Describe an unforgettable incident that you saw on your way home from school.

- by Brian Chong
SMK St Paul's Institution
Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

The last period had ended and after bidding the teacher goodbye, our class started to disperse. After mounting my mountain bike, I started pedalling along the concrete path. Soon, I was out of my school.

It was a sunny afternoon and I could feel the heat of the sun on my back as I cycled. On my way back, I saw a bus stop nearby. I decided to take shelter and a break at the bus stop due to the unbearable heat from the sun. I felt thirsty and hungry while resting at the bus stop. Suddenly, I saw a shadow approaching me. When I looked up, I saw a familiar smiling face. I realised that person was the head prefect of my school. I greeted him and he smiled back at me. Then he continued rushing back home.

I lazed around and refused to continue my way back home due to the laziness. But after a while, I forced myself to start cycling or I would be home late and mother would be worrying about me. I cycled lazily and passed by my head prefect not long after. When I had almost reached home, I felt something not right as my body was not burdened. I then realised that I had left my bag at the bus stop. Blaming myself for being so careless, I cycled all the way to the bus stop to get my bag. After getting hold of my bag, I stopped blaming myself tentatively, turned my bicycle around and started to cycle.

After a while, I met my head prefect expectedly. I did not bother and just passed by. Soon, an old lady who was carrying a bag of oranges was in sight. After passing by her, all of the sudden, I heard shouting from behind. Since my curiosity got the better of me, I decided to stop and see what was happening. When I turned around, I saw oranges scattered on the ground. Both the old lady and my head prefect had fallen onto the ground. He got up quickly. Instead of helping the old lady, he scolded her for being so careless and bumping into him.

At that very moment, I was shocked at his rude behaviour. He was always the top student in school. He was courteous to teachers and friends. He was often helpful and obedient to teachers when he was asked to do something. His discourteous attitude towards the old lady was the contrast of him. After scolding the old lady, he left her without even bothering to apologise.

I approached the old lady and helped her to get up. I picked up the oranges for her because she is old and looked tired. She thanked me for helping her and gave me an orange as a reward. I accepted it and thanked her. Feeling happy, she walked away gratefully.

Since that day, I see my head prefect differently. It is hard to believe that one of the brightest students in school has such an undesirable personality. Whenever I see him, I smile and walk away although I do not like his attitude towards the old lady. Whenever I encounter him, that incident appears in my mind and I am disappointed with him. I can only hope that the incident does not reflect his true colours, and that one day he will realise his own mistake and apologise to the old lady if he has the opportunity.