Everyone Can Write!

When I was studying in Standard Six in Green Lane Convent, Penang, our English teacher read to us poems written by Mrs. Marie Bong's students in Singapore. The late Mrs. Bong believed that every child can write, and is born to write.! As a class, we enjoyed the poems very much and marvelled at the writers' creativity. The poems inspired me immensely. When I became a teacher years later at River Valley High School, Mrs. Bong's words still rang in my ears.

We were asked to chose the schools we preferred to teach, just after graduation from the Institute of Education. I was staying at the YWCA Hostel then, and since I was not too familiar with the schools in Singapore, I asked for a school within walking distance from the Hostel. As I made my way down the slope of the school, I could hear strains of music from the Chinese Orchestra. Suddenly a student nodded his head as he greeted me in Mandarin. I was somewhat taken aback. Pots of purple and red bouganvillas were blooming in the bright sunshine. Suddenly I felt as if I were in Taipeh! Meeting the principal, Madam Leong, for the first time confirmed my feelings. She was wearing Chinese cheongsum!

"Miss Kam, I'm so glad you could join us", said Madam Leong, shaking my hands cordially.

Noticing that I was perspiring profusely, she quickly turned on the fan in her office.

"You must help my students. They are very strong in Chinese, but weak in English,
and I have asked the Ministry to give me a special teacher to help them".

"Oh God! Help! The Ministry must have made a mistake! I specialised in English and English Literature, but not Teaching of English as a Second/Foreign Language. Worse, I can't speak or write in Chinese!" I silently prayed as I made my way home after the meeting.

When asked to write, the students at first protested. But I told them that everyone can write and has the propensity to write, because Mrs. Bong says so. Shared with them how my second sister suddenly became so poetic after falling in love! She wrote tons of poems!! The students had to write an article in their journal everyday. They were free to choose their own topics which could touch on anything they had observed or pondered over. Soon the students were becoming quite prolific and the school magazine editor had an abundance of articles worthy of publication! I will share some hilarious incidents in the writing class in my next blog. For now, I will share with readers a poem from one of my supposedly weak student. Look at what creativity can achieve when inspiration is in bloom.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON

Newton sat under an apple tree,
By Jupiter! Guess what did he see!
He saw an apple falling down,
Gravity was the answer he found.

His laws of motion are dreadful,
And his law of universal gravitation makes me fearful,
Hence, when the teacher began, "Newton's..."
We at once corrected him, "Nuisance.."

How we wish Newton had sat under a durian tree
For when the thorny fruit did fall,
He would surely be hurt by the thorns,
Then he'd say, "Wow! That durian surely
weighs a metrical "New ton!

by Qiu Kewei
River Valley High School

Gan Chau :-)