Marcus Lau De Hao

Comment on Kah Win's blog

2010-08-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

I have commented on Kah Win's blog post regarding the Downtown line being longer and costlier.

http://causticpotashhhhh.blogspot.com/2010/08/downtown-line-longer-coslier.html

Here is my comment:
I agree that the building of the MRT lines will definitely help Singapore environmentally but not that much economically.

The ease of use of MRT lines present nowadays will lessen the usage of cars as it is very easy to travel efficiently by MRT now. Without as many cars on the road, pollution will decrease and Singapore will live up to its name as a Garden City.

However, as we are still suffering from the effects of the economic depression, i feel this is not the right time to spend so much money on the building of more MRT stations. Much man power is needed, much planning has to be done to make sure that the construction of the MRT lines do not affect the ground above, and the cost of removing so much land underground is very high. Therefore this may not be a the appropriate time to extend the MRT lines. It will not help the economy much as Sungei Road, Bencoolen and River Valley are not very commercial districts and are not financial districts at all.

Thus, i feel that the timing is inappropriate. The government should wait till they have paid off their debts, and recovered fully from the economic depression first, before starting on any high cost project like this.

Marcus Lau De Hao

Comment on Qing Zhou's Blog

2010-08-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

I have commented on Qing Zhou's blog post regarding How did an arranged marriage affect Emily?
http://ep9cfail-blog.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-did-arranged-marriage-affect-emily.html

Here is my comment:

I agree that the arranged marriage did affect Emily, however I feel that what was the main thing that shaped Emily to have the dominating character she has is her childhood. Like what you stated, she was taken "out of the gutter" and she never had a proper childhood. She had no love from the parents at all. This is where the arranged marriage plays a part. She never had true love, even her own child hated her to the extend he had to commit suicide. To gain love, or what she thought was love, she therefore controlled almost everyone under her.
I do agree that the arranged marriage shaped her into becoming very controlling in nature, but it is not the most important factor contributing to the shaping of her character.

Marcus Lau De Hao

Comment on Ke Xuen's blog

2010-08-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

I have commented on Ke Xuen's blog post regarding Oliver Fricker.

http://tankexuen.blogspot.com/2010/08/oliver-fricker.html

Here is my comment:

Yes i agree that oliver fricker must be punished. However i feel that the reason why he is punished so severely is because he has exposed how easy it is to just walk into the MRT depot. Singapore has been embarrassed greatly, we were lucky that Oliver Fricker was not a terrorist and did not plant a bomb. A terrorist would have made it into the depot with ease too and the planting of the bomb will be unnoticed. Many lives will be lost by then.

Therefore, we should also count ourselves lucky that Oliver Fricker was there to expose our lack of security, though what he did was wrong. I hope that security will now be much tighter and no unauthorized personnel will be able to enter the bus interchange or the MRT depot. If not, just think about the thousands of people that take public transport daily. We cannot afford to lose lives due to the lack of security.

Marcus Lau De Hao

Comment on George's Blog

2010-08-20T08:16:00.002-07:00

I have commented on George's blog post regarding the YOG opening ceremony.
http://georgeblogging.blogspot.com/2010/08/yog-opening-ceremony.html

Here is my comment:

I totally agree and i am very angry at those selfish and inconsiderate people who dare to put down the YOG. They do not understand how much effort is put in by all the performers, all their weekends are taken up by many rehearsals, yet these people dare to call it an international disgrace? If we singaporeans do not even support our very own event, who would? If these people think they can do a better job, i would gladly invite them to plan a performance that would be able to please everyone and be within the budgets. Unless you have suggestions on how to improve the YOG, don't you dare insult the planning, passion and work done by the organisers and volunteers.

Marcus Lau De Hao

Comment on Cleon's blog

2010-08-20T08:16:00.001-07:00

I have commented on Cleon's blog regarding the post about the Youth Olympic Games.
http://bloggingcurrently.blogspot.com/2010/08/youth-olympic-games.html

Here is my comment:
I feel that the opening ceremony was very well planned and was definitely memorable! Though you may feel that how the story is presented may be a little 'lame', you must consider the amount of effort to plan and write a story that people from around the world will be able to understand easily. The opening ceremony must combine Singapore's history with the olympic values, and i feel that they have truly succeeded in doing so. So i hope that we, being citizens of the host country, can be more appreciative of the work done by the organizers.

Marcus Lau De Hao

Comment on Joel's blog

2010-08-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

I have commented on Joel's blog post regarding Religious Freedom.
http://jneater.blogspot.com/2010/08/religious-freedom.html

Here is my comment:
Firstly i would like to point out Racial Harmony Day is not directed at religious beliefs but instead focuses on the importance of Singaporeans being harmonious despite racial differences.

