my sore thumb

Why I twirl my pen?

2010-08-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hmm, my friend had asked this question recently and I am not too sure why. In school, during class, assembly or any other activities, I am usually seen twirling my pen. My friends had always raised their eyebrows at this mystery on why I bring my pens everywhere. I have heard that they sometimes speculate on the reason for my actions and joke about it. I am not too clear about the reason but I will explore it through this blog post.

My pen twirling is quite different from the others. The conventional ones are those who twirl their pen in one hand. They use only one pen. Though I too know how to do that way, I have come out with my other ways to play with pens. You know at the end of every pen,, there is usually a plastic clip or paper holder or something like that. I join multiple pens together, twisting and rolling it on my side of the finger. I have made one “design" that consists of 4 pens, anymore and it would be dumb. I made another one with a pen and a highlighter. You know the highlighter has a cap. If you clip the pen onto the cap of the highlighter and loosen the cap on the highlighter, you can create a spinning pen toy. It is actually quite fun.

On to why I bring a pen along everywhere is because I do not want to miss out on anything. A pen in the pocket will come in handy in taking down notes or write short little reminders to you. A paper without a pen is useless as the most important thing it to take down notes. When the teacher wants you to take down something important or anything that we need to take note and I do not have a pen, I would feel....frustrated.

Another reason for that is to, well, twirl my pen. I am fascinated at how the pen spins or twirl till spinning the pen becomes a habit. Since it is a habit, I soon invent or create new ways of playing with pens as the others will become boring. This helps me especially when I am trying to get through a very boring class or it could help me to de-stress. My friend says I am a very physics person since I am intrigue by motion. Whatever the reason, to me spinning a pen is fun. This is how you find joy.

There are some things you do them not because there is a proper reason. You just do it because it is a habit or mainly for fun. Twirling my pen makes me happy and feel relax so I do not try to question why I do it. There are always little things in life that makes you happy so let them put a smile on your face.
No matter how insignificant or silly it may be, if some little thing makes you happy, do it.

P.S :Inspired by Martin Chen
http://i-suppose-you-blog-at.blogspot.com

Messy room

2010-08-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

One hectic week of test had passed and I finally have time to blog. I will be posting up 2 posts over the long weekend, sharing with you what had happened to me this week such as being a tour guide of a China exchange program. Today, I will share with you my very frantic Sunday night in finding a piece of paper.

You may be thinking "What? A piece of paper" and yes I stayed up to midnight trying to find that piece.

I was never a neat person. Perhaps it is my personality or laziness to clean my room or keep it in tip top shape. I have piles of paper on my study table which my mum had requested me to clear in the June holidays. I did but the pile soon grew back to size. The tidiness of my room would drastically decrease when the period of tests arrived. Paper would be on the floor, study table and even on my bed. I do not have a big room so I do not have much space for the ever increasing amount of notes the teachers would give. I am one of those people who do not file their work until the teachers request for the files. You can see this from my over sized personal file which I lug everywhere. You can tell my untidiness from my handwriting. My friend had frequently commented that my handwriting was uniquely illegible. Although I try to do the best I can in everything, tidiness is just not one of them.

Now you know the real me...for those who did not know my untidy room.

As I was saying, it happened on a Sunday night. I was mugging, studying very hard for the Geography test the next day my room was in a mess. Papers were everywhere. My bed was messed up, the table was covered with a mass of geography notes, homework, the laptop and other books. This was very common in the test period though I tidy most of my room when I went to sleep.

I was very focussed on Geography when my mum came in. She placed the OBS medical form and other forms on the table near me. Earlier in the day, I went for a medical check up to certify I was fit to participate in the end-of-year camp. I went to the doctor to get a very simple medical check up including height and weight which cost an expensive 27 dollar consultation fee when you consider the effort the doctor had put in. The OBS medical form had to be passed up on the next day too.( When I realized I need a medical check-up, I guessed many people had forgotten about it too)Since I was engrossed in studying, I simple put the forms on the messy table near the laptop. This was a mistake on my part.

Sigh... soon it was bedtime. I decided to sleep early at around 10.45pm. When I was packing my stuff, I realized my OBS medical form was gone. It had disappeared with the wind. Maybe others will say I am overreacting but I would prefer to do things perfect on the day of a test. Getting scolded by some chance would definitely affect my mood for the test. So I started on a frantic journey through my geography notes. Since I was studying geography, there was a possibility that I got stuck between pieces of notes. However, I checked them more than 5 times to no avail. I looked at the table where my mum supposedly put the forms but after clearing the desk, I could not find the OBS medical form. I had easily found the other two forms but the most important one was missing. Then, I looked around my bed. I looked under, on, beside and below my blanket but it was futile. I looked in my personal file but it was no there too. Searching the ground, I found a highlighter and a pencil but no OBS form. I had practically ransacked my room before I had called for help (mum). She started to search my room too. She said she had placed it near me on the drawer table. She searched my bad, file floor, table and practically everywhere. It was nowhere to be found.

Therefore, I went to the living room to search for it. Looking under the sofa, tables and below the TV, I found nothing. I even looked in the refrigerator in case I left it over there when I grabbed a bite. I was thinking perhaps a ghost did not want me to go for the camp. Or perhaps the wind blew it away. I was at my wits end. My mum was saying "How can it be? I put it in your room! How can it just disappear like that" Other than having the risk of being scolding if you did not have the form, you had to go to the doctor's clinic again and pay another fee. Also, due to my packed schedule, I could only go there again during the next weekend. It would waste time, money and effort.

Then my sister entered my room to return the laptop she was using. I was searching in the toilet then. She said "Hey Jon, I dropped a piece of paper when I took the notebook" The she took a piece of paper for the top shelf of a cupboard which I had never thought it would be at. Yes, it was the OBS form. But what was it doing over there? My sister said she thought it dropped from the cupboard so she put it back on the top shelf which was obviously much taller than me.

........

I would have never guessed it. I never put things over there know I would never do it so I never search for it there. The paper was out of view since it was so high up.

I gave her a blank look. My mum hit her on the back asking why she never helped us earlier. My sister said she never thought about it until then.-_-. Then it was a mix sense of joy and anger but i rolled on the floor laughing because while all the time I was looking, my sister was the one who caused it and she only took a second to find it. I did not know what to feel. My sister cheekily went back to her room while I quickly packed my bag and went to sleep, waiting for the next day. It was past 12. How I wish you knew my pain. I did not stay up late to study but rather to find a piece of paper with a signature on it. I had wasted much of my precious sleeping time

I learnt something from this episode. That is keep you room neat! I was afraid something like this would happen again. A messy room only hamper finding of notes which affect studying. It also makes the studying environment more uncomfortable. Tidiness can be a pain but it would be worth it if something like this were to happen again. If I had a less messy room or rather a neat room and I keep things instead of leaving things lying around, procrastinating to keep them, the OBS form would be safely in my file instead of being on top of a shelf. My untidiness is a habit, a bad habit which is so hard to correct. But I have taken baby steps. For instance, I reorganized my file, filed all the previous worksheets they I did not need and put the few which I need in a new identical black file. My personal file is so much thinner now. The next day, I cleared my pile of paper and books on the table. It is exhausting to clear everything in one shot so we need to do regular clearing like every week or if not every day. However, even weekly clearing is troublesome and tiring. I am trying hard to be neat but the prospects of maintaining a clean and tidy room throughout the year does not look good.

Caught in the middle of a cold war

2010-07-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

Sigh...the cold war has recently begun.

So what is this cold war.?It is not the period when the United States of America was on bad relations with the Soviet Union or Russia today. This “war” actually is happening in class. This war has no bombshell sound or gun fire but rather it is silent. My friends stopped talking to each other. This chilling silence began around a few days ago...

I know the term "cold war" since I was in primary school because I used to see my parents in that state. My mum ignored my Dad and then the silence. However this war was short and they soon began to talk. I wonder about this one, will the silence last?

Last year, when I was doing project in a group, there were internal problems. Everyone was unhappy and seriously felt like giving a punch into the face of the other. It was because of the project that kept us together. After the judging of the project, we sort of fell out. We did not talk much and we found new friends. This was a miniature form of the cold war. Well, I managed to salvage a friendly relationship with one friend and he still is a friend. It took about 1 year to get the relationship back into a friendly state. The other one I am not so close but we are classmates on fairly-well terms.

I have three friends which I am on great terms with. We do talk and laugh although sometimes at me but we had fun. I am not sure what happened but the three stopped talking to each other. They still talk to me and still are my friends but they treat each other like strangers ignoring each other. Two of them got very irritated by one of them and then "Poof", the silence ensued.

I believe one of my friends got frustrated because that friend, having a playful nature, had irritated him beyond his tolerance level. The other one in my group got so pissed off by my friend's lack of planning of the project that he stopped talking. They both ignored him and because they ignored him, he too ignored them. See this cycle? This vicious cycle of silence?

I was often caught in the middle. Since nobody talked to each other, they talked to me. It is not hard to hear each other criticizing about the other friends’ behaviour. I would sit there and like try to "nod" my head and say "okay...." I often had to pass messages between them since they don't talk to each other and like today when I tried to get a group discussion for the project, one sat at the right end of the class room while the other sat at the opposite side. So I was like a little messenger boy walking left to right and right to left trying to get a date to complete the project. I wonder how my project will fair with this lack of communication. Sheesh...

The previous one is not so problematic. I guess the communications is beginning to build up again since we are tied down by the project. The one between the playful boy and the friend who got irritated is more troublesome. It is sad to see friends act like that when they were on good terms like 3 weeks ago. Now, they are really acting like the USA and the USSR except they don't fight which makes it all the scarier.

My friend asked me a weird question before. He said if I kept helping him but when one day I asked him for help but he refused to help and said "you didn't do anything to help me" or something like that, he asked how I would feel, what will I do and think and why. Well, I treat this question as it meant that what you would do if your friend did something horrible to you. My answer was that I would be angry, walk off and sleep over it. The next day, talk to the person like nothing happened. I would think the person had a bad day so I will not rebut him which would make the situation more complicated nor would fight him as it would only worsen the relationship. I have a policy when making friends. That is to forgive and forget. Though I won't say I can fully abide by it but I do try hard. When one of my friends gave me a huge task to do by the next day, I got very angry since he was like demanding it rather than requesting it and log off Msn to prevent any more conflict. Then, I calmed myself down, did the task till 2am.I try not to bear grudges and gave him the completed task for the project.

I am a guy with few friends and fewer enemies to be honest. I try not to antagonize anyone and try to have a more than average classmate’s relationship with people. I know I need to be kind and patient since I would like others to be kind and patient with me. Seeing others having problems and they have come to ask me to clarify their doubts, I try to welcome and help them. Patience is the key and don't make them feel they are dumb by saying "You still don't get it? Or what is so hard about it?" That is perhaps the worst thing you can say. Help them and they and you will go away happy. Also, do not make witty comments that insult others. That is simply not nice. I try to hold it in sometimes but most of the time I do not come out with insulting comments. Perhaps it is by nature, I am not too sure. Oh and you can join in their activities. Be it computer games or sports, being present and keeping them company also help.

I know all these might seem that I am preaching but this is what I do to maintain a friendly relationship with everyone. I like everyone to be friendly to each other even though that may be impossible due to differences in attitudes, nature and attributes etc. I just hope the cold war would soon end and life would return to normal (friendly state)

Temptation is Everywhere

2010-07-17T03:08:00.000-07:00

In my class, temptation is always hanging heavily in the air, always luring us, waiting for us to fall into its trap. Many have fallen prey to it and many still do not admit it. Computer has never been so enticing without it. The rapid clicking and continuous pressing of buttons seem all too alluring. Yes, it has come down to this again. It is the temptation of computer games. Although you may think this topic has been talked about many times, this time will be my fight to ward these temptations off my back.

I was always different from others, at least different in the gaming sense. Many boys had started to play more sophisticated computer games like shooting, soccer and many other fascinating games. You may called me old fashioned but i always though computer games were bad but it affected my grades. My family did not really approve of these games. My sisters never played it, my mum never seemed to approve it so I never really brought it up. Therefore, I did not follow the craze of computer games.

Ever since the school have allowed the use of laptops in the class, the computer gaming in class has been on the rise. First it was one, then it was 3 and then it started to spread like a disease, one which could not be controlled. At first it started off to be passive games, those though addictive but not to the extent to real games with violence and gore. Those are the more violent or expensive games in the market. Even those without violence like football games still share the same negative effects. I do not know how they get the games but now almost half the class had them (free) and they have sped off with the laptop in reach, right hand on the mouse and mind on the game.

It is frightening to see that so many people play these games. Even those who do not play in school have them in their computers and play them at home. Everyone is attracted to one game or another. However, no one can blame them. Why? The computer games are just too tempting for 14 year olds to resist. You can blame it on game creators to make the graphics all too clear, the difficulty of the levels high enough to challenge the minds of the teenagers and the super realistic aspect of the games.

Many have said computer games are bad since some games have violent nature in them which may rub off to the youths. Some games are so addictive that they can play it for hours soon affecting their grades. Some say they affect social skills since they are only facing the computer. I have been looking the positive aspects of computer games and what other people argue against the stereotype of computer games. They said it is a good way to relieve stress from the fast pace society or let out their emotions such as rage in a non violent way. They also involve problem solving, planning, estimation and analysis of the moves or actions of both you and your opponent so it can help in developing problem-solving skills, analytical and estimation skills and quick decision-making. Whichever stand you take, it is all your own opinion.

On Tuesdays, my CCA starts at 4pm.Since school ends at 1.30pm, I have about 2 hours of free time after subtracting lunch time. Sometimes, there is not homework to be done so I walk around in class seeing those who are playing computer games after school. I was impressed by the games. One of the games was on war and soldiers. The player had to accomplish mission objectives, surviving, shooting and such. It was quite violent and I guess it is this thing that makes it appealing. The graphics were awesome and it was realistic. It does show the devastating effects of war on towns and soldiers as many die to complete objectives. Many people in class play football on the computer. You could be a manager in the game, buy and sell players, get sponsorship and money in the game just like in real life. Even if you do not know how to play football which needs real skill, they can play it on the computer with ease. I knew how people could get addicted. The games nowadays are getting more interesting. Time really flies when you are playing especially these games.2 hours have passed so quickly and I went for tennis.

I admit, I enjoy watching people play computer games but playing them yourself is a different matter. You need to have self-control. I always wonder what my classmates do when they are at home. So I went to ask them. They replied that after they finish their homework, they play their computer, to no surprise. Some finish they work in school so they can play at home. I remembered one stayed up to 12am playing these games.

No wonder excessive gaming is bad for grades. However, most of my classmates are responsible enough to complete their work first, or at least I think so.

Everyone is playing these games so there is a temptation of me playing too. That was how the computer game craze came about. One person got one game and soon others were playing them as well. This is peer pressure and if you do not follow the trend, you would be left out in a sense. This devil called temptation has been trapping many teenagers under its spell, ruining their grades and conduct in school. I may not be my school but I am sure there are others suffering the effects of addiction. There is always an urge to get and play these games and the feeling has been increasing in intensity since at the start of this year. I know addiction is bad so I have denied myself from playing. Some have said I should play since everyone is doing it or it would relieve stress since I am usually uptight. However, I know what addiction can do to me if I lack self-control. Therefore, I do not even try to get the game as temptation will sooner or later lure me into playing. I just hope it will remain that way.

I do play some games at my friends' house and we do have fun. I guess it is to occasionally release stress. However as students we need to get our priorities straight. I think our studies still comes before having fun. There is a thin line between fun and addiction. Gaming can be an enjoyable and relaxing experience. We just need our self-control and willpower before it turns into gaming addiction.

If you think you lack self-control, do not try it.

Effects of war

2010-06-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

Before the holidays had started,our Language Arts teacher started on the new topic of war poetry.That was why she gave us a list of books and movies to read or watch to help us understand the cruelty of war and feel the pain for all who went through war such as the ones in 1914 and 1940.

I watched two movies since I did not like to read and was perhaps a bit lazy to borrow them.They were Saving Private Ryan and Letters of Iwo Jima.Amazingly,I found Saving Private Ryan on youtube and told my friend about it took.I wonder why youtube did not take it down due to copyright issues... Anyway,I woulds tell you a short summary on these two films to show that I actually had watched these films.

Okay,so I will start will Saving Private Ryan.The main star of the film is Tom Hanks and is named Miller.He is the captain for the mission of finding Ryan.So the first 30 mins of the film is intense combat on the shores of Normandy on D-Day which is June 6, 1944 if some are unaware of.So the first assault shown on screen was the landing of Allied forces on Omaha Beach where the Americans got bogged down my machine gun fire from the Germans.Many people died and seriously really a huge lot of people got shot.I was puking by then(exaggerated)as the spurt of blood and the bloody red water that approached the shore was all too obvious and gory.As many wade through the water,many get killed in the water before they even reach land.Those on land could also have been shot in the head at any moment and nobody would know or cared.However,the enormous invasion of Normandy,France had overcame the German forces along the beach and the allied took the beach and established camp.In this attack alone,3 Ryan Brothers were killed in action.I am not sure how many Ryan brothers died in that attack but in all, 3 of the 4 Ryan Brothers were killed in the movie at that time.The general decided to called back the last Ryan which was a paratrooper and had landed before the invasion had begun. So Miller the captain had a group consisting of 8 soldiers including himself had the task of finding the last Ryan.There was one time when the team came into a destroyed town and they were French civilians.One father begged the Americans to take his daughter to the beach.One of the American soldiers was kind to help them but the next minute,he got shot by a German sniper.The whole landscape was devastated by bombing and combat.After a whole lot of trouble,they found the Ryan they were looking for after losing two soldiers(one by the sniper)However,the Ryan refused to go back home as he did not want to abandon his friends when an approaching counterattack on the city they had captured was imminent.So Miller and his team stayed with Ryan and his team to face more than 50 German soldiers with heavy artillery such as tanks.Only 2 out of 8 of Miller's team had survived.Miller himself got fatally wounded by a gunshot.Luckily,air support and reinforcements arrived in time to fend off the German forces.In the end,Miller had died and Ryan had survived and returned home safely.

Letters of Iwo Jima is a Japanese film and almost the whole movie was spoken in Japanese.Lucky for me,,there was subtitles.This film is shown in the Japanese soldiers point of view near the end of the war when the Japanese was losing the war.The Japanese forces were in Iwo Jima protecting the island which would be the Allies main air fleet base to attack mainland Japan.The small numbers of Japanese were on the island preparing,digging trenches and tunnels for the battle with the Americans.They had no air support,naval support and could rely on limited ammunition and medical support.The small Japanese forces went against the force of 50 warships which bombarded the coast of Iwo Jima for the allied forces to invade.The Japanese fought bravely but was unable to hold the Americans back.They lasted five days before the Allied took the island.The Japanese was forced into desperation and many had committed suicide in the tunnels as it was the honorable way to die.They fought hard but they had lost in the end and the whole film was very sad as all except 2 Japanese soldiers had survived the invasion.

Seeing the films,I am suppose to create a mind-map of the short term and long term effects of war.I had gather some information from the films I watched but most of them was from common knowledge and websites. So here it is....

I hope this will do.

The Merchant of Venice

2010-06-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

Wow,I haven't written a blog post in ages... Okay, sorry about that.I guess I got caught up in the holiday spirit.Though that is not really a good excuse but it will have to do.

Our Language Arts teacher had made it compulsory to read up a book,the Merchant of Venice,much to the dismay to my classmates.It is actually a play not a book but the publisher compiled all the scenes,the summary,the glossary etc into one convenient book.You may be thinking reading the book will be a snap. Well,no,it is not that simple.The play was written by William Shakespeare during the 16th century in England. Yes,it is written in Ancient English.I do not call it "Old English".If not for the glossary at the side of each page,I would not understand 3 quarters of the book.The first time I picked up the book, I got so put off that after reading the first page and not understanding a word of it,I put down the book and walked away.It is that hard.I wonder how is this going to be a Secondary 2 Literature book?

So I soon got on will my Secondary 2 life and in a few days,I read finish the book.It was an accomplishment I must say.Our teacher had requested us to do a mind map on the plot of the story and put it on the blog.I was stumped.Do a plot on a mind-map.How am I suppose to do that.Wouldn't it be easier writing the summary of the plot on the blog itself.Did she meant otherwise?Sadly,she did not really be specific and I guess I follow my own interpretation of the instructions.I just write the plot summary and everything I know about the book onto the mind-map.I believe I won't go so far of from there.

Here it is!

I have to do another mind-map soon on war and the effects of it on soldiers and civilians.Sigh,another mind-map.I rather do it straight on the blog.This blog post is much shorter than the usual terribly long one so I shall end it of with...Goodnight.

Analysis Task 2

2010-05-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

I am going to analyse the poem "Rainbow Death" today to complete the E learning homework(Task 2)
Okay, I shall put the poem here for reference

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

By Hubert Wilson

Point Of View

I believe the poem is written from the perspective of someone or had encountered and seen the effects of Agent Orange.He knew about the "Execrable effects of agent orange spray" meaning he was there to see it since he could tell what " America did not foresee" He could not have foresight and should be there when Agent Orange was released and stayed there to see the devastating effects of it to tell the tale.He is retelling his experience of Agent Orange.The fact that he could know so much about the horrible effects of Agent orange such as "illness, birth defects and prematurely dead" and "Toll on the innocent and unborn" showed he had first-hand experience with it.From the reference of background information,he was a person that went to war in Vietnam since he was a Vietnam veteran so he should be able to see the effects since the war was about a span of 20 years.

Situation and Setting

The setting of the poem is after Agent Orange has been used.It can been seen that the poet is talking about the devastating effects of the Agent Orange and reflecting and feeling regretful.Since he had experienced it himself, it is shown in the poem that the poet feeling quite emotional about this. He wishes to show that the devastating effects of warfare or herbicide warfare(found in background information)and that many times,people are unable to foresee how badly war can affect a country. He sets the story in the aftermath of Agent Orange to show the reality of the use of herbicide on the people "illness, birth defects and prematurely dead" To fit in historical background, Agent Orange was used in the Vietnam War and it caused 400,000 deaths. I guess the main purpose of the poem is to show people how modern warfare can destroy lives and thus needing the setting of aftermath of the war or the use of herbicide.

Language and Diction

Well, when I looked at the title " Rainbow Death" I was puzzled.These two words were never meant to be together.I soon realised it was an oxymoron. I checked the web that rainbow actually symbolizes heavenly glory or they serve as a bridge between earth and paradise.However used in this poem which is a war poem is very unsuitable since it is talking about many people dying from the effects of Agent Orange from herbicide warfare.To fit in the context, the rainbow could be referring to the different colored herbicide used in warfare such as Agent Orange and Agent Green which caused death and deformities.Rainbow is a pathway to glory or heaven or so to speak but this rainbow, a pathway leads to death.It is trying to convey that fighting(the bridge) is not glorious, it just lead to gruesome death.Rainbow here is like a bridge to hell.

The poet also uses "potpourri" to describe death.There are two meaning to potpourri. One is a mixture of dried flowers and leaves used for making a room smell nice or a mixture of things that were not originally meant to form a group.I have two interpretations. Since it is "death potpourri", it could be an oxymoron. Death does not usually go with something pleasant smelling.It could be scolding the Americans for turning a herbicide ,supposed to help man, into a war tool which kill lives.Or it could be referring to the unusual mixture of"Green, pink, purple" and "death" Death is obviously a negative word. The colors shown are mostly vibrant colours which some symbolises life.However,these bright colors had led to death.(Bright colours = death?) seemingly harmless product could have caused death.This is something quite unexpected. It could show that the Americans did not foresee the effects of the Agent Orange(representing the colours)such as the death of thousands.

Personal Response

This poem made me feel very uneasy yet at the same time pity for those who suffered from the war.From the first line "America did not foresee" it actually started from a very ominous note.It foreshadowed the bad that would follow.The fact that he uses oxymoron leaves the readers puzzled and uneasy since it is not very clear what he was talking about until the very end when he said "agent orange spray" He describes the atrocity the Americans had done using words like "Nefariously" to describe them. It meant the Americans were wicked.It elaborate about the heavy and devastating effects of the war such as" illness, birth defects and prematurely dead" while the Americans had been "Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn" This creates an image that a powerful person had caused a major and terrible effect to the people of a weaker country like a bully bullying the weak.He tells the reader what had caused the death of thousands at the very end in hope of evoking some anger or outrage in the readers.

The poet had effectively conveyed his message that modern warfare can cause the death and suffering to over hundreds of thousands of people.He hoped through this poem,he could make people aware of the atrocity of war and perhaps prevent anymore innocent bloodshed from happening again.

It may seem futile but a man can hope.

Rainbow death

2010-05-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

Task 1

Based on your understanding of the selected poem, perform extensive web research and write a report on your blog detailing the conflict represented in the poem(s) of your choice. Bear in mind that this piece of background information will allow your blog audience to further understand the poem as well as your analysis of the poem in Task 2

So here is the poem

Title: Rainbow of Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

By Hubert Wilson

Who is Hubert Wilson some may ask. Well, he is a US Vietnam war veteran.The Vietnam war was a Cold War military conflict which lasted from November 1, 1955 , to April 30, 1975, about 20 years.Hubert served in the USAF Security Service along with a dozen of school graduates.His team was sent to Shemya Island, an Agent Orange hot spot.About fifteen or more years ago, he started to have health problems such as headaches and limb pain. Soon, his central nervous system deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors. He suffered severe headaches and progressive limb pains. The doctors did not know how to cure him or know what he was suffering from. He guessed it was the contaminated water of Agent Orange he drank when he was at Shemya Island.The effects of toxins could take up to 20 to 30 years before they are shown.
( This is from a source which I am not too sure whether it is reliable)

Ok, by now some would be asking what is Agent Orange? Agent Orange is a herbicide developed for the military, which use it in tropical climates.The purpose of such a herbicide for the military was to was to clear the possible enemy cover and concealment in dense terrain by defoliating trees and shrubbery where the enemy could hide. This seemed to be a very helpful tool in warfare but it came with unforeseen circumstances.

