The Letters
Four months have passed by so quickly! I hope that all of you have found the blog useful as a site for you to air your views regarding the texts that we have done or issues we have covered for discussion during lessons.
Here's the discussion question for 'The Letters' (from 'Or Else the Lightning God'):
Mr Peter Goh’s irresponsible and insensitive dealing of Wong Oi Lan’s infatuation had caused her death. How could he have handled the matter in a better and appropriate manner?
*Remember:
(1) this is due Monday 6 August
(2) this is worth 10% of your CA2 Literature marks
(3) to proof-read your entry BEFORE publishing
(4) to write at least 100 words
45 comments:
Mr Goh is a very selfish and immature man. Wong Oi Lan loved him so much and tried expressing her feelings to him through the letters she sent him but he criticized the letter's grammatical errors in front of the whole class. And that caused Wong Oi Lan's death.
Instead of rejecting Wong Oi Lan in a mocking way, he could be frank and talk to her properly to make her give up on him.
Another way is to tell her that she is still young and has a long way to go therefore she should not spend too much time in relationships but in her academics.
If he tried to talk to her properly and did not mock at her in front of everyone, she would not have committed suicide.
Mr Goh is a proud and immature person. He does not think before doing his actions.
Wong Oi Lan, a student in his English class, gave him the love letters to confess her love for him. Instead of taking the situation seriously, he used the letter in his English class as an example of bad grammar. His actions hurt Wong Oi Lan which had caused her death.
He could talk to her calmly about the situation and refuse her confession. Even saying that he have a crush on a teacher might work because the girl will probably give up on him.
Like what Jia Lee said, having a relationship when you are still young is not a good decision because you cannot concentrate on your studies and the relationship.
He could have told her that he does not support a teacher-student relationship as it might be awkward.
Talking in a very polite, gentle and calm way might stop her from commiting suicide.
Instead of critizising about Wong Oi Lan's grammatical errors, Mr Peter Goh could talk to her about the letters in private.
He could tell her that she is still young and has a life to live for.
He could aslo tell her that he did not approve of a student-teacher relationship because of the age gap or social resons.
He could say that it might disturb her acadamically or that others will not like it.
In doing so he should be gentle, calm and serious.
Mr Goh is not only an immature man, but he is actually not thinking of what he is doing. In this story, Wong Oi Lan actually falls in love and writes love letters to him which contains a lot of grmmatical errors, but unfortunately, he REJECTED IN A WRONG MANNER which had cause Wong Oi Lan to commit suicide.
Instead of humiliating Wong Oi Lan by showing the grammatical errors in front of the whole class, he should just talk to her and her parents personally about the consequences of having relationships when she is still young.
Another way is to tell her that only when you are mature enough then you can have relationship.
By that way Wong Oi Lan will not commit sucide.
Another words, Mr Goh is an "unthinkable" man. :P
From the passage,Mr Peter Goh seems to be very proud because he spread the letters out on the table and announced with self-congratulatory.
Instead of treating this letter seriously,he treated it as a joke and even showed it to the whole class,saying how bad this letter was written infront of Wong Oi Lan.
I think this really hurts Wong Oi Lan's heart because in the end she commited suicide and was sent to the hospital in a critical condition.
Mr Peter Goh just treated this letter as a show off,the action he did was just to show Miss Mei Yan
how good he was at attracting girls.
Mr Peter Goh just treated this letter as a show off,the action he did was just to show Miss Mei Yan
how good he was at attracting girls.
Maybe,if Mr Peter Goh spoke nicely to her and reason out why they can't go into relationships,Wong Oi Lan wouldn't have commited suicide.
Mr Goh is a proud, vain and egoistic man, very much like a chivalrous pig even in his workspace... He is only interested in woman like Mei Yan , ignoring and criticizing the affection shown by his students who have a crush on him. Especially so towards Wong Oi Lan.
The cruel joke he played on Wong Oi Lan, pointedly exposing her secret love letter during the English lesson, had probably hurt Wong Oi Lan's feelings deeply, possibly even traumatizing her with his sick
sense of humor. All these events were the leading causes of her death.
He could have asked her out in private after school lessons to touch on this sensitive matter instead of humiliating her in class
and they could have reached a point where they both understood negative results of a student-teacher relationship thus making her give up on him and yet, may even be able to be friends.
Wong Oi Lan's soul would never rest in peace...
*Wong Oi Lan's ghostly hand reaches from behind and strangles Jose's neck violently*
Gah!!! Wheeze...Wheeze...
