Recount

Write about a time when in wanting to make someone happy you were forced to make a sacrifice.

I gave up a movie which I really wanted to watch so that I could make my brother happy. It was during the school holidays, my Aunt had brought my brother, my cousins and I out to Orchard Cineleisure. We were all planning on catching a movie, my cousins had already decided to watch the movie "Contagion", which was PG13. I really wanted the "Glee 3D Concert Movie", but on the other hand my brother was really looking to watching "Cars 2". I could still remember my mum reminding me to take care of my younger brother. He kept asking me to buy tickets for "Cars 2", I was reluctant as I really yearned to watch "Glee 3D Concert Movie". I knew I had to make a decision, I could not bear to see my brother leaving the cinema without smiling ear to ear. So I queued up for to buy the tickets for "Cars 2", after I thought about it for a while, "Cars 2" seemed like quite a fun and enjoyable movie! As the movie started, I saw my brothers face light up with excitement, I knew I had no regrets choosing to watch "Cars 2" to make my brother happy. After the movie, when we reunited with my Aunt and my cousins, my brother kept talking about the hilarious parts of the movie. Although I could still feel my heart crave to watch "Glee 3D Concert", I definitely had no qualms about watching "Cars 2" with my brother.

Reflection on article in Newsweek

I have read the article "No Root Causes" and it basically talks about the riots in London. The article says the police there as failed. The Metropolitan Police, which covers London had recently lost its two senior officers due to phone-hacking scandals thus they have been demoralized. The citizens of London have complained that the police are slow to arrive and they are not willing to put in effort when they are managing riots. It also says that the police needs to be reminded to be 'beastly to scoundrels'. I feel that the police should still serve the country to its best even though they are facing so many challenges and there are so many riots that are happening. If police decide not to turn up to break up the riots, te situations would become even worse. This is because if it is observed by the rioters that there is no resistance they will do anything such as burglary and the London will become such an unsafe place to be. The article mentions that we need to balance the incentives for thugs so the risk of joining a riot outweighs the gain of peer status and looted DVDs. I totally agree with the statement. What drives these youngsters out there to join riots is the fact that they will be seen as 'cool' and a 'dare-devil', which many teens want. If we are able to tilt the balance of incentives, there might be a change in the situation. But it would an unquestionably difficult task.

Descriptive Prose

The walls were covered with cups filled with delicious-looking solids that would have created sparks on your tongue. The room had cozy corners that had reflective metal tables that were perfect for a couple to chit-chat. The modern stools were shaped the most extraordinary way, which were made of curves and swirls. It was the superb place to be on a hot sunny afternoon, with chilly air and freezing deserts that would cool your body inside out. The extensive line of tubs of frozen goodness behind the glass panels would make anyone drool the moment they saw it. Those tubs of vibrant toned flavours would compel any pair of indecisive eyes to dart from one to another. The smell of sweet creamy heaven wafted around the whole room with the peaceful blowing of air conditioning was the best combination of settings to relax in. The place of work was at the end of the tubs, all that had to be done was pressing down numbers and exchanging notes with customers. What an awesome place to be in.

Police Officers being accountable for their actions

The police are accountable for their actions the moment they harm someone, whether they are dead or not. The job of a police is to protect and if they do harm someone out of no reason, they are not to be called police. They should be responsible for their actions, for example if chose to abuse their tasers when someone seems like a threat. They should be punished as policemen and women are still humans and are to respect human rights. In this case of the police in England shooting a negro for no apparent reason, the police should undoubtedly be accountable for their actions and be punished. I think their punishment should be that these policemen should be not be allowed to carry out duties as a policemen and they should be jailed as well as stokes of the cane. This will teach them not to harm anyone for no valid reason.

Eye-for-an-eye injustice

If I were Ameneh Bahrami, I would have shown mercy to the attacker. I would have shown mercy to the attacker because showing mercy would have changed many people's point of view of revenge. As well as the fact that by blinding the attacker, it would not cure the damage done to myself. The person himself who threw the acid on the victim might also turn over a new leaf.

When I show mercy to the attacker, I am actually setting a great example for others to follow as well. This is because I am forgiving the attacker and this proves that we do not always have to have an eye-for-an-eye justice. This will change the world as by taking the first step of showing that revenge is not always the best solution, many others will follow too. Thus this would change many people's point of view as they will learn from my forgiveness and choose to forgive instead of having revenge.

I would have shown mercy to the attacker as there would be no cure to the damages I have received by blinding him. If I had chosen to have the person who threw acid on me to be blinded, it would not make a difference to my injuries. Thus there would be no purpose of blinding him as it will only result in the satisfaction of revenge.

Another reason why I would show mercy to the attacker is because it would encourage and inspire the attacker to turn over a new leaf. When I show mercy to him, he will feel very thankful that he will not have to go through the same fate as me. This will inspire him to change his ways and even might choose to give back to the society. If I had chosen to have him blinded then he would remain the same angry and sinful man, which might even result in him trying to harm others. Thus I will show mercy to the attacker as it will give him a chance to change.

Thus because showing mercy to him will change people's view, would not cure my injuries and allow the attacker to turn over a new leaf, I would choose to show him mercy.

Online lesson 12: Logic and Decision making

Answer to Question

The common theme among the scrolls is instruction, all the scrolls seem to instruct the reader of what to do and reason why they should. This theme of instruction relates to how each of the suitors choose the casket as the instructions tells the person why he is not fit to have Portia and what he shall do. Morocco chose the gold casket because he thought that what all men wanted was Portia which was based on looks. Thus the scroll says that many men choose their wives based on appearance and instructed him to go away due to the lack of wisdom. Arragon chose the the silver casket because he thought that only someone who feels he deserves it will have Portia. Thus the scroll calls him a fool for thinking that he deserves Portia and instructs him go away to find another wife as he pleases. Bassanio chose the lead casket as he felt that it was humble, believing that it would not give him anything good. Thus the scroll says he does not not judge by looks and instructs him to be happy with Portia, accept her and kiss her.