There are different type of this herbicide while most people would just refer to them as Agent orange as it is by far the most widely used the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" used in the warfare.There is Agent Purple,Pink etc.They are made up of different chemicals thus different names.

To find out more you can click this link

Agent orange was used in the Vietnam war by the US military to clear the dense forest of Vietnam. However, this herbicide was contaminated with Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin( A very long name for TCDD).This chemical can cause DNA damage indirectly.At that time,it was thought that Agent Orange would not hurt anyone only the trees.

Agent Orange was a mix of two chemicals, 2,4,D and 2,4,5,T. The mixture was then mixed with kerosene or diesel fuel and dispersed by aircraft and hand spraying.19 million gallons of Agent Orange were estimated to be used in during the Vietnam war.

After the war,it was made known that 4.8million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange.This caused 400,000 deaths and disabilities and 500,000 babies born with birth defects.Affected Vietnamese lived with genetic diseases and Agent Orange had poisoned their food chain.The chemical has been reported to cause serious skin diseases and as serious as cancer(lung).Children born in areas where agent Orange had been used would suffer from health problems such as cleft palate, mental disabilities and extra fingers and toes.

Agent Orange not only affected the civilians but also the soldiers of the country that used the herbicide too.The figure of the US soldiers affected was not recorded but I believe the number is not a few.

Later,scientists tested the effects of Agent Orange on animals in the laboratory.The animals showed evidence of DNA Damage and resulted in death.The effects of Agent Orange is still felt in Vietnam today.Many still have deformities passed down by their family. This just goes to show the devastating effects of war

Through this poem,the poet was trying to show that modern warfare can be as devastating as it can be.It has appalling effects such as death and deformities.War had scarred many people even after the war is over.I guess he is trying to express regret for the Vietnamese people and those affected like him but it is important to note that the people at that time did not know the effects of the herbicide.The poet wants to show that war has a high price to pay not just economically.

Credits
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange
http://www.lewispublishing.com/orange.htm
http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html

Sharing and giving

2010-05-06T06:21:00.001-07:00

Recently,I have been slamming my class for its attitude problems and the result of them. Well,I guess it will be not right to totally say my class is the worse class because it is not. There are some fine and fun people in my class. I believe everyone is fine in the inside. Anyway, I decided to move away from the recent problems of my class and talk about a wider topic about sharing and giving.

What is sharing? The more scientific or at least more profound term is to distribute portions of something between two or more persons. I feel another interpretation of sharing is helping or giving someone when you have the capability of doing so.Giving is, well,it is just giving. We share a lot of stuff in daily lives. We share food with our families,share knowledge through the internet and share even friendship. However,in this competitive and face-paced society, have we forgotten the art of sharing and giving.

Every year during Christmas, the act of giving is publicized. There are many posters of advertisement promoting people to give others presents. If you think about it, these companies are not really promoting giving but rather their products.What other best way of promoting their own products than during Christmas.Many people buy many things for many other people. How many actually realized the reason of giving or the passion for it? Many people just await the presents they would receive like many people like you and I do.

Is it common for people to give to others they do not know? I am not sure. There was once when my mother and I took a bus, a young man,teenager in fact stood up and gave my mother his seat. I marveled and applaud his attitude of giving to others.He did not know my mother but he gave up his seat and this is something to be impressed at. However, on my way back home on the bus on several occasions, the bus is usually packed and I regularly stand on the bus. There are some seats in front of the bus that are supposed to be reserved for the elderly, handicapped, pregnant woman or the young. Well,there was an old man on the bus and he looked as if he was going to fall.He had trouble standing. The bus was packed as usual and nobody gave up their seats for him. I couldn't help him as I was not sitting. The poor man just stood till the bus reached his destination...

I did some sharing a week ago. It was a small matter but still it was sharing. After training, my friend and I started to make way home.I bought a snack called "Pocky".It is sticks with chocolate on it. I bought it and started to eat and my friend ask if he could eat too. I said it was fine.You know the feeling when somebody else takes more than he should and you feel a bit irritated. I felt this at first as he continued to snack on it. However, he is my friend and a friend should do what friends do and that is to share.So i shared with him till the last stick and I gave him. There was one thing he did that made me kind of happy. He smiled and said "Thank You"

There is another kind of sharing which is to share knowledge. This is more applicable to a class. Okay,people come to me as they want to clarify some questions or get some answers.(I have a reputation?^-^)When a person studies very hard, he does not want other people to get the knowledge as easy as asking. Many people have this protective nature of their knowledge and unwilling to share. I dare not say I do no have this feeling. Everyone has this feeling at any one point in time. I do get a bit frustrated when people keep coming to me for questions. Some fear that by telling others knowledge, they would become smarter and beat them in tests or whatever form of examination where a comparison can be derived. However, we are all friends from the same class and there should not be hatred. I believe in sharing. Friends help friends in need if they have the capabilities to help. That should be the way.Even if those people have the sole intention of getting the answers by asking and not studying themselves, I believe we should still help.We can guide them by a series of questions so they do not get the answer directly but rather make them think and get the answers themselves but we your assistance.That should be the way. When a person comes to you for help,share what you know because you should feel proud of yourself since others want your help. It should be sort of a privilege since you not only help others,you also help yourself by reteaching yourself and getting on better with other classmates.We can get happiness from sharing with others. Perhaps one way to help my class bond is through sharing. You never know the extent of power of sharing.

We humans as I believe are selfish by nature. However, this is a sin. Even though it is a nature, it doesn't mean we need to conform to it. We are protective beings and we constantly isolate ourselves from others. We need to open ourselves by sharing with others. When we welcome and share with others with open arms, I believe everyone will be happy. Sharing helps improve two person's friendship and the more we share, the more friends we befriend. We need to curb the constant urge of keeping our knowledge to ourselves. By sharing and giving,we help not only others but ourselves. When you successfully give to others because you feel its right or share things with another person, you should feel a true sense of happiness that you would rarely experience.

So what have you given or shared with others? How did you feel?

What is wrong with our class? Part 2

2010-05-02T02:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have been thinking and I thought some of the reasons for our behavior of my class.This is a compilation of some of the feedback given in the comment section of the previous blog and my own personal reasons.I feel it is time to review our attitude since it is not getting anywhere better.It is saddening as part of the class that because of our behavior so many things are happening to us......

Reason 1:Apathy
People in our class have this trait.They do not seem to care for the class.Let's take our class cleanliness for example.No body is caring for the class.The floor is very dirty and the tables and chairs are horribly arranges.Firstly,I like to point out that some people do not do their duty.They feel it is a chore and they are really lazy to do their part for the class.Some do their duty but they do it in a hurry.They either want to go home or need to go somewhere as it is urgent.However,it is no excuse.They can request a change in duty time slot if they cannot make it.Some just do not like the duty so they do not perform to their utmost to help keep the class clean.If you think it is only the fault of the duty personal, you are wrong.Our whole class is at fault including myself.We should keep our class clean by throwing our rubbish in the outside bin instead of on the floor.After school,I can seen a few bottle of drinks from the canteen on several table.They are all empty yet not thrown away.People have a tendency to throw the newspaper away on the floor.It could be that it flew away but they should have kept the newspapers properly or threw it away(recycle).No body really take this problem seriously. Cleanliness affects our learning attitude whether we admit it or not.Even now when we have made many teachers angry,I doubt many of them actually treat this problem seriously.Our Geography teacher is getting angry even though he is not that type.He has repeatedly told us to be considerate and clean up.Did we actually listen to him or were we all sleeping?

Reason 2:Our Childishness
We are very childish for our age.We laugh at people's pronunciation or grammar.We laugh at everything we can possibly laugh at.During the assembly,the whole level was noisy and our level in charge scolded us.The level started to cough and sneeze on purpose during the assembly.It was totally obvious that many had done that deliberately.Some of our classmates have done that too.Even at the black box,they ran in the darkness and they played with the lights.They switched them on and off quickly and did not stop when the teacher came.They ran,screamed and played in the dark.We are so not acting our age.Isn't all this resemble to a childish 5 year old actions?It is fine if you are a little playful but the important thing is to know when is the appropriate time for certain things and know when to stop.My classmates do not know when to stop.They go overboard and result in angering our teachers

Reason 3: Our distraction
Laptops have a horrible effect on us.I do not think we are capable of handling this technology.The school gave us this privilege of bring laptops to school but how do we respond to our school?My classmates play computer games in class.I am not trying to air our class dirty linen but just to state the truth.If they played them after school,I am fine with it but they do it in class.Not a very smart thing to do.The temptation of these computer games is too strong.They are unable to pull themselves away when it is time to study.Our grades have dropped and our learning attitude has too.They want to play and not study.I refuse to accept the reason that computer games are for relaxation.They do it in class and affect their grades.Isn't it time to say "Hey,I shouldn't do this.It is not right"Yes, mouse hunt in class is still playing computer games.Our grades plummet but my classmates seemed oblivious or fine with it.I think if our class don't buck up or play less computer games,I feel that we do not deserve to be a future class.

Reason 4:We take things for granted/Lack of respect
We take our teachers for granted.Many feel that teachers have to teach us because it is their job.I believe this way of thinking is wrong.To be a teacher in our school,I believe they are more than qualified to be a teacher in other schools or even can take on another job.They choose to teach us as they feel the need to educate the next generation.Some actually quit their jobs to teach and others start to teach as it is their passion.They work hard to prepare lessons.They do readings on their own.We have many friends to help.We do one composition and we complain about the workload.They have to mark 34+ scripts.Let's see whose workload is more.Don't say it is their job,they are not obliged to give you work.They can just teach and do not give work.They can let you fail your tests but they do not because they want to teach.Yet,many fail to see the hard work put in by teachers.How do we respond? We complain or we don't do our work on time.Some classmates do not want to do while others just simply do not care.We do not put in effort when they ask us to research.We make noise to disrupt their lessons.We give teachers little respect as if they are supposed to teach us.We do not appreciate our teachers or make attempts to appreciate.Not finishing work on time is just messing up the teacher's schedule, giving him or her more trouble.Teachers do not owe us anything.We owe our teachers.Yes,sadly to say, it is true that we are ingrates.

Reason 5:Complacency
Many people think it is not to late to buck up.Last year,our MSG was going downhill and luckily we were knocked to our senses after term 3 and did exceptionally well for our end of year examinations.I believe many people think that they can achieve this feat again.They enjoy life now and neglect their studies then when the end of year examinations come,only then do they start to study. We are too satisfied with our last year's performance.Not many are taking their studies very seriously in this point in time since many indulge in computer games.The signs are clearly shown in our term 1 results and term 2 has not been promising with all the scolding and cold war with out teachers.Yet,many do not seemed to have the urge to change.They feel they have to time to salvage their grades so they keep putting off their studies or not focusing fully on them.Few feel that we need to make a change now.Do we not want to change for the better.We need the determination.However,we need the correct mindset first.Pride comes before a fall.Complacency causes the destruction of a class.

Our class have not been perfect but there is always a way to solve the problem.It is time to change and we need to change now.I know that change needs time and instant change is not possible but a least we should start with a small step.Perhaps just realizing the problem first would be good.Sorry if my tone was a bit harsh,I am just quite appalled at what is happening recently.I am not excluding myself from the blame as everyone has played a part and we are all from the same class.Sigh...

What more do you think we need to change so we can improve not only in our grades but also our attitude.Attitude is very important.Please comment in the comment box below.

What is wrong with our class? Part 1

2010-05-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

My class was never the best class to begin with. Last year the class was fine, the noise level was tolerable. The teachers liked us and we actually put in effort to do work. We had fun as a class and though there were theft cases and our MSG (Mean subject grade), we managed to turn out alright. The teachers were proud of us and our MSG got a 1.83 if I remembered correctly. We boasted about our achievement of getting the 2nd place in the level. After the year 2009, everything went from top of the mountain to the deepest part of the ocean. Everything went wrong.

2010 started off badly. We were allowed to bring our laptops to help us in our learning. Yes, I specify it is for learning.We had done well last year and the school decided to choose a few classes for the new education program called the "future class “The teachers would use the laptops to teach the students as the pupils are exposed to a wide variety of information that could prove beneficial to one's learning. However, our term 1 grades plunged. We were behind many of the classes we had won in terms of grades last year. We were around the tenth position and about 8 classes had overtaken us. There were only 15 classes so we were below average. It was not a promising sign.

We managed though not intentionally, "pissed off" some of our teachers especially in term 2.First it was our Chinese drama teacher. We had to go a an area known as the "Black box " It is surrounded by black walls and when the lights were off it was completely pitch black. The teacher had arrived late and many of my classmates took advantage to play. They switched off and on in quick succession resulting in some light bulbs to burst. People were running in darkness screaming and it was chaotic. I did not take part in this like few others. We sat on the floor waiting certain doom. We knew the teacher would come. It was hopeless to stop those other classmates. When they started to play, it was almost impossible to stop them without a teacher. So the teacher finally came and the people still did not stop. He was very angry and scolded us; it was not that bad at first. When it was time to greet him farewell for the day, many started to move around, not paying the teacher respect. He blew his top. He was really really furious. The tone and facial expression was all showing his immense anger. We stood there shocked and some were still LAUGHING! I do not know why they were doing it and we stayed there standing for 30 minutes longer. He reported it to our dean and teacher but did the class change. We did not!

Our science teacher had a slight problem pronouncing his words. Many laughed at him but I made effort to control it. Many rumours started about him being a terrible teacher so many did not try to pay attention in class. Therefore, many were clueless and blamed it on the teacher being incompetent. In the lab, many were talking while the teacher was teaching and some were playing. They had no respect for him. After many lessons, he sent some boys out of the class as they were talking. He was actually very nice. He did little scolding and punishment. There was one time where he almost blew his top but he manages to control it. He was quite angry but our class got away with it. Time will only time if we would push his anger to the limit. Sigh...

We also made our Inforcom studies teacher so angry till he refused to teach for that lesson. Once again, we did not respect him, talking in his lesson. What is wrong with us? If we put masking tape on our mouths, will we die from lack of talking? I don't understand.

One of the most major blow out of a teacher occurred yesterday. This time it was our English teacher. Our English teacher was angry at us last year for not answering her questions. Everyone chose to remain quiet and ignored her. She was so fed up that she did not teach for a few days. It was quite bad. Only after a few weeks did she start to teach again. We tried hard to reconcile with her and we did especially when we topped the level for Language arts during the end of year examination. However, this changed for the worse yesterday. She was teaching us on war poetry. We were supposed to do research on some wars to understand why men take up arms. Our class was silent when she asked questions and the lesson moved at snails pace. We did not research and remained silent. She was livid. She said that she had spent a whole night preparing the PowerPoint and she read up to teach us but we did not even try to put effort in any research or show any interest in the lesson. She threw the white board marker on the floor with deadly force. I have never seen a teacher so angry like that. She stormed out for the class. I just wanted to point out the possibility that we were so nervous about the history test on the next lesson that we could have been so preoccupied with our thoughts that we did not show much interest in the lesson. It was not right of us to do that still as we did not show respect or appreciation to the teacher. We were at fault. Once again, another teacher was angry at us.

What is wrong with our class? I think our class is the most problematic. We had angered a lot of teachers to the point where they did not want to teach us anymore. Something is seriously wrong with our attitude. I cannot find an adjective yet to describe it. Maybe more reflections are needed. We really need to sit down and think why so many teachers are angry at us. Is it our attitude or something about us our teachers hate? I just hope that the coming weeks will help cool down the temperature in the classroom.

Improvement

2010-04-30T06:03:00.000-07:00

Recently, we had done our NAPHA Test which is basically a physical fitness test. Some people like it while others hated it. It consist of six items, standing broad jump, shuttle run, inclined pull-ups, sit-up, sit and reach and the dreaded 2.4km run. I will be focusing more on the run though. I was proud of myself that there was an improvement in my physical fitness. I always thought I could not run as fast as those in the class. I owed it all to my training. Training actually helps especially when it is torture since it pushes you to the limit.

I never liked the run. Ever since the start of 1.6km run in primary 4.It was tiring and I really disliked the moment when you stop running after the run as exhaustion sets in. I had ran 8 minutes and 14 seconds during the start of the run when I was 10.However,the subsequent years, to my dismay my timing was getting longer .The timing for an A got shorter each year as we are expected to be fitter since we are growing older. Apparently the older I get the slower I run. Something was wrong. When I turned 13, I had to run two more laps making the distance kilometres instead of just 1.6 Last Year for my 2.4km run I got 14 minute and about 20seconds for my timing which was seriously very bad. If you do the Math, my average speed each lap then was much slower when I was just 10 years old. It was not a promising sign and I got silver for it. That was the item that pulled my physical fitness grades down.

There are always people that complain about the physical training they have to do during their respective sport Co-curricular activities. I am pretty sure that many of us do complain. I am no exception. One year of tennis training is hard. We do not just hit tennis balls with our rackets. Tennis is a sport about speed and stamina. If you do not build up speed, however good the skill, if you cannot run fast, you lose a point and subsequently the match. Without stamina, speed is nothing. Of course skill plays an important part in the game. Our coach made us do push-ups, jumping jacks and a lot of running. Oh, there is a lot of foot-work training and jumping too. We had to jump over cones continuously for a few minutes before a short break and we continue with that a few more times. It may sound easy as you may think "It is only jumping" but you should try it continuously sometime and you will know the pain. Another thing we had to do is called the "5 lines suicide” As the name suggest, it is really tiring especially if you do it like 3 times in a row with short breaks in between. There are five lines on the tennis court. We first start from the fence and run to the first line nearest to us, touch it and run back to the fence. We next, without stopping will have to touch the second line and return to the fence and this goes on till the fifth line is touched and we would stop at the fence. It is something like shuttle run but longer. Our coach had a "sadistic"(I thought like that at first) mindset. He occasionally put the condition that the fastest runner of the five lines could sit out the next few runs while the others had to do them. The number would dwindle till there were a few left. So we could end up doing more than 5 times. That was the most that we did. We were left panting on the floor with sweat smeared on your faces. It was not enjoyable and we tolerated it. Sprinting was not my forte. I was one of the last (at least not the last) to finish all the runs.

I never felt I was getting physically fitter. I felt the same so I thought I would be the same. My shuttle run this year was quite good. I had beaten my own record by 0.6 seconds to achieve the timing of 9.28 seconds which was and a grade. I did not know how fast I went and only to learn it when the teacher announced it. Well, hard work had certainly paid off. A year of tough tennis training and sprinting had helped me achieve this I considered to myself a remarkable feat. Even though training was not enjoyable and was more like a torture, it was because it pushed us to the limit that we could improve. If you stay in your comfort zone and not putting a 110%, it is very difficult to see improvement.

The next success came during the 2.4km run. I dreaded the run as it made me gets silver last year. My good friend told me that the "secret" to running fast for long distance is to tolerate it. Simply just tolerate it. Do not stop when you feel tired and just continue. It is like the Nike's slogan “Just do it" Therefore that was what I did. I did not stop. I just kept running. Exhaustion was unbearable. The feeling of legs weighing a ton came which made you feel like stopping and walking. However, from past experience, stopping and walking only makes you feel the exhaustion and it will be harder to start running again. Once you stop, you feel the tiredness. So I kept telling myself not to stop and I finished the 6 laps without any breaks. Thus I got a timing of 12minutes and 56 seconds, much faster than last year. I had an immense sense of satisfaction. I not only improved in the timing but also the willpower to continue running. This test had shown me that improvement is only possible through hard work and determination.

Not just in physical fitness but other areas also need this determination and hard work to excel. There are many times when I feel lazy and did not want to carry on studying or doing the work and wished to postpone them to another day.However, this attitude is very bad. Postponement does not get the work done, YOU DO. So many times you need to tell yourself to" Just do it" Just finish it. Don’t stop and just continue. These are some things that comes to my mind when I feel like putting down the book or feel lazy. Before you know it, the work will be done.

To actually succeed in anything, I feel the person must have the right attitude. Hard work is need so you can improve. Determination is required so you can to push yourself to the limit. Remaining comfortable will not get it anywhere. Giving it you’re all and a little a bit more sends you on track for improvement. Improvement comes from hard work and hard work comes from your determination. They are inextricably linked. Even though it could be a torture or a pain to you, you just need to constantly remind yourself to just do it.

Our Reliance on Technology

2010-04-28T04:23:00.000-07:00

Recently, two big things had happened to my family. They were all technology related. The first one which happened a few weeks ago was the malfunction of the refrigerator of my house. The next one was a car accident. Do not worry, nothing much happened but the car was damaged and was send to the repair shop. I have never experienced a car accident and I still have not as I was not in the car. I never thought that technology had so much influence of our lives until these two things happened.

As I was saying the refrigerator broke down. At first, I thought just get a new one. Well, it was not as simple as I thought it would as it caused massive problems. The food, yogurt, some drinks and fruits without refrigeration would spoil. The whole refrigerator had to be cleared out. All the food like meat, chicken and especially fish had turned bad within less than a day. A pungent smell had been emitted from the refrigerator. Apparently, it broken down during the night while we were asleep and the food turned bad unknowingly. We only realized this to our horror in the morning when the milk was not cold and smelt bad. My mum had to clear out the fridge and lay everything out on the table near the sink. She needed to sort out which food like vegetables can be kept for a few days and other non-perishable goods from those that could turn bad. For like 2 days, there was no ice. When I came back from training, I was thirsty and wanted to drink some nice cold ice water. I opened the refrigerator and then I remembered. For two days I did not have a cold drink and I realised I had drink ice water or drink almost every day. Only when I could drink it then I realised the urge to have it. The malfunction had created many problems such as sorting out food, disposing food that turned bad, packing canned food and spending time to go buy another one. The inconvenience was felt throughout the family.

Another thing was the car accident. My parents were in the car when the accident happened. Another car came from the side road into the main road and was not looking properly or something and he crashed or bumped my parents' car. The damage was not that bad but the after effects were worse. The other party had to compensate by repairing our car. However, the car parts will only arrived a few weeks later. They had to ship the parts. The car we have is not very popular. My sister and I had to take the bus to school. I took a taxi on a few occasions to school and returned by bus. My mum did not want me to be late. If I took the bus, it would take an hour and if there was a traffic jam I would be late. I had a heavy bag with the laptop and tennis gear if I had training on that day. If the teacher requested to see our file, then I would have another thing to bring along. My father brings me to school every day in the car and my mum usually sends me back home. I do take the bus back home on several occasions actually but never really done it consecutively. I realized that taking the bus back home was not really enjoyable. Having a car is a luxury and taking a bus actually waste quite a lot of time. Taking a ride home would take me 15 minutes while the bus takes me an hour and more. Standing the whole way with multiple things to carry was a torture, a heavy bag plus the laptop plus the tennis gear plus a file equals to exhaustion. I almost fell once as the heavy weight of the things carried me forward. I returned home perspiring from taking the bus than tennis training.

We rely on technology everyday. It has become a part of our life whether we like it or not. I always knew that we relied on technology and we lived with them but never realized the extent of our reliance. These two incidents had made me realized that technology had brought much comfort to us humans but what happens when it is taken away. We used them in everyday life such as washing clothes done by the washing machine and fan ourselves from the heat which is done by the electronic fan and the air-conditioner. We actually cannot live without them (it would be very had to travel and do stuff without them) Technology is advancing everyday and have been improving rapidly every since the 1900s.It had helped us with many daily task and improved our lives tremendously. There are many shows with the robots with artificial intelligence taking over the world and themes relating to it. Humans had become too reliant on these technologies and keep on improving them to raise our quality of life which resulted in plunging the world into chaos with robots and technology taking over. We have become reliant on technology and will technology someday control us as it controls how we live today. It is disturbing to know the fact that maybe one day technology has complete control over us. Is this day just a fantasy or can it happen in the near future or even worse…has it already started?

Work over Sleep

2010-04-25T01:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not blogging for 3 weeks. I had a very eventful and stressful 3 weeks. With the upcoming tests and heavy loads of homework, I did not have time to sleep not to mention blog. So today's topic is work over sleep.

These three weeks were hectic, especially this week. I was bombarded with homework, tests and everything else a boy would face in school. I had four tests this week, three real tests and a mock. First on Monday was a narrative writing test. On Tuesday, there was the Chinese Drama Performance. Then, a math test on Thursday and Geography mock test on the same day. The one the last day of the week was the most daunting day ever. I had two important test or events that day, the dreaded history test and a Chinese Current Affairs Discussion. I have a policy which was to study for all tests the week before. I had done this since primary school, had done this last year so this year was no different. However, with increasing homework and tests, I soon find this policy very hard to keep up with.

