Depressed.

Do It Or Else....

2010-06-25T17:01:00.002+08:00

Hi,

This is the assignment on the Effects of War on both civilians and soldiers. It is very brief and consise.

References: Saving Private Ryan, Documentary on Hiroshima, Times (War), Pearl Habour (the movie)

Task 2

2010-05-26T16:51:00.000+08:00

Point of View

Point: The poem is written in the point of view of a person who has had first-hand experience with Agent Orange.

Evidence: He knew about the “Execrable effects of agent orange spray!” and the “ deceit that continues to spread” about Agent Orange.

Elaboration: The poet exhibits a profound understanding towards the consequences and effects of Agent Orange. He knew about the “birth defects” and “prematurely dead”, both of which are the dire consequences of Agent Orange. His knowledge was most likely gained through first-had experience. We know this to be true as he was in fact exposed to this toxin during his time as a soldier.

Situation and Setting

Point: The setting of the poem is after the Vietnam war.

Evidence: The whole poem is in the past tense, such as “America did not foresee” and “now thinking twice”, which means the event (Vietnam war) happened in the past.

Elaboration

Since the setting is after the war, some of the victims of Agent Orange would have surfaced and the poet would know about the actual consequences of Agent Orange. He realizes that war is dangerous not only for soldiers, but also innocent civilians, and even babies not even born! The poet is also able to discern the :deceit” spread by the government, and provide the truth to those who read his poem.

Language and Diction

Point: The poet uses oxymorons and some other interesting words.

Evidence: “Rainbow Death”

“potpourri”

“Nefariously”

“Execrable”

Elaboration: “Rainbow Death” is an oxymoron. Rainbows are commonly associated with happiness, hope and the light after the rain. However, death is sinister, bad and sorrowful. This oxymoron emphasizes the harmful effects of using Agent Orange.

“Potpourri” is a metaphor. It means: a mixture of dried petals and leaves from various flowers and plants that is used to give a room a pleasant smell. However, the context of the poem, I think that it just means dried (or dead) petals and leaves. The killing leaves and petals are actually one of the goals for using Agent Orange. However, just like the flora, many other people were killed by Agent Orange. Also, potpourri also mean an unusual mixture of things. The effects of Agent orange were many, from disabilities to babies with two faces, or missing limbs etc.

“Nefariously” is an interesting word that means evil. The poet is indicating that Agent Orange was just evil, and covering it up was even more so. From here, we can infer that he is strongly anti-war.

“Execrable” also means evil or bad. Again, the poet suggests that war is bad.

Personal Response

The poet is able to make me change my perspective of war. His ominous descriptions of the numerous evils as well as the plight of the victims makes me pity the victims of this horrible weapon. Vietnam is known to still feel the effects of this chemical weapon. Many of the villagers were born with birth defects, although they did nothing wrong. The poet describes this groups of people as the “unborn” and “prematurely dead”. The line “Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn” suggests that America, being powerful both militarily and politically, was bullying a weaker nation, or rather a weaker group of people. America is portrayed as selfish through the line ;expecting others to pay a high price”. Hence, the poet is able to evoke my sympathy for the victims of Agent Orange.

IT Home Learning Assignment: Task 1

2010-05-26T14:47:00.003+08:00

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

This poem speaks of a chemical weapon, called “Agent Orange”, used during the Vietnam war. This chemical weapon was supposed to kill forests such that the Viet-cong could be driven out of hiding. However, this chemical also affected humans. As a result, millions of people were infected, with over 400,000 deaths and disabilities. Subsequent generations of children had many birth defects.

During the war, Agent Orange was by far the most widely used of the range of “Rainbow Herbicides” employed in the herbicidal warfare program. This groups of chemical weapons not only infected the Vietnamese, but also some Americans. Hubert Wilson was one such victim.

Some of its effects include:

Prostrate Cancer
Respiratory cancers
Chloracne
Leukemia

As evident, Agent Orange has many detrimental effects to its victims, as well as future generations of children. Furthermore, some of its effects can only be felt 20 to 30 years after exposure. Hubert Wilson suddenly came down with some symptoms associated with Agent Orange. He thus wrote this poem to condemn war and the usage of chemical weapons.

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html

http://bhopal.net/oldsite/oldwebsite/agentorange.html

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/

Lack of Camaraderie- A Pressing Issue Indeed

2010-05-02T00:49:00.004+08:00

Hi guys,

Browsing through the pages of 2O1's history, I have come to a conclusion. Our class lacks camaraderie. Short, seemingly harmless, yet pressing and fatal.

The first sign of a un-bonded class is the unwillingness to help out each other in schoolwork. I would like to express my appreciation to those who really help me as well as the other classmates in the class. Yes, that means Martin, Jonathan, Hui Ming, Zhi Xin, Dexter etc. However, I feel that sometimes we are unwilling to help others, including me. Although help is still rendered in the end, I occasionally get a little frustrated or irritated. It is just human nature to be selfish and self-protecting. I promise that I will help everyone to the best of my ability.

The second sign is the flaming of classmates on blogs. From the posts that I have read, many involve unreasonable and often fictional descriptions of another classmate. It is extremely saddening to see fissures forming in the class. I hope that there will not be anymore hatred in the class, especially unjustified ones.

The third sign is the many “social circles” formed in the class. Well, it might not be bad if it was an open social circle, however in the class it is an extremely closed social circle. Somehow I feel as if the whole class has been divided into a few factions opposing each other in subtle ways. There is no sense of belonging to the class.

So how did the lack of camaraderie affect us, you may ask. Well, for one we got into a lot of trouble with our results. Our MSG ranking dropped 10 positions. That is one great “accomplishment”. However, I think this could have been averted if the class had enough teamwork to help each other out. Though it might seem troublesome, you never know when that person might help you in return. Furthermore, by repeating your knowledge to others, you are actually learning yourself! As the Chinese saying goes, revise the old and learn the new, you are able to gain knowledge just by thinking about it again. It is not a disadvantage to you to be helpful to others, in fact it is beneficial to you.

To solve the problem of the lack of camaraderie or the lack of class-spirit, I propose that we have more outings/CIP activities. Having fun is the best way to develop teamwork and camaraderie (unless you prefer the more painful solution-going through very hard times together). It will not be easy, but it is possible. For a better class, it must be done.

Whether you are a member of “fearsome four____” or the “waterpolo brothers” or the “mighty muggers”, I sincerely hope that everyone will be able to put aside their personal feuds and start anew, to rediscover the class in a whole new way.

Thank You

Popularity VS Profit

2010-05-01T14:39:00.006+08:00

Hi guys,

I'm sure all of you have heard about the iPad or the iPhone. Much of the talk in the technology world is about these two items, which are both products of Apple Inc. Apparently, Apple has become the most popular and perhaps the most well-known computer + phone company in the world. It has sold over iPhone 3GSs since it came out last year, with over 4 billion apps downloaded from the apps store.

300,000 iPads just on the first day and 450,000 by the first week. So much so that the stores in America ran out of stock and they had to delay international shipping. Reviews of the iPad popped out all over the internet, media, newspapers and even Newsweek and China Weekly. There is so much buzz over the iPad and even the supposed iPhone 4G, which has yet to be even released! Evidently, Apple is receiving most of the attention in the tech world.

However, Microsoft has much of an "unsung success", according to Newsweek.Windows 7, Microsoft's new operating system, has sold over 90 million copies in just 5 months. The magazine said that windows 7 is "pretty high quality stuff" and has received "the highest customer-satisfaction scores of any product in its history". Its "revenues in the December quarter hit a record $19 billion", but "nobody seems to care". This is because Apple has captured almost all the computer/electronics market with its high-end Macbooks as well as its cheaper iPads and iPhones. For now, Microsoft is just raking in the money boringly, without receiving much attention.

So now for the question. Is popularity or profit better?

Firstly, I would like to say that both of them are inter-linked. If a company is popular, it will make a lot of money. However, if a company is profitable, it will most likely increase in popularity as its trustworthiness is high.

However, which one would you prefer to start off with? Personally, I prefer popularity. (No, its not because I love Apple more than Microsoft) With popularity, one can easily "convert" the people who are loyalist to your rival. Not to mention the free advertisements on newspapers and online tech blogs dedicated to your product reviews. Popularity will be a faster way to increase profits.

However, being profitable first is not so effective. If one is profitable but not publicized, your customer numbers will never increase as all the customers would be people who already trust your products, without many new customers. In fact, if you rival manages to create much better publicity, your customers would be poached. This is the case for Microsoft. They do not publicize their products much, so most of their customers are the same old ones from before. However, Apple publicizes their products a lot, and more and more people are converting to using Macs rather than PCs, iPhone rather than Windows Mobile, iPads rather than netbooks.

What is you take on this? Please Comment.

Aftermath of TKAM

2010-04-27T21:31:00.005+08:00

WOOHOO!!! To Kill a Mockingbird literature test is finally over! Here's a song I want to dedicate to TKAM:

(sung to the tune of What a friend I have in Jesus)

When this test is gone and over,

Oh, how happy I will be!

No more boring annotations,

No more literature for me.