*Struggling stops and he falls limply on the table*
Slam...
Fin
Mr Goh behaves like a small child.Slapping the thighs,guffawing loudly,these are certainly proof of his childish behaviour as adults behave discreetly.Well,most of them anyway.
Mocking her infront of her entire class,asking her to correct the contents of her letter,her personal love letter only addressed to him.Criticizing her poor grammar was not only hurtful to Miss Oi Lan but may induce such actions in her,such as suicide.
I feel that Mr Goh should call Oi Lan to stay back after class or school and have a quite chat together.He should say that crushes on teachers are merely infatuations that come and go swiftly.Not that hurtful,tactless technique which Mr Goh have used on Miss Wong.
Acting gentlemanly would increase chances of attracting Miss Mei Yi instead of acting as rotten as he was.
~Sean
I think that Mr Peter Goh is an extremely boastful person and he is very disrespectful to people. He could have talk to Wong Oi Lan privately about the matter “teacher-student relationship” instead of mocking her in front of the class unknowingly that his actions were hurtful to her. Although Wong Oi Lan has lots of grammatical errors in the love letter she wrote, Mr Peter Goh has no rights to take the letters as a laughing matter and edit them purposely in front of the class and ask her to edit her own grammar. Even he wants to reject Wong Oi Lan, he should, privately, have talk to her calmly and in a much more concerned manner of having a “teacher-student” relationship is impossible as she’s still young and should concentrate more on her academic and not think of having a relationship at such a young age. If he did that, it might save Wong Oi Lan’s death from happening and he will not be guilt-stricken about her death.
Jolie
Mr Peter Goh could have handled the matter in a more appropriate way. He had recieved the letter for PERSONAL view, and not for English lesson.
He have the rights to call for the student to have a good talk with her. So he probably could seize this opportunity to tell her that instead of putting all her time in writing all those mushy letters, she could have spent it on her academics.
For a Secondary Four girl to get in all these relationship problems, might as well spent it on her studies. At least, if she spend it on her studies, then she could get into a good school after graduating from Secondary school.
But the tactless way Mr Peter Goh handled the matter is very inappropriate, because of the way he handled things, that is why Wong Oi Lan wanted to commit suicide. She even bore hatred with Mr Peter Goh for what he did to her, by ways of mocking, embarrassing, insulting and even his sarcastic ways.
Shanhui was here...
and now posted!!
Mr Peter Goh is a sort of naive and unthoughtful person, as he did not knew the consequences of having a cruel joke on Wong Oi Lan, who had a crush on him.
He should confront to her and told her personally after the school rather than just mocking her using the words that Wong Oi Lan written to him which he had to read it in private.
He should tell her that she is a student that still unable to support herself and yet still go for relationship and said to her to concentrate on studies for the time being.
Jun Xian
From the story , Peter Goh is a cruel and proud man . Wong Oi Lan loved Peter Goh alot and even confessed her love for him . Instead of appreciating it , he teased Wong Oi Lan by using her love letters for him and started pointing out those mistakes during English Grammer lesson . This caused Wong Oi Lan to die .
Peter Goh should have talk to her in a polite manner and not teasing her in front of the whole class .
He could also have talk to her personally and make her understand what he thinks .
Besides that , Peter Goh could have calm her down and tell her the importance of studying instead of relationships .
Wong Oi Lan would not die if Peter Goh speaks to her in a polite manner .
i am Amabelle :x
Mr Goh is a immature man.Wong Oi Lan loved him and she tried to express her love by written a love letter to him.But Peter Goh read out the letter in front of the whole class and called Wong Oi Lan to correct the grammar mistakes from the letter.Wong Oi Lan jump down because Peter Goh had shamed her in class by read out her letter.
Actualy Peter could talk to Wong Oi Lan personally without people around as to rejected her.
Also,he should tell her that the relationship between teacher and student is ungainly.
If he talk to her properly,he won't caused her died.
This is MiChelLe ^o^
Mr Goh could tell Oi Lan nicely or firmly that he does not like her by the form of letters or verbally. Instead he humiliate her by using her personal letter to correct grammar mistakes in front of the whole class. This shows how immature and insensitive he is.
By telling her nicely, the most she would do is to cry for three days three nights. At least she would not think of committing suicide. Mr Goh’s way of telling her is incorrect even if he wants attention he should not do that. Mr Goh would tell her reasonably why is not accepting her.
