A courageous deed

Write a story with the title: “A courageous deed”

1. Describe how Ron, the disc jockey, felt troubled by the poverty in his country.
2. Describe how Ron made use of his time on the air, to let the public know more about the suffering of the poor.
3. Describe how he bravely went ahead with his plan despite attempts to stop him.
4. Describe how Ron’s courageous deed helped the poor and how he himself was rewarded.

“… And here are the headlines again. The survey carried out by the Welfare Ministry says that at least three children die every day due to acute starvation…” Ron gave a run-down on the main point. Then, he shut down the sound system at the newsroom and went on air to play some sentimental music.

Ron could not understand how there could be so many poor people in this wealthy country. He felt that the chief problem was caused by the general apathy of the public.

Ron wondered if he, as a disc jockey, could do anything. Just then, a brainwave hit him. Dare he do it? “Yes, I must!” he told himself as the idea began to take shape in his mind. The next day, Ron went on air as usual.

“Hi, everybody! Today, I have very special program for you. I was down at our numerous slum areas in the afternoon and have made a recording of the voices of pain and suffering that I heard there”.

With that, Ron played nothing for two hours but the voices of crying and dying children. He interspersed the program with interviews he had carried out with the inhabitants of the slums. It revealed shocking truths about their living conditions. The Management of the Broadcasting Co-operation was alerted about Ron’s conduct and demanded that he stop at once. Ron, however, locked himself in the Control Room.

After two hours, Ron came out of the Control Room, exhausted but happy. He was immediately apprehended by the police. His courageous deed had, however, drawn much public attention to the plight of the poor. Charity shows were held to raise money for them. Moreover, the government began to put in an extra effort to upgrade the standard of living in the slums. Many people demanded that the police release Ron. Hence, instead of being punished, Ron was praised for his courageous deed. Now, Ron is the main host of charity shows and the most popular disc jockey in the country.

An incident when you were faced with a difficult problem.

Narrate an incident in your life when you were faced with a difficult family problem.

1. Describe how your grandmother discovered that you had run away from home.
2. Describe how your parents quarreled and how upset you felt.
3. Describe how you finally ran away to your grandmother’s house to avoid facing the family problem.
4. Describe how your Grandma took you back to your home, and how you slowly learnt to face the problem.

“What is the meaning of this?” Grandma questioned in a frightened whisper as she thrust the newspaper at me. I took it from her tremulous hands. A picture of me stared back and my parents’ plea for my return was stated in bold print. Now, I had to tell my grandmother the truth.

For weeks, my parents had been bickering. I never understood what started the quarrels and neither of my parents explained the problem to me. When the bickering finally stopped, it was only to be replaced by a cold war between them. They were no longer on speaking terms and they made me relay messages from one to the other.

I was very confused. My performance at school was affected and my teachers thought that I was becoming lazy. This compounded my problems. Finally, I decided to run away from home.

One morning, instead of going to school, I went to Johore Bahru where my grandmother lived. I told her that it was my term break and I had decided to spend the holidays with her. I fabricated a tale about my parents going on a business trip to Australia, as the reason for their not being able to accompany me. However, since my disappearance from home had come to light, I confessed everything to my grandmother. She put her arms round me and comforted me. That afternoon, she took me back home.

My parents were relieved and happy to see me. Before they could question me, my grandmother took them aside and they talked for several hours.

That night, as I prepared to go to bed, my mother quietly came and satisfaction by my side. She apologized to me for not having been sensitive to my needs. She told me that there were irreconcilable differences between her and my father and that they had filed for a divorce. She also said that I was to live with her. She hoped that I would try to be strong as we went through our crisis together. Her soft and soothing voice made the news easier to bear. I now know that running away from a problem will never solve anything.

Revenge!

Write a story with the title: “Revenge!”

1. Describe how Jinsheng and you planned to take revenge on your principal because he had punished you in public.
2. Describe what plan both of you decided on and how you executed it.
3. Describe how you waited behind a tree to watch the planned accident.
4. Describe how Jinsheng and you were hurt instead.
5. Describe how you felt after the incident.

“We must take revenge on that fat old man!”, Jinsheng snarled.

“Yes, we must!” I agreed enthusiastically. “I will never forgive him for publicly humiliating us.”

Mr. Singaram, our principal, had hit us with a cane on stage, for vandalizing school property. Both of us thought that it was too harsh a punishment. We had only broken the fire alarm glass, hoping that the disturbance would disrupt lessons. Unfortunately, we were caught by our teacher before we could flee from the scene.

“I know, we’ll cut the wires of the brakes of his car,” I said.

