My Favourite Superhero

Hi today I'm going to talk about my favourite superhero,Spiderman. My favourite superhero is Spiderman because he can shoot out webs and use his webs to create other things. He also fights supervillains like Doc Ock,The Goblin,The Lizard and Electro. Spiderman comes from Queens,New York. His secret identity is Peter Parker and his parents are dead,so he lives with his Aunt May and his Uncle Ben died. I like him because he saves a lot of people in need. He also makes some puns that are funny.If I had the chance to meet Spiderman I would like to ask for his webs.

By: Kevin Hoe

Year 6 Kindness

My Best Friend

            MY BEST FRIEND

My best friend’s name is Esther. She is eight years old. Her favourite colour is pink. We play games together with other friends. We also like to play board games in the school library. I like her because we have a lot in common. We are interested in different things. She is helpful and kind to everyone. Everybody wants to play with her. I like her very much.

Prishaa-Chong Year 3 Joy

School Holiday

    Last week was a long holiday,I went to Sekinchan with my family.On the way to Senkinchan,i asked my mother'' Are we nearly there?''

    When we reached there,I am so excited to play at the beach.I played sand with my baby cousin at the beach.It was fun playing at the beach.

    To our delight,we ate some fresh seafood,we saw many peoples playing with kites and blew some bubbles.

     Then we were taken to the paddy field section where we saw the process of paddy.After the tedious process of paddy,we finally reached the market where sold some fresh sea foods.

    After that,we bought a lot of fresh sea foods.On the way back home, we chose a nice restaurant to ate our dinner.Those sea foods were very delicious.It was a memorable experience.


By: Felicia Siow Jing Yi
Year 5 Patience

My Best friends

  My best friends is Joey and Felicia . Joey is 11 years old , Felicia is 12 years old. Joey and Felicia is very kind. But Joey is also kind and helpful . Sometimes 3 of us have some problems in our work , we'll help together . But sometimes we argue alot. But we are so thankful to some teacher they help us to solve the problem . And we are friends again . One time , we actually tell to each other about our background . Joey told me about she met me in SJK(C) LICK HUNG  ,she also told me that I've a very nice right hand I also ask her when did she met me ? She said she met me when she was 8-9 years old . But I still cant recognized her ..  one the first dsy of school Felicia introduced herself to me . And thats how we became friends .  And all the way we've laughs ,thats how our best friends lives goes .

          

By :Pang Hui Yin 

ClaSs : 5 patience

My Best Friend

My best friend's name is Low Jia Quan. He is 9 years old. His favourite colour is yellow. I like him because he is kind and loving. We both love to play with each other every day. We both have same hobbies like running, playing and reading. We like to play hide and seek together. We have the same interest in minecraft game. He is very friendly. I like him very much.


Name: Gareth Lim

Class:3 Joy

Never Ending Love -short and simple-

      

      Every day, after I wake up from my sleep, I always pray and thank God. I thank God for giving me another beautiful day to live in and fresh air to breathe in- I thank him for everything. But most importantly I thank him for a beautiful family he gave me 13 years ago. A family that I will never trade for anything. My dad went to the Middle East to work for us and support us in 2014 and ever since then, my mother, my sister and I were always together. We would simply spend the weekends having dinner together or watching an interesting movie.

       We always do everything together. My sister would drive us around. My sister and I sometimes go for breakfast together when my mom would go to work and we would be home, bored and waiting for her to return. We would talk stories, play card games, take pictures or simply just watch a movie- as you can see we love watching movies. My family had always been there for me, no matter what the situation was. My sister was my pillar of strength during my hard times and she always told me to never give up and keep moving on. Not to forget my dad, the guardian of our little family, is always supporting me too. Its not necessary that for a family to be happy and supportive, we always have to be together- I even wrote this in my English writing and I am writing it here again because its true. Sometimes even when families are together, they are not necessarily in the best mood. No matter what happens, i'll always love my family.


