Teacher Returns Tamagotchi Device 21 Years Later

Story By: Lisa-Maria Goertz, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

A retiring teacher has returned a Tamagotchi-type electronic game to a mischievous student more than two decades after it was confiscated in a move the student said helped put him on the right track.

Lai Wai Kit is a former student of the Chinese High School (TCHS), now called the Hwa Chong Institution in Singapore, a sovereign island city-state in Southeast Asia.

According to digital news platform Mashable, Kit said a teacher at his school confiscated his Digivice, which was used to raise a digital character that needed to be fed on a daily basis.

@laiwaikit/Newsflash

Reportedly, he had saved up painstakingly to buy the device and was caught in the act by Mr Lim playing with it at school, and although he asked for it back on a few occasions, it was never passed over and eventually gave up.

He said he had saved his pocket money for ages to be able to afford the device, and had spent ages trying to raise it and had been playing with in class because it needed to be fed. He was very upset when it was confiscated and he realised that the electronic creation would die without regular attention.

He said he learned a lesson from that about having real values in life, and it had helped him to get on the right track and make a success of himself.

Newsflash

Kit told national news outlet Mothership that he had previously been a bit of a rebel and would colour his hair and wear funky shoes.

He had never expected to see the device again, until he saw a note saying that the school teacher responsible, Jeffrey Lim, was retiring and had written to him to say how much he appreciated his advice, even if it cost him his Tamagotchi.

He wrote: “My Tamagotchi is still in your confiscated drawer, thanks for the life lessons, Mr Lim!”

@laiwaikit/Newsflash

However, it was not expecting for the teacher to look for it and then to write him a note back saying: “Is this a Tamagotchi? I managed to receive this small gadget inside my steel cabinet this morning.”

Kit replied that he had only been joking, but it was indeed his.

Kit went to the school to collect it in person and to reunite with his former teacher and the two were pictured together.

@laiwaikit/Newsflash

Kit posted a homage to his former teacher on Facebook saying: “It is said that the best teachers are those who show you where to look but don’t tell you what to see. I guess the best teachers are those who tell me where not to go, so I know what I can be. Happy retirement Mr Lim!”

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