No more TKAM essay writing,

No more studying prejudice.

When this test is gone and over,

How I'll sleep and how I'll dream!

Well, that song pretty much sums up what I have to think about TKAM. Personally, I feel that TKAM is not very suitable to teach in Hwa Chong at a sec 2 level. Here is what happened what I first took out the book:

"WOW! So thick! I don't fell like reading it already"
I look at the synopsis and think, "I don’t know what will happen in the story at all!"
“Why is the first two pages about the history of some weird old guy from some fictional American town?"
“Hey, I think I’ll just leave this book alone until my teacher instructs me to read it.”

Even after analyzing the book in class, I still am not able to appreciate the book. If you ask me, Animal Farm is so much more interesting and captivating than TKAM. As people who have just reached teen-hood, I feel that we do not really find much importance in knowing about prejudice or moral courage, let alone take interest in it. Adults might think that it is of utmost importance to educate teenagers on the proper kinds of courage so that teenagers would not get into fights or start arguments, but instead have the courage to walk away. However, how effective can a literature book be in educating teenagers?

Yes, it is one of the greatest novels of all time. Yes, it has won the praise of many critics. However, I feel that it has not won over us teenagers. It is common to hear a swear word associated with the boredom of studying TKAM in class every morning, and sometimes on Facebook. This 'phenomenal' is not only confined to HC. There are many people from other schools such as RI or NY who post complains about the book on facebook.

The most compelling reason why this book is not suitable to be taught is because it not only did not serve its purpose of eradicating prejudice, it in fact made many of us more prejudiced. Many of the racist and ostracizing terms from the book were introduced into our vocabulary. Was TKAM counter-productive?

Personally, I think that Lord of the Flies would be more suitable to be taught in school. Although it has a violent nature, it is still acceptable to teenagers nowadays, who think nothing of playing violent video games that involve killing innocent people. Furthermore, its theme of savagery will prove to us that violence will get us nowhere. Its plentiful and varied vocabulary will serve to improve our english language skills (based on the first chapter. I am not sure whether the rest of the book is as such).

What do you think? Should TKAM be taught to us?

Disclaimer- All information provided in this post is purely the opinion and observation of myself only. This is not a critical review of the book, but a personal opinion. No offense is intended for anyone involved in one way or another with this post.

Intrapersonal Intelligence Assignment

2010-03-02T00:09:00.004+08:00

Which character would you like to play in the movie version of the novel? Explain.

I would like to be Atticus in the movie version of the novel.

Firstly, I find that Atticus is the most likable character in the novel. Most people would regard him as the most just, non-racist, dependable, loving person/father in the story. Indeed, he sets a role model not only for lawyers around the world, but also us common folk. He is akin to Martin Luther King Jr in his actions, beliefs, and words, as seen in his unwavering belief that all humans should be equal before the law. He is willing to go to the extent of putting his own reputation, as well as his life on the line for his beliefs. Even in the face of opposition, he never faltered.

He is also dependable as he was always there for Jem and Scout, willing to listen to their grievances and stories. He never acted different on the streets as he was at home. Everyone in town respected him, even after the trial. Despite this, he was humble and respected his children's opinions, often willing to give way for his children, reaching a compromise.

But why act as him in a movie, you may ask? Well, from my experience (sorry, I could not find scientific evidence) humans always sympathize with the 'good guys', that is, the people who stand up for what is right. Take for example, most people will like Jake from Avatar because he stood up for his dreams, his beliefs and defected over to the natives of Pandora.

Likewise, acting as Atticus in a movie would boost my popularity. Acting as someone such as Bob Ewell or Mr Radley would only bring about scenarios like this:

You walk down the red carpet and a child says, "Hey! It's that bad guy from To Kill A Mockingbird!"

That would not be very nice, would it? Also, being one of the main, influential characters in a movie has many benefits. If the movie makes it to the Blockbusters, companies would flock to me to ask me to model for their advertisement. This is especially so for baby products, or law firms, where a role model as a father and a lawyer respectively would come in really handy to sell their product.

Lastly, acting as a morally upright person would no doubt affect my views on morality, and strengthen my moral courage. Although it is just an act, there is still an amount of feeling and reality to it. Just like acting out Boo Radley's rumors affected Scout's perception of Boo, acting would also affect me morally.

Do you agree with my reasons? Is my post answering the question?

Comment

Visual/Spatial Intelligence Assignment

2010-03-01T23:59:00.004+08:00

Hi,

This is my assignment for Visual/Spatial Intelligence. It was drawn with reference made to To Kill A Mockingbird, Enotes and zsp417.tripod.com

I simplified the map and removed some less important information (or those that I could not remember whether it was mentioned in the book) such as the hardware store, the treehouse, the picket fence etc.

LA IT Home Learning Assignment

2010-03-01T15:25:00.006+08:00

Hi,

This is the result of my Multiple Intelligences Test

As you can see, I am Visual/Spatial Smart and Interpersonal Smart. I think that through this test, I will be able to know how to make myself learn effectively. For example, if I am people smart, I would consult my friends and hold study sessions together to better facilitate my learning. If I am a picture smart person, I would create pictorial diagrams or mind maps to help me understand my work.

This knowledge is especially useful when studying for my exams as I need to know all my work in the shortest, most effective way possible. This will allow me to accomplish just that.

One thing I find weird is that I am actually people smart. I would not say that I am not, but I always thought I was better at intrapersonal. But in the end, intrapersonal turned up as the last in the test! Perhaps this test is a little inaccurate. So for the two assignments I need to complete, I will do Spatial/visual and intrapersonal.

Changes to My Blog

2010-02-27T23:07:00.004+08:00

Hi guys,

Now I will be posting on how my blog has improved over last year's. I admit that my

previous blog was a little plain, boring and dead. So that is why I want to prove to you that my blog is better now!

(Firstly, if you happen to think that this is my personal blog, you are gravely mistaken. :D Do not take me as a "mugger"!)

Blogskin

I have adopted a new blogskin because many of my classmates feedback that the old Blogger blog template was too plain, boring and not eye-catching enough. This new blogskin features a interesting image in the background of the Earth being submerged/drowned. My world is now drowned in many things, whether good or bad. I want to share my thoughts in this blog, hence the cool new image.

I also like this blogskin because:

the font is not too small
The picture is not behind the words, thus it does not cause difficulty in reading
There is a clear colour contrast--Black background and white words
there is a large enough sidebar to fit my widgets

These improvements will be especially valuable to my blog because, though most of us do no believe it, we DO judge a book by its cover. The first impression one receives when he/she enters the blog is the blogskin. With this cool new, exciting blogskin, I am sure that people will be more interested in my blog.

Widgets

There is not much change to the widgets, except the change of music and the change of the blog visitor counter.

I changed the music to feature livelier songs that I think will help "hype-up" my visitors. These songs are not so common on other people's blogs because they are not that famous songs, but still quite nice.

The new blog visitor counter allows me to check my daily visitor traffic. This will help me better know when to write new blog posts, check back for comments etc.

Blog Slogan

I have already posted on this issue, which is available under 'older posts'. However, I wish to clarify that my blog slogan is my ASPIRATION, not what I already am.

I did not like my blog slogan (These words will change the internet) because it sounded very egoistic and proud. This new blog slogan is a little more humble, I would say. I chose to put an aspiration because I do not want to remain at what I already am, but rather I want to continually improve myself, climb higher than the highest peak!

PS. In case you have not realized, my blog slogan is an awesome alliteration!

Blog Content

I am still working on this but, I will try my best to post about things that are fresh and new, such as SLC. I try not to post about cliche topics like inconsideration on buses, what I did for the weekend etc. (If you really want to know about these topics then go visit some other boring blog.) I will also add more picture onto my posts to make my post more eye-

catching.

What I Plan To Do?

Well, I aspire to be the best I can, so no blog post about how I have improved is complete without how I will continue to improve, right? From another perspective, no reader actually would like to know how you have improved, since the end result is already right before their eyes. But rather, they would like to know how you would be in the future, and this part of my post is specially dedicated to that.

I will try to find a better font such that the paragraphs do not seem too cluttered. The current font is a little messy. I will also include more humour in my post, as well as videos to captivate visitors.

I will try to find more interesting issues to talk about, as well as decrease the amount of bias in my posts. This will be important as I want my blog to be as reliable as possible, though I do admit that there is no such thing as 'zero' bias-ness.

Is there anything else I can improve on? Please comment.

Why I LOVE IT Home Learning

2010-02-27T17:38:00.007+08:00

Hi,

Well, as most of you probably know, next Mon and Tue will be our IT home learning days. Yes, that means there is no need to go to school! All our work and lessons will be prepared by our teachers and posted on the internet, and we have to finish it by a given time.

Personally, I like this method of teaching because I would have the opportunity to learn for ourselves, instead of having a teacher teach me everything. This will train my self-discipline NOT to play games, watch anime etc. during the Home Learning period.

On a usual day, where I have to wake up at an insane 6am, I would have lost my concentration by 11am. Hence, I would be nodding off to sleep during the second half of the day. The good news is that we only have to wake up at 8am during the two IT Home Learning days. (I know most people will just sleep two hours later, right?) This is really, really important because only then will I have the energy to work. The end result of this extra boost will be increased efficiency during my studies.

