| They didn't know him very well. To some, he was just a
schoolmate. Yet, these Secondary 4/1 students from Commonwealth Secondary School
toiled hard for Valentine's Day. To help their mysterious schoolmate stricken with brain
tumour. They wanted to do something for Valentine's Day, and decided to make their
own chocolates to sell. "A classmate of ours knew how to make chocolates.
She brought the receipe to school," said Tan Jiing Shyuan, 16. But the class
didn't know who they were going to give the proceeds of the sale to. So they turned
to their form teacher, Madam Chang Lee Huey, for ideas. Said Ng Shu Jun,
16:"She told us we had a schoolmate who needed help. Who better to help than a
few Commonwealthian?" But it wasn't easy. The class of 40 worked with 20 volunteers from other Sec 4 and Sec 3 classes. They spent two days - last Saturday and Sunday - toiling over the stoves in their school kitchen. Madam Chang was there too. "On the first day, we were there from 7 am to 6pm. But were able to complete only 200 boxes," said Jiing Shyuan. They had orders for 1550 boxes, each to contain four pieces of peppermint chocolate. Panic set in. The students asked Madam Chang if they could return to school the next day, to finish making the chocolates. The next day, they started making chocolates at 10 am. "By 5 pm, we were again freaking out. We had completed only 800 boxes. That was only about half," said Shu Jun with a laugh. Some of them melted the chocolate and stirred the peppermint mixture. Others were in charge of packing the chocolates into beautiful gold and silver boxes. It was 11.30 pm when it was all done. Some of them had small burns and blisters on their hands. "We had to keep stirring the peppermint mixture until it became a paste. Usually, it takes 10 to 15 minutes," said Shu Jun. "And sometimes when the mixture is too hot, some of it will spew out and burn our hands slightly," said Jiing Shyuan.
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Cleaning up
was equally tough. "Scubbing the hardened peppermint mixture on the stoves was
horrible, " said Shu Jun. But the students maintained that their efforts were
worth it. And they insisted they should not get all the credit. "Madam Chang
was such a great help. She was the one who had paid for the ingredients and
packaging first," said Jiing Shyuan. Said Madam Chang, a teacher of 25 years:"I'm so proud of these students. I supported them all the way because it was for a good cause." And no, there were no complaints from their parents. "On Sunday, my parents waited an entire hour for me outside the school. But they weren't angry at all," said Shu Jun. Said Shu Jun's mother, Madam Jennifer Tan, 49, a clerk:"I'm so glad she has the heart to help people. This is a good thing, so of course, we support here." Madam Tan said she and her husband were not the only parents waiting for their children. "It was just our way to show our support for our children. I felt it would have been nice if we could chip in as well," she said. At $2 a box, the chocolates made for over $2000 for their schoolmate. Said Mrs Lim Lai Cheng, Commonwealth Secondary's principal since 1999:"I'm very pleased that they are willing share their love, especially for Valentine's Day. By Amy Chiew, The New Paper 14 Feb 2001
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