© Essay by chan wei chun vincenTimBe`

Guilt

2006-07-26T21:50:00.001+08:00

“Is this the Police Force? Someone had just jumped down from his flat! The address is…”

Chan Seng was a sociable yet an easily irritated person. He was a person who really cherished his relationships, be it with friends or family. Perhaps, it was because of the importance of respect in the friendship between Mark and himself, he made an incorrigible move to show his regrets for killing Mark by mistake.

The incident dated two months back, when they were both alone in their stuffy office in the wee hours, working overtime in order to submit their reports on time. Instantaneously, their superior called them and wanted them to redraft the proposal for a project that was supposedly due weeks ago. As Mark felt offended with the words of his superior, he pushed all the blame to Chan Seng and reprimanded him for the faults he made in the proposal.

Finding him absurd to completely blame himself of the faults, Chan Seng confronted Mark with a penknife from his table and threatened him to stop his nonsense. On the other hand, the situation became worse when Mark snatched the penknife from him in the confusion. Mark was vomiting foul words about Chan Seng, which triggered Chan Seng’s rage to stab Mark to death after seizing the penknife back.

Shocked by what he had done, Chan Seng could not believe his own eyes for what he had seen. The walls and tables and chairs were stained with fresh blood. A pool of thick blood lay still on the floor. He scurried into the restrooms and brought out a pail of water and cloth to clear the mess he had made. Chan Seng threw the penknife and the cloth used down the refuse chute and dragged Mark’s body to the lounge clumsily and made the scene looked like as if an accident had taken place, which caused the death of Mark.

During the police investigations, he gave false statements that seemed much similar to the other colleagues so as to avoid much alertness of the police. As Chan Seng did not want to create more trouble for himself, he pretended to help out with Mark’s funeral service so as to create an innocent image of himself in front of Mark’s family and the public. Throughout the funeral service, Chan Seng also pretended to show care and concern for Mark’s family as well as shedding crocodile tears as if he was sympathetic towards Mark’s family, on top of being remorseful over his friend’s death.

However, credibly it was because of Chan Seng’s conscious state of righteous mind, Chan Seng dreamt of Mark haunting him every night for harming him. As days passed with every night dreaming of Mark, Chan Seng started to feel guilty and afraid. He was also scared to even walk pass the police officers. He would never fail to shun away upon confrontations with policemen.

It was months later, when there was once when the police had to investigate a murder case below Chan Seng’s flat. Thus, the police sought help from Chan Seng in the investigations. It was obviously due to guilt; the presence of police horrified Chan Seng. Thinking that the police had found out the truth, Chan Seng denied that he knew exactly nothing related to what they had questioned for, even after several promptings. As tension built up within him, Chan Seng felt that the truth could not be kept from justice anymore and hence, committed suicide to free himself from all the troubles and problems, besides showing a sign of remorse and regret to what he had done to Mark.

Write about an experience that you grew to love although you dreaded it at first.

2006-07-26T21:50:00.000+08:00

I was not an adventurous person until I got exposed to high ropes elements in one of the camps I attended when I was in secondary two. The first experience I got was when I attended the Leadership Training Camp sponsored by the school in 2004. The first sight of those structures feared me, as I was afraid of the heights.

Everyone must have a try on those high ropes elements. Trembling in fear, like a timid mouse, I sneaked to the back of the queue, trying to get the opportunity of trying them out last, or possibly not trying due to time constraints. As I looked at the stones that covered the floor of the site, I thought that falling down might be painful if the person belaying me failed to maintain his grip of the rope.

Hoping that I would not get the chance to try out the high ropes elements, I sat quietly by the side, playing with those stones while waiting for the time to pass by. As the bright sun was shining with intense heat, indicating that it was time for lunch, our teacher-in-charge instructed us to assemble at the canteen. I heaved a sigh with relief, thinking that I had escaped the fate of embarrassing myself in front of everyone.

However, before I could start heading to the canteen, he continued, “Vincent, later you will be the first after lunch, okay?” I was stunned by his words. Without any reasonable excuses, I replied with hesitations, “O…Okay…”

After lunch, as what I had promised him, I wore the harness and safety helmet as my heart pumped rapidly. I was breaking into cold sweat when he instructed me to start climbing. I took a deep breath, and started my steps up the ladder. On the way up, I trembled as I ascended to the platform.

The process of crossing to the other side on a thick rope was frightening. The crossing took approximately ten minutes as I spent most of the time shaking due to inability to balance myself. I almost cried when I fell off the rope. Although I had fallen off, my teacher refused to descend me onto ground. Instead, he lifted me back to the rope, and wanted me to finish crossing over.

