Sing To The Dawn

Chapter 2

With silent anticipation, the entire class waits for the teacher to announce for the chosen one. Nonetheless, the teacher instead begins talking about the heavy rice stacks beneath each student’s home. He continues to prompt them to question the injustice of their society’s system; the reason to why they must pay their landlords high rentals. One of the student’s answers that their farm lands are owned by the landlord. Dawan then queries her teacher of their landlord’s right to own their land. He then acknowledged her by writing her question on the board and listing three words beneath: “Labour,” Need,” and “Inheritance,”

However, an ensuing discussion about the landlord’s ownership of their land, despite his insufficient labour under the blazing sun, abundant family wealth and lineage’s questionable inheritance of the land, soon left all three of the words crossed out. This then propels the next question by Kwai about the fairness of their village’s current situation.

A majority of the class conceded that there should be change. Some suggest a coup before dividing and sharing the land equally.  But then, the areas divided would not be proportionate to every families’ means to work on it.

Kwai suggests for all the buffalos and tools be put in the village center for everyone in need, to freely use them. With that, everyone will be able to take turns on the usage of that equipment and that each family’s manpower would no longer be an issue as the animals and tools can be productively used.

The discussion  abruptly stops at the arrival of the headmaster. Monotonously, the teacher switches to a geography lesson. After the headmaster left, the teacher then proceeds to announcing the results of the government scholarship. Dawan has won the scholarship!