Serena Suresh
7 Gentleness

Goldilocks and three bears

1.Once upon a time, there were three bears, Father Bear, Mother Bear and Baby Bear.They 

 lived in the wood and were very happy except for one thing, Baby Bear had no-one to play with. 

sathveeka

2  obedience

2.One morning, Mother Bear made porridge for breakfast and while the porridge was cooling down, Father Bear said "Let's go for a walk!" So they did.Somebody else was out for a walk that morning. It was a little girl called Goldilocks. When she came to the bears' house, the door was open and Goldilocks could see three bowls of porridge on the table.

NICHOLAS JOHN

2 OBEDIENCE 

3."Ooh... I'm rather hungry!" said Goldilocks.So she tried the first bowl. It was too hot.

Then she tried the second bowl, that was too cold.Then she tried the third bowl. That was just right. So she ate it all up.

RYAN

1 LOVE

4.Then Goldilocks said, "Ooh... I'm rather tired!" So she went upstairs to have a rest.She tried the first bed, It was too soft.She tried the second bed. Oh no, that was too hard.She tried the third bed. That was just right. So she lay down and fell fast asleep.

Wen Qiang

1 love

5.Soon the three bears came back from their walk, ready for their breakfast.Baby Bear said "Somebody's been eating my porridge and they've eaten it all up!"The three bears went upstairs.Baby Bear said "Somebody's been sleeping in my bed and she's still there.

ASHTON

1 love

6.When Goldilocks woke up and saw the three bears she was so surprised she ran straight down the stairs."Don't go!" said Baby Bear, "Stay and play with me! Please!".So Goldilocks stayed and played with Baby Bear and Mother Bear made them all some more delicious porridge.

Mihirraj

1 love

Cool Caves

As I walked into the cave, I saw two, beady eyes 
looking at me.THE COLOR OF THE EYES WERE PURPLE AND PINK.I RUSHED TO TAKE OUT MY FLASHLIGHT,AND THEY WERE MONSTERS!! VERY SCARY MONSTERS OR WERE THEY?
I THINK THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN SCARED OF ME TO. THEY HAD LONG FURRY TAIL THAT STUCK OUT THE BACK. TWO BUSH EAR THAT WERE GREEN.ALONG NOSE TO SNIFF ME WITH,
KIND OF TICKED WHEN THEY DID THAT.

SEK SHU  XUN

Y 1  LOVE

My 4D3N camp at Kampar, Perak (HOLIDAYS)

My 4D3N camp is on  28th -31th May ,2016 . The venue is at Kampar , Perak . My family and I left the house  by 10:00am , and we  reach there around 2-3:00 pm . Because we toke two hours droves  to reached to Kampar  . We stopped at a place call "Stream River " to have our delicious lunch .

            After our lunch , My father droves us to a hotel name "Grand Kampar " . We registered our name at the front desk , and the bell boy brought us to our room . We rested and waiting for dinner time .  I had dinner  with my wonderful friends name Mei yen , Zoe , Bryan , Brandon , Jing Xin , Jing Wen . After we finished our dinner , we went  to the hall and have P&W  and after P&W we have kids section . Before we  learnt many story about Genesis chapter 1-12 , we also sang alots of God song i enjoyed singing God song ! and we haved game after everything , the game was  very fun .   Then we finished our claassed and the youth and adults have finished and we have supper time . My dad brought me up to our room  , after 15 minutes we have lights off until the next morning .

           The next morning , i woked up at 7:00 am  . I have a habbit to wake up early .  And i had a delicious breakfast with all my wonderful friends  . After we ate our  breakfast we went up and have P&W and classes . After classed is lunch time , after lunch time we had our sies time . During our siesta time  My friends came to my room , after that we went to another room .  And then we went to all my friends room we're tired . We went back to our own room  to have a catnap . And then we had our dinner together . We went up we thought the hall room was opened and then we found out that the hall isn't  open , We played  chasing  near the hall . One person came up and opened the hall door , and inside the hall is like freezing point. "Arghhhh , so colded  " said  Zoe .  " Are you colded ?" asked Mei yen . "Of course , I'm very cold " answered Hui Yin .  And everyone came in to the hall and we continued our P&W and classes and lights off time too .


