- 2:35 AM;
The Son is in Secondary School by Affran Sa'at
My badge has a Latin motto
Hope for the future
The future is hope
Or something
At times black crows try to interrupt
When we sing the National Anthem
It is difficult to maintain
The whiteness of my shoes
Especially on Wednesdays
I must admit there is something quite special
About the bare thighs of hardworking scouts
The Malay chauffeurs
Who wait for my schoolmates
Sit on the car park kerb
Telling jokes to one another
Seven to the power of five is unreasonable
On Chinese New Year
Mrs Lee dressed up
In a sarong kebaya
And sang Bengawan Solo
The capital of Singapore is Singapore
My best friend did a heroic thing once
Shaded all A's
For his Chinese Language
Multiple-choice paper
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
1) What are the poet’s thoughts? What were his feelings as he think back on these ?
This poem is actually a recount on the narrator's life in his secondary school. It seems to show his nostalgia about his past.
Stanza 1
Firstly the writer begins talking about his badge but ends off with "or something". This shows his does not really understand what his school badge symbolises to a certain extent. He uses rhythm in the 1st two lines perhaps to stress the importance of his badge. He uses the badge as a symbol for the future.
Stanza 2
The narrator uses the "Free Verse" technique which is used throughout the poem to convey his mood at that time. I think this is because it is a recount and these memories are going through his mind and thoughts are not bounded by periods or full stops. We think continuously.
Stanza 3
The narrator is trying to tell us that his shoes are dirty on wednesdays, perhaps due to playing or having his physical education lesson.
Stanza 4
The narrator is describing his thoughts about the scouts as he admires them for their muscular thighs. However there is a hit of dislike by the narrator as he "must admit", showing that there was reluctance in praising them.
Stanza 5
The narrator shows his envy for his school mates who have chauffeurs to fetch them home from school everyday. It also tells us that the chauffeurs were free as they were telling jokes to each other.
Stanza 6
This shows his love for Chinese New Year as he elebarates on the humourous incident when Mrs Lee dressed up in a Malay costume and dancing a Malay dance.
Stanza 7
This shows the author recounting his friend doing all sorts of things to pass the exams.
Stanza 8
This is the finale of the poem when the narrator reveals that he is wheelchair bound but also show his happiness when his photograph was taken and was in the yearbook.
Think back on our days in Primary School. Do you share the same sentiments? What were your memories of those days? Write a poem of no less than 4 stanzas.
2) Think back on our days in Primary School. Do you share the same sentiments? What were your memories of those days? Write a poem of no less than 4 stanzas.
Memories of the past:
But prncipal Lee says that it is in the shape the hat of Confucius
I could remember the days we had back then
Where there were no troubles at all
But all of us knew
Our paths will diverge soon
I remember an incident,
Which happened when I was twelve
My friend tried to act cool while playing soccer
And the ball ended up outside the school
I still remember the times we shared when it was our final year
After the exams
When we all celebrated, playing all day long
But then the results were released
Some thought that we would never see each other again
Our paths diverged once more
- 6:19 PM;