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Everest, Rich Man Country, The Borrowed Boy, Margarine and the Syrian…

- - - - she has developed a sense of belonging in singapore and does not wish to leave despite her father's desires
      - Meena is a very caring person. Whenever she sees her own brother getting bullied by others or is listening to the hurtful remarks made by her father, she will try her best to make sure that her brother is not listening to the hurtful remarks that were made. When she knew that her brother was feeling down, she was troubled and she really wanted to make her happier so she decided to come up with a plan to make her feel more elated. The plan is to climb up a flair of stairs which is something that he usually does .The most important thing that she did was to praise him for beating her in the race so as to make him feel proud about himself for achieving such an amazing feat
      - Unlike her brother, Meena can be a very cruel and insensitive person as she mocks Mahesh despite his condition like saying “Oh my DOG,” to him
      - she often teases mahesh just as much as mahesh teases her but she somehow gets scolded for it instead of mahesh
        
        "Oh my DOG," I (meena) mocked mahesh as payback for his comment about my(meena) asthma, "do you want some PALS or a SLAP?" pg 28
        
        bickering and teasing between meena and mahesh is common
        
        Just as she can make a formidable enemy, she can also be a great friend. Like her brother she is sensitive. While climbing the stairs she encourages Mahesh by saying “I can’t go up the stairs fast like you anyway.”
  - - - "Do I have any conditions?" Mahesh asked. He looked genuinely worried. / Page 28
        
        Mahesh really wanted to pursue after his goal of climbing Everest, and his determined nature was showing through his worry in this quote. Mahesh is worried that he may have conditions he did not have knowledge of that would not allow him to climb Mount Everest, and therefore prove him unsuitable to fulfill his dream.
      - "During the March Holidays, Mahesh amped up his training routine by climbing the stairs in doubles." / Page 32
        
        Mahesh was so eager and determined to accomplish his goal that he dedicated most of his time training to be somewhat physically fit to climb Mount Everest, even during the holidays, where he was supposed to be playing and resting, like all other kids. Through the use of diction such as the word 'doubles', it shows us, the readers, just how much Mahesh has increased his training time and intensity to fulfill his aspiration of climbing Mount Everest
        
        Mahesh: "began training the day after his announcement" (determination. impassioned)
    - - themes of similarity in characters, 'like father like son' reference(can assume Mahesh gets his personality from dad), shows character traits of no backing down after they have put their minds to a task.
      - comes from his dad's headstrong side; Dad: " Dad stayed at work till very late and arrived home by the time we were in bed." / Mahesh: " Mahesh continued to climb, calves defined and gaze purposful" pg 34-35
    - - plot armor 101
  - - - "He's slow, Reshma, he's slow. He can barely read and his writing hasn't improved" / page 37, line 16
        
        The father complaint about Mahesh's inability to perform basic human capabilities such as being able to read and write infront of Mahesh himself. This emphasises how straight-forward he is as he does not care about Mahesh's feelings when he is speaking and is only focused on whatever he has in mind to say.
  - - - Practical / Realistic
        
        "She didn't say no, you're perfect" / 28
        
        the mother was not lying to him by saying he's perfect
      - Strict :
        
        "We don't shut doors in this house"
        
        she makes the rules maybe and controls the kids
        
        "She was holding a long plastic ruler"
        
        she beats the children and scolds them
- - - - "They argued constantly behind shut doors, which were no longer forbidden" page 34
        
        From this we can tell that Meena's mom and dad seems to have a fragile relationship and fights tend to occur due to differing opinions among them. This tells us that even Meena's mom and dad have a familial struggle of meeting each others goals.
      - "Oh my DOG" page 28
        
        How Meena mocks Mahesh about his dyslexia shows the relationship between them being poor which contradicts to how a sister-brother relationship should be in real life (irony)
      - "My father ate the the rest of his dinner in silence. This was normal in our house - our flat."
        
