The World of Tai Tai

I had a double period lesson with two classes today. I tried my best to teach the students writing but success didn't crown my efforts. My first lesson was with Two Brilliant.  I gave the students a series of pictures and asked them to describe them orally.  They were not so enthusiastic about the activity so I did most of the descriptions.  The composition was about a family who went for a boat ride at a beach.  Everything went well until a huge wave hit their boat and capsized it.  I was trying to teach the students how to build the tension in the composition but their poor proficiency got in the way. At last I wrote a simple composition for them.  They only had to fill in some blanks. What a dry writing activity. My next lesson was with One Brilliant.  I asked them to describe a market scene.  Most of the students had problem putting their ideas into words.  I supplied them with the required vocabulary and they were able to describe th...

In a few days, all the schools in Miri would be closed for Chinese New Year.  From my point of view, 1985 was the same as any previous year.  As usual, God would deny my family the gaiety of this festival.  It always occurred to me that my classmates were more privileged to enjoy the prosperity of this occasion.  Whenever they raved about the types of gifts they would be getting from their parents, I would remain morosely quiet. Deep in my heart I knew that my papa could never afford to provide me with such luxuries.  Year in and year out we celebrated Chinese New Year in a frugal manner. I was ashamed of my papa.  The more my classmates bragged about what their fathers would do for them during the Chinese New Year, the more I hated mine. He had an unusual way of giving out red packets.  On the first day of every Chinese New Year, Papa would give my siblings and I one ringgit worth of red packets, a measly amount compared to that received by our ...

Help! I'm suffering from writer's block. I have not been able to write anything for almost six months!