Peter Goh is a selfish and cruel man. He did not consider Wong Oi Lan's feelings before showing the letters to the class. He just wanted to grab attention from the teachers and he did not consider Wong Oi Lan's feelings.
If he does not feel anything for Wong Oi Lan, he could have talked to her in private and tell her honestly, and not by exposing the letters. Love letters are meant to be private and personal. By asking her out in private and tell her frankly of his feelings, a life could have been saved.
Other than rejecting her feelings, he could explain to her, that she was too young to go into a relationship and that study is her main focus, not love. Let her understand that being in a relationship at her age was not appropriate, and futher more, a teacher-student relationship. And Peter Goh could have told her that her action is distressing him, and it will also affect herself.
If he could not say out these things to her, he could have asked Miss Mei Yan or some other female teachers to talk to her, or to counsel her. He could have requested them to help him to tell Wong Oi Lan of his feelings.
If Mr Peter Goh rejected her in a clear-headed situation and rational, mature way, Wong Oi Lan might not feel so hurt and would not have taken her own life.
-Wei Lin-
Mr Peter Goh is indeed selfish for the actions he did towards Wong Oi Lan. He is proud and is an attention-seeker. He only wanted to attract Miss Mei Yan and did not bother about the person he had caused hurt towards to.
Mr Peter Goh should have just kept the love letters to himself and not expose it to the school faculty as well as his students. These letters were private and in Mr Peter Goh's actions, he had cause Wong Oi Lan tremendous pain that had led to taking her own life.
Mr Peter Goh could have just talked to Wong Oi Lan privately about the love letters and not humilate her infront of the whole class, as the letters were personal. He should have confronted her instead of making fun of her. He could also explain things to her like her academics are more important and that she should concentrate on it. Also that a teacher and a student relationship is only going to end up badly.
When Mr Peter Goh humilated Wong Oi Lan, Wong Oi Lan probably felt alot of hurt which made her take her own life when Mr Peter Goh could have prevented this in many other ways than insulting her.
Jenina
Mr Goh was being proud and immature have cause Wong Oi Lan death. Even he want to reject Wong oi Lan he should not reject her in mocking her love letters in front of the whole class and want her to come out to the board and correct it.
He should have talk to her privately. Teling her that they cannot be together. Or just have ignore about the letters and continue like normal. Or call her good friends to persuade her to give up on him. If Mr Goh has try this way, Wong Oi Lan may not commit suicide and continue to live happily.
Aileen
Mr Peter Goh is very cruel and loves to insult people. His immatured act caused Wong Oi Lan death. He should be regretful for what he had done.
Wong Oi Lan was a teenager and it is very usual for her to fall in love. Mr Peter Goh, as a teacher who she loves, should just counsell her and told her that it is impossible as the age gap is too far. Even so, the teacher's teaching and the student's concentration of studying might be distracted. Mr Peter Goh could just say that he cares and loves his students.
After all the explanation, Wong Oi Lan could think twice and understand the situation. She would not jump off the eight storey flat.
Teenagers should be able to understand the situation as they are matured enough. Teenagers need people to be nice to them for them to listen and realise their mistakes.
~Halim~
Mr Goh is not only a selfish but an impulsive man. His ations towards Wong Oi lan have deeply hurt her, causing her death.
Instead of criticizing and mocking at the love letters Wong Oi Lan wrote, he could have talk to her privately. At least that won't have hurt her much.
He could have also told her that it is not the right time to fall in love as studies are more important. He could have also told her that a teacher-student relationship will only make them feel awkward and he don't encourage it.
If he had used the above methods i have mentioned, Wong Oi Lan would not have commited suicide and the ending might be a happy one.
Peter Goh is a very selfish man who thought so highly of himself and freely criticized others without thinking twice. What he did to Wong Oi Lan was mean enough and he has no right to humiliate her.
Instead, in my opinion, he should explain to her in a nice way that the gap between their age is not suitable and she should concentrate more on her studies. Also, he should never correct her grammatical mistakes from the letters because that would hurt Wong Oi Lan's feeling.
Maybe by talking to her nicely and not humiliating her, Wong Oi Lan would not feel that she was being despised by someone she loved and would not have committed suicide.
Mr Peter Goh should not have done those things to Wong Oi Lan. He should have talked to her personally about the matter.
He should have explained to her why it is not right to do this kind of things at her age. A student-teacher relationship is not appropriate at allas it may stir up a lot of problems.
