Chapter 186 - Recall (5)

<Author's note: The things (racism, s.e.xism, political views, etc.) depicted or mentioned in this story do not reflect the real world and are purely coincidences. If they do, please keep in mind that they are simply for world-building and are only work of fiction. Thank you for your understanding.>

Nathan was inside his room lying on his bed and reading a book.

Although his eyes were reading the words written on the pages, his mind was elsewhere and felt like there were butterflies in his stomach.

Thoughts about how his mother is going to convince his father to buy him a PlayerConsole 3 or PC3 plague his mind.

And in case she isn't able to convince him, he also thought of many scenarios on how he was going to convince his father.

He also thought about how amazing that vampire game was.

He finds it so amazing that he couldn't help but have this strong urge to go to Vincent's house just so he can play it.

Ka-cha!

The door of his room was opened.

"I told your father and he wants to talk to you," said his mother.

Nathan put down his book and got up from his bed before asking, "Did he say yes?"

"He wants to talk to you," his mother said before going away to do the remaining household chores and taking a bath.

Nathan gulped.

His father was in the living room seating at one of the sofas and watching the news.

A news anchor was talking.

"After almost 10 months of planning, Prime Minister Abed Ikbar finally signed the Free Education Bill which affects all state-owned schools earlier this afternoon and spoke in front of a live audience to talk about the bill."

The TV screen switched to Prime Minister Ikbar.

"In this day and age, a person's greatest weapon is education."

The screen skipped.

"When I first proposed this bill to my advisors several months ago, they immediately told me that it's impossible, we don't have the funds to support such bill, our country's budget will collapse…"

"When they told me that, to tell you the truth, I cursed at them -- I really did. I told them I don't care, find a way to make it work or I'll find someone else who can…'

"Although this may hurt our country's finances today, the long-term benefits will definitely outweigh any possible short-term benefits."

"And so after months of planning, my advisors finally came up with a plan. It's a 4-phase plan which will take at least 4 years…'

"In the first phase, all public schools from kindergarten to elementary will be completely free. For high school, the tuition fee will be cut by 50%. And for college, it will be 25%…"

"In the second phase, the tuition fee for high school will be cut by 25%. And for college, 25%…"

"In the third phase, it will be another 25% for both high school and college…"

"And on the fourth and final phase, another 25% for college, making all public schools completely free by then."

The screen skipped once again.

"With this bill, I hope that a decade from now we will have many educated citizens who can compete on the international stage and our people will no longer have to leave our country in search for greener pastures…"

'Thank you, my beloved fellow citizens and God bless us all."

The screen switched back to the news anchor.

"According to the Spokesperson of the Prime Minister, Frederick Ong, phase one of the Free Education Bill will come to effect before this year's school year starts…"

"And on other news…"

Nathan went to his father and said softly, "Father..."

Nazul glanced at him for a second before looking away and said, "Your mother told me that you want a ting-tong game. She also told me that you deserve it because you were among the top 10 in your class."

"Yes, father. The ting-tong is not like the arcade. It's called PlayerConsole 3 or PC3. It's a computer that you connect to the TV."

His father didn't say anything.

"Father, will you buy me one?"

"Why do you want this ting-tong? It's useless. It's a distraction to your studies. It will make your brain stupid and you will be spending all day inside the house. Didn't I buy you a bike? Why can't you just play with that?"

"But father, the bike is different. It can't be compared to the PC3. And plus, father, I was top 10 in my class. I promise you that I will study even harder if you buy me it. I will study really hard that in this coming school year I will make sure I'll be among the top 3 in my class. And then in the following year when I enter high school, I'll make sure that I'll be in the First Section."

His father turned to him and said, "First section?"

"Yes, father. I promise that I will get to the First Section when I enter high school."

"Come here."

When Nathan heard that, his heart sank and his knees started to become weak.

He already knew the answer.

He held down his head and stared at the floor as he stepped closer to his father.

Pah!

Nazul slapped the side of his head.

"Sometimes I don't know if the tutor we hired for you is actually working. Despite having a tutor, you've never been in the First Section. Has it ever crossed your mind what will happen if you have a distraction like this ting-tong?"

Nathan didn't say anything and continued holding his head down and staring at the floor.

In Asian societies, there is this unspoken social hierarchy or caste system.

At an early age, whether the child is aware of it or not, they're already exposed to it.

One example is the school system.

Putting aside the difference in the quality of education between private and public schools, starting in kindergarten, there's already a divide. Usually, there will be two sections and they are called First Section (aka Section 1) and Second Section (aka Section 2 or Last Section).

In the First Section, that's where the smart, rich and good-looking students are gathered. Meanwhile, the remaining students will be in the Second Section.