          Now is the third day , on the third day my friends and I had a breakfast together . After we ate  our breakfast i asked my friend , " Do you guys want to swim later on ?" " SURE! I want to have a swimming time with my friends !" answered exited Mei yen .  After our swimming we went to bryan room and we watched  "Spider man 2"  and they haved  funs to watched the movie .


       "Ohno today is the last day of camp , i'll be missing this hotel so much !" said Hui yin  . Bryan and his family went back early , because he had another trip to go . When we're in the middle of class one person knock the door and  told our teacher we need to get ready to kept  our stuff and have some sharing after  keeping  our stuff . We toke one hour for our sharing and we had lunch after that . And we went  to some shophouses to buy some snack backed home , we met our teachers . "Do you know where do they sells all the chicken biscuits  ?" said our teacher . "We're finding the shops too. '' answered my dad .  And my dad asked one person where do they sells the chicken biscuits ? The person answered my dad " You walk straight , and you cross the zebra line and the chicken shop is on your left sight ." Then my dad thank to the person  . And we bought some chicken biscuits  back home. And we went  back home sweet home !  I've learnt alot of God's word's , His word's are so wonderful I also enjoyed His song , His song is so lovely and wonderful .



By:Pang Hui Yin
Class: 5 Patince

My Langkawi trip

Day 1, March 13, 2016

For my holiday on March, I went to Langkawi with my family. We left the airport in Malaysia at around 7.15 pm and we arrived at Langkawi airport at about 8.32am. My parents booked a car which name was Toyota Vios at Heavenly Car Rental for RM430 for four days. We adjourned to our hotel, Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort, which was ten minutes from the airport. We were served with cold towel and cold live juice because it was very hot outside. My mom checked in but rooms were not available. So instead of just waiting at the lobby, we went to the town and had our breakfast at Breakfast Bar. It is famous for their pancakes. It was very scrumptious. We went to the hotel again to check on the rooms and they gave us one room so that we can clean and freshen up. The room was unbelievable big and it was also an adjoining room. The room numbers were 1602 and 1603. Later, we went to the UnderWater World which was a 15 minutes drive from our hotel. We bought our tickets and left because the show started at 3.00 pm. We went to English Tea Room for our lunch. It was delicious. We went back to the UnderWater World and saw many kinds of animals such as lizards,flamingos,fishes,parrots,seals,penguins and many more. I snapped a lot of videos and photos while we were on the way because I have never seen many animals in one place before. We also saw a giant octopus,giant stingray,giant white tortoise,fishes and a huge eel. At last, we watched the feeding on the penguins and seals,the penguins were really cute and some was funny while the seals were really smart when they did their trick.Afterwards,we returned to the hotel and relaxed.Later we went swimming with my siblings and my dad, I had a lot of fun. The pool was huge and they have different ones,the adults one which is more deeper,the spa, the kiddie pool and more fun water obstacles. We went back to the hotel to bathe and we left the hotel to go to Orkid Ria for dinner, I definitely recommend those who love seafood to go there. It was absolutely amazing!!!!

Day 2, March 14, 2016

The next day, we woke up at 7.00 am so that we could go to Langkawi Sky Cab. It tok half an hour to reach there but it was worth it. It was really crowded but my dad and sister managed to get 5 tickets which costs RM200. It was a family package which contains Sky Cable, Sky Rex, Sky Dome and 6D animation show. It actually only took 10 minutes to reach midway and 5 minutes to reach the top. We also had to jungle trek to reach the Skybridge. While we were halfway jungle trekking, we had biscuits for our "so called" breakfast. We tried to walk back up but we were very tired so instead we took the lift. The Sky Rex and the 6D animation show was AWESOME!!! After that, we headed back to the hotel to relax and we went to the swimming pool again but my mom just stayed at home, watching TV. We had dinner at Fish Farm Restaurant at Kuah Town. Environment was lovely but service was poor, food was not fresh and it was very expensive. We also went to the Eagle Square which had the biggest eagle statue I had ever seen, so we tried taking pictures of it but it was kind of under construction, and that made me sad because I have never seen a statue of an eagle before. My sister said that there should be lights but since it was under construction, no lights. But it was very cold and windy a night which almost felt like I was still in Australia. 

