PARAGRAP

H
The Points The Full Answer
1         Statethe title                The short story that I have studied is
of the story
        Synopsis
Tanjung Rhu. This story is set in contemporary
Singapore in a Chinese family. It is about the bond
between a son, Mr Li, and his mother, Ah Ma. At her
later age, Ah Ma lived with Mr Li in his house. Then
Ah Ma became very ill and she passed away.

2         Describe the             Mr Li is 63 years old. He is a successful

characters
shipping businessman who has a posh office on the
18th floor of a tall building at Shenton Way,
Singapore. He has two children. His wife is Helen. Mr
Li owns a luxurious mansion that has a swimming
pool.
               Ah Ma was an old woman. She was small,
thin with grey hair and bent back. She had cataracts so
she could not see very well. Ah Ma lived with Mr Li.
        Differences                 Mr Li is very different from his mother. He
is a modern man who is influenced by Western
lifestyle. His Western name is Edward. He speaks
English except when he speaks to Ah Ma.  He owns a
modern office and a modern house with a swimming
pool. His children receives Western education. His
eldest son is finishing his studies in Cambridge
University while Ying, his youngest daughter, is
going to further her studies in New York.
               On the other hand, Ah Ma was very
traditional. She could only speak Chinese. She still
called Mr Li by his Chinese name, Ah Wah. Although
she lived with Mr Li in his modern house, she still
reared chicken and fed them. She refused to opt for
modern treatment for her cataracts.
          
3         Similarities &                Both Mr Li and Ah Ma believe in Chinese
Differences
rituals of worshipping ancestors but it is only Ah Ma
who firmly practiced the rituals. There is an altar in
Mr Li’s house. Ah Ma looked after the altar when she
was still alive, lighted the electric candles there and
burn the joss sticks when she prayed. She hung her
late husband’s photo at the altar. In the morning when
she was going to Mr Li’s office, she did the ritual and
 spoke to her late husband’s photo. When Ying tried to
hurry her, she even insisted that the ritual be done
properly. Although Mr Li does not practice the ritual,
he instructed Ying to learn how to do it from Ah Ma.
4         Differences                   Ah Ma is different from Mr Li in the way
she cherished her past memories while Mr Li was not
really interested in his roots. On the day when Mr Li
gave Ah Ma the binoculars, she eagerly shared with
him the memory when Mr Li was still small.
However, Mr Li easily grew bored and wanted to end
the conversation. Even when she was at his office, she
told him that she saw him on the beach looking for
crabs when he was still young. He was not interested
and he stopped her from continuing.
        Similarities                 Mr Li’s character had a drastic change after
Ah Ma’s death. A day after his mother’s passing,
when he was at his office he started feeling nostalgic.
He reminisced the smell of food in his house when he
was small and the feel of sand on his feet. He even
had a few questions that he wanted to ask his mother,
but it was too late.
               Then, Mr Li rushed home to the altar and
looked for the joss sticks so that he can pray to his
mother. He couldn’t find it because it was locked
away in a drawer that only his mother knew where the
key was. Instead, he lighted the electric candles and
spoke to his mother.
5 Conclusion                From the discussion above, it is very clear
that Mr Li and Ah Ma are very different from one
another. What hold them together are the bond that
they have between a son and a mother as well as the
memories that they shared together.