Home Learning 2 - The Son is in Secondary School

The Son is in Secondary School

The author wrote ‘The son …’, perhaps, the poet was writing the poem for his parents or he could be referring to himself simply because his parents often refer to him as ‘the son’.

My badge has a Latin motto
Hope for the future
The future is hope
Or something

In this quatrain, the poet could only vaguely remember the motto on his school’s badge. This could be because it was in Latin and he could only remember the thrust which was told to him. However, it does not mean the motto was not important to him otherwise he would not have mentioned it at all.

At times black crows try to interrupt
When we sing the National Anthem

In this couplet, the poet described a familiar scene in Singapore and in schools where there are big trees with spreading branches. Crows are often spotted and they will fly or hop around looking for food crumbs left in the canteen and on parade grounds, making a din with their loud caws. The poet could be referring to actual crows that were around cawing about during the assembly time. He might also be referring to students who were chitchatting during the singing of the National Anthem, being disrespectful and disturbing others who were singing the National Anthem.

It is difficult to maintain
The whiteness of my shoes
Especially on Wednesdays

In this tercet, the poet complained that it was difficult to keep his school shoes white. He was probably wearing the normal canvas school shoes where you would need to paint them with white shoe polish after washing the shoes. The poet mentioned it was especially so on Wednesdays. I think he may have physical exercise or a sports related CCA on that day to cause his shoes to be more dirty than other days. I can easily commiserate with him when I was wearing such school shoes while I was in Primary school.

I must admit there is something quite special
About the bare thighs of hardworking scouts

In this couplet, the poet mentioned bare thighs, so the scouts were most likely wearing shorts. Present day secondary school scouts wear long pants so we get an idea the poet was a secondary school boy from a long time ago when scouts were still wearing shorts. Scouts can do a number of things such as kayaking, learning how to pitch tents, etc. The scouts who were ‘hardworking’ were probably more tanned and muscular on the thighs and looked nicer than other scouts or other students even.

The Malay chauffeurs
Who wait for my schoolmates
Sit on the car park kerb
Telling jokes to one another

In this quatrain, perhaps a decade or more ago, was it a common sight to see Malay chauffeurs waiting to fetch their bosses’ children back from school.  Since the tone of the poem appear to be casual, the poet could just be making a nonchalant observation, or the poet could be expressing his envy at his classmates who had chauffeurs.

Seven to the power of five is unreasonable

In this single line stanza, the poet was complaining that it was not easy to have to do sums in Maths which require him to calculate to the power of five. Perhaps during his time, calculators were not used in secondary schools.

On Chinese New Year
Mrs Lee dressed up
In a sarong kebaya
And sang Bengawan Solo

In this quatrain, the poet wrote that Mrs Lee (whose surname lets us know she was a Chinese as in olden days, it was uncommon to have inter-racial marriages), dressed up in a Malay costume and sang a famous Indonesian song on Chinese New Year. He did not state it was a Chinese New Year Day, so it could be Chinese New Year’s celebration held in school. In that case he was probably fondly reminiscing Mrs Lee giving a performance on stage and probably wore the sarong kebaya to complement the song as Indonesian ladies also wear the costume. Mrs Lee might have impressed the poet with her singing or she might have been his favourite teacher.

The capital of Singapore is Singapore

The poet could be thinking of the simplest fact he had to learn. In most countries, we would need to learn a name different from the country’s name, but in Singapore’s case, both country and its capital is the same name, how easy it is to remember!

My best friend did a heroic thing once
Shaded all A’s
For his Chinese Language
Multiple-choice paper

In this quatrain, the poet was reminiscing that his friend was either desperate or mischievous. In either case, it was probably an unforgettable act remembered by all who knew about the incident for many years to come. The students who knew about this incident would probably felt either sorry or amused for their friend.

In our annual yearbook

There is a photograph of me

Pushing a wheelchair and smiling
They caught me
At the exact moment

When my eyes were actually closed

Final staza and analysis of the poet’s thought/feelings about his school days

The first five stanzas of this poem were written in the present tense, perhaps the poem was written was still in secondary school but he could have finished the first, second or even the third year as he mentioned his picture in the annual yearbook. The poet was obviously thinking about his time in secondary school and concluded his reminiscing with his picture in the annual yearbook which depicted a happy and helpful student, something to be proud about. However, this perfect picture was marred by his eyes caught closing. Perhaps, the poet suddenly felt that through the humdrum of school life, all the little experiences he had contributed towards his memory bank of his school life and he regretted spending his time in school all these time without opening his eyes to a more experiences.

