'Is the life of a King more precious than the life of a beggar?' Write a short response of 100-150 words, bearing in mind that you should write in standard English.

My comments on 'friendship will not last'.

As i pondered over the issue of lasting friendship, i recalled my old friends whom I've lost contact over the years. We did vow to keep our friendship for eternity and we did promise to meet up whenever we could. However, as time passed,a weekly phone call gradually became an annual one and a few years later, the phone calls just stopped coming. Was i upset by this phenomenon? Honestly, I wasn't as I could understand the very reason why it happened. We have all moved on with our lives and many of us are busy carving out new careers and setting up our families. We are moving to the next phase of life.

Time has become a precious commodity. Frankly, i do not believe that friendship will last without the investment of time and emotions. As we grow older, we become more discerning about who we want to spend our time with and how we would like our time to be spent. No longer would we entertain hi-bye friends as we develop our own priority list. In retrospect, during my younger days, I have always known who my real friends were and till now,we have remained fast friends. We might meet up probably once a year but we know that in times of need, we are just a phone call away and that is what friendship should be. It's not about you sharing common interest, of course that helps, friendship is about lending support and being there for the person when that person needs it. It's not judgemental and it does not pressure you into doing something you are not comfortable with. A true friend will stand by you always and help you to be a BETTER person.

Mrs Lena Low