POEMS:

Tanjung Rhu
Leaving
* The Right Thing To
Do

Prepared by: ADELINA BT ADDLAN

What we learn in pleasure, we never forget

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 Tanjong Rhu
By: Minfong Ho

Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

This short story is about a

successful man who forgets
his roots as a kampong boy
in Tanjung Rhu and only
realizes the importance and
how much he misses it after
his mother's death. The
poignant story demonstrate
the cultural circumstances
and dilemmas about people
face in Southeast Asia. It
also looks at the conflict,
struggle and tension
between modern and
traditional society in
Singapore through the
relationship between
Mr.T.W.Li and his mother.
1. Mr T. W. Li 1. Traditional values vs 1. We must not forget our
modern ideas: roots
- Successful business - Mr. Li chooses to forget his
man - Ah Ma is steeped in traditional humble beginnings. He
- Has a happy childhood values while Mr. Li and Ying tries to
in represent the modern society. look like someone who has
Tanjung Rhu - Ah Ma has high regard for the inherited his wealth. This
- Close relationship with traditional practices of the leads to
his Chinese a feeling of emptiness in
mother but does not community while the new the life he
open up generation does not place has built for himself. He is
easily much not
- Modern in his ways importance on tradition. totally happy with his
and house which
ideas has too many rooms and
- Tolerant- does not he
interfere dislikes his wifes social
in his mothers activities.
traditional He avoids talking about his
ways childhood which was a
- Meticulous- keeps happy one
track of even though he was poor.
the number of ships After his
everyday mothers death, he regrets
- Filial made sure the not
funeral of his mother is talking to her about the

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 Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

done past. He
in the right way has lost the happy
- Strict and does not memories and
entertain he is sad and full of
disrespect for the regrets.
young
- Regrets not talking to
Ah Ma
and never listens
when she
talks

Simple yet profound story
Relationship between Mr.
T.W. Li , a rich businessman
and Ah Ma, his mother
Mr. Li has his office at
Shenton. Mr. Li is modern
in ways and ideas.
Ah Ma is traditional with
strong religious beliefs and
practices ancestor worship.
The day after Ah Mas
funeral, Mr. Li recalls the
day he told his mother
about using binoculars or
see-far glasses.
He wants her to have
better vision.
She hopes to see her
husbands shipyard in
2. Ah Ma (Mr Lis 2. Past vs Present: 2. Family is more important
mother) than
- Ah Ma represents the past wealth and success
- Traditional with while - Even though her son is rich
strong Mr. Li symbolizes the present. and
religious beliefs - Mr. Li sees the ships at the able to give her anything,
- Values Chinese harbor at Ah-Ma
ancestors present while Ah Ma sees rejects his material gifts.
worship the port She tells
- Meticulous keeps of Tanjung Rhu when they him that she does not need
prayer used to the
paraphernalia under live there in the past things he can buy. What
lock and makes her
key happy is her memories of
- Determined to do the time
things her when they lived in Tanjong
own way Rhu,
- Often lost in memories where her children played
freely

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 Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

Tanjung Rhu yearns to see Tanjung on the beach and they had
She tells Mr Li she sees his Rhu time
childhood days when they - Old fashioned for one another.
enjoyed walks on Tanjung doesnt
Rhu beach. want surgery for her
She then becomes sick and eye
unable to talk much. cataract
She manages to tell him of - Proud of her sons
a hidden key in the altar success
before she passes away.
He promises to fulfil her 3. Ying (Mr Lis 3. Regret 3. Being true to yourself
last wish but is unable to daughter) - Mr. Li tries to forget his
find the key. - Mr. Li feels deep regret for the past life
- Loving takes care of way when he was poor. He has
Symbolism her he treats Ah Ma after his built a
a) Mr. Lis mother kept the grandmother in the mother new life and identity on his
things that were most hospital falls ill and later passes away material success but he is
important to her in a - Modern speaks - He never pays much attention not
locked drawer in the altar English to to his really happy. Even at the
room. The contents - her parents and takes mothers stories about the end of
symbolize the traditional the past and the story, he is unable to
values she upheld. Mr. Li traditional customs realizes a little too late that do what
did not have the key to the and most of he wants to talk to his
locked drawer and this rituals lightly his questions remained dead
symbolizes his lack of - When young, loves unanswered. mother at the family altar-
understanding of the helping - because he is afraid to be
importance of these her grandmother to seen
4. Generation Gap
values. pray doing something foolish.
- Persuasive tries to - The characters in 3 different His
b) The altar is the line persuade her generations Ah Ma, Mr. Li inability to be true to
between life and death. grandmother and himself