Indeed, I managed to overcome my fear and complete the task. I had this sense of satisfaction after I had completed it. The feeling was so great that, I was convinced that after all, this activity was not as frightening as I thought in the beginning. The satisfaction for completing that particular station drove me to pick up my courage and try out the most daring station, whereby I was supposed to jump from a vertically erected pole and grab a horizontal metal bar hanging about three feet away.

I attempted this station after getting ready in the harness. Though I failed to grab the metal bar, I would say that it was the courage that brought me forward to take the plunge. After this camp, I would always be looking forward for more challenging high ropes elements in other camps. I would say that, it was this moment that made a turning point in my life, to love this activity. It is because high ropes elements are the most fun and enjoyable type of activity in all camps.

Peer Pressure

2006-07-26T21:49:00.000+08:00

“Hey! I just reserved a table at the restaurant in Raffles Hotel! Anyone keen to come along for dinner?” Richard asked with generosity.

“We can’t leave the office as we need to work hard in order to have a stable income, unlike you… Yes, we know that your dad is rich, Richard, but I suggest you try working for your own income and pay bills with your own money,” exclaimed his friend, Kenny, with sense of sarcasm.

Richard was not pleased with what Kenny had said as Kenny sounded as if he lived off his father for everything. Consequently, he clamoured, “Don’t sound as if I am one who does not know the efforts in earning money. I buy things with my hard earned money, okay?” Upon hearing these words from Richard, the others in the office felt that he was uttering some nonsense. Unexpectedly, one protested, “Then we shall see who can really put in the effort in earning money. Since everyone here are project managers, then the challenge is to earn the first million dollars within the shortest time possible with their received projects.”

Richard made up his mind to work extremely hard in order not to allow his friends to look down on him. This challenge pressurised Richard to the extent that he would sometimes neglect his health, by not having a proper diet. Richard was seen commonly in his office, with his laptop, working on the reports.

One thing that amused almost everyone was that, he even took up the tasks of the market analysts, to do several researches on his sales, as well as making decisions in his projects. One could really see the efforts he had put in, in order to achieve the one-million-dollar target. As time went by, the frequency of meetings held with his project teams amplified greatly.

For a couple of months, Richard had been going through this dull and tedious lifestyle. Upon thinking of what his friends would say if he failed, he would pick up his confidence and continue to strive for the better. What he thought at the end of his mind was to reach a total of a million dollars, so that he could prove his friends wrong. He did not take into much considerations of his health or hunger. He would rather starve throughout the whole day than not finishing his documents, or he would just allow himself to continue coughing or sneezing and do nothing about it, while trying to complete his reports. Everyone felt the same that he was crazy about money.

Several years passed with him completing more projects than he could imagine of. His efficiency in work gained his employer’s recognition as many of his projects gained the clients’ trusts. Over these years, Richard made what remarkable progress that his employer promoted him to be the Chief Project Manager. Soon after, he succeeded in earning a total of a million dollars, with contracts worth hundreds of thousands signed recurrently.

Although Richard had won the challenge came up by one of his friends, his success did not gain him the respect from his friends. The jealousy of his friends made them framed him for doctoring the company’s sales documents and keeping more than half a thousand of the profits earned to himself. As the incident took place instantaneously, the lawsuit ended as soon as it started. In the end, Richard got himself wrongly accused, and sued, by his employer, leading him to bankruptcy. After all, he learnt a lesson after the tiring years, that peers are the ones that pushed him forward to greater heights, but yet, they are the capable ones who destroyed his supposedly wonderful fate.

Write about someone who was obsessed with studying.

2006-07-26T21:48:00.000+08:00

Peeping through the narrow gap of the slightly opened door, one could see him working at his desk, with the table lamp shining brightly in the dark bedroom in the wee hours, when everyone was already sleeping soundly under their blankets. The fifteen-year-old was forever crazy about his studies, as if he had sworn to Heaven that he would score well for his National Examinations, supposedly next year.

In Adam’s life, academic was the most important. His entire life revolved round his studies. Despite the fact that typical students treat school like shopping centre, Adam would never fail to be seen with his ancient-like notebook wherever he was in school. Moreover, he would never allow any opportunity to study to slip by.

Being his cousin, as well as his schoolteacher, I felt so proud when he earned the school’s recognition for his excellence in studies. However, as everyone felt that he was too into books, classmates started calling him a bookworm. And it was probably because of that that he fell out with his friends. They found his behaviour dissimilar from the rest.

