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Tanjung Rhu

SYNOPSIS
Tanjong Rhu is a story about the
relationship between Mr.T.W. Li , is a rich
businessman in the shipping business and his
mother, Ah Ma. Mr.Li's office is Shenton Way is
a modern as he is. His mother however, is a
traditional with strong religion beliefs and
pratices ancestor worship. Ah Ma and Mr. Li
have a close relationship. The day after Ah
Ma's funeral, Mr. Li recalls the day he brought
his mother a pair of binocular.

Mr. Li's excitement was dashed when his


mother didn't use it the way he want to. Mr. Li
wants her to have a better vision,but Ah Ma
can only see Tanjong Rhu of the past through
the binocular. Indirectly, Ah Ma is trying to
make Mr.Li remember who he was before he
became a serius businessman. Mr.Li cannot
remember all the details of his childhood and
when he tried to ask Ah Ma, she had already
became too sick to talk to him.
The story ends with Mr.Li trying to fulfill
Ah Ma's wish of getting the key to the drawer
that keep her important things for the altar. In
the process of looking for the key, Mr.Li
suddenly could see Tanjong Rhu.
Setting
As for setting, we divided it into three parts,
Physical Setting, Social Setting and Time. For the
physical setting, as you read this short story, the
physical setting was in Tanjung Rhu, Singapore.
Mr.Li had big house and he had big office because
he was the owner of a shipyard company. When he
was younger, he was living in a hut at Tanjung Rhu
with his parents.

Social Setting.
As for the social setting, after read this piece,
we can easily say that Mr. Li was living in a rich
neighbourhood. The reason why I said that is
because Mrs. Li was shown as a woman who
happened to have lots of activities including tea
parties. Another character mentioned in the story
was Mr.Li's son who were studying in Cambrige and
his daughter, Ying, who are going to New York soon.
And yet, his mum's altar , the big house and their
lifestyle reflects their wealth and position in the
society.

Time
The time set in the recent past and could be
applied to the present times too.

Characters :
As for the characters, they were four people in
this story and one was mentioned by the characters
but did not appear in this short story. Let us see
one by one.

1. Mr. Li
63 years old man who is very rich and owned a
shipyard and he just lost his mother. Loves to count
the ships at the shipyard. A caring man because he
bought binoculars to his lat mother just because
he wanted her mother to see as far as she can. He
loved his mother very dearly and she even scolded
her daughter Ying for being rough with her. He was
torn between traditions and modern ways. Even
tough he was a successful man, he still believed in
the parents' blessings in finding comfort and
strength.

2. Li's mother
A very gentle lady, who has lived so many years
and had gone through so many things in her life and
now is old and frail. She loved her son very dearly
and she did not need anything but loves and cares.
She too loved her granddaughter, who is very proud
that she can do lots of things. Li's mother was a
very well-mannered woman and she hold to the
traditions very strong. She strongly believed that
custom and traditions need to be hold carefully and
respectfully.

3. Helen
Mr.Li's wife and she really enjoys tea parties
with her friends which it was very displeasure to
Mr. Li.

4. Ying
The daughter of Mr.Li and Helen. A young and
modern girl but very kind and understanding. She
was very sensitive and she too was trying to build a
bridge between her father and mother.

Themes
1.Traditions and rituals count in life.
2. Love is a wonderful element in live.
3. Material things do not really count.
Moral Values
1.Respect
2. Traditions should be maintained
3. Kindness and consideration matter

Point of View
This story was written in the third person point of
view. The whole story was from Mr.Li's eyes.

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