Page 22 - kaleidoscope 2024 - 20.3.25

GROUP 2
– JUNIOR MIDDLE 2

First Runner-Up:
CEDRIC TAN YU XUAN

Class: 2 Zhong

sitting under the tree to rest and study during a hot sunny day, or “touch wood” when they
Describe a day felt like they were carrying bad luck. Since the tree had never changed even a bit, but the
students’ attitudes did. After the school allowed phones to be brought to school, no one
even batted an eye at the poor tree.
when the world had no Xue Ren solemnly stared at the tree and sat under it, thinking about how long it

internet connection. had been standing there all alone. Suddenly, he heard his gamer friends call out to him.
This was a first as they would usually text him online to join a ranked match, but this time
was different. They were inviting him for an outing! Xue Ren was shocked to his core yet
overjoyed. He glanced at the tree one last time, bidding it farewell before he set off with his
It was a bright sunny day. Flowers of every colour were blooming all over the street, giant friends on a new adventure.
trees looming over the many pedestrians passing by, although a mundane sight, it was still
a breath-taking sight to behold, yet no one seemed to notice. Peculiarly, despite all the The world at large was almost perfect, with everyone getting together. Sadly, it seemed
intricacies of the world around them, they were more concerned with scrolling on social that this utopia was never meant to last. Many companies were losing huge amounts of
media and moderating online servers. That was until one man finally had enough. money and were panicking. Therefore, in just a mere 24 hours, they had fixed all the electric
cables. One person turned their phone back on, another quickly followed in suit, and the
Tired of his friends using their phones during outings, a man named John Doe had world soon went back to the way it was. John was disappointed, but at the same time,
ordered a ‘hit’ on every electric cable in the world, and the world soon plunged into chaos. very satisfied with the results. As short as it lasted, he made a mental note to do it again
As soon as John’s men destroyed the cables, social media platforms went blank. YouTube sometime in the future. Many people think that losing the internet would be detrimental to
videos could not be watched while online servers and phone calls stopped functioning humankind, but is it really? Or is it simply because we are so accustomed to its convenience
entirely, leaving everyone stunned. Their natural instinct as a member of the current society that we trick ourselves into thinking it is essential? It seems that the overuse of the internet
was to immediately check social media for information, but it was to no avail as there was might be the true detriment to humankind.
no reception. That is when it happened. Like a curse being lifted, one man suddenly asked
himself the question “What have we been doing all this time?” Many soon followed suit.

All of a sudden, people looked away from their phones and laptops, as if it was of any
use in the current state of the world. Online servers moderates suddenly lost their purpose,
thus leaving their room to touch grass for the first time in eons, social media influencers
interacted with real human beings in the real world, thus getting a life, something they never
had in the old world. Even overworked office workers who had thousands of deadlines
were suddenly free. They stepped out of their cubicles and went to the park for a leisurely
stroll and fresh air; it was truly beautiful. It was akin to society before phones were invented.
Kids playing hide and seek together during lunch breaks, a man asking his local bartender
how his day was, and in a stroke of serendipity for John, people stopped using phones and
actively engaged in conversations during outings, a sight once thought to be from a bygone
era.

A high school boy from Cai Jiu Duo Lian Independent High School, was having an
online match with his gamer friends on a bench right outside his school when the incident
occurred, let us call him Xue Ren. Xue Ren was understandably furious and frustrated as
he almost won the match when the servers suddenly crashed. As he kicked a tree to vent
his anger, Xue Ren realised something along the lines of “Since when was this tree here?”
A small plaque beside the tree stated that this huge tree was still a sprout when the school
was established. Since then, it has watched thousands of kids come and go. The kids loved

20 ......... English Essay Writing Competition English Essay Writing Competition ......... 21