I do agree with your point. We must all respect other's religion. Religion is a very sensitive topic and we must never insult one's religious beliefs. Parents must also not force religions onto their children, but instead allow their children to have the right to choose. If skeptics are able to change your view on your own religion, it also proves that your belief isn't strong. People with strong belief in their own religion will not be swayed by the words of skeptics.

Marcus Lau De Hao

Reflection

2010-08-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment. ~ Lao Tzu.

I totally agree with what Lao Tzu has said. Learn about yourself before you even try to learn about others. If we are unable to even understand ourselves, how do you think you will be able to understand others? To be a true leader, we must be very clear of our own weaknesses and strengths to then tend to what others want. This is so you will not make false promises, as a leader must keep to his word and not promise the public things that you know is not within your means.

To become a better person, we must constantly reflect. With reference to my last post about blogs, we can use blogging as a platform to reflect. We must learn how to look back on past events and ask ourselves questions, "Why did this go wrong?", "What should I be more careful of next time?". Practice only makes perfect when we reflect back on our mistakes and learn from them. There is no use in practicing and making the same mistakes over and over and over again, that will just be a total waste of time and energy. Why spend much more energy practicing, when you can use that energy to reflect on what went wrong during practice and learn much more? Many people fail to see the importance reflection plays in improving yourself in anything you do, they just think that if they keep trying, they will eventually succeed. This will be a waste of time and energy, when we could just take the shortcut and succeed quicker when we actually reflect on our failures.

To become successful, we must learn how to solve problems within the shortest period of time and therefore the solution must be effective. To solve problems, we must think back, and ask ourselves if any similar situation has happened before, and reflect on the past event and come up with a effective solution to solve the problem. That is why prime ministers and presidents have a very tough job that requires a lot of thinking to solve problems quickly so that the impatient citizens will not lose support for them.Therefore, reflection can be seen as the tool all successful people use to allow them to get them to where they are now.

We must therefore learn how to take time off weekly to reflect on what went right, or what went wrong the past week. If we do, we surely will keep the rights continue to be right and the wrongs removed. The chances of us failing due to mistakes will decrease if we never repeat our mistakes again, and that is the first step to success.

Are you able to propose any structured way to reflect?

Blogging

2010-08-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

Today, i will be giving my views on blogging, sharing with you what are the good points of blogging. Personally, i really do enjoy blogging as it allows me to reflect upon my own thinking, and it gives me a platform to express my views on certain issues. I am sure when i look back to this blog in a few year's time, I will be able to see how much i have changed and be very intrigued by my thoughts a few years ago.

Blogs allow us to be able to communicate with the whole world, not only your classmates or family members are able to read it, but everyone who is able to connect to the internet and surf the web will be able to read your blog. Once in a blue moon, someone would comment on your post and from their comments you can see if your view is widely accepted, if not, you will be able to reflect and try to improve on your views. However, we should not change our views on issues depending on others, we should just take the comments as a learning experience, as we get to learn more about how others think.

Blogs also allow us to be able to connect and keep in touch with your friends and family. Should they have blogs, you can regularly check on them and read about their daily life. They may be miles away in another country, but thanks to the internet, we are able to keep in touch with them.

Blogs allow us to reflect about daily life. Time really does fly, and we rarely have time to sit down and just reflect about each day. Everyday, as routine as it may seem to you, must have a significant episode that will be able to teach us about ourselves even more. This is important if we want to constantly improve and become a better person.

Blogs improve our command of our language, in this case English. Practice makes perfect, and should we want to improve in English, we must practice writing even more. Blogging will definitely improve our English as we are able to practice how to construct better sentences and avoid spelling mistakes. We can also look at other blogs and learn from them.

Also blogs are a good platform to advertise an idea or maybe your business. However this is not very relevant to us students and therefore i will not elaborate on how blogs will be able to help your business. However, if you have this idea, example for a project, and would like views on your idea, blogs are a great platform for you to gain comments from others.

There are much more reasons why blogging is great, but i feel these are the most relevant to us students. Hopefully now you will understand why our school puts much emphasis on blogging. Blogging lets us learn much about ourselves, and I have really have learnt much about myself through blogging. I hope you all would continue blogging even when the school does not ask you to, it surely will make you become a much better person.

How to write an literature essay?

2010-08-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

I have observed many people are still very unsure of how to write a literature essay, this includes me and therefore i would like to blog about how to write a good literature essay today. Instead of going through the normal SPECS and SLIMS format which i am sure most of you will know by now through much literature classes, i will go through tips on how to ace the literature essay.

Just for those that do not know, SPECS and SLIMS stand for:

SPECS:

Subject Matter

Purpose

Emotions

Craftsmanship

Summary

SLIMS:

Structure
Language
Imagery
Movement

Sound

Writing a literature essay

Before starting to write:

Preparation is vital in writing a good literature essay. Therefore, if you want to write a good literature essay, you must follow the steps below before you even start writing.