To some people, learning from the internet is easier and more efficient than learning from a real life teacher. I do not know why, but somehow an inanimate object can answer their questions and teach them better than a real-life teacher. Perhaps its because they prefer anything that is related to technology and computers. (I do)

However, everything has two sides of the story. (quite sad, huh?) There is this dark, looming, sinister temptation that threatens to seize you anytime during those two days-- Electronic Entertainment. Almost everyone in the world can be distracted with games, songs etc available in the internet. Even when in school, many people use their laptops to access Facebook, Youtube and computer games, sometimes during lessons. This problem will be worse when students are at home without the watchful eye of teachers, and are required to use the computer throughout the lesson. Work done might not be of top quality.

Also, we cannot clarify our doubts with teachers in those two days. questions directed through the forums will only be answered a few hours later. By then, student will be late for their submission of homework. There is also the possibility that students may not get their doubts clarified on the day itself and forget about the issue when he returns to school.

Lastly, if students do not complete their work properly or are unable to learn effectively during the two days, teachers would have to spend more time correcting the students' mistakes in class or revise the topics. This will waste precious curriculum time.

Verdict

It is alright to have IT Home Learning for a week at most to ensure that the students do not forget their questions and have a chance to voice them out. Also, it allows students to get a first-hand experience of independent learning, and is long enough to effectively develop self-discipline. Students can play computer games if they want to, but they have to make sure that they do not neglect their studies. Those who do not finish the work assigned may be punished by their teachers in school. (It is also like a holiday for us students!)

However, students who are unable to learn well with this system will still exist. There is no avoiding it. However, I feel that they can consult their parents or tuition teachers to teach them about what is being taught, if possible.

I LOVE IT HOME LEARNING! (who doesn't?)

Happy Chinese New (torturous) Year

2010-02-16T23:00:00.013+08:00

Hi Guys!

Firstly I would like to wish all of you a very happy Chinese New (torturous) Year!

I am sure many of you detest the large stack of homework that is on the table/in you bag right now. (yes, even the night before school reopens) Well, my teacher once forbad us to wish her 步步高生 because it sounded a lot like 簿簿高生。The first one means constantly improving but the second one means more and more books. In other words, she does not want more books to mark. Similarly, I also strongly dislike homework during the CNY holidays.

Here are some Facebook Updates I found:

"I am overwhelmed by the heap of things to do. 4 times I have tried to sleep, 4 times homework reminded me I cant."

" is trying to do homework and watch tv at the same time..."

"it seems that the long weekend wasn't long enough..."

These are just some of the many posts complaining about the not-so-long Chinese New Year weekend. This overwhelming amount of homework has DESTROYED our Chinese New Year!!! Well there is a deeper implication to this seemingly small issue- Should our present societal norms outweigh our culture?

This issue is rather prevalent in the world today. This is because in today's society, there exists one generation of people who grew up about 60-80 years ago, therefore are deeply rooted to traditions and culture. The younger generation in today's society live in a world where culture and traditions still play an important role, but modern trends/customs threaten to overwhelm them.

If you are still confused about what I am talking about, think of it as:

A Red Packet VS A Black Packet

The reason for the usage of red as the colour for a red packet is because red is considered an auspicious colour for the Chinese. However, some people give "red" packets of other colours such as pink, orange, brown, and worse of all, black because many of the younger generation feel that red is a little boring and want to explore different alternatives. Sad to say that the usage of Black is regarded as inauspicious, a total contradiction with Chinese traditions.

The question at issue now is whether modern customs should replace old traditions and cultural customs. Let us now look at both sides of the argument. (We will be using the Chinese New Year and homework incident as an example)

For homework:

- Termly tests are just around the corner, if students do not revise their work, they will fail.

- CNY is a long weekend. Students will lose out on a lot if no work is done.

- CNY is not all about celebrating There are times to be serious and do work too.

- This is today's society. There is no escaping from homework.

- CNY is just a celebration. It is not against the law to do homework during CNY.

Against Homework:

- CNY is for people to enjoy, meet up with relatives and friends.

- Students should not be bogged down with homework during a festive season as it will cause them not being able to enjoy the festive season.

So what do you think? Which one is more important? Comment!

End of part 1

SLC 4 Weeks down the Road

2010-02-10T21:52:00.002+08:00

Hi Guys

Sorry for not posting for so long. I know this may sound like an excuse but I have been reaching home at 10pm for a few days already, and the rest of the days are 'homework-packed' days.

So far we have started on the publicity part of our work. We need to create a publicity video, a brochure and website. Our first proposal was rejected so we are currently working at 150% trying to come up with some more by next week! I am in charge of the video. I have to say it is one of the most challenging of all, mainly because it was started only this year. That means that there are no resources from past SLCs to refer to.

SLC so far has been a cross-country run. Long hours spent in school and at home trying to dig out new ideas has left me a little tired. But this is just the beginning, still 5 more months to go! Stop and rest, and the deadlines will catch up with you. (our OS will also get to us) This mere 4 weeks is like the run from the track to the JC for Hwa Chong's cross-country run.

Just like a cross-country run, it is not just torture. There is still fun and experience gained. Just as running improves your stamina, this SLC-run has given me valuable skills and experience, such as teamwork and punctuality. I have learnt many miscellaneous things such as formality for our product, video editing etc. I have no doubt that this will come in useful in the future.

Finally, every run cannot be successful without the help of the organizer in the background. Similarly, this 4 weeks would not have been possible without my teachers, parents and friends. Thank You for all your help, and I hope you will excuse me if I am unable to complete any work.

Samuel Ng

SLC Introduction

2010-01-23T20:46:00.008+08:00

Hi all

Somehow its seems as if everyone has dedicated at least 1 paragraph to the new future school pilot programme. A little boring isn't it? I mean like, most of our blogs will be read by either

1)people from 2O1 or

2)people from Hwa Chong or

3) some random guy who happens to fall into our boring blogs by clicking "next blog" and leaves after finding out we are NOT celebrity bloggers though we want to be one.

(the sad truth huh?)

Who wouldn't know about it? Bad analysis of target audience or possible audience, I would say.

Today I am going to write about a topic none of you guys in the class will write for this year: My experience in the Student Leader's Convention OT. (SLCOT for short) Yesterday marked the official starting day of the SLCOT marathon, according to The teacher-in-charge of SLC. I was told that being a member of the SLCOT would be really tough (so don't expect me to be posting that much) but the fruits of our labour would change our lives forever.

Yesterday's meeting started at 7pm. No, that's not a typo-error. Its ended around 9.30p.m. Yeah! What's more, I was told that this first meeting was considered very early!!! (I bet you have those three letters Mr Dennis Ong mentioned)

First we went through some Icebreakers and the Organizing Secretary, Daniel, randomly forced me to do a forfeit even though no one called my name in 'Whacko'. Sort of unfair, I would say. So I stood behind him and shouted, " Daniel, forfeit!" Everyone likes to tease Daniel so they too wanted him to do a forfeit. Sadly, in the end I still did the forfeit.

Did I forget to mention that SLC was a collaboration between NYGH and HCI? Never mind it is not that important is it? It is? (I can see you wishing you were there) In my committee (logistics) there are 5 boys and 5 girls. Thus there is this school rule that we cannot meet in school (you know why but I don't, really!) so we have to meet at someone's house. (isn't that worse???)

Enough about them. Our seniors told us that the workload will be very heavy for SLC. there are meetings about 2 times a week at night because it is hard to find an afternoon where everyone is available. Meetings can easily last until 11pm. Plus there is a general meeting once every fortnight. Sounds pretty demanding!

I hope that SLC will not affect my school performance. I also hope that this event will change me into a better person and I will benefit greatly from it.

I cross my heart and hope for the best.

Samuel

PS. I did NOT join SLCOT to be with THEM.

Which is more Prominent in Singapore: Racism or Xenophobia

2010-01-21T18:08:00.006+08:00

Hi all,

Welcome once again to my blog. Its the beginning of a new year (sorry actually its been more than half a month already) and I am very very very glad to say we have new literature books! (sorry for the propaganda too)

I have started to read To Kill A Mockingbird, a story about racism and racial inequality in America. The first time I read it it was boring boring and even more boring. To be honest, I could not even get past the first chapter. Now that I think of it, Animal Farm was much better. The story was quite easy to understand as a whole. The dynamic characters made it easy for the reader to sympathize with the mistreated animals. The relation to real life was very eminent throughout the entire story.

Now back to the point. I was like trying to remember all those projects that I saw last year to try to improve my own project. I randomly recalled one that had a twenty word title! Mind-blowing? It was something like: examining the extent of the xenophobic tendencies in Singaporeans; case study of the Serangoon Gardens incident... This surprisingly random topic caused me to think about whether racism or Xenophobia is more prominent in Singapore.

For those of you who do not know what is Xenophobia, it actually means "intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries". For example, many Singaporeans dislike Chinese nationals etc.

Note: This blog post is based on my own opinion, not on any statistics.