Day 3, March 15, 2016

We woke up and adjourned to Red Tomato for our breakfast, it was yummy. Then we went to the Duty Free Shop which was also called Zon Langkawi. My mom bought a lot of snacks and since we had our aching legs because of the jungle trekking, we went back to our hotel to relax for a while. Next thing we did was get in the car and went to our next destination which was Wildlife Park & Birds, for that, we had to buy a bag of vegetables so that we can feed some of the animals that was harmless. That place was very memorable because, one, a bird flew on my sister's head and my dad managed to snap a pic. We touched a python snake and my dad got peed by a rabbit on his slippers. Once that was done, my mom and my sister bought colourful batik dresses. Later at night, we went to the Night Market and we managed to get some snacks so we went back to the hotel and enjoyed our snacks while watching TV.

Day 4, March 16, 2016

Finally,the last day, we woke up at 11.00 am because we were very tired and exhausted. But we still had to pack our bags to check out. It was about 12.30 pm when we checked out. For breakfast, we went to Yellow Beach Cafe and by its name,yes it was near a beach. We still had time till our flight so we went to the Eagle Square again since it was daytime and we could see the eagle clearer, and unbelievable it was super windy, so when I took a selfie with the eagle, my hair was just in the way, and I was wearing a cap too so to prevent getting my cap flown away, I took my cap and hung it with my bag. Now our flight was delayed to 9.40 pm, so again we went to Duty Free Saga Shopping Center. We could go back to the hotel so that's what we did. The bellshop staff let us use the Leisure Centre for bathing which was very kind of them. Then we went to a room called Hospitality Lounge which was super huge and plenty of seats. They also had coffee and tea facilities. We spend most of our time there until 6.15 pm as that's when we left the hote and had Mcdonalds for dinner. After dinner, we had our last minute shopping of chcolates and I also bought a pack of jelly beans. 

By Ilysha Yap

Class: Year 7

Penang

Holiday In Penang

For my school holidays, I went to Penang. It took three hours to get there. A few hours later we reached the longest bridge in Malaysia. On the bridge we saw boats, rocks and some other smaller islands. Then we went to our hotel. Our room was on the 7^th flour. Then for our lunch and dinner we ate cha kway tiaw. It was delicious. Then we went to do chan men for my grandfather and great grandfather. The next day, we went to the hotel’s swimming pool. We went to the hotel room and dried ourselves. Then we had breakfast. It was so delicious. For lunch we ate the famous Penang cha kway tiaw again. For dinner I ate white curry mee.  The next day, was the last day for us in Penang. We checked out of the hotel before visiting Uncle Raj. We went to the mall together. Then we went to the “ UPSIDE DOWN MUSEUM”. On the way we saw some street art. We arrived at the “UPSIDE DOWN MUSEUM” and bought tickets to go in. We waited for our turn excitedly. When we went in, everything such as food, clock and dolls were upside down. Then we took pictures like we were standing on walls and ceilings. We eventually bought some food and went home.

Prishaa Chong

3 Joy

Timeless Love

On the 28th of January 2003, a little girl was born. She did as all babies did, and cried and screamed and squirmed. Her eyes were closed shut, and because of that, she never saw the love and pure joy shining in her mother's eyes.

