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.