By observing his daily activities, one could easily predict his school life. Whenever there was an upcoming test, he would reject his friends’ offers to the movies or exercise. Locking in his silent bedroom, he would study quietly. And he did not like anyone to disturb him when he was studying. Subsequently, he would lock himself up the whole day and sometimes even skipped meals.

Adam had been well known for his perfect scores in school. However, we were not quite sure about the specific reason that caused him to wanting to overwork him.

Every single parent would want their child to be hardworking and achieve wonderful results. Despite the fact, Adam’s parents hoped that he would loosen himself a little. His parents once feared that Adam’s desperation for excellence would turn into harm. They thought that Adam’s independence would do him good. However, the fear finally came when Adam suffered from depression.

Yes, it was all because of stress that he committed suicide.

An Encounter with Terrorism

2006-07-26T21:47:00.000+08:00

“Dear passengers, the approaching train at Platform A is not for passenger service. Please do not board, and kindly wait for the next train. Thank you,” the speakers sounded, awakening the sleepy morning. One could hear nothing but the portions of National Anthem drifting from the nearby police headquarters.

Yawning impolitely, Old Yip gaped at the clock that read six. His eyes wandered around at the surroundings for a few seconds, before he continued his task. Exploring the station with his half-conscious mind, Old Yip could see pockets of students as well as considerable numbers of office workers. Ensuring that the station’s safety was firm, Old Yip left the station platforms for his break, after the monotonous patrol.

“Majulah Singapura…” the anthem had just ended in the background when he started to increase his pacing down the stairs. Reaching the information service office, Old Yip slotted his notebook back into the pocket, which was down at his right thigh. Slouchily sitting on the armchair, he starting sinking deep into sleeps when a lady approached the office and knocked simultaneously at the glass screen in frantic.

“Sir, sir! I’m afraid that you have to go to the platforms to take a look. There’s a huge bag at one corner and there is no one handling it!” she stumbled, in a terrified tone, with eyes brimmed with tears. Looking stern yet shocked, Old Yip informed the other staffs before grabbing the microphone warning the passengers of the situation.

“Passengers, please leave the station platforms and assemble outside the train station immediately. Do not fright, this is not an anti-terrorism drill. I repeat…”

Old Yip, together with two other station managers, hurried to the platforms. Old Yip approached the bag cautiously. Though seemed brave, Old Yip’s heart was pumping rapidly. He feared that tragedy would fall on him.

“Yip! Don’t get close to it, stay back!” his colleague warned. They decided to retreat to outside of the station, awaiting for the authorities to arrive. Soon after, the bomb squad set foot into the dangerous perimeter.

After all, the bomb squad found that the bag contained some clothing, probably belonging to tourist or a forgetful local. Consequently, Old Yip learnt a lesson that he should pay more attention to the surroundings when he was patrolling the station. It was simply because, the lives of passengers were all in his hands.

The Day That Changed My Life

2006-07-26T21:46:00.000+08:00

“Run! Run! Take all the things and run! They are coming!” our watcher shrieked frantically, signalling to us from distant. We knew that they had already undergone thorough investigations on our movements and activities. And we discerned the fact that there was a mole among us.

“Robert, take your goods back and we will have another meeting again. My man will call you for a second time. Those government’s dogs… Come on, let’s go!” our Chief ordered, after putting the money away from sight. Taking our flight from Robert’s hideaway, Chief demanded some of us to keep a lookout before proceeding, ensuring that we did not fall back into the plight.

As we approached an Indian-run convenient store, Chief wanted us to stay put. I noticed that Chief approached the store tender and talked to him in private while slotting a hundred US dollars note into a pocket located upon his chest. Thereafter, the store tender headed off, towards where we came from.

“Let’s get going. We’ll be safe from those dogs,” Chief exclaimed, as he started to stride towards his limo. Believing that we were safe, all of us continued our way to the cars. As I was about to step into the van, Chief called upon for me.

“Ken, sit in my car. I would like to have some words with you.”

“A… All… right, ” I stammered with definite fear.

I was told to bring the money to Robert on the next dawn, and to retrieve the goods back for him. Initially, I rejected helping him, as I claimed about worrying that the authorities might discover our trace if I failed to remain undetected. However, Chief convincingly assured that I would be well protected by his men, which in the end changed my decision.

The process was quicker than expected. Everything went as smooth as planned. Approaching the van that brought me to the meeting place, I showed Chief, who was sitting in the limo, the briefcase that contained the goods, which he was dying for. He showed me a “good” hand sign, with a wide smile from ear to ear, indicating his satisfaction over the success of the business deal.

