FATIMI ESTAR

source: http://images.search.yahoo.com The persona, a child, is wondering about the natural happenings, asking why the grass is green (instead of being other colours) and why the wind is invisible. He or she continues to ponder on how the birds know how to build nests without any instruction and why the trees shed their leaves in autumn.  He also wonders where the other part of the moon is (when the moon shows up in the sky in a crescent shape). He wonders about who makes the stars shine and what makes the lightning flash about. He asks who colours the rainbow and puts the clouds high in the sky. His father, however, would not answer the child's questions. He wonders why the father was unwilling to give him the answers.   Source: Curriculum Development Division. Ministry of Education Malaysia. 2010

Jeannie Kirby source: http://images.search.yahoo.com I wonder why the grass is green, And why the wind is never seen? Who taught the birds to build a nest, And told the trees to take a rest? O, when the moon is not quite round, Where can the missing bit be found? Who lights the stars, when they blow out, source: http://images.search.yahoo.com And makes the lightning flash about? Who paints the rainbow in the sky, And hangs the fluffy clouds so high? Why is it now, do you suppose, That Dad won‟t tell me, if he knows? Source: Curriculum Development Division. Ministry of Education Malaysia. 2010

source: http://images.search.yahoo.com This poem is written in London, May 4, 1995. It talks about issues regarding different lifestyles and values of two generations. It also talks about the generation gap that exists between grandparents and their grandchildren. This poem is like a dialogue between them. In the first stanza, the grandchild asks his grandfather if he could breathe without air conditioner and how people manage to survive without modern devices such as air conditioners, fans, faxes and telephones. The child asks his grandmother if she was uncomfortable fanning herself with paper fans. He inquisitively questions how they could communicate without today's modern media of communication which he cannot do without. source: http://images.search.yahoo.com In the second stanza, the grandparents' answer sets the two generations apart. Though they lived void of the "basic necessities", they lived contentedly and respected nature. Also, they were God-feari...

M. Shanmughalingam Grand dad did you breathe Before air cons were invented Wasn't it hard staying Alive without modern inventions Gandma weren't you flustered As you fluttered with paper fans Could you communicate before Faxes and long distance calls Became basic necessities? source: http://images.search.yahoo.com Grand child we lived Before your age because Of our ignorance, We did not know Pollution, stress, traffic jams Destruction of forests, streams and hills We feared God and nature Now nature fears you and Money is your new God Source: Curriculum Development Division. Ministry of Education Malaysia. 2010

Trish Main character. 11 years old; the only child on the spaceship heading towards Trion. Lonely and bored. Misses personal interactions with her parents as her Dad is busy with his work and Mum is away. Relies on the VoicePrinter (VP) for companionship and information. Intelligent: she masters the cloning technology and created a clone of herself. Short sighted as her cloning plan backfires. Clo becomes a nuisance to her. Clo in turn gets rid of Trish through the Disposal Hatch instead. Clo Identical twin created by Trish in the Biolab using cloning technology. Trish's friend and companion before she "got sick" of her. Quick thinking as she out manoeuvres Trish and gets rid of her creator. Cautious, as she assumes Trish's identity at the end of the story. Trish's Dad Executive Officer of the spaceship. Busy and preoccupied with work as the captain of the spaceship. Tries to spend time with Trish, his daughter at the diner; indulging her with ch...

source: http://images.search.yahoo.com “One is One and All Alone” by Nicholas Fisk is a science fiction story, set in 2045. The main character is Trish, an 11-year old girl who is the only child on a spaceship to Trion. Her father is the Executive Officer of the spaceship and her mother is in Trion helping to set up a space station. She will only meet her mother in mid January 2047.  After three months, she feels lonely and bored as she does not have any real friends to talk to except her private, multi-functional diary: the VoicePrinter (VP). VP is an intelligent computer which keeps Trish entertained with its ability to perform many functions.  Through her dialogue sessions with VP, Trish learns about clones and the cloning process. The idea of cloning fascinates Trish and she soon decides to create a clone to keep her company in the spaceship Biolab without her father's knowledge. She names her new identical twin “Clo” and initially it becomes her perfect friend and co...

source: http://images.search.yahoo.com This poem is told from a first person point of view, where the persona, reminisces her feeling of guilt, missing the beautiful melody of the bamboo flute played by her beloved long ago. She later questions and wonders if the flute is still being played now, as the village is now under populated and the paddy field is in a deplorable state. She mentions that, nowadays, relaxing and savoring the beauty of nature is a rare luxury. In the final stanza, she questions for the third time, whether her beloved is still playing the flute. This time around, she admits that she couldn't help but on the contrary, she feels guilty to be thinking of their love at their difficult times. The hardships portrayed here are unemployed young men, people disunited by politics and a "dying" world. Source: Curriculum Development Division. Ministry of Education Malaysia. 2010