Winner:

Showing kindness to animals

Nature consists of fauna and flora. Therefore, it is necessary to protect these two components.Fauna can be described as animals or living beings. The term embraces elephants, giraffes, lions and tiny creatures such as ants.

Today thousands of animals lose their freedom or even their lives due to man’s cruelty. People kill animals for their flesh or skin. Sometimes people put their pets into cages.

According to Buddhism killing or harming animals is a sin. When we observe ‘Pansil’, we promise not to kill any living beings. Every animal, big or small, loves to live and enjoy freedom. We should not kill or cause any harm to animals.

Binu Medhya Ranatunga, Grade 10-A, Devi Balika Vidyalaya

Winner:

A good citizen

A good citizen should have admirable qualities. He must always obey the law and order of the country. He must not do illegal things.

He has to help the government to keep peace. When others commit crimes he should take steps to stop them. A good citizen must always think of the country. When the country is facing a foreign invasion, he must be ready to defend it.

He must be vigilant of enemies and terrorists. When he is suspicious of something or someone he should inform the Security Forces about it. A good citizen should always think of the unity of the nation. He must live in peace and harmony with other citizens. He has to respect other ethnic groups and religions.

A good citizen must respect the country’s cultural heritage and values. He should practise the customs of his society. He must respect the national heroes, political leaders and members of the clergy. He should buy goods produced in his country whenever possible. In the office or in the factory he must do his work properly without any delay. A good citizen should possess these good qualities.

Roshani Niroshana Gunerathna, Grade 9-F, Sir John Kothalawala Maha Vidyalaya, Kuruneala.

Winner:

The elephant

The elephant is the biggest animal on earth. Elephants are very useful to people. It has a big body, long ears and a small pair of eyes. The elephant’s tusks are very useful.

The hunters kill elephants for tusks. The elephant is grey. Sri Lankan elephants are very beautiful. They walk majestically.

An elephant with long tusks carry the Sacred Tooth Relic in the Kandy Perahera. Elephants are found in Sri Lanka, India and Africa.

We must protect elephants for the future generation.

S.B. Wishvani Sisara Serasingha, Grade 8-A, Kg/Wara/Dharmasiri Senanayaka College, Thulhirya.

Winner:

My pet

My pet is a rabbit. Its name is Bomy.
Bomy’s favourite food is carrots. It is white.
It can hop. Bomy plays with me.
It likes to drink water. My pet can run fast.
Bomy loves me and I love my pet.

Shimla Salman, Grade 1, Malwana International School, Malwana.

The value of sports

Any child likes to play. There are many kinds of sports available for children in and out of school. Some of the popular sports are netball, volleyball, cricket, football, table tennis and swimming. Very little equipment is necessary for most of these sports. Some sports are played indoors and others outdoors.

Sports help the physical development of children. Those who do sports are healthy. The whole body should be exercised. There is a saying “A healthy mind in a healthy body.” When children play, they fall and hurt themselves. Then they learn to endure pain.

Sports help us to develop good human qualities such as patience. We learn to work in a team. We also follow the rules of the game and to accept victory and defeat.

We need to maintain a balance between work and play. Today most children are fat and lazy.

Children should have the time to play in the evening. There is a saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” So, children must have a time to and study and play.

Sathma Dulmini Gunarathna, Grade 10, Co/Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo.

If I were a cat...

Yesterday, I was wishing that
Instead of me, I could be a cat,
I could go wherever I liked to go
In my furry suit, just right for snow,
Without any boots to be putting on
And no one to bother where I'd gone,
If I took the notion, I even might
Go out for a walk in the middle of the night,
But today I decided I'd rather be
Instead of a cat, just simply me,
Cause I'm learning to skate,
And I couldn't do that,
In a thousand years
If I were a cat.

Jessica De-Hoedt, Grade 6D, English Literary Association, St. Lawrence's Convent, Colombo 6.

Myself

My name is Januki Akithna Gamage. I am seven years old. I attend Sirimavo Bandaranayake Vidyalaya. I am in Grade 3. I like swimming.

My best friend is Varunika. I have one brother and no sisters. My brother is Jaith. My father is Kosala and he works at Sampath Bank. My mother is Dilrukshi.

She works at AIA. My pet is Shaggy. I want to be a doctor when I grow up.

Januki Akithna Gamage, Grade 3, Sirimavo Bandaranauyake Vidyalaya, Colombo 7.

How I spent my holidays

I went to the Peradeniya Gardens with my family.We went by van.We reached there at 8 o’clock in the morning. We bought a ticket and went in. There were Sri Lankans and foreigners.It was a hot day. We drank cool drinks.

I played cricket with my brothers. We saw different flowers and trees.We sat on the ground and had our lunch. We went around the garden and took photographs. I enjoyed myself that day very much. We left the garden at 3 p.m. and returned.

Faheem Frouse, Grade 4-B, Sussex College, Kandy.

Friendship

Friendship is like a rosebud
It will bloom
When pressed,
Between two lives
It can die softly,
Or last forever.
The choice is yours

H.T. Lochana Kavindi, Grade 10-C, Dharmapala Nawodya College, Bandarawela.