Peter Kock and Elizabeth Zhan

Peter Kock:

Pete was nervous. It was his first day reporting to school - except this time, he was not the student. He was going to be a teacher at the Vocational School for the Handicapped. Although he had practised his lines many times, he was still nervous about speaking in front of a classroom of students.

Pete's students were children with different disabilities. Pete knew that this meant he had to be extra patient and to speak slowly so that those who were deaf could read his lips. For the last one month, he had also been learning sign language so that he can communicate with his students. He was determined not just to be their teacher but to be their guardian, counsellor and friend.

Finally, the school bell rang. Pete entered the classroom. Every child stood up and bowed. Pete smiled and wrote his name on the blackboard and introduced himself using both voice and sign language.

Pete then took out a big bunch of wooden chopsticks that were held together using a rubber band. He asked the students to pass the bunch of wooden chopsticks around the class and to try and break the chopsticks using their hands. The students used all their strength and tried to break the chopsticks - but to no avail.

Pete then took away the rubber band and gave each student one chopstick. This time round, the students could break the chopsticks easily. Pete explained to them how each of them are like the chopsticks - if they are united together, they will be unbreakable.

Elizabeth Zhan:

10 months had passed in the blink of an eye. As with most students, Pete was also very excited about the upcoming Children's Day. To commemorate the first Children's Day spent with his form class, Pete had prepared a surprise for them.

"Ring…Ring..." Pete entered the classroom, beaming ear to ear. The students stood up and bowed. Pete placed a box full of smiling figurines on the table. Some of the more curious students asked him via sign language what the figurines were. Pete smiled and promptly distributed the figurines.

"Does anyone know what this figurine is?"Pete mouthed the words slowly. Most of the students had a puzzled look on their faces, some signalled that the figurine was a doll. "Yes, you are right! This is a doll, but a very special one. Now, try and push the doll over." Pete said.

A sea of confusion then quickly transformed into gasps of amusement. All the students were tipping the figurine back and forth, gleaming with elation. The surprise gift was a roly-poly doll.

Pete explained to his students that the roly-poly doll never gives up and never stays down no matter what happens. He hoped that his students would also bounce back and always keep smiling like the roly-poly doll whenever they are faced with difficulties and stumbling blocks in life.