FORM FOUR

By
Minfong
Ho

Look at these pictures. What

do you see?

ELEMENTS OF THE SHORT

STORY
Synopsis
Setting
Plot
Characters
Themes
Moral Values

SYNOPSIS
Mr. T.W.Li is a successful businessman who lives in

Singapore with his family. He recently lost his

mother
whom he calls Ah-Ma.
As he mourns her death, he recalls some important
events before her death, most of which revolves
around a pair of binoculars.
He had brought the binoculars home one day for his
mother, to help see her farther. However, Ah-Ma was
often lost in her memories of the past and her only
concern was to see Tanjong Rhu, a place where they
used to live while he was growing up. As it is firmly
etched in her mind, she said she did not need
binoculars to see the beloved place.

When Mr Li finally managed to convince his mother

to use the binoculars, he was upset that she still
could not see the ships at the harbour in front of his
office. Instead, in her minds eye, she saw Tanjong
Rhu in the past, back when Mr Li was still a young
boy.
Mr Li became impatient with his mother and
refused to listen to her stories.
Back in the present, Mr Li regrets his actions on that
day as now he too longs to go back to his childhood
in Tanjong Rhu. He finds that his memories are vague
and there are many things that he does not
remember clearly. He suddenly wants to ask his
mother a lot of things.
Unfortunately, it is too late to do so as his mother
has passed away

SETTING
TANJUNG RHU
PLACE
The story is set in
Singapore.
Mr Lis office is
located on the 18th
floor above
Shenton Way, a
central business
district in
Singapore.
Home of Mr Li
sitting room and
the altar room
Hospital Mr Lis
mother was
admitted to

TIME

The time frame

goes back and
forth between
the present
(after the death
of Ah-Ma) and
the past (before
the death of AhMa).

EXPOSITION
Mr. Li, a rich businessman stood at his office window high above Shenton Way.
Concerned about something which he could not lay his finger on. He was not
ready to go home. His mothers (Ah Ma) funeral was just a day before and
everything had been done correctly. He counted the number of ships in the
harbour as was his habit with his binoculars. The binoculars reminded him of his
mother.

CONFLICT
He recalled he had bought them for Ah Ma and was eager to give them to her. He
wanted her to use them as she did not want to undergo a cataract operation. His
wife was having tea with friends in a room. Ah Ma was in the garden feeding her
chickens. Speaking to her in Cantonese, he mentioned the binoculars as see-far
glasses. Ah Ma was irritated as it reminded her of her refusal to have cataract
operation. Later, she mentioned her willingness to use them at his office to see
Tanjong Rhu, where her husbands shipyard used to be.

CLIMAX
Next morning Ah Ma prayed in the altar room. Then, she talked to her
dead husband to inform him of her going to their sons office. Her
granddaughter offered to do the praying with the joss sticks for her but
she would not allow it. Mr. Li ticked off Ying for criticizing her
grandmother for wanting to do things her way. While waiting for Ah Ma ,
Mr. Li looked at his fathers photograph and remembered their time
together. When they were in his office Mr. Li pointed out the ships and
the whole harbour to Ah Ma but she could not see anything. Instead,
she talked about seeing their old hut, walks and picking crabs on the
beach. Coming back to the present, Mr.Li felt nostalgic and wanted very
much to go back to the time of his childhood. He tried to recall but had
very blurred memories.

FALLING ACTION
He recalled that he tried to ask Ah Ma again. But, by then she had
become very sick and was bedridden in hospital, unable to move or
talk very much. Ying helped to look after her. Knowing that her
father wanted to talk to Ah Ma, she lifted her grandmothers eyelids
and told her father to say something. But Mr. Li could not and
scolded Ying for not being respectful. Ah Ma moved restlessly and
managed to say something about the key to the altar being hidden
before she drew her last breath.

RESOLUTION

Now back in the office, the day was becoming dark and he
suddenly thought of the altar and what he had promised Ah Ma
at the deathbed. This was what had been troubling him the
whole day, something he had left undone. He rushed home to
do that one last thing for her.he paid the respects to Ah Ma but,
but he could not open the drawer. He cried and told Ah Ma he
saw TanjongRhu that day and then decided to leave well alone.

Who do you think they

are?

Ying
( Mr. Lis
daughter)
CHARACTERS

Helen
(Mr. Lis
wife)

Mr.
T.W.Li
(Li)

Ah Ma
( Mr. Lis
Mother)

A successful businessman in the shipping sector.