1 years old

~~~

"Ma... Mama... Pa.. Pa...”

The little girl stumbled a bit, before steadying herself and standing up again uncertainly. She looked on at her parents at the other side of the room - that fuelled her determination - then put one foot in front of the other in a rhythmic pattern.

Right, left, right left.

She lost her balance and fell, but not before her father caught her. She glanced back and realised that she had already made it halfway across the room. She looked up to meet her parents' eyes and saw it - the pride in her father's eyes, and the happiness in her mother's.

She grinned and made a series of incomprehensible noises, of which the words "Mama" and "Papa" were only borderline understood.

4 years old

~~~

"Mama, I love you."

It was a warm, sunny day, and her mother was outside tending to the garden. The little girl watched the television programme intently, as one of the characters presented a bouquet of flowers to a young lady, stating that it was for "the one he loved the most".

At those words, the little girl's ears perked up. She surveyed the area, until she caught sight of a small, plastic flower. She picked it up, twirled it in her fingers, then put it inside her small, plastic basket.

Ravaging her art supplies, she pulled out a lemon-coloured pipe cleaner. She bent it into a circle and placed it next to the plastic flower.

She scurried outside as fast as her tiny legs would carry her, and gave her mother the basket.

"What's this?" her mother inquired, slightly confused.

"I saw this on TV. People give flowers and a ring to the people they love the most and ask them to marry them. Mama, I love you. Will you marry me?"

"I love you too, but that's not how marriage works." She stood up, removed her gardening gloves, and ruffled her daughter's hair affectionately. The little girl pouted in disappointment.

6 years old

~~~

"Mama, I can take care of myself."

The little girl swatted her mother's hand away stubbornly. She wasn't a child anymore, and she could very well do everything without adult supervision. (In her eyes, anyway.)

She rejected the frilly dress her mother had picked out for her, and instead put on a pair of denim jeans. She thought she was being "cool" and "unique" by doing so. She refused to buy any more toys, thinking that she had already grown up and matured. 

She thought she was right, and the whole world was wrong.

She was agitated by the fact that her mother still felt the need to escort her, and she thought she deserved the freedom to do whatever she wanted. She wanted to walk in and out of anywhere she wanted all by herself, and to listen to all the latest pop songs on the radio.

When her mother insisted that she followed her, she complained loudly, "Mama, I don't need you. I can take care of myself."

8 years old

~~~

"Mama, look at me."

The little girl clutched her report card in her short, stubby hands. Her mother was busy praising her brother for making a new structure with his Legos. Once her brother was tucked in bed, snoring soundly, she approached her mother timidly. 

"Mama, here's my report card. You have to sign it." She held up the file and nudged her mother with it. Her mother gave her a tired smile and picked it up. She scanned over the results quickly then handed it back to her.

"Give it to Papa to sign. Mama is tired."

The little girl bit her lip. Her mother didn't even congratulate her for getting third-highest in her year. She tightened her grip on the report card and choked out a feeble "OK."

Before heading to the computer table where her father usually resided in, she cast one longing glance towards her mother. Please look at me, she whispered.

9 years old

~~~

"I hate you, mama. I wish you were dead"  

The little girl glared at her mother with nothing short of pure hatred. 'She doesn't care about me. She doesn't love me. She has never loved me.' Those were the only thoughts running through her head in blur.

Once a flower blooming pure, she let envy poison her mind and withered sadly in its wake. All those teenage soap operas had influenced her far too much, tainting her ultimately. She felt as every adult was against her, not letting her do her "teenage" things. 

She thought romance was a necessity in her life. She thought she was only worth something if boys chased after her. She thought that her diva behaviour made her "special". She thought that being shallow and popular made her a better person. (Oh, how I despise you, 9-year-old drama queen.)  

She thought her mother only cared about her brother, and that her mother was just a selfish, cruel witch. She thought of the world as a soap opera, and her mother was the antagonist standing in her way. 

Her jealousy of her brother had fuelled that hatred, but it was the mass media that made her think that the hatred was normal, healthy, and even "edgy".

In a daze, with vision distorted by tears, she screamed and protested, and let go of three words that formed a stupid and narcissistic lie.

"I hate you."

11 years old

~~~

"Mama, I was wrong. I'm sorry" 

The little girl, now matured and less of a diva, picked up her sketch book and started drawing. She accidentally flipped to a page with her drawing from two years ago, and winced at how badly drawn and hyper-feminine the drawing looked.