Racism

In Singapore, there is no laws to enforce racial segregation. However, racism is still prevalent, whether we want to admit it or not. Studies show that racism exists in the subconscious (surprise!). Some employers only want to hire people of certain races, for example. Even so, racism is less in Singapore than in other countries. This is because almost all Singaporeans were brought up in a multi-racial community, with government imposing national education to teach children about the importance of Racial Harmony. We are taught and conditioned to accept everyone as Singaporeans, not Indians or Chinese or Malay.

Xenophobia

Have you forgotten the meaning of this word yet? If you have not, then try saying "Carl's Junior Portebello Mushroom Burger" 10 times very quickly and you will forget. If you happen to still be able to remember then say it another 100 times.

Finished? Ok, let us continue. Xenophobia is a very pressing issue here in Singapore. Since we can't be prejudiced against other races (who are born in Singapore, of course) we sort of turn our racism into Xenophobia. Foreigners are often made fun of in school. Most of us in school hate International school children. We think of them as rich BRATS, who cut the queues in the canteen or even if they do not cut the queues, we blame them for making the queues so much longer.

This scene can also be represented in the Jobs scene. Foreigners are blamed for taking up jobs which the local Singaporeans desperately need. Foreigners are also associated with crimes committed in Singapore. For example: theft, rape, burglary etc. are thought to be common around foreign worker dormitories. Once some Singaporeans signed a petition to move a foreign worker dormitory away from their houses as they thought that having it nearby would cause their houses to depreciate in value.

Final Verdict

Xenophobia is seen more in Singapore than racism. But racism still exists, as part of human nature.

Amazing....

My Blog Slogan

2010-01-21T15:45:00.001+08:00

Hi all,

I am posting two posts in a single day because today is the only day in the week that I actually have time to blog. I have two EP3s, Robotics and Fencing, Science Olympiad, Council Duties (Student Leader's Convention OT).

What's more, I am in the Future School Class, where the Just-In-Time Teaching Pedagogy is adopted. We have to read up on the topics BEFORE going to school. This means double workload!

An Acknowledged Alive Addicted Amazing Awesome Blogger

Coming back to the point, I will now be explaining my blog slogan. As most of you should be able to see, my blog slogan is actually an awesome alliteration. The slogan is actually the goal I set for myself as well as my blog. Now I will explain each and every word in the slogan:

Acknowledged

I want my blog to receive recognition as a celebrity blog. (or at least an effort to create one)

Alive

My blog will be alive with content and new viewpoints on current affairs.

Addicted

Now this is just a follow-up on my previous blog, in which the url is "iamnotablogaddict.blogspot.com" (the blog is not available now). Now I am addicted to blogging! I also want my readers to be addicted to reading my blog.

Amazing

I want to amaze people with my unique viewpoints.

Awesome

This word was our random tagline for all the buddies during Sec 1 Orientation 2010. When my readers leave this blog, I want them to shout the word "AWESOME!". If you cannot remember my entire blog slogan, just remember this one word: AWESOME!

Hope you find this awesome blog AWESOME!

Problem with Importing contacts from hotmail to apple address book

2009-11-14T11:27:00.005+08:00

This is the export page from hotmail
Proof of download. Notice that it is a csv file
Open the Address Book to import contacts
Selection of the CSV file
Failure!

Is it the problem with hotmail or address book? How to I correct it?

New Macbook Laptop!

2009-08-09T21:49:00.001+08:00

I am posting this blog post from my new Macbook! It's really great! After even touching this Mac, I do not want to use windows computers anymore.

Some features include:

1. Face detecting software that helps you sort out your photos
2. Website making software that you could use in your html lessons
3. Overall higher speed. (that means no more lagging like on a PC)
4. A better Microsoft office which is called iWork
5. Very impressive graphics in the entire computer
6. Fake thermal camera
7. A cool mouse I just bought yesterday that can scroll in all directions, not just up and down
8. 6-7 hour battery!

and many others...

I think I would not be using windows for a long time after this...
Most people think that a Mac is very incompatible but I find it absolutely great. All important applications such as office and adobe etc all have their Mac counterparts. What's more, Mac documents are compatible with windows documents. For example, A mac Keynote presentation can be opened in Microsoft office.

I also like the snow white colour of the Mac, the mouse and the power cable. If you look at them, they are really beautiful.

I recommend all those people who do not have a Mac to buy one. You will never regret it!

Casino in Singapore. Boon or Bane?

2009-07-03T09:24:00.002+08:00

Yes, the casino is supposed to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and generate millions of dollars for the tourism industry. Many Singaporeans will be saved from poverty during this economic crisis. Visitors to Singapore will increase dramatically and children will have a new theme park to play in. As a precautionary measure to discourage Singaporeans from entering the casino, a fee of at least $100 will be charged. As you can see, there are many advantages.

However, I feel that the disadvantages are more. Firstly, I feel that the $100 fine is not an effective method to stop gamblers. Most gamblers go to a casino ready to win some money, possibly thousands. What is a hundred to them? Or maybe some have already lost a lot of money, losing a hundred more would not make a difference to them.

Secondly, a casino will cause many social problems. Addicts will become in debt and there may be broken families. As I mentioned above, there is an economic crisis. Perhaps a person who is unemployed wants to have a chance to strike it rich. He takes all his savings and gambles it all away in one night. In one night, his family has become bangkrupt. In the soundtrack on gambling addiction, Jonny W. lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, lost his job and got divorced. Another gambler, a woman, spent one year in jail for stealing money to gamble.

Thirdly, if many people in Singapore are addicted to gambling and lose a lot of money, the economic system of Singapore would be affected. Many gamblers who have lost money fall into depression and are unable to function at maximum capacity. As seen in a video, even famous people are not spared from gambling either. A well-known reporter neglected her child to gamble. If this addiction can affect even famous people, many not so well-known people will also fall into it.

Lastly, gambling is a habit that is impossible to erase completely. One gambler who had not gambled to 17 years could not resist the temptation and went gambling one more time. There is also and advertisment of a gambler who asks money from his children! Gambling brings out the worst in people. Thus, I do not think that a casino should be built.

My father also thinks that a casino should not be built. He feels that there are many more ways to generate revenue for the tourism industry such as theme parks, greenery and shopping hot-spots. A casino should only be used as a last resort.

Robert Frost

2009-06-30T10:36:00.000+08:00

“The death of Robert Frost leaves a vacancy in the American spirit....His death impoverishes us all; but he has bequeathed his Nation a body of imperishable verse from which Americans will forever gain joy and understanding.” John F Kennedy

He is a man who was continuously plagued with grief and loss, but he could still write beautiful poems. His father died of tuberculosis when Frost was 11, leaving the family with just $8 after paying expenses. Frost's mother died of cancer in 1900. Frost’s sister was mentally ill and died in a mental hospital in 1929. Frost and his mother both suffered from depression, and his daughter Irma was also committed to a mental hospital in 1947. Even his wife was a little mentally ill.

Only 2 of his 6 children outlived Frost, with one of them mentally ill. One of his other children committed suicide, one died just days after birth and others died very young too.

Despite all these deaths and sadness, he was able to win 4 Pulitzer prizes (a US award for achievement in Literature, Journalism etc.) and he even managed to recite one of his poems at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration ceremony! He is one of the most famous American poets of all time, and his poems are taught in many schools in America. In fact, I think that his life a one is very inspirational. Few people have seen so many loved ones die, Robert Frost is one of them. Despite having mental illness running through his family, he still managed to snap out of his depression and write poems. This is what we should do to. Whenever unfortunate events happen, we should not grief for too long. We should quickly “regain our composure” and try to return to our normal life.
Many of his poems are also inspirational poems. One example would be The Road Not Taken:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

In case you do not understand the poem, it actually talks about the rewards of travelling the road that is less taken. Other poems of his that I like include: Going for Water and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.

Sources:
http://poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/192
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/robertfrost/12074
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frost#Pulitzer_Prizes
http://www.ketzle.com/frost/
http://www.online-literature.com/frost/
http://www.poetry.org/famous.htm

Poetry Analysis

2009-06-29T09:59:00.002+08:00

Courage by Robert William Service
Today I opened wide my eyes,
And stared with wonder and surprise,
To see beneath November skies
An apple blossom peer;
Upon a branch as bleak as night
It gleamed exultant on my sight,
A fairy beacon burning bright
Of hope and cheer.

"Alas!" said I, "poor foolish thing,
Have you mistaken this for Spring?
Behold, the thrush has taken wing,
And Winter's near.
"Serene it seemed to lift its head:
"The Winter's wrath I do not dread,
Because I am," it proudly said,
"A Pioneer."

Some apple blossom must be first,
With beauty's urgency to burst
Into a world for joy athirst,
And so I dare;
And I shall see what none shall see -
December skies gloom over me,
And mock them with my April glee,
And fearless fare.

"And I shall hear what none shall hear -
The hardy robin piping clear,
The Storm King gallop dark and drear
Across the sky;
And I shall know what none shall know -
The silent kisses of the snow,
The Christmas candles' silver glow,
Before I die.