I descended from the flight of stairs to the zebra crossing. Pacing across the zebra crossing, I hugged the briefcase near to my chest, feeling relieved that everything had already ended. I understood in the end that it was not over yet, when I noticed Chief’s limo started to race off, down the road, at the instant when a wave of siren howled with ferocity.

“Stop right there! Put your hands on your head and squat down!” I heard a deep precise voice the moment I spotted a handful of policemen pointing their guns at me. I was trepid and horrified. Only then I realised that the assurance by my Chief was not sustained.

I experienced an explicit turning point in my life six days later in the Supreme High Court.

“Accused Ken Goh Liang Hui, 25, found guilty for trafficking 2, 540 grams of heroin powder. I hereby declare that, under the Misuse of Drugs Act, Accused Ken Goh Liang Hui will be prescribed a punishment of imprisonment of 4 years and a total of 4 strokes of caning.”

Will I be rejected by the society? Will I face despises from my friends? Where on earth was that assurance for safety? Where exactly?

A Quarrel that Ended a Relationship

2006-07-07T21:55:00.000+08:00

“Why on earth did you remove my favourite models?” Dick lunged at the top of his voice in his bedroom. His mother entered his room and started nagging, like what she would do normally, “Do you know that your worthless ships are sores in my eyes, collecting dusts and blocking the way? Oh please, Dick! You are already twenty-two years old and you are still acting as if you are eleven! You should just go out and find a decent job and stop wasting your time on those childish nonsense!”

Dick was another young adult who liked to be independent and to lead his own life with all the freedom he would want. Since when he was a child, he hated others to move his belongings; not even his mother was exempted. However, removal of those models of warships had already made Dick flared up. And, Dick became more agitated, when a broken metal piece fell from the model while he was trying to replace them.

“Mind you! I just lost a hundred bucks because of your interference! If you wouldn’t touch my baby, it may be all right! Nosey…” Dick could not stand his mother and shouted at her, liked as if he had forgotten that she was his mother. In actual fact, his mother was over-concerned about what might be happening to her son. She thought that deciding everything for Dick would do him good, but she did not realise that she was actually controlling Dick too much.

Since Dick returned home after serving in the national service for two and a half years, a lot of things had changed. However, none of these changes pleased Dick.

“Two years back, my bedroom had changed a lot! It turned from a cosy room to a hotel room! And who is the culprit?” Dick asked with fury, and some sarcasm. His mother did not want to quarrel with Dick and thus remained silent. Despite the fact that his mother would not want to make everything worse, Dick continued his complaints, “I am warning you, do not try to interfere my life!”

Just because of what Dick had said, his mother unexpectedly rebutted, “You don’t want me to be concerned about you? You find me a pain? Get out of my house! I don’t want to see you here!”

“Fine! Don’t call me your son!”

Death of Uncertainty

2006-06-25T13:37:00.000+08:00

The sky was dark and heavy while the water was choppy and jagged. On the deck, the in-charge in white with his headgear was looking out for possible targets. However, it was so dark that only a layer of mist could be seen. Without any other choice, he ordered the crew to be alert for any possible threats and headed back to the operator’s room.

Looking at the small circular screen that shown a handful of green dots, he was sure that enemy was drawing nearer and nearer every second. In contrast, he sensed no movements of targets out at the sea.

“Increase speed to fifty-five knots, cover a distance of three hundred yards with a bearing of twenty degrees!” Commander Lee ordered, “Load and arm five torpedoes!”

“Aye sir!” replied a sailor. Lee unrolled the map of Pacific Ocean, made some marker marks on it. He was tensed by the atmosphere, perspiring heavily. Tapping the table with his fingers, Lee was considering whether he should approach the target. He made up his mind, and headed to the turrets’ operation room.

Before he could make an attack on the distant threat, a sailor panicky dashed into the room. He warned Lee about the operations of the enemy.

“ES018 is now armed and she is aiming her guns at us, sir!”

Lee remained calmed, and through the radio communicator, he contacted the torpedoes firing site.

“Release two at two o’clock direction immediately!”

“T1 and T2 fired. Waiting for results, sir!”

There was a ten-second pause. Lee, with the sailors looking at him, was grabbing his marker tightly. He was praying to God silently to allow the attack a success. Two explosions were heard, with a time difference of merely half a second.

“T1 and T2 have hit the target, sir!”

The room was filled with cheering; everyone was overjoyed over the success. Lee smiled widely, gave a sigh with relief and proceeded back to the operator’s room.

“Decrease speed to forty knots, cover a distance of eight hundred yards with a bearing of ninety degrees!” Lee commanded, “Unarm and unload the remaining torpedoes!”