The poem as a whole was written as a single stanza, in couplets, in tercet and in quantrains, giving me the feel that the poem has no regular rhythm or rhyme. It gives me the feeling the poet was trying to let us know he was writing a poem about his random thoughts of some of the interesting, or mundane or even regretful stuff that happened in his secondary school life.

My own school days

I have six years of primary school and am in my first year of secondary school. So I can compare my school memories of my primary school days with the poet’s. Unlike the poet, although my primary school’s motto was in Chinese, I know it well because my teachers made sure we learnt it by heart and also know its meaning well.

There are crows flying about in my school too but when the students were excited, they were nosier than the crows. My canvas shoes were also always dirty but I was not too bothered about them.  There were many well off students who came to school in private cars but their chauffeurs were either parents or grandparents.

Maths was difficult but so were Science, English and Chinese. I found languages the most difficult to master.

Our teachers also performed for us but normally on racial harmony days and children’s day and I have fond memories of some of these performances by my favourite teachers.

I do not have any friends that did similar ‘heroic’ deed like the poet’s best friend. My classmates and I were considered nerds and we were generally well behaved and did our best in our studies.

I do have random thoughts about my school life, I think about my friends, my teachers, my school work, the activities I do and did in school. These were mostly fond memories like the friends I made when I was a prefect who remain to this day, my best friends. I remember my teachers who worked hard to prepare us for the PSLE. My primary six form teacher even stayed up till three in the morning to make each of us an individual candle for children’s day and came to school the next day with panda eyes. Now that my life in primary school is over, I seldom dwell on the unpleasant memories which were mostly about getting good grades.

Poem about my primary school days

I got a medal every year for being a gentlemen and bilingual scholar of high integrity and robust character who is passionate about life, learning and service to others.

But I do not think my teachers remember me for achieving that.

My parents were pleased but reminded me to study hard.

I was part of the team that were champions in the inter-school bowling competition

It was a culmination of my hard work and a crowning moment in my primary school life.

It was lovely my parents and teachers conceded but

Studying hard for the PSLE was the objective

So aim for A* for English, Chinese, Maths and Science

It was all my goals in my primary school life

  

My school was nice, I remember blue skies.

There was a ‘longkang’ with fishes, a big cage with toucans

Friends I still know

Teachers who care

But studying was all I seemed to need to know

Six years passed

Time was short but seemed so long

My childhood spent and now my youth begin

Village by the Sea - Urban and Rural India

In the story, I feel that Anita Desai described more vividly the rural Thul compared to life in the city. I can almost see her description of the village when I watched the show ‘Vel’ which shows the life of a brother in the village and one in the city. Her description of Bombay is mostly about life in the cheap restaurant and seen through Hari’s eyes.

In the story, there were rich and poor people in both Thul and Bombay. The richest person described in Thul was Biju, a fisherman who was able to afford a big boat with engines and deep-freeze. In his home, he could also afford a television set, servants, bullock carts, poultry, piles of firewood. The rich person from the city was depicted in the family of the deSilvas. They own properties in both Bombay and Thul – an expensive apartment in Bombay, and a holiday bungalow in Thul. Instead of bullock carts, they own modern transport-at least a car. I would think that instead of piles of firewood , they would probably have heater in every room. They are surrounded with servants to who specialised in different chores such as cooking, washing and shopping for groceries.

Although Biju was wealthier than the other fishermen, in many ways the villagers could still identify with him for he was like them, a fisherman living amongst them but only wealthier. And I do not think Biju would go off for a few weeks out of the village on a holiday. However, not only did the deSilvas go on holiday to Thul at least twice, they even travelled overseas by air. Their lifestyle was such that I do not think the poor in the city could comprehend. They live on Malabar Hill in southern Bombay in an extremely upmarket residential area, well away from the poor.

As for the poor, it would seemed that the social problems of the poor in the rural and the urban settings seemed similar. The men would drink toddy, got drunk and beat up their wives and children. Perhaps this was because they had no other means of occupying their time. Lack of money was a constant problem. At least in the rural, the poor could still avoid complete empty stomachs by getting coconuts and seafood from nature. In the city, even coconuts were expensive. The poor in the rural village could also build and repair their homes from palm leaves and earth found around them but to me, it seemed the shacks of the poor in Mumbai were in a worse condition.

