The past week went well and I am glad to announce that I passed my Class 5 course of driving and parking in my 1st attempt. Since all those who went for this course are no longer tyros when it comes to driving (all of us held Class 4 military licence) , this course was just a week 's long. Parking was a breeze since all was needed was just to apply the correct technique and do parallel parking within 10 minutes. Driving was more nerve-wrecking not because I wasn't confident of my driving skills but because of the tester. The tester is infamous for not wincing his words to remonstrate and failing testees under him. I was unlucky to be tested by him. I was not under him during Class 4 but yet this time is under him. My Class 4 parking instructor --- an ex-warrant known for his crude demeanour and invective language , "bestowed" upon this tester a name : Tay Chee Bye which I feel is felicitous. Let's call him TCB for short. TCB has an irascible personality and finally I managed to taste what is it like on Friday when I forgot to ask him to help me adjust a small mirror on his side when I was about to set off from camp , which frankly , doesn't help me at all on my public road driving but still according to the norm it has to be adjusted. It proved to be a fatal mistake. Sour-faced TCB begun to criticise me once after I discovered my error. I was like , oh man..what a way to start this 30+ minutes of driving test aka possible hell. However , I refused to be namby-pamby by his presence. I knew that anymore mistake will possibly push TCB to the tether and he will fail me. Therefore , I told myself to be Ai Zai , must do something propitiating to let TCB see. Thankfully , all went well out on the road. Previously , Class 4's route was at Choa Chu Kang and the roads there were quite narrow and there were lots of pedestrians. This time round was at Sembawang area. There was one particular incident in which when I was about to make a right turn. After checking left , right mirrors and ahead , I was about to move off since the red light green arrow permitted me to go when out of a sudden a cyclist just dashed in front of my vehicle. TCB was already "eh eh eh" but I stayed composed. Luckily I didn't released my brake or else if I jam brake it is an immediate failure. It's completely preposterous that a cyclist should suddenly dash out when the pedestrian crossing was on red and moreover there was another vehicle in front of me. The man just cut across like this. His action was an anathema to me and I am pretty much annoyed. Jam brake nevermind , but what if I step on my accelerator and make my turn? The impact of a 7-ton truck banging against that man is going to be grossly undescribable and I don't wanna be charge for killing a life. I had contemplated to show that guy what I think of him with my middle finger but I did not , not even a loud horn to make him wake up his idea. I guess I am too nice.

Really , such screwed-up people are a common sight. I mean , pedestrians and motorists likewise , if you see vehicles with L-plates on , don't purposely go ka jiao them la. They are already under pressure to perform and imagine the trauma of having to waste time and pay for extra lessons and another practical test for civilians and likewise for military personnel , having to drive another 100 minutes and the possibility of having saturdays burnt. Do not worry about them , because automatically these testees will be tested on situational problems on public roads. Just don't be an extra and create extra problems.

Now that I cleared both military Class 4 and Class 5 tests on my 1st attempts , the experiences on the public road will more or less be germane to my future taking of civilian Class 3 licence. When will I take Class 3 I do not know , it all depends on financial and time conditions. It may be next year , it may be during my undergraduate years or it may even be after I graduate from university. It all depends.

Class 5 down , forklift and crane courses beckon. Argh !