The road not taken

The thought that came to we as I read this poem was the decision making of the persona. Apparently, the persona feels that a single decision can change him for his whole life. The persona is taking the scene in the forest as an example. He probably faces two similiar roads, taking one ans tells himself that he may take it next time, however, it was unlikely.

Sacrifice to make someone happy

It all happened during my primary 6 year.

My class had a vase that was made and designed specially by my form teacher, to beautify the class. She made it clear to be extremely careful in class not the break, or else we will have to stay back in school for three hours of corrective work order.

That day, I was sitting in the class, with only my tablemate, Jovin whose mother was fatally ill. As such, he had trouble focusing in class, as he stayed by his mother almost every night, moreover, he was extremely worried about his mother. He was a relatively shy boy, he told me about his condition only because I was his close friend, he disliked talking about his family matters, a requested me not to tell others about his condition. As I was doing my homework, I happened to see Jovin walking hurriedly towards the exit after picking up a call. He appeared to be shocked by the call as he whole face was pale white. I thought that it may his mother’s have worsened suddenly.

However, a loud “CRASH” was soon heard. Jovin had accidently knocked the vase to the ground in middle of his confusion and anxiety. It happens so coincidentally that the form teacher walked past the class to witness the sight of the broken vase.

I knew I had to do something. Knowing Jovin, he will not tell the form teacher that he was in hurry to the hospital, and rather does the corrective work order. However, what if it was his last moment with his mother? I believe, it will become his greatest regret in life. Hence, I decided to take the blame for breaking the vase.

“Did you do it? You should have been much MORE careful. I suppose you know the consequences well right?” I nodded silently as I stole a glance at Jovin. I could tell that Jovin was extremely grateful to me. I signaled him to leave immediately.

The next day, Jovin came to me.
“Thank you for what you did yesterday, I did not expect you to do that. Even though my mum passed away, I’m sure she’d leave peacefully after seeing me for the last time.” Upon hearing, I felt sad for him. I had not regret making such a sacrifice as I am sure the Jovin was happy to be able to see his mother off her last journey. Also this sacrifice was worthwhile, to be able to prevent my close friend from having a regret for his life.

Schools should place more emphasis on character development than academic excellence. Do you agree or disagree?

I disagree that schools should place more emphasis on character development than academic excellence. I feel that character development will be more effectively developed at home, schools are meant for the students to study in, and lastly, schools are not able to develop students in different aspects of students on character development.

Character development will be more effectively developed at home. Majority number of students will spend more time at home than in school, and character development takes a long period of time to be inculcated into students hence, in the homes of the students can their character be effectively developed. The parents of the students are also closer as compared to their teachers, as such, they will better accept words from their parents. Moreover, teachers have to face more than 30 students in a class, and cannot handle every single student, while parents will only have to face at most a few children and are able to focus on the student’s character development.

Schools are also meant for the students to study. Every student on average spend about 7 hours in school every day. 7 hours in school is not a lot, and hence time in school is extremely precious for the students to gain knowledge. If the school were to focus too much about character development, in would then give less focus to the academic excellence of the students, affecting the capabilities of the people as a whole.

Lastly, schools are not able to develop students in different aspects of students on character development. I feel that not every teacher understands their student that well, and knows what aspect the student is lacking. Every student is unique, and has different shortcomings, as such, same measures may not be applicable for every single student. Also, values such as filial piety can be really hard to be explained to the student, as it is not something that can be understood by students merely through explanation. Hence, with more emphasis on character development, students may not be able to fulfill their shortcomings and hence proving the measures useless.

Hence, in conclusion, I disagree that schools should place more emphasis on character development than academic excellence. I feel that character development will be more effectively developed at home, schools are meant for the students to study in, and lastly, schools are not able to develop students in different aspects of students on character development.

My Ideal School

I feel that my ideal school would be one that provides a good environment to study, develops its students in their strengths but not merely in terms of academic and lastly, understands its students.

An ideal school provides a good environment for studying. How do I define the word "good"? I feel it means that the school is clean and comfortable such that a student will feel that he or she is as though at home or even better than their homes. It should also be quiet such that the student can have their full concentration when revising or doing work. It should best be fully air-conditioned, and provide much convenience, for example, the canteen should not be too far from the classrooms.


Then, the school should nurture all-rounded students and not merely in terms of academic results. To achieve this, academic results should not be the sole criteria for promotions. The combinations for the subjects chosen by the students should have a great variety for students to choose from. Teachers then aim to push their students to the greatest potential in the strengths and not try to improve on the weaknesses. In my opinion, to become successful, what one needs is not to be good at everything, but to excel and be outstanding in just one aspect. Hence, for the students to be able to achieve their fullest potential, the school should help the students to find out what are their strengths, be it in terms of academic, sports or arts.

Lastly, a school should accept changes, and not stubbornly uphold traditions. For example, the school should openly accept reasonable suggestions that are supported by the majority number of students. For example, in terms of the outfits of the students I believe students should have a choice of what kind of shoes, socks of spectacles to wear. For the uniform, I think slight modifications can also be accepted. As though I agree that traditional moral values should be passed on, students should not be compared as of the past, since different generations have different perspective. I do not think that a school can progress if it were to aim to become like the past.

Hence, in conclusion, I feel that my ideal school would be one that provides a good environment to study, develops its students in their strengths but not merely in terms of academic and lastly, understands its students.

Online lesson 12

Step 2:

The common theme among the scrolls in the caskets are that the scrolls represented what is hidden under a glorious surface can be different from the outer covering, and all the scrolls were of exact opposite that of the caskets. The gold box represented the most glorious surface, which indicates how valuable it is. However, inside the casket, is a picture of a skull that is worthless. Prince Morocco did not put in a deep thought, thinking that Portia is a gem and hence her portrait must be in the gold casket. It was also his greedy thoughts that had influenced him to choose the gold casket what thought to be most valuable. Then, the silver casket was chose by Aragon. The silver should have indicated the wisdom of the person who chose it. For Aragon, he thought that he was wise to choose the silver casket, and that he was of a higher class, and hence will not want what “many men want” and he does not think that Portia is good enough for him risk all he has. As a result, inside the silver casket, was a fool holding a scroll. It had named the chooser’s foolishness. Lastly, for the lead casket, was chosen by Bassanio. Bassanio was not fooled by the appearance of the gold casket, nor was he too arrogant and chose the silver casket. However, he chose the lead casket that looked extremely common. However, what led him to the answer was that he thought that Portia deserved him to risk all he has, and was able to understand that all that glitters is not gold.

Step 3:

Every day I am making decisions such as what to eat, what to wear and so on. However, until the last year have I met my toughest decision of my life. I received my Primary Six leaving examination result, and my result was acceptable. However, I was stuck in a situation that my aggregate score just met the cut-off point for my dream school. Hence, it was a tough decision that has to be made, should I take the risk in putting my dream school as my first choice? Or should I choose another “IP” school in which my aggregate score can allow me to safely get in?

I approached many people to seek for more suggestions, including my teacher, parents and friends. There are both pros and cons of the respective schools that had made my decision even harder. To get in my dream school, I will have to take the risk of not getting into it and end up in a neighborhood school. Moreover, the school is located very far away from my home, and I will spend a lot time travelling if I were to enter the school. However, the school provides a more conducive environment to study and it would give me a brighter prospect. As for the other school, I will not have to take any risk. The school was also quite near my home. However, the school may require me to take the ‘O’ level examination and does not provide a balanced learning.

If my aggregate score was any higher, I would have chosen my dream school without any doubt. However, now that such situation occurred, the cons of my dream school were and the pros of the other school were highlighted.

Finally, my cousin gave me a great way to make my decision. I decided to face this logically. I asked myself several questions: “Is the risk worth it?”, “Would I regret not making the choice?”, “Would I be happy studying in the school” and such. As a result, I decided to choose my dream school as the first choice. The reason being, I feel that it is worth taking the risk, even if I do not get into the school, I can still work hard in a neighborhood school. It was indeed a rare opportunity for me. Hence, what I would have to do now is to await the result and hope for the best…

Stereotype: Are all Hwachongians like that?

I feel that the post on stomp, about the students of Hwa Chong eating ice-cream on the public transport should not represent the behavior of all the elite schools’ students but merely the behavior of the students objectively. The writer stated that “Even elite schools’ students cannot behave?” in which I highly condemn as it was an early generalization of the whole cohort of students of Hwa Chong or even elite schools.
I feel that it had been unfair to the students mentioned, mainly the students of Hwa Chong and the elite schools as a whole. This is because the actions of the students who ate ice cream on the bus does not reflect the all the students’ action, neither does it reflect the education of the school. Any action done should be held responsible by the students involved and not anyone else. However, what the stompers responded was disappointing; they criticized not the students but the school heavily. To top off, they labeled the students of elite schools as “rich and spoiled” Moreover, the person who posted the entry circled the badge of the school, with the intention to highlight the school but not the student.

