Misdemeanour

Stealing in a Shopping Mall

It was the ‘Great Singapore Sale’. Colourful banners screaming the words ‘GSS’ were dangled decoratively from the ceilings of the gargantuan shopping mall. Countless varieties of merchandise were on sale, prices were slashed ridiculously low to entice customers to splurge their money on shopping. The sale areas were all packed like sardines as people hustled and jostled one another. “It is mine! Go away!” One of the middle-aged women with sunken cheeks argued with the other housewives as she tried vehemently to seize her desired wallets from the wide array of leather goods displayed at the sales counter. Joie looked at their uncouth behaviour with repugnance as she sat on a bench nearby to take a breather from her own shopping.

All of a sudden, a scrawny teenager with tousled hair hidden beneath a cap, standing as quiet as a church mouse in a corner caught Joie’s attention. His small beady eyes darted slyly from side to side as he lowered his cap surreptitiously. The bunch of noisy ladies was oblivious to his sinister presence. With Sherlock Holmes detective’s instincts, Joie observed every movement he made as he inched closer to that middle-aged woman. As quick as lightning, he swiftly nicked a black wallet from her bag and put it into his pocket skilfully like a rightful owner of the loot. Joie’s heart pounded quickly and beads of perspiration dotted her forehead as she searched her brain frantically for a reaction and what she should do.

Within a fraction of a minute, Joie’s righteous instincts revved up in her, she knew what she had to do. Using her resourcefulness, Joie rounded up a burly security guard and related to him all that she had witnessed in the past minutes. The guard widened his eyes in alarm when he heard Joie’s report. Immediate action was taken. Soon two other security guards appeared to seal the exits. At this critical moment, the gaunt shoplifter headed for the nearest escalator instead of the exits! Serious action started. All three security guards dashed after the nimble thief in haste. Joie jostled her way to the escalator and the scene that greeted her would forever be etched in her mind.

The teenage thief took a vicious tumble down the flight of escalator. He lay in a pathetic heap at the end of his fall and grimaced in excruciating pain, blood oozing from his arms and legs. The security guards cordoned off the area where the injured thief was lying. Paramedics arrived in no time. They administered first aid and attended to the thief proficiently, while the police were also called in to take down Joie’s statement. The pickpocket indeed paid a high price for his misdeed!

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What the words and phrases mean…

1	dangled decoratively	hung for decoration purposes
2	gargantuan	very huge
3	countless varieties of merchandise	a lot of different products that are on sale
4	prices were slashed ridiculously low	great reduction in prices during a sale
5	entice	attract
6	splurge their money	spend money extravagantly
7	packed like sardines	very crowded
8	people hustled and jostled one another	in a crowded place people pushing at one another
9	tried vehemently to seize	to snatch something in a fierce manner
10	uncouth behaviour	rude behaviour
11	repugnance	disgust
12	take a breather	rest for a while
13	scrawny	skinny
14	as quiet as a church mouse	to be very quiet
15	small beady eyes darted slyly from side to side	very small eyes scanned the surroundings intently
16	surreptitiously	suspiciously
17	sinister presence	evil existence
18	with sherlock holmes detective’s instincts	in high alert of criminal activities
19	as quick as lightning	very quick actions
20	swiftly nicked	quickly stole
21	searched her brain frantically for a reaction	thought very quickly to react to a situation
22	righteous instincts revved up in her	sense of justice acting up
23	resourcefulness	quick-wits
24	widened his eyes in alarm	in shock
25	gaunt	very thin in appearance
26	nimble	agile
27	took a vicious tumble down the flight of escalator	rolled down an escalator
28	pathetic heap	fell down and landed in a sad position
29	excruciating pain	extreme pain
30	administered first aid	gave medical attention
31	proficiently	efficiently
32	paid a high price for his misdeed	suffered consequences for one’s mistake

Vandalism

The day was hot and humid. The scorching sun at noon beat through the windows casting its intense heat everywhere. It was recess time and I was parched and famished. I headed for the canteen to cool down and catch my breath.

Just as I was walking along the corridor of classrooms, my ears caught the sounds of subdued laughter. My curiosity was immediately aroused and I was drawn towards the source of the sounds. No one was supposed to be in the classroom during recess time. Then I caught sight of some movements. I was astonished and stood there in disbelief. “We are having the National Day Class Decoration Competition and they are doing this?” I thought to myself indignantly. Two boys with dishevelled hair and uniforms were vandalising the fully decorated wall by drawing pictures on it. I could not stand it any longer. I decided to confront them. “Hey! How can you do this? It is a crime to vandalise,” I reprimanded them harshly. “Furthermore, you are destroying all the students’ hard work and effort!”