Narrative

I remember once when it was a difficult decision between going over to my friends house to play soccer or staying at home to finish up the pile of homework and assignments I had. It was one of the weekends, that I had a huge pile of homework and assignments that had to be done as soon as possible, it was extremely unlucky that my friend had invited my to go over to his house to play soccer and other games. I certainly did not know what to choose. The fact that I have not visited my friend in a really long time and I wanted to catch up with him made me want to go. As well as the temptation of the fun of playing soccer and other amusing games. On the other hand, the stress of the need to finish all that work over the weekend troubled me. I told myself that if I wanted to go to have fun in the day with my friends, I undoubtedly needed to burn the midnight oil so that I could ensure I finished every piece of work. My parents even strongly felt that I should stay at home to complete what was assigned. But my mind kept thinking of the wonderful time I would have if I had gone to my friends house. I weighed the options and finally decided that it was the best option to stay at home to finish up the assignments. I thought about it quite a bit before coming to this conclusion, I knew that if I had chose the option of enjoying myself first and suffering by staying up late later to finish the work, would result in being tired the next day and not being able to concentrate on the things that had to be done. Thus although it was difficult decision to make, I felt that it was the decision that would have benefited me the most.

Narrative sketch from two points of view

First point of view

It was a sunny afternoon, my brother and I as well as a few of my cousins went to play at the playground filled with sand beside my house. I could see the sunny rays of light shining through the umbrella like trees above. It was the perfect atmosphere, sunny day with sounds of laughter. We were playing the game called "crocodile". It was our utmost favourite game! I started the game as the "crocodile", I had to catch someone in the game without climbing up on any part of the playground. I had to spin round and round before we started the game, it was the most amusing part! As I spun I felt so dizzy and fell on to the sand. I started bursting out laughing as well as my brother and cousins. I tried the steady myself as I stood on my feet. As soon as I regained balance, I ran toward the platforms and stretched out my hand to try to catch someone! Screams were heard as all five of them squeezed at a corner on the playground. Suddenly I ran underneath the platform to try to catch someone on the other side. Quick noisy steps were heard as all of them tried to avoid me. I reached out my hand and managed to grab hold of my youngest cousin, Jane. She shrieked and glared at me with her unhappy face. Then she got down from the platform of the playground and spun around to start the new round. The excitement never seemed to end as we played full of joy till sunset.

Second point of view

I was finishing up my math homework when I felt it was rather dim. So I walked over to the window to raise my window shades. I then saw a group of six young children at the playground just outside my house. They looked all so cheerful and carefree. I still remember the times when I invited my friends over and we played games at that exact same playground. I saw a small boy in pyjamas like clothing spinning round and round and finally falling into the sand. All his other little friends were laughing and giggling at his silliness. I could not stop myself from smiling to myself as I missed all those childish memories of the past. They seemed to be playing a game of "crocodile". At last, the boy managed to catch hold of a little girl and she did not seem to be very happy about it. It seemed to be her turn to be the "crocodile". I used to play that game too as well as "blind mice". All my memories of my childhood started flooding back and I let out a sigh. I wish I could go back and relive those days of my childhood. I continued to watch the carefree little kids with huge smiles on their faces as they had the time of their lives, losing my focus of finishing up my piece of math homework.

Reflections

I feel that this is definitely a really good exercise as I could learn to write in different points of view but the same situation. This will really be handy when we write stories in which there different characters and we are writing from their point of view. I honestly loved this exercise as what I actually wrote is something close to my heart. The two different points of view are as a matter of fact the two different feelings I had in my life, one as a small kid and one as a teen right now. I used to play at this playground outside my house with my neighbours as well as my cousins all the time. It was a regular habit that we built up when I was still a little kid. We always played games like "crocodile", "blind mice" and "monkey in the middle". Now that I have grown older and grew busier and busier, I had very little time to visit the playground. Even my neighbours have also stopped going there. Right now as a teen, I find myself losing concentration of work and travelling back in time whenever I look out of the window and hear sounds of laughter as another group of young children play their silly childish games. I really wish I could just put time on rewind. Sometimes I even go to the playground to soak up the memories and think about the amazingly fun times we had.

I extremely enjoyed this blog prompt as it not only benefitted me by practicing two points of view in a story, I too reviewed and realised how time went by so quickly. I really want to treasure every moment I have left of my teenage years before I become an adult!

