Scene 1 N 1 : Its a beautiful day. The sun is high in the sky and the breeze is soft and cooling.

N 2: In a garden near a small house, a young boy, Ping is enjoying his time gardening. (Ping sings softly as he plants a flower) (Pings two friends, Poh Kong and Cun Li, approach him) Poh Kong: Hi, Ping! Ping: Oh! Hi, Poh Kong. Hi, Cun Li. What brings the two of you here? Cun Li: You see Ping, two weeks ago, I planted a sunflower. But it doesnt seem to growing nicely and I was wondering if you could take a look at it. Ping: Sure. I am more than glad to help you. Cun Li: Thanks, Ping! I ran out of ideas on what to do with the sunflower until Poh Kong suggested that I seek your advice. Ping: Really? Poh Kong: Yes. I mean, look at your garden. Who is more suitable to give advice on flowers than you? Your hands are magic! Look at this one! Look at that one! (Poh Kong goes on and on admiring Pings garden) Ping: (laughs) I think thats enough Poh Kong. So Cun Li, when should we go to see your sunflower? Cun Li: I was hoping you could take a look at it today. (Pings parents approach the garden) Ping: Sure. Lets go. Oh Mom! Dad! Im going to Cun Lis house to take a look at her sunflower. I wont be home late. Father: Okay. Take care, you three. (Ping, Poh Kong and Cun Li leave the garden) N 1: So, the three of them go to Cun Lis house while Pings parents are still in the garden looking at all those beautiful plants. Pings mum : Look how beautiful the plants are. My boy is very good with plants. Pings dad : He is gifted in that way. Mother nature loves him. N 2: Pings friends always admire his plants very much. They always envy Pings beautiful flowers.

N 1: Meanwhile, in the palace garden, the emperor is enjoying himself walking around the garden. He was enjoying his beautiful garden. The Emperor: Oh how beautiful this garden has become. The plants are all growing healthily. Minister 1: Your majesty, it is indeed very beautiful because of your love and care for them. The Emperor: Yes, but there is something troubling me. Im getting old and I need someone to replace me as the Emperor of this land.

Minister 2: Your majesty, we believe that you are most thoughtful and wise. We trust all of your decisions. The Emperor: Do you know why I enjoy gardening? Gardening is the same as ruling the country. Love and care are important for blooming. The same applies to ruling a nation. Minister 1: Indeed, you are the wise one and great in both. It can be seen from our peoples faces. The Emperor: I would like to invite every child in the country to the palace tomorrow. I am going to choose my heir to the throne. N 2: The Emperor wanted to choose a perfect heir by giving each child special flower seeds to plant. The Emperor: Whoever returns with the best blooms in a years time will inherit my throne! Let the competition begin. Scene 2 Narrator: Everyone was so excited by the possibilities and the next day all the children of the land gathered in a long line to receive their seeds from the Emperor. *Public cheers* Village People 1: Oh Im so excited. I want to win this challenge and be the next emperor! Village People 2: What an easy task! The emperor must be silly to come up with such a simple challenge. Village People 3: No! No! No!. Dont you look down on the emperors idea. There must be a reason behind this. Ping: *Monologue* Will I win this challenge? All of them look good in gardening. Look at the long line! I will just try my luck! *Sound of trumpets* Narrator: The emperor enters the garden from his palace. Minister: Here comes the emperor. Villagers: All hail the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Narrator : Its a tradition in the Zhuong Kingdom that every important event in the country is marked by a traditional performance by the villagers. The villagers of Zhuong Kingdom are proud to perform for the emperor! Ah Huat: What a great performance! I enjoyed it so much! Ping: Yeahhh ! Me too! * Trumpet sounds* Minister: Now, our beloved emperor will begin the challenge by giving away the seeds! Narrator: All the children line up and the emperor gave a seed to each child. Ah Huat: Ping, lets line up and get our seeds! : Ping: Woohoo! I am excited! Lets go! Narrator: Once the children got their seeds, the minister announced that the one who returned to the palace with an exquisite flower after a year would be the next emperor! So, all of them went home. On the way back home the children talked excitedly.