Has a happy childhood with his family inTanjongRhu.
Happy family life wife son and daughter.
Close relationship with his mother but does not open up to her
easily.
Modern in his ways and ideas.
Takes pride in his modern ways
Make sure no one is around when he bows to show respect to his
dead parents.
Tolerant does not interfere in his mothers traditional ways.
Meticulous keeps track of number of ships ever day by counting
them.
Patient and respectful waits for mother to finish her prayers
although he had to leave for office. He does not hurry her.
Has a strong filial bond. Made sure the funeral of his mother is
done in the right way (full of customs and traditions). Strict and
does not entertain disrespect from the young. He expects his
daughter to respect the elders.

Traditional with strong religious beliefs. She values

Chinese tradition of ancestor worship and talks to her husband
who has passed on for 10 years.
Meticulous, where she keeps all the prayer paraphernalia
under lock and key.
Determined to do things her way. She refuses Yin to do the
praying. Do you even know how to speak to your
grandfather? she asks her granddaughter.
Good memory she recall the childhood memory of Mr. Li so
well.
Old fashioned she does not believe in having eye operation
for cataract.
Proud -refuses to admit to ill-health.
Clings to past and refuses to accept change.
Proud of sons success- could be seen when she voices her
feelings to her dead husband.

Loving takes care of grandmother in the hospital.

She refuses to believe that the grandmother is dying.
She assures the grandmother not to worry about her keys.
When she was young, she always helped grandmother with
wine cups and burning of gold paper in front of altar.
Has generation gap with grandmother. As a teenager she
feels one need not to be fastidious (doing something in a very
organized and detailed manner) when doing prayers for
ancestors.
Talks to father in English when referring to grandmother being
stubborn.
Persuasive tries to persuade her grandmother to let her do
the praying to the grandfather.

A lady of leisure who enjoys having tea with her

friends.
Superficial and full of pretence.
She mentions the childrens overseas education to
impress her friends.

Traditional vs. Modern

ideas
In the short story, Ah-Ma is steeped in traditional
value. She has a high regard for the traditional
practises of the Chinese community, such as the
practice of praying to the ancestors in order to have
the familys blessing. In contrast, Mr Li and Ying
represent the modern society and do not place
much importance of tradition.

Past vs. Present

Ah-Ma represents the past while Mr Li
symbolises the present. This theme most
clearly illustrated in the scene at the office
where each is looking at the binoculars. Mr Li
see the ships at the harbour at present while
Ah-Ma sees the port of Tanjong Rhu when they
used to live there in the past.

Regre
t
Mr Li feels deep regret for the way he

treats Ah-Ma after her mother starts to fall

ill later passes away. He has never paid
much attention to his mothers stories
about the past and realises a little too late
that most of his questions will remain
unanswered.

Generation gap
The story introduces us to characters

belonging in three different generation

Ah-Ma, Mr Li and Ying. Each generation
behaves differently and has their own
beliefs and ideas, and they do not often
agree with each other.

MORAL VALUE 1
Although we live in a modern world, we
must not forget our traditional value.
It is important to preserve certain aspects of
our traditional values and practices so that we
do not lose our identity despite living in a
modern world. This is what Ah-Ma tries to instil
in her children and grand children

MORAL VALUE 2
We must learn to appreciate people while
we can
We often forget to show our love and appreciate
to our loved ones. This is portrayed by Mr Li
who always get impatient with his mother when
she tells him stories from his childhood. It is
only when she becomes ill that he regrets not
paying more attention to her.

MORAL VALUE 3
While money can buy most things, it
cannot buy everything.
In the story, Ah-Ma seems to have everything
she needs in life. However, she yearns to go
back in time to Tanjong Rhu, when her family
has much less material things. Despite their
modest circumstances, she seems truly happy
then which teaches us that there are certain
things in life that money cannot buy.

MORAL VALUE 4
We must learn to respect and tolerate
other.
Each generation has their own ideas and beliefs.
The lives of our forefathers were certainly differently
from our lives today, Despite the differences, we
must respect the older generation. The older
generation too must respect the views of the
younger generation. This is illustrated in the
relationship between Ah-Ma, Mr Li and Ying.

ACTIVITIES
WHILE-ACTIVITY 1

ACTIVITIES
WHILE-ACTIVITY 2

ACTIVITIES
WHILE-ACTIVITY 3

ACTIVITIES
POST- ACTIVITY 1

ACTIVITIES
POST- ACTIVITY 2

ACTIVITIES
POST- ACTIVITY 3

LOTS AND HOTS