“Back off! You puny little thing! Don’t forget! Little Puny, we are bigger than you!” the boys snapped in my face. I saw red. Steam was blowing out of my ears. I threatened to report them to the Discipline Master. They glowered at me menacingly. Their stares were like the devil, drilling fear into me. Nevertheless, I stomped straight for the Discipline Master’s office.

Before I could break into a run, they caught up with me and grabbed me by my collar. “How dare you! You little puny kid,” the boys snarled at me. With their fists clenched, they rammed punches into my stomach. Excruciating pain shot through my body. At that instant, a teacher appeared. He had heard the commotion and had come to investigate. I thanked my lucky stars and immediately reported to him what the boys had done. Beads of perspiration were now dripping down the two boys’ foreheads. They knew that they had been caught red-handed and were now dumbfounded.

The two boys were duly punished by the Principal. I was sent for medical treatment for the thrashing that they gave me. I was also commended for standing up to them. All the pain that I suffered dispersed when I got the pat on my shoulder by the Principal.

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What the words and phrases mean…

1	casting its intense heat everywhere	spreading warmth all around
2	parched and famished	thirsty and hungry
3	catch my breath	rest till breathing become normal
4	subdued laughter	laughter that was held within limits
5	curiosity was immediately aroused	stirred up interest in something
6	drawn towards the source	attracted to the cause of it
7	caught sight of some movements	saw some actions
8	stood there in disbelief	remained on a spot due to refusal to believe
9	indignantly	angry due to something unjust or wrong
10	dishevelled hair	messy hair
11	confront	to come face to face especially with hostility
12	vandalise	destroy
13	reprimanded	scolded
14	puny	inferior because of size or strength
15	saw red	became extremely angry
16	steam was blowing out of my ears	to illustrate the extent of anger
17	glowered at me menacingly	stared angrily and threateningly
18	stomped	tread heavily
19	break into a run	to suddenly run
20	snarled	spoke angrily and threateningly
21	fists clenched	tightened the fist
22	rammed punches into my stomach	to strike against stomach with violent hitting
23	excruciating pain shot through my body	extreme pain went through my body
24	thanked my lucky stars	an exclamation of relief
25	caught red-handed	caught while doing the act of something
26	duly punished	punished accordingly
27	thrashing	a severe beating
28	commended	expressed praise
29	dispersed	scattered

Inconsiderate Behaviour

“Please stand clear from the closing doors,” the public announcement system chirped civilly at the rambunctious weekend crowd that was crammed in the train cabin. Families with whining children lined the limited seats on the train. Young couples plastered themselves to the exits’ walls. Aaron was rushing to his Saturday tuition so he had little choice but to squeeze a standing space for himself in the crowded train.

With every stop that the train made, the cabin was getting more and more packed. Aaron was literally squashed against the walls of the cabin. He was forced to perform a balancing act each time the train jerked to a stop as Aaron could not even have any hand space on the iron bar or above-head handle. Suddenly, a bunch of raucous teenagers stomped into the cabin. Their rowdy chatter rose above the din that was already in the train. Nudging their way for a space, the unruly boys took the liberty of plonking their butts down on the floor of the train. Faking ignorance towards the admonishing eyes of the other commuters, the boys continued to make themselves comfortable on the floor of the jam-packed train. Aaron stared in dismal unbelief.

Being extremely disruptive, the teenagers started picking up their volumes as they chatted away animatedly. They were occupying a circumference of standing space for a lot of people, yet none of them seemed to be conscious of their inconsideration. Feeling indignant, Aaron found his assertive voice, “Stand up and make space!” The boys looked up at Aaron’s puny frame looming over their heads and burst out in condescending laughter.

Casting Aaron a threatening glower, the teenagers flashed their indifference and continued to indulge in their lively conversation, not even budging an inch of their butts from the floor of the train. Aaron’s face flushed red in anger. Steam was gushing out of his ears. It was then another loud voice boomed, “Stand up and make space!” Aaron spun his head around and saw his cousin, Jake. Being total opposites of Aaron, Jake was a bodybuilder for the Singapore National Team. His bulky frame of toned-bronze muscles would easily strike fear in even grown men. Realising that they were being confronted by a giant, the boys scrambled to their feet in jitters. “This is a public transport, not your own private cars. So wise up young kids and be considerate!” Jake’s deep voice cracked through the momentarily silent cabin. All eyes were fixated on them. The teenagers hung their heads in humiliation and being evidently embarrassed, they muttered their apologies before rushing out of the train like there was no tomorrow.

