My Hero
The first time I heard about the ‘my hero’ writing competition, I immediately thought to enter it. I already knew who I was going to write about. Then my teacher told us that we had to send a photo of our hero with our composition. Then I realized that was a problem. How could we take a photo of God? So I was deep in thought and then it struck me. I decided to write about my father. I went home and told my family about the competition. After hearing about the competition, my father, being a humble man, suggested my grand mother to be my hero. I gave it a second thought and decided to continue to write about my father, as I had many reasons for him being my hero, and not as much for my grandmother.
My father is Aravindan Chockalingam. He was born on 9 May 1965, the day Singapore gained independence. He is an Indian man who married a Filipino woman. That makes me an Indian-Filipino. He is 43 years old this year. His is a pilot working in Singapore Airlines. My father always told me that he always dreamed to be a pilot, since he was my age. There was one time when I was frustrated with the work I was assigned to, my father told me that he was always frustrated with work like me too, but he worked hard every day, suffering, and now he is enjoying life, working his dream job of being a pilot. For short form he would always tell me “suffer first, enjoy last.” I have always been inspired by the proverbs he uses to teach us lessons. Another famous proverb he would use when we were doing something wrong was, “from cradle to grave.” He is also a very kind hearted man. Usually when we do something wrong, and he beats and scolds us and we cry, he feels sad and apologizes to us and says, “Do you think I like to scold you and see you like this?” I think he scolds as it is a part of discipline and a parents’ job. Another famous thing he would say when I complain about him going to work very often when we are eating is, “If I do not work, you will not be here sitting on this table, eating your favourite food.”
Every time he goes to another country, he never forgets to buy for us something. I am always touched at what he does. It is very hard for me to find clothes, but one time my father went to LA and he bought for me as many clothes as my sister, who can find clothes easily. He told me he spent almost an hour searching clothes for me. Moreover, the clothes were soooooo nice. When he goes to India, he buys for me books. He even asks me which books I want and tries his best to get them for me. When he goes to China, he buys for me movies that I always wanted to watch. He would ask me and my siblings what movies we want and he would try his best to get them. He also thinks for our comfort. When our television was blur, he bought us a new one. When our sofa was old, he would buy one we like. Another reason why he is my hero, is because he is the only one working in our family, so without him, it is like there will not be money. There are many more reasons why my father is my hero, but if I state them all here, I could publish a book! I love my father and he will always be my hero!
Arajeane D/O Aravindan
Temsek Primary School