High 5: 20 October 2017 by Mrs Lin Phua Hui Shi

Good morning Mdm Tan, Mr Lee, Mr Chung, fellow colleagues and all Gessians. On 4 October, Mrs Tay Yen Ping started our special October Take 5 and High 5 ‘Respect’ story series with her story about the angry father and the surgeon. On 6 October, Miss Beh Jing Ying shared her story about Grandfather and his wooden bowl. On 9 October, Mr Chong Zi Yi shared his story about a young man and his job interview. Last Monday, Ms Geetha shared her short but impactful story on a hot tempered boy with his bag of nails. Today, I will continue our story series by sharing with you my ‘Respect’ story.

Once upon a time, there lived a big mango tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He climbed to the tree top, ate the mangoes and took a nap under the shadow of the tree. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by and the little boy grew up. Soon he no longer played around the tree.

One day, the boy came back to the tree with a sad look on his face. “Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy. “I am no longer a kid. I don’t play around trees anymore,” the boy replied.

“I want gadgets and I need money to buy them,” he continued.

“Sorry, I don’t have money,” replied the tree sadly, “but you can pick all my mangoes and sell them so you will have money.”

The boy was so excited. He picked all the mangoes on the tree and left happily. The boy didn’t come back after that and the tree was sad.

After a long time, the boy, now a man, returned. The tree was so excited. “Come and play with me,” the tree said.

“I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?” said the man.

“Sorry, I don’t have a house, but you can chop off my branches to build your house.”

So the man cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy didn’t come back after that and the tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the man finally returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree said.

“I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” asked the man who had now aged.

“Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.” said the tree.

So the man cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and didn’t come back for a long time.

Finally, the man returned after he had been gone away for many years.

“Sorry, my boy, but I don’t have anything for you anymore. I have no more mangoes to give you.” the tree said.

“I don’t have teeth to bite,” the man replied.

“No more trunk for you to climb on.” continued the tree.

“I am too old for that now,” the man said.

“I really can’t give you anything. The only thing left are my dying roots,” the tree said with sadness.

“I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years,” the man replied.

“Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest. Come sit down with me and rest.”

The old man sat down and the tree was glad and smiled.

As a Geography teacher, I often remind my students of the need to respect and care for our natural environment. We cannot take our natural environment for granted otherwise we, or our future generations, will suffer dire consequences that are irreversible. Gessians, we need to be grateful for all the resources that our natural environment has provided us with, and to learn to respect the delicate balance of our environment.

So Gessians, how can you play a part to respect the delicate balance of our environment?

Stay tuned for Monday’s closure to our story series and have a wonderful weekend ahead. Thank you.