Secondary four:
The year started out as a very stressful year for me. It was an important year for everybody else in the same batch as me I guess. But academic stress was never a trouble to me 'cos I was very used to such stress. It's such stress that actually push me to excel in my studies. During the same year, my secondary school organised a play titled "The King and I."The principle promoted the play and wanted the whole school to attend it. On the day of the play, I left home at around 5:30pm to meet my friends at the bus interchange. Before I left, Dad told me to wait for him after the play. He would come and fetch me. I could see he was very tired so I was actually quite touched. I said "Okie!" then left the house. That night, Dad didn't come and fetch me. I called home and Mum told me Dad was asleep 'cos he's sick so I came home myself. That night I went home and saw Dad asleep. Nothing was wrong.
But the next morning, before I went to school, I saw that my Dad couldn't walk properly. He needed my brother's help to get to the toilet. But Mum told me to get to school. That day I went to school with a heavy heart knowing something was not right. When school dismissed that day, I rushed home. At the bus-stop where I got down the bus, I ran into Mum. Mum told me Dad is in the hospital 'cos he has a stroke. At that moment my mind was blank. I went home worried but due to a Parents' Meeting session later in the evening, I could not visit my Dad. I went home, sat down on the chair and wondered why did such an unfortunate thing have to happen at such a time. I took out my Geography Textbook hoping to distract myself but guess I could not. That day Mum went for the Parents' Meeting session on behalf of Dad. Then rushed down to the hospital again. For the first time that evening, I felt that dinner was meaningless. Bro told me not to worry. Mum say I could only visit Dad on the weekends. I sat in my bedroom the whole night thinking about what to do. My mind spinned and spinned until a point in time when I felt so tired. Went to bed.
For a few days I could not get down to study. Perhaps it's because I kept everything to myself. I never said or show it before but in my heart, Dad and Mum are wo zui shen ai de liang ge ren. So I felt really miserable. Weekends came. I went to the hospital to visit my Dad. I saw that he could not speak properly anymore. Saddened, I stay outside the hospital for a long period of time. Couldn't really believe it. To add to that, my relatives actually told me they thought I would not do well in "O"s 'cos my parents had no time for me. These words hurt me deeply. "How could they say something like that?" I wanted to prove them wrong. So I started to work doubly hard. I wanted to get into a reputable junior college and become very successful. Perhaps it's this determination in me that got me thru' my "O"s. The minute I received my results, I called home. "Dad, Mum I made it!" Can't believe it but this mean so much to me. Over the years, my Dad's condition began to improve but I would never forget the time when he was in the hospital and the time when I rushed down to Ang Mo Kio after my prelims to see him through therapy. Thank God and all the friends that were there for me. Thank you that everything had turned out fine.
Ni Shi Wo Zui Shen Ai De Ren
(Yong Bang)