The cabin resumed its boisterous nature. Jake patted Aaron on his back commending him for the courage he had to speak up and try to reprimand those teenagers for their inconsiderate behaviour. The two cousins got into their own animated tête-à-tête till Aaron arrived at his stop. He was late for tuition again and he knew it was time to pick up the habit of punctuality as that was also a considerate act.

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What the words and phrases mean…

1	chirped civilly	announced politely
2	rambunctious	lively
3	had little choice	being forced to do something
4	raucous	unpleasantly loud
5	stomped into	made attention-grabbing entrance
6	rowdy chatter rose above the din	talked rudely in a very noisy environment
7	unruly	rude
8	took the liberty	did things without permission
9	plonking their butts down on the floor	sitting down heavily or suddenly
10	faking ignorance	pretending to be unaware
11	admonishing	scolding or advise against
12	make themselves comfortable	to feel at ease
13	jam-packed	crowded
14	stared in dismal unbelief	looked at something angrily
15	extremely disruptive	very interrupting
16	indignant	angry at unfairness
17	assertive	firm on one’s view
18	puny frame	small-sized
19	burst out in condescending laughter	laughed to show mockery
20	flashed their indifference	showed disregard
21	indulge in their lively conversation	enjoy chatting away
22	face flushed red in anger	felt angry
23	bulky frame of toned-bronze muscles	big built and muscular
24	strike fear	make someone feel frightened
25	scrambled to their feet in jitters	stood up in fear
26	all eyes were fixated	stared intensely
27	hung their heads in humiliation	dropped their heads in shame
28	muttered their apologies	said sorry very softly
29	boisterous nature	lively atmosphere
30	commending him for the courage	praising him for being brave
31	reprimand	lecture
32	tête-à-tête	chit chatting
33	habit of punctuality	being on time

Shoplifting Gone Awry

“Good morning, Mrs Tan! Buying groceries?” the shopkeeper’s chirpy voice greeted the old lady beside me. This was it! My golden opportunity to quench the thirst in my dehydrated throat. My pockets were empty. The thirst for water was killing me with every passing minute. The can of coke stood like a shiny trophy, beckoning me to reach for it.

I mustered up all my courage and ran into the shop as fast as my legs could carry me. In that frantic moment, I grabbed hold of the can of coke like a vice and took to my heels. My heart was pounding wildly as I was afraid that I would be caught red-handed.

“Boy! Stop where you are, thief!” the shopkeeper hollered, sending shivers down my spine. After saying that, he stormed towards me in hot pursuit. He had daggers in his eyes. I headed to the hazardous road and saw a car whizzing past the shop. Dexterously I dodged the blow of the oncoming car and made it to the barrier in the middle of the road. When I turned back, I saw the clumsy shopkeeper standing on the road bracing the killing impact of the car. He was waving frantically and shouting incoherently. The car tried to screech to a halt but to no avail.

Instantly, the car knocked down the shopkeeper. Everyone stood rooted to the ground in bewilderment. I was flabbergasted to see the shopkeeper writhing in excruciating pain. I knew that I was going to be in hot soup.

Some passers-by alerted the police and ambulance while I stood at the scene paralyzed with guilt. My heart was filled with remorse. The police and ambulance arrived promptly. They sent the casualty to the hospital for emergency treatment. The police besieged around me.

The cool metal cuffs held my hands as I surrendered to the policemen. I deserved to be caught for my act. I was wrong to run away from my actions. A mixture of remorse and relief swept through my mind as I learnt my lesson. Poverty is not a crime but stealing is.

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What the words and phrases mean…

1	chirpy voice	cheery voice
2	quench the thirst	to put out the need for water
3	dehydrated throat	throat that is dry and parched
4	every passing minute	as time goes by
5	beckoning me to reach for it	inviting me to get hold of it
6	mustered up all my courage	gathered all my guts
7	in that frantic moment	at that desperate instant
8	vice	moral weakness
9	took to my heels	ran away
10	heart was pounding wildly	heart beat very violently
11	hollered	shouted
12	sending shivers down my spine	feeling very frightened
13	in hot pursuit	chase closely after
14	had daggers in his eyes	glared angrily at
15	hazardous road	dangerous road
16	whizzing past	moving past very quickly
17	dexterously	skilfully
18	dodged	avoided
19	bracing the killing impact of the car	to prepare oneself before impact of the car hitting
20	incoherently	unable to express oneself in a clear manner
21	screech	a high-pitch sound
22	to a halt	come to s stop
23	in bewilderment	confused and puzzled
24	flabbergasted	speechless
25	writhing in excruciating pain	twisting and suffering in extreme agony
26	in hot soup	in trouble
27	paralyzed with guilt	unable to move due to shame
28	my heart was filled with remorse	to feel shameful and regret
29	casualty	injured person
30	besieged	surrounded so as to force to surrender

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