A wave of nostalgia swept over her, and she thought back on her rude, bratty behaviour. She almost snapped her ruler at the mere thought of it. It was that type of personality that she had now grown to loathe with every fibre of her being. 

She remembered that she was running out of space in her drawing book, and willed herself to look at the shapeless, bland drawing. It was a drawing of a girl - for she used to draw nothing but girls - with an unnaturally elongated body;  long, thick eyelashes; stiff clumps of hair;   and the most ridiculous attempt at "fashion designing" she had ever seen. She stuck her tongue out and erased it without a second thought.

No more bad memories. 

She started drawing a kitten with a balloon tied to its paw, but thought of her mother, who absolutely loved cats. Realising that she had never apologised for that night, she tore the drawing from her sketch book and used it to make a card"

Once she had finished, she ran to the kitchen and gave the card to her mother. Her mother smiled softly when she saw the drawing of a cat with a balloon tied to its paw, with a speech bubble next to it that read, "I a-PAW-logise." 

The inside of the card had the words "I was wrong. I'm sorry." written in an untidy scrawl. It carried more meaning than the shouts and catfights of those dark days.

 12 years old

~~~

"Mama, thank you."

The UPSR exams were over, and it was high time for graduation. The little girl adjusted the ribbon tied around the collar of her shirt, and fidgeted around, waiting for the ceremony to start so they could enter the hall.

A faint call of her name nabbed her attention to see her mother running towards her. She had a bouquet of flowers in hand, and was pulling her brother along with the other hand. She slowed down to a halt in front of her, and handed the flowers to her. 

The little girl took them, and examined them closely. There were forget-me-nots, daisies, thistles and other plants she could not name. With a smiling teddy bear dressed in a graduation cap and robes in the centre of the floral arrangement.

The girl smiled and embraced her mother tightly in a bear hug. (Hooray for puns.) 

"Thanks, mama. But there's one big problem."

"What's that?" Her mother was confused. She had picked out the best bouquet for her daughter, so, surely there could not be anything wrong with it.

"We"re not allowed to bring anything into the hall." 

13 years old

~~~

"I don't want to let go."

The little girl - who was by now, not so little -  yawned contently and checked the message on her phone. Through her hazy eyes, she was able to make out the text through the glare of the screen: Goodnight.

She looked at the top of her phone screen. 10:18 PM. Considering the fact that the Philippines' time zone was an hour earlier, her mother must have sent the message some time around eleven o'clock. She tapped away at the keyboard and typed out a reply.

Goodnight. I love you. 

Half a minute later, her mother's response came. "I love you too", it read. The girl sighed. It was days like these that she felt so alone, and written words didn't do much to fill the void. She longed for spoken words, for her mother to kiss her on the cheek and tell her how much she was loved.

She typed out another message: I love you more than I can ever say. 

A soft buzz of her phone indicated that her mother had given her a reply. She picked up her mobile again and read the text.

Haha.. You're so sweet. <3 

The girl smiled. It made her world light up whenever she saw her mother happy. If only that glass wall wasn't in between the two of them, it would be better.

She turned off her phone and lay on her bed, tossing and turning, and generally trying to fall asleep. She reminisced the years when she had thought her mother hated her, and wished she could make time turn back and undo it all. 

She recalled how she had been so anxious to grow up and become a teenager, and realised how utterly and completely blinded she had been by the media. Now, at the age of thirteen, she was formally a teenager, but there was really nothing she wanted more than to go back.

Go back. Make time go back. Back to when her mother was always there in her life, so that she wouldn't have to cause her mother all the pain stemmed from her vanity. Go back.

