The monkey: a mischievous animal

Winner:

A monkey is a mischievous animal. It is always up to tricks. Hence when someone is mischievous we say, “He is as mischievous as a monkey”.

Monkeys are of different sizes. Some are big and some are small. Their faces resemble those of human beings but their ears are very small. Their faces look like those of old people. Some monkeys have red faces and others have black ones. They have hands and feet which are like those of humans. Their bodies are very hairy.

Fruits and nuts are their favourite food. They like to eat especially bananas. Some monkeys make funny faces to have fun. It is interesting to watch female monkeys jump from tree to tree with their babies clinging to their bodies.

Monkeys are intelligent and clever animals. They can learn to perform many tricks, but they cannot talk. They make strange sounds when they are angry and excited.

A monkey likes to mimic others. That is why those who imitate others are called monkeys. A monkey is an interesting pet to have. However, monkeys can be a nuisance at times. They can cause great damage to property. A troop of monkeys can break a number of tiles by jumping on the roof. If they come across fruit trees they eat as much fruit as they can. Then they even carry away the rest of the fruit. A wild monkey can be a public nuisance sometimes.

Praveenya de Silva,
Grade10,
Good Shepherd Covent,
Panadura.

Early to bed and early to rise

Winner:

Early to bed and early to rise is a good habit. Early risers have many advantages. In the early hours of the morning, our minds are fresh and the environment too is clean. In fact, a good amount of work can be completed before others even get out of bed.

Early risers stand to gain because they have much more time left in the day to complete their work.

After a good night’s sleep, the mind is fresh. It is therefore good for students to become early risers because it would enable them to study in the morning hours. Most bright students are early risers.

Senali Prasangika,
Grade 7-H,
Visakha Vidyalaya,
Colombo.

A trip to Galle

Winner:

There are many beautiful and historical places to see in Sri Lanka. Recently my family planned to go on a trip to Galle to see some of the interesting places there.

It was a happy and exciting day for all of us; packing our belongings and getting ready to go. We travelled by car, singing and having fun all the way. We finally reached Galle and the first place we visited was the harbour, where ships come for different requirements, such as for repair and to stock up on fuel, food and water.

Fishing is very common in the Galle area as it is bordering the sea. We saw many boats and fishermen too.

Next we went to Koggala to visit the Martin Wickramasinghe Museum. The museum was so fascinating. Many important things were displayed at the museum. We saw the books Martin Wickramasinghe had written and some awards he had received.

As we were tired, we stopped at a restaurant and had lunch. We then went to the Galle Fort. The fort was an important place in the southern part of Sri Lanka, and was built by the Dutch.

We also went to the Unawatuna beach and spent the rest of the evening there. We played in the sea and went on boat rides where we saw many fascinating corals.

Later in the night we returned home. The trip was so awesome. I cannot describe it in words.

Fowzer Fouz,
Grade 6A,
Hejaaz International School.

Treasure children

Winner:

Children look up to adults and follow them. Adults usually safeguard and protect children. However, it is sad that sometimes parents do not protect their children. About 50 per cent of the population in the country are adults so they must take special care about the child population in the country.

There are many children living on the roads. Some end up as street children because parents chase them away from their houses and neglect them. These street children resort to various unlawful acts. Some adults sell their children to foreigners. Some use them in wars as child soldiers. There are many children who misbehave with foreigners to earn some money. People abuse children and use them to carry out various wrong acts. There are lots of children who do not attend school due to poverty.

There are some children who are not healthy. Malnutrition is high among poor children.

Due to these reasons children have become miserable.

We must protect children at all times. It is important to take immediate measures to safeguard children and prevent them from ruining their lives.

Let’s usher in a world where children can live without fear and do not have to struggle for their basic rights such as food, education, shelter and protection.

Children must be treasured.

Shashik Oshan,
Grade 4A,
Success English College,
Piliyandala.

The joy of giving

Winner:

Giving and receiving gifts gives people immense pleasure. I have received a spectacular gift, given a colourful present, and I am filled up every year by an intangible gift.

When I give or get a gift I always feel happy.

First, the best gift I have received is a Play Station Portable(PSP). I got a black PSP, which is one of my favourite colours. When I got it there was a video game inside it, too! I can also plug it into the TV to play too. Some games I play are Avatar, Transformers, Socom U.S. Navy Seals, Fire team Bravo 3 and Midnight Club L.A. Remix. I play my PSP at night while my sister watches TV. I need to charge it if it runs out of power. This is a gift that makes me happy.

The nicest gift I have given is a bead necklace to my sister.

It had colourful beads of different shapes and sizes. Some of the beads were stars, spheres, cubes and flowers. I gave the bead necklace to my sister Roseisa because she helps me a lot. Roseisa was surprised and happy when I gave the necklace to her. That always makes me cheerful.

The intangible gift I receive is my mother’s love. She helps me think of cool designs of cards, holiday decorations and book covers.

My mum makes my breakfast, lunch and dinner. My favourite breakfast is pancakes.

She takes care of me and the rest of my family. She also plays with me. This intangible gift makes me feel secure.

Gift giving is something people enjoy. As I have received an expensive gift, given a special gift, and got an intangible gift which is everlasting I am extremely joyful.

Chenneth Weeraratne,
Elizabeth Moir School.

My garden

There is a small garden in front of my house . Even though it is small there are a lot of fruit trees such as jak, mango,nelli and avacado.

A variety of birds visit the garden to eat the fruits on these trees. They make different sounds. I like the birds. .

There are many flowering plants too in the garden such as gardenia, anthurium and madara.

My garden is beautiful.

Pinsarani Senarathna,
Grade 5-C,
Holy Family Balika Maha Vidyalaya,
Kurunegala

I love my country

My country Sri Lanka is called the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. Long, long ago it was called by many other names such as Taprobane and Ceylon.

My country is very beautiful. There are many rivers, beaches, waterfalls, jungles and tanks. Many tourists come to our country.

The national flower is the blue water lily or nil manel, and the national tree is na (ironwood) Tree.

Today Sri Lanka is free of ethnic trouble. We can live in peace and harmony. I love my country.

Gayumi Kanishka,
Grade 4S,
Buddhist Ladies’ College.

Myself

I am a girl named Ramudi. I am seven years old. I live in Matara. I study at Brilliant Stars International College. I like to eat milk-rice and orange. I like to drink milk and faluda.

Wijesekara Liyanage Ramudi,
Brilliant Stars International College,
Nupe,
Matara.