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I wasn't really immersed at first as I could not really picture a dumping ground. However, the way the author describes people and items really allowed me to picture the scene from a third person point of view. The way he wrote about Fatimah explained how alluring she was. “The sight of her figure in clinging kebaya and sarong always incited blush on the cheeks of sober men.” This shows me that Fatimah has a nice figure which appeals to men. The author uses a technique called ‘show not tell’ to accurately picture what the character and or scene is about. “‘Give me that rose,’ she said alluringly. ‘Pluck that rose for me and I’ll lend you my silver key for half the usual price.’ Hamid ignored her.” This sentence gave me the impression that Hamid is not a person who settle for material things such as money or valuable items. It also gave me the impression that Fatimah is a person who would do anything and everything to get what she wants. “‘Look at my Lips,’ she said, ‘do you not consider my lips sweeter than all roses in creation? Come, give me that rose and I’ll let you taste my lips.” Hamid turned away to his usual place behind the stall.” The way Fatimah spoke told me that she is a very confident woman and is aware of her beauty, however she thinks through seduction, she would be able to get everything her way. I am also very impressed that the author only used one short sentence to convey a sense of awkwardness in this scene by including his other customers “The other customers avoided his eyes” This implies that the situation was very awkward, and the customers did not want to make it more uncomfortable for Hamid by having eye contact. The author also did a good job in describing Fatimah’s injuries telling us how severe and in shock Fatimah is. “Her hair was rumpled as though someone had tried to wrench it off her skull. Her arms were scratched and etched with weals and bruises. Her kebaya was torn and her eye were puffed up, one of them almost closed. There was blood on her lips.” Although the author did not state what happened to her, I was able to roughly know what had happened.

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at the start of the story the author describes the place in detail, the rubbish ground, hamid's stall with the description of the table, the materials to make coffee and other food and drinks he sells. The author then goes on to describe hamid's background and his general character and demeanor where hamid is generally respected by the people there- a place as rowdy as dhoby ghaut where there are gangsters harassing stall owners for protection fees. Hamid then goes on to meet Fatimah, where the detail is written on about Fatimah's popularity, her beauty and her interactions with Hamid. Fatimah's flirtations with hamid is also described along with a difference in fatimah's mannerisms when hamid smiles at her. As with Fatimah's attempts of flirting with hamid, he seems generally aloof and cold at first to fatimah, even when she offers her silver key to hamid- referring to her modesty. However, a turn of events is then shown as when fatimah gets hurt on 1 occasion by a group of untrustworthy men. their shaky bond is then established and redeemed when hamid is awoken from his sleep to help fatimah get home safely and let her compose herself before getting home safely. This moment is the most impactful in the story because I see fatimah let her guard down to drink hamid's coffee and to accept the comfort from a man despite fatimah just getting harmed by many men prior- revealing something special in hamid and the 2 characters' relationship. By the end of the story i am then intruiged to find out more on the development of fatimah and hamid's relationship as the author describes the change in the way both characters act with one another and displaying their trust with each other in an apt manner leaving me to want more when i am at the end of the story.

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The story did not really catch my attention until the story introduced Fatimah who was extremely self important, childish and thought of herself highly as compared to the humble, reserved and quiet Hamid, Fatimah tries her hardest to get Hamid to give her the rose, by offering her silver key at half price, by offering a kiss and lastly by drawing the attention of all the people nearby by saying it revived the run over cat. All of which fail to catch the attention of Hamid who despite everything she said, continued as normal.

The story shows the stark difference between the two characters' personalities and their developing relationship. Hamid comes off as a hard working type who lives life slowly serving others while Fatimah comes off as someone who does not care about what others think and acts like a child trying to get everything that she wants and lives life for herself and herself only.

Towards the end of the story where they describe Hamid's surroundings slowly turning to late night and Fatimah leaving with five young men, it really highlights the difference in the lives that they lead.

I was mostly engaged with the last paragraph of the story where Fatimah comes back to Hamid's store with clear signs of abuse from the young men, For her to come to Hamid's store of all places means that she finds this the safest place to be and finds comfort within Hamid who treats her kindly unlike the people she was just with.

Hamid offers her a coffee for free, wipes her face, and most importantly plucks the rose that he cared for throughout the entire story and puts it in her hair to make her not just look, but feel prettier. All while Hamid faces a tougher financial situation from Fatimah. Fatimah on the other hand just quietly sits there while Hamid wipes the tears off her face, accepting everything and probably rethinking her decisions which led to that point.

In the end Fatimah leaves behind the silver key which she kept talking about, which either means that Fatimah held up her end of the deal for trading the key in exchange for the rose OR/AND because she appreciates what Hamid did for her that night, to cheer her up.

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In the introduction, the author has described the place directly. One can somehow imagine how Hamid's stall was surrounded by a heap of rubbish and perhaps suggest that the place was unsanitary. Then, the author described what Hamid looked like, which was intimidating to me as I could picture him with "shiny lizard eyes" and a "military moustache". Another part of the story that appealed to me was how composed Hamid was when he witnessed the cat being hit by a car. It says: "Hamid stood on the road examining the still body of the cat." and "picked it up by its tail and threw it towards a corner of the rubbish heap". As normal human beings, we would not be as calm as Hamid when we see the carcass of a dead animal, and these descriptions made me curious to know more - perhaps the author will explain further why he acted as he did. Not only that, the author hints that the beautiful Fatimah may be working as an escort, as it says: "Rumour has it that she hired out the key for twenty-five dollars a time. It opened the door to her room." which was later confirmed by herself, stating "I'll even lend you my silver key for free of charge!", which Hamid was uninterested of any deals that she made.

The best part of the story for me was how Hamid took care of Fatimah after she was assaulted by the men she was with earlier that day. Although Fatimah relentlessly teased Hamid about plucking the rose down in his heap, Hamid did not say a word and just " walked to the rubbish heap and returned with his red rose" and he " drew out all the money he had" and called a taxi for her. I was very moved by his actions because Hamid can be portrayed as a cold person, but he had the heart to help someone in need immediately.

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The writer gave a detailed description on the on how fertile the rubbish heap under the tree allowed a rose with a very skinny stem bloomed.  This caught my attention as he was describing how much waste filled the surrounding around Hamid's stall was so much so that it allowed a rose to flourish . He also described how well groomed Hamid was.  He describe Hamid as a well respected and soft-spoken man who was never harassed by gangsters for protection money and never gets into fights. The writer then described Fatimah as a very popular who would shout across the road at anyone she knew. She would also flirt with many men and cause fights. This shows a contrast between characters. Hamid showed much care to the rose under the tree and upon seeing the rose, Fatimah wanted it so badly that she offered her silver key for it to which Hamid ignored her. This shows that Hamid is not one finds purpose in materialistic things such as the the silver key while Fatimah would is someone who is very materialistic and would try to get what she wants by trying to offer her valuable silver key. I started to be interested when Fatimah was assaulted by the 5 men she found comfort in Hamid and Hamid was more welcoming to her as he helped her in every way he can and making sure she returns home safely. Even giving her his beloved rose. This shows that even though Hamid ignored Fatimah's antics he still cared for her. Fatimah also let her guard down, allowing Hamid to force her to drink the hot coffee and wipe her face. She also held her end of the deal she offered Hamid earlier in the story of giving Hamid her silver key if he gave her the rose.

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When I read the first few paragraphs, I could infer that this story was during the 70s as sarabat stalls with wheels exists during that period. The author mentioned “sprawling rubbish heap” which suggests that the surroundings was dirty and was not in a well-off district.

The author started to introduce Hamid by describing his looks by using descriptive words such as “tall”, “well-groomed,” “sharp” and “lizard’s eyes.” I assumed that Hamid was a hardworking yet lonely man which can be seen from “He sent whatever money he earned back to his family in Pakistan every month” and “He had no friends.” However, Fatimah’s character was the complete opposite of Hamid. She was a confident and pretty woman and was well-liked by many guys. I could tell that Fatimah was wealthy as she had “heavy gold bangles on her wrists tinkled pleasantly whenever she moved.”

When Fatimah saw Hamid watering the rose, she tried to flirt with him using her looks and was certain to obtain the rose in exchange for her silver key. However, Hamid didn’t fall for her seductions and wasn’t willing to give up his rose for the key because he found comfort in the rose. Fatimah became more desperate when she saw the cat was trotting after being hit by a speeding car and believed the rose possess remarkable qualities. Yet, Hamid still didn’t want to give Fatimah the rose. This tells me that Hamid was not that type of person who would give up something precious to him easily.

I enjoyed the part when Hamid helped Fatimah when she was abused by the five men. I can infer that she was being physically abused as her “arms were scratched and etched with weals and bruises”, “her eyes were puffed up, one of them almost closed” and “there was blood on her lips.” Despite Fatimah throwing insults to Hamid for not giving her the rose, Hamid cared for Fatimah. He was being a gentleman by cleaning up her wounds, covering the area which was torn and also used all his hard-earned money for the taxi fare to bring Fatimah home safely. I was very touched by Hamid’s kind actions.

After reading the story, I really want to know Fatimah’s thoughts when Hamid was helping her and if Fatimah came back for Hamid after that day to thank him.

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I think that this story was told in great detail. Right from the start, he had used a bunch of descriptive phrases such as "low, sprawling rubbish heap", "settled low on the ground" and "slim as a cheeping chicken's leg". By using phrases like these, the author plays on your five senses, allowing you to be able to paint a vivid image of what the place looked like. The author also made use of telling the story from Hamid’s perspective to help give the reader a deeper dive into Hamid’s feelings and actions. By using words like “the sun setting behind the rooftops touched the rose” and “he applied a match to the nozzle of the carbide lamp and it hissed into life”.

In addition, the author had used words to describe in great detail what each character in the story looked like. For example, he described Hamid as “a Pakistani, tall and lean and very tough, with a well-groomed, sharp moustache, and eyes gleaming with the light of lizard’s eyes”. The use of such words allows the reader to picture what Hamid would look like without actually seeing his face and physique. Another example is how he described Fatimah: “long hair and wide eyes and lips like two petals of Hamid’s rose”, “heavy gold bangles on her wrists tinkled pleasantly whenever she moved” and “she’d shout across the road at anyone she knew”. By using phrases like these, the reader would be able to establish what the character’s personality was like, Hamid being a mysterious person and Fatimah being an outgoing and popular woman.

Another interesting point is the use of multiple similes and metaphors. By using these writing tools, they help to emphasise and strengthen a certain point that author is trying to make, and it also sets a mood to something that he is writing about. One example is how the author described the rose at the start: “a rose cutting, slim as a … appeared on the rubbish heap one day”. This goes to show that the stem was thin and weak, like it would just break and fall over anytime.

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We are introduced to the 'rubbish heap', which contrasts to the title 'rose' and 'silver key', making us curious of how it'll unfold.

The writer describes Hamid from his figure to his teeth is impressive. What stood out was the description of his eyes, comparing it to a reptile('lizard's eyes') that we commonly encounter. It helps get an easier idea of his physical traits to play the story in our heads.

Hamid calls the rose 'his God', the writer capitalizing 'G' in 'God', capitalizing pronouns show respect, suggesting that he had great respect for the rose, I'm amazed and curious if he would lose any respect for it later, as after all, it's just a rose.

