What the Modern Woman Wants
My cousin forwarded me this winning essay of the 2004 Commonwealth Essay Competition earlier today. It was written by Amanda Chong Wei-Zhen, a 15 years old girl from Singapore.
Her short story, titled What The Modern Woman Wants, focused on the conflict in values between an old lady and her independent-minded daughter.
‘Through my story, I attempted to convey the unique East-versus-West struggles and generation gaps that I felt were characteristic of young people in my country,’ said Amanda, who likes drama, history and literature and wants to become a lawyer and a politician.
It’s worth a read :_).
Note: While I can’t personally relate to the story (thankfully), I do have a couple close friends who have ‘made it to the top of the world’ or so we say, while at the same time keep telling me how much they miss home and their parents and their mom’s cooking and thinking about moving back to Malaysia just to be close to their old folks. Sure, different circumstances, one might say. Regardless, having each other as friend help us keep our feet on the ground, firmly.