Speech on theme of Merchant of Venice

Empathy is the ability to imagine oneself in the position of another person, and so as to share and understand that person’s feelings.
The Singapore government, as personified has become a rich and privileged person having very little empathy with the people she claims to represent.
Empathy was the hot button in the recent Singapore elections in June this year. The argument was that the Singapore government has shifted to pursue economic performance over caring about the citizen's individual livelihood, happiness and state of feeling. In doing so, government policies that were implemented result in an increasing gap between the upper class (especially the Members of Parliament) and the lower class citizens because the government has not done enough to help the lower class citizens while they continue to engage the upper class citizens in propelling the economy forward. Singaporeans have also claimed that they experience unbearable public transport system due to excessive foreign talents leading to overcrowding and poor service from the transport provider for the masses. Housing has become ill affordable for the general masses due to the spiralling costs of housing development board flats and private houses alike.
While it is true that all the above bugbears come across as situations arising from the lack of empathy in the Singapore government, we cannot under estimate the government’s swift response to these claims, post elections. A committee has been set up since the election to review ministerial pay to make recommendations on way forward. Workers’ Central Provident Fund has been partially restored since Sept this year with the improved economy; while various Ministers have been tasked to review housing and public transport policies to fine-tune existing policies. The transport Minister himself has even personally taken the steps to experience the public transport rides to empathise with the general masses. Blog sites are more widely used to hear people’s voices and to respond to them instantaneously. This demonstrates the government’s resolve to bridge the “empathy” gap, which is in the right direction. The challenge faced however is finding a right balance to ensure that an empathetic government does not compromise economic viability of the country. As empathy calls for a government that make sacrifices for the people while the pursuit of capitalism asks for the people to make sacrifices for the country. A million dollar question is then how much empathy is enough for the people?

Caylee Anthony murder case

The general public should not show mercy to Casey Anthony who was acquitted although there was evidence that she had killed her daughter. Although the court declared Casey Anthony not guilty of the murder of her daughter, no mercy should be shown to her because there was circumstantial evidence which points that she had killed her daughter and if she is shown mercy she would think that it would easy to get away with such crimes and commit more of such cases.

The circumstantial evidence that shows Casey Anthony had killed her daughter should cause the general public not to show her mercy. Examples of evidence is the fact that she did not report her daughter's disappearance for over a month as well as the foul smell in her car boot which could possibly where she kept the body of her daughter. Mercy should not be shown because it is obvious that she had murdered someone and it is wrong thus justice should be done by arresting her for the crime she did.

Mercy should definitely not be shown to Casey Anthony as if mercy is shown then she would commit a similar crime again. Casey Anthony should not have been given any mercy as this would result in her repeating her grave mistake of murdering someone. By showing that everyone hates her will cause her to think it over and might realise that what she did was terribly wrong. For example, the facebook page that was set up "I hate Casey Anthony". When she sees this group and the nasty things people write about her, it would prevent her from doing such things again.

Thus due to the fact that there is circumstantial evidence and preventing Casey from committing another crime, no mercy should be shown to her.

Online lesson 10: Fictionalized narrative account

Account
He was a young 17-year old Afghan, hollow-cheeked with the straggly beginnings of a beard. Abdullah had recently moved to a new school near his home on the outskirts of an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan. Abdullah's life was insipid, attending school which he hated most when what he had always hoped for was a spark to light a passion in him. His family was poor and lived on a mere $80 a month from his father's backbreaking menial work at a brick kiln. His father had hoped to give Abdullah a good education so that he could become a school teacher, but Abdullah was just wondering aimlessly through life, waiting to come across something that could excite him. Abdullah often heard from the neighbourhood boys that life in the nearby refugee camp which was controlled by an awesome warlord was better. School in the refugee camp was free, medical facility was abundant and families in the camp were protected by the warlord. It was also a known fact that boys from all over the town and within the refugee camp were often recruited discretely to fight the Americans in Afghanistan. These fighters were the Jihads.

It was during one of Abdullah's usual commute to school, dragging his feet with thoughts of discontentment, that he met Khan. Khan's family lived in the refugee camp and he went to one of the school in the refugee camp. Soon, the two boys became fast friends. Khan would tell Abdullah about battles of the brave Jihad fighters and how they defended their land that had fallen to foreign occupiers. Abdullah was invited to visit Khan's school in the refugee camp where he was inspired by messages scrawled on the blackboards of the upper grade classrooms, such as : “Join the Jihad, the Order of the Almighty Allah” and “Those who want to Repay Their Debt to God, Join the Jihad”. Every morning, the teachers would energize the students with praises of the glories of Jihad and children were taught to sacrifice their lives for their God. Abdullah was in awe of the religious teachings and decided that he had to learn more. From that day on, Abdullah would be out all day at the refugee camp coming home only in the evening. Abdullah's father then began noticing a radical change in Abdullah's behaviour. Where he used to glue his eyes to the miniature television set at home, Abdullah would now avoid the box. He also expressed disapproval of his sister for having the nerve to laugh and make merry while the people in Afghanistan suffered. He even ranted about the improper behaviour and infidelity of non-Muslims. Abdullah seemed to have found what he had a passion for, having shared a sense of brotherhood and propaganda about Jihad. His new found passion was to live honourably in the eyes of God and that meant Jihad. By then, Abdullah was secretly planning to to join an insurgent camp in Afghanistan training for the war against the Americans. One night, he disappeared. When his parents found out, they were utterly heartbroken. He left a note to say that he had joined the Jihad and would return home when his job was done. Soon, Abdullah was heading into Afghanistan from Pakistan through the Khyber Pass together with a few other boys. Two days later, he arrived deep in the mountains of the eastern Afghanistan at a sprawling encampment of caves, huts and tents. There, Abdullah spent more than a month undergoing indoctrination, learning to use various weapons and to manufacture bombs. Upon his graduation from training, Abdullah did extremely well and was sent for further training to fly an airplane in the United States. Never in his dreams had he felt such happiness working for his God. Little did Abdullah know that he was about to make world history doing his God's deeds. When it was time, he took his life as well as many others on his first and last ever mission for his belief - a belief that he was God's gloried warrior but to many, his story was one of Terrorism in the guise of a Tragic Hero.