She hated how teenagers always complain about their parents, about how their lives are miserable and that their parents don't "get" them. She hated how almost all of the teenagers nowadays wanted freedom. She hated how so many teenagers victimised themselves and made their parents into villains.

Her parents had fed her, gave a warm home, took care of her, and loved her. She didn't want to push her parents away anymore, nor did she want them to push her away. She didn't want to lose their love.

Her mother had always held her hand wherever they went. Back in those dark days, she had refused to be held, but not, she held on even tighter than before.

"Please," she begged. "Please, I never want to let go. Not now, not in a million years. Make time slow down, make time turn back, anything, please! I want to be with them until the end of eternity. I don't want to lose them again."

If only our love could be timeless.

~ Chan Yi Ying, Year 7 student.

Diary Exchange

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy, when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Oh please, don't take my sunshine away."

During the Teachers' Day celebration when I heard this song, I had to try really hard not to break down crying, right there and then. I don't think anyone but me had realised how depressing this song truly was. The fact that this was during Teachers' Day, of all events, didn't seem to help either. 

~

When I was in primary school, all students were required to write a diary as homework. At the end of the week, we had to hand it in to our class teachers. 

  Most people followed the same format: describe where you went, say what you did, throw in a silly thing just for comic relief, then say that you were happy because thing happened. Rinse and repeat.    

  Everyone knew that format, even the teachers. It became a model for all the diary and journal writing in our school. Every student was expected to follow that pattern.

  I chose to break that pattern.

 ~

For the second year in a row, the class of 5K had Mr Lee as class teacher. It made sense. Most of the teachers were assigned to the same bunch of people each year. My friend Min Yee idolised Mr Lee, to the extent of calling him "one of the most inspirational people she had met", so when he showed up at class on the first day of school, she was thrilled to say the least.

  To be honest, I didn't care that much about Mr Lee at that point. I remembered him as the only person who had comforted me when I was crying. 

   I had absolutely nothing to pen down on my diary, so I decided to write from my own eyes. With every word, every paragraph, my love and emotions poured over the graphite. I wrote down what I thought. I wrote down what I liked. I wrote down what I hated.

  What surprised me the most wasn't the fact that my entry was accepted. It was the fact that Mr Lee wrote back to me.

---

Dear diary,

People say I'm crazy. They think I'm mad. I'm not. I just think differently compared to them, but because of that, they treat me like I'm not normal. Like I'm a freak. I see people smiling at me every time. Are they happy to see me, or are they just laughing at my stupidity? I always feel left out, like I'm not wanted. My family treats me as such too. I want to be loved. I'm so lonely. I want a friend who is there for me. I want someone to listen to me, to understand me. I'm not just a stupid, giggly, immature weirdo. I'm a person too. Why can't people see that?

Yours truly,

Yi Ying

You shouldn't be thinking so negatively. There are many friends out there who care about you a lot. Also, if you don't want something, try to let people know instead of bottling it up. Good luck!

---

It shocked me a bit to see that Mr Lee had taken the time of the day to write down a reply to my entry. I wasn't the best student. I had barely got a B in my Chinese exam. I didn't pay special attention to the teachers in class, and I was somewhat of a troublemaker.

  I was probably the last person who the teacher would reply to, yet there was his response, written

neatly and clearly in bright red ink, right at the bottom of the page.

  Could it be that everyone else had got replies as well?

  The next day, I went around asking my friends if Mr Lee had replied to their entries as well. They all shook their heads. It was only me.

  However, even though it felt a tad bit unnatural, I was touched by his words. It felt so nice to have someone there for you to talk to, so I continued to write.

---

Dear diary,

Today, XXX told me off for absolutely nothing! All I did was point out what I didn't like about her favourite K-pop group, but then she's been glaring at me for the whole day. She says that she doesn't want to be friends anymore because I was so insensitive. When I told her that it was my opinion, she just got mad at me and completely ignored me! I wish I knew what she was thinking.

Yours truly,

Yi Ying

I understand that it was your opinion, but given that it was her favourite band, I think she might have been a bit offended by what you said. All the best!

