Why Nigel Likes Fishing

I know I know, my blog is inactive! But work takes precedence and until anyone sponsors me to be a full time blogger, priority takes place. But here's a little piece that I wrote for the purpose of a writing test for my job interview. Hope it resonates with some of you because it sure means a great deal to me!

My interest in fishing started at a tender age of 5 when father brought me on a fishing trip to Bedok Jetty. The two of us didn’t have any fancy fishing gear but we made do with our hand line spools. As our trips became more regular and I got increasingly intrigued in the hobby, father invested in some fishing gear for me. It was a dream come true for me as I now had my very own fishing gear and yet father would still use the old hand line spools.

However, our happy fishing times didn’t last forever as father became increasingly busy at work. I recalled intentionally waking up early on many a weekend as I would catch father before he went to work. I would go up to him, fishing rod in tow and whisper, “Daddy, can we please go fishing?”

Alas, it was always the same old answer that I didn’t like. I gave up.

The years went by and the child in me forgot about fishing. As I enrolled into St Andrew’s Junior School, I was taught that academic excellence was the only thing I should excel in. I spent the rest of my childhood competing with other kids in a game of grades. It seemed as though fishing would never come back into my life again.

Fishing had other ideas though and it found its way back into my life when I was 14. I became best friends with Mingwei who was also my classmate.  We were playing a game of marbles at my home when Mingwei chanced upon my fishing tackle. He had not seen fishing tackle before so I removed the rod and reel from their dusty covers to show them to him. He only had three words for me after that and they were, “Let’s go fishing!”

Mingwei and I went fishing together for several years. We befriended a vast amount of strangers during our fishing adventures together and very soon we had a fishing “kaki” group. This group comprised of people from all walks of life. We would go to the beaches, jetties, reservoirs, rivers, lakes and ponds all in the name of fishing. This would last for many years to come until National Service came knocking and I had to stop fishing once more due to time constraints.

After completing National Service, I wanted to find a way back to fishing but the fishing group was already defunct. I had also lost contact with Mingwei as other commitments came knocking on his life. There didn’t seem to be a way back into fishing and I was thrown into the familiar state of ambivalence again.

After much thought, I made up my mind and packed my fishing gear. I was going fishing even if I was going to be alone. It was then at that very moment that father saw this and he bashfully asked me, “Son could you bring me along with you?”

Fishing is like an evergreen metamorphosis of hope. I may have lost my way many times, but somehow it always comes back to me because it is represents my life and the way I lived it. Perhaps, this is why I like fishing.