Page 25 - BOOK inside pages as at Aug 8

childh forewardood Days

were very dim and it was difficult to study. As time passed,
my desire to learn gradually diminished.
When I was in Standard 4, there was a Standard 5 boy who
constantly bullied me, to the point that I could not concentrate
on my studies. He would push me from behind, make fun of
me, or kick me and make me fall. He was slightly bigger in
size, and I was a scrawny boy for my age. I guess he did it for
the fun of it, and found me to be an easy target and punching
bag.
Desperate and feeling hopeless, one day I decided to tell
my eldest brother: “I can’t take it anymore! I don’t want to go
to school! This boy keeps bullying me. And the teachers are
not interested in teaching the two of us anymore because they
think we are troublemakers!”
My eldest brother and sisters immediately replied: “No,
you are staying!” They were much older and had left school
to work and supplement our family income. They were
concerned that I would be a school dropout. Being elder
siblings, they desired to see the younger ones completing their
education, getting a good job and becoming successful.
My parents also chipped in. My mother tried to pacify
me, “Son, all of you have attended this school, you are not the
only one. If you do not want to go to this school, which school
do you want to go to? Just pay attention to your teachers and
show that you want to learn, and forget about this boy. If he
still tries to bully you, just defend yourself but don’t fight
back. If you fight back, you will be expelled from school.”
“No, I want to leave that school!” I insisted. I argued my
case like a lawyer, telling them that I did not start the fight
and I told the truth, but sadly, the teachers did not believe my
story. I was like the shepherd boy who cried “Wolf!”
Eventually, after much persuasion, my parents relented
and sent me to another school that was farther away. I liked
the change, as everyone there seemed very happy. But I
was disappointed again when after barely one week, I was
transferred back to my former school. My parents gave the
reason that in my previous school, my elder siblings could
look out for me. But there continued to be frequent fights in

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BOOK inside pages.indd 25 08/08/2018 05:43 PM