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If only I had gone to bed earlier, this nightmare could have been avoided.

I can’t let this happen again — I’ll lose everyone’s trust.

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“Never again,” I muttered. “I’ll set three alarms if I have to.”

“Being on time is harder than it looks,” I sighed, “but it’s worth it.”

“From today, I’ll treat punctuality like gold — something too precious to waste.”

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Walking home, I felt the sting of embarrassment. Being late had shown me that punctuality is more than catching the bus — it is about respect and self-discipline. I resolved to set my alarm earlier, pack my school bag the night before, and set a curfew on my devices so I could sleep earlier. After all, “the early bird catches the worm,” and I wanted to be ready for every opportunity that came my way.

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From that day on, I made it my life’s mission to be punctual. I set more alarm clocks early , I slept earlier and stopped playing computer games late into the night.

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Read the draft you have written. Identify the bracketed sentence(s) to share with the class. Include your name and the strategy.

Sample:

Mrs Li

My heart pounded like a wild drum as I realised I had overslept.

[simile]

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“Hahaha! This game is so fun to play!” I exclaimed loudly as my fingers tapped noisily on the phone screen. It was the night before my flight and I was still up playing video games.

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As I packed up, ready to leave my home full of memories and love, I saw my old computer. Then, all the memories came flashing back.

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Click, click, click.

The familiar sound coming from my controller showed just how engrossed I was playing video games.

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“Ring!” My alarm bell rang. I unwillingly sat up from my bed.

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Time and tide wait for no man. Isabel heard that phrase before, but only understood what it meant today. It has cost her her job, is a lesson she would never forget.

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I went to my room to change first, unaware of an unpleasant surprise waiting for me.

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The screen glowed brightly in the dark room, its flickering light casting shadows on my tired eyes. The sound of buttons clicking filled the air, a constant rhythm, as hours slipped away unnoticed. Time faded, and the world outside disappeared. Without noticing, I had been playing for three hours and it was already 10 pm.

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Rushing to school, I did not realise that I had left my pencil case at home.

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Little did she know, she was making a wrong choice.

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“Do your homework! Stop playing games! It’s already ten!” Daniel’s parents nagged for the umpteenth time. Reluctantly, Daniel put down his phone and walked to his room. When he opened the room door, he saw a mountain of homework. It was just then it came to him. Daniel had forgotten to do his homework that was already supposed to be done! His face turned as pale as a sheet. [simile]

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I dashed to the bus stop like my life depended on it. I could not miss this major examination! When I reached, all I saw was the back of the yellow bus and the smell of exhaust flames.

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I looked at the calendar on the fridge with my panda eyes while yawning. Suddenly, my eyes perked up like I saw a ghost in front of my face. I saw a big red circle on today’s date with words saying “Mathematics exam day”. Seeing it, I immediately went to the bathroom to get ready for school.

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“Ring! Ring!” Class has started, John and Sammy were in the same class.

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“Natasha! Where are you? We are meant to be boarding now!” Natasha’s best friend Joelle exclaimed. “I’m nearly there! I just got past all the security checkpoints!" Natasha said, struggling to hold her handphone and luggage.

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“Just a bit of gaming won’t hurt,” Jim grinned. He sneakily crept into mothers room to retrieve his handphone from her drawer. He snickered as he grabbed his phone and dashed out of the room. Jim leaped in bed and hid under the covers as he started on his video game.

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Excitement was building up in my head as my family and I were going on our dream holiday to New York. I could not sleep so I decided to play video games on my television without noticing the time.

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"Well, Mr Parkins this is your third time being late! You know one more time and you could be suspended!" Mrs Janet said. Benny was unfazed though. He had been late to school so many times that he might have been to the front office more than his own classroom.

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Tim realised being punctual was not about getting where he needed to be on time. It was about showing respect for others and being responsible and making sure he would not miss out on important things or events .

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“Clack, clack, clack” was all that Mother could hear; the gaming controller Tom used often was at it again. Mother remembered telling Tom to stop gaming and focus on his studies.

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She jumped out of bed, dashed towards the bathroom to wash up and got changed.

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A mix of panic, confusion and shock washed over me as I leapt out of bed , scrambled to get dressed and burst out of my front door. “I should not have hurried to finish my homework last night,” I muttered to myself as I scurried to the train I was about to take.

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From that day on, the memory of coming to school late has been etched in my mind, letting me learn an important lesson: Do not leave things to the last minute.

