Robotics Competition; Sweet Success!

After staying back many hours in the last two weeks to perfect our robot, my team has finally tasted the sweetness of success. on Saturday, we went to the Science Centre to take part in "RoboChampion" something equivilent to a west-zone competition.

We had to control our robots using a remote and drop ping pong balls in a certain pit at the other end of the playing field we were starting from. that part was easy, but the terrain was difficult to navigate. The playing field was not smooth but was instead the underside of a smooth playing field, which was very rugged.. It made the competition a whole lot harder.

Firstly, our robot "disintegrated" in the first round and we only had 1 robot to complete the mission. this was a major setback. Later on, the other robot also fell apart due to unknown reasons. However, our team was not discouraged and tried our best to repair the robot. I have to admit that we were quite lucky. The opponents made many silly mistakes. Really silly mistakes like falling into a hole when they were just about to score and trying to tilt our robot but causing their own robot to fall in the end.

Our team managed to clinch third while another HCI team got the championship award. Seniors were elated because they said that the school will increase the EP3's budget. I hope they would!



Reflections



This time, we won aa medal, yes we did. But it would not have been possible without teamwork. A team must stick together during trying times to be able to rise up from the crowd. True team spirit shows when a team is in trouble. A good team tries to solve the problem, a bad team tries to blame the person. That is what I learnt.

P.S. I had negative points but I still got 3rd!

Napoleon Bonaparte was a great military and political leader of France whose actions changed Europe’s history.

He was born in Corsica (an island in the Mediterranean) and trained as an artillery officer in France, Napoleon became well known under the First French Republic and led successful campaigns against the First and Second Coalitions that fought against France. In 1799, he staged a coup and installed himself as First Consul; and five years later he crowned himself Emperor of France. In the nineteenth century, he declared war on every major European power and dominated continental Europe through a series of military victories. He expanded France's area of influence by the formation of extensive alliances and the appointment of friends and family members to rule other European countries as French states.

The French invasion of Russia in 1812 marked the turning point in Napoleon's fortunes. His army was badly defeated in the campaign and never fully recovered from it. In 1813, the Sixth Coalition (Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Russia, Great Britain, Spain, and Portugal) defeated his forces at Leipzig, Germany—then Prussia; the following year the Coalition invaded France, forced Napoleon to step down as emperor and exiled him to the island of Elba.

Less than a year later, he escaped Elba and returned to power, but was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. Napoleon spent the last six years of his life under British supervision on the island of Saint Helena. An autopsy concluded he died of stomach cancer, though some scientists have since claimed that he was poisoned with arsenic.

The conflict with the rest of Europe led to a period of total war across the continent; his campaigns are studied at military academies the world over. He is considered a tyrant by his opponents. But why do I consider him a great leader?

Firstly, he created the Napoleonic code. It is a French civil code, established under Napoleon in 1804. It entered into force on March 21, 1804. It is considered the first successful codification (the process of collecting and restating the law of a jurisdiction in certain areas, usually by subject, forming a legal code) and influenced the law of many other countries greatly. The Napoleonic Code, whichs stresses on clearly written and accessible law, was a major step in establishing the rule of law. Historians have called it "one of the few documents which have influenced the whole world."

Secondly, during the early years of his career in Paris,he was known for wandering amongst the common soldiers on watch late at night. He knew most of them by name and they were like old friends. He gave them his support and shared the watch with them. By doing this he inspired his men and gained their respect and loyalty. This shows that he respected all his men, including the lowliest soldier on guard duty. He even did guard duty with them, showing sevant leadership, which is an important virtue that one must possess to be able to lead others.

This kind of behavior from him gained his soldier’s loyalty. This was the loyalty that dragged soldiers across Europe and into Africa. It gave him many of his victories. It made him a great leader.

However, in his later years, his newfound powers lead him to start to disregard his troop’s welfare. His troops thus lost morale and confidence and caused his downfall.

He was also very greedy. He declared war on the entire Europe to get more land for the French and expand his power.

This two characteristics made him a leader who is most remembered for being a tyrant.

France in Napoleon's time
Red=occupied
Blue= Allied
yellow=hostile
Green=France

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

Analysis of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

"The Lottery" is in many ways relevant to today's society. Here are some of them.

Scapegoating

The story is relevant to today's society. In the story, the townspeople select their victim by a lottery. They then kill the victim to get a good harvest. In today's society, we choose a scapegoat to bully and push all the blame on so that they can benefit/not be reprimanded.

For example, a group of my friends and I got lost during sec 1 camp. They all started blaming me although we all got lost together. (Yee hark started it)



Hypocrisy of Men

Humans also tend to "go with the flow" until the attacks are directed at him. In other words, we are willing to do injustice to others but we only protest saying that it is unfair when the injustice is towards us.

In the story, Tessie goes through the whole procedings happily. But when Bill opened his piece of paper and saw the big, black dot, only then did Tessie shout, "it's not fair!"