Links of articles
Troops in Afganistan
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/asia/01orders.html
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/afghanistan-suicide-attack-kills-5-foreign-troops/94978/
Norway Youth Camp Attack
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43854355/ns/world_news-europe/t/least-dead-norway-youth-camp-attack/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/23/anders-behring-breivik-norway-attacks

Reflection on overseas competition (WALAA)

I just had an overseas Track and Field competition recently called WALAA, it is actually an event that is organized every year with Australia, Malaysia and Singapore. This year the competition was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was really excited about this competition as I was chosen to represent Singapore to compete with other top athletes from Australia and Malaysia. Another thing that thrilled me was that I was the captain of the under 14 boys! The athletes that were chosen to compete was based on their positions during the Singapore Track and Field nationals held earlier this year.

About a month before the trip, we had a team briefing on the itinerary as well distributing the team jerseys. The team manager also told us about the appropriate behavior we should conduct. During the time between the briefing we had and the trip, I felt extremely psyched to do my best and get a medal. Finally when the day of the trip arrived, I had my suitcase packed of all the things I needed and was ready to go! We were told to assemble at Commonwealth secondary school where we did all the administration matters. As soon as everyone was present, we boarded a coach which would bring us to Kuala Lumpur.

The ride to Malaysia was definitely very long and tiring but it was the time where we could socialize get to know one another. The trip there including the toilet breaks and lunch break took up almost the whole day. When we arrived at the hotel, it was already dinner time. I felt the hotel that we stayed in was very cozy and I would say I totally enjoyed my stay there. The hotel was just beside one of the largest shopping malls, we could just walk out of the lobby of the hotel and it would be greeted by huge names and mouth-watering food. We were assigned to share a room with. I was roomed with someone I totally did not know before, he was a long-distance runner. My friends got to room with someone they were familiar with, I felt that it was sort of unfair but I learnt to look at it in a positive light. I was able to make a new friend and have the experience of rooming with someone I did not know. Soon after, we went to the shopping mall for dinner and we had Japanese food, one of my favorite food! The following day was the day of training at the competition ground, so we all slept early so we could be energized for the next day.

The second day of the trip started with a wake up call at 6.30, after that we went downstairs for breakfast buffet at the restaurant in the hotel. Then we set off for the competition ground. The bus ride to the stadium was not very long it took only about 20 to 30 minutes. There were split into our own events and trained. I trained with my friend as well as my senior at the field, the field was not very different but the Javelin we used was totally different from what we used back in Singapore. The Javelins were all spoil and it was more difficult to throw them. But I believed that during the competition, they would be using better Javelin so I just tried to get used to the throwing area. While taking a break on the stands, I would be able to see all the athletes training different events. That made me feel really great and proud to be part of the team. After training ended, we returned back to the hotel and we were given free time to do eat or shop. I went to the shopping mall to explore what they had on sale as well as the food that they had. They had almost everything! Once we were done with our shopping and eating we were told to assemble at the lobby where we were brought behind the restaurant for our debrief of the day. I found out that the team had actually put my name on the event, discus. I was surprised as I was did not know about it. I felt a little worried, as I had not trained for the event in a while. I decided I would just try my best and get a good position, as it was not my main event anyway.

The third day of the trip was the first day of the competition. I had my surprise discus event on this day. There was not a wake up call on the day but we were expected to set our own alarm and assemble at the lobby by 9.30am. After eating breakfast and packing our bags for the day, we set out for the stadium. At the stadium, I felt a little nervous but I tried to forget out it by listening to music. When it was time for our competition, we were then escorted to the competition ground. The competition started and my fellow teammates were giving their all at their throws. As it came to my turn, I did what I usually did when I usually trained. My throw turned out to be alright, surprisingly. The results of the competition were calculated and I turned out to 6th place. It was not too bad, as I did not have high expectations. I made new friends with some of the Australians and Malaysians too. There were some who could throw really far. It was great that I could get a good idea of how the other countries were doing in the events. After that, we went back to the stands and cheered our other teammates who were having their events. It felt so awesome cheering the others as a team! After the last event ended, we took the bus back to the hotel where we had our dinner. There was actually a political rally happening on that same day, we were very lucky to have left the stadium and took an alternative route to avoid any riots that could break out. We ended the day with our team debrief at a function room, announcing the results of the medals we won. Then we went back to our hotel rooms for a good rest.

I woke up on the fourth day of the trip feeling determined and ready to “kick some ass”. It was the same routine as the day before, so we were gathered at lobby at 9.30am. One thing that I saw that morning was the headlines on the newspapers. It talked about the riot the day before. I saw pictures of the riot, the police had to use tear gas and strong jets of water to disperse the crowd. I felt tremendously lucky that we did not encounter the riot on that day. On the trip to the stadium, I took out my iPod and started playing songs that worked me up, songs that got me to go hyper. When we reached the stadium I started warming up and ate some energy food to energize me. When they called for my event, I was feeling extremely nervous as I was really determined to get a medal. The event started and we had our warm up throws, I could basically sieve out who were the better Javelin throwers. Although I could see one or two competitors who could throw further than me, I tried not to think about it instead just focusing on my own throw. My throws were not as far as I expected it to be. When the competition was over, I was actually quite disappointed, as I did not throw my personal best. But I was able to clench a bronze medal. After that we went back to the stands and cheered our teammates who were still competing on. After all the events ended, all three teams assembled at the field while awards were given out for the best athletes. Then everyone walked together to the sports academy, which was beside the stadium, that was where we had our feast and made many new friends. As soon as everyone was done with their food, we went around taking photos with different people. It was really great to be able to interact and get to know each other. The thing that I found really interesting was the fact that we traded shirts and other stuff like tracksuits! I was able to exchange my Singapore jersey with an Australian jersey. I think that would definitely leave us with memories. Almost everyone there was going on a high screaming and shouting was heard everywhere! As much as everyone wanted the moment to last, we had to leave. I felt really sad that it ended so quickly. As we were leaving the place, we said our last goodbyes and exchanged hugs. This was definitely what it felt to make friendship ties between people of different country and races. It was totally an amazing experience! When we went back to the hotel, we had our debrief again. We were given instructions for the next day as we were going to be checking out of the hotel the next day. I really felt to attached to the team that I just could not bear the thought of the trip ending and leaving the place. I was sure that many of my other friends felt the same way too. When the debrief was over, I tried to savor every moment I had left. That night I slept with a really reluctant heart, I knew I would miss that place like mad when I came back to Singapore.