Mr Goh should have just talked to her. He should tell her to just concentrate on her studies and nothing else. What he did has hurt her deeply and has caused her to attempt suicide. He should have considered her feelings before doing anything.
I think that Mr Peter Goh was too proud and selfish as he could had talked to Wong Oi Lan in private rather than embarassing her in front of the whole class, Mr Peter Goh selfishness had indirectly casued Oi Lan's death as Oi Lan had not only have to face tremendous embarassment and also was she heartbroken that the teacher she liked had make a fool out of her in the class...
And also Mr Peter Goh should had thought about the consequences of his actions that he had done and what effect will it have on Oi Lan and how will she feel...
Just imagine that someone she loved so dearly had betrayed her trust in him and embaressed her in the whole class... this kind of feeling is unbearable
sorry, hackerbaby is sebastian and i am hackerbaby ..... ^.^
Mr Goh should not done this to Wong oi lan. He was making fun of her love's letter by showing the grammatical mistake from the letter to the whole class. He should keep it privately.
Mr Goh should say nicely to her. He should told her that it's not the right time for you to love me.You are still young or told Wong oi lan's parent to slove this problem.
Talking nicely to her.She would not jump down from the 8th floor.
Mr Peter Goh should have explained to Wong Oi Lan kindly that he do not like her in a better way. Like talking to Wong Oi Lan privately and explain to her that she should concentrate more on her studies and not spending time developing on an infatuation. He should not have use the letters Wong Oi Lan gave to him to conduct an English Grammar lesson for the class, he even called Wong Oi Lan up to correct the grammar mistakes made in the letters. And by doing that make Wong Oi Lan very awkward. My Peter Goh's insensitive and cruel
characteristics that caused Wong Oi Lan death. If he could have been more sensitive and tactful, Wong Oi Lan would not have died.
Mr Goh is a very insensitive and mean person.Wong Oi Lan expressed her love for him through love letters but he betrayed her love by using them for a lesson for grammatical errors.His action caused her to be so sad that during recess,she sneaked out of school and jumped down from the block opposite the school.
Mr Goh should not have insulted Wong Oi Lan but talk to her quietly and advised her that she is still young and should focus on her academics.He should also explain to her that their age gap is too big and a teacher-student relationship will be awkward.
Mr Peter Goh was proud and flirt.
He was proud as he told his colleagues that Woong Oi Lan wrote him lots of love letter. He read to them with lots of expression.
He was very evil as he ask the Wong Oi Lan to correct the grammatical mistake in front of the class which make me thinks that he showing everyone that the letter was written by Wong Oi Lan. As he did this, Which causes Wong Oi Lan to commit suicide.
If he want Wong Oi Lan to give up, he should not using mocking method but he should personally talk nicely to Wong Oi Lan to give up. Being a teacher should be teaching students lots of new things but not falling in love with the students although Mr Peter Goh did not...
It all Mr Peter Goh WRONG!!!
Mr Goh is a self-centered man who does not care about Wong Oi Lan's feelings. He should not insult Oi lan and embarrassed her. Everyone makes mistakes, and nobody is perfect.
He should not reject Oi Lan by insulting and mocking her in this way as he will hurt her feelings thus, it results her death.
Instead of using these ways to reject her, he could tell her that teacher-student relationship cannot last, as their age gaps are too big.
He could also tell her that she is too young and should not waste time in this relationship, as studies are more important.
If he tried to handle the matter that I have just said, Oi Lan would not have committed suicide.
yongyi
The insensitive Mr Peter Goh caused the death of a girl called Wong Oi Lan. The girl commited suicide because of the cruel teasing of Mr Peter Goh.
He could have handled it in a better way without hurting her feeling such as having a personal face to face conversation and explain to her nicely about the impossibility of a teacher and student relationships.
Instead of using the letter for the grammar lesson,he should have keep it private because by using the letter in the class,he indirectly hurting Wang Oi Lan's feeling.
To talk in private is the best way to solve this case.Mr Peter Goh was too selfish and immature that he caused the terrible thing to happen.Although it is not 100% guaranteed that Wong Oi Lan will not commit suicide after the conversation,the chances of her commiting suicide is very low.
If only Mr Peter Goh can be a little considerate,Wong Oi Lan will still alive with a thousands better things to do.