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I burst into the classroom and remembered that today was the math test. My teacher handed me the test paper and I realised that I only had twenty minutes left.

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“Ring! Ring!” my alarm clock rang. I snoozed the alarm and muttered, “Just five more minutes.” But that five minutes soon turned into an hour.

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The next morning, my alarm was screaming at me to wake up at the peak of dawn. The screechy sound of the alarm rang loudly and woke me up instantly. “Tick, tock. Tick, tock,” went the hands of my alarm clock, as if it was ushering me to hurry.

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Clutching on to his paper, Jake tried to stop his hands from trembling. However, his eyes reflected the fear that he was feeling. Yet, it seemed that the teacher knew, and that made his heart beat faster.

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A great sense of regret washed over me and I let out a heavy sigh. Why did I play video games? Why did I sleep so late? Why did I choose to sleep late? I reproached myself over and over again, but the damage was already done. So, in the end, because of not being punctual, I missed out on an opportunity.

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“How could you be so irresponsible? Because of your actions, you have caused the entire class to miss this experience!” Charmaine hung her head in shame. Why was she so irresponsible? Why couldn’t she be more punctual? She thought, staring at the clean and well polished airport floor, not daring to look up ...

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Ms Lim explained , “Rules are rules, I told the class that if you are late, it is an instant fail. I hope that this will be a reminder to never wake up late again. “I lowered my eyes as I fought back my tears. I lowered my eyes as I fought back tears. I learnt a valuable lesson that day, better to be three hours early than a minute late.

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So, I just played games, ate slowly and watched cartoons for hours.

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The next time I opened my eyes, it was eight o’clock. Panic struck me like a wave. My mind raced with thoughts as I broke into cold sweat.

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“Shock, bewilderment, disbelief and urgency flashed across my face at the sight of the paper. I could not understand. I realised that I had came to school for an examination that I had not been aware that was going to happen and had not studied for. “

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As he drifted back to sleep, he did not notice his school bag, leaning dangerously close to the edge of the chair. Little did he know, those five more minutes would cause a chain of problems later that morning…

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From this experience, Maddy learnt her lesson of being punctual. Being late results in drastic consequences.

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Soon , I heard that familiar sound. “Ring! Ring!” This time , I woke up , still in a daze. Then , I looked at my alarm clock. 7:30a.m. My face turned as white as a ghost. School had started! My head spiralled out of control. I then looked up at my calendar. It was my Mathematics exam!

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I immediately jumped out of my bed and ate my breakfast. After eating, I dashed out of the house as fast as lightning, so fast that I would have put a cheetah to shame.

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Sam was sweating, fiddling with his thumbs, checking his phone non-stop and kept staring at the traffic jam. Sam only had twenty-nine minutes to get to the airport. He was scared out of his mind.

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The next morning, I woke up groggily after that restless night and nearly fell off the bed. “12pm!” I screamed.

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At this point , he would already be late but it is better late than never.

Out of the blue , he tripped on the slippery ground and fell head first. His whole face was covered in the dirty , muddy water.

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He had missed his flight. Tommy’s heart skipped a beat and his hands grew clammy. He had no choice but to return back home. He had lost his opportunity to get a job that he had always wanted. He thought about the countless rejections every time he applied for an interview. When a company had finally accepted him, he threw away his chance just because of not being punctual. He sulked as he walked to the bus stop, regretting every decision made that day

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Tarmacs were filled with vehicles of all types sandwiched together. Drivers were honking impatiently, unaware of the scene in front of them. Throngs of passers by flooded the streets. I was completely confused. The street I used to take to school was usually empty. All the commotion had shattered the serenity of the quiet street. As I trudged forward pushing aside many passers by, a nightmarish scene unfolded before my eyes. A small red car had collided with a gigantic , beaten and vintage truck. The scene was a complete disaster. I then took a cursory glance at my watch and I was astonished to see that the time was already 8:05am in the morning.

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She had sacrificed her precious marks because she had procrastinated and was late in the end. Her favourite line she likes to say to me now is ”Being punctual is an act of respect, Rachel, so will you please hurry up!” because, as always, time and tide waits for no man.

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When I nearly reached school, the rain started pouring. “How much worse can this get?” I thought miserably.

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Ring, Ring! "Benny you are late for school again!" Benny's mother said impatiently. Benny shot up. Oh no! He was late again.

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After a few hours, Jim yawned and rubbed his eye, ”Argh, what time is it?” he groaned and stared into his alarm clock and his vision cleared. His eye widen in disbelief as his jaw dropped “It’s 5:30 already!?it was just 9!”he hurriedly kept his phone and knocked out.