"Then from your frost-gemmed window pane
One morning you will look in vain,
My smile of delicate disdain
No more to see;
But though I pass before my time,
And perish in the grale and grime,
Maybe you'll have a little rhyme
To spare for me."

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?

Hyperboles
In stanza 3 and 4, the statements “I shall see what none shall see”, “I shall hear what none shall hear” and “I shall know what none shall know” are hyperboles. This is because they emphasize the rewards of being courageous to explore new boundaries. The author uses these hyperboles to encourage us to be brave.

Personification
There is a lot of personification in this poem as the author is writing about a tree with feelings. A tree is not supposed to have feelings, only humans have, so the poem should be all about personification. In the first stanza, the apple blossom tree “gleamed exultant” and “burned brightly”. (I am not saying that humans can burn brightly but rather the apple blossom tree was full of life and fervour) The author chose to use this to tell us that people should be like that apple blossom tree, full of courage to face life.
Also, the apple blossoms serenely “lift its head” to look at the winter skies. Then, the apple blossom said that it was not afraid of the “winter’s wrath”. The author uses this personification to tell us to have courage in times of difficulty. The apple blossom tree is “A pioneer”, the one to bloom before spring, the one to endure the winter. Similarly, we need to step out of our comfort zone and try out new things.
Regarding the winter, the apple blossom said that it will “mock them” with his “April glee” and “fearless fare”. The author is trying to tell us to not be afraid of danger. Instead, we should mock it by doing our best to overcome it.
The “Storm King gallop dark and drear across the sky” and “silent kisses of the snow” are also personifications. The author uses these to describe the hardships but also the happiness whenever a person has courage.
In the last stanza, the tree has a “smile of delicate disdain”. This personification actually tells us the satisfaction when one is brave enough to cross boundaries to explore new fields of study. Courage certainly has many advantages, according to the way the author writes.

Similes
There is only one simile in the poem, which is “as bleak as night”. The author uses this simile to emphasize the dangers ahead for the courageous.

Why do I like this poem?
For starters, it actually rhymes and the syllabus for each line is almost the same. (8 for the main lines and about 4 for the shorter lines.) This makes the poem a lot easier to read than other poems that do not rhyme.

Secondly, there is an effective use of personification. The author portrays a lowly tree as brave and strong-willed, even more so than most people. This is an inspirational poem and its main purpose is to tell people to be brave as even a tree is brave. After all, courage is what made the world, and will continue to do so. If no one is courageous enough to step out of their own comfort zone, nothing great will be accomplished.

Thirdly, It does not only critisise men, but also gives us inspiration to be brave. The author mentions rewards during and after the jouney. This, I think, is quite good inspiration for a depressed person. Thus, I like this poem.

Book Review 1

2009-06-26T12:20:00.000+08:00

Book read: Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden

18. What would the main character be likely to do if he/she visited your classroom?

Well, that would depend whether we are Arabian, Mongolian or Chinese. If we were Arabian, the main character would most likely order his men to execute us. He may also storm into the classroom shouting like a madman and kill us all. He would show no mercy to anybody.

However, if we were Chinese already loyal to him, he would most probably try to recruit us into his army. This is because his army was lacking in soldiers and he would want to train young Chinese in Mongolian ways.

If we were Mongolian, he would come in to observe us study. Alternatively, he may ask us questions and praise the children. Yes, he would be like a father to us. He would probably tell us a story of his exploits.

26. If the story happened in a foreign land, compare that land to Singapore.

The story is situated in ancient Afghanistan/Arabia. The land there is vast and wide, with widely varying terrain. In some places, the land is extremely fertile and rich. All sorts of crops and fruits grew there, and the city near it was made rich and luxurious. However, in others, the land is dry and barren like a desert, with almost no life at all. Battles were fought on huge mountains and narrow valleys barely wide enough to fit a man. The destruction that the Mongolians left in their wake made the entire land stink of rotting flesh and burnt cities. Most of Arabia was left in ruins.
The characters venture even to Russia, where the snow is thick enough to bury a person riding on a horse.
The people of Arabia lived in fear of a Mongol attack. No town was safe. The Mongols raided every town and city in the country and millions of people were killed. There was no sense of security, even in the midst of the strongest army in the world.

In Singapore, the terrain is relatively flat and small. It is a metropolitan city with land that is not too fertile but still good. Much of the land in southern Singapore is man-made, unlike the land in the story which is all natural. Singapore is not too dry, with a lot of rainfall. In fact, thunderstorms occur on almost 200 days a year. There are no high mountains, or for that matter, no mountains at all, in Singapore. Unlike the land in the story, Singapore’s air is really fresh (no corpses). There is no snow, or the 4 seasons.

The people of Singapore have a sense of security and are quite safe.( In fact, too much sense of security) The crime rate is low and there is no war currently.

37. Using information from the book about one of the main characters, rewrite the ending of the book.

Ending: “It is done,” Ogedai said. ”My father has gone and I will now accept the oaths of my people.”

My Ending: “My father is dead, and his death is already avenged. His spirit is even now protecting our gers. His legacy shall be sung for generations to come, never forgotten. Long live the Khan!”

55. Which character in the book would you choose as a friend? Why?

I would choose Tsubodai as my friend. He is a extremely intelligent general. He is able to analyze every situation and come up with dozens of solutions. Moreover, he is loyal to the finish and never betrays his friends. He is also king and caring, unlike other generals who are cold-hearted and cruel (only towards their enemies). He is sensitive to other’s feelings and does not like to kill as much as Genghis or Jochi.

Should we critisise people or the opinions they have?

2009-06-21T15:35:00.002+08:00

I think that we should criticise them or their opinions, but not in a way that ruins their reputation or puts them down.

Firstly, I would like to say that criticism actually improves a person. When someone receives criticism, he or she will try his/her best to change for the better. For example, if my friend is always forgetful, I will tell him that he is too forgetful and should change. He will then try not to be forgetful. Without criticism, no one would know his/her own weaknesses, and there would not be great people.

However, I feel that criticism that is too harsh may hurt a person's feelings. Once, when I was watching a singing contest, the judges were criticising a man so harshly that the man started to fume and scold the judges! Sometimes, criticism causes strife between friends and enmity to develop. Thus, we will have to watch what we say very carefully, or else we may hurt other people's feelings.

One example of criticising harshly is openly criticising someone. If you criticise someone in public, they will "lose face". Most of the time, they will hate you for causing them so much embarrassment. Criticising someone in public also defeats the true purpose of criticism. Criticism is to inform that particular person of his/her mistake. It is not to let the whole world know that he/she has made a mistake.

When trying to criticise someone, you should do it in a way that makes the person think that you really care for him/her. You must talk to him/her gently and try not to seem like you are criticising them, but instead like you are advising them. This will make you criticism/advice more easily accepted by the other party.

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

2009-06-18T21:15:00.002+08:00

Well, I think that if many people think it is true, it is most probably true.

However, it is human to make mistakes, and sometimes the truth is not true. It may just a misunderstanding or an assumption based on inadequate facts. (or false information) One example would be when an airplane crashed over the North Sea in 1983. The prime minister had ridden on the doomed plane just a few weeks earlier, and the airplane just disintegrated in midair. At that time, most people assumed it was a bomb. However, further investigation proved otherwise. The plane had crashed because of three inferior bolts holding the tail of the plane to the main body. From this example we can see that what many people assume is true may not be true.

Sometimes, it is heavily influence by propaganda and is thus untrue. In Animal farm, the animals believed Squealer's figures that their rations had increased and their lifes were better. However, this was propaganda spread by Squealer to assure the animals that they were well to do when in fact, they were starving. We have to discern whether a piece of news is true instead of believing everything the media reports. Nothing but the Truth tells us more about the complexities of the truth. Most people believed that Narwin was in the wrong. (this was what the media reported) In actual fact, it was Philip who was in the wrong. He was actually playing a practical joke on Narwin.

In my point of view, truth is just a perception. There is no way of learning the WHOLE truth because everyone tells their own story from their own perception. What most people believe is what is considered the truth, however, it is still only a perception as it is from someone's point of view. Thus, what people believe may not be the truth.

Is it your duty to give to Charity?

2009-06-13T17:46:00.004+08:00

I think that it is my duty to give to charity. However, some others do not regard it is a duty.

As a Christian, I feel that what I have, be it money or things, are all graciously provided by God. God wants all Christians to love other people. Thus, we are compelled yet willing to give to charity. Charity work will benefit less fortunate people in the society. Also, many times charity work actually touched many people's hearts and they also became Christians.

Putting religion aside, I personally feel that it is still our duty to give to charity. This is because I am very moved by pictures of people in poverty or handicapped people. They have very little to eat and millions die from diseases and hunger every year. I sometimes try to put myself into their shoes and imagine not eating for days or being blind, and I realise it is unimaginable unless you experience it first hand. I try to do my part to help them by donating money to charity. That is the least one can do.

Some people really do charity work. They give up their life of luxury to go to poverty-stricken countries to provide aid to the poor. They devote their whole life to doing charity work. I heard of one man who climbed mountains to raise awareness of handicapped people, and a handicapped person travelling around the world in his wheelchair. If the handicapped can do that, the least I can do is donate money, right?