A Huat: Iam going to plant this seed and take good care of it. It will bloom beautifully. The emperor will definitely love it! And I will be the next Empress of this Kingdom Villager 1: Hahahah, take good care of it? Impossible! Your plant will not be the best! I will plant my seed with the richest soil in the country. So, i will have the best plant! And I will be the next Emperor/Empress! Villager 2: Have you forgotten the beautiful sunflower in my garden? Looking at the blossoms. I am sure that I can take good care of this seed too. All of you will watch this one blossom too! (lifts the seed high up) Ping: Hey, theres no reason why we should fight now. Let us all do our best and i am sure the emperor will make the best decision! Now lets get back home, its getting dark When Ping arrived home, he was excited. Pings Mother: Son, you are home. What have you got there? Ping: The emperor gave us a seed each and told us to plant it. Whoever returns with the finest plant will be the next emperor! Pings mother: very well son, i know you will do your best. Narrator: Ping chose a sturdy pot and filled it with good soil. Each day he watered it lovingly and made sure it got the sunshine it needed. He could not wait to see it sprout and grow into a beautiful flower! Scene 3 Narrator: While waiting for the seeds to sprout, Ping and his friends visited each others gardens to see whose seed would sprout first. Their visits to the gardens were always cheerful as they loved to sing and dance. *To The Garden song* Villager 3: Come over here, look! My seed sprouted first! Villager 2: wow, that was fast. You must have taken good care of it. Ping: hmmmm... i wonder when my seed is going to sprout. Villager 1: Dont worry Ping its still early, we still have time. Narrator: Each child in the village sought for the best advice from their parents and grandparents to have the best plant. Ah huat : Mom, Dad, should i move my plant to this pot? Ah Huats mom: No dear, that is too small. Your plant is going to bloom beautifully, you need a bigger pot. Narrator : Days passed, and Ping waited patiently, but nothing happened. He became worried and started to complain to his parents. Ping : Mum! Dad! Look. I have taken good care of the seed. I filled it with good soil, I water it everyday, but still nothing is happening. Oh dear! Father : My dear son, be patient. Everything will be just fine. Give it some time and surely it will grow.

Narrator

: Ping put his seed in a larger pot with much better soil. He watered it carefully and made certain it received sunlight, and still nothing happened. : Why?? What is wrong with my seed? Look at my friends seeds. They had bloomed into beautiful flowers. But look at mine, nothing. : (Whispering). (teasing) Hey, Look!.Ping has an empty pot! Hahaha!

Ping Villagers Narrator

: Finally, Ping puts the seed into an even better pot and made sure it had the richest soil. He continued to care for it, and watched over it for months, yet no sprouts appeared.

Scene 4 Narrator: It was the day to present the plants. All the children in the villager were eager to show off their beautiful flowers to the emperor. Narrator : When Ping arrived at the palace, the Emperor was already examining the hundreds of flowers brought by all the children. All the flowers were planted beautifully. : Your Highness, this is the flower that I planted. I put in a lot of effort to grow it. (showing his flower pot proudly) : Your Highness, this is my pot of flower. I hope you will be delighted by my beautiful flower. (showing off his pot of flower and smiling at the Emperor at the same time.) : Oh dear, the Emperor is coming nearer! I hope that he will not be angry when he sees my empty pot. I dont want to make the Emperor angry. Please Please : Finally, Ping reached the emperor with his empty pot. Ping hung his head, hoping that the Emperor would not be angry with him.

Child A Child B

Ping

Narrator

The Emperor: Why did you bring me an empty pot? Ping : (Tears trickled down Pings cheeks. He stood with his head bowed) I am really sorry your Highness. I planted the seed you gave me. I gave it a nice pot with good soil. I watered it each day, but it did not sprout. I put it in a better pot with rich, dark soil. I cared for it lovingly for a year and still it did not grow. So, all I can show you is this empty pot. This is the best I can do. The Emperor: (A smile swept across the Emperors face and, holding Pings hand high in the air) I have found him! I have found the next emperor! It is this boy and this boy alone who is worthy! All children: Why is it so your highness? His pot is empty and there is no flower in it. Why do you choose him to be the next emperor?

The Emperor: I do not know where the seeds for all of your beautiful flowers came from, for the seeds that I gave you had all been cooked, making it impossible for them to grow.

The Emperor: (Placing his hand upon Pings shoulder)

Ping is the only one who returned to me with the truth in his empty pot. It is for his courage and honesty that I reward him with my kingdom and my throne! Crowd: All hail the Emperor for such a wise decision! Narrator: All of them lived happily ever after with the new emperor, PING!