The Slug Reviews: My Jac of all Trades and My Friend For All Time

The few of you who read my blog know that I am now midway through recounting a trip to Malacca and that I very hardly ever slot an unrelated post in between sequential parts of a post on a certain topic unless there is something important - and there is now.

And hence begins a long, rambling story. Jac, if you are reading, this is for you...

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Marcus, I think was the name of my colleague who played a trick on a then fresh-faced pupil on her first day of work at the law firm. I think he told her that "Mr Yeo would like to see you..."

I was none too seasoned either, having been a lawyer for barely three days, when a tall girl walked in and said, "Marcus asked me to see you, Mr Yeo." It didn't take too long to find out that her name was Jacqueline ("but you can call me Jac", she said), that she was warm and personable and that Marcus had clearly played a trick on us. But since she was sat in front of me, I thought that I had might as well give her some of my thoughts about pupillage and upcoming practice. I can't remember what exactly I said but I clearly remember my most pertinent quip - "You can stop calling me Mr Yeo. And remember that you are in all probability smarter than me and most certainly meant for much bigger things".

You didn't believe me then but the truth of my statement is unavoidable when I see how well you have done for yourself and how you conduct your work with flair and aplomb. I sometimes delude myself into feeling slightly proud at having played some part in your somewhat meteoric rise in your career.

The more likely truth is that you were always there for me. You were my assistant for my first ever trial in 2003, a motor accident matter in which I fought valiantly but lost disappointingly. You were always willing to lend an ear when I at times broke down while talking about a long-term unhappy relationship in your room, though I never really understood why your reaction towards somebody who was crying was to offer him or her liquid hand cleansing lotion instead of tissue paper. You were the one who convinced me years later that I was making the right decision to leave practice when I began to have second thoughts and an agonizing dissonance. And I really appreciate you gritting your teeth through some very boring football matches in an S.League stadium just to oblige me.

It's been close to 9 years and over that period of time I have called you a number of names, from Padawan (which lasted only a short while, for what was there that I could really teach you?) to Hippo (though you heard wrongly - what I really said teasingly was that you needed lipo - but you get the drift) to simply 'my best friend'.

I sometimes wonder how nothing more developed, though you often remind that it might have something to do with the fact that yout nickname at one time was Hippo after all. I think it's because of the fact that we had grown, especially in the last few years, so comfortable as friends that anything else would just not be right.

Still, the last few years, when we were more entrenched in our careers and financially stable, have provided us some of the most enjoyable times as we took time to travel around the region. I don't think we will forget standing squeezed together for two hours in a bus which hurtled down Genting Highlands (I think I rather enjoyed that one, actually - so much so that I got a stomach ache) nor the ensuing 'Bangsai at Bangsar' fiasco. I was hardly as frequent a travel companion as your CEB but we still managed to find time to wander around the Peak in Hong Kong and go Dog Racing in Vietnam. I enjoyed all our adventures immensely - it was a laugh a minute.

Indeed, I'm a bit sad that such days are over, for in less than a few hours, you be wed and forever henceforth encumbered. But, and though I might have said some things to the contrary, I am also extremely happy for you as you deserve every happiness that you are about to experience in married life. I now know you made the right choice and found the right person.

What really upsets me, however, is that not only did my hard disk which contained a trove of pictures we took together calamitously disintegrate, the folder in my replacement disk in which I had stored most of what remaining pictures I had prepared for this post mysteriously disappeared as well. It appears my computer is as susceptible to viruses as I am.

But Jac, as you said so many times, though in so many ways so much will change, in others, nothing will.

Truly, we will always be friends and I will always be there for you the same way you have been for me (except maybe when I am watching football with my boss). Never hesitate to ask my opinion, as you have before, about the effect of the latest Skyla bras....