“Aye sir!” the same sailor replied, with sense of respect and honour. To ensure that the enemy was destroyed, Lee checked the radar screen again. The operator reported that the possible threat, nicknamed “ES018”, disappeared from the screen after the explosions were heard. Lee confirmed that it was destroyed.

Thinking that enemy was destroyed, the crew operating the turrets became not as alert. Everyone felt that the threat has been eliminated. Lee reported to the Headquarters that they would be arriving at the base at 0000 hours.

The general of the 22^nd Taskforce Fleet Regiment was still waiting at the base for the arrival of Lee’s destroyer. Despite the fact that Lee had reported for an early arrival, the destroyer was not yet back, and had been two hours late. He was worried that Lee met up with problems on the way back.

He was right after two emergency reports were updated, ironically, the next day.

“Destroyer, named RNT- Endeavour, led by Commander Lee KK, destroyed by unknown foreign object, nicknamed ES018. Total casualties equated to be 225, killed, equivalent to the size of crew aboard RNT- Endeavour. Time of report: 2330 hours.”

“Submarine, named RNT- Unexposed, led by Commander Tan AK, damaged by two torpedoes, nicknamed T1 and T2. Total casualties equated to be 1, injured. Time of report: 2245 hours.”

After thorough investigations, truth was found out that, Lee’s torpedoes hit a friendly submarine in the sea, but mistaken to be the enemy. In fact, ES018 disappeared from the radar screen because it was out of the range that could be detected by the radar. All in all, Lee’s incompetence and the crew’s carelessness brought the death of everyone on board the ship.

The Boy Who Can Only See Darkness

2006-06-14T13:02:00.000+08:00

Andreas was a well-reputed teenager in his neighbourhood. In everyone’s eyes, he was hardworking, cheerful and active. He was, in fact, initiative. However, it was only that day, when Sergeant Lee read that bloodstained note from his pocket, people realised Andreas was not as blissful as what they saw.

Andreas was from a generous but poor family, whom everyone wished to befriend with though their financial instability. Like his late parents, Andreas was never self- centred; Nor was he unfriendly. He helped a handful of children in their homeworks. Wanting to aid the unfortunate, he collected funds in his school fortnightly and donated to them.

Andreas would never forgo any opportunity he had to be of assistance; He would even feed those kittens in the drain, or lend a hand to an old lady in carrying those heavy bags of groceries. This attitude made everyone thought that, Andreas was a sensible person. In contrast, the seventeen-year-old teenage was another victim of depression – and no one actually realised it.

Andreas lost his parents to Heaven at the age of thirteen. This unbearable pain caused him to lose faith in everything. He dropped out of the first class in school to the last. He was a changed person then – only used words with remorse. Despite the fact that his friends knew what had happened to Andreas, the clique mocked at him for the poor and unexpected academic results, which made the problem worse.

Andreas, then, felt that everything was meaningless. He thought that he had no friend, and he could not do well anymore in his studies. That was the time when he broke down and did nothing to save himself from the academic and social mess. Sergeant Lee looked up a counsellor, Jeremiah, to assist Andreas in picking up after the hurtful truth. Jeremiah was like another close friend who cared of his everything, even diet. It was absolutely fortunate for Andreas to have found Jeremiah to aid him.

Andreas managed to pull himself out of the disaster with Jeremiah’s presence. And gradually, Jeremiah left him. The wound in his heart was healed, but not completely. The continuous mocking from his friends caused that unfinished healing. Not only did they make Andreas as if he had no friend, but they also raked up that buried nightmare – the death of his parents.

It was only then, Andreas felt he could not take it anymore, and he wanted to have a reunion with his parents. He wrote a note, slid into his right chest pocket of his jacket and threw himself out of his bedroom, through the windows.

“2329. 2329. Do you copy from HQ? Over.”

“HQ, send over.”

“Resident reported a suicide case at location 056023. Over.”

“Roger that, 2329 heading for case scene. Over.”

Sergeant Lee lifted his right leg out of the patrol car, followed by the left. He spotted a crowd, and heard someone crying from that crowd. He scurried towards the crowd and saw Andreas in a pool of fresh blood. He sighed with remorse, and requested for some manpower from the Police Post, using the mobile radio communicator.

He sealed up the scene perimeter, and ensured a radius of five metres away from the crowd. He was searching for some clues on Andreas, and unintentionally dug out a piece of bloodstained note. He opened it up, and read to himself.

“What I’ve did may be foolish. But I can’t take it anymore. I want my Dad and Mom. Anyone who sees this, please give this note to Yi Qiang, Zhang Wei, Steve and Dave. I want them to know that, it’s them who drove me into this state. I don’t want to listen to them mocking anymore. Every time I hear it once, I’ll cry once… I want them to know that, they’re really too much. Hope I’ll see the four of them soon. Goodbye.”