Hence right now, I would like to revoke their statement made, in which to prove what the stompers said were irresponsible generalizations. Firstly, they mentioned that the school had not taught the students properly, questioning the school’s education given to the students. However, with reference to a research done by the Australian Teenage Studies, it says that “teenagers aged between 12 to 17” tend to be more rebellious, and teachings are often futile. As such, it is proven that it was not the schools failure to educate. Moreover, with regards to students in elite schools as “rich and spoiled” However, nearly 15% of the population in the elite schools is under the financial assistant scheme and 67% under the middle-income. As such, I do not think that the statement made by the stompers were true.
I am highly against such judgment towards to innocent students. There is no evidence to prove that the school had not done their job in educating nor were the rest of the students just as bad. Such generalization can permanently affect the reputation of the school and is an injustice made on the students. The people should not hold their words inappropriately.

Online lesson 10

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/27/israel.iran

The link above talks about the conflict between Israel and Iran. The Iran president had made it official about their unacceptance towards Israel. This is similiar to the Merchant of Venice as in the story, the Christian hated the Jews and vice versal.

http://www.jstor.org/pss/352565

The link above shows example of an interfaith marriage, similiar to that of in The Merchant of Venice where Jessica, a Jew was married to Lorenzo.

Story:

Henry walked around the market patronizing the stalls. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a beautiful fair lady, accompanied by numerous guards and followers. He dared not look up directly into the eyes of the lady, as he knew that she was someone of a high status and he was a Jew. She walked past him, however, accidently knocked him down.

Henry fell badly, but he expected no help from anyone. But to his surprise, the lady gave him a hand, as asked with great concern if he was fine. With that, they got known of each other. Henry soon knew that the lady was called Tiffany, and was the daughter of a Christian commander of the German Army.

With days of interaction, they fell in love and decided to declare marriage. However, both families objected to this marriage.

“Are you crazy? How can you be married to a filthy Jew? That’s a huge disgrace to the family!” Tiffany father objected vigorously after the request from Tiffany to be married to Henry. Tiffany pleaded for agreement in tears, but it did not move her father.

“No! Do you know what kind of criticism we will receive if you marry that women? I beg you, no!” Henry’s mother pleaded Henry to put this marriage to a stop. Despite Henry’s numerous request once and again, Henry mother did not agree.

However, this couple were adamant and insisted on their marriage. News soon spread around the town, while Tiffany only received criticism, Henry often got beatings from both the Jews and Christians. Tiffany’s father chose to break his relationship with his only daughter, than to lose his reputation as a commander.

The marriage was soon held, the families from both parties did not turn up. They had a quiet wedding, however, they were so in love that it did not bother them. But after that, they had to face the harsh reality that the townspeople did not accept such a interfaith marriage that they had to leave the town for other country.

NASA

I feel that the idea of private commercial space travel is not a good thing. Such commercial space travel may not be able to recover the cost of setting, possible dangers may occur and lastly resources may be wasted.

The commercial space travel may not be able to recover the cost. The Space Shuttle Endeavour, the orbiter built to replace the Space Shuttle Challenger, cost approximately $1.7 billion. To recover such a high cost, it is not a sum that could be or willing to be paid by anyone, limiting the number of passenger. With reference to the Bloomberg Businessweek article, “NASA will pay each company $1.6 billion to run 12 cargo missions to the space station through 2015. The $133 million cost per flight would be less than one-third NASA's cost for such missions.” With such limited passenger, such space travel may need a long time to recover the cost. Not just that, there may even be a loss for the support needed.

Such travel may have possible danger. Since the technology is still limited, and the condition in the space is still unpredictable, possible dangers may arise. George bush once said "Some explorers do not return, and the loss settles unfairly on a few”, proving the danger that may involve even when experienced astronauts are sent. If any errors or failures were to occur on the craft, the passengers may be left helpless and are not able to cope with such a circumstance.

Lastly, resources may be wasted. Resources included molecular wires and light-weighted metal that are extremely valuable. If such rare resources are to be used on purposes that are to research, it will be heavily wasted, as the reward for the travel to space should have been the ones benefitting the whole human race, rather than for the company. Such resources cannot be replaced by just money.

In conclusion, I feel that the idea of private commercial space travel is not a good thing. Such commercial space travel may not be able to recover the cost of setting, possible dangers may occur and lastly resources may be wasted.

Apple

The decision made by Apple will decrease the efficiency of their product, lose their popularity, and lastly, result in more piracy.

Such decision made by Apple will decrease the efficiency of their product. In Asia, the iPhone is one of the most popular hand phones. However, if they where to not allow the music store, it means that users will have to find more alternative ways to download music and have them inside the product. An evidence to prove this will be a blog post made by an anonymous blogger. He complained about the inconvenience to download songs and “sync” into the iPhone. He even started a rally to collect the votes of many who had the same thought as him. The result shown was that many people were really unhappy about the music store not introduced in Asia, which had caused much inconvenience.

If Apple were to continue to not allow the music store to be set up in Asia, the company will gradually lose their popularity. The Asian may feel that the company is biased against them, also disregarding the interest of the Apple users of Asia, and in turn disliking the products. An evidence to prove this is a statistic of the number of products bought against the popularity of the company. It had shown that of two companies that are producing similar things, people will choose the company that they feel will take their interest as the priority. However, what Apple is doing now shows that they had put the interest of Asian as the minor factor to consider. Feeling disrespected, the popularity of Apple will then drop.

Such policy from Apple will lastly, result in more piracy, contradicting their intention. As they do not allow users to buy music, book or movies using the Apple product, in may result in more piracy. The users are unable to buy these things even if they were willing to pay for them. Hence, they will go for alternative method to get them. Methods such as torrent, jailbreak, or illegal downloads will be used. This contradicts the initial intention of the company.

In conclusion, the policy made by Apple will decrease the efficiency of their product, lose their popularity, and lastly, result in more piracy.

Expert circle

Topic 2
Elizabeth I: Who was she?

Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. She was also known as the virgin queen, gloriana. Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. In 1558 Elizabeth succeeded the Catholic Mary I, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

What were England's international relations like during Elizabeth's reign?

2. Due to the fact that Queen Elizabeth 1 was a Protestant, this caused her much trouble with other countries because of her strong belief. However, England had an alliance with Netherlands during Elizabeth's reign.

What was Shakespeare's relationship with Elizabeth I?

3. Queen Elizabeth I liked when plays were acted out for her. She was very fond of Shakespeare’s plays. In some of his play, Shakespeare cleverly hinted passages referring to the Queen and other events that affiliated during both of their life time. Queen Elizabeth I was a great supporter of the arts, mainly she supported plays and masques.

Compare Elizabeth I to Portia from The Merchant of Venice. How is Portia's character a tribute to Elizabeth I?

4.Portia Portia is the lead female in the Merchant of Venice play She is also the heroine who saves the day when she finds a fault in the contract given by Shylock and forces Shylock to drop the charges against Antonio. Portia She is very much like an independent woman who has rose to such high ranks like today’s Michelle Obama or Condolezza Rice. She is a strong-headed woman. Queen Elizabeth I had the same character as Portia. Perhaps Portia was an inspiration drawn from as well as a tribute paid to Elizabeth I who was a patron of Shakespeare’s works. Queen Elizabeth I had been famous for the defeat of the Spanish Armada She had also created an Elizabethan Era in which English dramas and plays had flourished during this period.
Queen Elizabeth I She is celebrated as the ruler of a golden age. Her work on the throne is enormous and helped to give England its own identity. She was a successful monarch and also another strong woman like Portia.

Topic 3

Diet

Did Elizabethan food and drink constitute a good balanced diet? No! And especially not for the rich! The rich ate few fresh vegetables and little fresh fruit - unprepared food of this variety was viewed with some suspicion! Fruit was usually served in pies or was preserved in honey. Vegetables and fresh fruit were eaten by the poor - vegetables would have been included in some form of stew, soup or pottage. Food items which came from the ground were only are considered fit for the poor. Only vegetables such as rape, onions, garlic and leeks graced a Noble's table. Dairy products were also deemed as inferior foods and therefore only to be eaten by the poor.

Hygiene

The Poor

The greatest majority of families were poor. Hygiene, at this level, was not important enough to be practiced. Most people took only one to three baths a year. Oral hygiene was not considered.


