Canoeing

Recently, there was a sudden happen of events which happened in the canoeing CCA. All the secondary threes in a certain craft, the kayak craft, quitted the CCA upon our teacher-in-charge Mr Yong’s repeated persuasion. Personally I feel that these secondary threes are very irresponsible for quitting and giving into the temptation of missing all the tough and grueling training sessions. These secondary threes were set to be our seniors next year to try to lead the team on to try and win the National Schools Championships but many of them quit. Though, they did not have exceptional leadership qualities, they could still have stayed in the CCA to be a target for us juniors to set to reach so that we can beat certain timing. I feel that as next year, we will be competing in the B Division category, having competitors older will help a lot due to the increase of experience and the strength and stamina they have in them. This year, they did very well against the other secondary fours from other schools, but they decided to quit at this very important path the canoeing team is taking. As it is, we do not have enough quality secondary one paddlers in our team to challenge for the C Division championships. One of the secondary ones has an asthma problem, two of them are severely overweight, and four of them are having severe attitude problem. The secondary threes leaving of the team at this period comes as a very big blow to us sec twos as we are left to lead. However, putting myself into Mr Yong’s shoes, his decisions are very well thought and well made. Thinking back, the secondary threes who left are very rebellious and often stand up to whatever Mr Yong says and even staged a boycott of a training camp during the June holidays. If Mr Yong had not persuaded them to leave, they would have probably influenced us and the secondary ones to be like them. A team with attitude problem and having second thoughts of winning will never go very far. Considering their poor leadership qualities such as not carrying out what they are asked to, they cannot lead others though they can win medals on their own. However this selfish mentality will pull the others in the team who unselfishly sacrifice for the team. These seniors won medals in this year’s competitions because they played mind games with their competitors such as performing sub-standardly purposely to let their opponents get the wrong impression of them and get complacent. Mr Yong also made several wrong decisions by putting them into some events based on their timing. Mr Yong felt that the stronger should compete in the events which have strongest competition but these seniors who are very talented let the hardworking and deserving team mates compete in the most difficult competitions while they go ahead to claim their medals in the easier competitions. Though the chances we may lose next year’s competitions, we have a very high chance of winning 2013’s National Schools Championships as the bad hats in the team are already eliminated. Mr Yong has obviously gambled his hopes on us sec twos to lead the team and influence them.

Reflection on sex ed

Mr Charles Low, director of the ProEd consortium recently gave us a talk on sexuality education on going steady at our age. Being at 14 years, there are quite a number of people getting into the Boyfriend Girlfriend Relationship (BGR), whether in neighbourhood schools or elite schools. Mr Low’s advice to us was that we are still too young and obviously too busy to have a girlfriend. In my opinion, going steady at an age of 14 is a bit too young. I think that what causes people to have the temptation to get a girlfriend or boyfriend is largely due to influence instead of the desire to find a partner in life. Where does this influence come from? The television and friends. In my class, many of us watch the television series Glee. In this show, it depicts the high school life of students in the United States. In high school, the students were having steads are most of them have intimate relationships. These probably cause people to have the desire to find a girlfriend in our school as we are also around the same age as the characters in the show. However, if we really get a partner what good would it do to us? I feel that what really gets to us if we fall into a relationship at our age is trouble after the short term fun and thrill. The initial stages of a relationship is usually fun when you get to send flirtatious messages to the girl, see the girl and get to stuff that you see adults do on TV. What would happen when the relationship gets into the later stages are usually not as interesting and fun as it seems in the initial stage. When one’s studies get affected because of spending too much time and getting overly distracted by your stead, it can be quickly solved by studying and going for more tuition lessons. However, explaining this compromise to your girlfriend may be quite difficult. This is not the worse of the problems that would be brought to you when you get into a relationship if you do not know how to take the relationship into control. If the ‘fun’ relationship really gets the girl or you to fall deeply in love with the latter, but you or your stead does not really feel the same way to you, it would be devastating, especially if the relationship comes to an end. Guys and girls at our age have had mental breakdowns because of such reasons. When something like that happens, our future may seem bleak. But what is the worst thing that could happen to a ‘couple’ at our young age is when the girl gets pregnant. Not many boys at our age are courageous enough to buy contraception for an intercourse which is about to happen or they could not tell that it would be coming. The girl would have to go through a very emotional period when parents of both sides come together to make decisions that would probably affect the rest of her life. The girl would have to go through a period of emotional and physical pain. The guy would probably get a black mark in his record and his future is most likely ruined. Also, even if the relationship is maintained all the way to junior college and the two of them are having a healthy relationship, there is still National Service which awaits the boy which separates the two for quite a period of time while his girlfriend goes on to study and she would get to meet other guys. Will the relationship still be maintained? Will he be able to take the blow when his girlfriend sends him an sms he dreads and he would only receive in his worst nightmare? My stand is that, we could just be good friends with students of the opposite sex and do not go overboard.

Blog Prompt

Largley as a result of sex-seletive abortions, Asia is today short of 160 million women. This leads to the serious problem of bride trafficking and prostitution carried out by sexually frustrated men.

The effect will be as mentioned, there will be a growing rate of bride trafficking and prostitution elicited by sexually frustrated men. there will be an increase in kidnaps and lesser security of young children. A smaller-scale of this sex-selective abortions in Asia will be China. as of today, China's boy to girl ratio is devastatingly large with males taking up the majority of the country now. This would definitely lead to the decline of facilities catered for babies in the future and for women also. Girls may also be treated the way Shylock is treated in the Merchant of Venice. Prostitution and bride trafficking may have to be legalised to raise the population rate. These would lead to Asia being a hub of human trafficking and prostitution.

Self-obsession and narcissism are on the rise in the US, with the effect that many Americans feel that they "can everything without having to pay for it." Some consequences of this rheotric are global climate change, the widening gap between the extremely wealthy and everyone else, and the current financial crisis.
In your view, what are the possible problems associated with a similar rise in self-obsession and narcissim in Singapore?
Write in ABC/PEEL format.

Recently in the US, other Casey Anthony was acquitted of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee, even though she didn't report the little girl's disappearance for over a month, and circumstantial evidence pointed to other suspicious behaviour.

Now that Casey Anthony has been acquitted, should the general public show mercy by accepting the court decision and leaving her alone?

The general public should show mercy by accepting the court decision to a certain extent, but they should condemn her ignorance of not reporting her daughter's disappearance. As a mother, she has the responsibility to look after her child, and in this case, he daughter when missing and she did not report her. This definitely raised suspicions that the mother had a part to play in her daughter's disappearance. However, since the court decided to acquit Casey of her crime, they must have several solid evidences to do so. There may also be several reasons why Casey did not report her daughter's disappearance. She may be too devastated by her loss of her daughter's that she could not bring herself to even think about her daughter. In this case, when Casey is being accused and publicly condemned, she will feel even worse, like causing her internal wound to worsen. So the public should show mercy.

Rupert Murdoch's UK newspaper News of the World was recently found to have illegally hacked into the phones of British royalty, famous actors, murder victims and families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Is it ethically right to participate in the newsroom culture Murdoch fostered, "where you do whatever it takes to get the story, take no prisoners, destroy the competition, and the end will justify the means?

Blog Prompt #4B (Expository)
“Largely as a result of sex-selective abortions, Asia today is short 160 million women. They have disappeared silently over several decades, but their absence can be seen in classrooms filled with boys, in huddles of bachelors on city streets and in higher rates of bride trafficking and prostitution elicited by growing numbers of sexually frustrated men.”
What will be the effect on Asian society by such a large gender imbalance if this trend continues? Write in SEE format.


With this large gender imbalance trend continuing, Asia will start to face several problems such as higher rates of bride trafficking and prostitution elicited by growing numbers of sexually frustrated men

As of right now, Apple has only allowed the App Store in Singapore, but not the full iTunes Music Store, which means that iPhone owners can buy apps but not music, movies or books through Apple. Their reason is rampant piracy throughout Asia.
What are the negative consequences of Apple’s decision?

I feel that Apple's decision will not result in them losing a lot of money, but they would be making a lot less profit. What they say about the rampant piracy throughout Asia is undeniable, but have they thought that those selling illegal stuff would not go to other continents and buy their product, and sell it illegally here? Many Apple users who bought their products from Epicentres or Apple stores, would most likely want their device to be corruption-free so that it would not screw up and stuff like that, to do this, many people will prefer buying the real, authentic though expensive product to be installed into their devices. I feel that this is something that Apple overlooked.

With humans not being optimistic, i think that the world would be a very different place. either people would be extremely successful but feeling down, or everyone would not have confidence in themselves.

