The world's a stage .....I have a good role

A mother enters her daughter's bedroom and sees a letter on the wall over the bed. With the worst premonition, she reads it, with trembling hands: It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm telling you that I eloped with my new boyfriend. I found real passion and he is so nice, with all his piercings and tattoos and his big motorcycle.

But it is not only that Mum, I'm pregnant and Ahmed said that we will be very happy in his trailer in the woods. He wants to have many more children with me and that's one of my dreams. I've learned that marijuana doesn't hurt anyone and we'll be growing it for us and his friends, who are providing us with all the cocaine and ecstasy we may want.

In the meantime, we'll pray for the science to find the AIDS cure, for Ahmed to get better, he deserves it. Don't worry Mom, I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself. Some day I'll visit for you to know your grandchildren. Your daughter, Judith.

P.S.: Mum, it's not true. I'm at the neighbour's house. I just wanted to show you that there are worse things in life than my report card that's in the desk drawer.

I smiled when I read the above joke sent by "Send it out Newsletter". It reminded me of the time when I brought back my report book after the first term in Secondary One. I had red ink for all 6 subjects, with blue ink only for English and Art. I had expected papa to be angry and flabbergasted, for in the past, I had scored high marks in most of my subjects, except for Arithmetic and Science, which hovered around 55 marks. Instead he just looked at the report book, and in a gentle and soft voice he said, "My precious child, I'm sure you can do better than this in your next exam". I burst into tears.

I had expected papa to be shocked and frustrated, but his understanding and gentleness broke me. Papa had never reprimanded or used the cane on any of his children. He always prefered to reason with us and in this way, he earned our love and respect for him. We wanted to please him and make him happy. I told papa that actually the students and I knew most of the answers to the questions, but we were somewhat confused when the instructions said, "Write briefly on the following". Hence we wrote as briefly as we could, not realising we should write more adequately! I was in the "A" class; yet for that term all my classmates and I had to bring home report books filled with red ink!! We had just entered secondary school in Form One in Green Lane Convent, a good Catholic school for girls in Penang. What a difference from Primary Six!

The following term, my classmates and I brought back report books with blue ink! I really thank God I had such a wonderful papa who had never pressurised me to do well in class. Papa made reading and learning fun by often telling his children stories he had read in his Chinese classics. He encouraged me to read and write. Although he was educated in Chinese and hence had a weaker level of English, he was determined to learn some English so that he could understand when I read my essays to him. Once we had our morning walk, and he said, "Choo, listen to papa's speech which I'm going to make tonight at the club. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Green Parrot Club. Tonight we have the famous singer from Taiwan, Miss Yeow Su Rong....." I was thrilled when I helped papa to improve some of his pronunciation.

Papa often reminded us that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well... even if it is a simple chore of sweeping the floor. Though we are never rich, I always feel endowed and contented to have inherited papa's legacy of love and rich philosophies of life. The world's a stage and I have grown up a happy and contented child. The confidence and strength that papa has given me will enable me to continue to be resilient in the face of trials and adversities.

Gan Chau