Middle Class

The yeomanry and the gentry were more concerned with hygiene, bathing as often as once a month. Daily washing of the face, neck and wrists was common. Teeth were cleaned by rinsing with vinegar and water, then wiping each tooth with a cloth. Toothpicks were also widely used.


The Wealthy

The wealthy bathed every other week, and often enjoyed expensive soap. Beards were also washed with soap, and kept trimmed and neat. Ironically, many oral hygiene concoctions were sweetened with honey, causing rapid tooth decay.


Recreation

Fairs

The Annual Summer Fair and other seasonal fairs such as May Day were often bawdy affairs.

Plays

Started as plays enacted in town squares followed by the actors using the courtyards of taverns or inns (referred to as Inn-yards) followed by the first theatres (great open air amphitheatres built in the same style as the Roman Coliseum) and then the introduction of indoor theatres called Playhouses.

Miracle Plays

Re-enactments of stories from the Bible. These are derived from the ancient Briton custom of Mystery Plays, in which stories and fables were enacted to teach lessons or educate about life in general. Miracle plays included stories from all ecclesiastic literature, from the Bible to the everyday psaltery or prayerbook.

Festivals

Celebrating Church festivals

Jousts / Tournaments

A series of tilted matches between two or more warriors, by the Elizabethan time period these were more of a show or display of arms than to settle disputes such as we hear of in stories. Unlike our romantic notions of only knights participating in a joust, they were in fact a favorite of many, such as King Henry VIII, who often in his youth showed off his equestrian skills with a lance and a tilt.

Games and Sports

Sports and games which included archery, bowling, cards, dice, hammer-throwing, quarter-staff contests, troco, quoits, skittles, wrestling and mob football.

Card Games

Cards appeared in Spain and Italy about 1370, but they probably came from Egypt. They began to spread throughout Europe and came into England around 1460. By the time of Elizabeth’s reign, gambling was a common sport. Cards were not played only by the upper class. Many of the lower classes had access to playing cards. The card suits tended to change over time.

Accommodation

The most common manor plan for Elizabethan times housing was an E shape, with the vertical line of the E being the main hall, and the shorter horizontal end lines the kitchens and living rooms. The shorter central line was the entry porch. On the upper floor of the main hall there was a long gallery, used for entertaining as a family area, for exercise on dull days, and as a portrait gallery, the long gallery was an almost universal feature of Elizabethan manors. It featured windows on three sides and fireplaces along the fourth, and it usually ran the entire length of the floor.

Why is William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon not considered a likely candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare's works?

- The lack of documentary proof for Shakespeare's education or literacy is often noted in the arguments for alternative candidates
- In his surviving signatures William Shakespeare did not spell his name as it appears on most Shakespeare title pages. His surname was spelled inconsistently in both literary and non-literary documents, with the most variation observed in those that were written by hand. This is taken as evidence that he was not the same person who wrote the works, and that the name was used as a pseudonym for the true author.
- When Shakespeare died, the language of the will is mundane and unpoetic and makes no mention of personal papers, books, poems, or the 18 plays that remained unpublished at the time of his death.


Who are the possible candidates?

- Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
- Francis Bacon, Philosopher and Writer
- Christopher Marlowe, Playwright

Topic 4

Venice was well developed in its culture, adapting to new trends quickly, as well as improving its structure making it very attractive, its culture was simple and many people were merchants.
Venice was important in that it had a huge market and was one of the ruling economies, Venice also had many items which were worth quite some money at the time.
Venice is an appropriate setting for the Merchant of Venice as it easily explains the reasons why Antonio went there, as well as portraying the culture of Venice and how Antonio adapts to it, such as the racism and Prejudice against jews.

Topic 6

In what sort of building were Shakespeare’s plays performed?

Shakespeare’s plays were mostly performed in the Globe Theatre which was some sort of a medieval building. The outer view of the building has a much simpler design while the inside holds a much more intricate design which brings out a mystical atmosphere. The Globe Theatre had no roof, allowing sunlight to enter the building during the day. The building had no lighting equipment thus plays were mostly scheduled in the afternoon where there is light.

How did the physical constraints of the theatre affect the language of Shakespeare’s plays?

The theater that Cuthbert Burbage built for the Chamberlain’s Men had a total capacity of between 2,000 and 3,000 spectators. Because there was no lighting, all performances at the Globe were conducted, weather permitting, during the day (probably most often in the mid-afternoon span between 2 P.M. and 5 P.M.). Because most of the Globe and all of its stage was open air, acoustics were poor and the actors were compelled by circumstances to shout their lines, stress their enunciation, and engage in exaggerated theatrical gestures.

What sort of people acted in plays?

Shakespeare’s fellow members of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men acted in his plays. Among these actors were Richard Burbage (who played the title role in the first performances of many of Shakespeare’s plays, including Hamlet, Othello, Richard III and King Lear), Richard Cowley (who played Verges in Much Ado About Nothing), William Kempe, (who played Peter in Romeo and Juliet and, possibly, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Henry Condell and John Heminges, are most famous now for collecting and editing the plays of Shakespeare’s First Folio.

What sort of people went to see them?

People from all classes went to see Shakespeare’s plays in Shakespeare’s time. Anyone who could afford the minimum price of one penny could go and stand in the yard in front of the stage. They were known as ‘groundlings’ or ‘penny stinkers’; they stood all through the play. Those who could afford two pennies could sit on the covered benches; there were three tiers of covered seating around the edge of the yard. Rich people could sit above, or above and just to the side of the stage in the ‘Lords’ rooms’.

How was “The Theatre” viewed by Elizabethan society?

The Mayor and Corporation of London banned plays in 1572 as a measure against the plague, and in 1575 they formally expelled all players from the city1 This prompted the construction of playhouses outside the jurisdiction of London, in the liberties of Halliwell/Holywell in Shoreditch and later the Clink, and at Newington Butts near the established entertainment district of St. George’s Fields in rural Surrey

Compare the modern-day Globe Theatre in London with the theatres that Shakespeare worked in.

In the past, Shakespeare worked in places like the theatre….

The Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Shoreditch (in Curtain Road, part of the modern London Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. It was the second permanent theatre ever built in England, after the Red Lion, and the first successful one. Built by actor-manager James Burbage, near the family home in Holywell Street, The Theatre is considered the first theatre built in London for the sole purpose of theatrical productions. The Theatre’s history includes a number of important acting troupes including the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.The design of The Theatre was possibly adapted from the inn-yards that had served as playing spaces for actors and/or bear baiting pits. The building was a polygonal wooden building with three galleries that surrounded an open yard.



However, the modern Globe theatre is different in…

Shakespeare’s Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction, of the 1614 building, was founded by the actor and director Sam Wanamaker and built approximately 230 metres (750 ft) from the site of the original theatre. The theatre was opened to the public in 1997, with a production of Henry V. The site also includes a reconstruction of the Blackfriars Theatre.

Narrative paragraphs with no adjective and adverbs

It was a Friday afternoon. Everyone one in the class was preparing to cheer for the teams they support. The race is on. Team A had a head start, leading the crowd with an advantage of nearly twenty metres, which was significant in a 12x200 race like this. Next was Team P, followed by Team I then Team O. However, the lead did not last long, Team P had their fastest runner sent, who shortened the gap then soon overtaking. The crowd cheered upon seeing such a sight, it was indeed close!

What if there was a gender imbalance

If the ratio of the male population to the female population remains at such an imbalance rate, then the population of Asia will decrease, there will be lacking of females to occupy relevant jobs and lastly, there will be men migrating to other countries for marriage partner.

Firstly, if the gender continues to be imbalance, the population in Asia will decrease. As the number of female decreases, there will be lesser marriages, leading to less child birth, lastly, affecting the population of Asia as a whole. Based on an analysis of the east-west centre, it says that from the research made on new marriages, it had decreased by 2.7% since 2008 to 2009. This had further caused the population “decreasing by 1.3%” from the year 2008 to 2009, corresponding to the same year the number of marriages decreased. A research also showed that the fertility rate had decreased when more boys were born per 100 girls. This shows that there are lesser marriages nowadays where the contributing factor may very well be the decrease in the number of females. This can affect the relevant companies, for example the bridal gown shop. Also, it can affect the workforce in Singapore in the future.