Being in a Strange/Foreign Place

2006-06-04T13:22:00.000+08:00

Leslie crawled out of the crashed, burning helicopter. He stood, trying to keep his balance by leaning onto a nearby signboard. Out of nowhere, he reached a town. The buildings there were old and their walls were of obsolete designs. The bricked roads were uneven and the low-lying pathways were rough. Those pine trees had all wilted and grass had all been trampled. The sky seemed darker than usual, with those greyish dark clouds drifting lackadaisically. The locals were all anciently clothed. Everyone was staring at him with that unfamiliar look.

Leslie had no one to refer to for directions. He was unable to communicate well with the locals. Their languages were much like Tamil or Hindi but they were not. Those erected signboards by the side of the roads were filthy and not understandable. He could only recognised some arrows and numbers.

Somehow, he reached a military barracks. It was heavily guarded with a handful of gunpoints. Leslie attempted to pass through the safety boulders outside the entrance of the barracks, towards the security post. He wanted to ask them for help, but the ignorant guard pushed him away from the barracks perimeter.

Leslie was helpless and could not do anything to leave the area. What he did later was to walk, aimlessly, down the long stretch of deserted narrow road, which led him into the woods. He could not afford the time to make a detour outside the perilous woods because he did not have food for him to survive through the day. So Leslie decided to take the risk of going through the woods, to another town of the other side.

It was dusk when he reached the second town. The dull golden sky indicated that he had to find lodging as soon as he could. The buildings in the second town were much similar to those in the first. However, his guess of being in a Muslim area was wrong – he saw a church, a very old one. Upon reaching the entrance, Gospel could be heard from the inside. It was in English. Leslie grasped hold of this chance and barged through the white wooden doors.

Many people were sitting on benches in the church, staring at him, with fury. Showing an expression of guilt on his face, Leslie retreated, out of the concrete floored church. His thought at that instant was, “Where am I supposed to get accommodations?”

He did not manage to find a shelter in the end. He had no choice but to sleep in a corner outside the church, although rather uncomfortable. He was lucky to have an undisturbed sleep that night.

It was a noisy dawn at six. Leslie was awakened up, by the disturbance from the crowded marketplace. He saw a lot of people crowding at a stall, and he could hear someone shouting words he was unfamiliar with. He staggered towards the crowd, and managed to squeeze himself through the people. It seemed like it was auctioning of fish and meat. He was sure about it, although not amused by the auction in market.

He left the crowd, to the middle of the town. He looked at all directions, unsure of where should he head for.

“Let’s head for Port Hamamati!” Leslie overheard someone’s conversation in who were in distant. They were speaking in English. Leslie thought he could leave the unknown place with the help from the two Englishmen. He sought help, and they agreed without much thought.

Leslie, together with the other two Englishmen, arrived at the port in a mini van. Leslie stepped out, with a smile on his face, thinking that he could leave the country to somewhere he knows. He looked at the grand yacht awaiting by the port. The Englishmen told him with generosity, “Sir, this way please. The yacht is heading back to England. You should be able to get some help in England.”

“Thanks a million, friend!” Leslie replied with appreciations. He turned facing the yacht, and started ambling towards it, whistling. When he was about to set his foot onto the yacht deck, something from behind hit hard on his head. He fell helplessly onto the floor, although remained conscious. A baseball bat was thrown onto Leslie's back. And Leslie heard a familiar voice which he recognised hearing it sometime ago.

"Tie him up!"

A Child

2006-05-23T07:03:00.000+08:00

His life was not as blissful as the others; nor was his family as wonderful as the others. Charles was another cute and active young playful boy in town. He would always want to attend school lessons and also enjoy his time outside, under the sun, with his friends.

In the classroom, he was initiative. Always being the first to raise up his hand high, wanting to be the one answering all the questions. In the playground, he was cheerful. Accompanying those girls sitting by the side, he would try to cheer them up, without fail. In his teachers’ and friends’ eyes, he is the boy with positive attitude.

However, inside the well-decorated ‘prison’, he was fearful. Afraid that his father would cane him hard with those ruthless strokes, he would hide himself in his wardrobe the moment he reached home. He was almost helpless, though his neighbours tried to help some times.

This pathetic child went on his dark years till a point when the tension broke off. Charles ran out of home after finding himself getting abused by his drunkard father. He was only twelve then. The public had known about the incident. However, no one was well educated. None of them understood how they could help Charles.

