EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING

BY NASEEM BIN WAN MOHD GHAZALLI

Ali experiences problems adapting to the challenging e-learning due to the COVID-19
outbreak. Moreover, his father is also sick. His father has been suffering from lung cancer long
before the outbreak occurred. This has caused a drastic change in the way they live.
Ali is a first-year student at a prestigious school, Sekolah Taman Hijau, and is the eldest
child of seven children. He is also the class monitor in his class. Due to the sudden COVID-19
outbreak, he and his siblings have to attend online classes as all schools are closed. His father has
been sick long before the outbreak occurred and his mother is a housewife. They now have no
source of income. Due to this, Ali and his family are now as poor as a church mouse. Ali shares his
old, cheap computer with his siblings for their online classes as well as his. This causes them to
often bicker over who gets to use Ali's computer. Moreover, his father is on the brink of death,
lying breathlessly at the hospital. Ali and his siblings pray for their father's health and hope for a
faster recovery for him. They miss him so much. They can’t visit their father due to MCO. Ali is
stressed and is at a breaking point. He is worried about his father’s health and also his challenging
online classes.
Trying to keep his chin up, Ali and his siblings started a business by selling crafts made from
recyclable materials. To name a few, keychains, bracelets, and tote bags. They made them with a
lot of care and love. Then, they opened up a mini stall near their house to sell their products.
Unfortunately, it didn’t go well as they had expected. They had little to no customers due to
people staying at home. They were overcome with sorrow, so they eventually gave up on their
unsuccessful little business. Ali was in a quandary as he felt useless as the eldest child.
One day, while scrolling through TikTok on his phone, Ali saw an advertisement for an
online singing competition. He decided to join the competition as the grand prize was RM100 000
and a gold medal. He thought it would be a good idea to try joining. He practised singing day and
night to improve his vocals. Three weeks later, Ali uploaded his cover of a song by Justin Bieber,
'Baby'. He has always listened to this song as it was very catchy. He used his phone to record the
song and his mother handled the editing. He felt confident with his cover. A week later, the
announcement to declare the winner was made through Youtube Live. Thousands of viewers were
watching the session live to find out the winner. Ali and his family watched the live session
together. They clenched their teeth and their hearts were pounding wildly. To their surprise, Ali
won the singing competition! “I won! I won!” Ali yelled cheerfully. The judges gave Ali good
feedback, saying that Ali had a voice as sweet as honey. Ali was on cloud nine. He never thought
he would even have a chance to win, as he never sang to any audience.
Ali used his money well. He bought new computers for his siblings. He paid for expensive
therapy for his father, hoping his father would recover soon. A week later, Ali and his family
received a mail from the hospital. They opened the mail with mixed emotions. Thoughts like “Is
father okay?” or “I hope father has recovered” were rushing in their head. Then, their eyes were
glittering. The mail stated that Ali’s father had recovered and will be discharged from the hospital
in three days. They were smiling from ear to ear and they cried tears of joy. They told everyone
about it. Ali's father came home safely after recovering.
Ali swore to himself that he will always find solutions to problems no matter how
challenging the problem might be as every cloud has a silver lining. Sometimes, you should go over
the miles to achieve what you want in life!