No school. Only play. These were what he had always wanted. Skipping lessons to play computer games seemed like a piece of cake for the primary school boy. But he always ended up facing his parents’ angry faces. Tears welled up in his eyes. To him, school is nothing but just sitting quietly and listening to the teacher’s ‘lullaby’. Nothing could excite him except computer games. He felt that it was not fair. Why couldn't he just skip school? Can't he just stay at home and play everyday? He soon knew the answers to those questions.
The woman pleaded. “Get him out of school. We don’t want notorious boys in our school. Playing truant is an unacceptable behaviour. We have given him many chances and I am fed up with his behaviour! He doesn't want to change, so neither do I want to change my rules,” said a stern voice. The woman pleaded and pleaded. Using her last resort, she fell to her knees put her head towards the ground. The boy looked up slowly. A blurred image of his mother appeared. He waited for a response. The source of the voice stared hard at the boy's mother and then at the boy. He thought for a while. “Ok. I will give your son one last chance. But if he plays truant again, out he go,” said the voice again. The woman stood up. She wiped off her tears. She thanked the head by shaking his hand vigorously. The boy knew that he would have to face severe consequences once they were outside the head’s office. He looked down once again, willing to change for his own future and for his parents.
The next day, the boy went to school as usual. He once had the thought of running away, but image of his mother falling to her knees prevented him from doing so. He walked slowly towards his classroom. He sat down at his seat and took out his notebook. A few minutes passed. The teacher stepped into the classroom and began her lesson once she had been greeted. He tried to scribble down notes but he just could not do so. He could not take it anymore. He immediately erased the image of his mother falling to her knees. He stood up. He took his bag. And he ran away, never to come back again.
When he reached home, he saw his mother reading newspapers. His mother looked up, and immediately became furious. "Why did you come back home again? Do you know how much I pleaded in order to get you to continue studying in this school? And now you want to run away again? I am really pissed off with your behaviour!" She stood up, clenched her fists, and did something that the boy had never seen before in his life. It was devastating. His mother ran away. She opened the door, with tears rolling down her cheeks and ran. The boy started crying. He did not want to lose his mother. He started chasing his mother, asking her to come back home. His mother continued running and when she reached a stretch of road, the boy shouted frantically, "Look out for the cars, mummy!" But it was all too late. "Baam!" The boy stopped dead in his tracks. He saw his mother fall to the ground. Blood oozed out from her body. The boy immediately went to her and cried, "Mummy!" This was an incident that would be forever etched in the boy's mind.
He was in his new school. His father had helped him gotten a place in this school. The boy turned back, but the horrific image of his mother appeared in his mind. He looked down and tears rolled down from his cheeks. "Sorry mummy, I know I have let you down. But I will make you proud of me someday. Just wait." He wiped the tears away. Determined to change, he looked ahead. He felt that his future was right in front of him. "No more games, only school," he told himself. He continued walking. During every lesson, some naughty students would just play handphone games when the teacher was not looking, while the hardworking ones would occasionally copy some notes. But there was one who would copy every single thing the teacher would say and revise every single thing the teacher had taught everyday. He would stay up till late at night, and wake up early the next morning.
Two years had passed. All the parents gathered at the school hall, waiting to see their own child’s PSLE results. “And now, we shall announce our school’s top PSLE scorer, the fifth best in the whole Primary 6 cohort. He is…….” said the head. There was a moment of silence. The name appeared on the screen. The parents gasped in disbelief. A familiar face walked up onto the stage. Previously well-known for truancy, the boy was kicked out of his previous school and was now in another. He had studied hard, giving in the best effort, and eventually worked his way to the top quietly. Only he has experienced true hardship, and he will always strive for the best in whatever he can, because competition in Singapore schools is very tough. He has met different kinds of obstacles, and overcame them one by one, the path definitely not an easy one. And it all started from the day his mother passed away. Tears welled up in his eyes. The other parents realized the effort that the boy has put in and a round of applause was given to him.
He wiped his tears and said to everyone through the microphone, "I must thank my mother for waking me up. The death of her have always saddened me, making me want to work harder to let her know that I really want to change for the better, and I have finally made her proud!" His father went up onto the stage, and hugged him instantly. At seeing this touching moment, some parents cried. No one would ever believe that the boy would change so much but indeed he has shown us that no matter how hard the competition is, difficulties would always be overcome. Singapore students are also very hardworking people, but with so much competition, the boy can still stand out from the crowd. He changed completely from a boy who played truant to a boy with good results. That is an achievement not everyone could achieve.
Now he will leave his primary school memories behind and soar to greater heights in the future. From a boy who played truant to a boy who experienced hardship, and always strives for the best. The aim for perfection would always stay with him, even when he is out to work or when he has retired.
