They are based on my personal reactions to certain happenings in South-east Asia during the thirty odd years I spent working in Hong Kong.

The stories, in turn, refer to:
1. Independence after a period of colonisation. (The Chicken Hawk)
2. Foreign aid given generously to young nation. (The Two Sparrows)
3. Futile attempts at agrarian reform. (The Bugs who Lived in a Cinema)
4. Accelerated schooling weakening traditions and cultures. (The Old Man and the Creeper)
5. The over-ambitious proletariat. (The Tree who Wanted to be a Ship)
6. Specialised technical training aimed at fast results. (The Obsolescent Washing Machine)
7. A time of decision - or indecision. (The In-between Puppy)

These stories are written with simple language in a skeleton form, virtually bare of any colour or embellishment. What really matters is the thought behind each story.

The ending of each story is completely flexible. Indeed, if I had the courage I would have left each open-ended and allowed the reader to formulate his own ending.

I toyed with several endings to each story but intentionally left most of the them with an unsatisfying one. Only in 'The Old Man and the Creeper' did I succumb to the weakness of having a happy ending (Originally the old man did not move the second creeper outdoor and left it inside to lead a stifled life).

If I were invited to describe with a single adjective the ending of each story, in the order they are presented, I would probably say they were: barbaric, sentimental, unrealistic, optimistic, sadistic, pessimistic and pathetic in that order.

How would you have ended these stories?

S.J. Lowcock (47)