Singapore
“Argh! Why do we have to move to Singapore!” I said for the 100th time. My Father was transferred to the Singapore branch with a pay 3 times his current job here in Australia. It was too good a offer for my father to turn down. He decided to bring us along with him to migrate to Singapore. I firmly took my stand of not going.I did not want to leave Australia which my friends and relatives were and go to a foreign country where I did not know anyone. “You know the reason very well so stop asking! You have to go and that is that!” My mom replied impatiently. I knew that there was no room for discussion and quietly packed my bag. We were leaving that day on a flight scheduled at 5pm.
I had always thought that Singapore was a undeveloped third world small country. But when we reached Singapore, I was extremely surprised to see that an island as small as this could have such an amazing airport. It was very beautiful and it was very big. It was way better than what I had expected. As I walked out of the airport, I will amazed by the greenery of Singapore which could not be seen in cities in Australia. The streets were clean and was well planned just like in Australia. As we moved into our new flat, I saw many facilities like swimming pool, badminton court, tennis court and so on. I started to think that Singapore was not such a bad place after all. The apartment was quite spacious and my room was bigger than before. School would not start will 1 month later anyway. I would just have to explore Singapore within this time.
The next day, I was forced by my mom to shop within the district and explore around first. There were many new shops that I have never ever seen in my life and it was quite fun roaming around. After 5 hours of continues shopping, I started to feel hungry and went around finding some food stall. But after a long search for some ‘normal’ food, I still could not find any. I decided to buy a plate of chicken rice as it looks edible not like the Laksa which made me tear just by looking at it. The plate of Chicken Rice was so unexpectedly good that I ate 2 servings straight! I wondered why they did not sell this delicacy back in Australia. I spent a good 8 hours going around the neighborhood and familiarize myself with the new environment. I even visited my new school and explore it a bit.
This little trip developed my interest of Singapore a lot. I spend the rest of the day searching for more information about Singapore. I found other specialties other than Hainanese Chicken Rice I ate that afternoon such as the Hokkien Mee and Laksa which I saw while eating at the hawker centre. I listed down all the places I would like to go, all the food I would like to eat and all the things I would like to buy during the 1 month holiday. I visited many places of interest like the Merlion and the Under Water World. I ate almost all the delicacies I could find from a website. The website provides addresses of some of the best hawker centres and even recommendations made by the people! I learnt a lot during this period where I would go online and research about the origins of the food and the reasons why those landmarks were so important. I had a more in-depth understanding of Singapore’s history
During the last week of my holidays before school starts , I accidentally bumbed into a gang of students of my age when I was shopping for some clothes in 77th Street , a Singapore company. They were kind and friendly and after chatting for a while, I discovered that I was attending the same school as them!. Finally the holidays ended. Before I went to bed on the last day of the holidays, I began to wonder if I would be accepted by the rest of the school. I was the only few ‘Ang Mor’ and was different from them. Even though I had made some friends during the holidays, I still was not confident enough.
The next day, when I entered my new classroom, I found that to my amazement that most of them looked friendly. After a few days mixing around with them, I was gradually accepted as one of them and up to now, 10 years after I stepped on Singapore soil, I am still a proud Singaporean.
Hi, I am Jun Jie(17) and I liked the plot of your story very much. I like how you describe the two countries, like, when you describe Singapore, you relate it to Australia and I think this method is very useful as it shows the reader two pictures in his mind, Singapore and Australia. You also brought out the digital element of Singapore by stating how you look for food by the web. That is, in a sense, killing two birds with one stone. Although there are good points, I found several spelling mistakes in your composition, like "after 5 hours of CONTINUES shopping", familiarize and bumbed. I also liked the part that you used singlish"ang mor" and I think it is a good usage at the right time, the last part of the story acts as a good conclusion as it relates to the story title. i think you made a great effort in writing this story.
ReplyDeleteBing Wen, you do a nice job here showing the different aspects of Singapore, and I like that your main character is a foreigner moving here for the first time, a situation ripe for conflict. But so much of this is told is summary, almost like a recount rather than a narrative. What you need to do for your final draft is revise this so that it is told in scenes, and that we experience what your narrator is experiencing as he does it.
ReplyDeleteA result of your summary style here is that you try to cover too much ground. Rather than starting in Australia and then ending 10 years later, write the story as one scene, where he is mesmerized, bewildered, and uncomfortable in his new city. Does he miss anything about Australia? His friends? His school?
I also get no sense of your protagonist as a character. He could be any random Australian kid; your job is to make him unique. What are his thoughts, feelings, motivations? I get some sense of his anxiety at fitting in, but you need to play this up and make it a more central part of the story.
And even though your narrator sightsees around Singapore and tries the food, I get no concrete sense of any of it. You need to give specific descriptive details so that I feel like I'm actually in the setting with your character.
Hi, i am Timothy Chong (06) from 2O4.
ReplyDeletei feel that your story is a great one as you tried to bring out the Singapore "feel", with Singapore known for its local food, you concentrated alot on the food. But, i feel that some details are too brief. I think that if you were able to specify more on the difference between Australia and Singapore, it would make a big difference in the story.