Then, there will be a lacking of females to occupy relevant jobs, due to the higher demand for such workers, yet a decreasing population of females. The UK news states that “The average earnings of a daily nanny in central London have risen above £30,000 for the first time to £33,179 - equivalent to a police officer in the capital with about two years' experience” as there was an increasing demand for nanny. The reason for such may be the decrease in the population of females to occupy these job vacancies that most females do. This can further affect the economy as a whole, if it continues, as there are lesser such workforce to facilitate the economy.
Lastly, there will be more men migrating to other countries for marriage partner. In a report made by the IMC, it says that there were “12% of the male graduates migrating to other countries and settling there”. This shows that men were migrating to other countries, including the elites. As such, in Asia, there may be an increase lost of talents, which can affect many factors such as better education, productivity. If it persists, the population will finally decrease, and there will be “resource over population”.

In conclusion if the ratio of the male population to the female population remains at such an imbalance rate, then the population of Asia will decrease, there will be lacking of females to occupy relevant jobs and lastly, there will be men migrating to other countries for marriage partner.

Reflection:

I personally do not agree with the traditional concept of Asians that boys are better. In my opinion, I feel that children or people of any gender should be treated with same amount of respect and receive the same kind of treatment, bringing about the same amount of expectations. There are no actual evidences that male contributes more than females or such. It was merely due to the fact that boys can carry the traits of the family to the future generations. However, is that really that important such that females in certain countries can have such bias?

There are actually examples of women that had contributed greatly to the world. Such as Marie Carie, who had discovered the radioactivity and helped many people, yet forfeiting the patent of such discovery. This is a feat that had been achieved more than the majority of the man in the world. With such an example, how can we say that women cannot contribute and are weak in nature? That is an obvious stereotyping, in which many people with the past concepts had , taking away the rights of many women. As such, we should stop this trend as that was the basic human rights that ought to be received by everyone, but not only certain gender.

War poem

Told by the governor
That we were in no danger
From the Japanese's rife
Yearning to be our executer

The undefeatable fortress was a joke
Bomb to pieces left with smoke
Thought to cross the jungle was impossible
But proved them to be assessible

Where on earth did they go
Leaving us in this dreaded camp
That no one seem to live again

If human beings were not inherently optimistic

The world would change if human beings were not inherently optimistic. Firstly, they would become less persistent when doing things or when they meet challenges. They will also find life having less meaning. Lastly, people will get more health problems.

People without optimism will become less persistent when doing things or when they meet challenges. One example would be Jimmy Carter, the ex-president of United States of America, who received the noble prize award in the year 2002. He reordered the budget to make it more efficient and effective despite the opposition of many. If he had not been optimistic, facing the opposition, he would have given up since he would not think about the good points of his initiatives. He would also be easily influenced by other and thus, unable to persist on the own idea. With that there would not be such efficient budget. Eventually, the budget record turned out to be a great success.

If human beings were not inherently optimistic, they will find less meaning in their life. This is because whatever thing they do will seem to be futile, and they will not see any benefits or good points in the results of their hard work. As such, they will find no meaning in their life. An evidence to show this is a research made on pessimism done by the MidWest company. It says that people that are pessimistic will not set their goals, since they do not anticipate anything good to happen. Without goals in their lives, these people have nothing to work towards, and hence just wait for time to pass. This can make their lives very meaningless.

Lastly, without inherent optimism, human beings can get more health problems. According to David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD, in his book Anti Cancer: A New Way of Life, psychological stress has been associated with cancer for more than 2,000. The type of mindset that can most negatively affect health is the feeling of utter helplessness and despair. Showing that with the pessimism, it can affect the health of many, and the cancer rate will increase drastically, also more psychological problems will occur.

In conclusion, if optimism was not inherent, people will become less persistent when doing things. They will also find life having less meaning. Lastly, people will get more health problems.

100 word sentence

Everyone was in the state of panic and horror and ran around aimlessly while screaming shrilly and banging one another before the security guards and the police arrived to the packed shopping mall which had almost up to a thousand visitors at all time containing hundreds over shops and stalls after a was heard bomb hoax by a suspicious skinny tall man with unkempt hair and wearing a mask as if deliberately to cover up his face to avoid being recognized by the police who had attempted to track him down to capture him for his several bomb hoaxes attempt long time ago

R & R war

Passage A
GUNS,
Long, steel guns,
Pointed from the war ships
In the name of the war god.
Straight, shining, polished guns,
Clambered over with jackies in white blouses,
Glory of tan faces, tousled hair, white teeth,
Laughing lithe jackies in white blouses,
Sitting on the guns singing war songs, war chanties.
Shovels,
Broad, iron shovels,
Scooping out oblong vaults,
Loosening turf and leveling sod.
I ask you
To witness—
The shovel is brother to the gun.

(“Iron” by Carl Sandburg, Chicago Poems, Henry Holt, 1916)

1. “Guns / Long, steel guns / Pointed from the war ships” (lines 1-3). What type of
gun is Sandburg describing here?

Iron Guns

2. “Laughing lithe jackies in white blouses, / Sitting on the guns singing war songs,
war chanties” (lines 8-9). Who are the “jackies” in these lines, and why would
they be singing “war chanties”?

The jackies referred to the seamen. Theses "jackies have repeatedly do the same work, hence singing to ease the boredom.

3. “The shovel is brother to the gun” (line 16). Explain what Sandburg means by
this statement.

Both the Gun and the shovel are made from iron. The gun is created to kill, and the shovel to dig the graves. Hence, without the consequence of the shovel, the guns will not be created, hence, the shovel is the "brother" of the gun.

Passage B

SMASH down the cities.
Knock the walls to pieces.
Break the factories and cathedrals, warehouses and homes
Into loose piles of stone and lumber and black burnt wood:
You are the soldiers and we command you.
Build up the cities.
Set up the walls again.
Put together once more the factories and cathedrals, warehouses and homes
Into buildings for life and labor:
You are workmen and citizens all: We command you.

4. What is the significance of the poem’s title, “And They Obey”?

To show that after a country is taken over by another country, the citizens have lost their rights and voices. They could only listen and obey. The commanding army then have very high authority, even if it was only a minor soldier in the army.

5. What is the effect of the contrasting actions between stanzas 1 and 2 (smash/
build, knock/set up, break/put together)? What is the persona’s attitude toward
the soldiers and citizens in the poem?

It was about how different were the soldiers of the opposing army and the citizens of the town does. It also showed the irony, on how the army had told their soldiers to break down these buildings, however, again, it was them who commanded the citizens and workmen to rebuild all these buildings once again. Hence, it was an anti-war poem, to show the resent, of the poet towards war, and questioning the need of war.

6. In your view, is it harder to tear a society down, or to build it back up again? Use examples from current events to support your answer.

In my view it is harder to build a society back up than to tear a society down. To tear down a country, it can be in the matter of weeks, days or even seconds! Howecer, to rebuild the society, years are needed. In the recent Japanese earthquake, only a wave of earthquake that occurred only for minutes had reduced the buildings and propeties into rubbles. However, it was estimated that for the city to be rebuilt, it may take up to five years. With this example, I can tell that rebuilding a country is much harder.

Passage C
IN the old wars drum of hoofs and the beat of shod feet.
In the new wars hum of motors and the tread of rubber tires.
In the wars to come silent wheels and whirr of rods not yet dreamed out in the heads of men.
In the old wars clutches of short swords and jabs into faces with spears.
In the new wars long range guns and smashed walls, guns running a spit of metal and men falling in
tens and twenties.
In the wars to come new silent deaths, new silent hurlers not yet dreamed out in the heads of men.
In the old wars kings quarreling and thousands of men following.
In the new wars kings quarreling and millions of men following.
In the wars to come kings kicked under the dust and millions of men following great causes not yet
dreamed out in the heads of men.

7. Explain the progression of onomatopoeia in the first stanza. What do you
imagine the sounds of the future wars represent?

In the beginning of the poem, the "hoofs and beat of shod feet" was probably caused horses that the soldiers used during the war. Then, the "hum of motors and the tread of rubber tires" was probably caused by the cars or tanks used for the modern warfare. Then it was silent that represented the future wars. This may represent that that the technology in future was beyond imagination, or that the future may not even require such physical fights anymore, probably through a higher form of technology.

8. “In the wars to come kings kicked under the dust” (line 9). Taking an example
from current events, discuss one “king” that has been “kicked under the dust” in
recent times.

One example would be Muammar Gaddafi the leader of Libya, who had been removed from office. It was largely due to his over-usage of power to control the country which caused the rebel against him.

Will the Singapore gorvernment allow same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage will not be allowed by the Singapore government even in the future. This is because same-sex marriage was often linked to people that have psychological problems, or not having the right sanity. Then, it can cause more health problems. Finally, Singapore is a multi-racial, religion country, people of different religion or races that are more conservative may find it hard to accept.