During the week I had little sleep. I had got through with the narrative writing test on Monday and studied the day before. I was able to sleep early the night before and in the morning, I felt refreshed like never before. This however soon would change for the worse. Tuesday Chinese Drama performance was frightening to me. I was never the acting sort of person and the script needed to be changed. On top of that, I needed to remember my lines. I refined the script till it was acceptable and by the time I was finished it was 11.30pm.Luckily I did my homework before the script or I would be still up working into the night. The next day, I was a bit groggy. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I came back late due to my CCA.I had to juggle studying for Mathematics and Geography test the next day. I stayed up till 12 in the morning to finish the revision. On Thursday night, it was worse. I had to prepare my Current affairs discussion script, study for History and also finish my homework. It simply overwhelmed mesas I was already exhausted from yesterday fell asleep at 11 and woke up half an hour late, That was the first time I ever sleep while studying, a completely new experience. I finish the rest of the revision and homework at 1 plus in the morning.

I realized the effects of little sleep on that Friday morning. I was not my usual self. I could not absorb whatever the teacher taught on that day. My eyelids were heavy and I wished I could put my head on the table. I struggled to keep consciousness but even though I was awake, nothing went into my head. I never really felt like this before, staring at the teacher but listening to a small portion of what he said. My head was heavy and I went to the toilet to wash up. Washing your face was supposed to wake a person up but it did not take much effect. The day just went downhill.

Why do people need to sleep? Simply, they are tired so they need to rest. Sleep is a state whereby your body is not active (Unconscious) but can be aroused. Your body systems slow down such as digestion and your pulse rate. Sleep is needed because your body needs to repair itself. A children and teenagers need to have sufficient amount of sleep to be able to grow. When you sleep, growth hormones are produced so ample sleep is needed. However, it is importance to note that sleeping too long for a long period of time can give the opposite effect. The amount of sleep needed for children is 8 hours while for adults; it is 5 hours and 5 minutes. Sufficient amount of sleep is importance because it affects the performance of your body system. Lack of sleep can lead to weakening of your body immunity system and you may fall sick if you do not get sufficient sleep. Let’s take rats for example. Rats have a lifespan of 2-3 years but if they are deprived of sleep, they live to about 3 weeks. For humans, it does not have devastating effects to that extent but still lack of sleep can cause problems for us. Our nervous systems do not work properly, making the person drowsy and unable to concentrate. Long periods of sleep deprivation can lead to impairment of memory or judgement and reduced physical performance. The importance of sleep is well-known throughout the world but how many actually have the time to sleep?

In this fast-paced society where stress-levels are high as workloads are staggering, how many can actually find the time to sleep. Deadlines of assignments or reports haunt both children and adults. Many adults work through the night to accomplish their work. Their submission of work and the quality determine the chances of retaining their job. Jobs give adults salary and this money is used to support a family. So in order to get the money, he needs to hand up work on time and to do that he needs to work through the night and because of that he is deprived of sleep. Most of us choose work over sleep though many know that it is bad for health but what can we do? Time management do not help if too much work is given. Work is important but is it more important than sleep? Logical answers would be yes, health is more important than work as if you are not healthy how can you work. Falling sick because of lack of sleep would put you out of action for a long time and you cannot put bread on the table. Many people take work as their utmost priority thus neglecting their health. Therefore while working to their limits to earn as much as they can, they soon burn out and fall sick.

I too start to feel the effects of the "burn out" Everyday, I have trouble waking up due to exhaustion. I know lack of sleep is bad but work and tests force many children to stay up way past their bedtimes to complete the work. Many fear to get scolding from teachers or parents if work is not done so children tirelessly toiled through the night. People are caught in the middle point between sleep and work. It is not like people do not want to sleep but rather they can’t sleep because of work. The question is not about whether sleep or work is more important. It is about how to balance sleep and work in this community.

Old and Lonely

2010-03-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, my class went on a CIP (Community Involvement programme) trip to an old folk’s home in the eastern part of Singapore. We were supposed to visit the home to cheer the old folks up or help the home in any way we could such as cleaning. Although we should be enthusiastic, I did not really feel so. It is not that I do not like old folks or anything like that. When I entered the home, a strange sense of sadness overwhelmed me (I did not cry nor did anything of that sort). I was nervous. There were like maybe 20 old folks on the ground floor, staring at us. I many saw sad faces not because we came but rather just sad in general. They did not do much. They slept, ate, perhaps watch a bit of television but I sometimes doubt whether they could understand English. That quickly sums up everything they do.

Their ages ranged from 70+ to 110! It is pretty amazing that people in Singapore can live such a long life. I was shock when I heard one of them was 108 years old and believe she was not the oldest. I never thought people could live so long in a stressful society in Singapore. That was one quick lesson I learnt from about 10 minutes of conversation. Anyway, moving on.

We have prepared a line-up of events for the elderly. However, we did not prepare sufficiently the performance as the class was not cooperative. We had only one proper rehearsal on the day before the trip.The class kept postponing the rehearsal to the eleventh hour. The whole class was supposed to sing for the elderly. We had four Chinese songs, two from our school and the other two are famous Chinese songs. Our teacher was considerably angry at us for not practising for the performance. We had wasted the whole March Holidays and did not take the rehearsal seriously. However, it was too late. We had to sing with the lyrics in our hands and even with lyrics we sang two songs wrongly. It was amazing as one of the songs was from the school. My classmates thought they could memorize and sing that song perfectly. Unfortunately, things did not turn out what we had expected. We sang it wrongly as the lyrics were mixed up towards the end of the song. It sounded weird. I hoped they elderly did not notice it. The elderly were quite happy as they clapped as we sang. This just goes to show that nothing turns out what you expect it to be. This is why we have rehearsals. They make sure we actually practise the performance. Practice makes perfect.

The other performances were great like the magic show. It was the opening act. My friend could make blue cloth come out of a handkerchief and make it disappear again. They were wushu performance too. It was performed by two talented individuals in my class in the school wushu team. The performance was exciting as they flipped, kicked and showed off their wonderful mastery of a certain weapon like a sword. Musically talented classmates played the guitar and piano to entertain the old folks too.

Next, we were asked to converse with the elderly to keep them company. Earlier in the morning, the origami team comprising of a few members of the class including me had showed the class how to make a simple origami crane. We managed to fold like about 60-80 paper cranes. We gave the elderly these paper cranes as a gift. Some were very happy as they were beaming with smiles, some however rejected them. I gave one paper crane to an elderly woman. She was indeed very happy and excited. Perhaps she never really received a gift from anyone ever since she came to the home. She was 80 yet quite jovial. I manage to converse with her as she spoke a wee bit of English and some Chinese. She said she liked the crane allot. We asked her how she was doing and if she liked the place. She said she was fine and the place was fine too. I could tell she was very happy with our visit. Well, at least I accomplished making an elderly woman happy.

Subsequently, I tried to converse with the other people but to no avail. Many only could speak hokkein and Malay. Few could speak Chinese and fewer or none could speak a bit of English. I spoke in Chinese but they just stared blankly at me. I guess they did not understand me. There was a language barrier between the elderly and me. They could not understand me and I could not understand them. The elderly spoke dialects, we spoke in Chinese. I was in an awkward situation many times when they could not understand me but I could not just walk away. That was rude to say something and when you realize the person do not understand you walk off. Many times I find maybe another person that could converse in dialect to take my place. I am ashamed to say, my dialect is hokkein but I know little about it. The generation gap made it even harder to talk. We did not know what to talk about. After the few general questions, we were stuck. Feeling awkward, we try our best to keep up the conversation. It could last no longer than 3 minutes. The elderly just answer our questions, sometimes giving us monosyllabic answers. It was hard to talk to them but it made me happy to see that they enjoyed our company. If I could last 5 minutes talking with them, it will give me an immense sense of satisfaction.

Now, here is the sad part. I talked to one man. He was almost bald. When I talked to him he gave me one word and started to cry. I was shocked and afraid. I did not say anything that hurt him. I asked him “How are you" or” What do you like to do in your free time" in Chinese. Teardrops rolled down his face. I was so frightened. The nurse said he was very sensitive and emotionally. Perhaps, he was so happy that he cried as it had been very long since someone visited him and kept him company. The question popped up in my head “Where is his family" Of course I never ask any of the elderly that question. That would be a fatal question literally. I never understand why people sent their old parents to an old folk’s home. WHY? Even if they cannot take care of the parents, at least they can do is to visit them at least once a week. It would make them so happy. Why don't people do that? I never comprehend why some children would do that to their old parents. They are the ones who raise them and apparently these are the thanks they get, being sent to an old folk’s home! It is amazing some children would do that. I am positive that most of their children would be still alive as their old parents still are. I believe it is just that they feel that it is too troublesome taking care of their parents. They just leave their unwanted parents in the home and only pay the home to support them.

The sheer number of old folks in that single home show that many other home in Singapore are most probably filled with unwanted old folks. With Singapore's ageing population, it is normal to see more elderly walking along the streets but it is not alright to have more and more elderly being taken care in homes. This shows that more and more children do not want their old parents. I wonder what happened to Filial piety. What happen to that Chinese value that our school tried hard to inculcate in us? It apparently went down the drain.

This experience to the Old Folks Home taught me many things. For starters, there are many people worse off them you so do not complain about how life is bad or unfair to you. The elderly there have it worse. Secondly, I learnt that the distance between the elderly and younger generations are getting wider. Language barrier had limited our conversation with the elderly. Dialects are slowly disappearing as time passes on. It is already hard for a teenager like me to converse with an elderly. I few years time, I believe picking up conversation with the elderly will be more challenging than ever. Lastly and most importantly, I learnt that we must be filial to our parents. Ii is out parents that gives us our lives. It is our parents that brought us up. It was our parents that led us through difficult times in our lives. They help us, care for us love us. Do they deserve to be sent to an old folk’s home? Do you think it is alright to do this? I leave that question for you to answer.

Note:
Apparently, I have a similar blog post on this topic named "Old and Alone" last year. It was my first real blog post that was not a prompt from my teacher. It is in the January Section 2009. I was 13 years old then and may not have written very well.

Newspaper Report on Tom Robinson trial.

2010-03-01T05:21:00.000-08:00

Tom Robinson Found Guilty for Rape

Yesterday at around 11pm, Tom Robinson who had been accused by Bob Ewell of raping his daughter, Mayella Ewell, 19, has been charged for rape. The court case took place at the Maycomb County Courthouse and huge crowd of people, both white and blacks, turned up to watch the trial. The prosecutor was Mr Gilmer and the defence laywer was Atticus Finch. The case was presided over by Judge Taylor and a hand-picked jury. The result of the trial ended in favour of the plantiff, the Ewell family.

The crime took place on the evening of November 21st last year, near the town garbage dump. Maycomb Ewells had lived behind the town garbage dump for years which were once a Negro Cabin. Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella Ewell, survived on relief cheques to make ends meet. Mayella Ewell had two or three years of education and was the oldest of all the children in the Ewell family. Her mother had passed away a long time ago and the children were in the care of their father, Bob Ewell

When the Sheriff, Mr Heck Take was called to the stand yesterday to give his statements, he was questioned about the physical injuries of Mayella Ewell. He said that she was beaten around the head and had bruises on her arms. Also, he said that she had a " black eye" on her right side and had" definite finger marks on her gullet" However, a professional such as a doctor was no called to care for her wounds as Mr Heck Take felt it was unnecessary. Mayella wounds and injuries were obvious.

Mr Bob Ewell was called to the court .He said he was in the woods when he heard Mayella screaming so he said that he run as fast as he could through the fence. He saw Tom Robinson have sexual intercourse with his daughter through the window. However, Tom ran away as Bob Ewell was distracted with Mayella to catch after him. Then, he ran for the sheriff, Mr Heck Tate. He told the sheriff who was the culprit and Mr Tate arrested Tom Robinson on Mr Ewell's account of the story.

Atticus had asked him in court to write his name. It was then found out that Bob Ewell is left handed.

According to Mayella Ewell statement, she was certain that Tom Robinson had raped her. On the evening of November 21, Mayella said she was standing on the front porch of her house. She told the audience that" there was this old chiffarobe in the yard Papa'd brought in to chop for kindlin'As she felt she was not strong enough, she sought for help from Tom Robinson who was happening to pass by. She said that it was her first time asking Tom Robinson to come through the fence t help her. Tom Robinson passed the Ewells house every day to go to work in Mr Link Deas' yard. Mayella offered a nickel in exchange for Tom helping her .Then, as she was getting a nickel to pay, when she turned around, Tom was “on her" and he "got her round the neck" She fought and hollered at him tooth and nail but was unable to get him off her. Then her father looked from the window and realised what happened. She then fainted while Tom Robinson was then said to have run away before Mr Ewell could get him. Mr Ewell then called the sheriff, Mr Heck Take.

Mayella was sure that Tom Robinson had taken advantage of her. As a defence to the accusation, Tom Robinson was asked to stand. It was shown to all that Tom Robinson left hand is 12 inches shorter than his right as his left arm was caught in a cotton gin since young. His left arm hung dead and could not be used. The accusation of Tom Robinson raping Mayella Ewell had came into serious question as it was implied by Atticus, the defendant, that it was unlikely for a person maim in his left able to hurt Mayella's right eye. There is the possibility of Bob Ewell hurting his own daughter instead of Tom Robinson as he is left-handed. When Mayella was questioned by the defence lawyer as to whether Tom or her father harmed her, there was no response from her.

The defendant, Tom Robinson, had a very different side of the story. He said he had known Mayella Ewell for a while as he had to pass by the Ewell’s house every day to go to work for Mr Link Deas in his yard. Based on his statements, he said that he had gone into the house to help Mayella do fix or help her out “lots of times". He did work like chopping and kindling for Mayella. She offered him a nickel but he declined. Apparently, Mayella asked him to fix the door hinges as she said it was loose. When Tom was at work, Mayella kissed and hugged him. The children usually in the house went to eat ice-cream bought by Mayella so were not present. This totally contradicts Mayella and her father's side of the story. Next, Mr Bob Ewell had seen this from the window, spouted vulgarities at Mayella, saying he would kill her.

However, after the jury had listened to both sides of the story, Tom Robinson was charged with the crime of raping Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson is now awaiting the death penalty in the Maycomb jail.

Intrapersonal Option 1 ( To Kill A Mockingbird)

2010-03-01T03:28:00.000-08:00

For my blog assignment, I am required to answer to questions or accomplish 2 tasks by a certain deadline.

This is the question I have chosen:
1. Who would you want to be friends with in the novel? Explain

Atticus Finch is certainly a person I would like to befriend in the book. He is the most morally upright person and exhibit moral courage which many people lack. He is a role model which everyone should aspire to be. His moral courage is demonstrated through his actions and words which would be elaborated later.

The book is set in the 1930s where discrimination against the blacks was not only the norm but the law. Many blacks were discriminated by not being given fair trial in court. Almost all the whites were prejudice against the African-Americans. Tom-Robinson was accused of raping a female who was white and Tom Robinson would face certain doom. Nobody would take up the job to defend Tom even though he was innocent, except one man.

That man is Atticus Finch. Even though the majority was against him, He never backed down. He believes that if he did not defend that innocent from being killed, he would not be angle to lift his head again. No matter how the community in Maycomb disapproves his actions, criticising him, never once did he regret taking up the case as he said it was the right thing to do. It takes courage to be able to stand against a crowd to stand up for your own beliefs. Atticus definition of courage is" you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" Not many people can do that. Atticus took up the job knowing he will lose the case and face resistance from the majority but he does not care. Many people are swayed in their decisions or actions by the majority. Someone who has the moral principles and courage to go against the majority is someone to befriend and admire. He will have a good influence to you and the people around you. Perhaps some of the moral principles will rub onto you which are a good thing.

Another good point about Atticus is that he never resorts to violence to resolve the problems. He said courage is not “a man with a gun in his hand" implying to be violent is not courage. When a mob wanted to lynch Tom Robinson, Atticus blocked the entrance to the jail. He did not carry weapon of any sort but only a book. He believes that reasoning is enough to solve problems. We can learn from him as he uses reasoning instead of violence to solve problems. Violence never solves problems but aggravate them. Atticus can teach me to put my fist down and hold my head high in the face of a problem. Many people jump into a fight without good reason and just worsen the problem. With such a role model as a friend like Atticus, he can teach me important life skills to tackle what life can throw at me.

Also, it is evident that Atticus is humble.He did not tell his children that he was the best shooter in Maycomb.Even when he was forced to show his ability , he politely asked the bystanders to keep quiet about this matter when the others praised his shooting skills. He did not like to flaunt his abilities, making himself very humble. A humble friend would be much easy to get along with as the friend would not boast and make you feel inferior. Being humble will avoid annoying others putting others off so everyone around would like him.You will like him too as he has a humble personality.

Though he is not really realistic at times because he is overly optimistic, his pros outweigh the cons significantly. I would befriend Atticus if I have the chance as he will not only be a good role model but a good friend too.

Mutiple Intelligence Test

2010-02-28T18:24:00.001-08:00

1. Post your learning profile on your blog and write in no less than 100 words the implications or what you feel about the multiple intelligence tests.

Basically, the multiple intelligence tests consist of 40 questions and 6 different answers for each question. Each answer adds to different parts of intelligence on the chart. There are 8 intelligence tested, Logical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Musical, Visual/Spatial, Naturalistic, Kinaesthetic and Linguistic. The answers to the 40 questions help to create the chart.

However, I feel the test is not very accurate. I do not believe that a mere 40 questions can determine your intelligence in different areas. It is too general even though the questions may ask about what you like to do and stuff like that. If you break it down, there are 40 questions and 8 different type of intelligence. Probably there are 5 questions for each aspect of intelligence. (Correct me if I am wrong). So five questions has the responsibility to differentiate which aspect you are the best or strongest in. Is it accurate?

Next, this test requires integrity (honesty) and modesty to be accurate. The result of the test is based on these two moral principles. Let us take a look from my perspective. If a person has a very high ego, being proud of him, he will tend to put his answers to the best it can be. I too feel the urge or temptations to change my answer to a better one to affect the result. I am sure everyone feels this but the thing that matters is whether you change it in the end. So as I was saying, the person who is not honest with himself and want to get a high result, he will often overestimate himself, giving himself an inaccurate result. Though the result may make him happy, but he is only lying to himself. The there is the other way around. A person who is very honest and very modest could also get an inaccurate result. The person does not think highly of themselves will underestimate his abilities and put an answer below what he is suppose to put. Indeed, the result all comes down to you. If you are not true to yourself, the test will never be accurate. You are the only one capable of determining your own intelligence and if you are swayed in the decisions which you most probably will to some extent, the test cannot be accurate.

There are implications to this test. This test is to determine your intelligence. This is one topic everyone likes to compare. In Singapore, many of us like to ask the question" How many marks you got for the test?"Even our parents compare us to others on marks or intelligence. Some people do not like to lose to others. They like to win even in this kind of areas. Perhaps is in their nature to be competitive. It is very easy to change the answer and so they can boast to their friends who may also change the answer. There is no correct answer to the 40 questions but people are encouraged to put the answer most favourable to "increase their intelligence “Since the test can be taken multiple times with no correct answer, it encourages people like them to not be true to themselves do something for the sake of pride.However some other honest person who see other being so "smart" will feel bad for himself, thinking he is dumb and inferior.

We cannot simply slam this test as being useless. It does has its good points. Well, it is certainly a faster way to calculate your "intelligence" though it may not be that accurate if you are not honest. But if you are one of the good ones, the test result will not be far off. This test is better than the IQ test at the very least as it only gives you a number like 120 to measure your intelligence. This mulitple intelligence test split your intelligence into 8 different forms.So if you are honest and know yourself well, you can tell which areas are you stronger or more intelligent in from the chart.

However, it is important to note, the result is just a chart. It could be a rough guide or it could be way off. It can be helpful to gauge yourself but it is still just a chart. It could mean nothing to you if you do not take it to heart. I do not believe a person is born smart or intelligent. Each may have different talents or strong points but hard work is all that matters. You just need to work hard and you can still excel.

To Laugh at Someone

2010-02-27T01:07:00.000-08:00

Laughing is an expression to show that something is funny or humorous to you. So what does it mean to laugh at someone? It could mean he did something funny which made you laugh. However, most of the time, the person that is laughed at does not find it funny at all. Laughing at someone can hurt his feelings or make him feel embarassed. Many people laugh at people who make mistakes or are different from them. People who laugh at others are horrible as they do not consider the feelings of others at all. They should be ashamed of themselves. How would they feel if they were being laughed at?
Nobody likes it, only when you are purposely making a joke out of yourselves to make others laugh like a clown. Other than that, you should not exhibit this type of behaviour.

I remember like a few days ago during the morning assembly, as usual, the band was playing the national anthem and most people were singing. However, something unexpectedly happened. A boy dropped his trumpet! How embarrassed he would have been to drop the trumpet in front of everyone in the school. He was even in the front row. I did not laugh as I know he was embarrassed enough. However, Laughter could be heard and giggles were at the tip of almost every mouth. It was quite loud as teachers turn to look at our cohort. There was a commotion for a while but soon dying down. I wonder why people laughed. The Band has faithfully played for us for as long as we remembered and because of one mistake, we know you laugh at him. I believe he could hear our giggles from the field and he would be embarrassed already. Why must our cohort laugh at others mistake? Why do people add to his embarassment? Everyone makes mistakes and because of mistakes we learn not to do them again. People cannot understand this and cannot hold back their laughter. Even if you cannot control your feelings, smile at the very most till your emotions die down. We need to consider others feelings whatever we do, only then can we become gentlemen which our school aim to nurture.

People laugh at others because others are different from the majority. It is disgusting. Everyone has the right to be different and we have no right to criticise or laugh at others because of that. Obese discrimination is very common in school and I have seen this for myself. People will deliberately comment on how plump they are or imply that they are plump. Such as these questions" Why can't you run faster" or” Hello, fat boy" These questions or statements actually hurt others who hear them. We have no right to discriminate others because you are plumper than others. It is how they are built and unable to control how they grow, like some people grow very tall while other s can only grow to a certain height. Don't you think they know what they are like; must you even spell it out? Many students in school face obese discrimination as foolish immature children (I do not use teenagers to describe them) do not understand the impact of their words and feeling. They cannot understand others at all or consider the implications of their actions. They laugh; they tease these poor people who have it already hard enough. I find no humour in someone who has done nothing funny but laughed at because he is different. So why must people bully and laugh at them. It could cause emotional impact to them. These people who laugh at others are cruel and do not have a sympathetic heart. Plump people are just normal human beings, all the same, and should be treated equally. These people could have bigger hearts and kinder than we will ever be.

Also, during assembly, there is a guy who likes to express his views (My friend has talked about this issue a while ago so I shall make this brief) However, he cannot speak proper English. His sentence is broken up into my different parts and sometimes we have no idea what the guy is saying. He is brought up in another country so his English has an accent and is not very fluent. Yet, every time he speaks, almost everyone burst into guffaws. I too was one of them but not anymore. I just smile, feeling sympathetic to the guy's position. Almost everyone laugh as he cannot speak fluent English, but does that give us the right to laugh. Even if everyone does it, does it make your actions justified? NO! Giving respect to a speaker is basic courtesy and most people do not have this. I too like my friend admire his courage to go up on stage to express his view. He is not shy and willing to express his views on subjects. This is something I dare not do. Yet, people cannot see he is courageous, only seeing he is making a fool of himself. I pity the guy and the people who laugh. I pity the guy as he cannot express his view completely with everyone's attention as they are laughing and also pity him as he is being laugh at because he is different from us. However, I pity those who laugh at him as they are one of the most inconsiderate batches of students who cannot accept others who are different and laugh because they think it is humorous. Feelings will be hurt and people will be embarassed. Is putting people in an awkward situation fun to you?

I believe everyone should be treated with respect and treated equally. No matter how different we are from each other, we should have equal treatment. Also, mistakes are part of life and should not laugh at others mistakes as we too make them. We must not laugh at others if you do not want others to laugh at you.

Changes to my Blog

2010-02-26T19:49:00.000-08:00

Another year has passed and my blog grew another year older. Now it is time for the new to replace the old. However, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who have frequently commented and supported my blog. Without all these comments, I would not be able to make my blog successful. So I thank you. I remember the good old times of my blog, the first year of blogging, was a very eventful year of blogging with 39 posts. I liked to blog as it gave me time to think and escape from homework and other stuff like that. I will take few seconds to commemorate my old blog.

Okay, this year there are quite a number of changes on my blog. I will try to be as unique as possible except few other blogs that gave me the inspiration to add certain blog gadgets to spice up my blog. So here are the changes.

1. A New Blog Skin
I have come too realised that the old default blog skin was actually very boring. It was a plain old page of a sheet of brown paper. To have more viewers, I think that an attractive blog skin is needed. A boring default skin template will only turn future followers or viewers away. I have looked for this blog skin for about an hour before I decided to choose this blog skin. The theme for the blog is to RELAX! I am sure the seaside view is more relaxing to see then the serious and dull brown sheet of paper. The colours of the sea, sunset and the shadows of coconut trees complement each other well. Also, the colour theme of my blog is blue, which is my favourite colour. So I have tried to find blog gadgets that are blue in colour.

2. Slogan
This year there is a slogan to my blog. It is "To Stand out like a Sore Thumb" This slogan is found under my blog's name. My purpose of this slogan is not to say blog is weird but attempting to bring across the message that my blog is unique. Well, at least I am trying to be. I have played with the title of my blog to derive this slogan.

3. Visitor counter
I have put up a gadget that counts the number of visitors of my blog. I want to see how many people have visited my blog so maybe I can improve the blog more. So please do not spam refresh buttons as it only gives my false hope that my blog will become successful. However, seeing a high number of visitors gives me a sense of satisfaction and motivation to carry on with this blog. So please visit more.

