18 LUMEN | PROGRAMMES
Write a Story , Share a Tale
By Ms Frida Ho , Phua Ping Yuan , Isaac Matthias Teo and Brandon Tan Jing Kai
“ Chinese ? FUN ?!” For many Chinese-speaking students across the island , learning their mother tongue may be the very last thing they associate with the word “ fun ”. However , who would have thought it was actually possible ?
With guidance from teachers of the SJI Chinese Department , several students participated in a script-writing competition while others took to creating their own newspapers . They share their experiences with LUMEN .
SCRIPT IT RIGHT
To promote learning of the Chinese Language in a fun and interactive way , Singapore Press Holdings ( SPH ) and Radio UFM100.3 organised a script-writing competition for students in secondary schools , junior colleges and polytechnics . Any one of the three given themes for the year – 网 ( internet ), 争 ( argument ), and 变 ( change ) – would form the basis of the script .
In April , two groups of budding Year 4 scriptwriters proudly represented SJI . Fuelled by their proficiency in the language , their creativity knew no bounds .
The first group comprising Reyes Tan , Woon Kang Xiang and Euan Lim of FN402 submitted their script titled 《变调夹》( Biàn diào ji ) – or capo , a device used to change the pitch of a stringed instrument . The title is “ merely just a metaphor which gives the readers a sense of what is going to happen in the story ,” Kang Xiang describes .
“ The story is about Ah Kang , a retired man , who changes the “ pitch ” of his life after taking a trip to the community centre . In the beginning , Ah Kang led a monotonous everyday life at home , grieving over the loss of his wife . However , on one fateful day , a news report on the television prompted him to go to the community centre to collect some free masks . There , he chanced upon his neighbour and leader of the community centre ’ s ukulele club , Xiao Hua . After a conversation with her , Ah Kang decided to join the ukulele club and his outlook towards life is transformed ,” Kang Xiang continues .
Euan added , “ Even though our script did not get chosen by the adjudicators , I feel that we should all emulate Ah Kang ’ s open and positive attitude . In our society , we should spend our time meaningfully instead of letting time slip away .”
The second group , comprising Gregory Chooi and Phua Ping Yuan of LE401 , entered the contest with the script titled 《陈词滥调》 ( chén cí làn diào ). Translating to “ Cliché ”, this title was chosen ironically .
The story , as Gregory summarises , is about “ Xiao Ming , a young boy , in the world of primary school fictional essays . As the main character , however , things are not as enjoyable for him as you would expect . Each and every little action Xiao Ming made is controlled by the author – a primary school student .