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 Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

The altar represents both to let her do the Ying causes him unhappiness
the separation and the praying - Each generation behaves and
connection between the differently regret.
past and present, the and has their own beliefs and
ancestors and the ideas, 4. Respect for elders
descendants. and they do not often agree - Mr. Li is a modern thinker
with but he
c) Tanjong Rhu represents each other. still teaches his daughter
a past where traditional to be
values were important. It 5. Family love respectful to her elders. He
represent the past which - This story tells us that it is himself
Mr. Li tries to forget in his important for a family to treats his mother well and
pursuit of material success have tries to
and a modern lifestyle. The time for one another, and to please her.
old shipyard in Tanjong Rhu love
where Mr. Lis father used and care for another. Mr. Lis
to work has been replaced family was poor but they
by tall modern buildings. were
close and happy. He went for
walks
d) There are many with his mother, dug for
references to seeing in crabs,
this story. Seeing played with his sisters and
represent understanding there
and remembering. was always the comforting
Examples : smell of
* Mr. Lis mother says that his mothers cooking.
she can still see Tanjong However, Mr.
Rhu behind her eyes Li, his wife and his children
which means that she can cannot
remember it clearly. be described as close or

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 Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

* Looking through the united. He

binoculars, Ah-Ma says that dislikes his wifes social
she can see her son clearly gatherings,
and that she can see what and he lies to her about the
they used to do back in the binoculars. He is also worried
days in Tanjong Rhu. Ah-Ma to be
is referring to her seen by his family carrying
memories of the past. out the
rituals of ancestral worship.
e) The references to This
windows have a lack of closeness is in part the
symbolic meaning. cause
Windows allow the of Mr. Lis feeling of
characters to see outside emptiness.
physically and also into the
past. Windows also
represent freedom and
relief.