Firstly, same-sex marriage was often linked to people that have psychological problems, or not having the right sanity. An example would be an article, showing if the citizens of the countries will accept a homosexual MP. Even though there were a large number of citizens showing that they had no opinion on such an issue. However, amongst the citizens that disagreed, most said that these people are not in the right sanity to govern or handle the national affairs. Due to such thinking that was going on, citizens may find it hard to accept such marriages, since they may think that it is a platform for more instability of the country.

Then, same-sex marriages can cause more health problems. With reference to a report made on homosexuality, In the USA, it is estimated that nearly 255,000 men who have sex with men were living with HIV/AIDS in 2007, and nearly 5,400 had died. Around 48% of all people diagnosed with AIDS in America in 2007 were probably exposed to HIV through male-to-male sexual contact. In the UK, by the end of June 2009, around 45,947 diagnoses of HIV had been in men who had probably become infected through sex intercourse with another man. 53% of these men were aged below 35. This showed that the rate of diseases to occur is higher on homosexuals. These marriages will be a platform to encourage these intercourses that can cause more diseases. With that, it can, finally affect the population of the country.

Lastly, same-sex marriages will be opposed by more citizens since Singapore is a multi-racial, religion country, people of different religion or races that are more conservative may find it hard to accept. An example would be in one case that caused international controversy, Iran executed Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni on July 19, 2005, after they were convicted for the rape of a 13-year-old boy. Soon after, a British group alleged that the teenagers were executed for consensual homosexual acts and not rape. This had proved that according to the Islam law, homosexual acts were even a more serious crime than raping, showing how religions can be against such acts.

In conclusion, same-sex marriages can cause social problems as the citizens do not have right concept about homosexuality. To top off that, it can cause more health problems. Finally, it had not gained enough recognition.

Reflection:

As though I have stated that Singapore should not allow same-sex marriage, I feel that the society should not be prejudiced against these people.
Firstly, these people did not choose to become what they were now. Since this was beyond control of the ability of a person, and they did not choose to become such, the society should empathize these people and try to put themselves in others shoes.
Secondly, these people should be allowed to be given the same treatment. The fact that these people have affection towards the same gender does not suggest that they do not have the right sanity. Moreover, it cannot prove the abilities of these people and they could contribute the society as well. The way these people act do not affect others live, less mentioning that it will teach children the wrong concept. Since, they do not have negative effects on others, why should they be criticized upon.

Hence, I feel that with more empathy in the society, can we accept more differences and learn to respect others decision. Such a concept cannot be educated immediately; however, I believe that if we were to start from ourselves, respecting everyone in our lives, then we can influence others to be gracious Singaporeans as well. However, I know that this will need time and due to many factors, especially religious reasons, it may need a long period of time, or maybe forever to be implemented.

HBL 24/5 Poem Analysis Task 2

"Children in the Darkness" by Henry M Bechtold

Difficulty Rating: *

There are children in the darkness
Who have not seen the light
There are children in the darkness
Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be
To this door there is no key
From this life they can not flee
And these children are not free

Could we simply light a candle
Could we give them half a chance
Could we teach them how to read
Could we teach them how to dance

Or will a war consume them
Their body and their soul
Will their life and blood be poured
Down some endless thirsty hole

Back into the darkness
From which there is no flight
Back into the darkness
Into which there shines no light

ANNEX A

1. Whose Point of View

Statement:From the Persona's/Poet's point of view
Evidence:"Could we simply light a candle"
Elaboration:The poet speaks in the first person point of view, in which he talks about the children while including the own thoughts

2. Situation and Setting

Statement:It is in the war time. They are most likely in a cave.
Evidence:“Or will a war consume them”, “Who someone will teach to fight”,” Back into the darkness”
Elaboration:The poem stated that it was during a war time. The war was specifically referring to the vietnam war, in which, during the war, soldiers hid in caves of tunnels to hide themselves, explaining tha darkness.

3. Language/Diction

Statement:Personification and repetition
Evidence: “From which there is no flight”, “Into which there shines no light”, “Or will a war consume them”
Eaboration:For the first two evidences, the "ight" sound was being repeated at alternative lines. For the last evidence, the word consume was used. However, war cannot literally consume anyone, it is just the use of personification that represented the children being sacrificed in the war.

4. Personal Response

Statement:I pitied the children involved in the war.
Evidence:"Chalk and blackboards will not be""Will their life and blood be poured"
"Back into the darkness
Into which there shines no light"
Elaboration:The first evidence suggested that these children's rights (studying in this case) had been taken away from them. The next evidence told me that the children had to put their lives at risk at almost every moment. Even so, the children were still ignorant, and had almost no control over their fate. Finally, the last example, showed the helplessness, of the children, in which this darkness will never be gone, and always haunting them. The children, at a tender age, will certainly be afraid of this, be it deep in their heart the darkness or their surrounding.

HBL 24/5 Poem Analysis Task 1

"Children in the Darkness" by Henry M Bechtold
Difficulty Rating: *

There are children in the darkness
Who have not seen the light
There are children in the darkness
Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be
To this door there is no key
From this life they can not flee
And these children are not free

Could we simply light a candle
Could we give them half a chance
Could we teach them how to read
Could we teach them how to dance

Or will a war consume them
Their body and their soul
Will their life and blood be poured
Down some endless thirsty hole

Back into the darkness
From which there is no flight
Back into the darkness
Into which there shines no light

The first stanza suggests that the children had not seen light, suggesting that the children were still ignorant on what was going on, not mentioning the war. This contradicts the fact that soldier normally fight for their country due to the loyalty for their country. The last sentence of the first stanza stated that "someone will teach them how to fight" suggests that they had no self-defence in the first place, and had to learn to both adapt and defend the country from the start.

The second stanza "chalk and blackboards will not be" contrasting the reader's view of school with the way these children are taught, showing that these children are unble to receive an adequate education. The next 3 sentences describes that the children are extremely helpless with their situation, and are unable to escape and regain freedom.

The third stanza are questions, asking whether the children would be able to receive the same education as any other children.

Finally, the last stanze answered those questions. Similiar to the second stanza, it showed that the children will still be unable to recive these education and had been stranded in such situation.

Online lesson 7

A few days the siren was ringing, and everyone sought for their safest shelter, not their homes definitely.

The atmosphere was tense. The bristle of the woods could be heard almost immediately since they were on an empty land, not entirely, but had no infrastructure at least. All around the soldiers were stones and rubbles, clear evidence upon weeks of massive bombings and months of invasions. It seemed that this place used to be a luxurious mansion, for an elegant white gate was to be seen. However, it was of no more use now, for all had reduced to piles of debris to be cleared away. Such a prime land probably had its price dropped so tremendously or even scares some.

Ironically, the trees brought alive by the people of the past mansion were the sole survivors, while the vulnerable people might have perished in these fallen roof tops, and piercing sharp woods.

The soldiers stormed through the uneven pathway, unaware if they are the ones searching for survivals, or the ones who had caused this sorry state. It was a deadly peacefulness all around the area, only the strongest and bravest shall survive. The soldiers were fully armed, with their face painted, as if ready for a fight anytime. They were unaware of what may be anticipating them. However, stepping on those ruins firmly were an indication that they will not hesitate to put up a tough fight. However weary these soldiers may be, they knew that they would have to continue, be it for their own country, or for the people.

No one had any idea when this land will return to its past glorious days. What they can pray for now is their own safety, and the wish that they can return to their homes, not in such sate seemed so far…

Dairy entry of a war-time soldier

Dear Diary,

Today was the battle at the Omaha Beach, a really tough one. It was the day that really dawned me, World War II has began, either face it courageous or death.

We headed to the Omaha beach on speed rafts. Facing the opposing current and wind, the raft showed no hesitation, like our determination to win the battle. On the raft, I could see the hands of my comrades shaking uncontrollably. Holding to his bottle, he sipped a little bit, in attempt to calm his fear, anxiety, whatsoever. Commanders shouted commands, to speed up the raft and to get ready for the tough battle ahead. As we turned the steering device, it was to my utmost shock that the comrade next to me, suddenly, shot dead. It was then, followed by a string of bullets, shooting dead hundreds of comrades. We were vulnerable to such attacks, only taking the attacks but unable to retort.

In attempt to avoid the bullets, most of us dived into the cold water. However, it haven’t stop, bullets pierced through the water. Injured comrades dipped the sea bloody red. It was a devastating moment, but I could not cry my hearts out, I had to battle for my country, whether is it the power of the country or for our pride.

