SING TO THE

DAWN
Minfong Ho
 Synopsis
The story is about a young Thai girl called Dawan who wins a scholarship to study in a
city school. She faces the disapproval of her father who thinks that studying is not for
girls and she should give the scholarship to her brother as he is second in the test.
Dawan tries many ways to convince her father to let her pursue her studies.

Dawan tries to convince her father that he should give her a chance to study. When
she approaches anyone for help, she keeps on failing but she never gives up and
continues to do so and succeed in her mission. Even though she failed many times,
she manages to convince her father in the end. When the bus arrives, she almost
changes her mind because she is going to miss singing to the dawn. After her
grandmother convinces her, she decides to go.

The story ends with Dawan sitting on the bus going to the city. When she passes the
bridge, she sees her brother, Kwai singing the song that they sing every dawn. Then,
she sings together with Kwai until she cannot see Kwai anymore. Next, she looks at the
lotus flower her grandmother gives her to convince her to go. As she sees it unfold, she
becomes more convinced her grandmother is right, she should go to the city, like the
lotus unfolding.
Chapter 1

Dawan and Kwai Kwai is

Teacher reveals
Who will win the disappointed. He
Dawan is the winner
scholarship? came second.

Grandmother
Father is angry and
supports Dawan
Mother refuses to accuses Dawan of
and suggests
comment.. snatching Kwai;s
Dawan to consult
chance.
Noi
Chapter 1
 Dawan and Kwai sat on the rickety old bridge
above the river
 Dawan asked Kwai what would he do if he got
the scholarship
 Dawan felt that she would not get the
scholarship because she is a girl, instead Kwai
might get the scholarship
 They talked about how unfair it is that the sacks
of rice stacked up beneath the house is for the
tax collector
 Their parents thought that it was foolish and
wasteful to send girls to school
Chapter 2
 Teacher asked students what they saw beneath their
house in the morning
 Had a long discussion with the students about the
landlord taking away sacks of rice beneath their
houses
 A student spotted the headmaster heading to their
class and the student shouted "he's coming"
 Teacher and student immediately pretended that
they are having Geography lessons until the
headmaster went away
 Teacher and student discussed what they should do
if they won the scholarship
 Teacher announced that Dawan won the scholarship
Chapter 3
 Classmates surrounded Dawan as soon as they
heard that she won the scholarship
 Kwai was unhappy and sad that Dawan won the
scholarship instead of him
 Dawan told her family that she got the
scholarship and that made her parents angry. Her
father was especially angry and said that she
took her own brother's chance away from him.
 Dawan's grandmother however supported her
 Dawan and her grandmother headed to Noi's
house and halfway, Dawan's mother decided to
go with Dawan instead of her grandmother
Chapter 4
 Noi said that going to the city was useless
 Army officer made deal with Noi's family in order
not to bring Ghan to the army
Chapter 4
 Chapter One:
 Dawan and Kwai sat on the rickety old bridge above the river
 Dawan asked Kwai what would he do if he got the scholarship
 Dawan felt that she would not get the scholarship because she is a girl, instead Kwai might get the scholarship
 Talked about how unfair it is that the sacks of rice stacked up beneath the house is for the tax collector
 Their parents thought that it was foolish and wasteful to send girls to school

 Chapter Two:
 Teacher asked students what they saw beneath their house in the morning
 Had a long discussion with the students about the landlord taking away sacks of rice beneath their houses
 A student spotted the headmaster heading to their class and the student shouted "he's coming"
 Teacher and student immediately pretended that they are having Geography lessons until the headmaster went away
 Teacher and student discussed what they should do if they won the scholarship
 Teacher announced that Dawan won the scholarship

 Chapter Three:
 Classmates surrounded Dawan as soon as they heard that she won the scholarship
 Kwai was unhappy and sad that Dawan won the scholarship instead of him
 Dawan told her family that she got the scholarship and that made her parents angry. Her father was especially angry and said that she took her own brother's chance away from him.
 Dawan's grandmother however supported her
 Dawan and her grandmother headed to Noi's house and halfway, Dawan's mother decided to go with Dawan instead of her grandmother

 Chapter Four:
 Noi said that going to the city was useless
 Army officer made deal with Noi's family in order not to bring Ghan to the army

 Chapter Five:
 Kwai realised that Noi and Ghan do not support Dawan in going to the city
 Kwai came in second in the examination
 If Dawan does not go to the city, Kwai gets to go instead of her

 Chapter Six:
 Dawan's father didn't want her to go to the city
 Kwai asked his father if he had won the scholarship, would he allow him to go to the city
 Kwai's dad thought that boys going to the city to futher his studies would be better than girls

 Chapter Seven:
 Dawan went to the marketplace alone and met a girl that sells lotus bud and caged sparrows
 Dawan realised that the girl, Bao, was the sister of her classmate

 Chapter Eight:
 Dawan went to see the old monk
 Dawan's teacher and the old monk are good friends
 Old monk does not really see why Dawan should go to the city school

 Chapter Nine:
 Bao allowed Dawan to free a bird for free
 Bao's brother, Vichai, came to the market stall and hit her because she freed a bird for free
 Kwai stopped Vichai from hitting Bao
 After realising that Bao knew about what happened between Dawan and Kwai, Kwai wanted to slap Bao
 Kwai pushed Dawan away when she tried to stop Kwai, unfortunately she landed on top of a pile of broken bird cages, injuring herself
 Cousin Noi helped Dawan with her wound

 Chapter Ten:
 Dawan and Kwai were at the river
 Kwai was thinking about Dawan's words, about him being a bully
 Dawan passed Kwai her umbrella caringly as it was raining
 Kwai made a decision

 Chapter Eleven:
 Kwai's father heard from his teacher that he got second in the test and was angry at Kwai for not telling him so
 Father spoke to both Kwai and Dawan together
 Father was very reluctant and unconvinced that Dawan should go to the city school
 After much persuasion from Dawan and Kwai, father finally allowed Dawan to go to the city school

 Chapter Twelve:
 Kwai will miss Dawan once she goes to the city school, no one will be there to watch the sunrise with him

 Chapter Thirteen:
 At first Dawan was unsure if she wanted to leave as she will miss everything in her village
 After her grandmother talked to Dawan, she decided to go
 When she was boarding the bus to go to the city, Kwai was nowhere to be seen
 Although many people in the village sent her off, she was not happy as Kwai was not there
 During the bus journey, she saw Kwai on the bridge that they usually went to, he was waving at her. Bidding goodbye