However, it is sad that there are many selfish people in the world. Yes, they give to charity, but not because of love, but to increase their popularity. The public puts a lot of pressure on rich people to donate to charity. However, some of these rich people do not give willingly, but give to make sure that they do not receive criticism from the public.

Even more saddening is the fact that there are some people who do not give to charity at ALL! They scold people who are collecting money for charity and refuse to do charity work.

I hope everyone can give to charity generously and help poor people cope in this economic crisis.

If you could eliminate one emotion from the world, would you? Which one? Why?

2009-06-08T12:27:00.002+08:00

If I could eliminate one emotion from the world, I would remove hatred.

Hatred is intense feelings of dislike towards someone or something. Hatred has been the cause of many wars and fights, which have resulted in many deaths. Hatred is a very dangerous emotion that brings out the worst in people. People turn violent and aggressive when hatred is in their heart. One such example would be Hitler. He hated the Allied Powers for making Germany poor and bankrupt. thus, he rallied the people and prosecuted the Jews. The war that he caused claimed over 60 million lives. All because of hatred.

Hatred also has many disadvantages. People who harbour hatred in their heart are:

never fully happy or content.

bitter and cold toward almost everybody in their life.

not sought out by others to be a friend.

socially isolated and lonely.

caustic, hostile, sarcastic and cynical.

lacking in enthusiasm, energy and spontaneity in their daily life.

mistrusting, paranoid and suspicious in their relationships.

easily provoked to anger

Hatred may be caused by jealousy, thirst for revenge and if that person irritates you. It can cause harm to everyone around you. Thus, it is important to know how to control your hatred.

Firstly, you need to learn how to forgive others. If others made you feel hurt, you must first forgive that person. Also, you need to know whether he scolded you because you were wrong or just to insult you. You must not retaliate before knowing who is in the wrong.

Secondly, you must learn how to treat others well so that they have a good relationship with you. Only then will they not insult you. You need to treat them fairly and help them when they need help. Always try to talk to they kindly and not continuously criticise them. The Bible says: "Do unto others what you want them to do unto you." If you want other people to like you, you have to first respect and care for their feelings. If you scold them and beat them, they will also scold you and beat you. This cycle of hatred will continue for a long time.

Thus, I hope that everyone will learn to love and not hate. Also, even if you cannot remove this emotion from the world, you can at least remove this emotion from your life. If everyone can do this, or even limit the amount of hatred, the world will be a much better place.

My First Semester as a Secondary One Student

2009-06-05T16:42:00.000+08:00

My first semester as a secondary one student has been a fun, fruitful and rewarding experience. Although the journey was relatively tough compared to my primary school, I still managed to pull through, with results that were, in fact, not bad. Even more rewarding was the lessons I have learnt during this 6 month period.

A new school, new friends and a whole new life awaited me the moment I arrived at the gate. However, the orientation buddies and group mates were warm and friendly. I soon got to understand the Hwa Chong spirit, a spirit of warmth and camaraderie. This helped me in adapting to secondary school life.

Even thought we were ordered to cheer our hearts out on many occasions, I do not regard this as a chore or a responsibility, but instead as a sign of my utmost respect and loyalty to the school. These times spent cheering were a valuable lesson to me. It taught the importance of loyalty and repayment.

Another incident was when I was reprimanded for not bowing to a teacher. That teacher demanded that we bow to any teacher we meet. At first, I sneered and thought that forcing someone to show respect was quite ridiculous as the respect was not real respect but fear instead. However, now I know that everyone should be respected, especially our elders (teachers) because they have contributed to us something in one way or another.

In the beginning of the year, I was not really on good terms with a person in my CCA. Every time he hurled an insult at me, I was infuriated and really felt like punching him right there and then. But I knew that violence would only bring about more violence, thus starting the vicious cycle. Retaliation was not an answer. Instead, I ignored him and even helped him to solve his problems. Slowly, what used to be an easily agitated me turned into a patient and calm person. He soon became my best of friends, and we are on our way to winning another competition.

Hwa Chong has many interesting and fresh things to do. Firstly, the campus is exceptionally big! Usually, we take 8 minutes to walk from the classroom to the art studio, and this has caused the whole class to be reprimanded countless times. However, I appreciate the campus as it is scenic and spacious, unlike my primary school. The fact that the school has a whole block of science labs and a whole block of computer labs never fails to amaze me. What’s more, there is a full size track and field readily available, with many gymnasiums.

My grades have been quite good this two terms, but not you would call brilliant. However, I did show a slight improvement in my grades; form 1.83 to 1.50! I want to work harder in the next few months to make sure I improve some more.

Who says that only youngsters nowadays are inconsiderate?

2009-05-27T21:51:00.003+08:00

Recently I came across a blog post on Jonah's blog about youngsters nowadays being inconsiderate. Also, many courtesy campaigns stress the point that teenagers should give up their seat to the elderly. However, many teenagers do not take this virtue of self-sacrifice seriously and thus has sparked off a lot of critisism mostly directed at youngsters. One would sometimes hear a phrase or two saying "youngsters nowadays ar..." while the speaker shakes his or her head. Sounds familiar?

Youngsters out there in cyberspace, this picture is prove that we are not the only culprits. I'm really sorry for the blur image but you should be able to see a old man with grey hair not allowing people to sit down Beside him. Note the word Beside and not On. He does not even have to sacrifice his own seat to allow someone else to seat down! Instead, he places his old Newspapers on the seat next to him. Even when a Nanyang girl went up to ask for the seat, he promptly refused her.

Is this behavior because he cannot place some newspapers on his own lap, or is too fat to sit on only one seat? No!

Later on, a large and well-built man tried to squeeze into te seat but the old man showed sheer signs of disapproval. It was only when he was stared at that he reluctantly allowed the man to sit down.

Implications

From this source it is evident that age does not significantly affect one's consideration for others. (A teenager and an old man both do not give up their seat.) Rather, I feel, it is one's character and willingness to self-sacrifice (love) that really matters. The foundation of human character should be built upon Love.

My point today is that love is really important. You see, if you love someone (even a stranger), you would not steal from him, or kill him. instead, you would help him up when he/she falls down and care about them. Through this love then will

sacrifice, respect, faith, and many other important charater traits be developed.

The Bible instructs Christians to love thier enemies. Surely you can love you family and friends?

So I appeal everyone to start loving! (not affection but consideration)

Emo People

2009-05-18T17:48:00.005+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9onvD6CkCvc

watch the video, it's hilarious!

However, there is something we can learn from it. There are many unusual and let us say, mentally unsound people in today's society. Many people are depressed in this economic downturn and turn EMO.

In the video, emo people hurt themselves and enjoy it. This not only poses a treat to himself but also to others.

Emo people always over-react. In the show, they cry when they see a box of jelly beans because there are too many colours. But what if they broke up or lost their job in real life. over-reacting would probably mean suicide or even worse, murder.

The emo song is downright weird, I should say. First they were singing seriously about life being miserable. Then they smile and say they have fresh cookies! This shows that they have mood swings: form pessimistic to optimistic in a span of a second. Wow! That's hard to imagine!

Thus, we have to lend a helping hand to emo people. If not, they would soon develop bad habits and have physcological problems. Many emo people pick up smoking (serious cases), gambling and consuming drugs. There are some emo people in class but they are just mild cases. Evan so, we have to encourage them to kick the habit of being emo and socialise with them.

So I appeal for everyone out there, do not shun people who seem unusual or different, for they may need your care and comfort.

Power Corrupts but Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely?

2009-05-17T22:14:00.002+08:00

Yes, power corrupts. But is this true for all leaders?

Many leaders throughout history have been ruthless tyrants. Napoleon of France helped overthrow the lavish French Emperor Loius but crowned himself Emperor of France a few years later. Stalin helped overthrow the Czars but treated the peasants of Russia badly. he oppressed the people and killed millions of them.

However, there have been good leaders who were not corrupted by power. Emperor Kangxi of the Qing dynasty is one example. He devoted his life to his country and brought about peace and prosperity to the land. His empire stretched from Guilin in the south to Mongolia in the north. He is considered one of the best emperors in Chinese history. He is just one of the many examples of good leaders who CARE about the people.

So, does power corrupts? Emperors who have ABSOLUTE POWER can be good or bad. think again, does absolute power corrupt absolutely? Discuss.

Deserved Respect or Annoying Privelage?

2009-05-04T22:29:00.002+08:00

Guai Kia: Teachers in Hwa Chong should be given the respect they deserve. Teachers are busy people, they should be allowed to cut the queue to get their food first.

Ah Beng : They not even busy one lor, if you ask me, we are more busy okay? You know arh, last time I queue up for food at the noodle store, then suddenly got a lot of techers come and cut queue. Actually I only to wait for 3 more minutes one, but then those teachers made me wait to 15 minute more. in the end I was late for assembly, got 1 demerit point nia!

Guai Kia : Really? Even so, they should be allowed to cut the queue. After all, they are our elders!