Likewise in today's society, this happens too. Here's a scenario (sorry for the singlish)

Dua Tao :Peter like Mei Ling
Ah Beng : hahaha, you like Mei Ling!
Peter : no..no...no lor! I don't like her lar. She so-
Ah Beng : Iknow you like her. Don't need to hide! Hahaha!!!
Peter : (blushing profusely) Don't like that lar. Very embarrasing leh.

The next day...

Ah Seng : I saw you flirting with Ai Choo yesterday!
Ah Beng : don't lie lar. Where got?
Ah Seng : I saw with my own eyes. You like her is it?(winks)
Ah Beng : No lor, she so ugly one. She so-
Ah Seng and rest of the class : Ah Beng like Ai Choo! Ah Beng like Ai Choo! ...
Ah Beng : Stop it lar!
Peter and some others who were bullied: Ah Beng like Ai Choo!
Peter >> Ah Beng : who ask you to keep making other people. hmpf!

This is a perfect example in our context today. Ah Beng makes fun of others but when others make fun of him, he starts to feel upset. We think that as long as others are doing it, it is alright to do it. It is only when we are the victim will we push for change or ask others to stop or realise it is wrong.

"Uncaringness" of Human Nature

Humans are uncaring by nature. In the story, Bill forces the slip of paper out of Tessie's hand so that Tessie would die. Also, Tessie's closest friends spared no thought for her. They were very enthusiastic in trying to kill her. No one stood up to try to stop the stoning.

In today's society, this problem is also within many of us. Here's a scenario( sorry for singlish again)

Mum: Why do you look so gloomy?
Neighbour : I lost my job. boohoohoo...
Mum : oh, that's too bad. byebye.

Look how uncaring mum is. Although this is what I hope most of you would not say, this is something very similar.

Ah Beng: Brother! Why so sad one?
Ah Seng : My parents don't care about me. Boohoohoo...
Ah Beng: Never mind lah brother! We go disco party party! Happy Happy! Don't care about what parents lar.

He may seem caring, but he only wants to cheer himself up, and not helping his friend or comforting him.

If you liked all these scenarios, please post a comment.

Thank you

Discrimination of Those We Do Not Understand

Today, Mr Tan highlighted to us about jeering that was mostly directed at iSpark.



At Angles Workshop, when Mr Tommie Chen called out "1I1", all the other consortiums( and maybe some in the same consortium) jeered and booed, causing a little chaos and noise.



Last week, while Miss Soh was talking about animals that could represent a character in a story, we stumbled upon an image of a serpant.

" A serpent is generally regarded as a sly, evil and slippery animal. That's why
the Slytherin House's symbol is that of a snake."

Suddenly, one of my classmates shouted

" That's why iSpark's logo is like that!"

When he said that, the whole class erupted in laughter! Miss Soh was unhappy and scolded the whole class.



Reflections and Thoughts

Problem: Why do we discriminate others?
We discriminate others because of their differences.

Evidence: Jeering at iSpark consortium during level meetings/assemblies.
2 incidents mentioned above

Assumptions: iSpark students are not very popular. Why?
General opinion of iSpark students are:

• Nerdy
• GEPers
• Cocky
• Boastful
• etc.

But this is not true for all iSpark students, although I admit that some are in fact like that.

P.O.V : A concerned Ortus student
Me, obviously

Consequences of this discrimination: No Unity, Hatred, Segregation.
Discrimination will lead to hatred between the consortiums and there will not be any unity within the school. Soon, everyone will only mix with people of the same consortium, which is actually segregation.

Solution: Understanding--Tolerance--Teamwork--Unity

We need to understand iSpark students. eg. How are they like? (character) Are they really all that cocky and nerdy? Next, we must realise that they, like us, are also part of the HCI family and deserve respect. These things will lead to...

Tolerance. We need to tolerate with other's differences. We need to tolerate with their supposedly higher intellect. We need to tolerate their pride and ego. Only then can we be a...

Team. Teamwork will bring about mutual respect and utimately unity.

Conclusion
We must take the first step in understanding iSpark students. Followed by tolerating them and working with them. And in the end, build a united Hwa Chong to beat Raffles!

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

Martin
Luther King, Jr.

Comment please!

Sequel to Uncouth Behavior In Public Buses

Many of you have posted comments on this incident. This Thursday, whle I was on my way to Ghim Moh Language centre AGAIN, this group of girls were in the bus again. They were eating and scolding vulgarities AGAIN, and they were very unsightly.

Some people have said that we should not base our judgement of the school on these pupils alone. I agree with this but them behaving like that does bring a bad name to the school. Teachers always say," Tuck in your shirt even when you are outside of school because you represent the school." This is very true. They, as part of the student body of the school, represent the school and thus should conduct themselves in public.

Please post more comments.

P.S I will try to take a few photos