People not being optimistic, means that people do not really have a high level of confidence in whatever they do, and thus, they make more than enough preparations for it, make many backup plans, in case of a failure. often, people who go the extra mile, usually succeed. However, if everyone do not have a certain level of confidence in themselves, they may be a failure in life, as they are not sure if whatever they do make pass, so many of them will just forgo what they are doing.

The aunties were screaming at the top of their voices as they try to get the attention of the handsome and muscular fish monger as they wanted to buy the freshest fish on the ice and they also want a good price for their shopping but the fish monger was unable to cope with the immense crowd of people eagerly wanting to buy the goods from him which leaves him with no other but one choice to tend to the people at his store one by one despite the angry shoppers throwing insults at him out of their immense anger

In my opinion, same-sex marriages will become legal in Singapore one day. Same-sex marriages are currently illegal in Singapore, but this does not stop some people in Singapore from being homosexuals. Currently, Singaporeans mostly have a negative attitude towards homosexuals, and this may cause political parties to rethink if they were to legalize same-sex marriages, will they get the much needed votes for them to win the election? Recently, in the Singapore General Elections 2011, an opposition party member was caught attending a gay party. Once this was out in the news, which may be the deliberate action of the ruling party, Singaporeans condemned the opposition party member, including his party. This is an example on how same-sex marriages will not be legalized in the near future. However, some years back, there were comments made by MM Lee Kuan Yew on his views on homosexuals. He mentioned that, he was ‘OK’ with gay or lesbian MPs, as long as they don’t take their homosexual behavior public. He explained that this homosexuality may be due to genetic reasons or because of the environment the person grew up in. This shows us that people are starting to change the way they think, and gradually, these homosexuals will be accepted into the society. Already, in other Western countries, the people there are very open towards homosexuality and even some elected ministers or senators are gays. The government has lately been keeping rather quiet about the issue on their attitude towards homosexuals since the General Elections period where the Government questioned Singaporeans if they were ready to vote for a homosexual, who may be their MP, if elected. This may be the ruling party’s actions to rouse disapproval among voters about the opposition party, so that the ruling party could maintain their seat in the constituency. The government and other political parties keeping quiet after the issue and election period, may be due to the fact that the government is starting to accept these people into society slowly, instead of openly crictising them. However, I feel that same-sex marriage should be legalized only when the citizens of Singapore are ready to accept the homosexuals into the society, or the overwhelming reaction from the Singaporeans may go out of hand.

Holiday to Bangkok

This June holiday was not too fulfilling as I left all homework and assignments until the last week.  However, I got a chance to visit a country, which is going for its elections soon, Thailand. I visited Bangkok this time. The holiday to Bangkok this time was a totally different experience from the previous time, as promised by my parents. My parents had to exhaust much of their persuasion skills this time to talk me into joining them in this trip to the capital of Thailand. I had not wanted to go on a holiday at first because of the unreasonably high CCA demands I had to fulfill. In my previous post I had talked about my teacher-in-charge of my CCA being unreasonable and upset with our performance during the National Schools Canoeing championships. This time he signed us up for another competition to test our commitment to the school and in the process of doing so, he stepped up the training requirements. Going for holiday meant that I would be missing many training sessions and my performance in the CCA will drop tremendously after missing many trainings and I will usually have to take some time to be back in form and the process of training hard again is not very pleasant. Another reason I did not want to go on this holiday to Bangkok was because of the lousy and painful experience I had when I was much younger, maybe when I was in Primary 2. That time, when we visited Bangkok, it was a family outing with my aunty and her family. My aunty and my mother were two very avid shoppers. After we checked into our hotels, bathed, settled down, the nightmare begun. It was a nightmare for me, but not for my mother or her sister. We went to one of the biggest and most popular malls in Bangkok and started shopping. My mother and her sister walked into almost every lady shop that sold ladies accessories or shops selling stuff that were much cheaper if they were to buy in Bangkok than in Singapore. I was still okay as I accompanied the ladies for the first hour of the shopping as I had entertainment from my father and cousins and my aunty’s humorous husband. For the second hour, it was getting boring as we waited outside the shops, standing, yawning then walking to use the escalator or the lift, just to reach the next level and continue shopping. My legs were starting to feel tired as the mall was very different from the malls here. It was as if each level of the mall was twice the size of Bugis Village. What made it worst was the prize of the goods sold were much cheaper than those sold in Singapore. I suspected that it was this point which gave my mother and her sister the determination to shop continuously for hours. The third hour spent in the mall was torturous as my legs were aching and I already felt very tired and bored. I was also quite frustrated with my mother as she will have to bargain with the shop owner no matter how cheap the goods. Sometimes I felt like shouting at my mum and my aunty when they spent so much time in the shop, and then walked out empty handed because the price was not right or they were unhappy with the shop owner’s attitude. I could only vent my anger by throwing my little fist at my father who would tickle me in response. I was in pain. The positive part of that holiday was that I slept almost immediately when I lay in bed at night. We did not return to Bangkok for the past 8 years, but the experience has always been etched in my mind. This was one reason why I always enjoyed going to countries which their currency will be stronger and their things more expensive. Minimum shopping was done when my family visited the UK, USA and Australia. However, this time round when I went to Bangkok, many things changed over this 8 years. The airport, the roads, the hygiene, but unfortunately, the jams were still as frequent, and the same mall was still intact in spite of all the unrests which happened in the city over the 8 years. This time, there was still shopping, and the experience was not much better, but I also got what I wanted and needed. I was allowed certain toys which would definitely be denied when I asked for it in Singapore. After all, visiting a country which has cheaper goods also have its advantages. Another entertainment I had when my mother was shopping, was identifying the Singaporeans in Bangkok. This was not too difficult, you don’t really need look at their faces and appearances, you just have to open your ears and listen to the way they speak.

Best friends

It was not too long ago my family and I met up with one of my father’s best friends. We met at a restaurant for buffet lunch. After settling down, being a typical Singaporean, I rushed for the food, I was joined by my mother and my sister, then the other family a while later. We got our food and went back. When we reached the table, my father and his best friend had two cups of coffee in front of them and were talking nineteen to the dozen. The spouses of the two men shook their heads and walked off to help their husbands take some food. My father and his best friend, John, were talking nineteen to the dozen, even as they ate. Halfway through their chat, they may suddenly laugh out loud, attracting attention from the other diners. I paid little attention to the both men at first and helped myself to generous servings of the nice food at the buffet. It was after I had my fill and sat down to rest when I realized something about my father was amiss. Normally at buffets, he have a funny strategy – eating for 15 minutes, then he would walk around and look at the buffet spread for another 5 minutes and help himself to the food again. He would take frequent breaks and can always be seen walking around, so as to make the money he paid “worth it”. However, at this buffet, he only got up once or twice to food, and each time he would return with his plate full, instead of eating slowly. As I looked at my father and Uncle John, the two of them were talking more than they were eating. From what my father said before going to the restaurant, Uncle John was his buddy during the army days. Looking at two best friends still contacting each other after so many years, I thought about myself and the best friends I had and have. Based on what I can remember, I made best friends with two guys during Primary 4 and we decided that we will keep in touch even after going our separate ways after graduation from the school and even if we were placed in different classes in the subsequent years. I only contacted the two guys in primary 5 once and after that we only said ‘Hi’ when we saw each other along the corridors in school as I was placed in the best class, the other two were in the average classes. It was again in Primary 5 when I met 5 very friendly and helpful guys. This time the education system changed such that in you will be in the same class for 2 years, so it would be like when you are in 1D, you will be in 2D next year. The five of us got along very well and we were misbehaved regularly in class, especially when relief teachers came to the class. There was a lot of time for us to bond together, recess, class time, after school, and even detentions. In primary 6, we helped each other in our studies and we did fairly well. Me and two others from the ‘gang’ came to HCI, one went to VS, another to CCHS. The three of us in HCI met up frequently during recess, going home together as we all live in Tampines. However, as the Term Tests came and CCA requirements went up, we seldom contacted each other anymore. Now, when we see each other along the corridors in school, we will just acknowledge each other. In a new class, we also got to meet new friends who were equally friendly and helpful. So, what all this ‘best friends’ is about for us, is the friend whom you like, helps you, play with you, spend time with you, after you go your separate ways, you tend to miss them, but you still have other commitments you have to tend to. Looking at the two grown-up working men chatting happily, I had full of respect for them. They, had to work, family matters to attend to, being extremely busy, after so many years, they still chose a time to get together.

Blog-Writing Prompt #17

Osama bin Laden was recently killed by US Navy SEALs in Pakistan. Before this, he had been "elevated to the realm of evil in American imagination once reserved for dicatators like Hitler and Stalin."

