Final Draft

The class was in chaos, students were chatting in their cliques, the class’ clown was fooling around in the front of the classroom, and another was standing on the chair singing. The monitor was nowhere to be seen.
The classroom’s door swung open. It was Mr. Lim. Instantly, everybody returned to their seats.
“Class greet!”
“Good morning, Mr Lim.”
Everybody sat quietly, no one made a single sound. Clearing his throat, Mr. Lim said, “Class, today, I will be returning you your Math test papers, some of you have done exceptionally well, yet, the same cannot be said for certain individuals. Edgar Tan! Come here right now!”
The severely underweight boy walked up to him slowly, unsure of what to expect.
The teacher threw his test paper onto the ground, exclaiming, ”Edgar Tan! You have done badly again! When will you learn to be more hardworking?”
Edgar was on the verge of tears. He thought to himself: What did I do to deserve such grades? But I promised my dad I would at least score an A2 for this test.
After school, Edgar was reluctant to go home. Heading towards the school gate, his father was waiting for him. Mr.Tan was smiling and waving, Edgar felt uneasy.
While they were eating lunch at the shopping centre “Plaza Singapura”, Mr. Tan asked, “Son, so how was school today?” Edgar told his father that it was a fine day for him. Somehow, Mr. Tan sensed that something was not right, and told Edgar not to try to lie to him. Being forced into a corner, the boy confessed about his results. His father’s face turned pale. He said,"Son, tell me what you promised me you would get for the previous test."
Edgar replied,"A minimum of 70 marks?"
He asked again,"How about this test?"
Edgar stuttered,"70 marks..."
Dad took a deep breath, and said,"One more, just one more chance."
Few days later, Edgar’s class’ results for the next test were going to be released. Edgar’s heart was beating rapidly. Then he heard Mr. Lim’s thundering voice, “Edgar Tan! ” Edgar went up to take his test paper. Mr. Lim shouted, “ Can you tell me why is it that your grades are getting from bad to worse?! This is the streaming year, if you want to go to Technical Stream, you are welcomed to get the hell out of this classroom!” Returning to his seat, Edgar looked at his test paper hoping to pass at the very least. Edgar sighed and buried his head in his hands. It was an F9 grade, 29 marks.
When class was over, Edgar was about to walk out of the classroom when Samuel stopped him in his tracks. He questioned sarcastically, “ How many marks did you get for this test? Why did you look so sad? Well, you can’t believe what I scored, 80 out of 100!”
Edgar muttered,” I scored 29 out of 100.”
Samuel laughed,” Did I just hear 29?! What other names can I call you?! Shouldn’t you get a license for being that dumb? Not even an E8! I would love to insult you further, but I don't have the time. So long, moron!”
That afternoon, Edgar sneaked into my room from the doorstep as silently as possible, hoping not to attract the attention of his father. Just when he successfully entered his room, a strong wind passed and slammed the door shut!
In the master bedroom, Mr. Tan was woken up by the loud noise. He then proceeded to open the door and brought along a door stopper.
Opening the door, Mr. Tan was just in time to see Edgar still carrying his school bag and holding the test paper in his hand. Without hesitation, Mr. Tan snatched it over. Edgar’s heart was in his mouth. Mr. Tan immediately shouted,"Son! I just don't see what is wrong with you. Since you entered this elite secondary school, there has not been a single test which you did well in! This is ENOUGH! You said you needed time to adjust to their system, and I gave you chances! This is the End-Of-Year exams we are speaking about! There must obviously be a problem. I have endured your nonsense for 9 months! Other students don't need 3 terms to adjust, they don't even need to adjust! Is it because of your addiction to Maplestory? Or is it that you have a girlfriend?! Alas, you have used up the last straw..."
Mr. Tan snatched Edgar's Maths paper, and tore it into shreds, and went out of the room. Edgar stared into space, as if all hope were lost...
Then, Mr. Tan entered Edgar's room again. Not with the shredded pieces of paper, but with a bunch of canes tied together by rubber bands. He said,"Son, since nothing seems to work for you, I will use the method my colleague did, to cane his child. Since being nice to you cannot seem to work, I might have to resort to such means." Mr. Tan drew back the cane, and... swung it...
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
In this modern day and age in Singapore, grades are everything to a student. Singapore is known for its education, which is known to be quite competitive. “Kiasu”(paranoid) parents send their children to tuition for all subjects in hope that their children would be able to achieve good academic grades. Very often, parents do not consider the stress and problems their child might be facing. In Singapore, such cases are common, especially to weaker students. Most of the time, the child is afraid of complaining to their parents about stress in fear of getting beaten up.
Sometimes, they just have to let go.