TOA
PAYOH VETS
Yesterday, I was at a pet shop which sells rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters. The pet shop owner has two daughters, Jane and Juliet aged 6 and 7 years old respectively. "Jane is a monkey," the mother told me when Jane showed a black face, put her hands on both sides of her waist and narrowed her eyes as the shop assistant disallowed her to take her lunch out of the shop to eat with other friends. She refused to eat lunch. Her mum explained to me: "Jane throws tantrums when she is not allowed to do what she wants. She was born in the year of the monkey and is a monkey. I give her three warnings to behave. Then I will give her a canning."
There was really a cane with a pink hook in the pet shop. As for Juliet, the mum's eyes lit up as she smiled and said: "Yesterday, Juliet told her brother that he needs to learn how to bottle fed the baby brother so that he can help his wife." The brother was only 4 years old. I saw Juliet helping the mum to scan the pet products for sale to buyers.
This was a 7-year-old studying in Primary Two in a neighbourhood school in the heartlands. Not one of those fancy high-pressure primary schools of Singapore. I asked Juliet whether she had a story book for me to read and she took out "Under The Sea" published by Usborne as a beginner's series for young readers, level 1.
Every few seconds, Julie would ask to take back her book to keep inside her school backpack. Mum explained: "She will keep her story books in a good condition. I used to do that when I was young."
On the table where I read her book were three plastic containers with longan desserts and ice. The table was wet due to the melting of the ice causing dripping of water onto the table. Juliet came again to ask for her book back. "Let Dr Sing read your book," Mum said. Finally she got her hard cover children's book back. She put it on the table for a while. "Hey," I said. "Your book is now wet. You need to dry the cover up with a piece of tissue paper. Ask your mum for the tissue paper."
"No need," she said. "The book is under the sea." The title of the book was "Under the Sea" and I was surprised that this 7-year-old girl had that sense of humour to surprise me.
If you don't catch her sense of humour, she meant that her precious book should be left wet since it was "under the sea" in her imagination. She could connect fantasy to reality and that is a trait of intelligence and creativity.
I
advised the mum that she should switch this child to a
better school to give her the opportunity to grow
intellectually as she has what it takes to be a scholar.
"Many scholars come from HDB apartments, not from
rich man's houses. Give this girl the opportunity to
study in a good school and you will see a lot of
difference in later years." Mum had a good school in
mind and asked: "Will she be upset if she goes to a new
school? I hear it is very stressful." I replied: "This girl will adjust and produces good academic results in a good school as teachers are good in that famous school in Toa Payoh."
"Bring you children to the pet shop and they will learn more than staying at home," I said to the mum. "They are nuisances," she replied as she has 5 young ones and has to manage her pet shop business.