Of course, the school will also balance out the number of students in the class based on the total number of students.

Moving on to elementary, the divide will be greater because there will be 2-4 sections. Moreover, from here on, a student's placing will be based on his/her test scores. But of course, there will always be "special cases" where a student gets to be in the First Section because of "other" reasons.

And then on high school, it's even greater, especially in public schools in the cities where there will be 5-10 sections.

And if you're assigned in the 10th section, well…

Fortunately, in college, the system where students are divided among sections is no longer there. However, considering the years that the students have been exposed to such a system, it's already ingrained in their psyche, regardless of whether they're aware of it or not.

And on top of that, add in the difference in the quality of education between private and public schools, one can already imagine what kind of mentality these people have developed.

Furthermore, this divide is just one of the factors contributing to the unspoken social hierarchy or caste system in Asian societies.

In Nathan's case, although he was among the top 10 in his class, he was only at the Second Section. And this is already with the help of a tutor and he was attending a semi-private elementary school.

"So explain to me how will you be able to study even harder and get to the First Section while also having a distraction like a ting-tong?"

"I'm sorry, father…"

"And where did you get this idea to buy this ting-tong?"

"..."

"From Vincent? From Karen?"

"It's --"

"Has it ever crossed your mind that they're rich and we're poor? Isn't that obvious to you? Or do you also need a tutor for that?"

Nathan held his head down even further.

"What, every time their parents buy them a new toy we should buy you one as well?"

"..."

"Use your brain."

"..."

"We are poor and the only thing your mother and I can give you is education so study hard. Don't copy Vincent or Karen. They're rich and we're poor."

"Yes, father."

"Go back to your room."

"Yes, father," he said and then immediately headed back to his room.

When he got to his room, he closed the door and slid back to his bed.

He picked up the book he was reading earlier and tried reading it again.

However, the words seem to just fly over his head.

Nevertheless, he still tried reading.

A few minutes passed and finally put down the book.

'If father won't buy me a PC3, then I will just save my recess money once the school year starts...'

'I also have to buy my own TV…'

'Yes, yes…'

'Although it will probably take me a long time, I will eventually have enough money to buy them…'

'Yeah, I can do this…'

As he was feeling confident with his plan, he suddenly thought of a problem.

'Wait, where will I put them?'

He scrambled his thoughts.

After he did that, instead of figuring out a solution, he thought of more problems only.

'Even if I secretly hid them inside my room, they will eventually find it…'

'Maybe at Karen's house?'

'At Vincent's house?'

He shook his head.

'None of the things I thought of were good ideas...'

His heart sank.

'Looks like I can't have my own PC3…'

'I can only play at Vincent's house…'

'Why was I born in a poor family?'

His heart sank even further.

He felt the pain on the side of his head that his father slapped.

He clenched his jaw and his hands formed a fist.

'This is so unfair!'

'I hate you guys -- mother, father, everyone! I just want a PC3! That's all!'

'I HATE YOU GUYS!!!'

'YOU'RE ALL USELESS!!!'

He relaxed his jaw and hands.

'I need something that I can do without relying on anything…'

He thought about the anime shows, especially the second one that featured the boss fight this afternoon.

He got out of his bed and started doing push-ups.

'One…'

'Two…'

'Three…'

Unfortunately, the push-ups he was doing incorrect. He had his b.u.t.t up in the air that by the time he was on his 7th push-up, his body was positioned like an inverted "V".

"Te---eee---en...!"

Right after he did the final push-up, he sat down on the floor to catch his breath.

"Haa… Haa… Haa… That was hard…"

He felt his muscles, especially on the shoulders and triceps, tighten and burning.

He flexed his right bicep.

'Needs more…'

He went back to do another set of push-ups…

***

Thud!

All of a sudden, Nathan heard a door being closed, causing him to open his eyes.

Splash!

It was then followed by the splashing sounds of running water.

His surroundings was dark but not completely because of the dimmed light coming from the emergency lamp located between the kitchen and living room, and found himself lying down on the floor with a make-shift bed made of comforters.

Splash!

He turned his eyes to the bathroom where the splashing sound of running water was coming from.

The door was closed but he could see the faint glow of light coming from below the bathroom door.

Splash!

He glanced at his watch.

3:04 am.

The splashing sound of running water stopped and the door of the bathroom opened.

Ka-cha!

Zita came out with an emergency lamp on her hand.

Nathan didn't say anything and silently watch her return to her room.

When she got back to her room, he rubbed his eyes with his fingers.

'Ugh… Why did I dream about that?'

'Annoying…'

*********************************************

Author's thoughts:

Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!

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