The last day of the trip we had to wake up really early, we checked out by 8.30am and were on the coach back to Singapore. But the good thing was that we still had one last chance to be with the team. We were given a heritage tour in Malacca, which was on the way back to Singapore. The tour was really enriching, we found out more about the history of the church there and how the founder did it. After that last tour, we were on the way back to Singapore. After the long journey back home, we finally reached Commonwealth Secondary school at about 5.30pm. There we said our goodbyes to one another. I would undeniably miss them.

This whole trip was certainly extremely fun and it taught me many things about friendship, determination and teamwork. I learnt that teamwork was really important in this competition because the people competing need our support so that they can feel motivated to run, jump or throw their best. I too learnt that being a team means all for one and one for all. We could not leave any one out of the group, everyone played and a part in the team and thus we should look out for one another. Being the captain of the under 14 boys gave the chance to be a leader and take charge. I learnt that being the captain meant that you will be responsible for everyone under you, it also meant that I had to a role model. Lastly, what I gained was the importance of friendship. Although we come to compete as three different countries, Singapore, Australia and Malaysia, we must leave as friends all from the same planet. Competition does not mean everything. Building friendship is still the most important thing we focus on.

I really hope that I will able to go for more of these overseas competitions in the future!

Negative consequences of Apple's decision

Apple has only allowed the App store in Singapore but not the full iTunes store, they said that this was due to piracy in Asia. There are possibly a few negative consequences if Apple does not allow the full iTunes store in certain Asian countries, this might motivate and even challenge hackers to try to hack and get songs and books for free. Not allowing the full iTunes store would prevent the iTunes store from earning money which could be from sales in Asian countries.

Not allowing the full iTunes store in some Asian countries would result in negative consequences like challenging hackers to try to get songs and books for free. iTunes is such a globalized store that everyone knows about it and goes to it to buy books, songs or even movies. If someone was planning on buying an album on iTunes and found out that iTunes was not available, what would he or she do? The person could possibly go out to any mall and look for the album on the shelves of a CD shop. But due to the laziness of modern teens and sometimes inconvenience cause people to go online and find the songs on the album online. When they search for a source to download their songs from, the website that allows the visitor is most likely pirated. Thus disallowing iTunes in Asian countries like Singapore would actually encourage people to turn to piracy, what is more is that it is free.

Not allowing the full iTunes store in some Asian countries would result in negative consequences like losing potential sales of songs, books and movies in Asian countries. When Apple disallowed iTunes in Asian countries, it is actually losing sales to 60% of the world's population. If Apple had chosen to allow iTunes in Asian countries including Singapore, they would have made much more money. They might have even earned twice as much as they have earned from the other countries.

War Poem

Back then,
Times were difficult.
Every bang, blare and boom
Would bring back terrifying memories.

Back then,
Life wasn’t easy.
Under the Japanese,
Soldiers were helpless
Ill-treated were the guiltless

Back then,
We thought it was hell
Suffering each day
Pondering each day
If we’ll make it

Back then,
We were saved
By our brothers from the USA
Peace returned but it wasn’t the same

Today,
We stand-alone
Flying a flag of our own
Learning to count on each other
Being joined as one.

If human beings were not inherently optimistic

The world would be different if human beings were not optimistic as the world would be full of depression and there would be numerous cases of suicide daily in the newspapers. Why do I say this? Although the article “The Optimism Bias” on Time magazine says that we, humans are inherently optimistic, there still have been cases of people who commit suicide. These suicides cases are usually because the victim is under too much pressure or in depression. One such case is students feeling too depressed when they do not meet their expected grades. An example is a suicide case of a fourth-year student at a university when her grades were not up to her expectations. She leapt from a block in the vicinity of the university due to the fact that her grades were continuously dropping. Imagine if we were not inherently optimistic, there would be a lot more people throwing themselves off the block due to their depression, as we do not have the any optimism to stop ourselves from ending our life. This is how the world would be different. Life would be so fragile that once we get knocked down we would not have the strength to get back on our feet.

The world would be different if human beings were not inherently optimistic as our lives would be a lot less convenient due to the inventions not made and discoveries not found. This is so as being able to invent something like a car, a light bulb or a plane takes much patience and optimism. There will be a thousand times that we will fail at inventing something new, but if we do not give up and persist, we will succeed in the end. If we are not inherently optimistic, do you think any inventions would have been invented? One example is Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. Did you think he managed to invent the light bulb in just a try? No, it took him countless failures just to succeed at the light bulb. If human beings were not optimistic then he would have just given up and we would still be burning candles for light today. It goes the same for every other invention in the world. Thus if human beings were not inherently optimistic our lives would not be as convenient as it is today.