4. Navigation Buttons
I have six navigation bars near the top of my blog. They are on every page of the blog. I realised that when I visited other people's blog, every time when I go into a new page, I have to click back many times to return to the first page. So for your convenience, I have put up a home button so it would be easier to retune to the Home page of my blog. If you want to see only my posts or only my comments, please click “Posts" and "Comments" respectively. Also, there are two different links to other blogs on the navigation bar. These are the few blogs that are great no only in their posts but also their in gadgets and features that would entertain you. You can cist their blog too, as it will make them very happy.

5. Followers
This is actually not a change to my blog that I can control. It is you, fellow readers of my blog that has the power to change my blog for the better. Hope that there are more followers to my blog. That is my goal.14 followers is not enough for my mission. So please follow my blog.

6 Relaxations
Since my theme of my blog is relaxation. I believe that I should have some gadget that make people feel more relax after reading my tense and serious blog posts. This is what I have done. There are two gadgets that I have added. One is that there are penguins that will follow your mouse. You can pick them up or put them down too. This gadget was recommended by a friend. I also found another gadget which shows you a hamster. This hamster is like your petit eats, drinks and exercise on the wheel. Seeing it walk around in its cage, following where you drop your food is quite addictive and fun.

7. Riddles!
This section is found at the bottom of my blog. I have never been a joker so I cannot make you laugh and that is why many readers feel my blog has no entertainment value. This year, I still cannot make you laugh. I am quite sad about it. However, if I cannot make you, readers, laugh, I can make you think. The riddles gadget at the bottom has many different riddles that will not make you feel bored. There is answers to every riddle so you can see them if you are at your wits end. I hope this column can make amends for my unfunny nature.

8. Response buttons
Other than comments, there are buttons which you can click to send how you feel about the post. They are found near the comment button. It is easy and quick to do so readers need not spend time to comment if they have no time. However, please comment more because this still motivate me to do more posts so please comment if you have the time. Another blog which belongs to my friend inspired me to take up this new feature. I hope that my readership and comments would increase but if you seriously have no time to spare, at least you can click these buttons.

I have ended my changes at number 8, which is a lucky number. I hope that a new year would bring new followers and bring more and more visitors to my blog. However, no matter how I change my blog, I cannot make the blog anymore different. Only the readers have the power to change (my blog).

Integrity

2010-02-22T06:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I found out that my wallet was missing. Do not jump into the conclusion that my school had a theft case. This did not take place in school but rather at home. And no my family did not steal anything from me. Guess what, unbelievable as it may seem, the wallet, not the one I bring to school but to keep my savings, was suspected to be lost even before the Chinese New Year. It is not a very good sign I must say, to bring a lost wallet incident into the New Year. For a while, I did not realise that my wallet or two wallets in fact had vanished. One was the wallet which kept my savings and the other, an old wallet with some cash in it. So how did it disappear? Were they misplaced by me, or where they stolen? I had my suspicions that lead back to the few days before Chinese New Year.

During that few days, one of the air-conditioners in my house had broke down and my family wanted it fixed as fast as possible due to the upcoming Chinese New Year. The day was simple, I was out still in school I think. The repairmen came to my house, almost my whole family was out, except my sister who was studying. Everything happened as per normal, the air-conditioner was fixed and the repairmen were paid and they left. Nothing was unusual. So I Thought...

I always put back that wallet in that drawer and nowhere else. I only put my allowance in it and take them out when it was necessary to transfer money into the wallet I bring to school. I had considerable amount of savings, not a lot about my one month allowance and savings in the previous years. One fine day, when I realised my money in the wallet I bring to school has diminished, I got a rude shock when I look for the wallet in my drawer. Two of them were gone. I asked my parents and they said they have not seen it. Neither have my two sisters. I realised my money I received from red packets was still in the drawer. If a theft took place, that sum of money which was quite a lot, should have been stolen. So in the assumption of theft, the theft should have been taken place before Chinese New Year. It was such a coincidence that the repairman came before Chinese New Year too. It is important to note that every air-conditioner was serviced so the repairmen would have entered my room. My sister was deep in books so she may not realise what happened. I did not lock my drawer as I forgot or did not know that outsiders were coming to my home. I strongly believed in the integrity of my family so I do not doubt in them. I have never misplaced that wallet and I had no reason to do so, I hardly even touch. They always lay safely in the drawer. I partially blamed myself for the lost of my wallet as I did not locked up my drawer .Perhaps I should take up responsibility of the lost of my wallet as my wallet could have tempted the person into doing wrong. For that, I apologise

I suspect that the repairmen had stolen it. Please do not get the idea that I am prejudice against them. However, the evidence tells no lies. I have searched my house till it was almost on the verge of breaking down. Yet, Nothing! The wallets had vanished never to be seen again. I have reason to doubt the repairmen integrity. A few years back, another few repairmen came to service the air-conditioner. When they left, my mother found out that her expensive bottle of perfume was gone. She had locked up all her money in the drawer so they were safe but she forgot to keep her perfume. And the perfume was never to be seen again, a similar fate to my wallet. My mother had distinctively seen the perfume on the table before the repairmen arrived.

I was angry. Why would someone want to steal my wallet from my room? I am A 14 year old child or teenager who had saved his money for years. Now, in one swipe, it made him sad and angry. Where is their integrity? Isn't there a conscience to prevent us from making the wrong move? Sigh...

One's integrity is very important. We must uphold our moral principles no matter how basic they are such as honesty. I feel there was no reason to steal. Even if they had cash flow problems, they should not get money this way. It is dirty money. If they steal for greed, I pity them. They are unable to control their own self and do the right thing. I have lost trust in these people. They came into our house with good intentions but left as dishonest people. One needs to show his integrity to gain trust from others. Now, this is very important. Imagine you are working in the company, I f you are dishonest, people will not trust you even your colleagues. If you were looking for business for your company, which client will believe you if they know who you are? Someone with high moral principles and follows them is someone who is dependable and therefore well-liked by most people. People trust you and will not cast you a doubtful glance. I believe that integrity, upholding of moral principles must be a "habit". You must always do what is morally right as forgetting your moral values and could result in the chain effect of undesirable and immoral behaviour.

Regretful Decisions

2010-02-15T22:43:00.000-08:00

Have you ever feel regretful for the decisions you have made? It is not pleasant is it? Regret is an emotion, a feeling of sadness or disappointment because you were unable to do something or because you did something you wished it had not occurred. I am sure many people have experienced this feeling but to what extent? Regret is formed by your decisions. Whether your decisions are right or wrong, it is decided by you. I have refused to think about an incident that happened 3 years ago until now. It was not pretty. I have been pushing this question away from me ever since. However, I feel that it has gone long enough and I have reflected on my decisions.

A basic form of regret is when you make a wrong decision at that moment in time. I am sure every school going children or teenagers can relate to this. One very common cause for regret is.....Yes, making the wrong decision during the test. When you are stuck at a question, you have to make a smart guess, the one with the most probability of scoring the mark However, things may not go as you thought and you may lose that mark. A few more mistakes and you drop a grade or even fail. When you look back on your mistakes, you will ask yourself, “Why did you write this”. You feel regretful because you felt you could have done better. This is a minor regret as it does affect you much unless of course you fail and things happen to you but that is not very common.

My regret was formed about 3 years ago when I was 11.I was in the table tennis school team. I was a team player since 8 and I was quite good at the game. My school was well-known for its table tennis school team and was the top 4 in the national competition every year. I was one of the main 7 players. I played in the tournament, won and lost, but that is not important. I was proud that I was a member of the team and I represented the school for one of its most popular and best sports. My parents were proud and I was proud of myself.

Then, it happened during the second half of the year. I did nothing wrong but I was humiliated. (I was not scolded)I specify I did nothing wrong. There was internal conflict.I was sad, my parents were angry. My parents pulled me out of the team immediately with my consent. I never played that game for that year. Never again I played the game competitively.

After pulling out of the team, many of my ex-team members asked why I quit. I gave those indirect answers or wrong ones. I was not prepared to tell them the real one. I was still shaken by the incident. No one was sure why I actually quit because there were underlying causes I will not tell.

I have reflected on this incident but I am still unsure whether I should have left the team. There is something that is better left uncertain. I was happy playing the game and I was proud of myself. One thing for sure, I regret that I have give up on this skill. I have learnt that skill for more than 6 years and it is a pity to give up on the sport. I have lost my pride for the game and for myself. Though I picked up a new sport, I cannot help feeling that I did not get the same feeling as when I played table tennis.6 years or training, 6 years of fun was washed away by just one decision. Whether right or wrong, I do not think it is right for me to decide now. Perhaps a few more years later, when I have grown older and matured, I may have a clearer view of the incident.

I have learnt that decisions shape our life. One decision made me give up a sport and learn a new one. Decisions are the ones that open up new routes for us. Wrong ones can cost us while right decision will help us. When we decide on something, we need to take a view from a third party as the first person point of view is rarely correct. I was only able to see from my point of view during that incident and it could have been a mistake. Perhaps maturing helps in decision making in situations. With a mature and clear mind, we can make the right decisions for ourselves and others. Decisions are the ones that affect our future. The most importantly, you must not regret your own decisions

Choose wisely so you will not regret

A Different Chinese New Year

2010-02-15T01:05:00.001-08:00

For the first time in my life, I had a very different Chinese New Year. Though it may be similar to yours but it was a very unusual experience to me.

My father is a Malaysian while my mother is a Singaporean. Every year, I spent my Chinese New Year in a town in Malaysia. My father always drove the car for about 3 hours before we reached the town. The town was old. It was not very modern I must say but it was not that bad. It had a few shopping malls, restaurants and houses but nothing like Singapore. Everything was layback. People walked slowly here to there. I wonder if they had a destination in mind to walk to. The roads are less noisy. There is a constant flow of cars but still the numbers were few. The town population is alright for it size and it was not so congested in shopping malls. Restaurants which are few are usually not crowded. There were no cinemas no theme parks, no tall industrial buildings or any tall buildings actually. The town does not have any tourist attractions maybe the rubber plantation. Oh I almost forgot, many of the residents there get their income from the rubber plantation. There were little factories so most people or families owned a plantation. Everything was slow, to the shopping counters to the speed people walked compared to Singaporeans.

I found spending Chinese New Year there pretty boring. Of course we get to meet our relatives there but still with almost nothing to do there except visiting others for 3 days, it would get boring. There was not much to watch on television. The channels were very limited and usually in a dialect or Chinese. We just meet relatives and eat dinner. That was just basically what we did there.

This year was entirely different. I spent my Chinese New Year in Singapore! My father had to go overseas for this week so we were not able to return to Malaysia. This is a whole new experience for me. Finally, I get to spend the holidays in my own country.

For once, I experienced the mad rush during Chinese New year. I went to Cold Storage the other day. I was amazed. The queue was so long. There were at least ten people in the queue. Everyone was buying huge loads of stuff, especially rice. I never knew people actually stocked up rice for Chinese New Year. Almost every other cart had a bag of rice or 2.In Malaysia, we did not actually buy anything to stock up because we spent our time in our grandmothers place where everything was usually bought. I did not know there was such superstition of having the rice bin to be filled to the maximum or more to live through the New Year. I was surprised to hear this from my mother who was also stocking up rice. I think it took at least half an hour to clear the counter.

Also, I was surprise that so many stores were closed on Chinese New Year. In Malaysia, actually not many stores closed except for small ones. Maybe if so many stores closed during the holiday, the people of the town cannot get necessities to last the week. It is a very small town. When I went into the shopping mall, it was somehow darker than usual. Many stores were not open so it was not light up. My mother wanted to buy some stationaries but big stationary store were closed. We wanted to buy some shampoo but the stores were closed. It was frustrating. Perhaps, we were not used to buying stuff as early as we were always overseas during Chinese New Year.

During the night of Chinese New Year, we went out to eat. Many restaurants were closed. Only some eateries like Mac Donald’s were open. We went to Mac Donald’s to eat but were horrified. I cannot describe the queue in there. It was packed. The place was especially noisy. It was very difficult to find a site as many people were there scouting for seats. It took quite a while to find a sit and not to say queuing for the food. The staff could not keep up with the increasing number of customers. I have never experienced this in Malaysia. People usually ate at home, therefore restaurants were not crowded. Some of them were open but it was not crowded. Malaysians perhaps prefer to cook and eat at home with all their family members.

One more foreign experience was that during Chinese New Year, the roads were especially empty. MY parent’s car travelled on the highway and not a single car was in sight until like 30 seconds later. It was like a ghost road. I have never seen this is Singapore before was the roads were always congested. The roads of the Malaysia town were always quiet with very few cars. It was common there but not in Singapore. My siblings were asking “Where are the cars" and “Did we go to a wrong route “We were surprised by this rare sight.

I realised that in different countries or places, not only were lifestyles different but also the festive mood. In Singapore, I felt for once, that is was Chinese New Year. At least there were many sights of people preparing for it. It was hectic. In Malaysia it was different. Everything was much slower in the town. There was no rush. It was very peaceful although it was Chinese New Year. For once, I was able to experience a unique Chinese New Year. I would probably return to Malaysia every other Chinese New Year.

Why there is always someone better in the world

2010-02-12T23:27:00.000-08:00

There is a Chinese saying that there is always a person better than you at something. You can never be the best except for special cases. I have always known this from young, but actually I have not experienced this in the face. I never thought that the difference between us and others was that great.

Yesterday was a sad day. My school tennis team was in shatters. Well, at least the B division. The atmosphere was gloomy. Nobody talked only the coach. Disappointment was written on everyone’s face. It was unusually quiet especially from the B division tennis team. With heavy steps they walked up the stairs to receive a "motivational talk by the coach"

I always thought the B division tennis boys were excellent. They were amazing compared to us. They were fast, accurate, strong and everything better. They seemed very professional. They trained hard during practice and I always looked to them in admiration.

Then the rude awakening came. The school nationals came and the B division tennis team set out to the tennis court. Everything seemed normal during warming-up, as good as always. Then the other team arrived and the match commenced. Even though I know we may lose, never did I think that the difference in skill would be that great.

The opponent was fast. He was chasing down every ball that our school best player was hitting. Nothing was wrong in my school’s best player shots, they were powerful and accurate. However, the opponent returned with ease as though the ball was a feather. He returned with precise and deep ball into the court, which our school player was unable to hit. Strong and accurate hits were fired from the opponent’s racket like a rocket. I was blinded by its speed. I have not seen a faster ball in real life, except from television, but the ball appeared slower when filmed. Amazing tennis was played by the opponent. My school's best player just could not keep up. I knew he tried his best; the opponent was just too good. It was like trying to catch ghosts. The match ended in the thrashing defeat of my school, 9-1.My school player was only able to "steal" one miserable game from the opponent.

All the other opponents were of equal match of the first. They seemed undefeatable. It was almost unreal for just secondary school boys. At least, I thought so. Luckily our best double was able to win one match to make the overall score 4-1 and not lose 5-0 which saved some dignity for our school. Our best double faced the opponent school's weaker double and won by a small margin by two or one game. I was not sure of the score. I wondered if the other school put their second double down and not their preferred first choice double. Well, at least a win is a win. Still it was a thrashing defeat for our school, the team all hoped to make it to the semi-finals but now, their hopes were dashed. We were "creamed" by the other school. I, a supporter from the C division tennis team, was utterly disappointed.

As I think back on this defeat, I cannot help but wonder how somebody can be so much better than someone who I thought was already excellent. How can the difference in skill be so great? We are all secondary boys yet others can be so far ahead. How did they get so good at the game? Is it inborn skill? Or it is better coaches. I turn to my sister, a tennis player, for answers.

I actually learned that these people did not get so good because of inborn skill but actually hard work. Yes, they put blood and sweat into the game. They were hard-core. They trained like 6 times a week or more than 4 hours a day.4 hours for tennis can be fatal. The sun is blazing hot in the afternoon. The only day they get for free time is on Sunday. They have their own personal training too. They may go for their own training after their school's training session. Their training is so much tougher than ours. They seemed never tired during training. In fact, they are exhausted but they push themselves to overcome their exhaustion. It is their sheer determination and passion for the game that motivate them to push themselves to the limit. They want to be good at the game and so they put themselves through such a tough time for excellence. They actually want this because they want to excel. They get so many blisters on their feet but they still trained with all their heart into the game. Such determination is certainly admirable.

I learned that to excel in anything, we need to put in hard work. The road to success is only built with pure determination. Success is only achievable because of 99% of hard work and 1% of talent. The thing that makes the difference is actually the hard work people put in. Nobody is born good at something. You need passion and the tenacity to go through what others find too tough to endure. Hard work is paid off by the result. Many people are unable to take up the challenge to suffer in order to excel. They give up ,do not even try or do not try as hard as others as they fear of hardship. Only when someone has the determination to put in hard work with no fear of hardship, then that someone can rise above others.

I feel insignificant in this big world, but that does not mean that I will accept this fact and give up improving myself. Everyone needs to constantly improve oneself. I will put in hard work so that someday, I can be as good as others and excel in the game.

When you feel that someone is so much better than you, do not worry. You just need to put in hard work and with a little determination, you can be someone great too:)

Bond

2010-02-04T04:47:00.000-08:00

What is a bond? A bond is a connection between people or groups. Are bonds important, some may ask themselves? A bond is what keeps a group of people united. Without unity nothing can be done. There are different types of bonds, friendship and kinship. Kinship should be already there when you’re young while friendship is something you need to earn. I do not think friendship will find you. Right now, I feel I cannot find a bond between my classes. Everything is so split up. Everyone does their own things and bother with their own lives. It is saddening.
Chinese New Year is round the corner. My school has a tradition to decorate the classroom with the theme of Chinese New Year. There will be judging and prizes will be given to the top few best decorated classes. Apparently, nobody took much interest, including me. Yes, I too was not very interested as I had already much on my hands. I guess this is the mentality of everyone. When the teacher split us into different groups to decorate the classroom, everyone was talking. There was no discipline or any of the sorts. At least I gave respect to the speaker by paying attention. I knew from then, nothing much will happen to the class. The classroom will remain undecorated until a teacher had to organise a time after school to decorate the classroom. Days and days have gone past and I was right. Nothing had been done. No effort, no ideas, absolutely nothing. Most of the classes have put up some kind of decoration, like red packets or lanterns. Ours was blank. The notice board at the back was blank, the outside was blank, the whiteboard was blank and practically everything was left BLANK! The class committee members had made little attempts to gather support. They posted messages on Face book or other platform to inform people that they need to take action quickly. Few paid attention to this. While other classes spent time and effort to decorate, ours was nothing. It was quite embarrassing when I walk across Secondary 1 classrooms. They had better class bond than my class. Even though they met for barely 5 weeks, they have the commitment of the whole class to accomplish this task. Our class pales in comparison to those classes of Secondary 1.Sigh....

My form teacher Mr Lau could not sit back and relaxed. He had to do something. As Mr Lau had gone overseas for 1 to 2 weeks, nothing had motivated or pushes us to decorate the classroom. Mr Lau said this was unacceptable, we must at least put some effort in decorating the classroom. I agree with him. It is not about winning the competition, but uniting the class together. Having a united class was more important but few have seen the importance in it.

Mr Lau asked everyone without CCA or other commitments in the afternoon to decorate the classroom. As Mr Lau was not in class until later, many classmates just left. Some had commitments while others just did not care. It was disappointing. What happened to the class bond? What happen to friends helping others? What happen to the entire lecture our teachers gave on the importance of class bond? Did any of it actually get through to our thick heads?

Only a hand full, about 10 with class spirit actually put hard work and sweats into the decoration. I am proud to say I am one of them who stayed to the very end. I would not say the decorations is very elaborate or the best but at least some hard work has been put in and prevent the judges from thinking our class has no joyful spirit in the new year. We were all happy and we enjoyed ourselves. I really feel closer to those that did the decorations together.

One of the factors that led to the undecorated class till the last minute was because of apathy. People think that it is the class committee members' job to do all the decorations. They feel it is their responsibility. I know how it feels, I have been chairman before. I seriously put myself in the shoes of the class committee members. They can only do this much to decorate the classroom alone. Many fail to understand this. Everyone wait for things to happen so they themselves do not care for the class. No enthusiasm was shown as Chinese New Year drew nearer. Being apathetic is very BAD, waiting for others to do the job is worse. Our class has been like this since "time in memorial “Nothing has brought the class together. Everyone lives their own lives. I feel that there is a rift separating each and everyone one of us. Perhaps the schools competitiveness in academic results or CCA have been the reason behind this "rift “Everyone wants to be the best and care more about themselves. Everyone cares more about themselves than others.

I must admit, I am wrong too. I too am individualistic. This I do not deny. I keep more to myself and therefore people in the class do not much about me except my good or long-time friends. I feel distant towards my classmates. I feel I do not fit in. I must take up the responsibility that I have not contributed to the class spirit. It was only because Mr Lau arrival that I actually started to help the class, contributing to the bond. However, this is a mistake I must correct. I must not be apathetic and actually get in the class spirit. It is difficult but everyone has to try. I know there are people like me, trying to get the class together for a better cause. I believe if one day my classmates care more about each other, our class bond will be strong, and we can face anything as a class.

A horrible weekend but it was worth it

2010-01-24T19:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend was absolutely boring and terrible. I spent the whole 2 and half days frantically doing my homework. I had seven homework to do for the weekend. I had a mathematics worksheet, a literature tutorial, a Chinese composition, a science mind map, a geography worksheet and a difficult History worksheet which I had no idea to do. I was panicking when I received the homework on Friday. That was a lot of homework for just two days. Everyone was stressed. It seemed impossible to finish, well at least at that point of time. On top of those work I had to complete a PowerPoint presentation by Monday. Almost all of the work needed to be completed by Monday. It was a gruelling task. I have decided to spend the whole weekend completing the work assigned. Friday was not a good day. The moment I had reached home, I started work. I did not want to be the ones who rush to the death to finish the work on Sunday. However, it did not turn out well on Friday. I fell asleep.I was simply too tired at 5pm and I sleep to dinner. I only completed one mathematics worksheet. Perhaps the calculations had gone to my head and realised that I had not made much progress. This was Certainly Marvellous! (Lucky for me, I did work at night)

On Saturday, I went to a friend's house to do the project. I ended up stay there for the whole day from 9 to 5(REALLY) I did the project and completed the history worksheet. That took like 4 hours. We needed to do research and when put 2 perfectionists together we get slow work progress. Well, at least we did the work well (according to our standards) my friend was very helpful but very stressed out too, similarly to me. We completed the work together and much work was completed after the history worksheet. We helped each other a lot. He is a great guy.

Saturday was productive and Sunday was better. At around 4pm, all the work was finally done. I did not go out for the whole weekend with the exception of the trip to my friend's house. However, it was for work too. We did not have fun of any sort. I was frustrated. The whole weekend was gone like that. No fun No play No relax. I guess this is the Secondary 2's life. Never did I think I would get satisfaction from this.

The schooldays had arrived. The day the various homework was to be submitted. You should have seen the situation the class was in. It was chaotic. I arrived at 7am at the classroom. The moment I step into the classroom, I heard" Hey, let me copy”. There were many people in the classroom, most of which were busy doing the homework which was supposed to be done during the weekend. Most of them hurried to do the history worksheet. The deadline for submition was at 7.30am during flag-raising. Some people were panicking, frantically asking other for answers or even worse, simply copying them. People moved from left to right and right to left, begging, requesting or getting answers for the homework. I reckoned that they forgot to do, lazy to do or did not know how to do their homework. I was standing aside "marvelling" at the commotion in the morning. In the midst of the commotion I felt happy. (To make this clear, I am not a sadist) I was happy because I had done my work. I did not copy others answers but did them by myself (of course with the occasional help from friends. I was happy because I was self-disciplined. I took my homework as top priority during the weekend therefore I was not one of those people trying desperately to complete their homework at the eleventh hour. Even though I had complained much about the workload, to be able to complete it gave me a sense of satisfaction.

I have a policy (I set it myself).That policy is that I work first before I play and suffer first before I enjoy. If I cannot finish the work, I do not play. That is how it is. People may say I am a boring person but this policy is helpful to prevent yourself from the humiliation of being reprimanding by the teacher and also trains oneself to be more responsible. I would rather be the one standing aside watching others in the classroom than be the one panicking to finish his work. Do you agree?

The Pain of Hunger

2010-01-18T02:47:00.000-08:00

Today was an unpleasant day.I did not get scolded or fell down or something like that.I experienced something that I had not experienced in a while,extreme hunger.People may feel hungry but they usually eat before they do or fill their bellies when their stomachs growl.However for me,this time was different.School had become a torture,not because the dread of learning or doing homework,but the hunger I needed to tolerate for the day.

It turned out fine in the morning,I ate a slice of bread(I cannot eat much in the morning)How I regret not to eat more.As it would be the only meal excluding dinner.I had awaken at 6.00 am and ate somewhat around that time.Then I made my way to school.I was actually thinking what to eat during recess and it never occurred to me that I would be forced to sacrifice my recess for the greater good(exaggerating),my schoolwork.Yes,recess had arrived,but I had no time to take it.I had to meet a teacher and it took up 15 minutes of the recess.The rest of the recess was used to finish my Chinese composition given by the Chinese teacher the period before.As everybody could not finish,he extended the deadline till recess was over.Thus,I frantically scrambled to complete the composition while ignoring the annoying growl of the stomach.To comfort myself,I thought I could eat my lunch later in the day.Well,at least I thought I could.