---

I wrote more and more with each reply that I received. I would take up almost two, three pages whenever I wrote an entry. If I still had space on the page, I would fill the with my drawings and sketches. Sometimes, instead of writing about an event, I would write about my own bizarre theories and speculations.

---

Dear diary,

I was sitting under the tree again, playing with my new ruler when I realised that my thumb was as short - if not, shorter than - my pinkie. So I started to think, people never really appreciated the fact that we evolved to have thumbs. But without thumbs, how would life be different? We use our thumbs for so many things, such as picking things up, holding onto something better and keeping things in place. If we didn't have thumbs, what would we do?

One thought led to another, and I immediately thought of those under-appreciated people in our lives. They may not seem like much to others, but they have their own special talent, and without them, the world would be a very different place.

I realised that it doesn't matter if people don't see your talents, because everyone is useful in their own way, just like our thumbs.

Yours truly,

Yi Ying

Interesting theory! Indeed, each and every person in this world has their own undiscovered talents, and no one should feel like they are useless. Good luck!

---

With each entry I wrote, with each reply I received, I became more and more friendly with Mr Lee. It was as if each and every word written was an invisible thread, pulling our hearts closer and closer together.

The secrets I couldn't trust my friends with,  I entrusted them to Mr Lee. All the emotions I hid under a mask, I wrote them all down on my diary. All the words that were lost, I found them again within the pages of that special little book.

  My teacher became less of a teacher, but more of a friend.

  He was my sunshine.

~

I started to notice the little things about Mr Lee that made him so special. He wasn't the most handsome, and he wasn't the most gentle. He wasn't the "cool" teacher that the boys liked. 

  He was special just because.

  He loved each and every one of us, whether we were the bookworms, the crazies, or even the troublemakers. He loved us all the same.

  He always came into class with a smile on his face, even though we never behaved ourselves despite being the top of our year. He taught with patience and love, even though no one paid attention. I didn't pay attention either.

  He always wanted the best for all of us, but all we ever did was complain.

  We never truly thanked him for what he did for us. This, I regret for the rest of my life.

~

The day I realised how much he meant to me wasn't the day he told us that we meant a lot to him. The day I realised how much he meant to me was the day he told us to let him go.

  He was transferring to a school in Ipoh at the end of the year. We wouldn't be able to see him ever again. I didn't have a phone back then either, so I couldn't talk to him anymore.

  After his class ended, it was a free period because our math teacher was sick. I took the toilet pass and walked to the washroom. I closed the door behind me and cried until there were no tears left.

For the remaining month that I had left with Mr Lee, I tried my best to apologise by doing all the things I had failed to do. I tried to get an A in my Chinese exams. I tried to pay more attention in class. I tried to repay all that he had given me.

  It was impossible, because he had already sacrificed so much for us.

~

On the last day of school, my classmates all queued up to give Mr Lee all sorts of glamorous floral arrangements and cakes. In return, he and another teacher that was also leaving bought pizzas for all of us.

  The only person who didn't give a fancy gift was me.

  I had no money in my pockets, so I drew a last-minute farewell card. There was a little girl on the front page, waving with tears in her eyes. I didn't have enough time to colour, so I shaded it like the drawings in my diary. 

  Mr Lee took one long look at it, then replied, "The drawing is beautiful. I love it. Thank you so much."

I tried to hold back my tears as I watched his car drive away. I had lost one of my dear friends who saw my tears through my smile. He saw my worries through my care-free attitude. He appreciated my drawings, understood me more that anyone ever will, and he showed me how powerful an act of kindness could be. He was my sunshine, and he would never know how much I loved him. 

  Because they took my sunshine away.

I looked down at the battered diary to see the latest entry I had written.

---

Dear Mr Lee,

Thank you. I'm sorry. Goodbye.

Your friend, 

Yi Ying

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There were no replies to this one. 

~Chan Yi Ying, Year 7 student