Reading and Reasoning: War Poetry

1. The gun he is describing here is a canon.
2. The “jackies” are pirates at sea. They would be singing war chanties because they are enjoying their attack on a ship.
3. He means that the shovel is very similar to the gun. The gun is used to attack or kill someone, which can cause trouble or bring justice, similar to the shovel. When you loosen turf using a shovel it is like a gun causing trouble while leveling the sod is like a gun bringing justice and order back.
4. The poem talks about people blindly obeying orders, which do and undo things.
5. It is trying to show irony in the poem by using complete opposite words. The persona is very fierce and strict towards the soldiers and citizens, the persona commands both soldiers and citizens, he does not ask politely.
6. It is definitely harder to built a society back up. In the recent events happening around the world, the earthquake that struck Japan is a good example. Japan is finding it really hard to rebuild their country, many people is injured and they do not have sufficient resources. Another example is rebuilding a house. It takes only a few hours to demolish a house but might take a few years to build it back up again.
7. It shows the sounds of soldiers driving large loud trucks. It represents an army of soldiers riding in huge trucks and tanks crushing houses and whatever is in its way.
8. A “king” who was kicked under the dust recently is the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. He was found out to be having sexual relationships with women, even paying for a service from prostitute, Karima El Mahrough. He should not do these things because he is a leader of a country, as a leader of a country he should set a good example. He should be ashamed of himself, many people have definitely lost respect for him. He has been “kicked under the dust” because he will not be someone who is respected anymore, instead he earned himself a bad reputation.

One sentence narrative scene

We were in the scorching hot sun trudging over to the towering milo truck to grab a drink as it was sports day and everyone was having the time of their lives cheering the fervent participants on the track on as they were running a race which seemed to grab everyone's attention on the stands where there was a magnificent bird's eye view of the incredible events that were happening on the track which was the most electrifying race of eight runners competing and it was an extremely close fight but suddenly the runner in lane four tumbled to the ground with crash and everyone gasped and stared in horror as all the runners continued to dash to the finish line with all their might except one who stopped running and turned around to help the injured fellow who was lying flat on the red rough track

Same-sex marriage

Singapore has never allowed homosexuality in the country. It seems that the Singapore government takes homosexuality very seriously. According to an article, Singapore criminalizes "gross indecency" between men, which includes consensual, private adult homosexual acts. The penalty is up to two years in imprisonment.
Singapore is not likely to legalize homosexuality any time soon. Mr Jonathan Cheng said in a letter to the forum that homosexuality is "harmful" to the society. Mr Cheng says that homosexual acts contribute to actual social harms, namely the low birth rate, or an increased risk of venereal diseases. This shows that Singapore will not legalize homosexuality because the Singapore government does not feel that homosexuality will do any good to the development of Singapore as a city. What Mr Cheng said shows that legalizing homosexuality would lead to other problems such as the falling birth rates. By legalizing homosexuality, there may be some straight people who get influenced and resulting in a bigger population of homosexual beings.
Singapore is not likely to legalize homosexuality. In Mr Jonathan Cheng’s letter to the forum, he goes on to say that the majority has the right to impose its vision of mortality over the rest of the society. As the population of people who are straight is definitely much bigger than the population of people who are homosexual, it should be right that the people who are straight to influence the homosexuals and impose that it is not alright to be homosexual. From Mr Cheng’s words, homosexual practices are disgusting and immoral. As such the Singapore government does not support homosexuality and thus will not legalize homosexuality.

Reflections on HBL 24/25 May

The home-based learning (HBL) lessons on the 24th and 25th of May was quite enjoyable and definitely productive. During the two days, we were given a few tasks for different subjects and we had to complete them by the end of the day. The tasks and assignments that we given to me were reasonable and I could complete them. One problem I faced during this home-based learning is my chinese assignment. I found it rather difficult to complete the task given which was to finish an online question sheet about a book "The Romance of Three Kingdoms". It required me to search the book for examples of a character who displayed leadership qualities. I ended up spending lots of time on this assignment. This was the only problem I faced during these two days.

I feel that home-based learning teaches us things that might not be as easily learnt in school. Home-based learning teaches how to manage our time properly and trains us to be disciplined. We learn this when we do our assignments. When we do our assignments we are tempted by the video games that are a click away. If we do not learn to be disciplined, we will end up getting no work done at all.

This home-based learning also allows us to maximize the time we have in a day. I say this because when we do home-based learning we do not waste time travelling during a normal school day. Instead once we finish our lessons and assignments we can use the extra time for other things. Moreover, we have an Integrated Humanities (IH) Exam the day on the 26th May. We can maximize the time after we finish our assignment to do revision.

On the whole, I feel that home-based learning is useful and allows us to practice discipline. I hope there will a few more home-based learning lessons.

Home-based Learning online lesson: Task 2

Point of View

The writer is writing in the point of view of the people who are affected by the spraying of Agent Orange recounting. The persona is talks about how the Americans have led astray causing illness, birth defects and deaths. He expresses his anger for the Americans when he says that the generations will pay. This shows that he is a victim whose life is destroyed by the spraying of Agent Orange because he shows his anger for the Americans who caused the deaths and illnesses.

Situation and Setting

It is during the Vietnam war where the Americans sprayed Agent Orange and other herbicides which caused many people falling ill and even deaths. Not only soldiers were affected innocent lives were too. The poem talks about the illness, birth defects and deaths and tolling on the innocent. This shows that there were many people whose lives were affected as there were many innocent people who died and got ill because of the spraying of herbicides.

Language/Diction

The writer uses sarcasm, imagery as well as rhyming words to show his anger for the Americans who caused him this suffering. The writer uses sarcasm when he says "America did not foresee" and "Now thinking twice?". He is trying to show that America saw the effects of spraying but they still carried on in spraying, they did not have a thought for the people who were going to be affected. The writer uses imagery in the poem in "green, pink, purple and other colours death potpourii" to allow the reader to imagine the situation. The reader will imagine rainbow colours sprayed down and causing death and illnesses, and recognise the amount of damage done. The writer also uses rhyming words in the last three lines of him poem. The rhyming words he used are "astray", "pay" and "spray". He is emphasizing the Americans going astray in spraying Agent Orange and other harmful herbicides and they will pay. This expresses the writers anger and frustration for the Americans.

