my ESSAY WRITING COMPETITION

I wrote this essay when I was 16 years old. It is not a good essay if I was to grade it now, but I have my own reasons why I publish it here. This is the exact essay I wrote (unchanged) and of course, it contains a lot of grammatical errors and such but what could I say ... I was 16. I don't expect you to enjoy or like it. It's merely for my memories and me at MRSM Muar. Otherwise I should have thrown it away a long time ago. March 10, 2001

 

 

People should appreciate one's sacrifices. People who make sacrifices will be remembered always and the people who they sacrifice for will also honor them. It's the most precious deed indeed. This is the same goes to the story of the weaverbirds.
There is a weaverbird with great care, he builds a nest. When he thinks it is ready, and only then, he shows it to his mate. She inspects it carefully. And if she finds a fault, she flies away. And the weaverbird begins to build a new nest. He may have to build fifty nests before his mate is satisfied. Each one is a labor of love.
From this story, we, humans, should take this example to be our guidance to form a better life. Sacrifices happen every minute of our life, but are we aware of it?
Even in a family, this good behavior can still be seen. The man is the sole breadwinner of a household while the woman is the household mistress. It is to be the duty of a mother to cook, to clean, to feed babies, and to answer to the needs of her husband and children. Nowadays, there are more women going out to work. Even it is considered to be the work of a man. They sacrifice time and energy in order to make their families enjoy a higher standard of living, not to escape from the family responsibilities. Besides, working parents are in for a lot of stress too. Doubtless, they now can work and earn some money for their families. However, the burden of the household chores is still for them to shoulder. Meaning, apart from working from nine to five, they will also need to do their house works.
The greatest mother's sacrifice is that she born us and looks after us until we have grown up. She carries the heavier part of the work and has two jobs to cope with, compared to her husband. Even though, it's undeniable that there are still children who stubborn and have less filiar-piety to their parents. They look after them until they have grown up to be good in almost aspects of a child's development; be it mental, social, or physical. It's a norm that we should appreciate something of great value, which was given up by someone, so that, another person will benefit from it.
Thousands of young people leave school without knowing what to do with their life and where and how to get jobs. Those who are not admitted into colleges or universities will find themselves doing jobs they are interested in or suited for. The frustration will affect their productivity. Parents play an important part in helping their children to make the right decisions and to avoid their children from being disappointed. Along with this, there is a believe that children should follow their father's footsteps. This is especially common for boys. Parents are ambitious and care for their children. This shows how much our parents often make sacrifices for their children. Without it, children will lack of interests and give poor performance in schools. And this will lead to problems due to tension and frustration. They will show it by vandalizing school and public poverty, smoking, and drug addiction.
Like parents, teachers also plays a very important role in helping students to develop their minds and characters, so that the students can become a wholesome citizens and leaders of the future. Teachers' works do not only end in the class itself and their works are endless. In fact, there are so much that they have to do. Pupils always come to them with all sort of problems and the teachers will provide consultancy. That's why we should appreciate their sacrifices and remember to respect them at all times. In short, our conduct and character should be above reproach.
And now let's talk about the nearest thing to us, that is community. In the community, it's unavoidable that they are leveled into two standards of living - rich and poor. The people who live in poverty, their incomes are very low and yet their families are large. As a result of diet deficiency, they look very sickly. The miserable thing is that there are few clothes to wear. They too are unhealthy because of inadequate food and rest. This is also one of the reasons why many of them are week in their studies. However, some of them are quite intelligent and even active in any form of vigorous sport but because of their adverse families conditions, their talent is buried. This is what we call it a waste of human resources. So we as the MRSM students, the fortunate ones, must do something to help people who live in poverty. To show our sympathy for their children, we could generously donate our old clothes, books, and toys to them. In return, they will give their supports in any form of activities that we conduct like games, social events, and such. Either we are aware of it or not, this will help promoting racial harmony in terms of friendship, a spirit of give and take, responsibilities, cooperation, and self sacrifice.
The government, for example, has been doing a lot of beneficial things to help its people. The government's chief concern is to help people in rural areas to increase their earnings. Large areas of jungle have been cleared and planted with palm and rubber trees. The farmers will work on these lands and the product of the agriculture then be sold to the government for exports. In addition to that, the government also raises many new towns all over the country. The clinics, schools, and shop houses are built in these towns for people living nearby.
In conclusion, people should appreciate sacrifices made by people and make it as a habit. We, human beings, should be true to Creator, obedient to parents, elders, and guardians. This good deed teaches us that there is nothing will make us stray from the path of honesty, friendship, and cooperation. Only by doing this, we can enjoy ourselves and live in a loving community.

 

Written by: Abdullah J. Monil (1990 . Batch 003/90 . MRSM Muar)