        This reveals that the relationship between the family seems to be unstable due to the lack of communication and unwillingness . Despite it being dinner time, a time to converse with one another, but Meena's family seems to close themselves off.
  - - - Explanation: the mother strived to establish a sense of belonging, as she really wanted to personalize and make Singapore home despite all challenges , she was desperate to settle down as she really liked Singapore to the fact that she went against her landlord and asserted her power over "her" house, she was seeing the house as hers and she does not need to seek permission from anyone for renovating her home
    - - The fact that Meena thought that their furniture would not look good anywhere other than their HDB home, by the word choice of "nothing", shows just how attached she is to Singapore, such that she did not want to leave.
    - - Mahesh saying that he wanted to be the first Singaporean to climb Mount Everest, by the word choice of "first", shows that despite not explicitly acknowledging it himself, he has already accepted Singapore as a home, given by how he considers himself a Singaporean.
    - - Meena taking offense towards the girl describing her block as a suicide tower shows her feeling protective, given by her assertive tone, due to the bond that she has formed with the building due to living there for so long
    - - Familiar with the setting and neighbourhood to the point she knew what was in front of her , just with her eyes closed. this shows sense of belonging as she strives to familiarise herself with the place as she wants to feel comfartable with the place and make it home . knowing the place well also creates a sense of belonging .
  - - - "Nothing in Singapore will prepare you for Mount Everest" Pg 35
        
        condescending/mocking/sarcastic tone
      - "You won't find a mountain in this country" Pg 29 discouraging Mahesh from working towards his dreams
      - "The closest thing is that hill in Bukit Timah" Pg 27
    - - "We'll be settled in London or New York by the time Meena is finished with Primary school" Pg 31 Meanwhile also them: stays in Sg for years
      - "Where's the roof? The yard?" Pg 27 Bro earn some real cash before complaining
      - "Roofs and yards were features of storybook homes, they were the stuff of my father's dreams." Pg 27
        he needs to realise that not everyone has the opportunity to own a house like that
      - "the stuff of my father's dreams" Pg 27 bro that's a sad dream
    - - "his most rare attempts at success were granted mum's most enthusiastic and absolute blessing" Pg 29
      - "he saw words in reverse" Pg smtg
        
        shows a realistic struggle that those with mental disabilities face
      - "She didn't say no, you're perfect, because he wasn't" Pg 28
    - - "People go your block to jump" "His head like a watermelon, like a bomb- Pah!Exploded"
        
        use of dfark humour to portray the life among HDB dwellers
      - Sibling rivalry, if you dont fight with your siblings something is wrong
      - "I noticed dark rings under her eyes" Pg 33 Sleep deprived people, Singaporeans are very overworked okay
        
        i agree. Pah!
      - local dishes like "Chicken rice" and "Hokkien noodles"
      - "For a few weeks, the void deck of Block 537 was inaccessible because it hosted two Chinese funerals, and then a Malay wedding, and then a pasar malam." Pg 31
      - Singapore deemed as a safe country "There's a safer future here than anywhere else" Pg 37 "Look at this country- no drugs, no crime" Pg 37
        
        common perception of how Singapore is viewed (low crime rate, no natural disasters)
  - - - His teacher called his mother and told her that "He needed to apply himself more." Pg 34
      - "He's applying himself to an important goal at the moment and when he becomes the first Singaporean to climb Mount Everest, you will all see," Mum informed her. Pg 34
        
        Mother empowers him vs Father putting him down (Idealism vs Realism)
        
        However, Mother also feels stressed and pressured that he does not fit into the conventional mold, tries to convince herself
      - "What options? He's doomed. They've held him back in school and now he's about to fail another year level. He's slow, Reshma, he's slow. He can barely read and his writing hasn't improved. In a bigger country, there will be more opportunities for him." Pg 37
        
        Father also doesn't believe that Mahesh can achieve, which evokes a sense of pity for Mahesh. Father believes that one must be able to read and write well in order to succeed (conventional success).
        