Changing the Skies - Leaving

By: M.G. Vassanji

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 Synopsis
Aloo and the narrator of
the story are the youngest
children in a single-parent
family. Their older siblings
have all left home. Their
mother is a widow who
has raised five children on
her own. Aloo wants to
study medicine , not
agriculture. He harbours
the ambition to go to
America to study. He
writes to some well-known
American universities
hoping to get a
scholarship. When a well-
known American
university offers him a
scholarship, Aloos dream
looks set to come true.
However, his mother says
that she cannot afford to
send him to America. Aloo
was very upset. Mother
seeks advice from Mr.
Velji, a school officer. He
tells her that getting the
scholarship is good for
Aloos future. He also
cautions her that she may
What we learn in pleasure, we never forget
Characters Themes Moral Values
1. Aloo 1. Self-sacrifice 1. Leaving and letting go
- the youngest child in the * Aloos mother became a widow- This storys title Leaving,
family at a young age. She had five reveals the theme of the story.
- finishing secondary children to care for. If she Aloo wants to pursue his dream
school remarried she would have an to study medicine in America. To
- a smart student easier life. However, in their realize his ambition, he has to
achieved all country, her children from the leave his country, his home, his
As in the school exam. first marriage will have to go to family and his mother. For him,
- obedient and dutiful child a childrens home. She refused leaving his desire, but for his
- ambitious to marry again because she mother, letting him go is a
- determined wanted to keep her children safe sacrifice. Mother has never
- resourceful with her. She sacrificed the hope believed in leaving his family
- adventurous of an easier life for the sake of behind. When her husband died
- emotional her children. and left her alone with five
children, she chose to stay with
* Aloos mother does not wants her children rather than remarry
her son to leave home to go to a and lose them. This was her
faraway country to study. When sacrifice. She is angry that Aloo
he gets the scholarship to study wants to leave her and she is
in an American university, she is worried that she will lose him.
faced with the hard decision to He may never return.
support his dream and let him In the end, her love for her
go or to be selfish and keep him child wins over her need to keep
by her side. Letting him go could him at her side. She finds the
mean losing him. She is also a money and lets Aloo go to
traditional-thinking person and America. She could have made
she worries that he might forget Aloo stay, but she chooses to let
the traditional values she has go because his happiness is
taught him. Finally, she more important than hers.
sacrifices her own needs so that
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 Synopsis Characters
lose him if she lets him go
so far away. Seeing her
sons disappointments,
mother decides to let her
son go in the end.
2. Mother
- became a widow at the
age of
33
-ran a shop business in the
town
- changed with age from addresses of American
a universities in books and write
smiling pretty woman to
one
What we learn in pleasure, we never forget
Themes
Aloo would be able to achieve
his dream.
2. Self-reliance
* Aloos mother could have
married again so that she had a
husband to take care of her.
However, for the sake of her
children, she decided to be self-
reliant and take care of her
family herself. She provided for
the family by opening a shop.
Her children have turned out
well Aloo and his narrator
sibling are well-mannered and
both are good in their studies.
3. Determination
* Aloo dreams of going on to
study medicine in America. He
does not know how to make his
dream come true. He takes the
initiative to look up the
to the universities to seek a
scholarship. His determination
Moral Values
2. Love means letting go
Aloo wants to go to America to
study but his mother does not
wants him to leave her. She
knows that once Aloo goes to a
foreign land, he may not return
home. However, when she sees
how disappointed and unhappy
her son is, she decides to
support his ambition. She gives
up her own selfish hopes for her
children and raises the money to
send Aloo overseas. Out of love
for her son, she lets him go and
trusts him to keep his promises
to her.
3. The support of family and
community is important
When Aloo receives the
scholarship offer, he was very
excited. However, his dream is
in danger of being destroyed
because his mother says that
she does not have the money to
send him to America. She also
does not support his plan to
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 Synopsis Characters
who is worried and
unsmiling,
deep lines on her face,
less hair ,
a rounder body and voice
no
longer soft.
- strong and independent
- responsible mother
- Loving and protective
- possessive of her children
- self-sacrificing
- traditional-minded
3. Narrator
- Aloos elder sibling
- a university student
- understanding
- caring
- responsible and mature
- observant
- quiet and passive
What we learn in pleasure, we never forget
Themes Moral Values
pays off when one of the top leave because she wants him to
universities offers him a stay by her side. Seeing his
scholarship. When he realizes unhappiness, Aloos mother
that he needs more money, he seeks the advice of a school
is determined to work to finance officer, Mr. Velji. He helps the
his studies. boys mother understand that
getting the scholarship is good
for him. Tis makes mother think
about it seriously and she
decides to support her sons
dream. Without Mr. Veljis advice
and mothers support, Aloo
would not be able to achieve his
dream to go to America.
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 ANALYSIS OF DRAMA
The Right Thing to Do
By: Martyn Ford

Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

All characters 1. Doing the right thing is

Rebecca, Patrick and a) Responsibility our responsibility
A man is lying in the street. David - Rebecca, Patrick and * The play highlights the
Three people, Patrick, David do not want the behavior of three characters
Rebecca and David pass by a) curious responsibility of helping the who come upon an
and they look at him not * All three want to know man lying in the street. They unconscious man in the
knowing what to do. They what happened to the man push the responsibility to street. At first, the passers-by
are in two minds whether lying on the street. one another and in the end only want to satisfy their
to walk away or do * Rebecca turns back to no one does anything. The curiosity about the man.
something to help him. look at the man woman in blue goes to the Patrick asks Rebecca whether
They push the act of * Patrick and David both mans help immediately, she is going to help the man
checking on the man to ask what the matter was taking on the responsibility since she is the first to see
each other as each feels it with the man of helping the person in him. She refuses. David
is not their problem. As need. It is her action that comes along and Patrick
they are hesitating and b) unfeeling, apathetic causes the others to act suggest that he wakes the
arguing, a woman in blue * None of the three more responsibly towards man up. David, too, refuses.
comes and she express concern for the their fellow man. Patrick himself does nothing
immediately starts helping man. They try to guess either. None of them want to
the man. She instructs what is wrong with him, take up the responsibility of
each one of them to do asking in a matter-of-fact helping the man or getting