It seemed like a million year before we finally reached the shore. However, by then, the squad was already in a mess, dead bodies seen everywhere. I raced forward, seeked protection at a hill slope. However, we were still visible in our enemies’ eyes. Mercilessly, they fired at us. Perhaps due to the angle we were at, most of us were saved from the bullets. Plotting for a further battle, we sneaked past the fences, and into the camps of our enemies. However, the place was so heavily guarded and we had obviously no idea of the traps inside. Death was just inches away from me, but there was no escape for me, but mere will to survive and conquer.

We formed a formation and laid an ambush on our enemies. It was unexpected for them, however, due to outnumbering, both parties were heavily demoralized. Few of us managed to escape, but I was the lucky one, suffering only external injuries and a broken leg. We headed back to our camp. It was then our hearts finally settled. I know it will not be long, for what I witnessed just hours ago, and the dead bodies being carried back to the camp.

I am writing this today, but I do not know whether I will be given such an opportunity tomorrow. From such a battle, I understood that no military force is invincible, even a small and insignificant country may overpower us. However, I believe that only the one with will can last forever. I wish the British army can persevere and continue to strive hard. It may be enduring, but I know that all I have done is worth it. One thing is I really miss my family…. But I will hold on, and I know that they want me to too!

Kah Xuan

Social media

I agree at social media had made us less social in real life. When I was primary 6, I started using facebook, and to realise that many users of facebook are actually less sociable or even much more different than what they use to be. For my case, after using facebook, I tend to use the computer and internet even more often. When I was invited to play soccer with my friend, it was raining, thus I was not allowed to go. However, unlike the past times, I did not feel too disappointed, since I was using the facebook. Then, I realise that in the past, people will buy gifts for their friends during the birthdays, however, now that social media is so common, most of my friends around me, including myself, know it is someone’s birthday only through facebook, and a simple “happy birthday” posted on other’s profile would do the job, rather than giving a gift with sincerity. Such an internet tool had resulted in lesser and lesser communications between people, activities that are meant to be done among friends can also be easily replaced. Moreover, instead of remembering, notes are made of the social media and there will be no mutual sincerity anymore.

How has technology affected the way I learn

The infocomm technology had allowed me to look for a wider resource at a faster speed. An example when I was primary six, during a project. I tried a lot method to look for the information I wanted, however, it was really tedious since the information I wanted was just in a paragraph of a book. I decided to turn to the internet. Just by entering the key word to the search engine, I saw a lot relevant link, such as e-book and research papers. This was much faster than what it did in library. Technology had helped me to look for information faster. There were also a lot information that were not available in the library, such as documented research paper done by certain doctors or researchers. Not just that, I can even consider what are some of the opinions of the users and readers.

Reflection on the 21 April talk

Recently, I attended the workshop regarding the book published by Hwa Chong Institution – Towerhill. It was a collation of the students’ works throughout the year. Many of which, does not seem like a work from a students, particularly the ones from the Secondary 4 students. The thoughts and ideas of one was expressed through the writings. The book was initially entitled “Parnassus”, however, it was too difficult for non-poet to understand it, hence, named as Towerhill instead, a straight forward and blunt word-choice, to express the idea of hill top. The theme of the book was black and white, so as to keep it simple. The design of the book cover, is to represent the past to the future.
There are two parts to the book, first part on the traditional elements and cultural themes. While the second part of the book is talking about a progression from the past to future. Regarding the first part of the book, traditional elements and cultural themes, I feel that the poem, about the grandfather clock, had left me a deep impression. It talked about the loneliness of the clock as interpreted, the fading of such tradition. There is also a writing specially pointed out by the speaker, about the culture of Chinese people fading rapidly. It was really a success, with great connections with our daily lives. Until the last sentence, it had left me with a heavy impact, making up unable to forget it. It was mentioned that this piece of writing was inspired by a visit to the writer’s grandfather’s urn. With that, I can conclude that literature, is not something forced out of someone, but something that comes out of someone naturally, and when the ideas starts flowing, the writing could be then, done in no time.
The second part of the book is about a progression from the past to future. It was symbolized by the drawing on the front cover of the book. To me, it was particularly interesting. It is so as such a book is not published every year, however, was the first time after so many years. With that, the theme, progression from the past to future is shown, be it the style of the writings throughout the years, or how the choice of themes had changed. It can only happen when such a book is published only every several years. The book is thus invaluable, since it collated the outstanding pieces from so many students over the years, and is the best way to show the past to future. Knowing to use such a theme, I feel that it is really interesting. It is also a form of reflection, when a writer look back at the past, hence improving his writing.
I am sure that a lot budding writers have this concept, that the heavy usage of bombastic words could impress the readers. However, as the speaker of the workshop suggested, “Writing is to express, not to impress” which is true. What is the point of writing, when the reader could not understand what you want to express? I feel that we can only express our ideas completely when we use the language we are used to, trying the use another style will only result in our writing being unnatural. When producing a work, there are times where we are afraid of being mocked at. However, it may very well be due to the fact that we had not put in enough effort. If we did try our best, however, is still criticized, we should take it positively and taking it as a platform for improvement.
The cost of the book was $10, and the proceeds of the funds will go to the Japan earthquake victims. This had added significance to the book, while enjoying the literature, we can help the victims of the earthquake as well. All in all, I feel that it was an extremely meaningful talk, I have also received a lot new explorations to the world of literature.

Do we still need heroes?

I feel that we do not need heroes. This is because what we truly need is the independence to work alone. What the society needs nowadays is not a single source of strength and contributions, but the unity of the society as a whole. Last but not least, the heroes in many people's eyes are the ones shown on movies, which may create a wrong imaginary denfination of a hero.

Firstly, what we truly need is the independence to work alone, and not to rely on others. In an experiment made by the Ministry of denfence, it says that " only three hours after the suspicious bag had been placed in the MRT station had someone informed the police". However, survey shown that "nearly 70% knew what to do when such a situation arises". This shows that there are so many residents of Singapore that severely lacked the wariness and often relied on others, thinking that others will do the job. This is largely due to the thinking that the government will do the job,resulting in the long term reliance of the residents. With the dependence of heroes, people will become complacent and thus turn to the hazardous of the society.

With the idea of the need of heroes, it will mean the agreement of the single source of strength. However, what a society need is the unity of all the people, to work together as a whole. From my personal experience, during the combined sports meet, my class participated in every single event, even though he may not be the best in that event. Eventually, my class emerged as the champion. It was not due to the fact that we had better althetics, however, it was due to the accumulated total score that helped us to emerge as champion. Whereas for some other classes, they had very good athletic, but merely relying on those only, would be unable to get them enough accumulated scores, since no matter how good the athletic is, he could only play well in a number of sports and not all. This had proved that unity is more important than having heroes, since people of different pros will be accumulated to become better than a single hero.

Lastly, people, especially kids may have the wrong perspective on the idea of "hero". Children, when exposed to movies like spiderman or superman, they are easily absorbed into the grphics and the violence. Even though the movies are meant to produce the idea of heroic acts and acts of justice. However, children are most likely unable to interpret those ideas and concepts. With the survey made, nearly 85% of the children responded that it is because spiderman can fight, and is heroic. However, they had misunderstood and relate heroic and violence together. In such a case, the idea of heroic is not reflected properly. If such concept continues, it can turn the future generations of adults to become violent, causing a lot of social problems.

In conclusion there should be independence in very being and unity in every society. The strength of a single person will be very limited, since there will be no one that is perfect. However, as a group, the pros and cons of different people will be put together to form a greater support. The misconceptions of heros may not seem to be a great problem, but could actually deliver a potential problem.

Online lesson 6

A. Identify the southern US states during the Civil War.
Taxas, Florida, Tennessee, LA, ARK, MISS, ALA, Georgia, N.Carolina, S.Carolina and Virginia.
B. Who was the US president who proclaimed war against the South?
Abraham Lincoln was the US president who proclaimed war against the South.
C. Why was the Civil War fought?
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=142717
http://oep.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/4/563.short
The Civil War was fought mainly because of steady accumulation of protracted conflicts since the 1950s and 1960s and conditions that favor insurgency. These include poverty—which marks financially and bureaucratically weak states and also favors rebel recruitment—political instability, rough terrain, and large populations.
D. When was this war fought?
The war was fought 1861 - 1865
E. What was the outcome of this war?
http://www.uky.edu/~clthyn2/PS439G/readings/derouen_sobek_2004.pdf
Many people were sacrificed with Union having the victory.