As the lessons went by,I realised it was harder for me to concentrate.When I stood up,I felt weak in the legs. Paying attention was a drag.With the growling stomach,it was worse.The last lesson was Art so we had to make our journey back to the classroom.As the Art teacher let us off about 10 minutes late and the journey back to class was 5 minutes. It only left 15 minutes of lunch time to grab a bite.However,it slipped my mind that my form teacher wanted to handle some administrative matters.And "SNAP" another 10 minutes was gone.A meagre 5 mins was left.I had a workshop at 2.10pm which was only 5 minutes later.The workshop will end at 4.10pm,Therefore,I had skipped recess and lunch in a day.Without eating for 10 hours,more than twice the time taken for food to digest,is definitely not good for the stomach.

But who am I to complain.There are thousands or in fact millions who are worse off than me.These people have perhaps less than a bowl of rice in three days.Then again,they may not have the privilege to eat rice at all.They struggle everyday with starvation as they barely make ends meet.If they could eat and survive,,they are contented.Yes,they are the children and adults in Africa.My hunger is nothing compared to theirs.They have suffered so much more than any of us combined.They really deserve our sympathy and yet people of today still waste food when there are people out there dying of hunger.

Today,I learnt that to be able to eat is a luxury while to bear hunger is a torture.We should not take food for granted as others are contented with the little food they have.Hunger makes you weak and unable to focus.In this fast-paced society,it is common for people to skip meals.However,it is highly recommended not to.As I say once again, to eat is a privilege so we must treasure it.

Changes,changes and more changes

2010-01-14T05:57:00.000-08:00

Whew, finally the year 2009 has gone and past.Now,a new chapter of my life has unfolded,that is a Secondary 2 life. It is amazing to think back on all the good times and HORRIBLE times in the past year. Just when you regain your "consciousness", you realise how time has passed so fast. 2009 had been a good year in a new school. It had been a very eventful one.With CCA,project work and academic studies,one can really lose track of time.

The past few days were not very eventful, as expected.The first few days of school is to allow teachers to do some administrative work like introducing themselves. I thought this year would be the same as the last.I was soon corrected.

My school has introduced to us a new type of teaching called Just In Time Teaching. Students are supposed to read the materials given by the teacher beforehand.Students are expected to read them the day before and ask questions to clarify on the next. I know this type of teaching is supposed to stimulate critical thinking and makes you an independent learner but one cannot help but feel insecure.Though the teacher can still answer your questions,I am not sure whether it will be effective as the previous system.With this independent style of learning, I wonder how those people would are lazier will catch up with the teacher.Everything goes at a much faster pace.In this first year of the new system i am certain many people have not adapted to this style. I wonder why the school or the government changes the educational system so frequently.
It feels like to me that every single year there is a change in the system. During Sec 1,it was hard to adapt to the school's system.Now,when we are comfortable with the system,the system changes. I guess that ,yes, school have to change the system to catch up with the time but isn't changing too much put students at a disadvantage. Students grades may drop due to changes. I too feel very nervous about this year as the new system has brought about new challenges. I just hope I can adapt to it.

This year, my class is a future class.Sounds weird? It is actually a class that relies more on technology.We used computers more often to get answers and do work.Thus,people are highly encouraged to bring their own laptop to school( Now my bag pack weighs 2 kg more)This is yet another CHANGE.This change has been well received by my classmates not because they have the Internet to learn from but the games they can play during recess.This is actually not allowed but with the convenience of the computer,some just cannot resist the temptation to play.That is one of the cons about the system.We are supposed to have the discipline not to play computer games.As the teacher cannot check on the students so often,it is up to the students to exercise self-control.This convenience is a privilege and should not be taken for granted.The Internet allows the students more free space and perhaps learning "outside the box" during school time and not to amuse yourselves as it may distract us.

Another change is that I am not the chairman anymore.After 3 whole terms of the post,this responsibility has been lifted off my shoulders. During the election,I was nominated and voted as chairman again.However,after much deliberations,I have declined it.It was pretty nice of Mr Lau to understand my decision. After 3 terms of work,it is time to have some new "blood"(more enthusiastic than me) joined the class committee.Up to now,I questioned myself,did I make the right decision.Was it right to decline the post?I do not know.Perhaps one side of me does not want to take up so much responsibility. Being the Chairman is a leadership opportunity and a good experience, but a heavy responsibility.The class always count on you. When I declined the post,I wonder if I had disappointed others like the teacher.After a new person was elected, I felt that actually a part of my identity in school was erased. I was known as the chairman of class 1O1. I am happy that the term is over yet not as happy as I thought I would be.This is bittersweet.This is ironic.When you have something,you want to get rid of it.When you get rid of it,you don't feel as happy as you thought you will be.Weird?

Having said so much,I realise there is only one thing that is certain. That is change. As we grow up,we meet with many changes. The question is whether we can adapt to them .

Gambling

2009-07-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

The casino being built in Singapore is supposed to be a money-maker and job creator. However, many people have spoken against it. Talk to a parent or adult and get their view on the casino. Listen to the NPR and YouTube offerings and choose one that substantiates your viewpoint and include a quote from it as well. Your blog entry has to be at least 200 words and you must either support the casino or condemn its construction and ultimately the hardships it will cause in Singapore .

Gambling have cost lives of people and countless money,yet people still gamble.Why?It is due to their addiction.as they become a compulsive gambler,they will become a "compulsive liar"too as stated in one video.They lie to their family where they are going,lie how much they earn or lost.In the end, this addiction cost their retirement funds,life-long investment money,assets and houses.They not only hurt their pockets,but also their family members.

Now, in Singapore, a casino is being built after having the green light from the Government.Is it good? Or is it bad?It is good for compulsive gambler.But I do not support the decision of building a casino.I feel that the casino destroys lives with their long arms,tempting people to gamble.My father said however,"Building a casino is good for Singapore,it creates a lot of jobs for the uneducated, as the uneducated cannot find any job and playing in the casino as work would be easy for them,this decision will help them.It will also make Singapore much richer.Casinos in other countries have brought in huge income to the countries,having one in Singapore will attract people around the world.It would boost the tourism industry.However, makes people lose a lot of money and some may lose all their assets due to gambling.The Singapore casino has a very special feature.If you make a request no to allow a certain person in the casino to gamble as he or she is your relative ,when the certain person comes,the guards will block him from entering." However,my mother was not too optimistic about opening a casino ins Singapore"A casino should not be allowed in Singapore.Even though it may make Singapore richer,It destroys the lives of the people living in the country.People cannot resist the temptation to not gamble.Now,people still buy Toto and 4D in Singapore and people already suffered.With a casino that bets larger amounts,if the person loses,it will be the end of him. This create a lot of social problems like murder and theft for money to gamble"

In the video,Jonny W said he "started gambling at the age of 12 years old .When he first start out it was the matter of having"fun" and "hang out with my friends"Later,he found himself"saving my lunch money" to gamble"He cross the line when "(he)was in college,trying to go to school" and in college "(he)was always short of funds"and he thought he could increased his funds by going out to gamble.In the beginning,he kept winning"but (he) always wanted more"Soon he found himself"going there every night and on the weekends and every opportunity"soon,he kept losing."the more (he)lost,the more (he)wanted to return and reclaim (his) losses.In total losses,he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. He became "alienated by(his) friends"He later got a "divorce"with his wife and she took away the two children.Jonny W said"basically,I was out on the streets trying to survive,

This is a perfect example why casino should not be built in Singapore.It shows the life of a compulsive gambler and the consequences of gambling.He lost everything,House,car,marriage,children and all his money.Building a casino will increase crime rate.When people lose money in gambling,the more they wanted to gamble to win the money back,but they do not have any money left.So,they steal or kill as they cannot resist the temptation of gambling.Some gamblers have been thrown into jail because of this.Hearts will be broken as they are send to prison. I agree,casino does bring many jobs and money to Singapore and would certainly help some people like the uneducated.I believe the reason of building a casino in Singapore is to not lose out in the global tourism industry and want to create a tourist attraction. I must say this,to strengthen a country to increasing tourism by sacrificing and destroying many peoples lives,I do not think it is a good way to do it.Perhaps a little sacrifice must be made to make a country prosper.

William Shakespeare

2009-06-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

William Shakespeare is widely known as the greatest writer in history. His poems have spread all around the world. He is not just a poet but also a play writer. I found him very intriguing since he lived from 1564 to1616, yet his poems are able to reach today. Presently many people know about him, even I since young have heard about him. I wanted to find out why his works have been passed down for thousands of years. One interesting fact about him is he more comedies, which he had done in the earlier years, then tragedies, though they never really caught the spotlight. Who would have thought, William Shakespeare was a comedian. He is widely known for tragedies like Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. His poems are put into the play as lines for the actors. This is not really like other poets who only writes and be appreciated by others. William was able to be successful because the poems he wrote was accompanied by a play, which in my opinion would be far more interesting.

Here is a little information and back ground on William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare lived from 1564 to1616, a total of 52 years. It was a short life that influenced many as poets. Yet his poems still remain today. He has 38plays, 154 sonnets and 2 long narrative poems that have survived the test of time. His plays have been translated to each major language and they are performed more than any play writer. William was born and grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon in England. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway who bore him 3 children. He was most likely educated at the King Edward IV Grammar School in Stratford. Most of his known work is from 1589 to 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories; however, at the end of the sixteen century to 1608, his writer was at his peak and started to write tragedies.

I feel that William Shakespeare writing style of being dramatic has made his plays and poems memorable to this day.Let's take Romeo and Juliet for example. That was a story about two people, Romeo and Juliet, not able to be together to the very end. Juliet had to marry a guy named Paris. As Juliet does not want to marry Paris and cannot marry Romeo, drank a potion to kill herself after realising the marriage was forward a day. After Romeo realised her death he came rushing to Juliet tomb, buying a fatal poison. He killed Paris and drank the poison and died by Juliet's body. However, for some reason, Juliet did not die and woke up. Seeing her loved one dead, she kissed him and then she took a dagger and stab herself to death. This storyline is overly dramatic but it is because of this very reason people like it. It is a love story with a tragic ending. It is sure memorable considering the unexpected storyline. William was able to keep the people with the drama with his writing style. All the other tragedies he wrote like Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear have been widely known. However, this is not really the case of his comedies. He had written more comedies than tragedies in his writing career, yet not many people know about them. Even I am not sure what comedy plays he wrote. That proves my point on dramatic plays or poems have a larger impact on the minds of the audience than other genres like comedies..

These are some poems from William Shakespeare in his famous plays.

This is a short poem in Hamlet

Marcellus to Horatio and Bernardo, after seeing the Ghost,
Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
This bird of dawning singeth all night long;
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad,
The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.

This is a short poem from Macbeth

The merciless Macdonwald—
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
The multiplying villanies of nature
Do swarm upon him—from the western isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;
And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore: but all's too weak;
For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him...

This is a short poem in King Lear

King Lear, with the Fool, in a storm
Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world!
Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill at once,
That make ingrateful man!

I hope you learn to appreciate these poems. There are more wonderful poems at this site below.

Reference:
http://www.poets.org/

Picture:

http://rohrbachlibrary.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/william-shakespeare2.jpg

A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

2009-06-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow
--You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand
--How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave
all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

The poem i chose used many hyperbole. It is an exaggerated statement to put it simply. The hyperbole is "O God!". It is used repeatedly at the last end. Also "How few!" and " weep--while weep" All these are exaggerated statements . It is to show how the subject feels at that time. The writer use hyperbole to create a clearer image of which the subject feels. "Oh god!"Portray the subject as panicky and"weep--while weep shows how sad the person really is.

The poem also used personification. Personification is a technique that gives inanimate object in the poem human traits or characteristics. In the poem , personification is used on the sand. "How few! yet how they creep." Creep is used to describe how the sand disappears from his hand. It shows the sand slowly disappears and nothing the person could do. the sand takes on a human trait which is to move slowly or creep.One more example of personification is "pitiless wave". Pitiless wave describes the wave as cruel because it wash away the sand the subject loves. The wave takes a human form of having a trait which is cruel.There is another instance where an inanimate object gains and animal characteristics. It is "Yet if hope has flown away." Hope has taken a bird's trait which was to fly. It shows hope is flying out of grasp, meaning, quickly vanishing.

I like this poem because it is simple yet it shows helplessness of the subject even though he may be in a dream. There is very good used of hyperbole. It exaggerates the subjects feeling by using "Oh God!" to describe his helplessness and panic. His description is very well done using words like "Surf-tormented"shore and "pitiless wave.Personification is used effectively to bring out the traits of the inanimate objects. It is related well to the objects. It paints a very clear picture for the reader. The focus of the storyline is the writer panic of not able to save the sand . It is clear from the hyperbole to exaggerate the helplessness. The story flows very smoothly and rhythm very much. However, the description is the part of the poem that I like the most.

REFLECTIONS ON THE FAIR FOX OF BOSTON

2009-06-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

Fair Fox, full of grief
sailed away from the Boston shore
she wept,oh my!
For hours and hours, oh my!
Weeping!Oh her grief,
It is a leaking faucet
It is like a pouring shower, and her ship begins to sink down.
She is sinking!
But, the wind carries her tears away,
The breeze is cool and relaxing
The Fair Fox is happy
The boat is now afloat,
and her grief gown gone
Oh my!

This is a poem which my teacher wanted us to learn the techniques used in poems

How are the figurative language used in the poem? Give the specific word(s), explain what type of figurative language it is and why the poet chose to use this figurative language?

Figurative language is almost used throughout the poem. The five basic techniques of figurative language which are used in the poem are Hyperbole, Personification,Metaphor, Simile and Symbolism

What is hyperbole. It is simply an exaggerated statement. It invokes emotion and an image to the poem or the reader. In the poem, the hyperbole are "oh my!', "hours and hours" and "Weeping!Oh her grief" The writer used this to create an overly grievous emphasis on the fox's grief and the sadness to fully express her grief to the reader. It relates the emotion of the poem to the reader

What is personification? It is a technique that gives an inanimate object human traits and characteristics. In the poem, personification was not used on the fox, rather it was only used once. It was "wind carries" The wind gained human traits by being able to "carry" the fox's tears. I believe in some poems, the objects in the story are not always human. I feel that the writer used personification to make the reader feel that the figure is more realistic by having much similarity to humans

What is metaphor and simile.This two techniques are very similar. They both have the same purpose but use different words. They compare seemingly unrelated subjects with or without the use of the word like, as or than. That is the difference of metaphor and simile. A simile uses the words like, as or than while metaphor doesn't. In the poem,"it is a leaking faucet" is a metaphor as there are the words "it is". The simile in the poem is on the next line "It is like a pouring shower" It is a simile because the word like is present. They both relate to her grief. The writer used these techniques to create a clearer image in the reader's mind. By relating an object we know to the fox's grief, we can clearer understand the fox's feelings and can picture the image.

What is Symbolism? It is used as a representative figure to carry additional meaning. In the poem, the "boat" is the symbol.It represents the fox's grief Why? The boat and her grief act accordingly together. When the fox is crying, the boat started to sink. When she is happy the boat stays afloat to the end.The writer used to give more meaning to an object which usually hidden from the reader

I like this poem because it is simple but a very good example of the five techniques of figurative language. It not only effectively used the five techniques but used it at the right moment. The poem flows very smoothly though it does not rhythm much. The focus of the poem which is the fox, grief is very clear. The use of the five techniques really bring out the sadness. The overly exaggerated "oh my!" relates the emotions to the reader. Especially the "leaking faucet" and the"pouring shower" really described her tears to such extent. The one of the techniques used that I never expected was the symbolism. I never thought that the boat represents her grief. The writer must have thought through a lot to relate the boat sinking to the fox grief. Though it is a simple storyline, it is the description of the tears and sadness by using the five techniques that impressed me the most.

How do you know who your friends are?

2009-06-20T01:31:00.000-07:00

How do you know who are your true friends? Firstly, there are many types of friends around you. There are the type of friends that live off you, taking advantage of your intellect for their gain, type of friends that mingle around you because you are popular or rich or friends that truly like you for the way you are and are not hesitant to criticise your every movement. So which type are the best. Of course, the ones that criticise you are your true friends that are invaluable to you. They are the ones that will not harm you. They are the ones that like you for who you are. The most importantly, they help you in times of need.

All the other types of friends are not your true friends and should not keep them as your friends. They are the ones that use you to get what they want. They could be bad enough to lie in wait for an opportunity to harm or back stab you so they can surpass you due to their jealousy. It could be quite dangerous to have them around you. In reality, especially the wealthy kinds are prone to having this type of "untrue" friends. Many of them mix with the rich person, befriending him or her for his or her money. So usually the rich person has many friends. They sole purpose is to get their riches from them. They lie in wait for the opportunity and strike like a tiger on the prowl, very vicious and ruthless. They caused the rich person their downfall, and could even make him bankrupt. If they do not cause your downfall, these type of friends will also not help you when you are down and out. They will start to avoid you and pretend not to even recognise you. They will not spare an effort to give you and start to despise you. They would forget all the good times where you help them. That is in the working world, most of the time. So you must be wary of the friends you make and how to avoid these 'untrue" friends.

To this question, how to know who your friends are? You cannot really do much. You must see if this friendship can withstand the test of time. You must see if this friendship can tide over all obstacles. In a lifetime, setbacks are inevitable. These are the opportunities to see who your true friends. They help you, comfort you and encourage you to make a comeback. By then, most or all the "untrue" friends would have fled out of your sight. These setbacks could be a blessing in disguise. It repels the evil and attracts the good. Most cases, these setbacks strengthen the friendship.

Another way to see who are your true friends are is to listen to what they say. True friends are the ones that criticise your actions while the "untrue” ones usually praise you and let you heard what you want to hear. And most of the time, we listen to the "untrue “ones and hate your true friends that advise you for your good because we think that the ones that are" nice" to us are our true friends. This is a misconception. Those friends praise you so they can get closer to you so as to reach their goals which most likely harm you in some way. In contrast, we accept them while we turn away our true friends. To find out who is your real friend, you must listen to their words and not get carried away by their sweet talk. The ones that criticise you for your own good are your friends. You need to take note of words from your friends to see the evil intentions and good intentions. Though this could be quite hard to differentiate, this is one of the few ways to know who your true friends are.

When we have friends, it is not about the quantity of friends but it is the quality of these friends. Out of the huge number of friends you may have, own a few can be considered true friends. Though the numbers are small, you only need these few true friends. All the others are dangerous to keep them by your side. However, to know your true friends is a long and tough journey. You may even need a few setbacks to finally know who they are. No matter how hard it takes to find true friends, one thing is for sure, they are worth it.

What is happiness?

2009-06-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

What is happiness? It is something all people wish to obtain. However, true happiness is very difficult to get. Some try all their lives to get it but they never will. Each person has their own definition of happiness. Some say that wealth can bring to them true happiness while others feel that having your family members. I feel that happiness will come when you are contended with what you have now.

Nowadays, people are more materialistic. They have the wrong idea about happiness. They thought that having a lot of money can bring them happiness by giving themselves more luxury to their life. Yes, you can say you would be happy but I feel this is only temporary. This type of happiness will not last forever. Money is not everything, it has its limitations. When the money runs out, that is when the short-term happiness ends. Also, money is used to hide the loneliness and unhappiness of some people. How do people get rich? Sometimes, they sacrifice a lot to get it. They could have severed ties with family members, break bonds with friends as they betrayed them to get rich and did many unscrupulous things to reach their goal. They have the wrong mindset that money can bring them true happiness. However, this is not so. Having to live with little or no family and friends is not happiness. It brings loneliness to the person who thought money can solve everything only to use money to escape from his unhappiness.

Yes, it is true that we still need money to get happiness but money that can help you to carry on living is enough to keep you happy. You just need to be contended with what you have. True happiness comes from your family and friends. They are the ones that take care of you, they are the ones that help you and most of all they are the ones that accompany you through good times and bad times. They stand by you through thick and thin. To have someone to love you, you will never be lonely. These people are important to you as they support and spur you on. To have their accompaniment is better than any luxury money can buy. Unlike the happiness that derives from money, this happiness last you a lifetime. Though one by one these people may slip away from you, the happy memories you spend with them will keep you happy as long as you live. Some people may have little or no family and friends but with that few true friends and caring family members, you just need to be contended with them as you will still be happy.

Although not all people will agree on my opinion on happiness, one thing is certain, happiness is something you must pursue. True happiness will not easy. You have to fight for it. No matter what kind of happiness you want, whatever money or family members, we need to work hard for the happiness we yearn for. We work hard to support our family, we work hard to earn money so we can enjoy the fruits of our labours. Do not let setbacks ruin your happiness. Although not everyone can be successful in finding their happiness, you should be contented with the things around you. Appreciate them and you too can be happy.

If many people think something is true, is it true?

2009-06-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

If many people think something is true, is it true? Another question is if many people think something is right, is it right? These are two questions that really made me racked my brain for a while. Well, what i feel is that there is no correct answer to these questions.It can go both ways. If many people think something is right or true, it could be true or right or it could be the other way around. Let me tell you why it could be right or true. Firstly, man's judgement cannot be that way off. If a lot of people thinks is true, there must be a reason or evidence.Like when in a hawker centre, there is a huge mass of people queuing at the chicken rice stall. The stall must be good,people will think like this. Also, there is another chicken rice stall like not far away from the queue and the business is very bad. So why when two stall selling the same thing, one stall gets the business. The food sold at the first stall must be good or at least not bad for a stall in the hawker centre. People judgement cannot be that bad until they are blinded completely. However, there are times where people are so blinded that their judgement are easily swayed.

In some cases,if many people think it is true or right, it could be false or wrong. The people that just agrees with the majority, are afraid of being rejected. They want to be in the "in" group and not the outcrop. They are afraid to raise their opinions as people could laugh at them for their ideas that are different. They are scared to be rejected and afraid of the embarrassment they would face so they decide they are wrong all the time and choose to agree with the majority to avoid unnecessary trouble and embarrassment. Also there is another scenario that the people are so lazy that they do not give their opinions and just copy people ideas and agree with them. It would cause them less hassle and trouble.

There was one novel I read this year. It is about a village that cruelly stoned people to death that won the "lottery".They did it to sacrifice for their religious belief. Apparently, everyone went ahead with the "lottery" because everyone else was doing it. Many people were thinking of abolish this custom but they were afraid of being rejected,of being the outcrop. Actually many hated the "lottery" but none was willing to stand up and shout out their opinions. It just needed that spark to start the rebellion but none came because they did not want to be out of the ordinary. This resulted in many innocent lives to be lost. This is a disastrous consequence of not having your opinions and voicing them out.Though in this modern society, this would not happened . However something resembling this could arise on a smaller scale but causing as much damage.

Also, many influential people have the power of swaying the majority vote or agreement. Many people tend to side the powerful people in this society because since they have power, they are right. Whatever they say is true. People blindly follow the leaders without opinions. The powerful icons could use propaganda to make the others think something is true or what they are going to do is right when it is completely against the morals. For example in World War 2, Adoff Hitler managed to rally almost whole of Germany to conquer the world. Everyone wanted to fight though they knew many innocent lives will be lost. This is consequence of the people not able to think for themselves and what is best for them. They were blinded by the leader's words as they thought whatever he said was true. This was how the war started.

We should not follow others blindly because everyone is doing it or because a person with higher status says it is right. Everyone has the conscience to know what is right from wrong. We also have a brain to think for ourselves so we should use it. If we follow others because you are afraid to voice out opinions, you will become lazy and reliant on others. When you are left behind, you will be unable to stand up for yourself. In the end, the ones to suffer is the ones that have diamonds in their mouths and refuse to voice opinions. We need not to be afraid people would reject you. You just need that spark. If you voice out your opinions, the odds are that someone will agree with you.

What is Beauty?

2009-06-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

Beauty can be classified into two categories, inner beauty and outer beauty. Both types have their advantages and both are important. Outer beauty is only scraping the tip of the true meaning of beauty. Outer beauty is the appearance of the person like whether he or she has combed his hair or showered. It is a beauty that everyone normally noticed and like.It is only on the surface.Outer beauty can be easily obtain from all the cosmeti cs and facial treatment. Sometimes outer beauty could deceived others into thinking that the person is someone you could trust when in reality is the person you cannot trust.Inner beauty is the true beauty that everyone should strive to obtain.Actually, inner beauty cannot be obtain, rather it should come from your heart. A person with a kind heart is what I called beautiful. A person who helps others and donates to charity from the bottom of his heart is really a true beauty. Donations also may not be much but it is the thought that counts.

So which one is more important? I would choose inner beauty instead of outer beauty though both are important. Outer beauty is important as it gives people a good impression. First impression is very important as it reflects much on your personality. It could get you a job so many people use make-up to touch up on their appearance.However,sometimes people used them to hide their true intentions and true appearance. Outer beauty is used as a cover-up for their cold,heartless heart and devious plots. It is all hidden behind the pretty face. In many cases, many rich men married pretty women and it turns out that the bride was not what she seemed to be and cheated his money and ran away. It can go both ways. These people may be pretty but they are not beautiful in my opinion. Some could look good but is so stingy that they do not donate a cent to charity though they are filthy rich. If a person with an not so pretty appearance and with no money is willing to donate like a dollar to charity ever week or so she is beautiful. That is inner beauty, to go out of the way to help others because it is right.She or he does not expect any thing in return.Though not as pretty as others, she is certainly more beautiful at heart. Inner beauty helps others while outer beauty usually helps only yourself. You could say inner beauty is generous while outer beauty is selfish.

To be truly beautiful is not easy. It is not about looks, it is not about wealth, it is also not about status. It is about the kind heart which could reach out to touch and warm others by helping the needy. That is true beauty.