This is a typical conversation showing two sides of the story. This is in fact a real argument in HCI today. Recently I heard some people complaining about this controversial rule. True, teachers should be given the respect they deserve, but should'nt students be given respect too?

Teachers may not always be in a rush. Perhaps they only want to get their food quickly so that they can go to the staff room to rest/mark work. Or perhaps they are rushing to their next class. But let us think logically, if a student's recess/period is 40 minutes, naturally a teacher's break should also be 40 minutes. Thus it is not fair for the student to wait longer for food than teachers who are equally busy.

I personally have the same experience as Ah Beng in the conversation. Thus, I feel that teachers should not cut the queue and cause students who possibly waited to 10 minutes to wait an extra 10 minutes. Thus, I feel that teachers should use this privelage unless they are in a hurry.

Thank You

Abraham Lincoln's Speech

2009-04-06T20:46:00.002+08:00

This isone of Abraham lincoln's most famous speeches, The Gettysburg Address:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,
a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing
whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long
endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate
a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their
lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we
should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we cannot
consecrate - we cannot hallow - this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who
struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can
never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be
dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far
so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task
remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to
that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here
highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation,
under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the
people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln - November 19, 1863

2009-04-02T14:45:00.000+08:00

Robotics Competition; Sweet Success!

2009-03-30T17:55:00.002+08:00

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!

2009-03-26T21:08:00.004+08:00

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

2009-03-17T12:18:00.000+08:00

Analysis of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

2009-03-16T20:56:00.003+08:00

"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

2009-03-02T19:48:00.003+08:00

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

2009-03-01T16:24:00.002+08:00

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

Uncouth Behaviour on Public Buses

2009-02-19T22:36:00.003+08:00

On two occasions, namely 3 weeks ago and today, I saw a handful of pupils from a elite primary school near Ghim Moh. I had been on bus 92 on my way to MOELC and this group of pupils were behaving in a very uncivilized way at the back of the bus.

3 weeks ago, these pupils were all eating finger food in the bus. Then, they cleaned thier hands onto the seat of the bus. also, they were shouting and standing up in thier seats to talk to thier friends behind or in front. They managed to slip out quite a number of vulgarities which I shall not name.

Today, I saw two of the pupils from the same group rest their long, fat legs across the aisle and onto the opposite seat, almost tripping me and my friends. They too spoke many vulgarities LOUDLY and no doubt caused many passengers to be uneasy. Many people were staring at them.

These pupils reflect very badly on thier school which has a good reputation. But after this incident, I don't think this school is really good after all. Thier students are uncouth and rude and have no respect for public property. They also have difficulty in following simple rules like "no eating or drinking on the bus".

I shall not name the school but you very well know what school it is.

Those "Parkers" have brought a bad name upon thier school.

Thank you

Oxymorons

2009-02-16T18:49:00.002+08:00

Recently, my class discussed about oxymorons, which are two words put together which have the opposite meaning. It creates tension and shows over-dramatic words and actions. Such as

"A deafening silence feel on the room.I glanced nervously towards the door. There, with a stack of detailed summarys we wrote on ...."

Here are some oxymorons:

random order
ill health
found missing
Crash Landing
Casual Dress
Awfully Good
Act Naturally
Holy War
Junk Food
Modern History
Old News
Press Release
Pure Evil
Restless Sleep
Small Crowd
Talk Show
Unknown Identity
Virtual Reality

These are some of the simplest oxymorons I could think of. Oh! and I made up two more:

Stupid HCI
Smart Raffles

Get it?

Interesting Article

2009-02-11T19:39:00.002+08:00

Look at this Interesting Article i've got.

The Family Tree

2009-02-10T21:09:00.007+08:00

In our class, we have a big family tree comprising of many people in the class. Jeremy and his loved one are in the centre, with many "adopted" sons because there is not enough girls in the family tree. Basically there are just two generations, because jeremy does not want anyone above him:) Here is a graphic diagram of the family tree.

We even asked Mr Yong to join but he refused. Interested people from 1O1 pls contact Jeremy from my blog link. We hope to see more people joining the family tree.

Thank You

Flowers for Algernon

2009-02-04T20:57:00.006+08:00

Q4. Which Charlie do you like best- the one with an IQ of 68 or the one with an IQ of 200?

I like the Charlie Gordon who was intelligent. The reason for this is that I find the Charlie Gordon who was stupid is very very saddening. He cannot understand what other people were saying. It is a very sorry scene to see Charlie Gordon being made fun of by his "friends".

Although I agree that he was arrogant at first and was not sociable, he soon learnt that everyone deserves respect. If he did not regress mentally, I think he would have made many new friends. at the same time, the smart Charlie Gordon could research many things for mankind. For example, he could have made a way to triple somone's IQ and not regress. Also, the operation made him more emotionally mature and he is not as childish as before.

Since he has already matured emotionally and mentally, why would we want him to go back to his pityful state before? I don't understand why people like the stupid Charlie. Is it because of sympathy?

Please post comments to help me improve on this post.

Thank you

Taximan's Story Discussion

2009-02-03T22:14:00.004+08:00

This is a discussion on the Taximan's story in Little Ironies.

Q1. What is the irony in the story?

The taximan hates the way youngsters behave nowadays but still fetch them around in his taxi.

Q2.What are the themes raised in the story?

The themes are immoral behaviour among youngsters, the society is not as strict as the past.

Q3. how realistic is this story?

This story is realistic as it is very common for people nowadays to go out with their boyfriends/ girlfriends. many youngsters are in a relationship at a younger age and many teenagers lie to their parents about where they are so that they can go out with their friends.

Q4. What do you think of the taximan? Do you feel sympathy for him?

I think that the taximan is a hardworking and honest-to-earth man who only wants the best for his children. He worked as a taxi driver for twenty years to bring up his children. But his favourite daughter, Lay Choo, who had the chance to go to university, did many immoral things like lying to her parents and going out with Caucasians. I feel sorry for the taximan because his daughter did something very wrong as caused hi to be heartbroken.

Q5. Do you agree to his lamenting?

I agree that youngsters of this generation indeed are not as well-behaved as before. They should concentrate on their studies instead of going out and having fun. They do not gain anything from this and I think they should instead spend quality time with their families.

Q6. What about the other characters in the story? Do you feel sympathy for them?

i sympathize with Lay Choo's parents because they spent so much effort to brig up Lay Choo but she turned out to be lacking in moral values.On the other hand, the taximan has double standards. he expects his daughter to be well behaved but he likes the other girls and their caucasian husbands because he can earn money from them.

However, I do not sympathize with Lay Choo even though she was beaten very severely. This is because she did something despicable and thus does not deserve respect.

>>to Ms. Soh: Pls post something in the tag box

Thank you

Dairy Entry Of Mentally Retarded Person, Bean Thomson

2009-02-01T17:03:00.000+08:00

Dear dairy,
Today I finaly got to vute. The goverment sent me a notece a few days ago to ask me to vute. i wus veri exited . it was the fist time i goto vute as i turnd 21 onli last year. I lerned from my feind that onli adults who ar 21 years old and abov can vute.

So i went to the vuting center today to vute for our new pressidant of the contry. Actualy before that i dont kno where the center was so i ask mrs meany, my niegbour, where it was. She said I was very shupid but i dont know what she mins. She laffed but i didnt understan, so i also laffed. She then brougt me there becase she was also going. I am lucky to have such a kind niegbour.

When i arived there, a woman with a shirt that says “vote for singapore” (what is singapore?) told me to go to booth numberr 53 to vute. I walk towards that booth and jioned the que at the front of the booth. A big musclar man asked me for the letter and i passed it to he. He loked at me and said i “looked like a total retad”. I asked him what he meant and he stated laffing real hard. What’s so funy? I was bewildered (i learned that from a book. Cool word!) but when he saw me, he laffed until he fell down on the floor. Does he have a stomac ache?

After a while, he stod up and told me to fil up a form. On it were to names, mr lau and mr tan. He paper looked very torn. I circles mr tan and i said “okay, im done” he brougt me in front of a green color bin and told me to put my paper in. i carfuly put it in but there was a horribe smell coming out of the bin. It smell like bananass and roten met. Why is there funy smells in a voting box? I was veri curios and put my head into the bin. Peeyew, it smeled veri veri bad. I tok my head out and i saw mani peple staring at me. i dunno why they star at me but i feel veri quesi so i quikli run out of the center. I dont like peple staring at me.

Suddenly I notice I was veri lost. I ask a tenager where was bukit panjang road. He loked at me wierdly and pointed towards there.i said tank yu and I keep walking strait and finaly fond my house. Yeah!

Today was a veri good day for me

Goodnigt dairy,
Bean Thomson

http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/legalissues/a/vote1000.htm

Happy Chinese New Year

2009-01-27T23:41:00.003+08:00

祝你们：

新年快乐恭喜发财万事如意步步高升学业进步

(既然这是华人新年,我应当用华文来写.)