        Singapore also seems to be a place which limits/restricts people who may not fit into the mold. In this case, Mahesh is not able to productively train since there are no mountains in SG, only stairs. The father is also desperate to look for opportunities overseas because Singapore tends to focus on conventional success/achievements
- - - - The author purposely did not name the narrator to show how the migrant worker himself turned from a somebody with lots of dreams and aspirations as he was striving to get into the "Rich Man Country" to a nobody in the end, brutally being let to die on his own as a result of someone else's utter flaw, implying the reality of most immigrant workers being blamed upon and being used as a getaway by most company heads to cover up their mistakes. The fact that the protagonist was an illegal immigrant allowed for his construction company to easily sweep the existence of him under a carpet. This is a real issue, plight and a pressing concern for poor immigrant workers like the protagonist who enter a forward country with such great admirations and hopes for their unprecedented destination.
  - - - "Despair filled him. His own family were all farmers living hand-to-mouth" pg 116
        
        "Some come out in other ways" pg 116
        
        "proof of nothing ventured, nothing gained" pg 117
      - "no wish to look like Arul's bumpkin friend" pg 124
        
        "So for one month he had live with hunger and thirst, becoming cadaverous" pg 124
      - "this is what you got in this place of good salary and orderly living" pg 115
        
        "for the sake of his sanity he must remember this" pg 115
        
        "twelve slept in bunk beds, his up against an airless corner" pg 123 :
        
        "Once, he had to intervene in a sudden flare-up between Siva and Ah Bey, telling Siva to in rapid Tamil to shut up, for Ah Bey was shaking his fist" pg 120
        
        just some of the ways that the unnamed protagonist and other migrant workers are mistreated. they are not treated with respect and not even seen as human. as such the
- - - - "Tell Sita I will be alright" Page 113 "It can happen to you too" Page 115
        
        The unnamed protagonist did not want his wife to know about how he is struggling and getting constantly hurt but rather he seems to be resolute on making money till his ends meet for his family.
    - - "OvishnuOGanesh whatisthis" Page 126
        "Of the the future. Of the children to come." page 113
        
        The unnamed protagonist even when he was being dragged and left all alone with no hope, he was desperate that his God will somehow save him. This seems to be rather pitiful and miserable. He did not want to accept that he would die in such a manner
    - - "So much hurt then, even daylight burned his eyes" page112 "That is what you got in this place of good salary and orderly living" (sarcasm, Irony) Page 115
        
        The unnamed protagonist was injured to the point that his pain was intolerable and excruciating to the point it was as if many people yelling into a crowded room and yet no one was there to help him out. The supervisors and even his collegues did not notice or bother to spare a thought Yet he was tolerant and di not voice out his internal inexplainable pain so that he could continue to work.
  - - - What is his significance? How does this character affect the protagonist's decisions, if any? What do they represent in terms of the spectrum of the treatment of workers
    - - Close friend, helped to bridge the language barrier between Ah Or/Ah Lai and Narrator. He also tried to help Narrator at first but then big bosses AL/AO screamed at him to get out the truck so bro listened and let his kind-of bestie nARRATOR DIE >:C FOR MONAY. TO NOT GET FIRED? BRO WHAT
        
        he translator. was also kind of a passive standing-by kinda guy, he had the power to help Narrator more/not help at all but he didn't, he just did what he was told to do. His ability to translate was pretty vital bc AO/AL seem very Chinese-speaking whereas Narrator kind of less Chinese-speaking hence lots of miscommunications ykwim??? anyw yea so he was kind of like the guy that helped the AO/AL understand Narrator vice versa, so no Thiru=no communication
    - - smug dude who used to be a laundromat supervisor then ditched that job to become a migrant worker in sg. he has 3daughters. "poor pay, worse conditions" and "what dowry can i give my daughters?" more or less summarizes his entire existence
        
        influenced narrator to cheat on his wife for PROSTITUES >:c bad influence. bro got daughters and a wife, imagine other dudes using THEM as prostitutes instead. no nice right. yah exactly. that's what i thought.
        
