No doubt most of you have heard of or seen Nicholas Quah Wenpin around school at some point over the years. He’s generally at every charity event, every concert, every Games Carnival day, every Swimming Gala, every Sports Day, every assembly, every lunch-you name it, he’s there.
With his tenure at Cempaka officially closed, however, I thought it ultimately necessary to accost this tall, skinny, ex-student of Form Five Science One and procure some of his thoughts and views on various random issues before he scoots off overseas, or something.
So here it is–a little peek into the mind of our very own Nicholas, for your reading pleasure.

YJC: If you could change one thing about the past seventeen years of your life, what would it be?

Nicholas: Nothing. Life's pretty much good right now, so I'm afraid if I tamper with anything back there, the good today might not be so good after all.

YJC: Do you have a role model, and if you do, who is it and why?

Nicholas: (laughs) I suppose this question is dating back to that talk back at leadership night, isn’t it?

YJC: Yes, it is!

Nicholas: Hmm, I don't really have a role model in terms of overall lifestyle, but I do have certain idols in specific areas of my interest and things like that. For example, in terms of writing and literature and things like that, I'm really into Neil Gaiman. The dude is so well-read! And on top of that, he's got this really intelligent and creative mind that dares to step over unspoken boundaries and lines. Him, and the late great Douglas Adams. It's sad that he passed away a few years ago, because he's such an inventive thinker and just a generally intelligent person. Such humour and brilliance are so rare. And in terms of sports, Peter Crouch! He showed to us all that tall, lanky and weird-looking people can still be awesome.

YJC: How would you describe yourself in three words?

Nicholas: Hmm. Thinner Than Stick.

YJC: If you could be any teacher in Cempaka for a day, who would it be?

Nicholas: Haha! What, seriously? Mr. Ashvin.

YJC: Why?

Nicholas: Because I’d get to hang around the IT and fiddle with my computer all day. Kidding. Hmm…any English teacher, no specifics. It allows me to talk about anything to any class all day!

YJC: That sounds like you, alright. And if you could be any other student, who would it be, and why?

Nicholas: Hmm…Adrian Khor. I always wondered what it’s like to be that relaxed, all the time.

YJC: What do you think of Paris Hilton?

Nicholas: Gah. I dunno, no offense to anybody out there who likes what she's doing, I think she's just a general waste of money and time. Though I do suspect she's smarter than she leads us on to think--probably does her P.R. work herself.

YJC: Possibly! And what do you think of William Hung?

Nicholas: Um…haven't heard of him for a while, have we? Fun while it lasted; though I do also believe that he's far smarter than he leads us on to be. I mean, he goes to Berkeley, man!

YJC: So with all kinds of new people popping up out of the woodwork, do you think the state of today's media is getting better or worse?

Nicholas: Well, no doubt it's getting a lot worse. I mean, we're generally getting slapped in the faces day after day with an assortment of reality TV shows, hip hop enthusiast media shows, generally mindless movies--and we're not just talking about western media, here. Shows that make you think and feel are getting quite sparse, and it's very sad that this is happening, plainly because this shows the gradient of which the mindset of the general public is going to. I mean, yeah, sure, I enjoy toilet humour and slapstick as much as the next guy--but there comes a point when enough is enough. Where has all the emotion and the meaning gone to?

YJC: So if you could do something about it, what would you do?

Nicholas: What wouldn't I do? At this point, it's hard to know exactly what to do, because I can't just go, "Hey, let's turn this ship around"--simply due to the fact that the viewing public is too used to the stuff they’re being fed now, and if there be a drastic change, it will only end in two possibilities; that is, either they adapt to the stuff and learn to like it, or wither away in boredom. So, I don't know, I guess I would start by decreasing the number of nonsense shows out there and try to get people to actually think about what their watching.

YJC: Good answer. On a lighter note, what’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?

Nicholas: Is that a trick question? I’ve done so many embarrassing things I can’t really put a tag on any of them.

YJC: Any one that stands out?

Nicholas: Hmm…none that I’d like to popularize!

YJC: Fair enough! If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?

Nicholas: That's a tough question isn't it? There are just too many things to change, and too many changes that are appropriate but improbable of actually happening. So I guess I have to focus a tad bit smaller in terms of scale--I don't know about the world, but I'd like it if the Malaysian Board of Censorship loosened up a bit.

YJC: If you had three wishes, what would they be?

Nicholas: Hmm. A steady flow of money to come into my bank account on a consistent basis. A free ride into film school and...for wars to just stop happening.

And there you have it-a snippet of The Venerable Former Editor-In-Chief (in the words of Lim Su Lin). Penny for your thoughts, anyone?