From then onwards, Charles could be seen loitering in the void decks, or roaming along the deserted streets, even after midnight. Friends and teachers offered to help, but he would never accept one.

It was like a glim of light forcing its way out of a tiny hole of a cracked wall, with sense of hope, when a lawyer arrived into town for a court trial. Everyone saw the chance of saving Charles from the evil clutches of his father. No one ever thought of failing.

It was Heaven that failed everyone. The slim chance was not even in Charles’ grasp for a short time. People thought the same way – bringing Charles’ father to justice. In contrast, Charles met up with an accident that took his life away from the mortal world.

“CHARLES WANG LI XIANG, 14, 1990-2004”

This was engraved onto the tombstone that remembered Charles. It was a grave mistake made by him, to let go the chance of survival when his school wanted to help.

Something Unexpected

2006-05-18T16:45:00.001+08:00

Carrying a briefcase, with a pair of earpieces sticking into her ears, she ambled down the long busy stretch of hard concrete road. While trying to search for the two famous tall towers, she hummed to the songs she was listening to. She was so focus, concentrating on her own directions, that she did not realise how loud her humming was. Anyone near would have noticed her existence.

There were some movements felt under her waist suddenly. She got shocked for a moment and paused for a second, before knowing that it was her mobile phone vibrating in her pocket located down at her right thigh. Pulling out an earpiece from her right ear and then lowering down the volume of her MP3 player, she pushed the “answer” button before bringing the device near to her ear.

“Alice, are you lost in New York?” the male caller questioned, in a sarcastic tone, “do you need a ‘mobile directory’?” She giggled in a silly way and took a deep breath, before replying the questions.

“I am stuck in this complicated network of roads!” she exclaimed. She looked to her left and then her right, and then continued her words, “how do I reach there from Adam’s Street?”

“Relax, my girl, simply find New York City via Exit 10 from Adam’s Street and you will know what to do next,” the man explained with confidence.

“Alright. Thanks, dear! You should get started with your work. I’ll find you in your office in a short while,” Alice assured. She followed the route told by her beloved and finally saw the two towers, which outstood from the rest. She dashed across the road, towards the white ground where the two towers stood on. Pulling out the other earpiece, she kept them into her bag. She brought up the briefcase to her abdomen, stared at it for a second and thought, “Ah… There you go, Dad.” She smiled and paced towards the entrance of the North Tower.

As she was about to step onto the grey tiled floor of the building, an explosion took place. She squatted down, turned behind, thinking that it was a car accident. Everyone was frantic. No one knew what had happened, until when there was an old man in his singlets pointing up of the tower and yelled, “Whoa! Fireworks in the early morning?

The situation came into place. Everyone started to race off, away from the towers. Alice, still, did not know what was happening at that instant. She walked out, slowly, and raised her head. The moment she saw the ball of fire, detached debris fell onto her.

She was crushed onto the solid ground. The briefcase was disfigured too. Some men from the towers helped her up, after removing those heavy debris that were on Alice.

“What… What was that?” she mumbled, before groaning in pain. There was a thick layer of black smoke fuming from the tower. No one was able to answer her. When she was about to ask the same question again, there was a pocket of police cars arriving to the scene. The fire brigades’ howling sirens could be heard approaching. The public was evacuated, as soon as those in the towers were warned.

Before everyone could reach to a safe site, there was another loud boom. It was only then, Alice realised the towers were being attacked, by passenger planes. The second crash sent one of the two towers collapsing, flattened onto the ground.

“No!!…” Alice shrieked. Her father was in that collapsed tower. Alice fell onto the ground, helplessly. She wept with deep remorse. She was going to take her father for a meal as it was his birthday, but it seemed that it became her father’s death anniversary on top of birthday.

Editted Version:

Carrying a briefcase, with a set of earpieces stuck in her ears, she ambled down the long busy stretch of hard concrete road. While trying to search for the two famous tall towers, she hummed to the song she was listening to. She was so focused, concentrating on her own directions, that she did not realise how loud she was humming. Anyone near would have noticed her existence.

There were some movements felt under her waist suddenly. She got shocked for a moment and paused for a second, before realising that it was her mobile phone vibrating in her pocket located down at her right thigh. Pulling out an earpiece from her right ear and then lowering down the volume of her MP3 player, she pushed the “answer” button before bringing the device near to her ear.

“Alice, are you lost in New York?” the male caller questioned, in a sarcastic tone, “do you need a ‘mobile directory’?” She giggled in a silly way and took a deep breath, before replying the questions.

“I am stuck in this complicated network of roads!” she exclaimed. She looked to her left and then her right, and then continued her words, “how do I reach there from Adam’s Street?”