Personal Response

I feel that the everyone should think about what they are doing twice before carrying them out. We should always think of the consequences that will follow and whether it will harm anyone. We should always make a wise decision. In the poem, it talks about how the Americans have thought of the consequences but they still chose to carry out the spraying of herbicides. This resulted in many innocent people suffering. We must always spare a thought of people around as so that we can prevent people from suffering in the future.

Home-based Learning online lesson: Task 1

Rainbow Death by Hubert Wilson
America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.
Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Conflicts
The poem talks about the Vietnam War, it shows that the effects of war that still exist. In the Vietnam war many people fell ill because of the spraying of Agent Orange. Hubert Wilson shows that although the war is long over, the after effects of war still haunt us. In the poem, he mentions Agent Orange, which is a herbicide and defoliant used by the US military in its herbicidal warfare program during the Vietnam war. Agent Orange and other herbicides that had a lasting effect on the people who were in contact with it. During the war, about 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, with 500,000 children born with birth defects. During the production of Agent Orange, dioxins were produced as contaminant, which caused numerous health problems to millions of people exposed to it. He shows how it describes how innocent people lives are destroyed and that even though literally the vietnam war is over, the effects of the war still lurk.

sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJxb7CY13uc

Drive to explore space and our solar system

I agree that the drive to explore space and our solar system is still an important human endeavor. Being able to explore space and our solar system requires us to have sufficient technology to conduct the mission safely, this will make it difficult. Space has no end, there is still so much that have not been explored yet thus making it a human endeavor. Many humans are afraid of exploring the planets and space as a result not many people will want to explore space.

Firstly, although we do have the technology to explore space and our solar system. Do we have the technology to explore far out into space? For example, a team of astronauts go out to explore space. But they do not know when they will reach their destination, what if they run out of fuel before they find anything? This makes it a human endeavor as we do not have the sufficient technology to explore far out into space.

Secondly, Space is never ending. When will you find another planet? Another universe? We, humans do not know how big is space. Imagine being at the surface of the ocean, and you are looking for the sea bed. You will not be able to sea bed because it is too deep to be seen. It is just like exploring space, if you do not know how far the next universe is from where you are, how are you going to find it? This is thus a human endeavor.

Lastly, many people are afraid of losing their lives if they explore space or our solar system. This means that there will be less people willing to explore space. Without man power, it is impossible to explore the huge never ending space.

All these points suggest that the drive to explore space and our solar system, because we do not have the sufficient technology, space does not have an end and the fact that there is not enough man power.

National Service

I agree that making NS (National Service) mandatory develops Singaporean boys into men. I believe that NS would be an unforgettable experience for all men, whether in a good way or bad way. In NS, 18 year-old men will have to face extremely tough training thus this will build them to be strong physically and more importantly mentally. They will learn to cooperate with each other and work as a team to accomplish tasks. After NS, the men will be much more discipline as they were trained very strictly.
Firstly, during NS, the men are pushed to the limit all the time and this will train them to have a strong mind set. Without a strong mindset, the men will not be able to improve and will not be tough. For example, if a man is not strong mentally he will give easily when he encounters problems and difficulties. Is this a man? A man has to tough and hardy in the mind, with this then he is able to overcome any problems faced.

Secondly, NS builds up a man's teamwork. In NS, men have to work very closely with each other. Counting on each other for support all the time and this improves a man's teamwork. In the future, men definitely have to work as a team to accomplish projects in their workplace. After NS, it allows them to cooperate with each other to get the job done. Being a man, you have to have very good teamwork as no one can handle everything on their own.

Lastly, NS disciplines men. Discipline is important as a man, as no man can accomplish anything without discipline. In NS, men have strict rules and they have to obey them. If they do not they will be punished. For example, men have to wake up at a certain time and they have to march in a straight line for long distances. This teaches them discipline. After NS, discipline is important as men have to be disciplined to get something done such as finishing an assignment given. If a man does not have discipline, he will get distracted by things like computer games and will not finish the assignment. This aspect makes Singaporean boys into men.

All the points I have stated make Singaporean boys into men as men have to be mentally strong, have teamwork and disciplined.

Online lesson 8: Diary entry

It was a really tiring day today, digging those trenches was really hard work. We were building trench system of three parallel lines and communications trenches interconnected them. Digging these trenches was to ensure that we could maintain a good defense against anyone who dared to attack. Digging trenches was the best strategy. It prevented us, soldiers from getting shot down by arm fires. Although it was very advantageous, digging wasn’t easy at all. We had spent the past few nights digging these trenches so as not to be easily seen by enemies. Trenches dug were at least three meters deep and had to be zigzagged. I really hope this hard work we’ve put in to making this trench does not go to waste. We are almost done with the digging but even after that we would have to maintain the trench so that it will not be destroyed by the weather.

I am confident that we not fall easily thanks to the trenches we built. It will definitely be huge obstacle for our enemies to avoid. We too need to be ready to engage in a battle soon, I am sure that we will be victorious against the Germans when they launch their attack on us. I guess I should have some rest now, so that I’ll have energy to continue the hard work tomorrow.

