Write about an occasion when you made an impulsive decision that caused much suffering to the people around you.

It was all dark outside. The birds’ sweet chirping was faint but audible. Though it was already midnight, I was still sitting in front of the mahogany desk, painstakingly preparing for the next day’s final-year exam. My droopy eyes kept yearning for the embrace of the warm and comfortable bed while my swatch tried its best to persuade me to sleep. Yet I knew I could not do so. Being a scholar, I must study hard to live up to everyone’s expectation.

The moment I turned on my CD player, a sense of relief swept over me. The music was the simplest monotone of an old Chinese song but it carried with itself a sense of nostalgia which really comforted me a lot. It was celestial, I thought. How exhilarated I was to hear the melody of home when I was in such a fatigued state!

I was, however, too overwhelmed by the music that I failed to realize how my Malay roommate, Nadiah, was suffering from my ‘late night concert’. Nadiah was a timorous Malay girl who was silent at most times. I guessed she only spoke when spoken to. Being considerable and kind-hearted, she was also the best friend of mine. Then, overwhelmed by the familiar Chinese music, I simply ignored the fact that my best friend was moving restlessly in her bed, shifting and re-shifting her body to try to find a relatively better position to sleep. She could not escape. The music was everywhere. I did not switch off the CD player until it was about three o’clock in the morning. Soundly asleep at that moment, I was quite contented. With the help of the Chinese songs, I had been able to revise all the biology concepts before the actual day of the exam. “There was nothing to be worried about,” I told myself reassuringly, “you are going to get your distinction.”

Three and a half hours later when I finally woke up with swollen eyes, I was quite surprised to find that Nadiah was already sitting in front her desk. How unusual it was! Nadiah never woke up before seven o’clock! Did she change her mind and decide to adopt a healthier lifestyle? But before I could make a guess, she left the room. The door was slammed with such a great force that it almost dropped out of the frame. “She must be greatly offended,” I concluded after futile attempts to push back the door. But I could not think of any reason to her actions. “I treated her like a sister,” I muttered mournfully, “how could she do this to me?”

Finishing the exam with glee, I returned home early. It was such a blissful day! Everything I revised had come out in the exam and I was bale to answer them well. I was so jubilant that I decided to buy a snack for Nadiah when she came home. Smiling happily, I waited for Nadiah in anticipation.

Apparently, she was in no mood of sharing my happiness. She was obviously gloomy, of not devastated. Her eyes were scarlet and swollen from crying and her face dissolved into tears. Blood drained form her pale face. She sobbed slightly as she began, “Jinglin, you have completely ruined my final-year exam?”

“What?” I asked in disbelief. I did not know she had exams that day. However, I did not think I could possibly be the one who let her suffer. I loved her so much.

“Your Chinese music,” her voice became high and hysterical with anger, “it was extremely annoying and I couldn’t sleep last night. I just waited open-eyed in the bed until you switched off that god-damn CD player!” She waved her fists in front of my face in agitation.

“And what happened to your exams?” I carefully asked with a sense of guilt.

“I slept during the exam,” she shrugged, “and that’s all about it.”

I wilted as the words set in. How could I have been so cruel? I sacrificed Nadiah’s good results in order to get mine! I must be stupid and out of my mind to decide to play music in the midnight!

Knowing that it was too late to make any changes to the situation, I wrote a sincere letter to Nadiah, hoping that she would accept my apologies. However, she simply moved out of the room and lived with another friend of hers. We had lost contact since then. My grief grew like a cancer. I had learnt from this experience that one must be considerable to the people around him, or he would soon lost their love and trust.