Reflections about Adeline Ng Ai Choo (Little Ironies: Stories of Singapore)

Adeline Ng Ai Choo was refused 1 mark by her teacher to pass her exam and she committed suicide. Adeline wielded tremendous power over her life, but she appears not to be aware of that. She had depression and her failure was due to lack of effort She had the choice to inform her parents about her problem but she did not. She can choose to live and face her problem, or to die to run away from her problem. Unfortunately, she made the wrong choice; she chose death over living, thus running away from reality. She had ineffective parents as they had a perceived fear of being looked down upon. They were more concerned about fear perceptions of inaptness rather than being concerned about helping their child cope. I disagree with Mrs Tan Cheng Kwee’s point of view that giving Adeline one more mark will make a farce out of exams. As a result of her decision, Adeline resorted to suicide as a solution to her problem. She had the power to give Adeline 1 more mark but she chose not to.