In a SEE paragraph, discuss the following: Was the decision to assassinate bin Laden rather than bring him to trial a justified one?

Include a concrete example to back up your stand.

Be specific with your elaboration.

In my opinion, assassinating bin Laden may be a wise decision though the authorities could have brought him up for questioning and then finally getting him to the trial. When they captured bin Laden alive, and they locked him up, other terrorists would start carrying out sadistic actions of kidnapping, torturing, carrying out mass massacres of villages in order to force the authorities to release their figure head. Even during the trial period, there will certainly be unrest in and outside of the country the trial is held at. An example will be Saddam Hussein's trial. During the period of his trial, many of the judges and lawyers which were pressing charges against him were assassinated. So, killing bin Laden is after all not a bad decision, also considering the number of innocent lives which were taken by the terrorist.

Blog-Writing Prompt #16

Think about the history of manned space flight, including the shuttle missions and international space station.
In a SEE paragraph, discuss the following: The drive to explore space and our solar system is still an important human endeavour. Do you agree?
Include a concrete example to back up your stand.
Be specific with your elaboration.

The drive to explore space and our solar system is an important human endeavour. This is because we have to know on what is on the other planets, our surroundings, so we will be prepared

Blog-Writing Prompt #15

Think about the fact that you will one day have to do National Service military duty.
In a SEE paragraph, discuss the following: Making NS mandatory develops Singaporean boys into men. Do you agree?
Include a concrete example to back up your stand.
Be specific with your elaboration.

I agree with the fact that making NS mandatory develops Singaporean boys into men. NS puts guys who are not that mature to go through military experience and trainings. The trainings in NS are usually very tough, which would train the boys to have a strong mentality. An example would be my cousin, who was always afraid of insects. He will always get away upon seeing an insect or even a lizard. After serving his National Service, if he see an insect that goes towards him too close for comfort, he may just kill it or throw it out of the window. This is an example of someone who went through NS and experienced things that are worse, making these NS boys not take the usual life in Singapore for comfort.

Blog-Writing Prompt #15

Think about the social media that you often use (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Scribd, Tumblr, Youtube etc.).

In a SEE paragraph, discuss the following: Social media has made us less social. Do you agree?

Incldue a concrete example to back up your statement.

Be specific with your elaboration.

I agree that social media has made us less social. We will often socialise virtually, talking with our peers online, such that we get addicted to certain social medias. This will then result us in being less social in the real world. An example in my home would be that my elder sister is very addicted to ****** and because of this, she will spend a lot of time on the ******. She often refuse to attend any family outings. I think that this is an example of social media making us less social in the real world.

Blog-Writing Prompt #13

Think about the different ICT platforms that you are now using as part of Future School.
In a SEE paragraph, discuss the following: How has technology affected the way you learn?
Include one specific example about how technology has been a boon or a detriment to your learning.
Be specific with your elaboration.
Technoloy has affected the way I learn by turning from the traditional pen and paper way to

Online Lesson #7

The area seemed to be bombarded several times already. What used to be magnificent buildings was reduced to rubble. Pieces of concrete and other construction materials were strewn all over the ground. Bullets were either hidden among the rubble or it drove holes into the pieces of concrete, or unfortunately human bodies. The zinc roofs, which once seldom had any contact with the ground, were all over the place. Groans of pain could be heard from the soldier lying on the ground. His rifle lying not far away from his hand. Blood flowed downwards to his neck from his face as his fellow soldier helped him to bandage his wound. Bullets were placed in neat rows and strapped around his body, adding to the discomfort the wounded soldier is experiencing. The soldier helping to bandage the wound placed his feet over the wounded soldier’s knees, getting into a position where it would reduce more pain the wounded soldier is feeling, at the same, showing the hole in his pants at his knee area. The wounded soldier look almost lifeless and leaned back, closing his eyes. The discomfort his head is feeling from the hard, solid helmet he was wearing was no longer comparable to the pain he felt from his bullet-wound. As the other soldier was bandaging his wound, he let the bandage roll down, so that he could complete the job quickly, in case of a sudden attack from their enemy. Another soldier kept his left hand on his gun, at the ready, on alert for hostiles, with his right hand on the ground, supporting his weight as he took this very rare break.

Blog-Writing Prompt #12

Think about the beverages that you drink
In a SEE paragraph, discuss the following: Does caffeine have beneficial or harmful effects on the body?
Your statement must take a stand on only one side of the issue.
Include one example about how caffeine has personally been beneficial or harmful for you.
Be specific with your elaboration.
In my opinion caffeine have beneficial effects on the body as it gives us energy for enhanced performance. This explains why many adults drink coffee every morning, so that they will not feel so tired from the hard work they done the day before and have the energy to go on to work. Caffeine are also essential in keeping one awake when he/she does not have enough rest. An example which caffeine largely benefitted me was when I was studying for my end of year exams and I had to study late into the night. I drank coffee to keep me awake during my self-revision and during the lessons.

Do we still need heroes?

Yes, we still need heroes despite living in a mordern world and society. We need heroes as they are very important as they protect us, gives us good examples to follow and to help us when we are in need.

Heroes are important in protecting us. An example can be from Atticus's shooting of a dog who went mad. During summer, Atticus's children saw a dog which was sick, and immediately informed their cook, who also informed Atticus and the entire neighbourhood. When Atticus and the sheriff arived, the mad dog just got into sight. The sheriff was not confident of himself shooting the dog, thus he persuaded Atticus, who finally agreed after much hesitation. Atticus shot the dog and removed the danger fromt he neighbourhood. Thus we still need heroes like this to protect us in times of need.

Heroes are also important as they are a role model for everybody to follow. Heroes who are very talented, or hardworking and get perfect results are usually very humble and do not go around boasting about their achievements. An example is Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore. Despite Mr Lee's achievements, he is always polite and treats others with respect. Through this, everyone will admire Mr Lee's good manners also and learn from him.

Heroes are also important to help us when we are in need. A few years ago, in the armed forces, during a grenade throwing exercise, a recruit pulled the pin of the grenade and go ready to throw, but, due to nervousness, he threw the grenade incorrectly, causing him to be in the direct way of harm. Luckily, an officer who saw all this reacted immediately and protected the recruite by pulling him down behind a wall and using his body to shield him. This incident shows us that despite the peace in our society, there will always be problems which arise and we need these heroes to help us.

In conclusion, despite the peaceful society we live in, there will always be a time when problems arise and we need these heroes to help us to solve them.

Blog-Writing Prompt #11

In a paragraph of at least 5 sentences, discuss the following: do we still need heroes?

Use the PACT criteria and PEEL format.

We still need heroes

Blog-Writing Prompt #10

Share a comic book series/manga/graphic novel that you've read recently. What did you enjoy about the book? Did you read the book/series for the writing or the art, or both? Who would you recommend the book to?

I have just read a comic book entitled "Marathon Man" which comes in a series. I enjoy the book a lot as it shows a young kid growing into a man, running marathons. Everybook shows us the hardship this young kid faces, from supporting his father during one of the runs but causing his father to fall down during his race, to running his first marathon. The book is very inspiring, especially for sportsmen. At the start of almost every book, it shows the protagonist's side would always be the underdog, but they mostly win the competitions because of their admirable fighting spirit.

Blog-Writing Prompt #19

Share an English-language fiction book that you've read recently. What did you enjoy about the book? What in the book challenged you? Who would you recommend the book to?

Locate the book on Goodreads.com and provide a link in your entry.

Recently, I've read a book entitled "Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone". I enjoy the creativity of using magic and other things that we do not really have in our daily life such as playing popular games such as Quidditch, where the players sit on brooms and fly around and trying to score points, and attending lessons in a huge castle. I would recommend the book to teenage kids and adults as some parts of the books are quite confusing.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10596092-harry-potter-and-the-philosopher-s-stone-deluxe-british-edition

Blog-Writing Prompt #5

Pick a news story that you've read this week or last week in your Reading Period , and comment on the issue covered in it. How effectively was the story reported? Did it not cover any information you'd hoped it would?

If the story is availabe online, please provide a link.

The news story I've read last week during the Reading Period was of five policemen in Brazil firing their pistols at a 13 year old boy for no reason. I feel that the five policemen should receive severe punishment, as they took advantage of their rights to have a firearm for security reasons, to shoot at the civilians. THe police is supposed to protect the citizens of the country, and in this case, the police took advantage of the citizens and almost caused the young boy his life. I feel that the story is not very effectively reported as it didn't state the punishment for the irresponsible policemen.

Blog-Writing Prompt #4

Write a short letter to the editor of The Straits Times, commenting on what Singaporeans can learn from the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and whether we as a nation possess what it takes to handle a similar crisis.

