Stories from My Youth: VI - The Rebellion
My Fourth Grade year is among the most memorable years in my school life in Hong Kong. The most striking event of the year was the great rebellion.
You see, the hierarchy of the class in my school was quite complicated. The homeroom teacher represents the ultimate authority of a class, which can be countered by only the Principal of the school. Within homeroom class, the teacher appoints a class captain to assist her in various matters: handing things out, keeping order of the class in between breaks. The captain has the authority to appoint several (two in my class) assistances to help her in performing these affairs. The rest of the students are lowly slaves, with unofficial hierarchy (depending on the degree of "smartness" and "coolness") within this student body.
At the beginning of the year, Miss --- has appointed Kitty as the captain of the class. Kitty, in turn, appointed several of her friends (both girls) to be her assistances. The guys in the class were not happy with this arrangement and complained to Miss ---, but Miss --- dismissed our concern.
As they say, "absolute power corrupts absolutely". Soon Kitty was abusing her authority. She began to chat, first with her assistances, then with her other girlfriends. Such hypocrisy, we guys complained, is a "disorderly action" and should not be tolerated. Miss --- again dismissed the guys' concern.
Another day, Peter, made a paper plane and flew it across the room. It hit Kitty on the nose, and the class burst out in laughter. Kitty, steam-red, crumbled the plane and threw at Peter's face, not once, but several times. I was stunned: a warning for Peter might be sufficient, but attacking Peter was not acceptable. She further took out a pen and marked down Peter several times (which, she actually had no authority to do so). Kitty, without realizing it, had just ignited her own destruction.
As her abuse was greater, and the anger among classmates grew, one day, Bertrand, Peter and I (the elite of the hierarchy) talked amongst ourselves for a plan of action. A plan was decided. Kitty was to meet her Waterloo the next day.
So the next day came. The second class-change was when the great battle began. Bertrand, Peter and I simultaneously dropped our erasers on the floor, and all three of us stood up without permission and slowly picked them up. The entire class was silent with awe. The three of us glared at Kitty, and Kitty, enraged, screamed, "You three are so dead. I am going to give all of you two marks. Peter, that is clearly enough for you to see your parents."
"You can do whatever you want, because what you do has no significance. You are nothing." Bertrand said with his trademark calmness.
"Why don't you give us five? Six? Seven? You might run out of space, or better, run out of ink, since you want to give us so many!" Peter jested.
"It is not yet my birthday, so I do not feel right accepting so many of your special gifts!" I added.
Kitty was so angry! But at the same time, she had nothing to say to counter our sarcastic comments. The elites were known for their wits as well as academic excellence. She could only scream, then she mumbled something incoherent, and finally, resigning herself to draw innumerable marks. We, however, were far from laughing. We had managed to delay her such that, at the height of Kitty's rage, the Principal entered into the room.
I do not know what happened at the meeting between Miss --- and the Principal. I do know, however, that the next day, Kitty resigned her position. Co-captains were nominated and then appointed by Miss ---. Bertrand (as expected) and another girl, Jennifer (surprise, given her lower status), got the jobs.
You see, the hierarchy of the class in my school was quite complicated. The homeroom teacher represents the ultimate authority of a class, which can be countered by only the Principal of the school. Within homeroom class, the teacher appoints a class captain to assist her in various matters: handing things out, keeping order of the class in between breaks. The captain has the authority to appoint several (two in my class) assistances to help her in performing these affairs. The rest of the students are lowly slaves, with unofficial hierarchy (depending on the degree of "smartness" and "coolness") within this student body.
At the beginning of the year, Miss --- has appointed Kitty as the captain of the class. Kitty, in turn, appointed several of her friends (both girls) to be her assistances. The guys in the class were not happy with this arrangement and complained to Miss ---, but Miss --- dismissed our concern.
As they say, "absolute power corrupts absolutely". Soon Kitty was abusing her authority. She began to chat, first with her assistances, then with her other girlfriends. Such hypocrisy, we guys complained, is a "disorderly action" and should not be tolerated. Miss --- again dismissed the guys' concern.
Another day, Peter, made a paper plane and flew it across the room. It hit Kitty on the nose, and the class burst out in laughter. Kitty, steam-red, crumbled the plane and threw at Peter's face, not once, but several times. I was stunned: a warning for Peter might be sufficient, but attacking Peter was not acceptable. She further took out a pen and marked down Peter several times (which, she actually had no authority to do so). Kitty, without realizing it, had just ignited her own destruction.
As her abuse was greater, and the anger among classmates grew, one day, Bertrand, Peter and I (the elite of the hierarchy) talked amongst ourselves for a plan of action. A plan was decided. Kitty was to meet her Waterloo the next day.
So the next day came. The second class-change was when the great battle began. Bertrand, Peter and I simultaneously dropped our erasers on the floor, and all three of us stood up without permission and slowly picked them up. The entire class was silent with awe. The three of us glared at Kitty, and Kitty, enraged, screamed, "You three are so dead. I am going to give all of you two marks. Peter, that is clearly enough for you to see your parents."
"You can do whatever you want, because what you do has no significance. You are nothing." Bertrand said with his trademark calmness.
"Why don't you give us five? Six? Seven? You might run out of space, or better, run out of ink, since you want to give us so many!" Peter jested.
"It is not yet my birthday, so I do not feel right accepting so many of your special gifts!" I added.
Kitty was so angry! But at the same time, she had nothing to say to counter our sarcastic comments. The elites were known for their wits as well as academic excellence. She could only scream, then she mumbled something incoherent, and finally, resigning herself to draw innumerable marks. We, however, were far from laughing. We had managed to delay her such that, at the height of Kitty's rage, the Principal entered into the room.
I do not know what happened at the meeting between Miss --- and the Principal. I do know, however, that the next day, Kitty resigned her position. Co-captains were nominated and then appointed by Miss ---. Bertrand (as expected) and another girl, Jennifer (surprise, given her lower status), got the jobs.
posted by Tristan at 10:44 p.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home