The author states that her key was 'twenty-five dollars', at that time that was considered big money, highlighting that she isn't poor. However, she doesn't earn that much to be considered rich, we can see from the colour of her key, 'sliver'. If she was rich, it would be a gold key instead. This helps readers to be engaged about Fatimah's background. She works at a bar, people there give tips to attractive hostess, thus she's able to make more money which reiterates that Fatimah is a stunning women that men start 'fights' for.

The author uses 'ginger' instead of black as a 'omen', making me curious as to why not the commonly use black cat stereotype. Making me want to continue reading to understand the author's writing choices. It's later explained as good luck, as the cat miraculously survived. I'm impressed by the author as they use the unexpected to keep the story interesting.

When the author uses description of Fatimah's messed up appearance, 'bruises' and 'kebaya was torn' we know that she was abused by the men she had left with even though not explicitly said.

In the end, Hamid gave up his rose to Fatimah. It's interesting when he buries her 'key under the rose stem' 'he noticed that a new bud was opening'. This intrigues me, Hamid was stubborn to keep the rose but gave it to Fatimah. 'new bud' signifies the start of a new relationship for Hamid as he releases the rose he cherished so much. We're left with an opening ending but, interestingly, are able to tell Fatimah and Hamid will grow together. Also ending with 'Soft as Fatimah's lips', illustrating that Hamid will think of her.

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At first, I did not know what a sarabat stall looks like and after the specific descriptions of the stall like canvas roof, spoked wheels, aluminium counter, and the urn for the drinks, I got to better understand and know how it works and what it sells. The way the author described Hamid’s love for the rose “He gently placed used tea leaves around its stems and constantly watered it.” and “He stooped beside the rose and let the water drain from his fingers into the plant.” I felt that Hamid really admires the rose because of his gently treatment towards it. The description of Hamid treating her injuries and cleaning her up really touched me as he was treating her gently like how he did to the rose he loves. This contradicts his previous actions of ignoring her and made me feel that Hamid likes her and cares for her and is showing his affection for her through his actions. He smoothed her hair and gently wiped her face to clean her lips, arms, and hands. Both did not talk at all and let their actions speak. It was as if they were in their own world, and it made me immersed in it. By describing Hamid’s reactions to Fatimah, like “sound his disapproval with a snort and a twirl of his moustache and turn away.” Helps me visualise how he reacts to her and imagine it happen in real life. It made the story come alive and it felt like I was watching a story unfold. “He dipped his hands into a pail and with cupped palms he drew some water and walked over to the rubbish leap.” “It lay on its side, its body slightly flattened, its eyes closed, and its teeth bared in a frozen snarl.” This sentence tells me how the cat how badly the cat was injured and how it was frozen in shock from the accident. At the end of the story, where Hamid buried Fatimah’s silver key made me have the thoughts of whether they will both meet again as they both clearly care for each other and his action of burying it instead of selling it or using it shows that he treasures it.

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The story was kind of interesting as i read from time to time. I like how the author had added in some parts of Singapore and say about the story that characters use it. Some parts of the story actually makes me feel the way how some people need to work at a bad environment to earn a living and its actually tough.

I felt that Hamid is actually strong even though he have to work at a bad environment and not only that he also have no friends around him to support him. He did not read newspapers to keep track on what's going on and also did not seen a film just work without leaving his stall all because to earn money and give to his family at Pakistan every month.

Until one day when Hamid meet Fatimah very desirable woman and wasn't shy at all and his not alone since Fatimah when to his stall and speak to him. But what I found is that Fatimah is actually rude at a point that she shouted abuse at him when she crossed the road to the bar where she worked every night of the week except Fridays just because of the rose. Despite her being like popular and pretty on the outside but in the inside she actually rude.

There's one part when she was walking towards his stall with injuries despite what she had done to him he still guided her to his stall and make her a coffee and forced her to drink it and help her to wiped her face injuries gently. He also drew out all his money he had in his cash drawer and shoved into her purse also hailed a taxi that passing by them and guided her into it, that's the last part of the story whereby I think his helpful and kind still even what Fatimah has done to him previously.

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At the start, the writer introduces the rubbish heap, and gives a detailed description of it, allowing me to imagine what the place is like, as it touches on all the 5 senses, allowing the place to be vividly imagined.
The writer also describes Hamid's physical appearance which allows us to visualize what he looks like. One unique description is the description of his eyes, which is being compared to a lizard. The overall description of his appearance shows that he is a tough person which people do not want to mess with.
Hamid calls the rose 'his God', showing that he respects it and it is really important to him, like how different religions worship and praise their own 'God'.
The author says that Fatimah's key was $25, which was considered a fortune at the time. She works at a bar, where people give money to a hostess. Given how she was described as pretty, it was obvious that men would fight over her to entertain them, thus allowing her to earn a fortune other than her salary.
The part when Hamid helped Fatimah after she was abused by the five men was the most interesting part to me. Even though the writer did not state she was abused, he was able to show that she was physically abused by telling us that her “arms were scratched and etched with weals and bruises”, “her eyes were puffed up, one of them almost closed”.
Even though Hamid insulted Fatimah and was mean to her, he still helped her with her injuries and showed kindness to her. This is in contrast to his physical appearance, where most people thought he was a tough person, but actually he is a gentle person.

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Gregory Nalpon has made his story more engaging and immersive for the readers by giving environmental hints and stories from the past, by writing detailed descriptions of the people that are included in the story, he has also managed to engage the audience on how the people in the story look like, personality and appearance wise. He has also gave backstory to the rose and Hamid, immersing the readers even more as they get into the backstory on why he does what he does. Giving a mundane story at first then slowly lighting his true personality up. Gregory also had linked two subjects with one common thing to give even more immersion. He had also played with timing and coincidence such as the cat getting ran over by a vehicle, right before they made out. He had also built Fatimah as a likable character before showing her true personality, disappointing Hamid, which was visible in the way he told the story.” Hamid, as usual, displayed no interest in whatever she or anyone else said”. Though he did put in as usual, it could also be interpreted as a let down as he had opened up slightly. Gregory had also used common interest to the public and for this , it was “Romance”. I do believe that a common interest is important to a story as it will connect and immerse them beyond what is capable of writing. Such as Joker the movie, giving the backstory and cruel society , nobody dared to perform the acts Joker did, as such the movie had turned into a great success due to its back story of joker and cinematography.  At the end however, Hamid took pity on Fatimah as she got beaten up by 5 dudes as “karma” hit her, then going back to his normal routine before a surprise. I do believe that this is a basis for story telling as the less details the authors write, the less immersive and engaging it is. All in all, Gregory had successfully wrote detailed events that attracts your imagination into the world of the author envisioning’s

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At first when I read the first paragraph, I was not really interested in the story as it shows a description of a dirty place, with the words “rubbish”, “dustbin’, “dumping” in the paragraph. However, as I continued reading, I realized I was immersed in the story as it was more of a show not tell story.

Hamid and Fatimah’s description were very clear that I was able to envision how they looked like. Words like “shiny lizard’s eyes” and “military moustache” for Hamid, as well as for Fatimah, “long hair and wide eyes”, “clinging kebaya and sarong” and other descriptive words helped picture how they looked like.

Hamid is more of a quiet and humble guy, whereas Fatimah has more of a loud, rude, and attention seeking personality. Thus both personalities opposes each other. As seen in the story, Fatimah kept flirting with Hamid non-stop such as “maybe you want to marry me”, “give me that rose and I’ll let you taste my lips” and “Come, my darling man”. However, Hamid was nonchalant about it and does not give up his rose for her key.

The author described Fatimah’s injury really well as it was very descriptive such as “hair was rumpled”, “arms were scratched and etched with weals and bruises”, “eyes were puffed up”, “blood on her lips”. These phrases helped me vision how badly injured Fatimah was, as I could feel her pain. The kind-hearted Hamid was willing to take good care of Fatimah as he helped clean her off and made her feel more safe and well taken care of. The touching part was when Hamid did not hesitate to give all his money that he earned and worked hard for to Fatimah and even got a taxi to bring Fatimah safely home.  He was then rewarded with the silver key from Fatimah for helping her.

This shows that if you show care and kindness to others, others will somehow repay forward the good deeds at some point in your life.

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He listed the many things that you would find in a rubbish heap as well as its shape. Just through this description, I began to imagine how the place was like as I was reading. In the second paragraph, the author described the appearance of the rose, from when a rose which was withering, managed to root to the rubbish heap and revive into a large red rose due to the natural weather conditions. He described it with so much detail that it felt like a beautiful moment to me. Hamid then came into the story, the author described his hometown, height, build, moustache, eyes which made me picture how he looked like. Next, the author wrote a detailed description of the stall that Hamid owned, how the sarabat looked like, what it was made of and what it contained. By describing what the sarabat contained, I was able to know that Hamid was a drink stall owner. In the next few paragraphs, I understood that although Hamid was intimidating, he had a heart of gold which gained him respect from everyone else. The author described the meaningful things that Hamid would do because he could, as well as how he cared for his family. However, the author also described Hamid’s loneliness. This immersed me in the story as I realized that even though he likes to warm the hearts of others, his own was the opposite. The author then introduced Fatimah into the story, with a detailed description of her looks, behavior and character, allowing me to picture Fatimah as I was reading. The story continued, describing their relationship which engaged me as a reader as I wanted to know how their relationship would develop further on. The last 5 paragraphs captured my attention the most. Although the author described how tattered Fatimah looked, he did not mention what exactly happened to her. This made me imagine the possible scenarios of what five young men could have done to her which made me feel like I was involved in the story. The story ended with how the new bud that was opening into red petals was as soft as Fatimah’s lips which had me wanting for more. It made me question if Hamid and Fatimah’s relationship managed to become romantic and that whether at that point Hamid knew how soft Fatimah’s lips were.

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To be honest at the start i was not very interested in this story as i could not visualize what was happening in my head. However as i continued on i realised that the author had used many descriptive terms which was really amazing and helped me to understand and visualize the story the clearer. The author has described clearly about the loneliness of Hamid but despite that he was still very kind and was willing to help anyone else in need. I also found the part which the author managed to describe Hamid's love for the rose very interesting . This was because it made me question what was so special about that rose, that Hamid would finally smile when he never did and why did fatimah want it that badly. Even though there were interesting parts, there were also times when many questions ran through my mind like what was so important about the key that made it worth exchanging it for the flower, why did Hamid want to do this for living and many more. The author used a cliff hanger ending which made me curious about what would happen next, whether Hamid and Fatimah would get together and whether a new rose would grow. But still overall i find this story interesting as it has many descriptive phrases and have many possibilities of what would happen afterwards which causes the readers to think and guess what would happen moving on

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The writer started the story off by bringing the readers back in time by saying “THERE USED TO BE”. Personally, in my opinion, these 4 words are bolded in a way to get the attention of the reader and to allow the reader to immerse himself/herself into the story. The story then started by stating the location, and described the objects with descriptive words and at the same time, kept things short and sweet. As a reader, I was able to picture the scene with the objects. The writer was able to give Hamid, the main character of the story, a strong spine. The writer showed that Hamid was a man of values by showing what he does and what he believes in strongly through writing. This story was filled with amazing small details and I find it impressive. When the rose started growing out of the soil, the writer described the appearance of the rose in such a unique way. The writer wrote “slim as a cheeping chicken’s leg and almost brown”. This was able to let me know how the rose was like, by using more complex words. Similarly, when Fatimah was introduced into the story, she was also described by words on her appearance and what kind of person she is. The 2 characters were different and had such different personalities. The writer wrote the story in a way where 2 characters interacted with each other and how they react to one another in the story. It is pretty interesting and exciting to see such strong personalities together. Towards the end, the writer ends the story by saying “Soft as Fatimah’s lips” From what I think, this last sentence gave a conclusion but there are still possibilities which were untold. In conclusion, I think this is an extremely well written story and details of everything are really top notch.