In my opinion, we Singaporeans can learn from the way the Japanese citizens reacted to the disaster and that we have to treasure what we have now and be prepared and not take things for granted. I feel that we as a nation do not really possess what it takes to handle a similar crisis. From the trials or drills the government put the citizens through, most of the citizens do not really take these into account, and this would be fatal if disaster strikes. I feel that the government should educate the citizens on the proper way to react should a similar crisis hit us. Many Singaporeans by nature are very kaisu, so they would be rushing to supermarkets to get their groceries and essential daily needs, which would result in long queues. THe Japanese citizens, however, are very disciplined, and reacted very calmly and compared to other countries also hit by similar disasters, looting is minimum. Whereas, in countries such as China and Haiti, when the earthquake struck, the citizens of the country went mad, running about looting and rushing to aid relief centres, hospitals, causing stampedes. I think, this is something that we should learn from the Japanese.

Blog-Writing Prompt #2

In your opinion, has enough been doen to combat racism? How do you think racism can be dealt with in Singapore

In my opinion, I feel that enough has been done to combat racism in Singapre. The Singapore government had clamped down hard on people who post racist comments on the net or make racist comments in public. Hefty fines and jail terms were the severe punishments for racists. I also think that racism in Singapore can be further dealt with by imposing even severe punishments such as caning for the offenders. Also educating the young citizens from young is also very essential.

Whereas, in other parts of the world, I feel that efforts to combat racism in not enough. In a certain neighbouring country, there are many people who go on the net and post racist comments and get away with it, as long as the comments did not offend the majority race of the country, because most of the government officials are of the same race and religion.

Blog-Writing Prompt #1

Reflection on CIP done on Founder's Day

I feel that the interaction with the elderlys who had dementia was a very good experience for me. The activity allowed me to know more about elderly with dementia and how to deal with them. I have learnt that, when we are dealing with elderly suffering from dementia, we have to have very good communicating skills and high levels of patience. I have also learnt that although the elderly were slightly challenged in the brain, they have a sharper sensitivity in their feelings and we have to be very careful about what we say.

LA Final Draft

“Doors are closing…” the usual monotone recording of a voice warning commuter of the closing doors rang out in the train and the MRT station as a few more passengers rushed into the train. I was lucky enough to grab seat in the train a few stations ago and rested by already very tired legs as I stood on the bus to the MRT station for half an hour. From these, I experience one part of being a teacher already, as our teachers in school usually stand throughout the whole one hour or one and a half hour lessons and they have to teach. This was one of the reasons I do not usually create trouble during lessons as standing for so long and having to dill with clowns in the class must not be an easy job.

As the train doors started closing, a grumpy looking elderly woman squeezed through the closing doors quickly and with much agility. She was carrying two big bags of what seemed like vegetables and meat to me. Seeing that she was capable of being so agile at her age and with her hands full of grocery, I had respect for her as my grandmother at home was already on wheels. However, as I observed her closely, she was actually panting and her palm clutched her chest tightly. I laughed to myself as the “stunning” move was obviously too much for her.

Before she was walked in, the whole carriage was filled with the loud and not very polite conversation between two teenage boys who were sitting on the reserved seat for the elderly, disabled, people with toddlers and pregnant woman. It was as if the old lady was their strict discipline mistress. When the old lady stepped in, the two teenage boys stopped their conversation instantly and put on two very big ear phones and blasted the music into their ears. They pretended to sleep in order not to give up their seat to the old lady.

The old lady stood next to them, placing her groceries on the ground of the MRT and leaned her body against the plastic transparent “wall” separating her and the teenage boys. One of the teenage boys did a stupid action, which got him into trouble. He opened one of his eyes and looked around to see if the old lady was still around, before “waking” his friend next to him. The old lady saw this and took her chance; she went to them and asked them politely if it was okay if they gave up their seat for her as she could not stand for too long. The teenage boys looked at her and asked if she could wait until they reached their station before giving up their seat. The elderly woman glared at them in disbelief and just shook her head in disappointment. She muttered something in dialect under her breath, which means “Parents are not doing enough to educate their children”.

I was disgusted by their reaction when the old lady politely asked them to give up the seat which was reserved for her. I remembered what the school always emphasized on “respect the elderly and care for the young”. I got up and gave up my seat to her. Her wrinkled face broke into a toothless grin and praised me. When she looked at the red badge on my left collar, she asked if I was from Hwa Chong. I answered her proudly and told her “yes”.

An Incident on the public transport

It was not long ago when I last took the public transport. There was an incident which I witnessed and left me feeling very disgusted and I was regretful of my actions.

That day was a Thursday and I did not have any CCA trainings on that day so I took the fastest route possible to reach my home in Tampines. I boarded bus 171 from the bus-stop on the other side of the road and went to Newton MRT. At City Hall station, I was quick enough to “charge” across the other side of the platform and lucky to find an empty non-reserved seat in one of the cubicle. Naturally, I sat down and rested my tired legs which supported by body for the past half an hour.

When the train reached the Kallang station, a grumpy looking elderly woman walked into the carriage I was in. She was carrying two big bags of what seemed like vegetables and meat to me. Before she was walked in, the whole carriage was filled with the loud and not very polite conversation between two teenage boys who were sitting on the reserved seat for the elderly, disabled, people with toddlers and pregnant woman. It was as if the old lady was their strict discipline mistress. When the old lady stepped in, the two teenage boys stopped their conversation instantly and put on two very big ear phones and blasted the music into their ears. They pretended to sleep in order not to give up their seat to the old lady.
The old lady stood next to them, placing her groceries on the ground of the MRT and leaned her body against the plastic transparent “wall” separating her and the teenage boys. One of the teenage boys did a stupid action, which got him into trouble. He opened one of his eyes and looked around to see if the old lady was still around, before “waking” his friend next to him. The old lady saw this and took her chance; she went to them and asked them politely if it was okay if they gave up their seat for her as she could not stand for too long. The teenage boys looked at her and asked if she could wait until they reached their station before giving up their seat. The elderly woman glared at them in disbelief and just shook her head in disappointment. She muttered something in dialect under her breath, which means “Parents are not doing enough to educate their children”. I looked at the elderly woman and felt sad for her, but I did not do my part to help by giving up my seat.

After this incident, I think that the teenagers action reflect the failure the education their school and parents gave them. Respecting the elderly and helping the young are one of the very important values the Chinese uphold. The teenage boys obviously did not have any of these. However, criticizing them is not correct, as I, being a witness, did not do anything to help the elderly woman. I feel that by doing this, I have let my school and parents down by not being able to carry out what they have taught me. I shall make a constant effort next time, by giving up my seat automatically when I see an elderly person come into the same public transport I am taking.

My Canoe CCA

Hello everyone,
In this blog post, I am going to do a brief introduction on my CCA and why I joined it as many people have been asking me what my CCA, which is canoeing, is like. Last year, I picked canoeing as a CCA because canoeing is a competitive sport which meant that it would require a high level of fitness and strength. When I was in primary 6, I was very fat and had very poor fitness, I always admired the people around me who had six packs. So, when I went through the CCA orientation, I was being told that through the regular trainings I attend, I will be able to slim down a lot and get a defined muscular body which is something every teenage boy would want. That was one of the reason in which why I joined canoeing. The second reason was that I thought canoeing is a fun outdoor sport and I have always had a liking for water sports since young, and always set on a float in the swimming pool and used my arms to paddle.

Canoeing is an outdoor activity that commonly requires either a single-bladed paddle or a double-bladed paddle. In our school’s canoe CCA, we have many different sorts of boats. They are classified under Canoe and Kayak. Canoes are usually paddled with a single-bladed paddle and the paddler will have to kneel in the canoe. This requires high level of balance as you are prone to capsize when you lean too much to either side of the boat. Canoes are usually called C by the paddlers. Kayaks are paddled with a double-bladed paddle and the paddler usually sits in the boat. This does not mean that kayaks do not require balance as the competition kayaks are very streamlined in order to reduce resistance, this means that the paddler have make sure that he/she must not lean too much out to prevent capsize. The kayaks are called K by the paddlers. Another difference between the canoe and the kayak is that the kayak have a rudder, a short blade at the end of the boat submerged in the water which helps control direction while the canoe does not have. Although the CCA’s name is called canoeing, it maybe quite misleading at times, as it includes dragon boating as well and there is a lot of long-distance running during the trainings.