“Relax, my girl, simply find New York City via Exit 10 from Adam’s Street and you will know what to do next,” the man explained with confidence.

She was crushed onto the solid ground. The briefcase was disfigured too. Some men from the towers helped her up, after removing those heavy debris that were on Alice.

Sir, an Updated Report on Casualties...

2006-05-17T20:50:00.000+08:00

alright... The "casualties list" is updated now... Report is still bad...

English: 47.8% D7
E Maths: 90.8% A1
A Maths: 60.8% B4
Mother Tongue: 51% C6
Physics: 65.8% B3
Chemistry: 72.5% A2
Biology: 69.8% B3
Humanities: not known

Looks like the atomic bomb did not successfully end the war this time... What now? The Soviets are marching towards the frontline and we have the... Imperial Guards arming their defences and deploying kamikaze pilots against all important sites of our Motherland! We cannot afford to lose this battle against the Axis and the Soviets... Holy shit... We do not have much time to arm ourselves...

Can anyone send me reinforcements?!?!?!?

Light

2006-05-16T15:47:00.000+08:00

He was lost. Sitting down in the corner, leaning against the old greyish cracked wall, Rick did not know what he should do. Both his parents were murdered mysteriously and what was left behind with him was his young brother.

Both of them were starving. His brother was crying wildly for food. Rick thought of stealing some food but his conscious mind resisted the temptations to do so. There was no one around to help them. It was as if there was a barrier between him and the outside world. His life was dull, dark and aimless, without any form of communications to the rest.

Looking at his innocent brother yawning in his arms, Rick felt grieved to let him suffer. Staring at his torn and dirt-covered shirt, he tried to crack his brain for any suitable solutions.

At the moment when Rick decided to stand up and leave the hut, he instantly overheard someone’s conversation outside the hut. It was a conversation that brought him a sense of hope.

“We have to find our nephews! The sun’s setting soon!” it was Rick’s uncles searching for him. He heard them again.

“We need to find them before they get killed by the ruthless murderer!” Rick was delighted to find his uncles. He sighed with relief and dashed out of the hut with his sleeping brother in his arms.

The light of hope shone at Rick as he realised that he was saved. For once, their safety was assured after the death of their parents. He hugged his uncles and sobbed, “Thank God! You finally found us..."

Rick was never as blissful as before.

Edited Version:

Both of them were starving. His brother was crying wildly for food. Rick thought of stealing some food. However, his conscious mind resisted the temptations to do so. There was no one around to help them. It was as if there was a barrier between him and the outside world. His life was dull, dark and aimless, without any form of communications to the rest.

Looking at his innocent brother yawning in his arms, Rick felt grieved to let him suffer. Staring at his torn and dirt-covered shirt, he tried to wreck his brain for any suitable solutions.

At the moment when Rick decided to stand up and leave the hut, he overheard someone’s conversation outside the hut. It was a conversation that brought him a sense of hope.

“We have to find our nephews! The sun’s setting soon!” it was Rick’s uncles searching for him. He heard them again.

“We need to find them before they get killed by that ruthless murderer!” Rick was delighted to be found by his uncles. He gave a sigh with relief and dashed out of the hut with his sleeping brother in his arms.

A beaming light of hope shone at Rick as he realised that he was saved. He knew that their safety was assured. His uncles were surprised. Hugging his uncles, he sobbed, “Thank God! You finally found us…”

Rick was never so blissful before.

My New Blog

2006-05-16T13:19:00.000+08:00

I decided to create a new blog just for my academic. Purely because of the fact that, upon seeing my bad results in the blog, it will spoil my mood in blogging about another new day of my life. So this blog is going to contain purely about my academic.

Since this concerns my academic, I am not going to use improper English words in my entries. I hope people from anywhere can help me add in English words that can help to enrich my vocabulary bank. As you know from my post in "Lonely Me", I failed my English Language. Although it was merely a shortage of 3 marks, I cannot possibly short change that 3 marks for a re-take of O Levels next year.

Yup... Like what my mother said, "So what if I am able to acheive good grades for my Sciences and Mathematics? A fail in my English is as good as a fail in overall results..." Looks like I have to buck up now. I have no choice already. Nothing else could be done in order save myself. No one else could save me too. It is only me, and my hardwork. Hopefully, what all teachers say will prove them right. Such that my efforts will pay off.

Just a little wish, I hope I am able to speak English, with friends, instead of the normally-spoken Mandarin in school. That's for now. For some time later, I will post some short English Essays. It will be great if there's someone correcting my mistakes here, too.

Time to go... Will blog again, soon.