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Gregory Nalpon tells the story in great detail. Seen in the first paragraph. How he tells the setting of the place and tries to give the reader an idea of ​​how the setting of this story will take place such as "There used to be a rubbish heap under the great tree in Dhoby Ghaut with a sarabat stall parked next to it".

Not only with the setting of the place, Gregory Nalpon is also very good at describing a character and the appearance of the character. Like how the writer described Hamid with "Hamid was the ordinary type of sarabat stall owner except for his shiny lizard's eyes and his military mustache waxed into two sharp barbs thrusting away from either cheek. He had large teeth stained from the juice of betel nuts" . Not only Hamid's appearance, we can also know Hamid's character from the sentence "He seldom spoke and nobody had ever seen him fight".

The story gets more interesting when Fatimah begins to appear. Fatimah's character which is opposite to Hamid makes the storyline even more interesting. Description of Fatimah's appearance such "Fatimah was a very pretty woman. She had long hair and wide eyes and lips like two petals of Hamid's rose. The sight of her figure in clinging kebaya and sarong always incited blushes on the cheeks of sober men". And what is the nature of Fatimah from the sentence "Fatimah was very desirable woman and she wasn't shy at all".

The interaction between Hamid and Fatimah was also very interesting for me. One that caught me was "Look at my lips, do you not consider my lips sweeter than all the roses in creation? Come, give me that rose and I'll let you taste my lips", but Hamid turned away to his usual place behind the stall. I can imagine how this interaction happened in my imagination. You can imagine how much Fatimah wanted to get the roses in any way. But Hamid was not tempted by Fatimah's offer and stayed with his stance. But unexpectedly at the end of the story, there is character development of Fatimah. Fatimah, who initially had a courageous nature and dared to seduce Hamid, experienced an unfortunate incident that showed her character from the other side which made this story even more interesting.

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The author's description is very detail and bring up the message drew me into the story, and I could visualise the character through his words. The author has described the location right at the beginning of the story. It made me think about how much garbage in the area around Hamid's stall leads to the plant growth. Through the author’s description of Hamid I know that he is a person who is introverted and not good at expression, but has taken practical action to take care about Fatimah. “The sight of her figure in clinging kebaya and sarong always incited blush on the cheeks of sober men.” This causes me to instinctively imagine Fatimah's looks and how glamorous she is. And show case how engaging the author can be in writing.

The author uses roses as the major point of the novel to complete the entire story, which is I find it so attractive and engrossing to read it about. That's because the ginger cat ran across the road, directly into the path of a fast car, and then recovered nicely, and Fatimah assumed that the cat's ability to relive was due to Hamid's rose's exceptional properties. At the end of the story is mentioned about Fatimah being hurt by the five young men and Hamid gave the roses to Fatimah hope that it will alleviating her agony. In my point of view Fatimah and the cat share a similar connection to the rose; both were healed by the same flower, so I think that Fatimah is a metaphor for the cat.

To sum it up, this is a very well-written story and I’ve learnt that a more detailed description can help readers visualise the scene as soon as possible, allowing them to immerse themselves in the story and connect with the characters.

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The starting line intrigue me to read more was the used of “THERE USED TO BE”. Where people used to plant seeds there, but the soil is filled with rubbish. The first plant to grow from it was a red rose with sharp thorns and beautiful green leaves. Hamid is a lonely yet tall and well-dressed man from Pakistan, but he has been in Singapore for eleven years. He owns a sarabat stall and would take care of the rose behind his stall. He would gently place used tea leaves around the stem and water it daily. And for the first time in a long time, he smiled. Hamid smiled at Fatimah, who was a pretty woman with long hair, wide eyes, red lips like the rose and a silver key with a chain around her neck. She attracted many mans but as soon as Hamid smiled at her, she blushes and looked away. She thought Hamid has fallen for her as well, so she tried to get him to pluck his precious rose for her, but Hamid has ignored all her advances. Suddenly a cat ran across the road, getting itself ran over, Fatimah was shocked and closed her eyes, yet Hamid wasn’t fazed at all. He walked up to the body of the cat and threw it near the rose and then procced to wash his cup as if nothing happened. Everyone was too shocked when the cat suddenly disappeared and was trotting down the road. That was one of many stories at Hamid stall. Another story was when it was late at night when Fatimah went off with a group of mans but in the middle of the night she came back to the stall with scratches on her arms, a torn kebaya and her eyes were puffed up. Hamid helped her to the stall and treated her injuries. She sat there quietly not saying a word. Hamid walked to the back of the stall and came back with the rose. Fatimah started breaking down as Hamid went to his drawer and took all the money he had and put it in her purse, calling for a taxi and watching her leave. Hamid saw Fatimah silver key in the store and decided to bury it under the rose stem. He notices it was opening up into a red petal. It was as red as Fatimah lips.

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After reading the whole story, I felt impressed with how well the author described the rose, Hamid and Fatimah. Referencing from the story, the rose was described as a flower that had “petals seemed filled with deep red juices” and its “stem almost level to the rubbish heap”. From the author’s description, it is clearly shown how outstanding and contrasting the rose is compared to the old dumpling place, which is described as “refuse from dustbins, paper, old tins, and slippers and leaves from the tree above”. It is different not only from colour, but also from its value. Comparing the old dumping place, which is forgotten and used as a material for people to “take away potfuls of it to plant flowers in”, the rose however is definitely valued higher, specifically by Hamid. It is deemed as “his love, his child, his God” and something where “Hamid found comfort in it”. It is also being taken care of by Hamid, where he would “gently placed used tea leaves around its stem and constantly watered it”. It also gave him a sense of happiness for his “lizard’s eyes glowed with more intensity and the points of his moustache became even sharper”, and he even gave a smile towards Fatimah for the first time. His smile is significant as this shows how the rose had became an impact in his life, causing him to be friendly and kind to Fatimah for the first time, which is unusual to his character. Fatimah, on the other hand, is described as someone who is flirty, pretty and an outgoing woman. This further explains how she was the “cause of many fights in the bar”, for she was someone who is definitely wanted by many men, except Hamid. This is because Hamid is immune to her charms, as he “would sound his disapproval with a snort and a twirl of his moustache and turn away” from Fatimah’s whisper of “small invitations of promised delight”. Hamid’s immunity from Fatimah is also being shown through his ignorance towards her desire of having the red rose, even with her dangling the well known silver key that is desired by many men. This also shows to me how easy and frequently Fatimah can get her way with men. At the last part of the story, the author had described the visual and feelings of Fatimah from her encounter with the five young men by stating the state of her hair which was “rumpled as though someone had tried to wrench it off her skull”, her arms which were “scratched and etched with weals and bruises”, her torn kebaya, her “eyes were puffed up, one of them almost closed” and lastly, her bloody lips. Furthermore, although Hamid was described as someone who was cold and unfriendly earlier on with an exception of his adoration towards his red rose, Hamid showed a difference with Fatimah, where he forced her to drink coffee, clean her wounds,“drew out all of the money he had from his cash drawer and shoved it into her purse” and even “hailed a taxi that was passing and guided her into it”. However, the most surprising part for me was how the both of them gave their precious treasure to each other, where Hamid gave her his red rose and Fatimah gave him her silver key in return. It made me wonder whether there would be a love interest that may appear out of it or even a friendship, which is unusual for the two has a very different and striking characters and personality. Honestly, I was somewhat sad that the rose was given away as Hamid no longer has his red rose that gave him happiness and comfort, but to my surprise, “a new bud was opening into red petals” when he was burying “the silver key under the rose stem”. However, an even more surprising thing that happened was that the author described the new bud as “Soft as Fatimah’s lips.” I wonder whether the author merely compared the new bud with Fatimah’s lips as it was described before that she had “lips like two petals of Hamid’s rose”, or it was a description that Hamid had possibly thought of after his recent encounter with Fatimah. Maybe there might be a love interest between them? All in all, to end this exceedingly long paragraph which I apologise for, the description that the author gave to describe the relationship between the rose, Hamid and Fatimah was so beautifully written and it definitely made me feel engaged towards the story that I could not stop reading it.

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Gregory Nalpon's short story was very immersive because of his story line, characters, and how there wasn’t a specific genre the story was leading towards during the start. He was also very descriptive of certain objects and that made me wonder what the importance of these objects in his story was. He also had a unusual way of describing the rose, something which is very beautiful to the eye. For example, he wrote that: “ a rose cutting, slim as a cheeping chicken’s leg,”. It was also interesting to see that instead of starting off the story with a subject, he chose to have an object instead, to really impose the meaning of the rose in this story. He also mentions the other object, the sliver key a few times in the story to state its importance as well.

Nalpon also gave very detailed descriptions of the locations, making the reader able to fully immerse themselves in the reader experience and feel like they are at the place themselves. Not only were his descriptions of the location detailed, his descriptions of the main characters of the story were extremely easy to picture as he compared them to animals and flowers. For example, Hamid’s description was : “ shiny lizard’s eyes,” and Fatimah’s : “lips like two petals of Hamid’s rose,” . This made it very easy for me to picture the location and characters.

Not only that, I was also able to get grasp of how their personalities were like. Hamid was a prideful but good-hearted man, and Fatimah was the exact opposite of that. I was able to infer these details due to Nalpon’s way of describing the character from a third person’s point of view, making it seem more believable. For example: “He never allowed himself any friends”, “If he was lonely, he never indicated it” and “The sight of her figure in clinging kebaya and sarong always incited blushes on the cheeks of sober men” .

The author also showed that Fatimah viewed Hamid differently compared to other men, which made me intrigued to find out why she did so and how Hamid was different from the others. “Fatimah forgot herself and smiled” and Hatim’s reaction to her asking him to marry her: “He snorted and looked away, but his lizard’s eyes shone”, made me even much more curious to find out why the usual prideful Hatim would have just the slightest interest in Fatimah, someone who had the exact opposite of his values.

Lastly, the way Nalpon showed how much Hatim cared for Fatimah not through his words, but actions made me feel very heartened and touched, leaving me with a bittersweet feeling at the end of the story. I felt happy to see how Hatim cared for Fatimah which made the whole story very inclusive, as he found someone important to him, and he would not have to rely on the rose to get comfort anymore: “As he buried the sliver key under the rose stem on the rubbish heap, he noticed a new bud was opening into red petals. Soft as Fatimah’s lips,”. Fatimah, on the other hand, also found someone who she could also find comfort from, someone who truly cared for her: “Fatimah wept again because she could not bear the pain of the sweetness of Hamid’s rose,”.

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Setting the scene at the beginning of the story by establishing the story in Dhoby Ghaut and the rubbish heap that contributed to the growth of the rose, enables me to paint a visual picture in my mind. The author then describes how the rubbish heap then evolves into a useful substance for people to use it to grow flowers. As the story is set in Dhoby Ghaut, we can also imagine the types of people who frequent the area.