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I then took out my phone , wanting to call my mother. “Mum! I am going to be late! Can you pick me up? I’m at the bus stop.” “I can’t pick you up , I’m already at my office. I can call you a taxi. But is peak hour.” My mother said , calmly , not knowing I had am exam today.

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Please, just let me enter,” she pleaded. “We’ll have to disqualify you from this competition. I’m sorry, perhaps you could participate next year,” the teacher replied. Tears welled up in Ashley’s eyes as she walked away. She shook her head in disappointment and tears begun to stream down her cheeks like a waterfall. She had prepared so hard for this competition and it all had gone to waste as she had failed to be punctual.

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One early morning of Monday, the bright clucking of the chicken echoed in the quiet air. ”Beep!” Cars began to horn and sounds of motorcycles sounded, the “early birds” had gone for work, while Jim was still sleeping.

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"Well i guess you learned something today. Time and tide wait for no man. You learned this valuable lesson the hard way. The heart wrenching experience would forever be etched in my mind and scarred in my memory. You have to turn over a new leaf and vow to never procrastinate because of this fateful experience" Benny, nodded, seemingly understanding his mum as they drove off.

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I then reached the traffic light ,it was a red man, but I could not wait, time was ticking. Should I jaywalk or wait for the red man to turn green and be late for school. I was stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. So, without hesitation, I sprinted across the road. Suddenly, everything turned black.

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“Bye!” I yelled from across the room, I was going to the airport. It was 1 o’clock in the morning. I wanted to be 5 hours early just in case. “Why go so early?”, my older brother asked. “Time and tide wait for no man.”, I replied getting in the car. I had learnt my lesson previously and was not going to let history repeat itself.

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As I read the Xiamen immersion trip booklet, a wave of regret washed over me. If only I had woke up early and been punctual. I had never forgotten what had happened that fateful day…

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I forgot that time waits for no man. Always be punctual!

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Guilt. Remorse. Regret. These paroxysms of emotions would engulf me whenever I would catch a glimpse of my report book from my old school. Never would I ever forget the day I learnt to be punctual. I had never forgotten what happened on that day…

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As I walked past my old primary school, a familiar scent from it triggered my memories. I can still remember that morning, the panic setting in as soon as my eyes shot open. The clock read 7:42 AM. I had overslept — again. I scrambled to get dressed, the seconds slipping away like sand in an hourglass. I barely grabbed my backpack before I was out the door, the cold air biting at my face. The bus was long gone. I was ot just late; I was already way behind.

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“Ring, ring.” The annoying sound coming from the alarm clock reverberated through my cosy little room filled with incandescent lights.

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“Mother, let me help you pack the storage room! “ I hollered. I entered the dusty and old storage room filled with memories. As I was digging through the pile of soft toys , I came across the mathematics test paper that I had failed miserably in. That dreadful memory will forever be etched in my mind …

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As I came back to the present, I stared at the booklet in my hands. Looking at all the fun pictures, I wished I could have joined them. As the saying goes, ’You may delay, but time will not." After this painful experience, I learnt the importance of being punctual and vowed never to be late again.

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I took a cursory glance at the alarm clock only to see 7:45am displayed on it in vivid ,bold and red letters and numbers that was when it hit me like a 100 pound sledgehammer that I was extremely late for school

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Shame burned hot on my cheeks as the class turned to stare at me.

Regret weighed heavily on my chest as I sat down, breathless and humiliated.

A pang of guilt pierced me when I saw my teacher shake her head in disappointment.

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The locked school gate stood like a barrier between me and the opportunities I had carelessly lost.

The bus’s fading headlights symbolised the chances slipping out of my grasp.

The ringing bell was not just sound—it was a reminder of my failure to respect time.

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Daniel, the carefree dreamer, had always believed five minutes late was no big deal—until today.

Meticulous about his grades but careless about time, Alex often found himself in sticky situations like this one.

Clara, usually the most reliable of friends, shocked everyone by arriving late that morning.

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I dashed down the stairs, I grabbed my bag, I threw on my shoes, I bolted for the gate.

I was late for the bus, late for the bell, late for the lesson, late for myself.

He ran, he tripped, he stumbled, he fell—all in his desperate race against time.

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I bolted down the stairs so fast I thought my legs would catch fire.

I felt like the slowest snail in the universe as the bus sped past me.

It seemed as though every clock in the world was conspiring against me.