My first semester

2009-06-01T23:13:00.000-07:00

My first semester was both sweet and sour. It has not been easy to overcome all obstacles in this fruitful yet painful semester. A lot have change since the beginning of the year , either for the better or the worse.Number of hardships faced are doubled in the hectic lifestyle of a secondary school student. Having to deal with homework, heavy responsibilities, projects and in the end having to sacrifice sleep have not been easy.Though getting used to the tiredness, I hope the day of the heavy burden on my shoulders will be lifted. However, things had not been always bad.I had made new friends in my new school and I had a new CCA.Best of all, the facilities in the school are amazing. This makes boring lessons become interesting,especially during PE lessons.There are many ups and downs in this phase of life. One moment you could be praised by the teacher for doing well in the test but next thing you know, you are being scolded by another teacher for not doing homework to her expectations. This roller-coaster ride is the journey which we all have to experience.

I not very enjoyable thing that occurred to me is that I became the chairman of the class. It is not that I hate the job but it really make me worry a lot. With the heavy responsibility on my shoulder, I have to be on my toes to solve and avoid disaster, especially when the class is noisy, the chairman is responsible to keep the class quiet.I do not know why but my class became very noisy.They just love to talk and are very playful. Though having a monitor, He is also unable to control the class like me and I think he had given up trying to keep the class quiet. Anyway, it is always the chairman fault if something goes wrong.When a teacher steps into a class that is very noisy, the first thing they would say is" Who is the chairman?" Then, I would raise my hand and get lectured that is is my duty to keep the class quiet. No matter how I try, my voice will be overpowered by the class.Also,i had to collect things for the class like magazine and letters. Sometimes, the school gives very specific destination to collect the items or to return them. One of the places is"T204" a number given to a specific room. I am certainly not able to know where the destination is so I have to run around finding it, in fear of being late and get another scolding.

Although it is tough being a chairman, it could be enjoyable too. There is one incident that i remembered . As the chairman, I had to stay back to decorate the classroom with the other CMC.Although we did not do a great job and not all of our classmates like it but we got praised by our teacher for all the hard work we had put in.Our heart and sweat were put into the decoration though it may seemed easy. We too were proud of ourselves and we were satisfied with the decoration. Being a chairman gave me opportunities to help the class and gain experience of leadership. It is tiring but a fruitful experience.

One change that I dislike is the workload. I never imagine that this amount of work was even possible. The workload from term one had increased significantly when term two arrived. No matter how I slogged and worked, the homework just pile on top of each other, never stopping. It just keep increasing. In the past, I could do my very best to complete each and every piece of work so it was usually well done as the amount of work is little. Now, it is a race against time to complete the pile of work so the effort is spread out and so some work are done in a hurry. Even though, I tried hard to cope with the homework, I could never finished them before 10pm.I have to sacrifice an hour or more of my sleep time to finish the work. my usually sleeping time is at 11.30pm and the time I need to rise is at 5.45am so the time i rest is only little more than 6 hours.This is a change I need to get used to as when i get older, more such challenges awaits.

It may seem my secondary school life is horrible, it actually is quite enjoyable and fun.Many events like camps are organised for the secondary 1. I went to a camp during the March holidays.Despite the exhaustion, I made new friends and tightened the bond between existing friends. We had much fun doing the team-building exercises and ate and slept like never before.My CCA which is tough yet fun at the same time. It is the sport I like, tennis. My coach is quite sociable and my teammates are fun to hang with. We have to do much physical training which is very difficult to complete but in the training, we have many races to see who can run the fastest who could skip some physical training. We have a game( like other racket sports) called " King". It is basically a game that if a player could earn points by beating other players and become the king of the court . After becoming the king,other challengers will come and try to betroth you.To earn points, you must win the challenger when you are the king.The person with the most points do not need to do any physical training while others suffer the training.

After the whole term of working hard, studying hard and playing hard, the fruit of my labour had ripened. The results of our test were out,and I did fairly well. I was very satisfied with them and I am proud of myself for working so hard for the past few months. I am glad that all of them did not go to waste.

Though the road so far had been considerably smooth compared to the later years,I cannot be be overconfident and let pride overwhelm me. As the saying goes" a pride comes before a fall". I must remain humble and work equally hard or harder to maintain those marks. I also must improve on my time management. If I had better of that ,I could rest more and you better time to complete the work. Furthermore, I need to train harder for my CCA. Half the year has passed with half a year to go before the competition. I have set a goal for myself to be able to win a match in the competition.

The semester had gone and passed. I have to moving forward. I anxiously wait for the next term to arrive to see what road awaits ahead.

Accepting grades

2009-05-18T05:48:00.000-07:00

The exams are finally over and the holidays are nearing, but I do not feel happy at all, not one bit. The results have already been known and I am not pleased with one of my subjects. Even though my other subjects did fairly well, it was because of one subject that just ruin my day. I know that I should not let one paper to saddened my holiday mood but what can I do. I admit, I am quite " grade-hungry"( it is not a real word, I just made it up from the word" power-hungry")I am not contented with an A2 for the subject that I excelled in Primary school and term 1. People would say that A2 is very good ALREADY, that I should be contented.Many of the other students that had poorer results would say that I am very. Then parents will go on about the lecture on grades is not everything , just that next time need to do better. The fact that people keep saying that grades are not important sometimes infuriate me. I agree that grades are not everything but they are still very important. In the future,when you apply for a job, the first thing the interviewer look at you is your grades. Yes, it is your grades that help you to be employed. If a person with no education and a person with a secondary school education are competing for a job, naturally the one the has an education will get the job.Similarly, the one that have better grades have a higher chance of getting the job.

My parents always console me that if I failed or did not so well, you should just study harder for the next test. This grades are not important. I disagree with them. All the test must be done to your best of your capability and I know that I can do so much better yet I didn't. It was due to carelessness that made me very disappointed. The subject I was disappointed was Science. All along my science was always one of the best and in the last term,I got an A1.This time, I only got a 29 and a half /40. What made me so sore is that I missed half a mark from an A1. It was so i infuriating. My test paper was filled with careless errors. Also, my last page had a big fat zero as I had no time to finish the paper. If I had added a zero to one of my answers, I could have gotten what I want. It was because of that single digit that pulled me down to and A2. People would say I am very" bad", not contented with and A2 which some people yearn for but I still cannot accept the fact that I got an A2. Seeing more than half the class able to get and A1 and see them jump for joy made the pain worse. No matter how many word of condolence cannot make me accept my grades.

Grades are important to me as it gives me pride which is the reward for myself of all the hard work I had put in. It is the fuel that keeps me up to continue to strive for excellence. Without the fuel, even the best cars or any type of vehicle cannot travel far.The fact that people continuously say it is alright,never mind the grades, they are still good, you should accept the grades, you should accept failure. It is easier said that done. The biggest hurdle is to overcome oneself. Like in war, the greatest hurdle is not to kill the enemy but it is the courage you need to muster to go to the front line and fight. Similarly, it is not the journey to get good grades but the ability to stand up from failure and continue is important. I know this, I have heard this countless times but when I come face to face with the situation,I am still unable to apply this. It is just to hard accepting facts that I do not want to face. You may say I am a coward not facing the music but I know many of the people cannot face their results and their parents. It is naturally that you want to avoid reality as it is too bitter to handle. However, life is like that. Sooner or later,I need to face the music. Soon, I have to accept the grade. It is unchangeable. What is done is done. It will always be like this though sometimes you do get a second chance.Those are the lucky ones. Now the greatest hurdle I have yet to overcome. I just hope I have the courage to face it.

Tragic Wars

2009-05-08T05:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wonder why people have wars? Why do people still engage in such senseless fighting? Wars have destroyed our world, leaving many homeless and hungry. The after-effects of wars are as devastating as the number of people killed in the front line. I do not understand why people are willing to sacrifice their lives to fight. What do they get? Peace? No! This may lead to more fighting. More people are killed,tortured or starve to death. After watching the episode on World War Two on History Channel, Many questions are raised in my head, " Why do we have wars"

Is there a good war. I say that war is never good, no matter the circumstances.Firstly, it affects greatly the economic growth of a country. When war breaks out, people live in terror of being attacked. People stop going to work and others fled in great numbers to other countries. Much of infrastructure will be destroyed to bits. The industry will come to a standstill and a recession will occur. With nobody working, the country cannot grow and prosper. Even after the war, as much of infrastructure are destroyed, large amount of effort must be used to build up the industry again.

Another problem is that there will be a food shortage. As news of war breaks out, people flock to provision stores to stock up on food as they fear they will have a shortage of food.As demand for food increase, prices of food will increase. As prices soar, poorer people cannot afford these food items and they starve. It is not due to war in the early stages that cause people to go hungry but it is the people who flock to stock up food that caused the shortage. Also, during war, most of the food will go to the army as they take priorities over civilians.They need their strength to fight and defend their countries. As more food go to the soldiers, less food will be available to people. Furthermore, enemies fighter planes would tend to destroy plantation as it will cut of the their enemies food sources. This will slowly destroy the enemy as they need food and without it, they are useless. If the army suffer, the civilians follow suit.

The biggest problem is they many people die in war. In reference to Animal Farm, a book that is an allegory of the Russian Revolution, showed the the invasion of Russia by Germany. In that single war, 55million people, including civilians and troops ,were killed. The number is 11 times more than the total population of my country. Enemies bomb the cities with bombs, blast the infrastructure to the ground with tanks and the uncountable rounds of bullets of machine guns punch into the bodies of people, killing innocent life. That is the true tragedy of war, people sacrificing their lives.

With so many disadvantages of war, why people fight and engage in war? Many of people will say to defend your country. It is understandable that you want to be patriotic and defend your home from invaders. They want to protect the people, the people they love. The main reason for the start of war is that higher ranking people power-hungry. Some people just want to be more powerful than others so they can get control and rule the world. Power will come with money so their greed sometimes blind them from the devastating effects of war. Now, in the real world, many countries are building up on their weapons. They may say that they want to protect themselves from invasion but who knows, some countries may be plotting to engage in another war.They want to have an edge over the other countries. These people yearn for power as they make use of other people to their benefit. Also, people start war was to regain their dignity. In World War 2, Adoff Hitler hated the Allied Nations because of World War 1. After the fall of Germany of World War 1, the Allied Nations took most of their land and destroyed all the weapons in Germany. There was a recession in Germany and many people starve. It was humiliating when Germany lost the war, so the hatred grew within Hitler to regain Germany's dignity and show the world the power of Germany. That was the cause for World War 2.

This is one reason that I thought of but I know that there are many reasons for the cause of it but is hidden. With so many disadvantages, I can't understand why people still blindly fight. In the course of war, many people kill each other mercilessly.It is a gruesome sight. As the saying goes" a lion will never attack her cubs"Even a fierce lion will not attack her cubs, so why humans attack other humans. We are all of the same kind, we are all humans. If we kill each other, isn't it showing we are no better or worse than a beast. Why can't we sit down, talk and come to an agreement. Peace is the only way that will benefit the human race. War will only destroy our kind. If all these fighting just stop and have world peace, everyone will be happy. Nobody will die and everyone wins. This a what everybody wants. However, this is a utopia state and it will be inpossible due to human nature of being power-hungry. I wish the fighting would stop.

I blew it

2009-05-05T06:10:00.000-07:00

Recently, I got very worked up over a misunderstanding. It was very trivial matter but I certainly did not think so at that time. It was something that made me very angry. However, after I had cooled down, I reflected on my behaviour and felt I was being unreasonable. This matter had actually weaken friendship. It is something I am not proud of and all these unnecessary conflicts should and could be avoided if I remained calm. Now, I am regretting my actions and felt rather guilty about it. I certainly blew it this time.

A few days ago, my friend wrote something about me concerning my flaws. When I had read it, I felt " betrayed" in a sense and got very angry. I could not accept the fact other was criticising my shortcomings.He actually did not disclosed my name but I knew it was me. Yet,pride inside me forced me to do something that portrayed me as a petty fool. In a fit of rage, I sent an sms to rebut and scold him.I think I wrote some hurtful remarks at him and wrote it in an offensive manner. I wonder if my friend got insulted.I am ashamed of myself,for what I had done. It not only leave a bad impression of me, also and more importantly, I weaken my friendship with him.

After, cooling done, I did some reflecting. It was very stupid of me to scold my friend for writing about me. What he did was to write what he felt and that was all. He did not deliberately intend to spite and or my patience.I should be thankful that people point out my shortcomings. It is only by knowing your flaws, then you can work and improve on oneself. Yet, I just had to rebut my friend. Why did I do that? What could I gain from it. It was I who was unreasonable. It was my pride and anger that caused this hold ordeal. Anger had clouded my thoughts and provoked the side of me I never knew.I had not thought through thoroughly before acting.My words could have hurt his feelings and my actions could have hurt our friendship. I am utterly disappointed at myself. Now, I do not really dare to face him. He may seemed not disturbed by the matter but I know he had be affected in one way or another. I just HAD to spout hurtful remarks at him. Sigh...

In our daily life, we will come across matters that infuriate us. It just make our blood boils. We always like our anger get the better of us. This result in unnecessary conflicts that we do not benefit from them at all. It cause hassle that could affect us physically or emotionally. All these can be avoided if we just kept calm. With a clear mind, it is natural that you can solve the problem with ease. Anger can affect our judgement in all areas. We are clouded with angry thoughts resulting in prejudice or hurling hurtful remarks. One must know how to control his anger so he can make the right decision. It is because of anger that made us do things that we regret. After the ordeal have passed, if you sit and reflect, you will think " Why did I do this? Why didn't I just do this?" So we must take things with a calm mind to decide and act accordingly. This time I have made the wrong decision but I am willing to change. Next time, when I meet with conflicts, I will not act rashly anymore. Sorry, friend for my childish and foolish act. I apologise if I had insulted you in any way.

My Arch Foe

2009-05-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

I struggle with it everyday, trying to overcome it, to suppress it. But somehow or another, it reveals itself, causing me much worries. My enemy is not a being, rather, it is something people detest. It is forgetfulness. Yes, forgetfulness. It had brought me pain and much worries ever since the start of school. Oh how I wish I had a better memory, remembering what to do. Recently, it is up to mischief again. It once again never fail to land me is trouble...

Yesterday, I was suppose to hand in a science worksheet. In the end, I did not hand it in to the science representative who was suppose to collect and give them to the teacher. You know why? It was my forgetfulness. I am not trying to push the blame. Yes, it is my own fault that actually cause my blunder as forgetfulness is a part of me. This infuriates me even more. I remember that morning, I remembered to hand the science worksheet in. However, as it was time for assembly, I hurried to the meeting point and thought that I would hand it in later. Then... sigh.. Forgetfulness was up to its tricks AGAIN! I forgot to hand it in. I had the whole day to hand it in including recess and after school. Yet, I could not remember to do it. Curse my forgetfulness. Now I have yet to face my punishment from the teacher.

I remember there was a time that my forgetfulness caused quite a damage. I was in Primary school, going on an excursion to the Old Folk's Home. It so happened to fall during the June holidays. Guess what? I forgot! That day when I woke up, I still did not know that the excursion had slipped my mind. It was only when my friend that went on the excursion told me about it then I realised what had happened. Amazing how forgetfulness can wipe your memory. I was quite excited about the trip too.

Even during my daily life, I have experience much forgetfulness. For example, while studying in my room, I realised I need to take my books in my bag downstairs. So I made my way down. Many times I make a detour to the kitchen and snack on some chips or bread. When I have had my fill, I rush up to my room, forgetting what the real purpose of going downstairs. Then, I will become frustrated and return downstairs to take items from my bag. See how forgetfulness had cause me to waste time.

Forgetfulness is something everyone tries to overcome. Sometimes we are just to busy that we forget meetings, goals, things to do and things to remember, especially meetings. Meetings are very important and once you fail to turn up it is most likely to cause you to be fired by your boss in the working world. In school, you may be blasted my your teachers as they feel forgetfulness is an excuse. Yes, you may say that you can control it and it is your fault that you forget to do something. Sometimes, it is really out of your hands. For example, I keep a diary so that I will remember to do homework, hand it up or go for meetings. However, I am so forgetful that sometimes, I forget to check my diary or even forget to take notes in it. See the logical? Forgetfulness is something you can be avoided but not totally prevented. It is only after a lesson then you put more effort to remember. But how I wish I need not face the bitter confrontation. Why can't my enemy just leave me alone and disappear?

Cleaniness is important

2009-04-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

I never thought cleanliness was important. I thought it was something could be neglected. I was wrong. I never knew that because of dirtiness, people may lose their lives.Many innocent lives could be lost because of it. In other countries, diseases are abundant. These diseases are easily transmittable. It comes right down to the root of the problem, which is peopel neglect cleanliness. The conditions there are very bad. There are poor sanitation, rubbish on the floor, rats running wild in those countries. It is not hygienic as the food get contaminated by pests. The water which is the source of live, is polluted. Many innocent lives had been lost every year because of the fact that their place is not clean. You may not see it now but sooner or later you will realise the importance of cleanliness

Recently, there have been a food poisoning case in my country. It happened at Gelang Serai, a market and a hawker centre which stood side by side. Many people came down with the serious case of food poisoning. The stronger people just went to the toilet to do big business while others could be as bad as vomiting and dizziness. In the worse case, food poisoning could result in death. A few people have already lost their lives because of this case. The authorities had investigated the cause of the problem. Guess what? It was due to cleanliness. The place was very dirty and the cleanliness record of the stalls were C and D. They were not clean to even get a B. Soon, it was found out the rats roamed the area. After much hard work, the pest control captured more than a hundred of rats. No wonder people had food poisoning. Imagine when nobody is looking, the rats ate the food or pooped in the food which was served to the customers. Diseases would be passed to the victims too. Rats thrived in filthy places. If the place was clean, this horrible case would have been avoided. If only, people realised the importance of cleanliness

In school, my class is one of the dirtier ones. There are torn paper and a lot a lot of dust collected on the floor. All my teachers had commented that our class was very dirty. Some even refused to teach under the filthy condition. Yet, nothing much have been done. People still dirty the classroom. People also forget to do their duties to clean the classroom. Under these circumstances, the classroom will never be clean. I now understand the importance of cleanliness. I understand why my teacher spend so much time lecturing us on keeping the classroom clean. The cleanliness of the classroom actually affects our mood to learn. In a dirty classroom, pupils cannot concentrate due to the dirt and therefore learn less. They may get easily frustrated.If the class is clean, everybody is happy and we can learn better. If the classroom is dirty, we may easily fall sick. By missing classes, we learn lesser. However, my classmates are still oblivious to the dirty surrounding. They do not feel it is a problem . They do not know why keeping clean is important.

I hope people would start to realise the importance of cleanliness.We do not need to do big things to keep the surroundings clean like working at the rubbish dump to incinerate the rubbish. We just need to start with small things like cleaning your room or pick up big pieces of litter when you come across it. Do not turn a blind eye to these little things as they are the ones that contribute to the great filth on earth. So keep clean as it helps not only yourself but others too.

Valuables disappears! Where is the honesty...

2009-04-16T06:01:00.000-07:00

One minute it is here , the next minute it vanishes. How could this have happened. I thought such situations never occur in school like mine.Never would I thought my valuables could have been at risk of being looted. Recently, there is a series of valuables disappearing. This is most likely due to theft. This is a very serious case happening in class. Many people are losing money ,wallet and even files. The class is not a safe place to put your valuables in. I wonder why the culprit is doing this. Is it because of financial difficulties, love the thrill of stealing or is it he cannot control his greed. Where is his honesty?

As the saying goes" Honesty is the best policy" We people should be honest.This is the only way we can get the trust of people. People like others that they can count on. Honesty is a value that should have been inculcated in us long time ago. Then why is there thefts happening in my class. Don't he know the dire consequences of his actions. He may be expelled and sent to the police station. It is a very serious offence and it should never be carried out. His future will be completely destroyed. Is it worth it to take the risk of being court for small sums of money. Definitely not. Greed is the biggest hurdle for man to overcome. It is because of greed that change people. They control you, making you make the wrong choices. For example, in the society, there are many cases of embezzlement . Why this happens? People are greedy. Greed is a horrible thing. It actually cause the downfall of man. If the culprits do not learn his mistake, he will follow in the footsteps of the greedy people and may embezzle funds from the company when he grows up. No criminal can escape the long arms of the law. He would one day be captured, then his future looks bleak... I do not understand why people steal from others. I am disappointed with the culprit's behaviour.

Not only the culprit of the devious act is at fault.The victims are the root of the problem. My classmate have the habit of not carrying their valuables when they are in the classroom or not. It is even worse when they put their wallet and mobile phones on the table, helpless to greedy hands that may swipe them away. What they are doing is very bad.They are not only risking themselves to be victims of thefts but also cause them. What they are doing is unknowingly tempting people to steal. Creating opportunities for the culprit to steal is wrong. If they had brought their valuables with them in their pockets, everything will be fine and nothing will be lost. Putting valuables in the bag is not a good idea. Some of my friends had put their valuables in their bag but when they return, they had vanished, never to be seen again. This thief is a cunning one. He even search bags for valuables. My teacher now is more than certain someone in the class is the culprit but she does not know who. This thief has swift hands, capable of steal under everyone noses. As a class chairman, I have to do something. But how are we going to stop this elusive thief. My teacher suggested that when we go for PE lessons or leave the class for another lesson, I have to collect the people that want to give their valuables for safe keeping in a bag. I will then give the bag to teacher. People are not supportive of this idea because it is troublesome as they will get their valuables back at a slow speed. They feel it is safer with them or in the bag. If we do not resort to this tactic, then what am I suppose to do to cease the numerous thefts occurring in the class.

Today, the school have installed a surveillance camera in our class. The school have been aware of this case and have taken action. It is very saddening to see the school resorting to this last-resort that cost much money. It is placed in our class to deter the culprit from repeating his act. This showed that the culprit have no self-control of himself. He does not know how to admit his mistake and turn over a new leaf like a real gentlemen would. He does not know when to stop. Seeing the school resort to this, it has become a very serious case since the school used money in a last attempt to stop the thief. If the thief still continues, then nobody can help him when he is caught. I just hope he still have a conscience to spare a thought for not only his classmates but also himself. I may not understand his reason for stealing, but I hope he will put a stop to stealing and confess to the teacher. It takes a person with great courage to admit his mistake, like my teacher once said" If you have the guts to do it, you must have the guts to admit it" If he is willing to turn over a new leaf, I know the teacher would forgive him.

Why me?

2009-04-04T21:03:00.000-07:00

Why did the teacher had to change now? Why is it had to be me? I do not think I am up for the job. I am afraid I will mess up. Leading a class is not an easy task. Why must it be me? I have no courage . I feel like a chicken leading a pack of wolves. How am I going to lead them? What am I going to do?

On Friday something happened. It is not a terrible news but I have been pondering about this for a few days. I was suddenly burdened with a heavy responsibility. The Teacher had only the hour before she announced it. Upon hearing the decision, I was momentarily stunned. Me?Why? I was very worried about the decision made by my teacher. I was afraid of being the chairman...

Yes, I was chosen as the chairman of the class. I wasn't totally willingly to be up for the job. My teacher said she wanted to change the CMC as she wanted other people to have a chance to be a leader. At first, I tried to tell her that I am not the right person, but later I was somehow persuaded into doing it. I do not hate it but I fear that I cannot bear with such responsibilities.

Being a chairman is no walk in a park. He has many responsibilities to carry out. For example, he has to ensure the class is all present when the class go for an excursion or taking part in an event in school. If one pupil is not here, he has bear the responsibility. He has to collect work or consent forms. Collecting work is the hardest. People tend to forget to bring their work then the chairman has to go after them. Some people are so irresponsible that they can hand in about 1 or 2 weeks late. Then the chairman has to pass it to the teacher. When the teacher questions, the chairman has to answer to it.Sometimes, the teacher is not at his or her seat in the staffroom. He has to wait patiently for the teacher. The teacher may still have other classes to attend. In some cases, the chairman has to leave as he has CCA or other commitments. Being a Chairman is not a easy as you think. People tend to think being a chairman is fun. This is not true. Yes, you get happiness as you can help your friends but with the many problems you face as a chairman, you may think twice. People want to be chairman because they feel they have authority. However, this authority is to lead the class and not to be abuse like bullying others.

I feel being a Chairman has his advantages. As a Chairman, you could be well-liked by your classmates if you are responsible and carry out your duties. You have many friends to hang out with and talk with so you will not be lonely. Having this position trains you to be responsible. With the responsibilities the chairman carries, he has to carry them out dutifully. This will prevent him from getting scolded and also get many praises from friends or teachers . Being a chairman gives you and opportunity to gain leadership skills. These are the skills that great people in the future possess. The chairman has to lead by examples. He has to set a good example for his classmates. The chairman has to be kind, obedient,conscientious in his work, respectful to teachers and many other good values. The best of all, he has to be helpful. That is what makes a good chairman. As an important figure in the class, he has to behave at all times.

After the first day as chairman, I was already tired, I had to chase people after consent forms which half the class had forgotten to bring. They all said that they had lost it or some other excuses. I realised I was afraid, afraid to make announcements in class. I did not have the courage to raise my voice to announce to the class to pass up the forms. I was indeed like a chicken clucking in the mist of the dogs barking incessantly. My voice could not overcome the noise level to get my message across.

I am AFRAID. I fear that I would not live up to my teachers expectation. When someone has to be blame, it is always the chairman. I fear the teasing of my friends when I cannot carry out my duties. Now when the class is noisy and is out of control ,my friend will say sarcastically" president, control the class!"I do not know what to do. I do not mind being a chairman, but I need the confidence and the strength to lead. Being a chairman can be a fruitful experience, but I keep feeling I do not have the X factor to be the chairman. What to do? What to do?