The book also depicted the scorn city-folk and the villagers had on each other, the city people saw the villagers as ignorant and lazy. This was clearly demonstrated by the attitude of the watchman of the new fertiliser factory who thought the villagers were such pumpkin heads, they knew nothing and considered the farmers in the village poor and owning such meagre lands as farmers. He looked down on the fishermen and Biju’s motorised boat. The policemen in Bombay mocked the villagers as fools who had never seen traffic lights. Mahe on the other hand, call the Bombay-wallahs as the rudest people on earth. From the story, we can also see that the villagers thought that the city people were too arrogant and cared about all the wrong things. For example, they could not understand why preserving an old observatory was so important when there were more important issues to them such as their farms, their crops and their boats.

At the same time, the book also indicates that though generally, the general shortcomings of the city people were their arrogance, there was still kindness in the city. Some examples would be when Hari went to Bombay, he met Hira Lal, a watchman of the condominium where the deSilvas stayed. Hira Lal brought the homeless Hari to his friend, Jagu. Jagu in turn, gave Hira some food and allowed Hira to stay in the cheap restaurant as well as worked in the restaurant. Finally, he was befriended by an Mr Panwallah, an old watchmaker in the next shop who provided him with sound advices and whom he can confide his worries to. Mr Panwallah was also instrumental in giving Hari hope for his future in advising him that he could find work anywhere as long as he could use his hands, even in his own village. Mr Panwallah taught Hari how to repair watches and clocks thus equipping Hira with a trade and skills that he can use to earn a living with.

For Lila, Mr deSilvas was kind to drive her mother and her to the hospital when he found out that she needed help to get her mother to the hospital. He even generously paid for the medical bills. He also let Lila do chores for him as well as his friend so that she continued to earn some money for her family.

Finally, because life in the rural village was simple, there was less opportunity of a job in a village than in the city, unless one worked as a farmer or a fisherman. Therefore, the villagers also had no high ambition other than what they had at hand. However, they had a more relaxed lifestyle than the people in the city. Moreover, I would think that the people living in the slums of Mumbai would feel the frustrations of seeing all the modern things around them which they could not afford.

My CCA

‘Watch out!’ somebody cried. I instinctively turned around and brought my gloved hand to my face, only to manage to catch a softball hurtling towards me. You have guessed it, for this post I am going to talk about my school CCA – softball or rather the pain of having to let go of my other beloved CCA, bowling.

I joined my primary school’s bowling club since I was in Primary Three. I enjoyed bowling tremendously and took part in the yearly annual schools’ competitions. Finally, in Primary Six the team I was in clinched the gold award in the team event for the national inter-school bowling competition. There were two very good bowlers in my team of four but I was elated to be part of the team. Taking part in the bowling CCA would probably be one of the treasured memories I would have of my primary school days.

It was therefore a tough if not painful decision for me when I had to decide whether to choose Chinese High as my secondary school since it does not offer bowling as a CCA and I would not be able to polish my skills. However, all that is now water under the bridge. During the first few weeks when I was in Chinese High, I was amazed at the variety of sports that are available. I love anything to do with sports and I was spoiled for choice. I tried the various sports including fencing, water polo, canoeing, etc but my heart was still with bowling. Finally, I settled on softball .

Compared to bowling , it is a really rough and tactical sport, I cannot begin to count the number of abrasions I have on my body nor the number of times I went home with painful butts, shins, etc after a heavy fall. However, from softball, I got to know a great sport that really requires teamwork. I am glad to know my fellow softball seniors and peers. The hours of practices we spent together build our bonds. I also enjoy the advices dished out by my softball teacher-in-charge as well as our coach. They not only train us to be tough physically, they also train us to be tough mentally.

This year, I am in the reserve team of Chinese High for the national softball competition. I really got to learn much about the game by observing my seniors play the matches. After the competition, we started intensive training. We started learning the different techniques in the offensive and the defensive parts of the game.

However, not all sessions are intensive. Once in a while, we will play a softball game where we get to apply what we have learnt and that is most enjoyable. During school holidays, we train really hard, from 8am to almost 6 pm thrice a week. I enjoy the lunch breaks where my seniors would bring us to the nearby places to have our lunch. During these times, I enjoy relaxing and bantering with my softball seniors and peers.

Such is the growing pains and joys of sports in my growing years. I do not know whether softball would be part of my adult life but I know I am going to make the best of it now, play in the school team and hope to do my school proud.

Character Analysis between Lila and Hari

Similarities

Both, although barely out of their teens, were responsible, mature and contributed towards caring for the family in their own ways. They even gave up their schooling to do so. In the early part of the story, Hari worked like a man in the field, got coconuts and sometimes fished to provide for the family. Lila cleaned, cooked and looked after the welfare of the family.

