I was a naughty kid in primary school, but I was not rotten in character.

One day a boy called Tom lost a ten-yuan banknote in the classroom. Tom, the teacher’s pet, reported his loss to our mistress Miss Tee. She in turn had some of her trusted students search high and low in the classroom but the bill was nowhere to be found. In the end, they suspected I was the culprit. I was notorious for my misbehaviour anyway.

They looked in my desk. They searched my schoolbag. They checked each and every book in my schoolbag by shaking the leaves. What they did was in vain because I had not taken the money.

What they resorted to next hurt me beyond measure. I did not have the guts to fight back, for Miss Tee was the teacher and I her pupil. She commanded me to go to a corner in the corridor, where I was told to take off my garments, piece by piece. She was sure that the cash was hidden somewhere on me. The humiliation I was subjected to reduced me to tears. I howled despite myself. I had no choice but to remove all my clothes, my jacket, pants, shoes, socks and even my underwear. I ended up stark naked. Miss Tee was a woman, yet there was not a single vestige of shame on her face throughout.

I understood a ten-yuan banknote mattered a great deal to its owner, but the unfair treatment I was served broke my heart.

Looking back to the trauma, I am still full of resentment. Should I revenge it one day?