Tired...

2009-04-03T00:35:00.000-07:00

I am so tired. My arms feel like it is going to break, my lungs feel like bursting. My tennis training is just over for the weekend. We had to do so much physical training.Push ups, shuttle run, jumping ,sprinting, leg raise and many other physical training that never fails to exhaust me,especially running. We had to run from one fence to the other fence until the coach says stop. There is a shuttle run training called," Five line Suicide" Now, I know why it is called like this.We had to touch all five lines on the tennis court, each time touching a line going back to touch the fence.After doing like for 5 times, there was almost nothing left in me That was what I hate the most during training. My body is aching so badly. After the training session, I came out of the tennis court limping. This was not due to injury but the exhaustion I felt then.I was pushed to my limits. Tennis training is indeed very tough and harsh.It is not that I dislike tennis, but I wish I have a break from time to time. Furthermore, the day after was my NAPFA 2.4 km run. I knew it was going to affect my timing. I was so exhausted that day that I had trouble getting out or bed or walking down the stairs. Luckily, I did a bit of warm up or else , I may fail my NAPFA. In the end, I was did not do that bad but it wasn't good either. I was even more tired that day.

Even now in school, school life can take a lot out of you. I had to stay up to 12 to finish the piles of homework the teachers have given. This is considered lucky. Some of my friends need to stay up to 2am to complete all the assignments. It is term 2 now and everything has change. The homework increased significantly and I have been busier ever since. As Projects Day in nearing, we had to stay back on many occasions( not to mention the days of my CCA)I realised I have been running more than usual. With more responsibilities, I have been running around the school meeting teachers and handing up homework that I forgot to hand up in class. I am so busy that I became more forgetful like forgetting to bring homework and one time I left my wallet in the canteen!With all these problems, I feel mentally drained.Even on weekends we have to finish homework that never seems to end. How I wish I could have a day's break to recover from my tiredness...

In life, we all get tired. The path of life is very long and winding journey. We tend to run out of gas sometimes.Obstacles that we inevitably meet drain our energy, making us so very tired. We need a break. Having breaks is very important.Without them, we are goners. Working non-stop can actually make you lose your life. Overexerting your body will have many consequences. Some people fall sick, others lose their concentration on work and other people even had lost their lives working. We need to take time off to relax and get ample rest, that is the way to actually get work done faster. Many people think taking breaks is unnecessary as they only slow work progress. In fact, taking breaks help you complete work faster than not taking breaks at all. Not taking breaks make you tired and lethargic, you may have a mental block and cannot think properly. You may even fall asleep unknowingly and all the tome is wasted. Slogging, working tirelessly is not the smart choice. Sleeping is an important break especially at night. The recommended duration of sleep for children is 8 hours and adults for 6 hours and 5 minutes. Sleeping will make you feel rejuvenated and refresh. With a clear mind,you are able to think creatively and logically. Our lives will be much affected if we do not get sufficient sleep.In the day,when you feel sleepy and tired, take a short nap.It is named"power nap" It is very effective as it gives you a fresh mind to think.

I feel that it is a shame that I am so busy. I know that sleep and rest is very important but I still do not have time to even slow down and catch a breath. How am I supposed to make time for breaks.( I am writing this blog post because today I do not have much work to do)I really want a vacation to escape the homework and the stressful life in my country.With such a competitive society, we work to our limits to be the best which in turn tire us.Now, I long for the big break which I can never get. How I wish I could slow down and to smell the roses along the path of growing up.How I wish I was not this tired.

Knocked out

2009-03-28T21:15:00.000-07:00

Even though the event have passed like two weeks ago, it is only now that I start to write about it. After that event, I do not know why but I feel more determined than ever. That feeling inside me is difficult to describe. I don't know why I feel this way but I know I want to train, to become better...

A few weeks ago, it was a very sad day that day. My school's tennis team was knocked out.I was one of the team members though I did not play. The team was unable to advanced to the nationals.The team that stood in our way was ACSI( Anglo-Chinese School(independent))Their team was too strong. Even their reserves could be seed-players. Their team seem unbeatable. Our team needed one more win to advanced to the nationals. However, our dreams were short-lived. The opponent was just too good. No matter how we play, we just cannot beat them. Failure was inevitable. We were utterly trashed 4-1. Luckily we manage to savage one point we had to win by 9-8. It was a difficult match but at least bringing back some dignity to my school. The opponent for that game was a boy much shorter than my teammate, but he was very good. He was a reserve yet he could almost beat us for that point. Our team seemed weak compared to their team. Seeing my seniors being thrashed 9-1 or 9-2, I was very disappointed. Yet... I was determined. I want to train harder. I wanted to become better.I do not want to lose, I want to win.This failure have motivated me.

Failure in life is inevitable. In life there is always a person better than you.When you meet with a failure, do not be discouraged. Everyone fails from time to time. Failure is the mother of all success. It is because of failure that push people to their limits and out of their comfort zone to strive to become better.You will never succeed if you feel discourage and give up hope. To fail is human. But if you are able to learn from failure and persist, success will be within reach.Many people are not able reach their objective because they lack determination. When they fail, they feel that all hope is lost and success can never be reach. That is their mentality.The people that had succeeded had tried umpteen times before they actually succeed. They do not give up after they fail once. Like Alexander Bell, the creator of the telephone, he had to experiment thousands of times to get the result which is the modern day telephone. It took many years to succeed. He met with failure like thousands of times, yet he did not give up.He learned from each failure and improve on the telephone. A failure is not just a failure.He felt that a failure is a way not to do something and he gained from it Why was he able to succeed? Because he was determined. Without failure, people will not be able to learn from them and succeed, bringing the progress of the earth to stop.

Though my team and I failed this time, I know we can win the next time. We must learn from our failure and persist towards our goals. It is because of failure that bring out the determination in us making us succeed. Now, I am training very hard to improve on my skills. I am pushing my self to the limit because I know I can become as good as the other team. Now I am anxiously waiting for the competition next year. Wish me luck!

The Little Water Puddle

2009-03-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, something happened in my classroom. Somebody had knocked down a water bottle. Water spilled from the bottle and onto the floor. It so happens to fall onto the front of the door.A puddle was formed. Nobody tried to cleaned it up. Only the culprit tried to clean it up. He did not do a good job. He only put a few rags to dry the puddle, to no avail rather, yet nobody bother to see it as a problem. People were still chatting heartily with one another, while others were playing with their hand phones. They seem to be oblivious to the water puddle.

It was when the teacher came in, then came the "wake- up slap". It was obvious that she was not happy at all. First came the stern face, then came an awkward silence. There was much tension in the air. When she finally spoke, she did it in a quiet and not screaming tone. She reprimanded us that we should have cleaned the puddle up. Why didn't we take the initiative to clean it up. Leaving the puddle will cause many problems like people slipping and dirtying the classroom . She said that it is because we felt that it was not our problem so we did not help to clean it up.It was only then 3 pupils came out to clean the puddle. It was obvious that my teacher was very disappointed that we still did not learn our lesson. We just stood there like a statue, waiting for the puddle to be clean up. The teacher only resumed the lesson after the water puddle was cleaned up by the 3 pupils. Self-centred we stand, selfish we sat.

I am ashamed of myself. I did not help to clean the puddle. I should have done it, but why didn't I. It was the right thing to do, but yet... I was selfish,i must confess. Standing there not helping is selfish and self-centred. I thought people would clean it up or at least the water will dry up. I was wrong to think that it was not my problem as other people had spilled it so they are the ones that should clean. I remembered that i saw the water puddle but i just walked across it.Even though it was not my fault, i know I was partly responsible for getting scolded by my teacher. We, as a class, must be active to help one another. When the 3 pupils were cleaning. I wanted to help, but I did not have the courage. After being reprimanded, i was so ashamed of myself. I did not dare to look the teacher in the eye and just kept looking down.My face became a bit warm, yet... I still did not help.The teacher had given us a chance to repent , sadly we did not seize the opportunity. Embarrassed had overwhelmed me at that instance. It was what i felt at that moment and i am terribly regretful that I took no action. I am not proud of what I have done.

This small water puddle incident had inspired me to become more considerate and helpful.This mistake may seem small yet it has a large influence on me. We must learn from mistakes as it is only through mistakes that we learn and mature. We help people is not because it help us or it concerns us, we help others because it is the right thing to do. I had made a mistake and I want to change, to change to become a better person.Many small incidents in our lives actually teach us life lessons that are very important, though many are ignored. This time, I have gained much from the little water puddle.

A report on a leader from the past

2009-03-24T22:19:00.001-07:00

This is an assignment.

There are many important leaders in history. However, not all of them are great leaders. My definition of a great leader need not mean he or she is a high in morals. A great leader is a person that is powerful in a sense that he or she could influence the people able lead to his or her people. Adolf Hitler is one of them. Though he was evil and cruel, it is no doubt that he can lead his people, making him a great leader.

Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party ,popularly known as the Nazi Party. He was the ruler of Germany from 1933 to 1945. He maybe the one that start World War 2

Adoff Hitler is a notorious villain in history. People hate and despise him for his atrocious acts during the World War 2 until today. Many innocent lives were killed because of his goal.He left his name in history is a bad way.Although he is dead and defeated, this man is frightening. People still fear at the first mention of his name. He is cruel and heartless but he possesses traits of a good leader.

Hitler had amazing oratorical skills. He was able to convince the crowd. Hitler could brainwash them by speaking to them. It was not a machine that could brainwash them into thinking his way. A machine could never had done that. He had the power of speech. This is a very important skill great leaders must possesses. Hitler was able to convince the almost whole nation to support him in the quest to regain their pride which they lost when they lost World War 1. Many people were willing to die for the country because Hitler influenced them to do so. The people's mindset was to support Hitler in the war. Speech is a necessary life skill to get your way.That is why Hitler was so formidable. People's morale were boost hearing his speeches and therefore making the soldiers high on morale too, which made the German army powerful when at war. It is unbelievable that one man could influenced the nation.

Hitler also was very determined to conquer other countries. Determination is the key to victory. This is what many people lack. It is because of that that they will never succeed. Hitler had to make much preparation for the war. At that time , Germany's economy was crippling due to the after effects of World War 1. He had to boost the economy in a very short time if he wanted to attack other countries. As many countries are still recovering from the previous war, it will be to the Germans advantage if they could attack first.Hitler had to violate the Treaty of Versailles, which limited the German army to 100,000 men. Hitler embarked on a rearmament program of massive scale: fighter planes, tanks, submarines. This in turn create much more jobs for the people and therefore led to a significant boost in the economy. He had to brainwash the people to think that he is right to prepare for a another war ( see the previous paragraph for more details). He had to make not once or twice but countless speeches to get the majority of the people to be influenced by him. It consumes much time to do that but that was one of the important reason why he was successful in the early part of World War 2. Hitler was playing a gamble.Actually he was playing against the odds. To conquer Europe, he had to conquer the superpower countries of Europe. They are the United Kingdom and the French empire, not to mention the Americans that had increasingly became a threat to the Germans. Germany had Italy,Japan on her side and other smaller countries. ( The Soviets helped Germany in the first part of the war but later when Germany attacked Russia, they fought back). But he was not discouraged. He was determined and confident to win the war. He persevered in conquering the countries that fell. No matter how the great the resistance, he and his army persevered to advance. This evident that Hitler was a determined person.

However, Hitler was very evil and cruel. He hated Jews and felt it was a need to get rid of them as they were very smart. Hitler was afraid that they may form a rebellion. That was when the holocaust was planned. Many people were killed in gas chambers, concentrated camps. About six million Jews lost their lives in these camps. Children with physical disabilities were not spared as the Nazis felt that they were not worthy to live.Prisoners of war and civilians worked as slave labourers. In total, 11 million to 14 million people died. When he started the World war 2, many soldiers and civilians were killed, both from Germany and their enemies. Hitler did not care and continued with the war, causing much more casualties from both sides. From this it is evident that Hitler was cruel.

Hitler was over confident that he will win the war. Although there were many superpower countries resisting the invasion of Germany, he still went ahead with fighting. He is against the odds to win the war. Secondly, when he was about to invade Russia, he underestimate the power of the Soviets. he made the very insulting comment on Russia,"We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down" This shows that Hitler was over confident. As the saying goes,"pride comes before a fall" This saying is indeed true. The Germans failed to invade Russia and eventually also lost to the Allies which were the British, the United States and many other countries opposing the Germans.

Hitler is considered a great leader but he is great in the wrong way. He ruled his people with fear.He is morally bad and evil in nature. Despite all the negative vibes and his evil wrongdoings, people still want to know more about him and some may even " admire" him. His name goes down in history as a infamous leader until today.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II

http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/hitler1.html

http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/hitler2.html

http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/hitler3.html

:http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/hitler4.html

The Lottery

2009-03-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

I have just read the short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson. I must say it is a very unusual story yet at the same time interesting. There are many messages the author is trying to get across. I feel the story is very meaningful though it has a shocking and chilling ending.I recommended it to my mother as I had enjoyed the story. My mother did not like the ending saying it was too cruel for the people to stone their friends. There is a question my teacher had requested us to brainstorm.

Question 5

What can we learn from this story?( How is it relevant to our society today?Do we have our own form of" lottery" as in the story?

I have learnt that silence is not golden. In the story, everyone followed the ritual blindly. Those that were against it kept quiet and even pretended to like it. Mrs Hutchinson, a character in the story, was like any other villagers in the village, not willing to make changes and not willing to voice their own opinion.If they found the ritual unfair and ridiculous, they should protest, speak up for themselves and not be like a dog, listening to the elders and leaders of the village. They should have stood up for their own beliefs. In the end, Mrs Hutchinson was chosen as the sacrifice. It was only then did she start to protest. It was by far too late! People will think she is just trying to save her own skin and therefore ignore her pleas. In the first place, she did not really like the idea of the ritual, she should not comply but instead should put a stop to this madness. If she had voiced it out , people would listen to her and may decide to abolish it. Many lives could have been saved, including hers as well. It was only when the misfortune had befallen on her before she started to complain. By then, it was just too late. We should learn from this story stand up for our own belief and not follow blindly traditions and rules. We each have a mind to think for ourselves. That is what the brain is for, to think! If we feel injustice, voice it out! People may agree with you. Many People do not voice their feelings because they are afraid of being laughed at or punished for it. If you are the first to stand up, people will tend to follow.

The story is quite relevant to our society. In a company, there are many rules and regulations, some set by the law while others set by the company itself. Imagine there is a rule that everyone hated but do not have the guts to say it to the boss. For example, the boss want everyone to wear a pink tie as he likes pink( this is not a real example. I am trying to think of a ridiculous rule) The tie is very ugly and the material too stiff making it uncomfortable. However, many people just kept quiet and do their job. Though they hated the tie, nobody dares to do anything. As the boss has power, they are afraid if they voice their opinion, the boss may be furious and fire them or give them a huge pay cut. If people are willing to stand up for their own opinion, people will follow. You just need that little spark to start the fire. If everyone supports your opinion, the boss will be overpowered and have to comply. It is because of fear that everyone follow the rules blindly.

Likewise in school, there are traditions or school rules and regulations that students must follow.Some of the students are not agreeable to these rules but they have to follow or suffer the consequences of being punished.Principals and teachers should be always willing to lend a listening ear to students with good constructive ideas so people are encouraged to voice out their opinion.

I agree that in a society, rules and regulations or traditions can exist so that there will be order in a country. However, these rules and traditions must be flexible and there must be rooms for negotiation, discussion and improvement. It is only then before the country or society can progress.

Flowers for Algernon Reflections

2009-03-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

This is an assignment that I had forgotten to do.

Which Charlie do you like the best. the Charlie with an IQ of 68 or the one with an IQ of 200? Explain why?

I would like the Charlie that has an IQ of 68. It will be much easier to talk to as a friend. The Charlie with the IQ of 200 is too intelligent. He uses very profound vocabulary that only high intelligent people can understand. When Charlie talked to Dr. Nemur and Dr.Strauss, they too stared at him. This shows that these intelligent scientists cannot understand what Charlie is talking as that topic is at a higher level of their intelligence.IF smart scientist could not understand, we, people at the average IQ will feel equally lost, not able to understand Charlie. This will make people around him feel inferior. They will dislike him for being smarter than them and avoid him too.

The Charlie with the lower IQ is innocent. He does not know what is going on around him. He is living a carefree life with no worries. He is contented with his life . The smarter Charlie later found out that his friends like him because they made fun of him in the past. This affected him emotionally, making him fall into depression. He is definitely not happy. As he is smart, he found the ugly truth of his friends nature. He felt sad, disappointed and depressed. This could have been avoided if he remains mentally challenged. Being innocent has its benefits, as Charlie could happily live the rest of his life by not know the truth that will wreck his world.

I conclude that I like the Charlie with the IQ of 68. Although intelligence may be good, sometimes the benefits of being mentally challenged outweigh the benefits of being smart. In this case, Charlie would be happier if he had an IQ of 68 and not 200.

Water is precious!!!

2009-03-09T02:18:00.000-07:00

Water is a symbol of life. Without it, life will cease to exist. When there is water, there is life. That's why when scientists try to find life on other planets, they first look at whether the planet has water. Water is very important to us. Do you know that our body is 75% made of water? We use water a lot in our everyday life too. However, we, humans, do not realise the importance of it. We neglect it, thus water is used extensively without control. Do you ever wonder if you can spend a day without water? It will be terrible. You will stink and you will be dehydrated. When you are dehydrated, you are incapable of action. You will be too thirsty to focus on any thing. Water is the basic need for life. Usable water is less than 1% of the water on the earth. Singapore is trying very hard to get more drinkable water for the increasing population. Why the government is trying so hard? They know that water is precious,when taken away, we will become helpless.

I have ever experienced a day without water except for drinkable water. In December last year, I went to Kuala Lumpur for a short holiday. I stayed in my aunt's house for a day. I must have passed a black cat that day or broke the mirror or something. My aunt's house was out of water as the piping had a problem so we had to go without water for a day. I did not shower, wash my hands or anything that include using water other than drinking it. I slept , haven't bathe for a day.It was horrible. Stinky smelly kind of horrible. I was used to taking long showers. Without water to shower, I felt very uncomfortable. This shows how reliant we are on water.

In the upcoming camp, we will be put to the test. This test will show our reliance on water. In the camp, water is limited. We must use it sparingly. We will only bathe once a day. I wonder how the spoilt teenagers that live in luxury throughout their lives will be able to take this. This will be a good practice to save water as when we grow up and enter the army,we will be able to adapt to the environment there faster.Water must be used sparingly there too.

Precious little water, I am an ungrateful fool not to cherish you. The benefits you have brought to mankind is uncountable, yet we do not appreciate. What will it take for everyone to cherish you. You lie there in the sea waiting for us to use you. Aah, humble and magnanimous water,you are wonderful in every way.You are able to convert into three states of matter. It can turn into ice, bring us cold drinks to enjoy and water vapour from air-conditioner to cool us down. You are amazing,water. You help us in many ways, expecting nothing in return. You are the greatest gift our lord has given us. You are one of a kind, precious water.

Is Stress Bad?

2009-03-07T06:56:00.000-08:00

Ever since I came to the secondary school, I have been feeling more stress than ever. There are many assignments to do in a very short period of time, especially projects that have deadlines to meet. I have no free time at all, using all of them to complete my never ending piles of homework. Stress is overwhelming me, making it harder to breathe. With the approaching deadlines, I am at my wits end. What to do, what to do?

In the present society, stress is inevitable. The presence of stress is due to the competition of jobs, grades in school and almost every thing when you need to win or compete with others. People compete with each other, trying to be the best, like in school, students put in their utmost effort to score better grades than others. Whenever the examinations are near, students are very stressed as they studying so hard to be the best.Colleagues in the company have deadlines to meet for their work. They are stressed as every day, they fear being fired, get a huge scolding from their boss or getting retrenched. This stress can be both beneficial and bad too, depends on the perspective you look on this issue.

Stress can actually be very harmful. Firstly, stress can affect our health. Being very stressed, it can make us fall very sick. Stress can make you worry a lot, usually unnecessarily. Worrying too much make you weak and vulnerable to illness.
Secondly, stress can make you do silly things. For example, recently there are two cases of suicide in Nanyang Technological University(NTU) The first case surfaced when a student stab a professor of the university and then committed suicide after that. He was a whiz kid in the University but his grades were going downhill when he played computer games extensively. The University had cancelled his scholarship . He was very stressed as his final-year exams were near and if he failed he needed to retain a year so he did a very stupid thing, he stabbed. Next, another person in NTU had committed suicide by hanging himself. The reason for killing himself was not clear but it is likely because he was too stressed. Stress is very harmful as it can make people do irreparable mistakes in life. It may cause people to make wrong choices in life, destroying them totally. Stress can be a very terrible thing if you cannot cope with it.

Not everything about stress is bad. It can be a good thing too. Stress can actually improve the world. Stress can act as motivation to us. It is because of stress that encourages people to strive to their very best. It is because of stress that push human beyond their limits. When you have an assignment to complete, stress is there to motivate you to complete. It sub-consciously force you to do it as you know the consequences of not finishing your work. Stress is beneficial to you as it helps you strive for perfection in whatever you do. Of course, the stress must be managed well.

I feel that stress is both good and bad to us. It depends solely on how well we manage stress. Stress management is a very important life skill. Without it, stress can be very harmful to you and the ones around you. We must also manage our time well too as it is related to stress management. It is only when we have more time, we will be less stress. Too much stress is bad but some stress is needed to motivate oneself . It is only when we have good stress management, than we can have a bright future ahead of us.

Friends for life and friends forever

2009-03-06T05:39:00.000-08:00

Friends to me is very important. They complete my life. Can you imagine a world without friends? The world will be filled with hatred as enemies will be abundant. These friends help you in times of need. They do not leave you alone,always waiting beside you ,willing to lend a helping hand. They stick to you and do what is best for each other. They advise you when you do wrong, trying to guide you on the right path of life. These friends are invaluable. This friendship is very hard to come by. These people are known as true friends. These are the friends you should be friends for life.

True friends help you to correct your mistakes. In life, mistakes are unavoidable. When you in a quandary, they help you solve problem. This is what true friends do. They do not shun you when you need them, they do not ignore you when you ask them for advice. They are there, in hiding, to help you. These true friends are indeed hard to come by. It may take years before you can find a friend that care for you and not because you are rich or popular. For example, there is a rich boy. He has many friends, a lot of friends actually. However, after he becomes poor in an unfortunate event, many friends left him and do not even talk to him. They have treated him like he was erased from existence. There are only one or two friends that help him get through the hard times. They do not care if he is poor or not. Seeing a friend in need, they will help out no matter how difficult the situation maybe. These friends are worth waiting for a lifetime . People have to overcome many difficulties before they realise who is their true friends.

In my new school, I do not have many friends. I don't really talk much as they do not talk much to me either. I always find making friends a difficulty when I enroll in a new school. Perhaps I am not so sociable. I find it hard to communicate with other people. I feel lonelier than ever.

Luckily, I do have a few friends. They are the first to accept me for who i am. They help me a lot when I am in trouble. They are from the same school as me in primary school. I am very lucky to have true friends despite the small number. I am very grateful to them for accompanying me from primary school to secondary school. It is a very crucial point in life where many problems surface as I'm still adjusting to secondary school life. I just hope I am able to find new friends in the new environment, I just hope people can accept me as their friend. I just hope......

My Father Perseveres

2009-02-28T18:55:00.000-08:00

Weather:Sunny
Mood: Fine

All along I always thought he was lazy. I thought he only knew how to play sports and to enjoy life. I was wrong, very wrong indeed. There was another side of my father, the side I never knew. He was a very capable and hardworking person. He had suffered much in his childhood in a small village with few people. In the end he was able to overcome all obstacles to become what he is today. I admired him for his courage to take risk and his perseverance.If he did not persevere, I will not exist today!

My father was born in Malaysia in an very sparsely populated village. He grew up in a not very clean( at that time) environment. His family was quite poor. His family consists of his parents, seven sisters and a brother. There were eleven members in the family including him. Every morning, before he went to school, he had to help my grandparents to tap rubber( collecting sap from the rubber tree to make rubber) It was a tiring job I must say. After helping, he still had to go to school. Sometimes after school, he still had to help his parents roll rubber sheets. His family could barely make ends meet as there were so many mouths to feed. Life was indeed hard then. This was something I could not understand.

At the age of 23, he came to Singapore in search of a better life. He worked in an auditing firm as an audit assistant but his pay was low as he did not have a degree. In Malaysia, more Malays had a higher chance to go to the university then. Only the top few of the Chinese race could get in and my father couldn't. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise.

It was in that company that he met my mother.It was there where my parents love for each other blossomed. They dated for years and later got married.It was because he came to Singapore so he was able to meet my mother. My father at that time was studying very hard to pass the professional exam in accountancy( ACCA). It was organised by an accounting body in U.K. If my father passed the exam, he would have a degree that was better than the accounting degree you get in a university. The exam was not an easy one. It was very tough according to my father . Many people had tried but failed.Some have failed so many times that they gave up in the end. Only 20% of the candidates were able to pass sooner or later. The (ACCA) consists of 18 SUBJECTS. Six to be tested in the first year and 4 subjects each for the 3 subsequent years. He had to pass all the subjects in a year in order to move on to the next year. My father passed the first yearbut failed the second year. He took the second year exam again and passed. For the third year he failed twice before he passed on the third time .For the last year, he failed twice more before he actually passed the whole exam. For the four-year-exam, he took 6 years to complete altogether. The exam was very tough.

