Zale Leow, 14

School: Beatty Secondary School

Topic: A letter on a class celebration proposal

Award: Third Place, Junior Category, 2024

Dear Mrs. Cheng,

This is Chong Jiaming from your class. Word about my Math teacher’s altruistic kidney donation has spread around quickly and I am incredibly touched by her willingness to give up a vital organ to a complete stranger in need. Her lack of reluctance to participate in an irreversible operation to save the life of someone she had no idea existed prior to hearing about their condition is truly inspirational and has warmed the hearts of the class. As such, I am writing to you to let you know about Class 2-A’s celebration proposal for her much-awaited return. Her benevolence had a lasting impact on us, and, thus, it would be wonderful if her return to our class could be a memorable one. We hope you can keep this from her, as we would like her surprise to be genuine.

Mrs. Tay’s selflessness has not only inspired me to become an organ donor but saying that she has changed my view of the world and strengthened my values would not be an exaggeration. After reading her article, I was struck by a moment of sonder. Realising that others suffer hardships that will be forever unbeknownst to us has been a real eye opener for me. Through her compassionate actions, she has unknowingly impacted us, paving a different, and better, path for us to walk down. This feeling is reminiscent of the poem “The Starfish Thrower'' that you showed us a while back. Mrs. Tay’s actions may not have changed tens of thousands of lives, or made a significant difference to the world, but she has most definitely made a life-changing difference to the organ recipient, and that is something that we should celebrate.

As for the class celebration itself, I hope you wouldn't mind if we use the CCE period on the upcoming Friday. To start off, Clarence and Dylan have prepared a small song for her, which we will all sing when she enters the class. The lyrics and beat were made by them as they received the highest marks in Music’s song-making examination. We have a few trivia questions relating to organ donation and how it can have a positive impact on the world that was prepared by Wenxi. To end it off, the entirety of Class 2-A has written thank you notes that we will give to her at the finale. We got Randall to collect the notes and inform them about the theme and the background, which we hope will cultivate a selfless mindset. We hope the class celebration will not interfere with the school curriculum time.

On behalf of Class 2-A, we sincerely hope you approve of our celebration plans and deem it as suitable enough, as this simple act of kindness has influenced more people than she could ever imagine, and it is important to us that she is aware of this, through this celebration in which our actions will hopefully show how much she has really impacted us.

Cheers,

Jiaming Chong

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2024 are those of the participants and are not endorsed by the National Organ Transplant Unit (Ministry of Health).

To learn more about organ donation and organ transplantation in Singapore, please visit www.liveon.gov.sg (opens in new tab)