There once lived a blind man named Jeremiah in a small town by the sea. He was well-liked and was fiercely independent. He sold souvenirs by a beachside hut which was flocked by tourists. Holidaymakers came in droves to experience the splendour of the breath-taking scenery the town offered. Every day Jeremiah would start work […]
The neon light with flickering signage emblazoned, “Salon for the Rugged Man”. It was captivating and I stood enthralled by the hoarding advertisement situated in the high-end shopping complex. A wave of emotions swept through me as I began visualising the barbershop in Redhill estate where I grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s. It […]
There once lived a grumpy man, Tom, who felt he could get away with whatever he did. Being obnoxious, he quarrelled with everyone as he went about his daily activities. One day, he argued with his neighbour, Jerry over a trivial incident: Jerry’s dog had aggressively barked at him when he went for an evening stroll. Although no damage […]
“Dad, the trees are moving behind us!” cried the 20-year-old youth. The father smiled at his son and patted him on the shoulder. The duo were travelling on a train. A group of executives sitting opposite them looked at the youth with pity and felt sorry for the youth’s childish behaviour. Suddenly, the young man […]
The year was 1979; I was in primary 4, enrolled in a school in Bukit Merah estate in Singapore. It was an era where the adage, “spare the rod and spoil the child”, was steadfastly advocated in most homes and schools. Our favourite English lesson was over and soon, the dreaded Mathematics class was about […]
There is a correlation between increasing your vocabulary and the ability to communicate more effectively with the world around you, subtly opening up your perspectives and ways of interaction. In our daily lives, we may have come across terms which are good to know but would have overlooked as we are bombarded with “infobesity” or […]
A group of frogs were travelling to another region for greener pastures. It was a long and arduous trek. All of a sudden, the leader realised that two frogs were missing. When the group retraced their steps, they noticed two frogs had fallen into a pit. Meanwhile, the “tumbled” frogs were relentless in their efforts […]
A man was passing by an elephant camp. He was enchanted by the majesty of the gigantic animal. Suddenly something caught his eye. He noticed that each of the elephants was tied to a rope. This confounded him as they were neither caged nor held back by thick chains — but a mere rope! He […]
There once lived a grumpy old man in a village. He was the epitome of a quintessential complainer. Anything under the sun did not escape his scathing remark. The villagers kept away from him as being in his midst was physically and mentally draining. As the years went by, he became grumpier and he was […]
You are supposed to do a presentation for your organisation’s Silver Jubilee anniversary. You walked on stage confidently but felt jittery upon seeing the anticipative crowd. A sinking feeling that your speech will end up horrendously, sets in. You are not alone in feeling this way. In a survey conducted years ago, it was established […]