After he got the degree, he had a much higher pay. It is because of his perseverance that we can have a better life. If not for his perseverance we would not have what we had today. ( I may not even be born come to think of it) He is living a much better life now, relaxing sometimes and still working at times. We are able to have a good life now because of the fruit of his labour.I really admire him. He now owns a small accounting practice, be his own boss.

I feel perseverance is very important in life. Without it, many things will not be completed. Let's take rich people for example. Not all of them become rich because of their rich ancestors. Most actually work hard to earn money. They put their heart and soul, sweat and blood to persevere to become what they are today. Peseverance plays an important part in getting work done. If one does not have perseverance in life, he is a failure in life. He will not have any achievements at all.The lazy streak in you will take over and destroy your life. We must persevere like my father, persevere to achieve our goal, in hope for a better life in the future.

WE MUST PERSEVERE!!!

Tick Tock Tick Tock...

2009-02-27T05:21:00.000-08:00

This blog entry was inspired by one of my friends

Weather: Normal
Mood: Sad

Time is a wonderful yet horrible thing. I am sure you have heard of the phase, time and tide waits for no man. How I wish it was not true.

Time was something I had taken for granted for many years.Time has fly so fast that I can't adapt to the all so big changes to my life. Leaving my primary school life behind, a new chapter of my life starts to unfold.It is going to a secondary school, the part of my life that I dread the most. Before, I became a secondary student, I thought time will always be there for me, waiting patiently to be use. It soon dawned on me that it was not so. However, now time is not in my control. It continues to tick away, bit by bit, soon it will be gone. Now, it is a relentless struggle with time. I trying my best to cope with all the assignments that pour relentlessly on me, the homework that drown me and the CCA that left me lying on the floor, panting, with tiredness searing through my body. There was many tests that I had to prepare, which I feared of failing. Failing was not an option and never will be. Having to study to the wee hours of the night, Tiredness, without fail, would overwhelm me the following day. Have the teacher no mercy? I dread everyday, as I had lost hope of the teachers lightening our loads. Every single day is a race against time, which I always lose. How I wish I had more time, more time finish my work.

As I looked back on my childhood that time had cruelly taken away, I realised that my childhood was the happiest. How I wish I could turn back time and tide to the time I was in Kinder garden. How I wish I could relive the happy memories of my ever so carefree life. It is very funny, when we live in the present, we feel that time has tick so slowly, feeling that time moves so slow, but as we look back on our past, it is only then that we realised time has flew so quickly. I had never cherished time with was abundant then, it is only now, when time has passed, that I regret the days I took time for granted. As time passes, the longing for a second childhood grew within me. But, time is irreversible. I had my chance but I did not cherish it. I only have my self to blame. It is only now,too late that I realise the importance of time.

Time is not all bad. Time allows us to exist. Without it, we will be wiped off the face of the Earth. time has given us the opportunity to live our life to the fullest. I allows us to experience feelings and do things that one desired.

Time, time, time, how I wish time could be altered so I could return to my , happy and carefree life. At the present moment, It cannot be done. I will be hoping in wait of a new machine which could fulfill my long desired wishes. For now, the happy times of my childhood will remain as memories deeply etched into my mind forever.

Health beats the rest

2009-02-22T05:21:00.000-08:00

Health is the most important. People often neglect their health. They work and work , earn and earn. I really wonder how they could live until today. Many people tend to overwork. Some may even die from it. We must always have sufficient rest. If not , we may not perform in our tasks. For example, the day before a test, we must not study late into the night. We will be so tired that we would not absorb information. On the day of the test, we will be so grouchy and tired that you could fail or even sleep in the tests even though you had done enough preparation. Not having enough rest can lead to illnesses. You will be sick and in the end no work can be done. So I feel rest is the most important.

Next, your diet should be nutritious. Do not eat too much fast food like Mac Donald's. It is high in calories and low in nutrients. Overeating of sweeties can make you overweight. It is very unhealthy to be overweight. When fats are formed on your body, you need to work doubly hard to burn them. So I suggest that we eat food they are high in carbohydrates like rice and noodles. They are easier to burn. Too much ice-cream is a big no. High in sugar food can be easily turn into fats if they are not burned. You know what I drink to keep healthy? It is herbal soup. These herbal soup are very nutritious. It helps the body in many ways. Some make you feel warm while others cure or prevent illnesses. You may think they are very bitter, actually some are not bitter at all. It is true that some are bitter but it is good for your health. My mother was right to force me to drink herbal soup since young. That is why I am healthy and not sickly like some other people. Drinking herbal soup should be a habit. At every dinner , there should be a bowl of herbal soup to drink.

Another or actually the most important is you get a lot of exercise. Exercising train your cardiac muscles and all the other muscles too. It also builds up your stamina. I highly recommend swimming and running. Swimming trains stamina and almost every muscle in your body. Running does the same too. I always go running with my sisters. My sister runs when she is free and she can complete at LEAST 10 rounds at one go. I can't accomplished that. So I must train more. I also play tennis as a CCA in school.The training is extremely tiring but it is very good. We do a lot of physical training to build stamina, push-up, sit-up, shuttle run, long distance run, skipping you name it.I recommend you get a sporting CCA as it trains you to be fit before you go for NS. Exercising also burn fats. It is a good way to slim down.

The obesity rate in Singapore is on the rise. We must watch our diets and regularly exercise. We must also watch other peoples' diet to prevent them from becoming obese. After becoming obese, it is very difficult to become fit and return to your previous size. So start caring for your health. If not.....( it will be bad)

FOBT is free for anyone above 45 years old

2009-02-21T06:06:00.001-08:00

What is FOBT? It stands for faecal occult blood test. It tests if there is any non-visible (occult)blood in your stools. It there is blood, it is possible that you may have colorectal cancer. This disease is the number one killer in Singapore and not heart disease as most people assume. The government strongly recommend anyone who is above 45 years old to go for their annual Colorectal Cancer screening using the FOBT kits which are issued free-of-charge for those above 45 years old. Apparently, most Singaporeans are not aware of this as they do not care much for their health. They only know how to work hard and earn money, thereby neglecting their health.

I came to know about this test because my doctor-in-training sister had told us about it. It was during one of her public health screening exercises that she participated that she collected the FOBT kits for my parents to test. Thank goodness my father was cleared but not my mother' s. She had to go for colonoscopy. It is a procedure where the doctor examines the inside of your bowel using an instrument called a colonscope. During the operation, the doctor found out that there is a polyp( growth) in her large intestine. It was removed on the spot and sent for further test. Luckily it was benign and not cancerous. If such polyps are not removed, they may turn cancerous over time. By the way, my mother did her colonoscopy at NUH and the day operation cost only about $500 and can be fully paid by medisave. After this, my mother collected more free FOBT kits for my grandparents and my uncles and aunts to test.

Luckily for free FOBT kits that my mother had found out early that she had a polyp in her intestine. I greatly encourage you to tell your parents to go for this test.Adults above 45 years old are more susceptible to such risk.

The free FOBT kits are available at the Singapore Cancer Society at the following two addresses: (1)15 Enggor Street
# 04-01 to 04 Realty Centre
Singapore 079716
(2) Blk 22 Boon Keng Road
#01-11 Singapore 330022

I feel that health is the most important. Your health should be the first priority. If you are not healthy, you are not able to do anything well. Your mood will be affected and your work efficiency will be lower . We should always go for such health test to check that we are always in tip top condition . We must also encourage our loved ones to go for such tests. It is to ensure that our loved ones are healthy. Who knows, your loved ones' lives may be at risk. You may be the only one that can save their lives. So encourage others to go for health tests often especially the elderly.

Going, Going, Gone Mobile phone Vanishes

2009-02-20T02:32:00.000-08:00

Weather: Hot like dessert
Mood:Relax

Yesterday, something serious happened in my class. A mobile was stolen. The teacher had to conduct a search of our bags and nothing was found. The back door was not locked. My classmate who lost his phone had put it on the table before he left for the morning assembly. When he got back, the phone had vanished. At first, we thought other people had come into the class and stolen the phone. However, the phone was later found on the window ledge.

The position of the lost phone showed that somebody in the class was the culprit, whether he stole it out of greed and put it back as he was afraid he would be exposed by the teacher or someone had played a prank. Both of which are bad. I wonder why the culprit had taken the phone. He should know he could get into a whole heap of trouble. Was it greed or mischievousness that made him do such a thing? I would never know as the culprit did not have the guts to admit. My teacher said that students must have the guts to admit the mistake. Admitting to your wrongdoings is true courage. Not everybody have the courage to face the music.We should always think before we act. That way, many such incidents could be avoided.

I believed that such cases occur in other schools too. Another way that these cases could be prevented is that the owner should take better care of his belongings. If the owner had carried his possessions with him, there is no way the thief could steal it, unless the thief is so skilful that he could steal from under the owner's nose. My friend was also in the wrong for leaving his mobile phone on the table. This would tempt other people to steal his phone. So my classmate is actually indirectly causing his phone to be stolen. If people take better care of their valuables, many cases of thief could be avoided too.

So to conclude, I feel that the two parties, the owner and the thief are both in the wrong. Everyone must do their part to keep their belongings safe and by doing that , we can reduce the number of thefts in Singapore.

Bullying is very bad!!!

2009-02-16T05:40:00.000-08:00

Weather: Fine
Mood: Happy

Today, My principal has been talking about bullying in school. I am not saying that my school had many bullying cases. No, no, no, the principal just wanted to tell us more about bullying so we are more aware of this problem.

I really don't understand why people bully others. Is it for fun, bored or they love the feeling of torturing people. In my primary school, bullying was common, very common. The most common cases of bullying are teasing and taunting. Apparently, my class was very good at it. They would gang up and continuously SHOWER the victims with taunting.I feel quite sad for the victims. Being different from others would lead to being bullied. The victims told the bullies not to tease them anymore , but they would not listen.

I really wonder why people like to bully others. I have heard that people bully others because they want attention. It was found out in a research that most bullies ( physically bullying) comes from broken families. Perhaps bullying was the only thing the bullies thought they could do to get attention. They must be pretty desperate to desire attention to that extent.
Perhaps they think bullying was " cool". Teenagers nowadays want themselves to be " cool " They are willing to do silly things to be "cool"even if it requires them to emotionally disturb or physically hurt others.

Let me share with you a past incident. I was ever bullied. I remembered vividly about that incident. I was in Primary one. Everyday, I would take the school bus home. One day the biggest boy extorted $5 from me. ( It was a big sum to me then) I was so frightened that I gave him my money. (I wasn't thinking straight. That was a Primary one student's mentality) After alighting from the bus, I told my parents. My parents told the school about it and the boy was severely punished. I want to tell all the victims out there, if you are bullied, don't be as dumb as me to give in to the bully's demand. You must be brave and stand your ground, tell an adult about it , do not hesitate at all. This message is for all the bullies out there that bullying will get you in heaps of troubles, trust me. Bullying have dire consequences. Is it worth it to bully to get fun and in the end pay dearly for it? I tell you, it is definitely not.

P.s I was never a bully. I am not so foolish to downgrade myself to such a childish behaviour. I may be a bit sensitive to this topic because I was ever bullied.

Sugarcane used not to make drinks?

2009-02-11T05:33:00.000-08:00

Weather:Cloudy
Mood:Fine

Recently my teacher was talking about Chinese traditions in class.She was talking about a whole long list about Chinese traditions practiced during Chinese New year. The tradition that captured my attention was the Hokkien people will use sugarcane to pray to the gods on the seventh day of Chinese New Year.

This was the first time I have heard that sugarcane was use to pray to gods, I thought sugarcane was supposed to make drinks. My teacher asked us to find more about a Chinese tradition that we are interested in. So I went home to do some research about that tradition. Research on this topic was a bit difficult but I managed to get some information thorough the research. It was believed that long ago. the ancestors of the Hokkien clan was chased by a band of Japanese pirates. When they ran into the sugarcane plantation, they hid between the sugarcane trees. In the end, they managed to return home unscathed. As they believe the ruler of the heaven, the Jade Emperor, had saved them. To expressed their gratitude, they used the sugarcane to thank the Jade Emperor who they believed was the ruler of heaven.

While doing my research, I found out that in ancient China, their were many clans,such as the Hokkien clan, the Hakka clan,the Cantonese clan and many others clans which I could not remember their names.( I am from the Hokkien clan)That is why we speak so many different dialects in Singapore. From this research, I realise I have taken an interest in history, whether it is China's history or not. Recently, I have started to watch the history channel. I am starting to appreciate history too.

According to my parents, people of this generation do not know much of ours roots from China. We know little about our ancestors , the traditions they practiced and the reasons behind them.I feel sad that we do not treasure these traditions. These traditions must have some meaning or purpose so it is practiced until today. But because of westernisation, all these traditions will be lost. Furthermore, the people of this generation made not even know how to speak their dialect( like me). My sister is trying desperately to learn hokkien to communicate with the older generation. It is disheartening to see that one day all these dialects and traditions will be lost forever. That is why I will try my best to learn hokkien and I hope everyone would do the same so that these traditions and dialects would be passed on to the next generation.

Letter to scientists, Flowers of Algernon

2009-02-08T03:09:00.001-08:00

This is an assignment.

Dear Dr Strauss and Dr Nemur,

I am Charlie Gordon, age 37. I have heard and considered your decision to take the operation to artificially increase my intelligence. I have pondered on this many times but I still decide to take the operation. I have asked some of my friends for their opinions. They dissuaded me to go for the operation. I do not understand why they said I will not get happiness when I am smart. Being smart can make you very lonely. They said when you become too smart people start to avoid you .All my life I thought being smart will make you have more friends, being smart make you fit in. With more friends, why will I not be happy? I really do not understand why intelligence is not equal to happiness.

I have asked Miss Kinnian for advice. She did not help me much. She said I have accomplished so much with so little, she said it is unfair that I am not so smart like other people. I deserve the operation the most. But soon after, she said the operation can have dire consequences. I may not be permanently smart. She said it was my choice.

Recently, I went to a church. The priest there said that all man are born equally in the eyes of god. So why am I different? Why am I dumb and not smart? This operation is my only chance to become smart. I want to become smart like almost everyone else. I do not care if the operation is a painful one. I will do whatever it takes to be smart. I really want to be smart, to fit in.

I feel it is unfair that some people like me are not as smart as other people. Everyone should be the same. After undergoing the operation, I want to use my intelligence to perfect the operation that artificially increases human intelligence so as to help other people to become smarter. I want to use my intelligence to do some good to the world, for mankind. Then,. Everyone will be equally smart. The world will be a nicer place.

I know this operation may be risky. I may not be permanently smart. In the worse scenario, it could even threaten my life but I want to help other people like me to fit in. I really want to be smart. I will do my very best to help and contribute to the people like me and the people of the world. So my decision will stand .I will take the operation .I grateful and honored to be given a chance to be the first human being to undergo an operation that artificially increases human intelligence . I am sure you will not regret your decision.

Yours Sincerely,
Charlie Gordon

Little Ironies, The Taximan Story( Discussions)

2009-02-04T00:31:00.001-08:00

I have recently read The Taximan Story in the book Little Ironies.Here are my comments to the discussion .

What is the irony in the story?

The taximan in the story has been complaining about many young girls nowadays turning to prostitution. Almost the the whole story was about him expressing his utmost displeasure about these girls. When his daughter turn to prostitution, he was so furious and he beat her up so badly . This is evident that the taximan despises and hates these prostitutes.However, at the end of the day, the taximan is eager and like to earn money from these prostitutes whom he despises greatly. This taximan hates these prostitutes for their shameful behaviour but yet like them because he earn much of his income from them. I feel this is the irony of the story.

What are the themes raised in the story?

I feel that there are two themes raised in the story. One of them is family issues while the other is teenagers nowadays lack moral values. One of the family issues is that some parents focus more on work than their children. Being neglected, these teenagers feel lonely. They will hang out with their friends after school. Some of these friends are actually prostitutes and will influence these teenagers to turn to prostitution. Without proper guidance from their parents, they will be led astray. The teenagers' parent indirectly cause their children to turn bad. The other issue is that the family cannot afford to buy branded goods for their children. Most teenagers nowadays wear expensive branded clothes. Without money to spend, some teenagers will have to find alternatives to earn money. Some of them will turn to prostitution as it is easy money to earn.They do not care for moral values as their parents have no time to inculcate morals values in them.Why do they want to wear branded clothes? To put it simply, they want to fit in. A Quote from the book Flowers of Algernon,"Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other man" Man have the need to fit into the society.

How realistic is this story?

I feel this story is very realistic. It is a common sight to see young girls dressed up to the nine along Orchard road. I do not believe that all of them are rich enough to dress to that extent. Some are prostitutes so they can earn such amount of money to dress up.Some even dress very scantily to attract customers along some roads. It is evident that many of these girls are prostitutes to earn money.

What do you think of the taximan? Do you feel sympathy for him?

I feel he is a responsible father. As a taxi driver, his income is not high, but he is able to raise eight children. This is not an easy task. This shows he is a hardworking and responsible father.However, he has only filled the material needs of his children. The children need their father to care and love for them,to feel the warmth of their family. He should not substitute love for money. By choosing to earn more money, he has neglected his children and therefore one of his daughters was led astray and turned to prostitution.

I feel sympathy for him. I know he has tried his best to be a good father. He has worked hard all day to earn and save money to send his daughter to a University.However, his beloved daughter had turned to prostitution. I am sure he is very heartbroken and furious.He has the right to be! But the way the punishment he meted out is wrong. I sympathise with him as he does not know that it is not right to use physical force to punish his children. This will not only hurt the children physically but also emotionally. It will also ruin the father- and- child relationship. This may have dire consequences too. The child may become more rebellious than before and not repent. The way he beats his children to teach them a lesson in the past could have forced his beloved daughter to turn to prostitution to oppose him. To teach his children to repent, he should talk to them patiently, advising them to change.If the child still refuses to repent after he has tried to talk to him or her, he should then seek professional help.

Do you agree with his lamenting?

No, I do not agree with his lamenting. Since he laments so much, he should do some thing to solve the problem. Sitting in his taxi complaining to his customers about these prostitutes all day will not get the problem solve. As he loves complaining, he should complain to the Social Welfare Department of Singapore, at least this will do some good. The department will look into the matter and the necessary actions will be taken. Not only does he make Singapore a healthier society, but also reducing the chance of his own daughter becoming a prostitute.

What about the other characters in the story? Do you feel sympathy for them?

I really sympathise with Lay Choo, the daughter of the taximan. From the way he punishes his children, I deduced that the taximan is very strict with his children. I am sure his children will live in fear, afraid that they would be scolded by their father if they did something wrong. I guess that Lay Choo and her siblings would have very little freedom too.

With little freedom, children tend to oppose their parents, therefore causing Lay Choo to lie in order to hang out with her friends. As she spends more time out with her friends than at home, It is more likely that she had mixed with bad company and thus being led astray. I really pity her. If her father was more caring and loving, she would not have been indirectly forced into a corner by her father and degraded herself to become a prostitute.

Happy Chinese New Year

2009-01-30T22:29:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
I would like to wish the people of the world a Happy Chinese New Year .l If you look at the date, this blog is about four days late. Sorry about that, I was too caught up with the holiday spirit. You want to know how I spent my Chinese New Year. Well, I bet only a handful will spend the holidays like me. I went to Malaysia. This is not just a one time thing. Every Year, I go back to Malaysia to visit my grandmother. Yup, I am half Malaysia. You would not have guessed this, right? This year, my grandmother prepared a spread of sweeties. ( I do not know why she did it this year) Some of them looked and smelt weird, so I did not even dare to touch them. Guess what is my favourite Chinese New Year snack? You want to know? Yes, no maybe? Love Letters? Nope. Pineapple tarts? Yuck! It is none other than Kueh balu. I am sure some of you do not know what that is. It is actually a bit round, made of flour and egg. Weird, isn't it. I do not know why but I like things that are plain and made of flour like waffles. Ahh, nice waffles. Ok, I have already told you what kind of snacks I eat. Now it is your turn. Please comment on what you like to eat during Chinese New year so that we can try out the snacks next year.

Electronic Learning Device

2009-01-28T01:13:00.000-08:00

This is an assignment given by my teacher. I am suppose to write a short press release on a electronic device that help students learn better during lessons in class.

The JK Electronics Pte Ltd has recently invented an amazing new electronic learning device(ELD) . This device is able to record what you learn in that day. At night, you just need to put it on while you sleep. It is very user-friendly. You just need to put it to record mode and put it on your head and you will record what you learn in a day. At night, switch it to play mode. This device will make you revise what you learn that day sub-consciously while you are sleeping. It is easy to use and also saves time. Best of all, it is eco-friendly as it does not create any pollution and harmful effects.This device is most suitable for school-going children. The device is reasonably priced at S$120 and it is available at all leading department stores. Grab it while you can. Limited stocks available.

Older Workers should be employed

2009-01-17T22:35:00.000-08:00

This is an assignment given by my teacher. I have to assume I am a elderly worker who have to make a speech to the employers to encourage them to recruit more older workers in the workforce.

Good Morning ladies and gentlemen,

I am Jonathan Koh, a 51 year-old man, who worked in a bank for the past 30 years in the loans department. Recently, I have been retrenched. I have been looking for a job for the past 6 months.

Recently, there is an increasing number of retrenched older workers due to the economical downturn. Many of whom still need to work to support their family. Many companies still refuse to rehire these older workers despite the encouragement from the Ministry of Manpower. I am one of the victims too.

These are the possible reasons which I assume why employers are not engaging older workers:

(1)Older workers are harder to retrain. Their learning ability will be slower the older they get. The employers have to pay more to train them.

(2)Older workers are slower in their work compared to the younger ones. They will need more time to complete their assignments. The companies require good and efficient workers that can finish their work before the deadline.

(3) The older workers cannot work too long hours. They do not have energy to keep up with the younger and more efficient workers.

(4) Foreign workers are cheaper to employ and they are plenty and easily available. Furthermore, the government also encourage the employment of foreign workers during good times when it was hard to hire Singaporeans.

In order to encourage employers to employ older workers, I have a few suggestions that I hope the employers can take into consideration:

(1) Although it is harder to train the older workers, the government is already helping employers by giving 80% to 90% subsidy to the company to retrain the older workers during the difficult times. The employers will not have to pay as much and they will feel it is not a burden so employers will be more willing to employ older workers.

(2) The government is going to subsidise a portion of workers' salaries during difficult times. The employers will need to pay lesser to hire a person to do a job and will be encouraged to hire the older workers.

(3) First priority of simpler jobs like cleaning which Singaporeans used to shun should be given to the older Singaporean workers now instead of the foreign ones. The older workers will have an easier time looking for such jobs.

Last but not least, let us not forget the past contributions from these older workers. Singapore is so properous today is mainly due to their hard work. So I hope the the employers can look into my above suggestions

I thank you for your kind attention.

Old and Alone

2009-01-11T04:41:00.000-08:00

Today, my 20 year- old-sister went door to door trying to persuade people in Taman Jurong to go to the neighbourhood house screening. She is a doctor in training. ( a very passionate one too)
s
After a day's work, she came home very happy . She was so happy that she could speak hokkien to many of the patients she treated. She was very excited to teach me a few words in hokkien. Actually come to think of it , I do not know how to speak hokkien at all. I feel pretty ashamed about it. I am a hokkien by nature but have no idea to speak the language.( Many kids my age can at least speak their dialect)

Then, my sister told us what she experienced today. The first person my sister was trying to persuade was an old man. He was extremely thin. Malnutrition, I think. He did not want to do a checkup. Do you know what his reason was? He said he was 78 years old and going to die soon, if he did a checkup and had a disease , he would need to be hospitalised( a waste of money to him) . Doing a checkup was pointless. He continued and said his children had abandon him and he had to go hungry on many occasions. (No wonder he is malnutrition)

Hearing this, I am really sympathise him. I realise I am very lucky to a to have three meals a day. Many people around the world are dying of hunger, while the lucky ones are wasting food . His children are really too much. He had raised them since birth but they were not grateful at all. They had abandon him without second thoughts ,leaving him old and alone. We , children should be grateful to our parents and when we grow up , it is only right to take care of them.
Apparently, there are a lot of elderly living at Taman Jurong. Mostly living alone.(luckily most of them were easier to persuade to have a body checkup)

After hearing my sister out, I felt very sad for those elderly. I made a promise to myself that I must be filial son when I grow up so that I would not let my parents down.

Blogging!!! Good or bad?

2009-01-09T21:50:00.000-08:00

Weather:Gloomy
Mood:Gloomy

Ah!! Blogging is so hard! It is my first time blogging. I have never heard the word"blog" until I was Primary 3. I am not a really an IT savvy like any other 13 year old kid you find on the street. Wondering why I am blogging? I have this as an assessment.

Well let's get to the topic. Is blogging good or bad?

I would not say it is entirely good or bad.The good thing about blogging is that it allows people to trash out their feelings than bottling it up inside. (I know. I have been there before) Actually, many Singaporeans are as stressed as me. Perhaps that is why blogging is so popular nowadays.

Also, I believe blogging can help to improve my language skills and speed up my typing ( I type like a dying snail. i took a whooping 2 hours to set up this blog) it is too time-consuming. I have not even started on my other homework by doing this blog.I feel it is quite addictive once you get the hang of it. People can spend hours staring at the computer blogging. I hope it would not happen to me.