These are the different boats we have in our boat sheds at MacRitchie Reservoir:
Kayak:

K-1: single seat kayak (paddled by a single paddler)

K-2: double seated kayak (paddled by two paddlers)

K-4: four-seated kayak (paddled by four paddlers)

Canoe

C-1: single kneeling canoe (paddled by a single paddler)

C-2: double kneeling canoe (paddled by two paddlers)

Our coach and teacher-in-charge usually assign smaller-size people to the Cs while the rest are assigned to the Ks. This is due to the fact that bigger and taller size people have more central gravity than the smaller and shorter people, which means that the taller people tend to have less balance than the smaller paddlers.

The competitions we take part in, which our active teacher-in-charge, Mr Yong Yuen Cheng (well-known long distance runner) signed us up for are: Singapore Canoe Marathon, Natioanl Junior Canoeing Championships, National Schools Canoeing Championships, National Schools Dragon Boat Championships, National Canoe Championships, Club Crew World Championships and World Dragon Boat Racing Championships.

For canoe marathon, the distance ranges from 14km up to 21km. I took part in the 16km race this year and got 15th position out of the 40+ plus people who took part. Mr Yong himself took part in the K2, 21km event and got overall 1st.

For National Junior Canoeing Championships and National School Canoeing Championships which would be held in April, the distances will be 500m and 1000m. These canoeing championships are when the different schools in Singapore come together and compete against each other.

For National Schools Dragon Boat Champioships, we will race against the schools in Singapore over short distances of 300m to 500m.

Whereas for Club Crew World Championships and World Dragon Boat Championships, these are international competitions which means that we will get to travel to the country the competition is held in and represent Singapore and compete. These two competitions are dragon boat competitions.

Mr Yong takes all the competitions seriously, especially the National Junior Canoeing Championships and National Schools Canoeing Championships as Mr Yong was formerly the teacher-in-charge of the canoe team in National Junior College our rival school. Mr Yong said that he left NJC because of the poor attitude the canoe team in NJC has. When Mr Yong just joined NJC, NJC were just underdogs. But Mr Yong coached them till they won close to twenty titles under him for over a span of seven years. Mr Yong wanted to do the same to the Hwa Chong canoe team and bring back gold trophies for our school. In order to fulfill his dream, he inspired us with his own accomplishments and an inspirational movie as our team’s attitude towards him is not very positive. We were finally inspired after a few months of training under Mr Yong and experienced immense improvement.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year, which is on the 3rd of February this year, passed a few weeks ago already. I am sharing with all of you my wonderful and special encounter this year.

Every year, to us, Chinese, we will celebrate the Lunar New Year. The Chinese New Year will be the festive period where all the shops in Singapore experience a boom in their businesses and food delivery and catering companies finding a sudden hike in orders from customers. Many preparations will be carried out before celebrating the Chinese New Year. Preparations such as packing up the mess in the house which was created during the previous year, clean up the house, getting new clothes and most importantly, for the adults – making a visit to the bank.

My family, however, is slightly different. We will pack up the house and dispose the unwanted stuff and old furniture two months before Chinese New Year, while the typical Chinese family in Singapore usually will start only a few weeks before the week the day of the New Year. We will then clean the house regularly, once every two days until the eve of the Lunar New Year. In my family, as I am already secondary two, my parents took this reason for me to clean up my room and my sister’s room. My “kiasu” parents will not waste any time as I lighten their burden. They will beat everybody else and get to the bank and draw out a huge amount of money for the red packets they will be giving out during the fifteen days of the festive period.
After all the tiring preparations, the day we had all been anxiously waiting for, and the day the adults, including my parents, are dreading have finally got closer by one day. It was the eve of the Chinese New Year, this is the day when the whole family sits down together and have a meal. But usually, for typical Singaporean Chinese, and what my family have been doing for the past few years, we will have steamboat. However, on the eve, my father decided to bring us to East Coast Beach for BBQ dinner instead. The fun did not end after the BBQ session, in continued throughout the subsequent fifteen days. On the eve, we were all allowed to stay up to as late as midnight as it is a Chinese tradition for children to stay up to the wee hours on the eve as it is an act of filial piety to our parents.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, we went to Mandai columbarium first thing in the morning to pay respects to my late relatives. After that it was a marathon of house visiting. At night, although my jaw was aching from giving festive wishes and legs pain from walking to and fro the car, my pocket was already bulging with red packets. The second day of Chinese New Year was the day which made this year’s Chinese New Year special to my family. Our Indian neighbours who just moved in recently and migrated to Singapore paid a visit to us! We had so much fun as we taught our Indian neighbours our Chinese culture and let them taste the Chinese new year goodies. When my parents gave the Indian children red packets, they taught that my parents had given them a letter and the red packet was a fanciful envelope. We had two hours of fun interacting with our new neighbours and my parents promised them that we would visit them during Deepavali also!

This year’s Chinese New Year is one that would be etched in my memory for quite some time. I hope that you had a good Chinese New Year also!

Movie Review on Pearl Harbour

Hello all, I have just watched this movie with my family a few days ago, and I few that this movie is suitable for us all as it is a little part of history.
Pearl Harbor is filmed based on the storyline of the Japanese’s attack on Pearl Harbour during Christmas’s Eve. This was also the reason which got the United States of America involved in the Pacific and European war. “Pear Harbour” is also a movie on romance as it shows two army pilots and their love interests.
The war film shows two best friends, Rafe and Danny, the protagonists of the film, who are also very talented pilots in the United States air force. Both Rafe and Danny’s friendship started since their childhood days, growing up on a farm, and having the same dream of becoming pilots. Halfway through the show, Rafe volunteers to go to England and fight with the British Royal Air Force against the Nazis, while Danny remains in America, without combat.
Apart from being a war film, it is also a movie on the complicated romance between Rafe, Danny and Evelyn, a nurse Rafe met while going for his fitness test. Rafe fell for Evelyn when he saw her and tricked the young lady into coming for a date. When Danny got word of Rafe being shot in combat and presumed dead, he and Evelyn turned to each other for comfort and fell in love with each other. However, to Danny and Evelyn’s misfortune, Rafe survived. What happened after that? I am not telling, as it would spoil the suspense, so watch the movie to find out.
There are many interesting dog fights throughout the show which was what captivated my attention during the movie. The battle of Pearl Harbor itself caused me to sit on the couch with my eyes glued to the television and my mouth slightly ajar. The visuals are very beautiful and seemed almost real. Itis certainly one of the finest bombing scenes I have watched so far.
The thrilling and exciting show consists of many stunning military manoeuvrings and the attack on Pearl Harbor, and romance. However, I feel that the flaw in “Pearl Harbour” is that it showed too much on the love story and it should have filmed more the dog fights and training sessions the pilots of the United States air force undergo and how Rafe miraculously survived despite being in his plane when it got shot down by the Nazis. This film brings the world war and the men and women who lived through it or died fighting it, back to the people watching it, who may not recall much about or do not even know that such a battle was even fought before. I feel that this movie should be recommended to students our age as we are also studying the second world war history.

Book Review on "Call of the Wild"

Hello all,

I have read this book not along ago and I feel that it is worth sharing it with you guys. The book’s title is “Call of the Wild” by Jack London. The protagonist of the book is a dog named Buck and the book is written from the dog's point of view. In the point of view of a dog, we get to observe the lives of humans with all of their strengths and weaknesses.

Being a pampered and honoured pet of a judge, Buck who is a cross-breed between a St. Bernard and a Scotch Shepherd, is sold by an employee who is a gambling addict, to be taken to the Klondike to work as a sled dog.

When Buck is sent to his new environment, he is forced to endure and adapt to the brutal treatment, starvation in order to survive. His harsh and new environment is totally different from the luxurious one he had with his previous owner.
In the Klondike, the dogs are not treated like pets with feelings, and can endure any amount of cruelty. The deaths of these animals are seen only as an inconvenience to the mushers.
As Buck and other sled dogs suffer punishments from whips, clubs, and fangs for disobedience or out of total randomness, humans are frequently shown as thoughtless and cruel, not just to animals but to humans as well.

Buck does encounter one man who becomes his bonded owner. Buck is loyal to his owner in many circumstances right to the end. Through this relationship, the owner portrays that not all men of the Klondike were thoughtless and cruel. There were some ethical men, but many were not of admirable character.
As Buck thrives under the care of his new owner who treats him with kindness, he increasingly learns and explores his primitive instincts. He slowly transforms from a pampered rich man's pet to a tough and seasoned lead dog of the Klondike. Buck develops his ability to kill for food instead of being dependent of humans for nutrients. He is exposed to his wild cousins the wolves and increasingly become interested in interaction with them.