        showed that most of the migrant workers came to Singapore to work not mainly for themselves but for others around him. Narrator came to work and prioritized his other family members wants instead of his own. Similarly sita came to work for his daughter's dowry and not for his personal benefits
    - - he was a previous colleague who fell and got injured very badly, but still went home like a "war veteran" after he got discharged. he also foreshadowed how Narrator would get very seriously injured (but Hari didnt die tho)
        
        he had a similar accident to Narrator except he survived and ended up being regarded as a "war veteran", got respected a lot. but Narrator died. Hari's significance is kind of like summarizing how whether illegal migrant workers live or die is bc they lucky/nah. HIGH RISK HIGH RETURN. NO PAIN NO GAIN. GET LIFE INSURANCE NOW!!! (if u even have a life)
    - - Showed off his wealth >:( and convinced the nameless man to go to Singapore to work and then narrator dieded >:c bc he dumb and chose illegal migration method. Arul paid more to migrate legally but still why he gotta flex like that bro >:c
        
        influenced Narrator into thinking of working as migrant worker to be rich. he's kind of like the guy living the "dream life" in Narrator's POV. he kind of js flexed rlly hard on the Narrator but omitted the truth of how hard working as a miggy worker is .
- - - - "the boy might not like the colour" (no say in the matter)/ "what was important was that it was the same colour as the baju kurung for their other two children"/ "it would make him feel like he was one of the family"
      - the sense of inclusiveness though he(Mydeen) is not blood to the family that has taken him in. He is an outsider who is chosen to be involved for festivites like Hari Raya which symbolise unity, forgivesness and a time of happiness. Goes to show the family that takes him in have reasons of getting forgivness through him, since taking in a orphaned boy is seen as a good deed. While for Mydeen is a show of inclusivity, that though he knows he doesn't belong with them, and that he is borrowed only for a day with the same fanfare, he is still included by someoone to let him feel belonged somewhere for sometime
  - - - Junaidah uses Mydeen to fill a void in her life because she is an unsatisfied wife and mother to her ungrateful husband and son which is why she seeked the forgiveness of Mydeen towards the end of the day.
    - - Just like how Mydeen could not select the colour of his baju, Junaidah decided for him
- - - - "Mydeen, without any prompting, began to salam her, and then went around the living room, seeking out hands of all the adults" pg 175
        
        This shows how respectful he is, greeting everyone in the house.
        
        Does not need any prompting to greet the elders, unlike Haikel.
      - Mydeen was not invited to join Haikel and his cousins when they were
        playing. Haikel said that Mydeen “was not their friend”.
        
