller than the one they stay in

(oh my dear classmates
oh where have you all gone to)

Delving into Literature, it's useless and ineffective
Useless - is that right, then?
Selfish Man, quite despicable isn't he
Making life unliveable, does it cause fatigue
Putting the sciences and mathematics on a pedestal
And denying what's bitter about life
Like this, is that right then?

You say it's for the country
I say, what the fuck do I care?
Is it that only a calculator can
Make a record of life
The numbers, pass them on, pass them on, to our descendants
to reminisce over
Pitiable, execrable
Life and the speakings of the heart are not even worth a documentary

Can't smell the green freshness, and can only enjoy smoky air

I can't teach you all a lesson, I'm not your teacher
I'm not your principal, and I can't give you all a tight slap
(phonic pun) nor a long-winded dissertation

You don't want to listen
I know full well
But I can't help it
I'm writing this anyway
You may never be able to understand
Under the microscope, we will all seem that much smaller, materialistic and self-absorbed
This sort of attitude
is really difficult to

Understand