Leaving by M.G. Vasasanji is the short story I learnt.

This story is
about Aloo a young boy who wants to pursue his studies in America.
Aloo is the youngest child in a single-parent family. Aloo is a bright
student and he is inspired to go to America .There are many moral
values portrayed in the story. One of the moral value is we must love
and sacrifice for our family. Mother loves her children and sacrificed her
life for them.
The first reason to be highlighted is Mother does not want to be
separated from her children. Her husband passed away when she was
thirty-three. She becomes asingle mother with five children at the age
of thirty three. This is shown in the story when she chooses to stay with
her children rather than remarry and loses them. She sold her shop
after her daughter Razia was married. She wanted her sons the narrator
and Aloo to study hard. She moved from Uhuru, a noisy and busy palace
to Upanga. She became a tailor in Upanga. She hoped for the two
youngest children, to excel in their studies. Upanga was a quiet place,
with wild land and tall trees was a perfect place for her sons to study. As
we can clearly see now Mother thinks only about her childrens well-
being than hers. .
Next, Mother feels upset about being separated with her children.
Her sadness is actually a form of love too. She feels sad when her
children leave her. She finds it difficult to let Aloo go to America. This is
shown in the story when she told Aloo that she cannot afford to send
him to America. Three thousand shillings was a large amount of money.
Aloo was very upset. Aloo was the apple of her eyes. Seeing her son's
disappointment, Mother sought advices from Mr Velji. Mr Velji was very
impressed when he learnt that Aloo got flying colour results in his
examinations. Mr Velji told Mother that going to America would be good
for Aloo's future but added that she might lose Aloo as he might not
return to Upanga. She decided to let her son to go to America after
listening to Mr Velji advises. Mother is willing to sacrifice her love for
Aloos dream.
Lastly, Mother is worried and cares about Aloos future. Mother asks
Aloo to show her the prospectus of the university. Aloo eagerly shows
her the prospectus and tells her he can learn everything there. He
hungered to learn more. Letting Aloo to go to America depicts her
selflessness as she knew he would be devastated is she refused him.
Mother feared that Aloo would pick up negatives habits. She sternly
warned Aloo not to marry with a white woman and stayed away from
smoking and drinking. Even knowing that she might never see him
again, Mother decided to let him go to America. Now we can see that
Mother is willing to sacrifice her life and love for her children even she
might not see Aloo again.
In a nutshell, Mother fears to be separated from her children
because she loves her children very much. Her love made Aloo to
achieve his dream to study in America.

The short story I chose is Tanjung Rhu by Minfong Ho. A main

theme in Tanjung Rhu is Kindness and love are more important than
material possessions This means that even though people say that
money, wealth and fame is important, there are more important things
and values that are more important, that are kindness and love,
because, at the end of the day, those two are what make life worth
living. In Tanjung Rhu, this theme is shown through the relationship
between Mr Li and his mother, Mr Lis failure to open the drawer in the
Altar Room and Yings error.
Firstly, this is shown through the relationship between Mr Li and
his mother, Ah Ma because Mr Li thinks that he needs to work hard and
give material wealth to his mother. This is evident in him asking Ah Ma
to go up the 18th floor of his office, a symbol of his success. He also
tries to make Ah Ma see the extent of his success by making her see
the view through the binoculars. Nevertheless, Ah Ma, refusing at first
to see through the binoculars, finally concedes but only sees the past
memories of her happier time at the beach with her young son, Mr Li.
This proves that Ah Ma only values the past as it was when they were
happier and had a closer relationship. To Ah Ma, binocular and the 18th
floor office are nothing compared to her son. This valuing of the past by
Ah Ma proves the theme that Love and Kindness are more important
than material possession.
Secondly, this theme is shown through Mr Lis failure to open the
drawer. He thinks that he had done enough for his mother, that by just
letting her live with him and making sure she lives well, he has done
enough and is a filial son. But he ignores his mother so much that he
does not even know where Ah Ma puts her joss stick at the Altar Room
and that he does not even have the key to the drawer where she puts
important stuff for praying means that he has failed as a son. What Ah
Ma needed was just his love and kindness, and his care and attention,
and he did not give her that. His failure to open the drawer is a
reflection that all his success and material possessions do not make him
a good son.
Lastly this theme is shown through Ying, Mr Lis daughter. Ying
also mistakenly thinks that she cares enough about her grandmother
that she often argues with her concerning the praying ceremony. She
misunderstands that Ah Ma is a traditional person and keeps urging her
to change the wax candles into electric candles and also to let her do
the praying ceremony even though she does not know the proper way
to do so. Ying here also falls mistakenly into the trap that material
possession is better-she urges Ah Ma to pray quickly so Mr Li could go to
work faster and to use better, safer electric candles. In the end, she
does not get the love and care she wants from her grandmother just
because she thinks what she values more are better.
In conclusion, the theme Kindness and love are more important
than material possessions are shown though the dynamic of Mr Li and
his mothers relationship, Mr Lis unsuccessful try of opening his
mothers important drawer and Yings misunderstanding of what is
important for her grandmother.