Both were willing to undertake any jobs to provide for the family. Hari jumped at the opportunity to work for the deSilvas when they came for a holiday. The second time the deSilvas came and Hari was not around, Lila took over the opportunity to work for the De Silvas.

They both worried for their mother when she was sick and were disgusted with their father when he was forever drunk and did not bother to provide for the family.

Both were fortunate to meet kind benefactors who looked after their welfare. When Hari went to Bombay, he met Hira Lal, a watchman of the condominium where the De Silvas stayed. Hira Lal brought the homeless Hari to his friend, Jagu. Jagu in turn, gave Hira some food and allowed Hira to stay in the cheap restaurant as well as worked in the restaurant. Finally, he was befriended by an Mr Panwallah, an old watchmaker in the next shop who provided him with sound advices and whom he can confide his worries to. Mr Panwallah was also instrumental in giving Hari hope for his future in advising him that he could find work anywhere as long as he could use his hands, even in his own village. Mr Panwallah taught Hari how to repair watches and clocks thus equipping Hira with a trade and skills that he can use to earn a living with.

For Lila, Mr De Silva was kind to drive her mother and her to the hospital when he found out that she needed help to get her mother to the hospital. He even generously paid for the medical bills. He also let Lila do chores for him as well as his friend so that she continued to earn some money for her family.

Differences

Although both Hari and Lila faced their joint family problems with maturity and responsibility, there is a slight difference in their approaches mainly due to, I suppose, tradition and personality.

From what I can observe from the book and from my general knowledge of life in an Indian village, men would most likely be the breadwinner and the lady, the homemaker. In addition, from what I understand, young village men have more personal freedom to wander around outside the home compared to young women whose lots are generally to wait to get married. Hence, taking the role of his father, Hari would dare to dream of a greener pasture to make a living outside his village to solve his family’s financial problems. However, Lila being tied to tradition, would not have any thoughts of venturing outside the boundary of her home. She would not think of going out to work to earn money for the family although I think she was the smarter one, perhaps because she was older than Hari.

On pages 14 and 15 of the book, it seemed that Lila was in despair for she wondered out loud to her brother what they should do, she worried that their father would die from drinking too much toddy and then nobody would look after them and that they would not be able to buy school books for their sisters the following year. At that moment, it was Hari who comforted her.

However, as the story developed, we can see that Lila was a person who would do whatever it takes to solve her problems. She was always hopeful. When Hari could not bring enough food back for dinner, she sent her sisters to the beach to collect molluscs. In chapter 3, when their mother became more ill than usual, although she was very worried , knowing that they could not bring their mother to the doctor, she did the next best thing by sending her sisters to ask for help from Hira-bai, and later followed the instructions of the ‘magic man’ hoping that his ‘medicine’ could cure their mother. When the de Silva came to their village a second time, she even manoeuvred the situation so that Mr De Silva would drive to Alibagh to buy factory made city-bread and then she could ask him to give her mother a ride to the hospital there.

Lila was also depicted as a dutiful, obedient daughter and caring sister. She took good care of her sisters. She cared for her parents. She was constantly looking after her mother. Although she was afraid of her father, she obeyed him and was worried that the toddy would kill him.

On the other hand, perhaps being younger and as boys mature later than girls, Hari was not always very focused in what he wanted. He thought of working in the factory yet felt pessimistic about it. While all the young people in Thul believed that they would get a job in the factory that was going to be built in their doorsteps, Hari worried that the higher-skilled would be the ones getting the job and that the villagers of Thul might not be hired.

While Lila actively sought the help of her benefactors, Hari seemed a passive recipient of kindness that came his way, in other words, he was lucky. First, he was not sure of boarding the boat to Bombay because he could not see anyone from Thul. He was practically lifted off his feet into one of the boats by the crowd around him. In the boat, someone gave him chapati. When he was left behind in Bombay and could not find Mr De Silvas, he was offered help without his asking by Hira Lal who brought him to Jagu. Even his greatest benefactor, Mr Panwallah himself willingly gave Hari lots of advices and taught him how to repair watches and clocks.

Like Lila, Hari also cared and obeyed his mother. However, he loathed his father, for his father was a useless drunkard who humiliated him. His hatred was shown when his father came back with the Khanekar brothers after having toddy with them one night, and Hari was lying on the ground, hoping that his father would be bitten by a snake. He was not so dutiful and obedient as compared to Lila, as shown when he left for Bombay without a word, leaving Lila and his 2 other sisters, Bela and Karmal, to fend for themselves and to take care of their mother. This was probably because of his mounting frustrations to earn money and he could not find a suitable job in his own village.