When Hamid is introduced, we also get a sense of how his demeanour is through physical descriptions. It is useful to the reader as Hamid does not have any dialogue in this story nor is he sociable. Through his features described like “very tough, with a well-groomed, sharp moustache”, we can tell that he takes care of himself very well and is feared by many just by his looks. We can also tell how respectable he is as a man through his actions. The author describes that low-income people who visited his stall did not have to pay anything. This was also backed up by how firm he was with Fatimah despite not saying a word and merely dodges her advances many times.

Fatimah in the story is described to be admirable among men through physical depictions of how she dresses. “She hired out the key for twenty-five dollars a time. It opened the door to her room.” shows that Fatimah gave herself to men for a price and uses this to her advantage when she requested for the rose from Hamid, assuming he would react the same way as other men did. Fatimah possesses an alluring yet timid personality deep down because she could convince men with her beauty. Wearing accessories such as her gold bangles and silver key also allowed her to appeal to them more as this shows that she earns much from her job. Her timid self is then seen in the end with Hamid when she had been wronged by the five men. She did not utter a word with Hamid yet allowed him to treat her as she placed trust in him when he did not accept her advances.

This story kept me hooked through the author’s effective description and establishment of the characters and the story.

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While the story is not usually something I would gravitate to, being a big enjoyer of more abstract and fictious genres, the words used and the environment set really caught my attention. Writing from a general perspective to transition into the perspective of Hamid running his small store had given me the idea of "there' more to this story".
There was also plenty detail used to describe even the smallest things, giving me, the reader, a pictured scenario of the events transpiring.

The character of Fatimah is also really well described and built from the ground up. The writer makes no expense to make sure the character of Fatimah is clear and unmistakable, along with the character of Hamid aswell.

Hamid and Fatimah are clear polar opposites from each other. Hamid cares not for money or any other materialistic gain, while Fatimah's eyes can only see the physical beauties of the world. And it is shown in the story that that specific trait of Fatimah has it's downsides aswell, as shown at the end of the story, where Fatimah is injured by 5 young men after spending the night with them.

Hamid on the other hand, sends all his money back to his family in Pakistan and serves everyone that comes to his store, even if they have no money. Hamid also refused to give up the red rose for a shot with Fatimah, showing that he cares not for affairs and that he has a very spiritual view on his world. Not giving up the things that made his life bright in order to rise in economic ranking.

The story perfectly illustrates the types of people that many think they need to be compared to what they actually should be living as. Other than looking only to gain more physical items, only to end up suffering due to that in the long run, look to improve yourself, as a person. Look to make your life your own, to not be dictated by a mere item that made you look rich, not to be dictated by the need to seek attention or popularity.

The rose and the silver key can also be seen as a metaphor for the lives of both Hamid and Fatimah.
The rose had managed to take root and bloom even in the most unexpected conditions. The rose, representing Hamid, and the rubbish heap, representing his life situations, gave a clear idea of the kind of life Hamid is living. Despite all the problems he faces, his way of life had managed to push past the blocks and take root in his life. Hamid is in full control of what happens, and that allowed him to bloom into the man he is. His reluctance to trade away the rose represents his reluctance of leaving the life he leads now. He is not willing to trade away what he is content with for something that might not last. The gamble of what he has vs what he might get.
The silver key, representing Fatimah, showed the materialistic views that Fatimah had, pushing all her value as a human being into a single silver key. The line that keeps the silver key around her neck represents the inability of Fatimah to move on from such views. the way she had offered to trade the key for the rose also shows this. Fatimah is willing to convince herself that her worth comes from the many items that she owns, and uses that trait to try and convince Hamid to trade the rose away.

However, at the end of the story, Hamid gives the rose to Fatimah. This shows that Hamid's influence has caught on to Fatimah and in time would also start to see the world in a less materialistic way. Leaving the sliver key behind, having it be burried in the rubbish heap also shows this. Fatimah has let go of the ideals of gold and silver, burying it under the influence of a life she can be content to live through.

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At the start of the story, the author gave detailed descriptions of the place. Phrases such as ‘low, sprawling rubbish heap’, helped me imagine how unsanitary and dirty the place was. It immersed me further by describing how the rubbish was left there for quite a while before it even became fertiliser. The author goes on to describe how the rose which was at the edge of death, flourished in the pile of rubbish. This helped me to imagine how long the pile of rubbish was left there that it could even bring a flower back to life.

With descriptive words such as ‘tall’, ‘lean’, and ‘tough’, helped me to picture Hamid’s appearance. Hamid was presentable and had a strong presence. Hamid was also well respected and was intimidating even to gangsters who often collect protection money. The author goes on to Hamid’s backstory on how he kept everything to himself and did not have a social life.

The author wrote the story in such a way that it shows how Hamid and Fatimah were at each end of the spectrum. Hamid was humble and hardworking, while Fatimah was egotistical and materialistic. Even though Fatimah was attractive and desirable, she was ugly inside. When Fatimah sat down by Hamid’s store, she tried to flirt with Hamid and tempted
him to give her a rose in exchange for her silver key. Hamid was disinterested and was even nonchalant. With Hamid’s reaction, Fatimah was not happy and even started to shout abuse at Hamid just because he did not give her the rose. This helped me to further immerse myself in two personalities.

However, the story took a turn when Fatimah left the bar with a group of young men and not long after, Fatimah came back to Hamid’s stall in a bad state. When Hamid noticed Fatimah, he did not hesitate and went forward to help her. He respected her by not asking any questions, made a drink, wiped her, covered her torn kebaya and most importantly, gave her the rose that he cherished. Despite the assault Fatimah just went through, she allowed Hamid to help her which shows that she trusts Hamid that she lets her guard down. Hamid did not stop there, instead, he even went to draw all the money he had, just to hail a taxi for Fatimah. He even waited to watch the rear lights turn into a corner and disappear, before going back to his store.

I was pleasantly surprised by how the writer managed to portray his true personality as at the start of the story, Hamid was portrayed as extremely cold and reserved, however, just by describing how he treated Fatimah, I realised that Hamid has a big heart and he is willing to take that extra step and help someone in need.

The author engaged and immersed me in the story through the description of minor details and the development of the relationship between the two characters.

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There was a contrast in character for Hamid and Fatimah. Hamid was described as a humble man who owned a sarabat stall, have never fought with anyone and is tough. Whereas Fatimah was described as a woman who was not shy. She would smile at men and sometimes this would lead to fights in the bar. The description of them allows me to have a picture in mind on what the characters are, and how they act.

The part about the rubbish dump was not easily understandable at first, but it provides clues which makes me interested to continue the story. After further reading, I finally understood that it is just a usual rubbish dump, but an abandoned one. Suddenly there was a rose that grew. This was described using the process of growing a plant, such as from the roots to the stem indicating its change of colour from brown to green, and its leaves appearing and growing larger. This was followed with a rose blooming. Its size was also described by being the almost the same height of the rubbish heap.

The silver key was another main part of the short story. The silver key was used to open the door to her room, with rumours about her renting out the key for a price. This led me with wonders of what is in her room that made everyone want to get hold of the silver key. Her character even made the idea that only men are interested in the key. This can be seen from the description of fights happening in the bar, usually because of Fatimah smiling at more than one man at the same time.

After Fatimah knows about the rose, she tried her best to get hold of it. However, Hamid’s perseverance in controlling himself made it difficult, although Hamid’s smile to Fatimah was rare. There was also a part of connection between them when Fatimah had messy hair, arms scratched, and kebaya torn. Hamid went to attend to her and cleaned her. That was when Hamid place the rose in her hair. It was the connection and how sincere both were that led to this incident, helping one another no matter the circumstances.

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At the beginning of the short story, the author decided to start by describing a rubbish dump, which was a pile made of papers, old tins, and other, rubbish that was tossed there, could become a warm and lively place where people could plant beautiful flowers.

The next part of the story which states “somehow, a rose cutting, slim as a cheeping chicken’s leg and almost brown, appeared on the rubbish heap one day.'',  caught my attention as it is unusual to see a rose, having an unusual number of thorns and leaves as well, which is most of the time beautiful looking, growing out of a rubbish pile. Another detail was when Gregory described Hamid with features similar to that of a reptilian as seen in the sentence, “ and eyes gleaming with the light of lizard’s eyes.” Despite the eyes and the moustache, “..waxed into two sharp barbs thrusting away from either cheek.”, everything else about Hamid was relatively normal. When Hamid found the rose blooming in the rubbish heap behind his stall, it can be seen in the story that he had an instant attachment to it as he found comfort in the red rose as seen in the sentence, “The rose was his love, his child, his god”. Even though Fatimah wanted the rose, even willingly giving away her silver key for it, Hamid remained unresponsive to her words. It was only after the ordeal that Fatimah went through with the five men which left her in a disheveled state, seen in the sentence “Her kebaya was torn and her eyes were puffed up”. After calming her down and helping to make her appearance more presentable in a comforting way, did Hamid silently place his beloved rose in the woman’s hair. She was in a state of curiosity when her eyes trailed after the man who walked to the garbage heap, only to change to a bittersweet from the red rose in her hair which had her tears pouring once more, this can be seen in, “..Fatimah wept again because she could not bear the pain of the sweetness of Hamid’s rose.” Nearing the end of the story, the silver key that once dangled across Fatimah’s neck now lays where the red rose had once been and from that heap, a new rose starts to bloom.

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In the first paragraph, Gregory Nalpon describes the area where the story takes place. He describes the rubbish heap, what things were thrown there and how people view that area. This helps to visualize where the story is taking place. He then talks about how the rose that Hamid loves grew in the rubbish heap and describes how the rose looked like. The rose had thorns and leaves. It is interesting to read about the rose growth because it is not common to see a rose growing in a rubbish heap with trash everywhere. In the next paragraph, Hamid is introduced. His facial features like his eyes and mustache help give an idea what Hamid looks like and what his personality is like. Hamid stall is also described which shows how Hamid likes to run his business and helps me imagine how the scene and the environment is like. The author also describes how others view Hamid and what they think of Hamid which gives different perspectives on Hamid character. The author gives a little backstory of Hamid which helps me to understand Hamid a bit better. Hamid is a simple and hardworking man.The people around were also afraid of him. When Hamid found the rose, He gave the rose a different side of him. He took care of it very well which was interesting to see as it did not seem like what Hamid would after reading his backstory and description. We are then introduced to fatimah. The author describes her as a beautiful woman that many people fall in love with. Her beauty attracts many people and causes fights sometimes. This helps me imagine what Faitmah looks like. Fatimah backstory is also told to give a better understanding of Fatimah’s personality and get to know the character more. When the rose in the rubbish heap bloomed, Hamid saw it like it was the prettiest thing in the world. Fatimah then wanted the rose and asked for it. However, Hamid ignores fatimah despite her offers. Reading Hamid's backstory, it helped me understand Hamid's actions. But when Fatimah came after hanging out with the 5 men from work, Hamid's action made me kind of confused as we didn't see that when Fatimah asked him for the rose. Hamid's action of taking care of Fatimah. It was interesting to read what Hamid would do seeing Fatimah in that state. The author described Hamid's actions as careful and caring which was surprising and interesting to read.

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At the beginning of the story, the author describes the details of the location of where the story takes place, with phrases like “It was a low, sprawling rubbish heap made of the usual things” to show that the area was dirty. This helps me to be able to somehow picture the rubbish heap that used to exist.

