A child teaches...

Just like to share an incident with all who care to read...

This happened in class yesterday.

Nigel, a rather brusque and "macho" boy who is well-known for his gruff demeanour, brought a packet of mangosteens to school in addition to 6 packets of Milo that were to be packed into the CNY hamper. Those mangosteens were not meant for the hamper. They were meant for a friend.

You see, a couple of weeks ago, we had talked about mangosteens in class during one of our interaction sessions when one of the students mentioned it as his favourite fruit. Elise, our friend from the UK, who had just joined us a year ago, had no idea what a mangosteen was. So I said she had to try one someday. I made a mental note to get the fruit for her family, but never got round to do it. Apparently, someone else in class did.

Nigel remembered, and yesterday, when he took the plastic bag of mangosteens out of his bag, I was pleasantly surprised and extremely touched. He pointed out in his usual gruff way that they were for Elise. I was very happy and told him to give it to her. He replied, "Now? During recess la!" I thought to myself then how generous and nice his dad was to have gone to buy the mangosteens for his child's classmate. I speak from experience as I know first-hand what a nice man Mr. Tan is.

During recess, Nigel announced that it was time to eat his mangosteens. He took the bag out, brought it to the sink, and proceeded to peel the husks off the flesh. I sat at my table watching. He then took the peeled mangosteen and gave it to Elise. She was reluctant to eat it, but when she did, found to her pleasure that it was good. She was happy.

I said out loud how generous Mr. Tan was to have bought the fruit for Elise, and asked what Nigel had said to his dad. He then replied, pretty outraged, that he alone had walked to the market to purchase the mangosteens while on his way to buy the Milo for the CNY hamper.

You know how you get the warm fuzzy feeling when you see old people holding hands and walking in the park? Or when you see acts of kindness between strangers? I felt that. I felt the friendship between two classmates. I felt the bond between two children. More importantly, I saw the manifestation of something I have been preaching but have never seen so explicitly displayed - care for others. To top it off, Nigel told Elise that if she liked it, he would get more for her the next day. Which he did.

I learnt something yesterday.

As much as they are children, they have wisdom to share.

As much as they are students, they have much to teach.