The Call of the Wild is an excellent book to read about the Klondike, but it is not an innocent children's book. It contains violence as well as examples of animal cruelty that while not glorified, may not appeal to all readers. When I first picked up the book, I thought that it was merely a normal dog story. Due to the violence included inside the book, I think that people around my age is most suitable to read the book because our minds are developed and we are able to think in a mature way. This book may also change your point of view towards these dogs, and if you are an owner of a dog and you are sick of it simply because it is too old, I hope that after this book, you may reconsider your actions. Thank you.

Book Review on "Animal Farm" :D

I have recently finished reading "Animal Farm". I borrowed the book from my friend from Primary school as he had done literature on it in his secondary school. So, let me share what I feel and a few contents on the book.

Animal Farm, is a bit like the Russian Revolution. There was a meeting of the animals of Manor Farm after the owner, Mr. Jones, went to bed drunk. Old Major, a boar, had a dream of a farm governed by the animals, without Mr. Jones and other humans stealing work, where all the animals were free and equal and worked to support themselves instead of their masters. However, Old Major died before his vision is seen, but two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, shows his vision and convince the animals that it's possible. The next time Jones treats them cruelly, the animals rebelled, drove him and his wife off the farm, and took it over for themselves.

At first, the rebellion was an amazing success. The farm animals were giddy with joy and quickly changed how everything is done on the farm. Seven basic principles were drawn up:
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs or has wings is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.

The animals had to do their tasks efficiently and work more collectively, the harvest was the best they had ever seen, and everyone has more food and leisure. The only sign of the trouble to come is that the pigs don't seem to do much of the physical work. The reason for this was that the pigs were the best ones to do the organizing and directing. But slowly, the pigs take more and more control, and principles begin to change conveniently, times get worse, and Napoleon slowly comes into control.

What happens afterwards is a classic example of corruption. Snowball, while making plans to build a windmill, which would would further improve the conditions on the farm, was attacked and chased out of Animal Farm by Napoleon and a pack of ferocious dogs. What follows was that Squealer, who was the propaganda manager, changed the facts by lying to the animals that Snowball was in fact, a traitor, and it was Napoleon who exposed him and chased him out. Through deception and treachery, they turned the animals on Snowball and made them work like slaves, while the pigs and dogs enjoyed themselves. They tried to build the windmill, but it ended up being destroyed every time. It showed the slow change from pigs, to humans. The rules were also changed by the party in power, in this case, Napoleon. They were changed to:

1. Four legs good, two legs better.
2. No animal shall wear clothes.
3. No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.
4. No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.
5. No animal shall kill any other animal.
6. All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.

This story clearly depicts how some humans act in politics when they are in power. They will gain the trusts of the fellow citizens and when they achieved the highest position, they betray the citizens of the country. Forcing them to do things that would only benefit the corrupt leader. They will also go to certain extents by getting rid of people who oppose their rule. The unfortunate country with the corrupt leader would then slide downwards for example from a first world country to a third world country.

Read the book to find out what happened to the farm in the end. Thank you.

Tolerance and Intolerance of Scout

At the beginning of the novel, Scout shows high amount of intolerance to people around her. She gets irritated easily and acts like a tom boy. There were a few instances when Scout tried using violence to solve problems or when she was provoked. Some of the more significant examples are when Scout tried to wrestle Walter when he got her in trouble. Scout also beat up Dill when he called Atticus a “runt” and also a “nigger-lover”.

However, subsequently as the story develops, and Scout grows older, she started showing levels of tolerance. One example was when Scout sympathized with Tom Robinson when it was very clear Tom was innocent but he was sentenced to death just because he had colored skin. Being coloured in America at that time was like being dropped down a standard below humans. Scout was also able to tolerate insults others throw at her and her father for defending the Negro. Scout, was able to tolerate and to make her stand known to others and reason out with them on why Tom Robinson is being wrongly treated. Towards the end of the novel, Scout also did not mind when she sat beside Boo Radley while the adults were talking about what happened when Scout and Jem were attacked by Ewell. Scout also agreed to send Boo Radley to the Radley porch.

Hence, my conclusion is that Scout tolerance grows as she gets older.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1il-VqYvnLxcbQkAHmZLaTTseSqE0_xjP_ThEliEAfo8/edit?hl=en#

Blog-Writing Prompt #13

"I'm afraid...."

Standing at the back of the a dark, wet and smelly ally, a gust of wind blew past, carrying the odour of human waste in liquid form. I had to reach my new house, or it should be called a cubicle. It was thanks to my father's "lucky gambling hands" that we downgraded from a condominium to this disgustingly small HDB flat. Then, I saw a shadow flashed past the wall in front of me. Then, as I walked closer, the smell of liquor swept into my nostrils. Someone was around. Then, the shadow suddenly appeared on the wall infront of me, I screamed, then I realised that I had seen my own reflection on the wall in the dimly lit alley. As I walked home briskly, I heard some pants behind me, but when I turned around and looked, I only saw the wet floor with beer bottle all over the place. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I quickened my pace and little. Then, the panting sounds came back, and this time, I heard heavy footsteps. I'm afraid....

Blog-Writing Prompt #12

"I'm tired"

I'm tired today... as I only had four hours of sleep last night, thanks to the science test that I would be taking today. I had training yesterday which ended at Macritchie. The training consisted of a 3.2km run and a few sprints and long distance paddling in the water. Other than that, we also had weights training I reached my home in Tampines at around 9... After washing up and having my dinner, I am already overcame with fatigue. I decided that studying for the science test would only be productive when I am wide-awake. So I slept for 2 hours and woke up at three in the morning. My eye-lids were barely open, when I walked to make myself a cup of coffee. It was my fortune, that my father was willing to fetch me to school.

Photos of neighbourhood

Blog-Writing Prompt #11

Use specific sensory details, describe accurately the neighbourhood where you live.

In my neighbourhood, specifically the place around where I live, has many gardens and parks. Directly below my block of flat, is a primary school, which was the school I studied at during my primary school. So, early in the morning, when I am not in Hwa Chong, I would get to hear the primary school students singing the national anthem and school song.

Blog-Writing Prompt #10

Write about a vivid childhood memory of an event that helped to influence the person you are today.

An event in primary school helped to influence the person I am today and is also an important reason to why I am studying in the school I am studying in today. Back in primary 2, when it is the "streaming" year, where we would be allocated to different classes, according to our academic abilities. During that year, I totally slacked off, and played computer games, watched cartoons, read comics and went cycling with my cousins almost everyday. I only stopped all these during the week before the semestral examinations. However, I did not fully utilise the whole week for revisions. My parents had to resort ot corporal punishments to keep from being restless, and usually it would take 2 days for me to settle down and start "basic" work, because I did not pay attention to teachers in lessons, neither did I do their homework.

The end of year results were devastating and I was being allocated to the last class in standard. So, in primary 3, the experiences in that class, led me to "waking up from my deep dream" and start serious work. Students in that class were all being looked down upon, by some teachers and most of the students. When the teachers were scolding someone fromt the best class, it would always include threats to being transferred into our class. There were even a few times, our form teacher was so angry that she scolded us, "You people are already so stupid. Why can't you people just stop being so restless. You people are going to have a hard time in Primary 6!"

I was furious about the teacher's remarks about us. I decided that I should prove her wrong. Whenever, a fellow school mate sees our class, they will also call it the "Idiot Class" such that the school principal had to address the school and threatened to punish whoever who gave our class names again. I worked hard for that year, and emerged top in standard, even over taking people from the best class. Since then, I have learnt my lesson, and stopped slacking around and screwing up my academic studies.

“Hello, may I speak to Ben please…… Eh, later four o’ clock want come my house downstairs play basketball? OK, I go check first then call you back”, I called my best friend since primary school to play basketball with me at the basketball court directly below my block of flats. As he was quite busy, he asked me to check if the basketball court was empty as he did not want to waste time waiting for others to clear the court before we start our own game. I walked to the window and peered down at the basketball court, it was relatively empty but, I had no choice but to call Ben and tell him that the basketball session would have to be cancelled.
I called Ben and told him what I saw and agreed with me that it is better to ‘play safe’ and stay at home and keep out of trouble. I went back to the window asked my mother to look at what was about to happen there. There were a few teenagers sitting at the basketball court, a lighted cigarette stuck in between their lips, wearing sunglasses and cap. They were all wearing long jeans, and had massive headphones plugged on. They looked as though they were waiting for someone else to join them before they go bowling, discoing etc. However they were all carrying big sling backs. My mother said that it was just another bunch of hooligans waiting for their friend before going off to play and she went back to her work.
A few moments after my mother left the window, the tallest guy among the rest stood up and shouted, “CHARGE!” in Hokkien. The rest of the teenagers threw their cigarettes onto the floor, chucked their headphones into their bags and shot off in the direction the tall guy ran at with black wires flying about behind them as they run. I saw two other guys of similar age running off. The group of boys which were at the basketball court was hot on their heels; some of the boys picked up stones from floor and threw it at the two guys who were running as though for their life. I thought this was simply a minor case of ‘bully’ and did not do anything. The adults present took no action and walked off briskly. The two guys managed to escape the gangsters which were originally at the basketball court.
Then, I heard shouts again. This time it was the gang who were at the basketball court running in the opposite direction. My mother was already at the window looking at the basketball court. What I saw gave me shock. There were two groups of youngsters now, except that the difference between the two was that one group was waving something long and shiny while the other was scrambling to safety, shifting their sling bags from their back to their chest. Taking a closer look, I saw that the teens were wielding “parangs”. They were creating a din. I looked around the neighbourhood at the surrounding blocks and saw almost every window in every block would show the resident of the apartment behind it, looking at the basketball court.