“A rose cutting, slim as a cheeping chicken’s leg and almost brown,” this helps me to picture the detail in my head more accurately, which explains why the rose was so thin, as it was a dirty environment. Next, the author described Hamid’s characteristics “A Pakistani, tall and lean and very tough, with a well-groomed, sharp mustache, and eyes gleaming with the light of lizard’s eyes.'' The way Hamid was described in detail helps me to be able to imagine that Hamid looks fierce. “Nobody had ever seen him fight, yet no gangsters ever tried to collect protection money from him.” This sentence further shows that Hamid was not to be messed with, and everyone respects him. The story shows how the rose appeared one day and Hamid discovered it, “The rose was his love, his child, his God.”, and how the rose has changed Hamid’s perspective of his life. He started to care for the plant, and gradually became gentle and became polite to others.

Similarly, the author described Fatimah in detail, which helps me imagine what she looks like. The author also shows that she was popular among men and she made use of it to earn money, “She was the cause of many fights in the bar across the road. Next, it shows how they begin to fall in love with each other, even though they have contrasting personalities.

“Stray dogs investigated dustbins and starlings twittered and wheeled amongst the footsteps.” This phrase shows how deserted Dhoby Ghaut was at night. “A little later, Fatimah left the bar with a group of five young men. They got into a fancy saloon car and drove away.” This made me feel like there was more to it. Fatimah ended up returning back. The author described what happened to Fatimah very well and also showed how Hamid took care of Fatimah without questioning what had happened to her. “Hamid drew out all the money he had in his cash drawer and shoved it into her purse.” This shows how Hamid has changed and is willing to be kind to others.

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The one thing that caught my undivided attention in this story since the very beginning was the use of contrasting images. the fact that the rose, which is an elegant and beautiful object was found in the rubbish heap, which is something that completely contrasts the rose’s descriptions and what a rose represents.

another use of the juxtaposition mentioned earlier on with the rose and the rubbish heap is also shown with Fatimah and Hamid. Fatimah is shown to be a very outgoing, loud, flirtatious and wealthy woman living a very ‘loud’ life and she would talk to many guys. it was also shown that she has “heavy gold bangles on the wrists” and “a silver key hung from a chain around her sweet neck” that was made from real silver she rented for her room. Hamid on the other hand lives a very humble and quiet life in Singapore. he had no friends, sent money back to his family back in Pakistan and slept at his stall every night. unlike Fatimah, he does not flaunt whatever wealth he had and lived as a humble person. contrast was also shown with Hamid treating the rose like his God, while Fatimah was associated with ‘sin’ as “kind men imagine that they shared her company purely to relieve her of a weight of sin.”

Yet by the end of the story, despite these contrasts between Hamid and Fatimah, and the different men Fatimah had been with, Hamid’s actions managed to touch her rather than just insincere actions from the other men. although Hamid had not given the rose she had begged for for so long, including sacrificing the silver key that was the only thing that could bring her home, he still managed to make her feel touched without meaning to. he gave the rose to her in the end, by placing it in her hair, she gave the silver key in exchange not for the rose, but for his kind actions instead. the use of contrasting subjects throughout this story made me absorbed in the storyline.

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I think that the author makes use of details that we see but do not pay attention to to engage us in trying to piece together the picture that he is trying to make. We are then thrilled to put the pieces together like a puzzle to then understand the full picture. In the first few pages, the author used many details such as “Hamid dozed by his stall every night”, “He had been in Singapore for eleven years and had never once returned home. He had no friends.” and “He had never seen a film. He did not read the newspapers and probably knew almost nothing about what went on in the next street because he never left his stall.” to show how mundane life is for Hamid. These details give us as readers a better understanding of exactly how mundane Hamid’s life is.

The atmosphere seemed very calm but boring up until Fatimah was introduced. Fatimah is like the opposite of whatever that was pictured. Everyone else was suggested or described to have respect for Hamid a little bit out of fear, or that they did not dare bring trouble to Hamid, but Fatimah broke those mental rules that the author has put in us to create a contrast. This is also the first look that the author gives to us as readers as to how Fatimah crashed a part of Hamid’s mundane life. This in turn then pulls us in to read more about Hamid and Fatimah’s interactions, as they are in a way, polar opposites.

I think that I was most intrigued when Fatimah was clearly physically hurt but the author never once mentioned the word abuse. This then encourages us as readers to infer what has happened to Fatimah and in turn sympathise with her. The author also influences our feelings by describing how Fatimah reacted, instead of telling us directly how she felt, which leaves no room for thought.

It is amazing how everything led to the ending which was that Hamid gave Fatimah his rose and Fatimah leaving her silver key behind. This is a complete ending that tells the readers that the story has come to an end and leaves them satisfied, which was what I felt was very well done.

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At first the story did not capture my attention as it starts with describing an area of Dhoby Ghaut. It describe the sarabat stall as a very low quality, dirty and abandon as compared to the new dumpling place describe as warm had more attention. It was interesting when the rose was introduced to the story because it was unusual for a rose to suddenly to grow in a rubbish heap. The author generally uses a lot of describing words so it was very easy to imagine the scene or what he writes.

Hamid was describe from his race, his height to his appearance which allow me to use my own imagination to imagine what he would look like. The author then continue to describe Hamid’s personality by empathzising his shiny lizard eyes which makes me think that he has a really beautiful and mesmerising eyes. He was also describe as someone with a very strong presence as people respected him and also a very kind soul who would give to people who are needy without anything in return. He is also very independent as being in Singapore for 11 years without any friends and his family but also able to provide for himself and give any money to family in Pakistan.

Fatimah on the other hand was describe as a very pretty and attractive woman who is able to get the attention of any man. But wasn’t fazed by any of the man. But when she saw  the smile on Hamid face it made her blush which shows me that she is still able to catch feelings for someone. What I really like about the story is that the author never stops mentioning his shiny lizard eyes which to me is very pretty in a way as it is the little details that can capture my attention.

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Gregory Nalpon started the story by describing the setting of the story. He talked about how the rose in the story started growing. He vividly described that it originated from a rubbish heap that no one used overtime. Hence, it became the perfect condition for a beautiful rose to grow right beside Hamid's stall.

He continued to describe Hamind by talking about his lizard eyes, beard, and his body built. This allowed me to easily visualise the main character as there was plenty observed details. He also talked about how no one dared to mess with him. This allowed me to know more about about his character and personality.

He also started talking about Fatimah. She had thick lips, wearing a Kebaya, and had a lot of men staring at her. This enabled me to visualise her and I roughly have an image of her in mind.

The conversations included in this story also gave me more information about how these characters are. Fatimah was a flirty individual while Hamid only entertained her with his facial expressions and by listening to her. This created an image in my head which enabled to dive deeper into the story.

At the start, I was not really interested in the show as it was quite difficult to visualise just a rubbish heap. Overtime, as more characters entered, it became easier and definitely attracted my attention.

The way Hamid was described while he took care of Fatimah was my favourite as the writer was able holist out what he did beautifully and in a entertaining and engaging manner.

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Setting

The author’s use of an imagery of a rubbish heap in the beginning to foreshadow the ending drew my attention. The once unwanted trash “became warm and rich and fertile” soil helped new life, such as the rose cutting, to eventually blossom.

The detailed description of the sarabat stall – “canvas roof, spoked wheels, aluminium counter”- helped me envision the unfamiliar environment, while setting the story locally in Singapore, specifically Dhoby Ghaut, made me feel a sense of familiarity and solidarity with the characters.

Physical characteristics / Characterisation

The constant comparison between Fatimah and the rose throughout the story – how her lips were “like two petals of Hamid’s Rose”- made it apparent to me that she would be involved with its guardian Hamid.

The author’s intentional juxtaposition of the two drastically different main characters made their eventual relationship more touching and impactful for me personally. Hamid was initially described as a quiet and intimidating-looking man with “shiny lizard’s eyes and his military moustache”, while Fatimah was originally depicted as a loud, audacious lady who knew that her beauty could easily incite “blushes on the cheeks of sober men. His generous personality was shown by how he treated customers “with only a bus fare” in their wallets even though he lived for his family and “sent whatever money he earned back to his family in Pakistan”, while she appeared to live more for herself as she wore “heavy gold bangles” and had “collected a tidy sum of money at the post office”.

Therefore, I could clearly see how the rose affected their personalities. Hamid began to open up and even smiled “at Fatimah for the first time”, which in turn caused the proud woman to forget herself and blush like a shy school girl, despite her salacious field of work.

This caused me to be greatly saddened by the Fatimah’s obsession over the rose. The more determined Fatimah was to obtain the flower, the more she began to degrade herself. She first offered her silver key to Hamid for “half the usual price”, before eventually offering herself “free of charge”. She was so consumed by her desire to have the flower that she even believed that it had healed the wounded cat.

Movements

Despite his previous indifference to her many attempts, I could feel Hamid’s true affection for Fatimah through his actions after the incident with the five men. He silently warmed her rain-soaked body with a hot cup of coffee and used a warm damp rag to gently clean her wounds.

He even gifted her the rose that she had wanted so badly without any strings attached, showing her that she was equally as precious as his beloved flower. The author then showed how his kind gesture had resonated with Fatimah as she “could not bear the pain of the sweetness of Hamid’s rose” and wept. Finally, Hamid’s generosity was highlighted once more as he gave her all his earnings and made sure that she made it home safe in a taxi after her traumatic experience.

Summary

The ending made me hope for a better future for both characters, as Hamid buried Fatimah’s past, represented by the silver key, in the trash where a new rose began to bloom, seemingly signifying Fatimah’s second chance in life – where she would hopefully appreciate herself better.

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Gregory emphasize his words. He elaborates more details about the rubbish heap saying it was a low, sprawling rubbish heap made up of the usual things. He also adds metaphors like how he was describing the rose 'a rose cutting, slim as a cheeping chicken's leg and almost brown.' And shyly, tiny leaves appeared on the stem.' It is a figure of speech in which a word or a phrase denoting one kind of object or action is used in place of another to suggest the likeness or analogy between them. He made the story more interesting because he add details to each object and person. The number of characteristics that was added about the main characters like Hamid and Fatimah, made me able to imagine what kind of character they perceived to be. Without these information, I would have maybe thought that Hamid is just a guy who has a stall. And Fatimah who just like to get attention. This will make the story boring and less interesting. After reading the story, from my understanding base on the details described about Hamid and Fatimah is that Hamid is a quiet guy who just minds his own business and have a systematic routine. Because of his looks, no one dares to mess with him. Where as for Fatimah, she is the complete opposite of him which creates a dynamic between the two main characters. Fatimah is a loud and pretty woman who always wants to be the center of attention. She will do anything to get what she wants. Having the two main character with totally different personalities will make the story more interesting as they lead two different lives, having two different stories. If they have the same personalities, it will not be an interesting story to tell because it will be one story since both personalities will be the same.