F. How does the Civil War relate to TKAM?
Both are similar in the factor of racial tension. So, the American Civil War was based a lot upon the disagreement over slavery. In "To Kill a Mockingbird" the case about Tom Robinson also has to do with the racial tensions that were going on in this time period

Reflections

From this activity, I had learnt more about the Civil War. I learnt the reason for such a war to occur, mainly because of the prejudice between countries. Similarly to that of Missippi Burning, in which the blacks had tolerated enough of the mistreatment towards them. Civil war had occurred for the same reason, for the people turned against the unfair treatment towards them. Then, while the civil war was led by the president, in the movie, the whites were represented by the government body and being thought as the stronger party. Lastly, the civil war was won by the unions and the civil war was won by the union. Hence, as a result, both parts were about poverty, races which turned rebellious against the political side.

Letter of encouragement to a victim in Japan

Dear Shigenori Kikuta,
I am sorry to have heard the earthquake that struck Fukushima, which left a massive damage. Again, I received the news that both your wide and your children have died in the event, I today, I am writing this letter to express my deepest regret.

I can understand the sorrowfulness of yours and it is understandable for you to take a longer period of time to calm down. However, you have to persist on after all the crying and depression. Do you know that behind you, you still have other relatives, families and friends? They all need you! Also, I am sure that your family members, who had unfortunately passed away during this disaster, would want you to stay strong and not give up. Just with this as a reason, should be a strong encouragement and motivation for you to conquer the difficulties and the treacherous path ahead of you.

I believe that it would not take long for the government to reconstruct the houses and schools for all the residents of Fukushima, the warmth that left now will surely come back later. As you can see, many workers and volunteers are trying their best to help you, and the rest of the residents to go back to their normal lives and live happily! Would you want their efforts to be futile?

Please believe that for whatever thing you do, there will be people behind you, supporting you. There are much more for you to do, instead of living in grievances, why not get out of it and encourage the others who suffer the same fate as you? After saying so much, I truly hope you can understand. Stay strong, strive on! I will be supporting you always!

Yours sincerely,
Kah Xuan

Experience during projects day competition presentation

During the presentation of the projects day competition, I was the third speaker. When it was my turn to speak, initially, I stuttered a lot and had a failure in my attempt to speak clearly. This was perhaps due to my shaking lips as I was too nervous.
Before it was my group’s turn to present, I felt really cold. However, when I was presenting, I could actually feel the heat from within me! All eyes seem to be looking at me, which made me became very cautious in whatever I speak, which may have been the reason for my pauses and stoppages. Going on, I tried to calm down a little. However, I realized that the best way to avoid being so nervous, is to be more confident. I decided to speak louder and stood more upright. I tried not to look into the eyes of the judges and students. This was extremely effective! After that, even though I did not have much more to say already, I could feel that the rest of what I have said have been conveyed in a more effective manner.

Reflection on racial slurs

On an event of racial slurs, made by a few primary school friends of mine, I was a bystander who witnessed such comments. I did not agree with what they have said, since they targeted at the skin color of other races. However, I did not have the moral courage to stop them, since they were the main group of friends of mind. However, a teacher of other race (specifically from the race my friends were making fun of) heard the comments. She was greatly offended and brought all of them to the principal. On that, such acts were made known to the whole school and the principal also made an official warning.

She explained how serious such comments can get. Not just affecting the harmonious of a multi-racial country like Singapore, also, it can have a great mental impact on a person hearing such remarks.

Upon that, I felt guilty. Even though I did not participate in the discussion, I had not stop them. I feel that I should have done a part, to educate my friends how they should cherish the multi-racial characteristic of Singapore. Instead of making racial slurs, there could be even more to learn from other races. Thus, after this incident, not only had I contributed to much stoppages of racial slurs, I also tried to understand the people of other races.

Expository writing

Racial slurs should be illegal and be dealt with heavily, such as imprisonment. Imprisonment should be used on slurers as this can control the circulation of such slurs. If racial slurs are not dealt with using laws, it may cost the harmonious among races, resulting in disputes causing unrest. Such unrest will slowly develop into hatred; crisis in the country will be threatened. Hence, such acts are acts to show that the slurers want to arouse unrest in the country, giving sufficient reason to punish them accordingly.

Comment on a news article

I feel that the article had broadly covered the topic, but not in details. The objectives of the article had been made clear, also, it was easy to understand the incident in a simplified manner.

How do I say that it was not comprehensive enough? For example, the transportation of "fake bomb", as a reader, I would expect to know how the government reacted to such situation. What I am interested about the article is that what was the motive of this? Futher more, they had not explained how the bomb was discovered, since it was being disguised as a wedding cake box.

However, the article followed the time frame of the incident well, keeping us, as readers, be able to know what exactly is going on.

Letter to the editor of straits times

To the editor of straits times,

About the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunamis, I feel that there could be a lot to be learnt. As a Singaporean, from the devastating damage caused, I feel that what Singaporean can learn is on how to handle such danger, and learn more life-saving technique, for example, preparing a bag filled with neccessities that could be used when such danger occur, or to look for a table to go under when an earthquake strikes. Even though Singapore should be safe fro such disaster, but such knowledge would stillcome into use some part. Singaporean can also learn to stay calm when such incident occurs, an important factor that Singaporean seems to lack.

Do the nation have what it takes to handle a similiar crisis? Frankly, I feel that the answer in no. It is not that the government do not have such capability, it is that they still lack experiences. However, even so, I feel that the deplomatic relationship with other countries Singapore had established would come in handy in future. If the nation starts working now, I am quite sure that Singapore would be capable on handling such situation

Significance of literature

I feel that the significance of literature in my life is that we can express ourselves in different manner. Using different kind of tone and the usage of words, I can convey my thoughts and feelings in that way. Also, literature is a form of entertainment, mostly when reading. I feel that it is really interesting to see different style of writing and how people play around with words and phrases. Then, literature to me is something that tells a lot about a person. From the person’s writing, you can understand what he/she is feeling. There is no correct definition for literature, only about how you express it. In my life, without literature, you can barely feel the emotions and thoughts of others.

Reflection on the founder's day CIP

Yesterday, we went for our founder's day CIP, in which we had to bring the old folks from the new horizon centre around the NTUC supermarket in Jurong point for a short walk. An old lady approximately 80 years old was assigned to me for the walk. I was shocked when I realised that the old lady could not speak English or Mandrain, but could only speak cantonese. As though I could understand what the old lady was saying completely, I had trouble conveying myself to her. I guess that she could have felt that way too. We had short discussion, and I tried to show my concern towards her as and when along the walk. As were about to enter the supermarket, the old lady complained that she had leg pain and needed to stop, hence, we stopped at a bench just outside the supermarket for a rest. We (me and by partner) were told to interact and chat with the old lady to ease her boredom. However, due to the language blockage, we were unable to communicate with her well. In addition to that, I realised I could hardly come up with any topic for the conversation to take place. Hence, we sat there, together with the old lady quite silently. After that, our walk ended.

Through this CIP activity, I realised that working with the senior citizens may not be as easy as we have thought it was. With comparison to little kids, senior citizens have a whole new set of thoughts that we have not been through. This had explained the difficulty in communication. I realised that I had to do a comprehensive preparation before any activity that I am not familiar with such as to avoid such a circumstance from happening again.

Reflective writing on the CIP activity

Last year, after the EOY examinations, the school organised a CIP activity in which it involved bringing senior citizens that suffered from dementia to the labrador park. Initially, both me and my team mates were very hesitant to initiate a talk with the senior citizen that we were supposed to bring along with. I guess this was probably due to the age gap between us and the senior citizens that caused the situation to be so awkward. Hence, we followed the senior citizen and her daughters awkwardly around the park.

However, soon, I felt that I should not waste my time any further and hence, I decided to initiate the communication with the senior citizen. After I started the conversation, I realised the senior citizen was much more friendly than what we have thought, also she was very considerate and knew that both me and my classmates were very awkward and thus, she did not prob too much about us. We brought her around the park, and our discussion and interactions were also quite harmonious. I especially liked the conversation I had with the senior citizen's daughter. I could also tell that her daughters were very filial and that they could have not followed their mother to the park and have the volunteers there to look after their mother. But instead, they were very concerned and hence followed to the park and take care of their mother.

Taking the senior citizen around the park, if I was not told about her illness, I could barely feel that. She seemed so alert and clear-headed and had not problem communicating with us. I really enjoyed the trip.

Upon this trip, I felt that there are many needy senior citizens in this society. Not that they are low-income, but that they really needed some form entertainment and listening ears. Even though the citizen that were with us had her daughters with her, most senior citizens were alone. I am not quite aware if their children really cared for their parents, however, I could sense that most of them were quite lonely. To such people, I really think that they deserve the attention of the society and we, should do as much as we could to help them. Not in terms of physically, but their mental. Though they suffered of dementia, it does not mean that they do not have any thoughts and feelings, but still, they are very aware of their surroundings.