Taken aback, I thought of the murders the teenager was about to commit, but the others followed suit and drew the long knives out from their bags. I was thankful that I was not standing somewhere near the basketball court. Looking at the fight, one of the teenagers’ “parang” narrowly missed another’s arm. I broke out in cold sweat. My mother told me to move away from the window as she picked up the phones and pushed a certain button three times. If my mother did not tell me to move away, I would not have realized that I was trembling. Although I did not get to see what was going on, the expletives yelled and screamed by the gangsters still reached my ears and until, I heard something that would be very difficult for me to forget – a long drawn out scream.
I saw my mother, who was standing at the window; her hand flew to her mouth when we heard the scream. My only guess was that someone was down. The shouting stopped a few moments after the scream. By the time we heard the police siren it was too late, as the gangsters had fled the bloody area. The incident which happened made the headlines of the newspapers the following day. After reading the article, I had a deeper understanding of what happened – what I witnessed the day before was a gang fight.

Blog-Writing Prompt #9

Pick a scene from your favourite movie and describe the setting in detail.

Use specific sensory details to capture the mood and atmosphere of the scene.

My favourite scene is the battle scene of Helm's Deep in the movie Lord of The Rings - The Two Towers. I like the scene as it shows the battle between man and orcs. It was a total mess, as men and orc alike, fought each other, killing each other in different and fastest methods. Swords and barbaric weapons were being waved around as arrows soared into the sky and miraculously land on an orc. The protagonist of the show is filmed to be the best fighter as almost every stroke he makes with his sword, a limb would fall off the orc or you would see the blade of his sword appearing through the centre of the back of the orc. The sword would be then withdrawn again and brought down a second time, killing the invading beasts.

Blog-Writing Prompt #8

In-Class 10 min Blog writing Prompt #8
Who is your favourite character in To Kill a Mockingbird, and why? What makes him or her appealing to you?

My favourite character in To Kill a Mockingbird is Arthur Radley, also known as Boo Radley to the children of the Maycomb County. I feel that Arthur Radley gives the kids in his neighbourhood a very scary impression, but he turned out to be a hero who saved the protagonist’s life. I feel that the write decribed him to be someone equivalent to be a murderer or worse, but at the end of the story, he turned out to be a kind-hearted man. He is also very pitiful as the children around does not share his sentiments and gives him nicknames instead.

Blog-Writing Prompt #7

What is the significance of your Chinese name?

Do you consider these Chinese characters as part of your identity? Why or why not?

My chinese name,when directly translated to English, means: victorious soldier. I consider these Chinese characters as part of my identity to a certain extent. Most of the time, during CCAs or examinations, I will always prepare for it and most of the time, I will get the top few positions. But this changed once I got into Hwa Chong, where getting even top few positions in my class is also very difficult.

Blog-Writing Prompt #6

What is your favourite memory of Chinese New Year? Provide details using all five senses.

My favourite memory of Chinese New Year was when my father got confused and gave me the red packet which was meant for my grandmother and gave my grandmother my red packet. When my father passed me my red packet, I felt that it was thicker than usual but he did not realise the difference in the red packets he have me and my sister as my sister's red packet was given to her by my mother. After all fifteen days, I happily opened up the red packet and saw many $100 notes. When I compared with my sister whose red packet had more money, she cried and complained to my mother about the difference in the money in our red packets.

My father quickly checked with my grandmother about the amount of money in the red packet she received the next day. He realised that he had given the wrong red packet to the wrong person. But, he was too late to realise his mistake as I went to bank in my money after school before returning home. My father had no choice but to spend some more money to renovate part of my grandmother's house in an attempt to make up for the amount of money he did not give to my grandmother he wanted to give.

2ND online lesson

For Our second online lesson, Mr Lundberg instructed us to re-read "All Summer in a Day". We are also supposed to identify the people responsible for the protagonist's plight.

In my opinion I feel that the people responsible for Magrot's plight are Margot's parents, the children in the school and Margot. This is due to the fact that Margot was originally from planet Earth, but her parents decided to birng her to a world, a planet which is totally new to her and she was obviously not very used to her new surroundings. Margot's parents tried to let their daughter get used to the life in Venus, hoping that she would adapt to the new surroundings, but this caused Margot to be even more sad.

The children are also responsible for Margot's misery as they refused to accept Margot's difference from them and because she is new to the planet. They ganged up and bullied Margot together.

Lastly, I think that Margot is also responsible for her own plight, as she refused to adapt to the new surroundings and blend in with the other children. This caused the children to notice her difference from the rest of them.

I would persuade the children to accept Margot, as Margot is similar to them except that she remembers how the Sun's appearance, and the children should be able to accept her after all they just have to wait for a few more years to see the Sun, hence I believe that as long as there are one, or two people who rally around Margot the situation would be different.

Blog-Writing Prompt #5

- Describe a situation in which you collaborated intensely and at length with another person )Projects Day, class assignment, creative product).

- What did you learn about your own abilities to cooperate and work together during your collaboration?

A situation which I collaborated intensely with another person, was during our Projects day. There were four of us in the team, but me and my primary school friend, Jovian, whom I had known for four years were the most enthusiastic members of the group, while the other two members who we picked by mistake, were slacking. The other two members of the group always skipped meetings

Blog-Writing Prompt #4

- Write a reflection on the "Comic Strip: Home Learning lesson that you completed yesterday.

- What did you learn from the experience? Did you enjoy the assignment? Would you create more comic strips in the future?

I learnt about how to create comic strips and illustrate my ideas instead of writing them down in words as what I always do. I enjoyed the assignment as it allowed me to draw using computer tools. I have always enjoyed art, and the assignment was like a recreational activity instead of the dull answering of questions the other teachers gave us to do for Home Based Learning. I would definitely create more comic strips in the future when I have the time, during the holidays.

HBL - Comic Strips

By y10hci0462 | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

The title for this comic strip is: The Blind Man

The introduction is there was a blind man busking on the street. Then a group of children happened to walk by.

A mischievous child decided to disturb the old man by poking him and said it aloud to his other friends.

Just as he was about to poke the blind man, the blind man spoke and said that he heard what the young boy said, which startled the young boy as he thought the blind man was fully handicaped.

I think that this tells us that we should not take advantage of those who are less fortunate than us, and if we try to do so, they would always be sharper in one of the five senses than we are.

Blog-Writing Prompt #3

What are your learning goals for this year in Language Arts, and why?

My learning goals are to be able to improve on my comprehension skills and literature. Last year I often got B3s for my comprehension and I hope to improve to at least an A2 this year. This year is a very important year to me as I have to get good grades in order to be able to get into CSE and chose the subjects I want, so I aim to pay more attention in class and stop fooling around like I did last year and end up screwing up my subject grades.

Blog-Writing Prompt #2

What is the most valuable thing you learned last year in Language Arts and, why?

I think the most valuable thing I learned in Language Arts last year is to learn how to interpret poems. Before that, I would just read the poem and roughly know the meaning of it, however, after the literature lessons on poems, I learned how to idenitfy the poetic devices used by the poet and what is he/she trying to convey to the reader.

Writing prompts - 10 minutes

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136251.Harry_Potter_and_the_Deathly_Hallows

My favourite book up till date is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I enjoy the story a lot as it is the final book of the Harry Potter series J.K Rowling has written. It is action-packed and very thrilling as it describes the friendship between the main characters : Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasely. It ends like most stories do: The good overpowering the evil.

LA Ace

Have you ever been part of a group of people who were unkind to one or some individuals? What was the circumstance? How did you act? What did you feel?

In classes, or groups being allocated by someone else, there would often be one or two individuals who are being disliked by the rest, either because of their appearances or attitude towards others. I am always lucky to be not to be disliked or isolated by the rest of the class/group. I have always made it a point to behave appropriately whenever I am allocated to a group, and "blend" into the crowd and not be the odd one out.