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I found the story more engaging due to the constant use of contrast. At the start of the story, the author goes into great detail about the old rubbish heap being unsightly and disgusting from describing how it was made out of “refuse from dustbins, paper, old tins and slippers and leaves” and all the items discarded there had became “warm and rich and fertile”, suggesting how all the things there have been left to rot for a long time. In the next paragraph however, the author describes a rose which blooms from the rubbish heap. I consider roses to be one of the most beautiful flowers, so a rose which symbolises beauty blooming from an eyesore like a rubbish heap really caught my attention due to how different the two things were from each other. Despite this contrast, they manage to coexist with each other. Just like the rose and the rubbish heap, Hamid and Fatimah were introduced with clear contrasting personalities. Hamid “sent whatever money he earned back to his family” and “had no friends”, suggesting that he does not like spending money on himself and is rather closed off towards people. Fatimah on the other hand wears “heavy gold bangles on her wrists” and would “shout across the road at anyone she knew”, suggesting that she likes spending big sums of money on herself and is very outgoing. The contrast between their personalities would cause them to have a conflict in the story when Fatimah was trying to seduce Hamid into giving up his beloved rose to her, to which he ignored all her advancements and caused her to throw a fit. Despite the rocky interaction they had in the story, Hamid was still willing to help Fatimah clean her wounds when she was hurt near the end of the story. What caught me by surprise was how he gave her both the rose and all of the money he had when he wasn’t willing to give the flower to her just hours ago and does not give away money he earned to anyone but his family. This moment shows a more peaceful interaction between them. Hamid and Fatimah mirror the rubbish heap and the rose. While both are vastly different from each other, they manage to coexist together. At the very end of the story, a new rose bud was about to bloom. Roses also symbolise love, which suggests that they are not enemies due to their conflicting personalities, but instead romantic feelings could be blossoming between them despite the difference in their personalities. Therefore, I found the contrast used to be very well done in representing Hamid and Fatimah’s relationship and engaging me into the story.

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The details about the surrounding environment, Hamid’s and Fatimah’s characteristics made the story engaging. It also shows the difference between Hamid and Fatimah character

The details about the surrounding made it easier for me to imagine where the story is taking place. Like at the beginning of the story, we are introduced to where the story is taking place first at. It describes how the place is filthy and later becomes a beautiful place with greens and flowers everywhere. This tells me how the people staying around Dhoby Ghaut used to not care about the cleanliness of the place till some time passes. Later, it starts talking about the saraband stalls in Singapore. “a canvas roof, spoken wheels, aluminium counter (easy to wipe clean with a damp cloth), brass urn with compartment” The descriptions made it easier for one to visualize how the stalls look likes and built like even without any context on what is saraband.

Next, Gregory Nalpon introduces Hamid’s character. It describes his physical appearance as “his shiny lizard’s eyes and his military moustache…He had large teeth” which tells me what at Hamid's appearance is like. It shows how he looks presentable to his customer despite staying in his stall and never leaving. The author also mentions that Hamid seldom spoke to avoid making any friends. This shows how lonely Hamid is in Singapore. “He never allowed himself any friends…he never left his stall.” This part was relatable as foreigners often get misjudged for working and staying in a foreign country and so they feel like being alone is a safe choice. But despite that, the author's description of Hamid's character shows how well presented he is and it was engaging to see that despite how lonely he is in Singapore, people around him still respected him. This was relatable as sometimes the people we admire and respect the most are the loneliest.

The author then introduces us to a female character named Fatimah. She was different from Hamid's character. She was described oppositely as Hamid. This was the most engaging part was when we read more details about Fatimah, we can start to see how different she was from Hamid, and we began to get curious about how Fatimah and Hamid's interaction is going to be like. We then get to see how Fatimah and Hamid interact. The difference between their characters made it engaging as the start of the story was only about Dhoby Ghaut, the surrounding, the stalls and Hamid one of the stall owners but then Fatimah was introduced, and we get an adventure of Hamid and Fatimah.

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One thing that I noticed about the style of writing is  Gregory Nalpon's use of repeated details, such as mentioning Hamid's Lizard-like eyes and curly moustache and Fatimah's soft red lips at multiple parts of the story. This allows the reader to connect to the story as they will think back to this fact as they continue reading. While the story is quite short content-wise, Gregory did a good job in describing the scenes in a way that allows you to imagine all the relevant details without overloading you with words, such as giving comparisons and using vivid and specific vocabulary.  This he uses in tandem with the use of show not tell, where he seldom just mentions the observed details and would usually describe it in a way that we could infer what was happening and picture the scene. such as "The brownness of its stem was replaced by green. And Shyly, tiny leaves appeared on the stem and grew larger, and finally a rose bloomed forth. A large red rose bending its stem almost level to a rubbish heap." In this extract, instead of just telling us that the rose was growing, he described in vivid detail how exactly it is growing, and the changes it is experiencing in a way that allows us to close our eyes and imagine it ourselves. This allows him to make even the most simple parts of the story interesting through engaging our sense of imagination. Having the four pages of the story follow a simple and easy to understand storyline allows him to better incorporate these narrative skills without overwhelming the reader. For example, He spends the first two pages really introducing the characters in a concise manner while showing you how their certain traits that would be relevant to the story. he then spends the next two pages dropping hints of character development, then finally coming to the conclusion where their characters show a new side of themselves due to a given conflict in the story. For Hamid, this would be how at the start of the story he is shown as an indifferent yet caring and later on at the end, this same two traits are illustrated but slightly differently where he even honors a previous request she had made to comfort her, which was by giving her the rose that she had wanted without her even asking for it again.

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Gregory Nalpon starts by introducing the rubbish heap. Having the rubbish heap introduced first got me intrigued as I wonder whether the rubbish heap is an important part of the story. He then describes what consisted inside the rubbish heap. As I continue to read, I start to make sense as to why the rubbish heap is important. The contents of the rubbish heap is the foundation for the next part of the story, which is the rose.

With the rubbish heap’s contents making the soil fertile, a rose is able to grow. At this point, I became more engaged with the story because Gregory made the connection with the first part of the title. I become curious to know more about how the rose plays a part in the story.

Gregory Nalpon then starts to introduce the first character, Hamid, to give life to the story. He describes Hamid’s appearance, he lets us know that Hamid is a stall owner as well what Hamid is like as a person. The smaller details such as Hamid being Pakistani in Singapore and the fact that he seldom speaks helps me connect with the story more because I am from Philippines and not a very extroverted person. Having similarities with a story’s character engages me with the story better.

The second character, Fatimah, is introduced and Gregory applies the same techniques as he did with Hamid. However, Gregory describes Fatimah to be un-ladylike yet she behaves when she is at Hamid’s stall. This makes me wonder whether Fatimah is a potential partner for Hamid. Another important part of the story is introduced along with Fatimah when I learn that The Silver Key is part of Fatimah. This makes me wonder why it is important.

Gregory’s attention to detail makes me think about why those details are written. I think that details in a story is written because they all build up to paint a larger picture. If Gregory Nalpon did not write about Fatimah’s behaviour, I would have assumed that Fatimah would only just be another customer at Hamid’s. The details make me question, but they also give me answers about Hamid’s and Fatimah’s story. This makes me immersed into their story because it keeps me wanting to know more.

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The use of juxtaposition such as how the rubbish heap was described as very dirty and unwanted compared to the rose whose beauty is constantly emphasized, as it is the only thing that allows Hamid to become tender. The rose is also compared to the only things that Hamid allowed himself to, such as God, showing how important the rose is. A lot of information about Hamid is revealed through his mannerisms like “no beggar or thirsty schoolboy with only a bus fare in his pocket, had to pay for a drink…” and the way he chooses how to live life like not allowing himself to read newspaper and make friends show how compassionate, reserved and prideful he is. Fatimah on the other hand, is outspoken and brash, even shouting abuse to Hamid when he refuses to give her the rose, which is the complete opposite of Hamid. Also their physical appearances such as “eyes gleaming with the light of lizard’s eyes” and “incited blushes on the cheeks of sober men”. allows me to visualize how they are like and give them a unique characteristic to remember them by, making the text more vivid. The incident of the ginger cat getting run over and getting ‘resurrected’ is also particularly memorable as it foreshadows what is going to happen to Fatimah by showing how the cat is renewed after being placed into the rubbish heap. It also the climatic point where Fatimah changes her attitude to Hamid. The last part of the story engaged me the most as it shows the first place Fatimah goes to is to Hamid after the incident and gives him the key, showing the amount of trust she has in him and her gratefulness towards him. Hamid is also able to put aside how she treated him and took care of her, gave her the rose and gave her all his money, showing his kindness. After the key is placed into a ground, a new rose bud blooms, showing that Fatimah also has had a renewal and leaves me curious as to what will happen to both characters in the future. The exchange of items between them can also represent exchange of values between them. In conclusion, Gregory has added in many descriptions to allow one to visualize the story and characters better, display the contrast between the two characters to build emphasis of their relationship and make the story more interesting.

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Right off the bat, even before mentioning the main characters, the author dedicated two paragraphs to establish where and when the story takes hold. This helped to ignite my imagination and since it was a real-world location (Dhoby Ghaut) it also allowed me to suspend my disbelief and continue reading. However, it was only after the author described Hamid’s stall and went on introducing Hamid that truly lured me into the narrative. He described the stall as “no different from a hundred sarabat stalls in Singapore” and went on to introduce Hamid as “an ordinary type of stall owner” which sets the tone of Hamid being a down to earth person you could meet on a street and that his stall is a reflection of him. Vivid imagery of Hamid’s distinctive features like “his shiny lizard eyes and military moustache waxed into two sharp barbs” gave a striking face that I could connect his character to and alongside his respectable and compassionate nature, I found myself wanting to know what is next for this interesting individual. I also liked how the author used timepieces from the 1950s (Tony Curtis hairstyle, jukeboxes) to show which era this story is in. Hamid’s livelihood was then expanded upon and it was at the expense of himself working hours into the night that he was able to support his family back in Pakistan. This evoked feelings of sympathy in me and got me pulled into the story even more. Picturing the scene of “a carbide lamp with a hissing white flame” with sound, also gave the narrative more dimension. The author then paints in words how Hamid tended to the rose in careful detail of his actions and the contentment he gets from it. (“eyes glowed with more intensity and moustache became even sharper with the advent of the rose”) Fatimah is then introduced with Hamid’s smile right after which I thought was a smooth transition from his happiness of nurturing the rose. It was captivating to see that she is the complete contrast to Hamid when comparing their personalities and appearance. She is audacious but beautiful while he is polite but tough-looking. Towards the end of the story it had an undercurrent of meaning which really ties a reader to a plot, like when Fatimah left her silver key after receiving the rose and Hamid burying the key where the rose once was and it grew into bud, it signified her letting go of what she thought made her desirable and accepting that her worth has not diminished after the abuse, and with caring hands life will still thrive. The author's usage of descriptive language really amplified the scenarios for me and got me invested till the end.

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The story starts off by describing a large rubbish heap made from waste all over the place. A beautiful rose then blooms from this rubbish heap, which shows the stark contrast between the filth of the rubbish dump and the lovely rose. This introduction interested me, as I found myself wondering how this rose would play a part in this story.

After, the first main character of the story, Hamid, is introduced. He is described as “tall and lean and very tough, with a well-groomed, sharp moustache, and eyes gleaming with the light of lizard’s eyes”. Without the author having to tell us, from this we understand that Hamid does not seem like a very approachable person due to his hardened exterior. This is then proved to be accurate when we find out that he had the barest amount of social interaction, even gangsters did not engage with him. However, Hamid was an extremely hardworking person who worked all the time, willing to wake up in the middle of the night to serve a customer. We understand that this is because he has to earn money for his family back in Pakistan. This shows that despite his exterior, he is a caring person and this makes the reader empathise with him. Hamid sees the rose bloom and starts taking care of it.

We are then introduced to the second main character of the story, Fatimah. Fatimah is described to be beautiful; “The sight of her figure in clinging kebaya and sarong always incited blushes on the cheeks of sober men.” It is then brought to attention the fact that she is extremely wealthy, as she is seen wearing “heavy gold bangles on her wrists”. This shows how different Fatimah and Hamid led their lives. She is known as a troublemaker with a big mouth, vastly different from Hamid’s quietness. The introduction of Fatimah makes the reader wonder how these two characters lives would intersect.

