by Darren Sim (P4 2022)

              A deafening and uncomfortable silence enveloped the classroom. My classmates and I were overwhelmed by waves of anxiety. Everyone was waiting in anticipation for our form teacher, Mr Oui, to walk through the door. Fifteen minutes had passed and there was no sign of Mr Oui. He had never been late before so the class became more and more worried as time passed. Just when one of my classmates stood up to go to the General Office, Mr Oui stode into class with the new student following closely behind him. It then dawned on us that the boy must be the reason why our teacher was late! Standing at the front of the class, our teacher informed us that we had a new classmate named Astley and that we were going to work in pairs for our assignment that day.

              “Rick, you will be Astley’s buddy!” Mr Oui announced.

              My classmates and I raised our eyebrows in surprise as I was never assigned a role before. I accepted the new role graciously. All of us welcomed Astley but he gave us a cold shoulder. While Mr Oui was not looking he would push and hit people who got too close to him.

              During recess, my class sat down to eat in the canteen. However, I soon noticed that Astley did not have a seat. He was standing in the middle of the canteen, looking for a seat. I wanted to ignore him just like my friends had suggested so that he would not be rude to us at our table. As guilt gnawed at my conscience, I remembered that Mr Oui once said that kindness begets kindness. Determined to help my new classmates, I decided to offer Astley a seat at my table. Astley was very grateful for my kind gesture. We soon struck a conversation. I asked him what he liked and he opened up to me. After we walked for a while, we found out we had many common interests such as music. Our hearts swelled with joy upon knowing that we got to understand each other much better.

              I started spending time with Astley every day, during and after school. We became close friends and Astley had a great year in his new school. As the author of “Winnie the Pooh”, A. A. Milne once said, “A friend is one of the best things you have and one of the best things you can be.” This incident had taught me the meaning of this quote and I would cherish this friendship for a lifetime.

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