        “Borrow the boy for a day” suggests that Mydeen is a commodity that
        people could “borrow” to filling the dullness and void in their lives.
  - - - Junaidah, though she claims to "borrow" Mydeen for one festive day to give him the taste of a family, she ends up having him only to relieve her own void in life- "Why was it that Haikel rarely took sides with her? She wondered if it might have been better to have asked for a girl from the orphanage instead". She had rather been putting up a lousy act, covering up her real reasons for bringing Mydeen into their family for a day. -this is an impact of the negativefamily dynamics Junaidah shares with her family. Her lack of conection with her family has made her sought for someone else,in this case, mydeen, to force all her "love" on him.She manages to somewhat fill her void through this but it is Mydeen is whom gets caught in a thoughtless love trap.
    - - Quotes: -Controlling "For her own son she chose a sky blue baju kurung; for the boy, pale orange." she even has the need to control colors.
        -Manipulative "In a solicitous voice that guaranteed a fearful though positive response."
        -
    - - She represents the idea that people are not perfect and while they may have flaws, they also have strengths. Although she appears to be snobbish/judgemental/prejudiced towards others, she is also kind and compassionate, participating in social causes because she felt moved to help and make a difference in someone's life. She may be controlling but it is part of her effort to give her utmost best to make Mydeen comfortable. She considers his point of view as an orphan spending a festive occasion with a stranger, which not many people are capable of doing. She may have a saviour complex but she seeks forgiveness from a child whom she has only known for a day and whom she will never meet again, showing her introspection as a person to realise her faults.
  - - - during visiting, junaidah realises that no one has seen nor knows where mydeen is. junaidah then asks haikel "when was the last time you (haikel) say him (mydeen)". haikel acknowledges that mydeen was "inside the room with us (haikel and his cousins) just now", however mydeen was only "watching us (haikel and cousins)" play. haikel's reasoning for not playing together with mydeen was that "he's not our (their) friend". pg178
        haikel excludes mydeen as this is the first time that they are meeting and they barely talked throughout the whole day. haikel marginalises mydeen from their games as they do not include him as a friend.
      - during the car ride, haikel was playing on his "PSP". when junaidah tries to convince haikel to "let him (mydeen) try", he "did not reply". pg 173
        haikel is not used to having to share his things since he is an only child and suddenly having a "sibling" is unusual for him.
      - he decides to choose the orange baju kurung instead of the light blue one which he originally decided on previously
        junaidah reminded haikel that he "said you (he) liked the blue one". but haikel says "i never said so. i want the orange one."
        pg 168
- - - - "To you guys ministers probably make a lot of money make a lot of money "
        
        The writer characterizes and portrays the typical naivety of people in the lower class. They are so used, or they are so exposed to people who do not hold high positions in corporations or such businesses. As a result, they are not exposed to many jobs such as ministers and CEOs. Ministers are perceived to make a lot of money, as per the view of someone from a lower class. However, Margarine, who is very very rich and whose family is in the highest rung of the socio-economic ladder, claims (and indirectly belittles) that to people of lower socio-economic status, a minister makes a lot of money, while people in high SES do not consider being a minister as a high-paying job.
    - - Margarine: comes from wealthy family, travels around the globe, lonely, ignorant to heritage, focuses on global affairs more than social and personal affairs considering them as ignorant and is disconected to her belonging in Singapore.
        
        Nabilah: strong sense of belonging, narraow minded in the perspective she has a great patriotistic and realstic view of singapore (school, the HDB, )
  - - - Disconnected
        
        "Why do you want to work on the Singapore arts scene? They're all a bunch of self-indulgent, unoriginal narcissists" Pg 46.
    - - Seem to have a strong sense of belonging
        
        Seems to have a strong sense of belonging-but the issue is that she seems to be too obsessed with her identity to the point that she is unwelcoming and hostile towards Margarine, who represents an unfamiliar class of people in the country to her. She seems to have a conviction that SIngaporeans are meant to be a certain way and that a wealthier class of Singap
        
        "Who does she think she is? do you notice she speaks with an accent? I think she's so act-cool. who carries their bag on their shoulder? And why does she keep asking us to call her Jo?" Pg 45
  - - - common stereotype in our society
    - - Marjorie interested in Syrian Refugee Project, Nabilah interested in Sg Art Scene
- - - - "I felt self-conscious of my clunky shoes, with their thick, ungainly soles."
        
        Her glamorous appearance makes others feel insecure of themselves, as some may not be able to afford the things she can buy.
      - confident
        
        "When she was in class, she hardly took notes." pg 46
        
        she believes in herself that she can do well
      - "She was checking her phone inside her bag, scrolling away."
        