.Novi.
angela said :
Mr Peter Goh is a man who is insensitive and impulsive. He embarrasses Wong Oi Lan in front of the whole class by pointing out and asking her to correct her own grammatical mistakes. He also despises, made fun and laughed at her by sharing parts of the letter with the class. He should not have done that, as love letters are personal and not meant to be shared with others. Mr Peter Goh is also an impulsive man as he does not think carefully what the consequences of his actions are.
Instead of embarrassing her in front of the whole class, he could have talked to her privately after school. He could have told Wong Oi Lan that she should spend more time on her studies rather than on relationships. A teacher-student relationship is also not suitable as there will be a age gap between them and it will make things awkward.
Mr Peter Goh should not have made fun of Wong Oi Lan during the English lesson and asked Mei Yan to witness it. Instead, he should show the good side of himself and not hurting others just to get the attention of Mei Yan.
If he had talked to Wong Oi Lan privately and explained why he cannot accept her love for him, she would not have committed suicide and landed in the hospital in a critical condition.
This is angela.
Mr Goh is a irresponsible and insensitive man. He was the one who caused Wong Oi Lan's death.He should not have used Wong Oi Lan's letters during the english lesson as it made her feel insulted.He should not show Wong Oi Lan's letters to the class as it made her feel embarassed.
Instead of insulting her infront of the class, he could have talk to her nicely and not causing Wong Oi Lan to kill herself.
Mr Goh should tell her that he do not support a student-teacher relationship as it might disturb her studies.
Mr goh is a very inconsiderate and immature person. He did not consider how Wong Oi Lan would feel if he used her letters for an english grammar lesson. He should have at least asked her in the first place.
He should have talked to her if he did not like the idea of a student-teacher relationship and not mock her in such a cruel way. His immature behaviour caused Wong Oi Lan to believe that she had no point of living. Mr Goh could have saved a life if he had been more considerate.
If I was in Mr. Goh's shoes, I would have handled the matter more maturely. Mr. Goh is very insensitive and irresponsible and that had caused Wong Oi Lan's death.
I would go to Wong Oi Lan and explain to her that she is too young for me and that I am not available. I would advice her to finish and concentrate on her studies first. I would be supportive of her and consult her. By doing this, i will also be impressing Mei Yan and she will think that I am a sensitive and caring man. That way, I will be making 2 people happy at a time!
I think Mr peter Goh should not read out the letter in the whole class to let them find out the grammar mistakes.Wong Oi Lan felt sad and heartbroken.He really insult her so she jumped down from 8th floor.He should talk to her after school secretly to advise her do not spend too much time on him,she should focus on academics.
He should have personally talked to her or approach her and tell her about how he feel about it towards her. If he does not love her, he should reject the love properly instead of using it to mock at her. He should even emphasise on the age gap between student and teacher how is it not possible for them to be together. He should not have used the letter for lessons as it is cruel to mock at her in front of the whole class and the letters are meant to be personal. He could have handle the matter withour mocking or even insulting her but speak to her personally about how he felt towards her and her love for him.
By the way.. the previous post was Terence's post.
Mr. Goh is a very selfish man. He purposely make fun of Wong Oi Lan in front of his english grammar class, which make Wong Oi Lan felt very embarrassed. Mr. Goh should have handled the situation more maturely and not so mean to her. He should have talk Wong Oi Lan personally and ask her to stop sending him the love letters. If Mr.Goh were to handled it this way, Wong Oi Lan would still be alive. To impress Mei Yan, he should be sensitive towards Wong Oi Lan. Now that he has caused Wong Oi Lan death, Mei Yan now has the wrong impression of Mr. Goh.
Ming
Mr Goh is very insulting because the actions that he did to Wong Oi Lan was bad. He did not think how Wong Oi Lan would feel. He should have thought about her feelings before doing anything to her. Another way to settle the matter is by talking to her nicely instead. If he were to talk to her nicely , she would not have did anything to end her life and maybe just try to stop liking Mr Goh.
By Kelvin 2E1
Mr Goh is a very insensitive and selfish person.He did not think of how other people think and just do whatever he wants just for his own good.Just like Wong Oi Lan,she love and trust Mr Goh so much and that is what Mr Goh did to her.All the foolish things that he had done for his own good cause Wong Oi Lan's death.
Instead of insulting and teasting of Wong Oi Lan's,Mr Goh should try to speak with Oi Lan personaly and tell her she should not think of any relationship now and spend more time on her academics.
If Mr Goh talk to her in a proper way instead of teasting her infront of the class,she might not had committed suicide
riyan(:
Right....
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