Name: Vincent Lu

Describe the experience of being in a large, noisy and uncontrolled crowd leaving a
match or concert.

The stadium was packed with spectators like schools of sardines when I entered. People could
be seen making unsuccessful attempts of jostling through the enlivened spectators to reach
their allocated seats. Several people were even armed with foldable parasols in preparation for
the unprecedented rain. My seat was utterly uncomfortable due to its material - an inflexible
and hard square of plastic. Moreover, I was sandwiched between two men who had a
comparably larger size than me. I managed to glance back from my cramped condition and
noticed a few voluntary guards stationed around the entrance to control the frenzied crowd.

It was already the second half of the match; the scoreboard equates at 1-1. The intense
physical actions had sapped out a significant portion of energy from both teams. Just as when
the spectators were ready to accept the eventual draw of the game, a point of epic performance
alters the course of events. The striker hurtled the ball towards the edge of the net in a blink of
an eye. Despite the goalkeeper’s immense proactivity, the dynamic power and swivelling of the
sphere forced him to flinch, causing the ball to soar out of his peripheral vision and bolted
inside the goal at lightning velocity. The scoreboard leaves no leniency towards the homeside
as it indicated a heartbreaking 1-2. The last 10 minutes displayed no signs of resurgence for
them as most of the players suffered substantially from their ill-fated match.

The spectators were shattered. The unbearable noises coming from their babblings and
complaints began to expand throughout the stadium. Children, now equally distressed and
agitated as their parents, started screeching in high-pitched voices which almost pierced my
eardrum, all the while littering empty popcorn boxes and beverage cans onto the field to
express their resentment. I was drowning in this ocean of infinite noises, as if my whole body
is shrinking down into a diminutive figurine. The guards had done negligible help in
tranquilising people near the front - who were gesturing with their fists toward the guest
team. Suddenly, the floor grumbled followed by millions of footsteps thundering and
rumbling toward the narrow exit, creating a rapid-flowing stream of river. I sensed a force
that was as vigorous as a torrent of water that compelled me to converge into the river along
the motions of the waves like a raindrop. The fragrance of the river was remarkable: an unholy
agglomeration of perfumes, fusing with metallic body odour and over-applied cologne.

A police siren came roaring from behind on the avenue, startling the hyperventilated mass,
which soon came the spreading of chalky haze of tear gas and the frantic mayhem was all over.
In their frustration and fear, each person was once again for themselves.