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 Synopsis
certain things David has
to call for an ambulance,
Rebecca to get water from
a house nearby and Patrick
to feel the mans pulse.
The lady and Patrick see
the bottle of pills in the
mans pocket. He has to
take one if he feels ill. They
help him to take a pill and
he feels better. The woman
walks away quietly
unnoticed by the famous
TV chef. The ambulance
takes him away and the
three bystanders are happy
they have done the right
thing by healing the man
They commented on the
woman walking way, not
wanting to help.
What we learn in pleasure, we never forget
Characters
way whether he is dead,
and comment that he looks
ill and guess that he is
asleep.
c) selfish
* unwilling to get
involved, refuse to help,
look for excuses not to help
* Rebecca says Why
me?
(pg. 9)
* David says, Why me?
You do it. (pg. 10)
* Patrick asks the others
to help but he himself does
nothing.
d) capable of change
* become more
concerned about the man.
After calling for an
ambulance, David asks
how the man is. Rebecca
responds to Michael Scotts
thanks saying Were
happy to help. (pg.14)
.Patrick wishes him a quick
recovery.
Themes Moral Values
him help. Then a woman in
blue turns up and
straightaway goes to the
mans aid. When Rebecca
tells it is not her problem,
she tells her to keep quiet.
She instructs the three to do
what they should have done
in the first place. They all
carry out the tasks given to
them and begin to feel some
concern for the man. Once
the three are doing the right
thing, the woman in blue
leaves quietly.
The man lying in the
street turns out to be a
famous personality, Michael
Scott. Michael thanks the
three people who helped him
before going to hospital. The
three realize that they have
done the right thing.
However, they forget that it
is the woman in blue who
made them do it. The play
shows that it is our
responsibility to do the right
thing, even if doing the right
thing is inconvenient or
troublesome.
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 Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

2. It is our responsibility
to do the right thing
* The playwright shows us
how silly the three main
characters are when they try
to avoid the responsibility of
helping the sick man. Instead
of doing the right thing, they
choose to do nothing. The
three talked about
unimportant things and are
not concerned about saving
the poor man lying on the
road. Their behavior is
unacceptable and shocking.
The play makes us check
ourselves to see whether we
ever behave selfishly like the
three characters. The
playwright is telling us that it
is our responsibility to do the
right thing.

1. Rebecca the first b) Helpfulness

passer-by to see the The three passers-by are not 3. We should only take
man lying in the street helpful at first. However, credit for what we do
when the woman in blue * At first, Rebecca, Patrick
a) oversensitive, touchy shows that she is willing to and David act like
- does not like the help, she makes the rest bystanders, refusing to do
woman in blue for telling follow her. Michael Scott is anything to help the man

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 Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

her to be quiet saved as a result of her lying in the street. Only when
b) avoids responsibility willingness to help. the woman in blue appears
says, its not my and directs them to call an
problem. (pg 10) ambulance, get a glass of
water and check the mans
c) capable of kindness pocket for his pills, do they
becomes more actually help to save the
concerned about the man. man. In the end, however,
Says hes alive, and when the victim, Michael
hes going to be OK. Scott, thanks them for saving
(pg. 14) him, they take all the credit
for themselves. David
d) easily influenced remembers the woman who
- agrees with Patrick helped and looks for her but
that the woman in blue did Rebecca and Patrick convince
not help him that the woman only told
them to help out but did not
help them. Patrick says, she
didnt help us. Rebecca says
that they did everything and
it is because of them
That Michael did not die. In
the end, the three are
convinced that they helped
Michael because they
thought it was the right thing
to do. This is untrue of
course. Hence, the
playwrights message is that
we should only take credit for
what we do.

