yellow line

A Book Dedicated To YOG

By Tampines Regional Library

Yellow Line

Sylvia olsen(Y OLS)

One Town, Two Worlds

• “Where I come from, kids are divided into two groups. White kids on one side, Indians or First Nations, on the other. Sides of the room, sides of the field, the smoking pit, the hall way, the washroom; you name it. We’re on one side and they’re on the other. They live on one side of the Forks River bridge and we live on the other side. They hang out in their village and we hang out in ours……”

Yellow line: Dare not to cross or Discrimination?

• “There’s a yellow line on the school bus as well. It divides the front of the bus from the back– us at the back, them at the front. You can’t see the line, but everyone knows it is there and no one crosses over. It’s just the way it is, as far as I remember it’s the way it’s always been. Ninety minutes to school and ninety minutes back, and no one step a foot in the other territory.”

Yellow line:Where the story starts…

• The invisible yellow line between two races implies certain alarm. But nobody really knows what is that alarm about. Vince Hardy, one of the whites, lives in the town . He wasn’t aware of the racism situation until one day his closest girlfriend “cross the yellow line” and fell in love with a big Indian guy…

Yellow line : Where the story goes wild

Vince is outraged and determined to fight back. Youngsters from the two communities begin to tease, challenge each other . But then Vince notices Raedawn, a girl from the reserve. Trying to balance his community's prejudices with his shifting alliances, Vince is forced to take a stand, and see where his heart will lead him…

“The lines that divide are not always solid”

It’s courage, love and understanding that erase the yellow lines away.

Thanks to this story..

• We find out how similar we are although sometimes we look so different.

• We see how easy it is to break the ice and make friends by communicating.

• We realize we had always been eager to know each other.

• We know how pleasant it feels like once we are bonded.

We are different, but we are one!

Four races, no “yellow line”

• Singapore has a diverse populace of nearly 5 million people which is made up of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Caucasians and Eurasians (plus other mixed groups) and Asians of different origins, which is in line with the nation's history as a crossroads for various ethnic and racial groups.

We are going to impress the world!

• Reading yellow line, we learn the importance of equality . Thus we will respect people from different places and culture. We will give the world the earnest welcome and spread the spirit of Olympics to every corner of the world!

Wang Chu Tong, 16, from Holy Innocents High School