新年快乐！！！

希望大家有个美好的新年。我的这一个新年挺好玩的。只不过我有很多很多的日语功课。（大概有40页吧！）我有空时就必须拿出来做。

Happy Chinese New year everyone!!!
Hope you had a good time this long holiday. My holiday was moderately enjoyable. In my free time, i had to do my Japanese homework. (40 pages) I was quite busy but i had a good time with my cousins which i see only once a year.

Socio-economic Impact of the Three Gorges dam

2009-01-27T22:56:00.003+08:00

The Three Gorges Dam is an engineering marvel. It is 2335m long, 101m high and 115 m thick at its base. it is the largest hydro-electric dam in the world and it costs 180 billion yuan to build.

Pros

The Three Gorges Dam can produce enough electricity to reduce the coal consumption by 31 million tonnes per year, cutting the emission of 100 million tonnes of greenhouse gas millions of tonnes of dust, sulfur dioxide, Carbon dioxide and mercury. We can see from this that the it can protect the enviroment by cutting the amount of coal burned.

The dam also prevents flooding downstream of the dam, which had been a major problem before the dam was built. In the past, floods caused thousands of people to die and billions of dollars of damage. With the new dam, floods are less likely to occur.

Cons

The 600 kilometer long reservoir has or will flood some 1,300 archaeological sites and alter the appearance of the Three Gorges as the water level rises over one hundred meters at various locations. Cultural and historical relics are being moved to higher ground as they are discovered but the flooding of the Gorge will undoubtedly cover some undiscovered relics. It is very saddening to see artifacts which have survived thousands of years submerged in a few weeks.

The dam's reservoir will collect a lot of silt in the years and the construction of the dam caused more erosion and deforestation. The water downstream will be more polluted as the river's flow slows down. In turn, many people would be affected and wildlife would slowly die out.

The construction of the dam has relocated many living upstream of the dam. Reports claim that many of the people are not getting the compensation and help they need to rebuild their homes due to corrupion.

Do the Pros outweigh the Cons? Is the building of the dam worth it?

Today's Current Affairs Discussion

2009-01-16T16:37:00.005+08:00

Today's current affairs discussion was very interesting.But i feel that we did not really touch on the point of " economical development always outweighs enviromental conservation" . Everybody was only talking about the pros and cons of land reclaimation in Singapore but fail to realise that this isn't really the question at issue.

In my opinion, land reclaimation is only something that Singapore and a few other countries do to increase their land little by little and it does not really affect the enviroment.Although the representitive of the fishes says that land reclaimation destroy their habitats and ultimately kill them, global warming is what destroys the most coral reefs. Scientists say that even if the global temperature rises just 3 degrees, many coral reefs would be destroyed.

Deforestation, pollution and desertification are more serious problems which affect us and the Earth. The rate of deforestation and desertification has been increasing at an alarming pace in the last few decades. This causes habitat lost for animals and in the case of desertification, there is less farming land as the land is changed in deserts. Pollution has also affected a lot of the world population eg. people who rely on water from rivers which are polluted may get diseases from drinking polluted water. I feel that these topics should have been discussed and not land reclaimation.

In geograhpy lessons, I have learnt about man-land relationships. Everything that we do affects the Earth, which in turn affect us. So if we chop down more forests to build more factories which produces lot's of greenhouse gases, the temperature will then rise, the coral reefs will be destroyed and many fishes would die so we would not have fish to eat and we would not have enough nuitrition. (that's a lot in one sentence)

Thus I feel that the motion of today's debate is not correct. Enviromental conservation has the upper hand.

Samuel

Speech Against Whaling in Japan

2009-01-15T21:41:00.006+08:00

Good morning ladies and gentlemen,

I am a member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The purpose of my speech is to raise awareness of the cruelty towards whales.

Firstly, whales are killed unnecessarily. The Japanese kill large whales for research programs to establish the size of whale groups. But experts say that these information can be obtained from their tissue or faeces, both of which does not involve in killing whales. So actually, scientific whaling is just a cover for commercial whaling.

Whales are killed at sea often using explosive harpoons, which puncture the skin of a whale and then explode inside its body. Anti-whaling groups say this method of killing is cruel, particularly if carried out by inexperienced gunners, because a whale can take several minutes or even hours to die. This is very inhumane!

About 10 species of whales are endangered and many others dependent on conservation efforts. Still, the Japanese kill whales and sell them in markets all over Japan.

There are many ways the Japanese can save all these whales. Firstly, they can hunt whales in moderation and only use them for research so that whale populations can grow. They should also not use such cruel weapons to hunt whales. Perhaps they could use nets so as to reduce the suffering of whales.

I strongly urge you not to eat whale meat and discourage others from consuming them too. This way, we can prevent whales from becoming extinct and repopulate our oceans with these magnificent giants.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Other sites you may want to visit: National Geographic article on whaling in Greenland

Two Men Arrested For Protest

2009-01-12T18:19:00.000+08:00

Today, Two men were arrested for staging a protest outside the Ministry Of Manpower Building in the CBD. Seelan Palay and Chong Kai Xiong were protesting in support of Myanmar nationals allegedly being forced to leave Singapore for involvement in political activities.

For more information on this incident, please go to http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_325174.html

My opinions

I feel that the two Singaporeans are really very caring. They defended and protested in support of the Myanmar nationals.

Most Singaporeans look down on foreign labourers. I think that they too deserve respect. Without all the foreign construction workers, Singapore may not have so many tall skyscrapers or even HDB flats. We too must remember that Most of our ancestors came to Singapore as labourers too. The Myanmar nationals had their work permits terminated because they were caught protesting against their country's ruling junta. So we can say they were protesting for a good cause, just as these two men, Seelan Palay and Chong Kai Xiong, are.

The Ministry of Manpower should renew their work permits. If they have to go back to Myanmar, they would not have enough money to support their family. Some people may say "it's only a few foreign workers." but if you were their family members, you would probably be starving already.

There is still one thing I still don't understand. It is illegal to hold a public gathering of five or more people without a police permit in a public place. But why are 2 Singaporeans arrested?

Samuel

Melamine Food Scandal

2009-01-11T14:52:00.000+08:00

Recently, there was a melamine food scandal. Melamine, a toxic chemical, was added to milk powder, chocolates, biscuits, animal feed and many other items. As a result, 4 babies in china died and thousands of other people became ill.

Countries all over the world recalled all China-made products and tested them for melamine. All those found to have contained that chemical were immediately burned. In Singapore, quite a few products were found to contain melamine, and for awhile, most Singaporeans avaoided buying China-made products.

Despite a nationwide campaign to raise food safety standards and reassure consumers, China's broken-down food safety inspectorate still failed to catch and report lapses in standards when they happened.So, people were cautious about buying China-made products. Nobody really trusts China-made things like before.

Now,I don't trust China-made products a lot. But I still have to use/eat them as most things are made in China nowadays. I hope that China would have learnt its lesson and it will not have anymore scandals. Consumers trusts' are recovering slowly but if there is another similar incident, I fear that faith in China-made propducts will be so shaken that no one will dare to buy thier products.

Will there be another scandal? Will people still want China-made products? Will history repeat itself?

Nobody Knows.

I flew away...
Samuel

10 Things That Happened in The First Week of Secondery School Life

2009-01-09T22:45:00.000+08:00

In my first week of secondary school life ......

1. I was almost late because of a traffic jam

2. My friend had his handphone confiscated

3. I tried high jumping for the first time in my life

4. I created this blog so that the world can enjoy it

5. I had my first lesson on computer programming

6. Cheered untill I had a severe sore-throat

7. I never missed a meal

8. I had already decided on what EP3 I wanted to join

9. Sprinted around Hwa Chong

10. I have been to many "haunted" places in Hwa Chong

But I Still Survived My First Week in Hwa Chong!!!

Currently at the computer typing this post,

Samuel

Sec 1 Orientation

2009-01-09T21:15:00.000+08:00

I just had my sec 1 orientation a week ago.

The orientation was extremely fun and wild, but at the same time exausting. At the end of the 2 days of orienatation, almost everyone had lost their voices or had sore-throats. This is because the "Buddies" in charge of each of the groups were very, very, very, very keen on cheering! Everywhere we went, everything we did, we had to cheer. No wonder so many people lost thier voices!

Personally, I don't find cheering loudly very important. My buddies explained that cheering was the best way to show the "Hwa Chong Spirit". All you have to do to have the "Hwa Chong Spirit" is know and admit in your heart that Hwa Chong is the BEST!!! But I do agree that cheering is a good way to show others we Hwachongians Rock!

The sec 1 cohort also had a mass waterbomb game which ended in a free-for-all waterbomb war! There was total chaos (although it was fun) and everybody threw waterbombs at anybody!
Even the buddies join the game and pelted each other with the waterbombs. It was the most memorable game of the whole orientation.

As I glanced back, those two days seemed to have happened only a few minutes ago. All the memories of that orientation was still fresh in my mind. I don't think I'll forget them fo a long time.

I'm on my way to Mars,
Samuel

My First Post

2009-01-09T20:27:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone out there in cyberspace. Welcome to my blog. This blog is part of my ACE project in HCI and I will try to post something here everyday to keep the blog alive. If you have any comments, please feel free to write something down in the comment box. And do visit my blog often.

Regards,
Samuel