In class online lesson 4

2)The rustling of the leaves on the tree was heard, accompanied by the voices of teenagers playing soccer nearby. I climbed up the rock block, wondering what is it the view from above, and saw purple and yellow of the pillar from the faraway condominium estate, seeping through the green leaves. Walking towards the grass patch, I felt intimidated, by the cars that were going at an incredible speed to and fro. In the lonely night, after the Sun falls, everything darkened, the streetlight shone the only existing light in the dark.

4)I climbed up the rock block, wondering what is the view from above, and saw purple and yellow of the pillar from the faraway condominium estate, seeping through the green leaves, as if they were young children, peering curiously, but trying to hide themselves at the same time. Walking towards the grass patch, towards the road, I felt intimidated, by the vehicles that were approaching, like a herd of horses, just released from the gate ranch, racing at an incredible speed.

6) Standing at the edge of the grass patch, just beside the road, I seemed so tiny, and defenceless, not able to withstand even a contact with the fast-moving object. Currents of wind were created everytime a vehicle passed me, showed the strength of them. After that, what was left was peace eventually.

7) The rustling of the leaves on the tree was heard, accompanied by the voices of teenagers playing soccer nearby, this broke the silence, not that it had no sounds, but that there were no people to be seen. I climbed up the rock block, wondering what is the view from above, and saw purple and yellow of the pillar from the faraway condominium estate, seeping through the green leaves, as if they were young children, peering curiously, but trying to hide themselves at the same time.

Standing at the edge of the grass patch, just beside the road, I seemed so tiny, and defenceless, not able to withstand even a contact with the fast-moving object, like a herd of horses, just released from the gate ranch, racing at an incredible speed. Currents of wind were created everytime a vehicle passed me, showed the strength of them. After that, what was left was peace eventually.

The night arrived, and all around was eerie silence. The only existing light that shone in the dark was from the streetlight. It was like a glimpse of hope that had in the mist of problems and troubles. Although alone, it had the accompaniment of the wind, together, with the melody of of oncoming cars and rustling of the leaves.

Photos of my Neighbourhood

A vivid childhood memory

The vivid childhood memory of mine could be brought back to seven years ago. It may have been a rather boring story, however, it really brings out what I am today.

That year I was merely primary 1, a year where a standard children would still be be ignorant of his/her lives ahead. Everything came easily to me, studies was of no problem then. I thought that I had always been better than others, all the tests were of excellent standard for a primary 1 child then. Until the year end exam, when the score came, even though I was still the second in my class, I was quite disappointed. What impacted me is unlike others, is not that I understood the importance of preparation or whatever. What is it, was that I felt suddenly, a drop from the high up to the bottom, also disapointing many. This is in turned caused me to have shortened my goals, not daring to make much ventures.

This had very welled followed me even until today. An identity in which I had always been very conservative and not daring to make "huge" comments.

Jem's characteristic

Even though Jem showed some rashness and also, sometimes failed to consider the consequences of some of his actions, he managed to handle his emotions and turned a possible violence to keeping to himself. In terms of his physical appearance, he tolerated his appearance and remained extremely optimistic. Normally, Jem had always been very matured and was full of knowledge. He cared for others' feelings and understood others.

There was a few cases when Jem may have made the situation undesirable, however, through his tolerance, he managed to not do so even though he still expresses his thoughts. He was the one who was dealt with the greatest impact upon the unfairness of the society as he had just learnt and understood about it. And very soon, Jem was forced to face this reality.

Jem is very much influenced by father, Atticus, in which he always upholds justice. What Jem had experienced can be traumatic and complicated for a child of his age. His witness that justice does not always prevail may have changed his thoughts about justice since he was at such an age. However, his still admirably keeps to his commitment in justice. From the example: “Jem refuse to allow Scout harm a roly poly bug” showed that Jem keeps his commitment to protect the fragile and harmless, even when the victim is not someone or something he likes.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D5JM8CqTC-knqCnKkk3a0PyvzTtFBaRTv8Hi_KWeFQ0/edit?hl=en#

My favourite movie

My favourite movie is "The day after tomorrow" The scene that I have picked is where the distruction had already took place. All around the protagonist were frozen and most of the land where empty. There are a few building remaining, however, crushed. No plants were seen, and a library, half covered with snow was where the protagonist seeked refuge. The scene was as though one can breathe in cold air and that it can support no life.At any point in time, there will be a string of avalanche. There wasn't a specific time, maybe because of the destruction, or perhaps the protagonist could not bother with the time.

There was an overview of the city. The landmarks where accurately positioned, however, mostly crushed and destroyed. The New York city and Paris were segregated from other places.

LA-draft2

“We will have to pack and leave soon! “said my mother. As my father was sent to Taiwan to work, our whole family had to follow as well. The whole house was in a mess as we packed all the clothing and covered all the furniture with cloths. Back then, I was just seven was extremely excited about the trip to Taiwan. Very soon, we were all done packing and were ready to leave.

We arrived at the airport real soon, and also, boarded the plane. When we arrived in Taiwan, everything seemed so fresh to us. First, we went to our new home and put down our luggage. Then we went to the night market, shopping malls around our new home to familiarize with our surroundings. Everything sold there, especially the food were different to that of Singapore’s . One thing did not change, that is, the price.

On the second day, we began our usual life, including all the house chores that we normally do. It was not too hard for me to adapt as usually, all my matters are taken care of. However, I do notice that my Mother was especially finding all the house chores hard to adapt. Not only the rooms were situated at different places, the water taps were also different to that of Singapore’s! However, what I had realized is that there were now more trash at home. I was told to separate my rubbish to be thrown into the paper, plastic, or metallic waste. I did not understand the motive, but I just did as I was told to.

After the school holiday, I started studying in the new school. Since many students in my class did not know one another as well, and that we were also sharing the same speaking language, it was not hard for me to fit into the school. For the next seven years, it was the way of my life.
I returned to Singapore after seven years.
“Wow! The airport is so clean and advanced” I exclaimed. This was the first thing that strucked me as I stepped into the airport. I walked towards the exit and saw many people rushing in and out, all looking rushed. My family and I hailed a cab and started travelling back to our past estate. Along the trip back, my Mother explained how Singapore had changed all the while we left. Looking at the roads and buildings, even though I do not have a deep memory on them, they seemed very close to me. I long knew that Singapore was a green city and it certainly lived up to her name! I am very impressed by the environment of this country.

We went to a hawker centre near my flat. The smell of the food at the hawker centre was extremely pleasant. Even though I do not remember many times back then I was in Singapore, I certainly missed the food here! I ate a lot at the hawker centre.

After that, we went back to our home. Along the way, I saw many recycling bins, however, I realized that not many are full. Instead, much trash that are not to be recycled are left just beside the bins, or even thrown into the bin! As I moved along, suddenly, a flower pot fell down from the third storey and barely missed me! I expected a strong apology from the owner of the flower pot, however, what came was, “Look out! How can you walk so carelessly just below the flat! Do not cause trouble for me!”

“How can someone be so inconsiderate and unreasonable?” I did not have a great tolerance on such matters, hence, I rushed up and charged towards the unit. I pounded on the door. When the owner of the unit opened the door, I could not persist any further and demanded for the apology. But just as I have expected, the owner of the unit retaliated and refused to do so. We started to quarrel and just before it turned into a fight, I was stopped by my parents.

I reflected again and again, to realize that even though Singapore has many benefits, there are still many areas of improvements to be done. Singapore is extremely successful in building up its country, however, what about the citizens? I feel that the some citizens are extremely inconsiderate. About what I have seen around the recycling bins, I wonder, “Have the residents ever wondered what consequences this action may bring?” The plastic could be easily mixed with the glass, if the plastic is melted together with the glass to recycle, not only pollution will be caused, the glass quality will also be affected. What was worst is, citizens can be very unreasonable, such that they actually blame others for being careless when they cause the flower pot to nearly crash on others. Even though those are only the minority, but it had reflected badly on Singapore.

However, in comparison to Singapore, Taiwan is a less developed country. Many places are also very dirty. But in Taiwan, people seemed to be friendlier in comparison. About the three trash bins I have mentioned, is something that the government had imposed to aid the environment. The use of multiple trash bins is to separate trash made from different materials. Even though it was something compulsory, however, citizens in Singapore would rather take a risk of being fined than to depose their rubbish appropriately.