The rose seems to bring Hamid joy, which Fatimah immediately notices. “”Give me that rose,” she said alluringly. “Pluck that rose for me and I’ll lend you my silver key for half the usual price.” Hamid ignored her.” This shows that no matter how tempting Fatimah was, Hamid was not interested, furthermore, Hamid heavily disliked her advances.

The climax of the story is when Fatimah is assaulted by a group of men and goes to Hamid for comfort and solace. Hamid helps to clean her up, which highlights how caring he is. Hamid then does what he did not do earlier in the day, he gives Fatimah the rose to comfort her. To add to that, Hamid gives his hard earned money to Fatimah, despite the fact that he needs it more than her. After he leaves, he sees that she left the silver key for him on the table. The story left me wanting to find out what happened to them afterwards and how their relationship would develop after this incident.

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The writer makes the story intriguing by first juxtaposing the rubbish heap under the great tree in Dhoby Ghaut, and the rose. The writer first describes the rubbish heap, and says how it was made by unwanted and unusual things like ‘refuse from dustbins, paper, old tins and slippers.’ Then the writer described the rose. A rose sweet smelling and pretty, unlike the rubbish heap. This juxtaposition emphasizes how the blooming of the rose is very unexpected and thus makes it intriguing to me. The writer also makes the story intriguing by describing Hamid like the rose. Hamid and the rose have similar qualities like being tall and lean. Hamid also has a ‘sharp mustache’ and this is a similar characteristic to the rose’s ‘fourteen thorns’. Hamid was also described to be ‘well-groomed’ which is similar to a rose’s natural beauty. This shows how the rose represents Hamid. This engaged me as it made me wonder who the silver key in this story is and how it related to the rose. The writer also makes use of foreshadowing with the ginger cat, to show that something bad will happen later on. The story says, ‘a ginger cat ran across the road, directly into the path of a speeding car.’ This is intriguing as it makes me wonder what will happen in the story and makes me keep on reading the story. It is revealed later that this bad omen was for Fatimah being abused by the 5 men she left the bar with. It also states that the cat was revived after being placed by the rose. Fatimah had said. ‘It must be Hamid’s rose that returned it to life.’ This also foreshadows how Hamid had returned Fatimah to life as well. This is because after she was abused, she had come to Hamid’s stall and Hamid had taken great care of her, and in a way returned her back to life like the rose. This made the story intriguing as it shows how Hamid, although a closed off man, was very caring and never fails to look after those who are in need.

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As I read the story, I found that the story was pretty interesting as the author, Gregory Nalpon had expressed and described the story in a way that made it even more appealing. He first started by introducing how the surrounding was “It was low, Sprawling rubbish heap” allowing me to have a picture of how dirty and smelly the place is near Hamid’s Sarabat stall.

He then moved on to describe the characteristics of the main character, Hamid, in the story “ A man called Hamid owned the Sarabat stall on wheels – a Pakistani, tall and lean and very tough, with a well-groomed, sharp mustache, eyes gleaming with the light of the lizard's eye.” The phrase “eyes gleaming with the light of lizards eye” tells me how determined the character, Hamid, was in the story. Not only that, this part of the sentence “ he sent whatever money he earned back to his family in Pakistan every month” shows me that Hamid is a very hardworking person who prioritizes and places his family first.

Further down as I read, a new character has appeared. Her name is Fatimah. Gregory has described Fatimah’s characteristics as someone who is “desirable and she wasn’t shy at all” and “she would shout across the road at anyone she knew” It gave me the impression that she is a bold and confident person inside the story. However, when she was Infront of Hamid she will control herself and act a little ladylike even though she is not. Additionally, I found out that even though Hamid may seem tough and doesn’t like to talk at all, Hamid is a very nice and caring person because he “soaked a rag in warm water and wiped her face gently” after Fatimah’s incident. Which then shows me the contrast of both character’s personality. Despite the contrast in their personality, their relationship was still able to develop in the story.

Thus,based on how the author had used his word to describe and express both characters of the story in a unique way, I was able to empathize with the character and picture the scenario how it was.

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The author, Gregory Nalpon, wrote and described the location of the main object in great detail at the beginning of the story to give the reader a heads up on what's going to happen. He described the rose's expression as he slowly reviewed how it came by. Following that, he discussed the main subject, Hamid, the owner of his sarabat stall. Gregory described Hamid's appearance and gained a thorough understanding of his daily life.

Gregory also describes how Hamid and the roses interacted closely. Then he described how Hamid met Fatimah and her appearance, particularly her lips that resembled a rose petal, as well as her attitude. He gave a rose for her as she wanted at first and money to her, and she knew that she couldn’t take it for granted so she left her precious silver key and exchanged it. Hamid buried the silvery key under the rose stem.

It was a touching story about how the roses sensed together with the silver key as it linked to the relationship of both Hamid and Fatimah had. As it grew, a new bud opened into the red as soft as Fatimah's lips.

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At the start of the story I don’t really understand and I couldn’t picture the story out in my head. But as it goes, I slowly understand by the details, observations that Gregory Nalpon wrote in his story, and it is something that I could not do but they made me understand the story better and more. It was interesting as Hamid is different from everybody. “He had no friends. He never allowed himself any friends. He had never seen a film. If he was lonely, he never indicated it.” This is something that people nowadays cannot survive without, people will usually be depressed and whine about it. How can somebody not allow himself to have any friends? How can somebody not let himself see a film before? I slowly get immersed into the story when they started to describe the characters, “his customers noticed his activity but none of them ever ridiculed him or attempted to pluck the rose.” Their times and our times are so different, if people were to do what Hamid do now in this era, lots of judgement will be given. Fatimah’s words make me want to read more because this kind of shows the climax where she is the only one that wants the rose and demandingly. How are they going to agree to each other on this? But something happened to Fatimah and despite what she said, wanting to take the rose away from him, which to Hamid it was the most beautiful thing on earth, that able to make him smile again and look forward to it every day. Hamid still helped her out when she is in her worst state. “Hamid went to her and guided her to his stall, where Fatimah sat and wept silently.” I am touched by Hamid’s action and the way he treats people; he doesn’t hold grudges and he will try to help however he can.

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With all the detailed descriptions about everything and all the unexpected changes got me to be engaged in the story.

At the beginning of the story, the writer gave lots of details about the location allowing me to picture it clearly without doubting any other details. The writer also described Hamid well, especially the emphasis of his lizard's eye. The way the writer described him made me imagine him as someone who looks really intimidating. However at the end of the 4 pages, I now understand that he does have a very good heart, he just looks unapproachable but he actually is approachable.

I can imagine it because of the way the writer describes the actions he does to take care of the rose, and how in the middle of the night, even when Fatimah looks like a mess. He still tried his best to take care of her without the use of a single spoken word.

In the middle of the story, the writer gave details on Fatimah and her looks gave me the opportunity to picture her well, including the accessory she had which is her key necklace. The way the writer wrote the details on how she blush as Hamid smiled allows me to picture how pretty Hamid’s smile actually is that can cause her to smile.

The writer also described the rose well to the point as someone who dislikes rose. I am also curious on how beautiful the rose actually is that it caught Hamid’s attention alongside Fatimah to the point where she is willing to lend her key necklace for half the price. This actually gets me engaged as Hamid kept refusing it even though a good offer was held in front of him.

It made me engaged as I was curious if he would actually give his beautiful rose away to Fatimah just for the key necklace. At the end where the writer described how she does not look like her usual self in the middle of the night got me thinking if this is the time where Hamid will give his rose to her, which he did, but out of his own will and not for the key necklace. The ending took me by surprise as I was not expecting Fatimah to give her key and for it to “affect” the growth of the rose as the writer describes.

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The scene-setting took place at Dhoby Ghaut, it talks about a rubbish heap underneath a great tree, which was parked next to a sarabat stall. I myself went to Dhoby Ghaut only around the Mrt and Plaza Singapura mall areas. The only street stall was one to two ice cream stalls. This rubbish dump was always known as a place to dump anything in it. Until the local found a new dumping spot, this gave me a sense of sadness in it since it was forgotten but the next few lines change the tone to something warmer. As time passes, the untouched heap, became wonderfully useful, its soil became rich and fertile and those who lived near would stove some for their potted plant.

One day a wilted plant was soiled there and as rainfall and sun shone as days passed by, the wilted plant grew into a beautiful rose with a detailed description. The story progress from the rose to this stall owner called ‘Hamid’, the sole key description that was brought out was his eyes were like a lizard’s eye and his military mustache waxed style. He worked as a Sarabat owner serving tea and coffee or sarabat for eleven years and the earnings he will send back to his family every month in Pakistan. He without know any religions, he worshipped anyway, if boredom hits he would cultivate his mustache. This was a result of his decision to separate from society. So when the rose appears it became ‘his love, his child, his God’ quoted. Which leads him to look after the rose.

The heroine of the story appears with a description similar to the rose with heavy accessories but a desirable lady named Fatimah. She had two faces, a ladylike and one herself when she if at the stall. She wanted the rose and offered many temptations to him but was ignored. One night she came near to the stall, hurt and was gang by five young men. Hamid noticed and guild her to his stall, without any questions he sat her down and took care of her by cleaning up and giving her his month earned cash to her and even plucked his red rose and placed it in her hair as she wept. He hailed a taxi and watch it till it disappears. With an ending of the rose stem, a new bud bloomed into red petals and the silver key underneath the soil.

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This story was very engaging. It starts off with talking about a "rubbish heap", which just makes the story stand out, like who cares about that? It's then said that "[the people] found a new dumping place", suggesting a feeling of abandonment that draws my attention, how would I deal with such a situation? This adds a sense of conflict and wonder for what's about to happen. Over time, a rose grew from the rubbish heap, signifying a source of hope coming from a place that seems impossible to come out of. This source of hope also implies that there would be an ending to the abandonment, and that a new beginning would come eventually. Hamid was then introduced, as an average person owning a store. Hamid is then compared to the "strength of a tiger's jaw", not needing to be testing and already knowing its strength. Similarly, Hamid must be someone people respect, its also mentioned that gangsters don't chase him. "a man of pride, strength, silence and compassion" is used to describe Hamid. This makes me think that Hamid must be a man of power, having an influence around those around him. "He never allowed himself any friends" confirmed my hypothesis. According to the book 48 Laws of Power written by Robert Greene, there is a law stating "Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies" and that was what Hamid did. This naturally gives him power and influence, that he is someone who sees things in an objective view and not being bias. This then makes me realise, wait a rose just grew.. the story continues by saying the rose is Hamid's only friend now "his love, his child, his God". This is something worth thinking about, that in life we might not be able to have people as our friends but other living things might be able to become better companions (like dogs for example). It seems inevitable that there are some sort of mind games that have to be played when talking to humans, whereas animals might be more accepting. This might be the curse of knowledge people talk about. The story now gets more engaging, a new character has joined - Fatimah. She is seen as a "very desirable woman" and "the cause of many fights". This makes me draw a connection between Hamid and Fatimah, both of them are people of power, who influence their environment and those around them. I start to hope that they get together.. however, Fatimah starts to test Hamid "[dangling] the silver key teasingly", she knows that many want the key and she wanted to see if Hamid would fall for her trap. Hamid remains unaffected and carries on with his life, causing Fatimah to be frustrated, her seduction games have failed. They both carry on with their lives. Hamid eventually sees Fatimah coming back to the stall, this time she seems hurt and abused, probably by the 5 men she left with. The sense of abandonment the rubbish heap felt was felt by Fatimah. This also gave me a sense of excitement, a "villain" has now felt the consequences of their actions. Would Fatimah change? What would Hamid do? Hamid treated Fatimah with affection and love, despite what she has done to him (laughed at him in a way) and gave her the rose she wanted.. his only friend. Hamid also gave her all his money, in other words he now has nothing left. This gave me a sense of uncertainty, giving everything to a woman who laughed at him? This made me respect Hamid even more, he is a man who serves the people and embodies the spirit of 'giving others'. But would Fatimah return? The love story has not ended and the story is now more engaging. Hamid also sees a new rose reappearing, there is hope in crisis... a new conflict has started after a resolution. This gives me a sense of wonder, I now want to know more.