“Oh, yes!” Jinsheng said, “If he dies, he’ll never be able to punish us. And if he runs over someone else, he’ll be thrown into prison.”

We executed our plan the next day during our free period. Jinsheng had some knowledge about cars, for his father was a mechanic. He slipped agilely under the car, snipped the brake wire, taped it up, and was on his feet again, in only three minutes. I had stood watch, to ensure nobody saw us.

That evening, after the flag lowering ceremony, we took a short cut to the main road junction. We hid behind a tree and waited for the red Honda. Soon, we saw Mr. Singaram driving towards the function. The traffic lights changed to red and from afar, we could see him struggling to brake. A women and a child were crossing the road. The car swerved abruptly and sped towards the tree behind which were hiding! I heard a loud crash.

I regained consciousness in hospital and later learnt that Mr. Singaram’s car had hit the tree. It was uprooted by the impact and fill on Jinsheng and me. Both of us were seriously injured and we had to wear a cast on our arms for almost two months.

The police never found out who had tampered with the brake wires of Mr. Singaram’s car. Mr. Singaram was using his seat belt and therefore sustained only slight injures. The woman and the child escaped unharmed.

Jinsheng and I never told anyone about or part in the accident. However, we knew that the accident was not a coincidence, but a fitting punishment for our heinous intention.

Richness is not everything

Write a story with the title: “Richness is not everything”

1. Describe how your new attitude to wealth surprised your father.
2. Describe your former expensive habits and attitude to wealth.
3. Describe how you used to enjoy showing off your wealth to your friends.
4. Describe how you arranged for a grand party and how you were let down.
5. Describe why your friends did not go for the party and how you realized that richness is not everything.

Today, I declined to be driven to school. My father, a prosperous businessman, seemed rather puzzled at this change in me. Instead of my usual expensive gear, I wore an ordinary pair of school shoes and carried a simple haversack. Little did he know hat it took a painful incident for me to realize that richness is not everything.

I used to enjoy being driven to school in my father’s limousine. I enjoyed showing off my collection of Gucci and Charles Jordan watches and bag to my friends. I thought that I could buy friendship with my wealth.

I decided to host a fabulous party for my birthday. I invited all my classmates. My parents decided to go out on that day so that we youngsters could enjoy ourselves to the fullest. I arranged with the chef to prepare the most exquisite dishes for the banquet. The roof garden, where the party was to be held, was transformed into a fantasy land, with a myriad of colored lights. Three waiters were stationed at intervals, from the main gate to the front door where I would greet my friends in my best tuxedo.

My birthday, however, turned out to be a terrible flop. Not a single friend whom I had invited, turned up! I felt greatly humiliated and infuriated. I could not for the world of me, imagine why they would not want to come to such a fabulous party.

Yesterday, I stormed into class, and demanded why they had all failed to attend my party. One of my friends, Jainwei, explained on behalf of the whole class. He said that they would have loved to celebrate my birthday with me. However, they were intimidated by my wealth. They could not afford to bring me expensive gifts. Besides, they did not like having to be on their best behavior all the time. I was shocked. Never had I realized that my wealth was driving away my friends.
I spent the whole day yesterday thinking. Finally, it dawned on me that I myself, and not my wealth, should attract friends. Today, as I head for school, I feel like a changed person-simple, ordinary and unaffected. Richness is not everything.

A lesson learnt

Write a story with the title: “A lesson learnt”

1. Describe how the three families called in an astrologer to suggest ways for them to get richer.
2. Describe how the astrologer taught them to find out which of the three families was the richest and most virtuous.
3. Describe how each family cheated so that they could boast to one another.
4. Describe how they found out that the astrologer was a swindler.

One day, members of three families invited Yog Fu, an astrologer from Tibet, to suggest ways in which they could become richer.

Living in a competitive neighborhood, the Chens, Lims and Gohs vied with one another fiercely to secure the most wealth. Each wanted to have the most to boast about. After several sessions with the astrologer, Mr. Lim finally asked him which of the three families would become the most prosperous.

Yong Fu smiled benignly, and took out three ornamental boxes with velvet. He gave each of the couples a box and told them to keep it in their prayer room. He then told them that money would soon appear in the box of the most virtuous family. If money appeared in all three boxes, the one containing the most money would be the most virtuous and of course, the richest family.

However, the families had to surrender half of the money that appeared in the box, to the astrologer. He would then offer this money to the goods. If they failed to do this, their whole family would meet with a tragic and fatal end. The superstitious families all gasped and swore to abide by the condition.