Track and Field competition experience 2011

Every year, there will be a really amazing Inter-school Track and Field competition, I will never fail to look forward to it! This was because we have been training really for a whole year for this competition! I have been participating in this Track and Field competition since primary 4. This year has been my second year representing Hwa Chong institution in this competition. Last year, I participated in the events, shot put and javelin. As a junior in the C division last year, I was a year younger than the others, as a result I did not have as much strength as the older boys. Thus I did not get a place in the finals for shot put but I managed to clench 5th place in javelin. This year being an age older, I knew I had a chance to get a medal. I had be signed up for two events this year, discus and javelin. I had focused more javelin than my discus during training, thus I was hoping to achieve better results in my javelin.

Hwa Chong has had a winning streak for the champion titles for the B and C divisions, thus the whole team was determined to keep the title this year. During the competition period, we not only had to miss lessons to compete, we also had to sacrifice many things to support the team. Our team was encouraged to go down to the stadium after school to support the competitors who were competing on that day, as a result we had to sacrifice the things we had on after school to go down to support. This would also mean that we had less time to do homework and revise work.

During the days that I had competition, I missed lessons that we were important as there were tests that we very near. Despite this, I tried my best to ask my friends what the teachers were talking about in class. This was quite a challenge for me as I did understand what the teachers were talking about when I returned to class the following day. On the day of competition, I went to the stadium early to stretch and warm up so that I was ready to throw. My first event was discus, I got 4th place which I had expected myself to get. My second even which was javelin was on the final day of competition and the school had sent a few classes of secondary one students to go down to cheer and support us. Before the competition started, I was feeling very nervous as I was very determined to get a medal. As the competition started, I tried my best and managed to get a gold medal! I was so full of excitement and joy as my hard work did not go to waste. I too was able to break my personal record! After the competition ended, the whole Track and Field team went for dinner together. Although it was not the best food, but we were able to enjoy ourselves! I really thank my teachers for their understanding when I have missed class, the students who came to support us, my coach, my friends and family who supported me all the way! I really look forward to the next Track and Field competition next year!

General elections

I feel that the PAP show more teamwork, I say this because the PAP poster shows that the GRC is very bonded as the pictures of themselves are very close together showing that they display teamwork. Also their pictures are neatly put and are facing the person looking at the poster while the pictures of the NSP seems to be individual as their picture are not together and they don't seem to be looking at the person who is looking at the poster as a result not displaying much teamwork.

Descriptive online assignment

Everything was silent, only the sounds of men walking on crumbled rock. It was so quiet and it was so gloomy. Almost all the buildings had turned to ruble. There were only a few buildings left that were on the verge of tumbling down with a swing of an axe. There were bullet holes in the walls of the buildings and cracks all over. The place they were at was so deserted like a ghost town. Soldiers armed with rifles and their uniform soiled, were walking around, they seemed to be examining the area. Some soldiers went up to a high-rise building to look at what their enemies were doing. It was really sad to see so many buildings brought down. It smelt like rotten bodies and burnt wood. It was really horrible. As the soldiers went into one of the buildings that was still standing,, the door no longer existed. Only chipped holes in the wall just like an opening of a cave. Debris was sprawled everywhere. The building must have been a really beautiful one before the war happened. Some patterns of design still existed engraved in the walls. What a waste. As they walked up the staircase to the second level, they saw colored tiles on the walls chipped and lost its shine. When they reached the second level, the windows were as good as doors. They seemed to be blown off by grenades. The soldiers stood on the edge of the once beautiful building, looking in the direction of East Berlin. They saw Russian tanks moving, advancing fast. It was definitely not a pleasant sight from up there. Less than four buildings were standing, the rest were all blocks of cement and rock. They went back and continued their search with their hearts heavy.

Do we still need heroes?

I feel that in this modern society, we still need heroes. When you first hear the word hero, you would most probably think of a famous cartoon hero like Superman, Batman or Robin. Heroes don’t necessarily mean they have to fight villains, but heroes are people who do great things and “save the day” as cartoons and movies put it. I think we still need heroes today is because there are many world crises and other wars or problems out there which need heroes to make everything alright. Heroes are still needed to set an example for others to follow so that we can make the whole world a better place. We still need heroes as we need someone who we can rely on and go to when we need help.

Firstly, we still need heroes because there are still many wars and crises. We need heroes to maintain peace. Heroes have the courage to “save” people during these crises. They are ever willing to help people. For example I really feel that Mother Teresa is a great hero. She does really wonderful things to help the poor and she does it out of pure love. She is brave and courageous to reach out and offer a helping hand to those in need. This is why heroes are still needed. We need them to maintain peace in the world.

Secondly, I think we still need heroes because we need a role model to set a good example for us to follow. Heroes are people who great things, if we do not have heroes, who will give us an example to follow? From the book To Kill a Mocking Bird, I think Atticus is a exceptional hero that sets an excellent example of being different and accepting the blacks. He was a hero when he decided to defend a black man, Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a white woman. Although many white men were against the idea, Atticus felt that it was the right thing to do. He knew that if he did not defend Tom Robinson he would not be able to hold his head high again. He was extremely courageous to do something so extraordinary. He set an example for people to follow, to stop racism. This is why heroes are need because without them the world could not be changed.

Lastly, we still need heroes because we someone to turn to for help and when we are in trouble. I feel that heroes play an important role of helping people, they are the ones that make a difference in someone’s life. For example, we could say that our mother and father are our heroes because they have done so much to help us in our journey, from the time we were born to where we are right now. They help us in our schoolwork and solve many problems we have. This is the reason why heroes are still needed as we need someone to turn to when we encounter problems.

I truly feel that even today, we still need heroes to “save the day”. They are important because peace has to be maintained in the world, a good example has to be made and we need help when we are in trouble. Due to the reasons that I have stated I feel heroes are still needed today.