I hope Fatimah and Hamid get together, and I now know that Hamid will be able to maintain his strength, calmness and poise regardless of what happens.
from the 4 pages,
Rubbish Heap: abandonment
Rose: sense of hope
Hamid: the protagonist, the reader follows what he's doing and tries to understand the internal conflicts he has while dealing with the external conflict (he's a well-respected man)
Fatimah: the supporting character, she brings in new ideas and adds in conflict to the story (she's a desired woman, she might not trust men which explains why she tried to seduce Hamid)

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Gregory Nalpon began the story with the phrase, "THERE USED TO BE". This  phrase helped me confirm the story would be set sometime in the past. The scene was then set by giving us the location (Dhoby Ghaut) and began introducing more elements such as a rubbish heap under a great tree with a sarabat stall parked beside it. These elements helped me visualise a Singapore of yore, where gangsters wandered the streets and little boys ran around playing without a care in the world.

The story did not continue to hold my attention until I came across the second character, Fatimah. The portrayal of a promiscuous woman, who would attract the attention and desires of many men next to Hamid, a lone man and owner of the sarabat stall who would forthrightly reject her advances with a snort and a twirl of his moustache was quite amusing to me.

Their clashing personalities made for quite the delightful tale as Fatimah would constantly tempt him into offering the bloomed rose in exchange for a taste of her rose petal-like lips and alluring figure (and perhaps the idea of marriage) for discounted prices. Hamid however, would simply write her off and continue on with his day much to her disappointment.

The details used such as the flame of a carbide lamp hissing allowed me to immerse myself further as it helped me visualise the sarabat stall more clearly as well the atmosphere of the streets it was set on.

As the story continued, the elaborate descriptions of Dhoby Ghaut during midnight engaged me further. Describing the area as 'deserted' with only 'stray dogs investigating dustbins' and 'starlings twittered and wheeled amongst the rooftops' even providing the type of birds commonly found in the area. I found this to be incredibly helpful in setting a realistic tone to the story.

As the story approached its end, we see that Fatimah had been mistreated by the men she had been with. "Her hair rumpled as though someone had tried to wrench it off her skull". This physical description allowed to me to understand somewhat the agony she experienced. The details Gregory Nalpon used in this story helped paint a picture in my mind as well as humanise and breathe life into his characters and setting of which could manifest only through his years of observation and attention to detail.

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From the first paragraph, the story starts with describing a rubbish heap instead of the protagonist. The way that the writer describes the rubbish heap is like describing an actual person. Then the story turns to the rose. I think a rose on the rubbish heap is a strong contrast like a beauty and a beast. However, the rubbish heap brought the rose back to life and the writer described the details of the stem to leave a strong impression.

For our protagonist Hamid, the writer focuses on his lizard eyes which gives the readers an imaginary image and bigger curiosity to read more. The passage first told us that he is an ordinary guy, but later indicates there were no gangsters who dared to find trouble with him. Though he was alone throughout his life in Singapore, he took care of the rose very carefully. This makes the readers want to know more about the outcome of the rose and Hamid.

Then for Fatimah's arrival, the writer mentioned the silver key which was confusing to the writers and why it was so precious. Moreover, the case of a cat ran over by a car but then resurrected gave us an impression of the power of the rose.

Reading without a stop to the end, I was surprised but understood the fact that Hamid gave Fatimah his rose and did all these for her. I really love echoing end to end at the end.

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At the start of the story, I was not really engaged and drawn into the story yet since Nalpon was just describing a typical rubbish heap that had “usual things” like “refuse from dustbins, paper, old tin and slippers and leaves from the tree above” and I was not really able to visualize how it looked like.

Once the first character, Hamid, was introduced, things started to get more interesting. The fact that Hamid “seldom spoke” and had “no friends” but had no enemies – “no gangsters ever tried to collect protection money from him” was really intriguing since it is usually presumed that someone who was quiet and aloof would attract bullies, as they are portrayed as weak. Hamid was however the special one and nobody “presumed upon his toughness”.

The second character that was introduced later on, Fatimah, was the polar opposite of Hamid. With visual descriptions of Fatimah being the “cause of many fights across the road”, shouting “across the road at anyone she knew” and displaying “a small hint of inconsolable regret for her way of live, I am able to learn that Fatimah was a really bold, loud and desirable lady.

The story then sets in, and the interesting interactions between Fatimah and Hamid draws my attention way further into the story. Fatimah would flirt with Hamid, whispering “small invitations of promised delight to Hamid” and once she even jokingly asked if Hamid wanted to marry her when saw Hamid smiling at her. On most occasions, Hamid would just ignore her advances and go about manning his store – his usual way of keeping a distance from people and not wanting to befriend anyone. This is seen as interesting as Fatimah was the only person who attempted to talk and interact with Hamid while the rest “avoided his eyes.

Soon, Fatimah became desperate and yearned for Hamid’s rose, after realizing that his rose possessed “remarkable qualities” when a cat died in a car accident but returned back to life in the next moment. She would try to convince Hamid repeatedly, offering her silver key in exchange for his precious rose. By offering Hamid to taste her lips and lending him her sliver key “free of charge”, it just showed that Fatimah wanted his rose so badly.

Afterwards, there seemed to be some kind of development in Fatimah and Hamid relationship. On that faithful night when Fatimah was badly assaulted by some young men at the bar to the extreme that there was “blood on her lips’, and her “kebaya was torn”, Hamid appeared to be concerned for Fatimah since he cleaned her face, arms and neck with a rag “soaked in warm water”, and also covered patch the in her kebaya. The fact that Fatimah allowed Hamid to do all these things for her after being physically assaulted by other men shows how much she trusted him and was opening up to him. Hamid then gave her the rose that she wanted so badly and she “wept’ since she “could not bear the pain of sweetness” of his rose. At the end, she also fulfilled her end of the deal by leaving the silver key behind in exchange for the rose. This is seen as interesting as their relationship managed to develop so quickly after that fateful night.

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Gregory wrote extensively about all of the main plot points of the story, explaining in detail who and what they were like and stood for, giving the world a sense of lived in splendor. One example would be the introduction of Hamid into the story, using "Pakistani, tall and lean and very tough, with a well-groomed, sharp moustache, and eyes gleaming with the light of a lizards eyes." He sets up several immediately striking details about Hamid, his strength, his sharp eye and his moustache. Then he expands upon the other details of his character in order to build more depth, he's Pakistani because he came to Singapore to work and support his family, he keeps a moustache because it's his only worldly possession, aside from his stall. I don't think he even has a house, it's just the stall, which makes sense as he probably didn't need one as he already has his stall.

Then come's Fatimah, it's implied that she works as a prostitute and that she has a hidden deep regret for this line of work, purely from the richness of her attire (gold bangles/ silver key) and that she doesn't seem all that enthused with her money, even trying to entice Hamid by giving him a full discount. His indifference can be seen through his stonewalling of her by doing mundane things like pretending not to have heard her, even when she shouts abuse at him.

His quiet existence is explored incredibly with the paragraph: "After a while, Dhoby Ghaut was deserted except for cars passing now and then. Stray dogs investigated dustbins and starlings twittered and wheeled amongst the rooftops." It gives the reader more context as to what Hamid's life is like, as well as a feeling of calm and serenity in the same way as how Hamid feels.

9/10 short story.

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What stood out to me the most was the immense amount of descriptions introduced by the author in the first page. I felt like the descriptions were eye catching yet a little excessive. I got distracted at a point of time. I didn’t understand what the author meant when he described Hamid’s “lizard eyes” as I couldn’t understand what the description meant. However, I appreciated the author’s attempt to open the story with clear descriptions because I think it’s a method to connect with your audience and make them understand the point you’re trying to get through.

While reading through the story, I had a feeling that the rose was going to be some sort of a metaphor for Fatimah. Seeing how Hamid treasures the rose a lot like its his everything, I thought the introduction of Fatimah right after talking about his love for the rose is like a foreshadowing that he will similarly care for Fatimah like the rose. Fatimah seems to be infatuated with Hamid as she insisted that Hamid gives up on what was his everything, which was the rose. Hamid’s nonchalant attitude towards her only made her more “delusional” as the incident with the ginger cat that died from a crash made her more determined to prove to Hamid that she’s as worthy of the rose that supposedly gave the cat a life.

It was only after an incident with the five young men Fatimah hung out with that made Hamid realize that her life was as precious as a rose. The author compared her lips to the rose petals which once again gave me the impression that there is some sort of connection between Fatimah and the rose. There seems to be some significance in the silver key as well. Fatimah started off saying that she’d offer Hamid the key for half the price and for free and then lastly it landed on his counter. He ended up burying it under the rose and while doing that a new bud opened into a red petal which was “soft as Fatimah’s lips”. I’m assuming that the petal was Fatimah and the only thing that could allow it to bloom was the silver key that Hamid was holding on to.

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The author used plenty of descriptive words to paint an image in the reader’s minds. Gregory Nalpon begins by describing the location of the story and how the rose emerged from the rubbish heap. The author described how the stem of the rose has nine leaves and fourteen thorns, signifying that the rose was very well and fully developed despite it blooming on top of a rubbish pile. The description of how Hamid looked like also allowed readers to paint a mental image of him and imagine him as he maned his stall and how he took care of the rose that blossomed on the rubbish heap behind his stall. Nalpon later introduced Fatimah and how attractive she was by describing her facial features and the clothes and accessories she was wearing. The dialogues between Hamid and Fatimah also played out really nicely when Fatimah tried to bribe Hamid into giving her the rose in exchange for her silver key, whereas Hamid refuses her each time she asks for it. Suddenly, the scene shifts to the road where the ginger cat has been hit and was described as an unexplained omen, perhaps hinting at the misfortune that occurred to Fatimah later on in the story. Towards the end of the story, Gregory Nalpon described Fatimah’s injuries and hints that she was probably abused by the group of 5 young guys that left the bar with her around midnight. The rumpled hair, scratched and bruised arms, the puffy eyes and the blood on her lips illustrated the extent to which the group of men abused her. The author concluded the story with a bittersweet ending as Hamid decides to give Fatimah the rose eventually. This story allows for creativity in imagination and space for readers to interpret any implied meanings behind each sentence. Rather than simply saying “a Pakistani man” to describe Hamid, Nalpon guides our imagination by describing his features, similar to how he described Fatimah, which really allowed readers to reconstruct each character and each scene according to our interpretation of the description.