The subsequent days, they checked their boxes anxiously but no money appeared. Each felt humiliated as this meant that none of them was virtuous.

One day, during the third week, however, Mr. and Mrs. Lim announced their discovery of a hundred dollars in their box. Following that, each couple claimed that money kept appearing in their box. Of course, half of the money was promptly given to the astrologer.

A month later, a sensational news item appeared in the local newspaper: Bogus Astrologer… Police are searching for Yong Fu. A Tibetan “astrologer” has swindled about thirty thousand dollars from wealthy families. He uses a scheme in which he gives people ordinary boxes and says money will appear in them if the person is virtuous. People who are ashamed normally plant their own money in the box to boast to others.

All three families looked rather sheepish when they read this news and shifted out of their neighborhood in a great hurry. They had each paid about two thousand dollars to learn an expensive lesson that when one attempts to deceive others, he only ends up deceiving himself!

A Teachers’ Day gift

Write a story with the title “A Teachers’ Day gift”

Suggested Outline
1. Describe how the class planned to give Mr. Nanthan a nasty gift to humiliate him.
2. Describe how Mr. Nanthan accepted the gift graciously.
3. Describe the speech that Mr. Nanthan gave during the concert.
4. Describe how embarrassed the class felt after the speech.

“Let’s insult him with our gift”, I said through tightly gritted teeth.

The class was planning to present all the subject teachers with gifts on Teachers’ Day the next day, and wanted to purposely humiliate Mr. Nanthan, our Biology teacher, was disliked by most of us. He unsparing gave us tons of homework to do. He also had the habit of making us to back to school during the holidays for extra lessons.

I explained to the class that Mr. Nathan was a sensitive man and we should, instead of giving him flowers, give him a cactus! The class was thrilled at this idea and was unanimous in agreeing that it was a fitting insult for such an unpleasant person. He would indeed be terribly humiliated!

The next day, in the midst of the Teachers’ Day celebrations, we publicly presented our “gift” to him. Attached was a message that read. “The gift tells you what we think of you”.

Mr. Nathan was startled at first, but he recovered quickly and thanked us graciously. During the Teachers’ Day concert, however, an unscheduled item was announced – a speech by Mr. Nathan. It was a speech that I shall never forget.

Mr. Nathan first thanked our class for the thoughtful gift and then displayed the cactus to the entire school. There was an ourburst of laughter. Unruffled, Mr. Nathan explained that he thought it was a meaningful gift for the cactus was a life-giving plant that sustains weary travellers in the desert. Symbolically, it signified life and growth. In a sincere voice, Mr. Nathan said it pleased him to think that he had inspired his students to give him such a profound gift.

With the exception of my class which looked awkward and sheepish, the entire school gave Mr. Nathan a round of applause.

Undercover spies

Write a story with the title: “Undercover spies”

1. Describe how you felt about the violent crimes committed by some youths in the neighborhood.
2. Describe in detail your friends and you joined the gang to spy on their activities.
3. Describe how the police managed to arrest the gangsters with your help.


“Gosh! How dreadful”, I exclaimed when I read in the newspapers about the spate of violent crimes carried out by youths in some neighborhoods.

What I felt was even more alarming was that the number of such crimes, which went unchecked, was increasing by the day. The problem was that many people were reluctant to identify these youths for fear of being assaulted further.

“I’m glad I’m doing something to help stop the crimes”, I thought. Then, I went downstairs to meet my friends, Robert and Terry. A few days earlier, we had agreed to work with the police. Acting as uncover spies, we were to look for a chance to infiltrate the gang, and then inform the police of the gang’s members and activities.

I met Robert and Terry, both looking very excited. “Our chance has come”, Robert said. Then, they told me that two young thugs were bullying an old lady at the playground.

We immediately ran to the playground and grabbed the old lady’s handbag as she tussled with the two bullies. The thugs immediately ran after us. I readily ran after us. I readily gave up the handbag saying that my friends and I indulged in unruly activities for the thrill of it and had not need for the money. This pleased them immensely and they invited us to join their gang. A few days later, we joined their gang officially. We spent a month getting to know everyone, especially the ring leader. Altogether, there were eighteen of them. We went to their favorite haunts and found that they engaged in picking pockets and petty thefts. At the same time, we won the confidence of the members in the gang. This enabled us to get the particulars of all the members.

In the meantime, we kept the police updated about all the gang’s moves. We were cautioned to be careful by the police. After a month, the police arrested all the youths who were tried and sentenced in a juvenile court. The papers covered the story in detail. It had been exciting working as an undercover spy. However, my parents forbade me to do it again as it was too dangerous.