        She is a person who is unbothered about things because by looking at her phone during lesson, it shows that she does not have any concern for her studies, especially since it was her first day in the class.
      - n
      - rude
        
        "I think it's obvious that you're not as rich as my dad"
- - - - at the end of the story, it is revealed that gregory dies and his corpse was found with "all five fingers clutched the game console so tightly they had become fused with the device". the game console and in game character acted like his lifeline. when he finished the game and defeated the villain, there was no reason to keep playing. when his in game character died, he too died in the real world. in a way, he truly embodied his in game character. he also spent his last living moments playing the game and maybe died while playing the game as his hand was still holding on the console.
      - the whole story was about gregory losing his right thumb. however, his corpse was found to have all 10 fingers attached to his hand, including his right thumb. this shows that his thumb was there all along. the whole story was part of his delusions before his death.
    - - "General Lee looked a lot like his tormentor in school, especially in his swagger and the fixed, mean gaze of his eyes" pg 147 The "tormentor" is referring to Nick, his school bully.
    - - "Look at your brother. He did so well in school because he was not addicted to video games" To imply that without addiction to technology, you would be able to perform better in examinations.
        
        "Mom had made the same threat last year but nothing had come of it when he had lined up four Fs."
      - when thinking about his stack of uncompleted homework, he decides that "a few copy and paste clicks off google search and it would be a steal". this shows that he uses technology to cheat on his homework as well and this would only lead him to falling behind in his academics.
    - - "no one had texted him the last 48 hours". his form of communication is through texts messages which shows his lack of social skills.
      - "his DS and PSP, still being recharged and, of course, his lifeline, the pinnacle of man's mastery over machines: the xbox game control". this shows how without his game console, he is in absolute boredom and has nothing else to do. even if he has "a clutter of homework, half or briefly done", he would rather "let his eyes wander around his room" while waiting for his game consoles to be charged.
- - - - "why did Thais need so many temple anyways? Couldn't they just build a virtual one so anyone with a crisis of faith could log on ,anytime, anywhere?" pg 140
        
        temples are religious buildings that the thai goes to and pray, the religions signifies the different gods that people worship and respect, hence making any matters religion-related a sensitive issue. However Gregory criticizes the temples and even came up with the absurd idea of making it virtual. His addiction made him an insensitive person
    - - "Couldn't they just build a virtual one" pg 140. gregory was complaining about his parents always going overseas to visit places that he thought could just be made and seen online.
      - "downloaded more information into his students than they had the hard drive memory for" pg 145. technology making its way into gregory's everyday life in terms of the brains' capacity to remember things, which is related to biology not technology.
    - - "playing the Xbox all weekend" pg 140
      - "Gregory sat up, encouraging a sigh from his bed that had endured all of his 104 kilos the past 64 hours" pg 142
      - "the last 48 hours" pg 143
  - - - Comparison to Gregory, he fits into the mould of the typical successful Singaporean student: studious, hardworking, outgoing, confident etc.
        
        "Look at your brother. He did so well in school because he was not addicted to video games." (Said by their mother)
      - Also a source of Gregrory's inadequacy and insecurities
      - Comic relief: His antics/tricks on Gregory to make tense/mysterious moments of the story more lighthearted or humorous
        
        "Then he began rummaging through all the usual places Geoff would hide his things"
        
        "Geoff must have taken his thumb with him to the hospital"
    - - Father imposes his views of masculinity on Gregory
        
        "He has stood his ground manfully and fought the good fight...What would Dad say to him now?"
        
        "Be a man, son" he said, thumping himself on the chest.
    - - The antagonist in the story to fuel Gregory's hatred and a driving force for his need to resort to games for validation.
        
        "For some reason, General Lee looked a lot like his tormentor in school, especially his swagger and the fixed, mean gaze of his eyes."
        
        Comparison/Parallels which run between the virtual world and reality. Gregory as Fan, the hero, and Nick as General Lee, the villian. Bringing out how he escapes reality and channels his issues into the game which causes his reliance.
        
        "Nick's daily taunts of 'Fat-soh, Fat-soh' had threatened to unravel Gregory's sepia-tinged childhood and lead him into the valley of darkness"
        
        "Gregory knew his one shot at redemption...By beating Nick's score, he would show that he was no pushover"