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 Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

2. Patrick the second c) Honesty and integrity

passer-by The three characters do not
show honesty and integrity
a) bossy when they take all the credit
- tells the others what for saving Michael Scott.
they should do They choose to forget that it
- e.g. wake him up is the woman in blue who
then helped them. They even
(pg. 10) criticize her for telling them
what to do.
b) legalistic
- tells Rebecca that she
should help the man
because she was there first

c) dishonest/unfair
- takes credit for saving
the man when he was
merely assisting the
woman in blue

d) crafty/manipulative
- influences the other
two to criticize the woman
in blue
- e.g. Oh her! I
remember. She didnt
help us (pg.14); I didnt
like he. Did you?
(pg.15)

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 Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

3. David the third Symbolism

passer-by - The colour blue is traditionally associated with the
qualities of stability, trust, peace and order. The woman
a) values fame who plays an important role in the story is referred to by
- we helped someone the colour of her clothes which is blue. She displays the
famous. (pg15) qualities that the other characters lack sense of
responsibility, helpfulness, selflessness and efficiency. She
b) weak, easily is the one who gets the three passers-by to help the man
influenced lying in the street, to do the right thing.
- look for the woman
who helped but after
Patrick says that she didnt
help them, he changes to -
thats right-she just
walked away. she didnt
want to help (pg 15)

4. The woman in blue Setting

( the fourth person to a) Physical setting
see the man lying on - All the action and events in this play take place in a
the street) street. This is a town street with people walking by
continuously.
* This character is the only
one not named in the play. b) Social setting
Characters that are not - Modern day in a western country.
named are usually not very - The names of the characters are common English
important in a story. names
However, the woman in Rebecca, Patrick, David, Michael. The unconscious
blue is central to this play. man is a
She could be a symbolic famous TV chef which tells us that this is in modern

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 Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

figure of conscience as it is times.

she who makes Rebecca, - In this urban society, people are unwilling to get
Patrick and David do the involved with
right thing. others or to help strangers.
- People are also awe-struck by famous personalities.
a) responsible and
caring
- goes to help the man
immediately
b) authoritative
/commanding
- directs the three
characters to do practical
things to help the man
c) efficient/ organized
- knows exactly what to
do: able to tell the other
characters what action to
take.

5. Michael Scott Plot

- A famous TV chef who
has heart trouble. He is
grateful to the three people
whom he thought helped
him
a) Exposition
- A man lying unconscious in the street. A passer-b,
Rebecca, stops
to take a look at him. Patrick comes along followed by
David. They
are all curious about the unconscious man but none of
them want
to do anything to help him.

b) Rising action

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 Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

- Along comes a woman in blue who immediately kneels

down to
help the man. Rebecca and David question her and try
to prevent
her from helping the man. Rebecca is offended when
the woman
tells her to be quiet and help. The woman orders David
to go and
call the ambulance. She tells Rebecca to go and get
some water.
Then, she directs Patrick to check the mans pulse.

c) Climax
- The man gain consciousness and asks for his pills. On
the woman in
blues instruction, Patrick finds a bottle of pills in the
mans
pocket. Rebecca returns with a glass of water. The man
takes a pill
with some water and feels better right away.

d) Falling action
- The woman in blue slips away. David returns to tell the
rest that
the ambulance is on the way. The three people display
some
concern for the man. The doctor and the nurse arrive.
The doctor
recognizes the man as Michael Scott, the famous TV
chef. After
thanking the three people who helped him, Scott is

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 Synopsis Characters Themes Moral Values

taken to
hospital.

e) Resolution
- Rebecca, Patrick and David talk about what has just
happened.
They are pleased with themselves for saving the
famous mans life.
They criticize the woman in blue for walking away and
not helping.
They congratulate one another for doing the right
thing.

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