Kong Hwa School

VERSION 1.0
10/2/2019

Presented by
Javier Ho
Topic: 2
“Please welcome John Smith from Sydney, Australia!” my English teacher, Mr Jerry, boomed. At
that announcement, the class erupted in thunderous applause. A buddy had to be chosen for
John, and to do so, Mr Jerry chose the fairest and digitally savvy way by using the class
computer’s random number generator. After a series of flashing numbers on screen, the
moving mass of lines settled on 12. I could not believe my eyes. I thought, Yes! I finally could
buddy an overseas tourist! For the rest of the day, I could think of nothing else other than what
I could do together with John, the first overseas visitor I had ever had.

The thundering noise of the fighter jet interrupted how I imagined what the next day in class
would be like. It is the irritating flights taking off from the nearby military airbase again. I was
fervently hoping that I would get to be the buddy of this one new exchange student from
Australia who would be coming to class tomorrow, and quickly drifted back to where I was in
my deep thoughts again.

So absorbed in my thoughts that the next day came quicker than I expected. John arrived in
class to much pomp and welcome. I ushered him to the seat next to mine. I explained to him
that after the English lesson, we would have a Chinese lesson. I assured him that if he did not
understand, I would try my best to translate whatever was said to him in simple English.

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After finishing the work that Mr Jerry had assigned me, I asked Mr Jerry if I was allowed to
converse with John as I had already finished my homework. After being granted permission, I
asked John, “How is Australia’s education system like?” He explained with a smile, “It starts at
the kindergarten through year 6 or 7, and secondary school from year 7 or 8 through 10.” Upon
hearing this, I chuckled. “For us, we have compulsory education in primary school from primary
1 to 6, age 7 to 12. After that, we have secondary and then pre-university ranging from age 13-
19.” When John heard this, he realised that Australia’s education system was very different
from Singapore’s. Next, I asked him what Australia’s most famous food was. He told me that it
was roast lamb and vegemite. I shared with him that the most famous dish of Singapore was
Hainanese Chicken Rice.

As we chatted, John mentioned I asked inquisitively John’s experience in the Sydney

Opera House as, and he replied excitedly that it was the pride of the Australians. It was a
multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, and one of the most famous and distinctive
building in the 20th century. I shared that Wwe had the Esplanade, a performing arts venue,
which the locals would endearingly and jokingly call the “durian”. “What is that?” John asked as
his eyes sparkled. He had heard about the king of fruits but was not ready for the experience.
With that, I resolved to give John his first ever taste of durian.

At a roadside stall filled with the aroma of durians and table tops covered with the
thorny fruit, John gasped for air as he forced down his first taste of the king of the fruits. “

This is just the tip of the iceberg,” I explained, as I rattled off the codes: “Red prawn”,
“D-18”, “D-24”, “Cat Mountain King”. The varieties were ranked in that particular order with
the most exquisite variety the priciest of the lot. John tried to appear gung-ho and offered to try
out all the rest. His face was already as red as the reddish flesh of the fruit as he attempted the
“red prawn”.

It was an unforgettable experience for both of us that afternoon in Chinatown with the
highlight being the “Cat Mountain King”. The king of fruits took centre stage in our enduring
friendship, and On the way back to John’s premise, he observed the train station was
conveniently located and bustling with activities. spacious and public transport promised to
return the favour with the vegemite equivalent if I ever had the chance to visit Australia. To
date, I have not decided if I should go to Sydney and try out the Aussie’s favourite - Vegemite.

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