I have been in groups/classes where one or two individuals are being disliked by the rest of the group members/classmates. But, a girl in my primary four class have been isolated and treated very unkindly that it was even considered bully by the discipline mistress. That is a case which I could remember very clearly, even up till now. During the first day of school, the girl, Amelia Ho, did something which caused the class to dislike her. She boasted to everyone that she was the only girl in the level who owns a phone. It was since she started boasting to everyone about her phone, we started to dislike her and started calling her names and sabotaging her.

The other boys gave her nasty names and created booby traps for her by quickly pouring water onto her seat when she was about to sit down, once and there was another time we tricked her into going to the general office to collect something from her mother, which turned out to be false, thus making a fool of herself. There was once, I did something very nasty to Amelia, which I regret. I told Amelia that the boys hid her belongings at the boys' toilet. On her way to retrieve her things, she was being ambushed by the boys and got handfuls of soil and trash thrown at her. I greatly regret my actions, coming to think of it, as I betrayed her trust she had for me as I did not disturb her directly.

The girls in the class were also very mean to her, by not inviting her to their parties and class gatherings. They often talked behind her back and complained to the teacher secretly about the rules Amelia flouted, even if the offence was very minor. Until one day, the discipline mistress made a visit to the class and gave us a very stern warning, that if we bullied Amelia further, the punishment would be very severe. The class were obviously very frightened, and we did not dare to disobey. However, the discipline mistress's visit deepened the hatred the class had for her but we stopped disturbing her directly. Instead, we laughed loudly and made fun of Amelia whenever she did something stupid. Some girls would also talk about the mistake Amelia had committed loudly when Amelia was in hearing range.

Then, the class goal was reached one day when we learnt that Amelia transferred to another school. The class cheered when the form teacher walked out of the classroom after reprimanding us for ill-treating her. Now, thinking back about what I did, I feel remorseful for what I done as I had hurt someone very deeply and for what she had done, by just merely boasting, she does not deserve this type of treatment from us.

1st LA online answer

Song: Eye Of The Tiger

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
So many times, it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

[Chorus:]
It's the eye of the tiger, it's
the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger

Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry
They stack the odds, still we take to the street
For the kill with the skill to survive

[Chorus]

Risin' up, straight to the top
Had the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

[Chorus]


I chose this song as it tells us to carry on, and if we are determined to do something, we will be able to do it even though we are underdogs. It gives me some form encouragement to carry on what I am doing when I am down, especially for my academic results and my CCA canoeing. This song was the theme song for Rocky III, a boxing show. It showed an amateur boxer, training up and then defeating the world heavy weight champion. The inspirational movie was showed to us by our CCA teacher-in-charge as he wanted us to put in hard work and win this year's National School's Canoeing Championships. He told us that the gold trophy would not come easily as we have not won the title for quite some time already. I feel that this song really did inspire the canoe team as we worked harder since we watched the show.

Poems by Shel Silverstein

The Little Boy and the Old Man by Shel Silverstein
Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."
Said the old man, "I do that too."
The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."
"I do that too," laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, "I often cry."
The old man nodded, "So do I."
"But worst of all," said the boy, "it seems
Grown-ups don't pay attention to me."
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
"I know what you mean," said the little old man.

1. What is the underlying message that is being conveyed in this poem?
The young and the elderly are being neglected as both the little boy and the old man are feeling the same way.

2. Has Shel Silverstein used any particular poetic technique that brings out this message more clearly?
Yes, conversation.

Messy Room by Shel Silverstein
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or--
Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!

1. Can you say that the poem is humorous? If so how?
Yes, the narrator was crictising the messy room which turned out to be his own room, thus all the remarks he passed are being directed back to him.

2. What aspect of the human character has been highlighted in this poem?
The ability of being able to identify someone else's mistakes and negative points and crictise them for it, without realising that sometimes we commit the same mistakes.

Cloony The Clown by Shel Silverstein

I'll tell you the story of Cloony the Clown
Who worked in a circus that came through town.
His shoes were too big and his hat was too small,
But he just wasn't, just wasn't funny at all.
He had a trombone to play loud silly tunes,
He had a green dog and a thousand balloons.
He was floppy and sloppy and skinny and tall,
But he just wasn't, just wasn't funny at all.
And every time he did a trick,
Everyone felt a little sick.
And every time he told a joke,
Folks sighed as if their hearts were broke.
And every time he lost a shoe,
Everyone looked awfully blue.
And every time he stood on his head,
Everyone screamed, "Go back to bed!"
And every time he made a leap,
Everybody fell asleep.
And every time he ate his tie,
Everyone began to cry.
And Cloony could not make any money
Simply because he was not funny.
One day he said, "I'll tell this town
How it feels to be an unfunny clown."
And he told them all why he looked so sad,
And he told them all why he felt so bad.
He told of Pain and Rain and Cold,
He told of Darkness in his soul,
And after he finished his tale of woe,
Did everyone cry? Oh no, no, no,
They laughed until they shook the trees
With "Hah-Hah-Hahs" and "Hee-Hee-Hees."
They laughed with howls and yowls and shrieks,
They laughed all day, they laughed all week,
They laughed until they had a fit,
They laughed until their jackets split.
The laughter spread for miles around
To every city, every town,
Over mountains, 'cross the sea,
From Saint Tropez to Mun San Nee.
And soon the whole world rang with laughter,
Lasting till forever after,
While Cloony stood in the circus tent,
With his head drooped low and his shoulders bent.
And he said,"THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT -
I'M FUNNY JUST BY ACCIDENT."
And while the world laughed outside.
Cloony the Clown sat down and cried.

1. Exlain the irony in this poem.
When the clown was creating jokes and trying to make his audience laugh, they had a negative reaction, looking sad. However, when Cloony told them about how sad he felt the audience ended up laughing heartily.

2. Does Shel Silverstein manage to convey some harsh realities in this poem?
Yes.

3. What poetic devices has the poet used to effectively convey his message?
Assonance and rythm.

Answers for "Big Fish"

Answers for “Big Fish”

1. What does the phrase “a big fish in a small pond” mean to you?
The phrase “big fish in a small pond” means that the other fish is not being with other fishes of the same size.

2. What is the purpose of Edward Bloom’s tall tale about the big fish and the wedding ring?
It implies that the son’s story would be similar to his father’s since both of them have a father-son relationship.

3. How does William Bloom as a boy feel about his father’s telling of the tale? How does this feeling change as he gets older?
He enjoys his father’s tale when he was young, but after he grew up, William Bloom felt that his father’s tale is embarrassing for both himself and his father.

4. Why does Edward Bloom feel the need to keep repeating the tale throughout his life?
Edward Bloom caught the biggest catfish ever known to a man when he was a boy.

5. What does the tale reveal about the relationship between Edward and William Bloom.
The tale tells me that the relationship between Edward and William Bloom was not very good as both of them had broke off direct contact after William Bloom’s wedding night.

6. Consider the following quote: “In telling the story of my father’s life, it’s impossible to separate fact from fiction, the man from the myth. The best I can do is to tell it the way he told me. It doesn’t always make sense, and most of it never happened, but that’s what kind of story this is” What stories have you been told that match this description? What is the effect of telling a story in this way?
Stories of someone’s encounter with supernatural objects or things like aliens or ghosts. It often leaves the thinking, not sure whether to believe or not to believe.

7. Does bending or exaggerating the truth for the purpose of conveying an entertaining story undercut the believability of such a story? Is a tall tale less valid than a straight reportage of the facts? Why or why not?
Yes it does. No, a tall tale usually involves some exaggeration which would allow the listener to step into the narrator’s shoes, feeling for himself how the narrator felt. Whereas, when you just narrate the facts, the listeners may find it boring.

First Language Arts lesson of 2011 :D

Today, we had the the first Language Arts lesson in year 2011. Our Language Arts teacher, fortunately, is Mr JASON ERIK LUNDBERG. Mr Lundberg taught us the English subject one year ago also and guided our class to pass our End-of-Year examinations with flying coulours, just that he is a little different this year - Mr Lundberg has a beard! During his first lesson, Mr Lundberg reminded us and stressed on the importance of getting the book "TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD" and finishing it as soon as possible. Mr Lundberg explained that it is very important to finsih reading the book as it would be used for literature/comprehensions/lessons in the future. We were being briefed on what we were supposed to do in order to gain Ace points. Besides the briefing for the academic studies at school, Mr Lundberg also shared with us the books he had read over the holdiays. One of them drew my attention, which is: Animal Farm. I had heard from my friends in other schools that they had literature on the book. I would be borrowing it soon so as to know what my friends had done last year. That would be all I have to reflect for our first Language Arts lesson so far.