Write key points and ideas down.
Plan your paragraphs
Look at the whole picture, or from different perspectives before writing.
Make sure you are sure of your argument/stand.
Plan your time. Have a rough idea of how long you want to spend on each point.

These points will help you from straying off the main question and writing off point, which is something that should never be done in exams. Many ideas would come while writing and if we do not plan properly, we will just keep writing down ideas as they come, and we never do stop and consider if these ideas are related to what the question is asking. So my suggestion is that you do a brief draft of your points and ideas and stick to these ideas.

When writing be mindful of:

Paragraphs.
Paragraphs are meant to help you and especially the reader to understand the essay better by breaking each point into paragraphs. However, many of us fail to remember how to paragraph properly and therefore instead of simplifying the essay, we confuse both ourselves and the reader. So please remember to check and break each point into a paragraph.

Another important thing you must take note of is the length of the paragraph. The length of one paragraph should never be more than one page of the foolscap. If it is longer than that, please read back as the chances of you repeating the point or forgetting to paragraph your points is very high.
Flow of sentences.
Any essay must be easy to read, and have a flow that will enable to reader to understand the essay better. Be sure to use connectors like, "however", "in addition to", "therefore" and many others. This is so that the connection between sentences will be easy to see, and these connections will help readers understand your point much better. Please be reminded that the connections should make sense and not add them as and when you want.
Argument.
You must be very clear of your stand to write a good essay. Unless being asked to summarize a text, you must have an argument. "Do you agree that...." this is an example of an essay that requires you to have a stand, either you agree, or you disagree.

Also, you must never write a one sided essay/argument. Do not only elaborate about why you agree to the statement, but however also give other points of view and elaborate about why others may disagree. However, when writing the conclusion, you must remember to state your stand, so as to avoid readers being confused over your stand.
Quotations and references.
Quotations and references will be used as evidence to explain your stand, and try to persuade the reader to share the same stand as you. They are vital in writing a good essay as it allows readers to relate and get an idea of what your stand by reading the evidence given by you.

Try to use quote short parts of the sentences, it is strongly not to lift the entire paragraph. Try to put these quotations in your sentences, rather than the normal way of saying, "As we can see from ... ". By weaving the quotes into the sentences, it will give a greater impact and provide a good flow to the essay. Please remember to explain the quotations you have written down, you should never expect them to explain themselves to the reader.

When writing down quotations and references, please remember to credit the source. This is so that you for one, will not be accused of plagiarism and the readers will be able to connect both the quote or reference and your point to understand the essay. Many other sources would have provided the same point, but many have different stands on the same issue, therefore we must pen down the source we have taken the quote or reference from so that we will not confuse our readers.
Conclusion.
The conclusion should wrap up the points said in the essay and finalize your stand. Give a brief summary of what your essay has discussed and what is your take on the issue, this is important as the readers must understand your stand to understand the essay written. The conclusion is very important as it also will not give an abrupt ending to the essay, and allow the reader to ponder about the points given by you as you summarize them in the conclusion.

These are the main tips that i am able to give to you. The best piece of advice i can give is that you keep practicing how to write an essay. Practice definitely makes perfect and therefore we will only be able to improve after much practice. Experience will help too, and you will find that time management will not be a problem after taking a few exams. You can also practice at home, timing how long you take to write a proper essay, and see how you can improve from there. Now that you know how to write a good literature essay, i strongly suggest you go study up on some contextual knowledge before the test!

Success

2010-08-17T04:06:00.000-07:00

What is success to you? Does success mean becoming a billionaire? Does success mean driving a Ferrari? It varies from person to person. Personally, success to me is just being happy doing what I do, I see no point being forced into doing something that I do not enjoy.

Our whole life is filled with work, when we're young, we work hard to get a better job in the future, and when we're old enough to get a job, we work again to get promotions or to feel more accomplished in life. That is why it is very important to know what you want to be doing in life and not end up doing something you will not enjoy.

To me, real success, no matter who the person is, is just being happy. If you are happy with your life, you have success, you have reached your goals and therefore you are happy. Many people have the wrong idea of success. They think the richer a person is, the more successful he is. This is very wrong, That person may be really rich, but he does not enjoy what he does, he was forced into doing it and just because of the money, he carries on with the job. You will see that a person like this will be very dull and sad most of the time. Money is not the most important thing in the world, happiness is. A person may lead a really simple life, but if he has accomplished what he wants to do in life, he is a successful person, and therefore is a happy person.

There will be no push for you to work harder, to get become better in what you do, unless you enjoy what you are doing. There will be no motivation, and therefore my advice is that you push for your dreams, do not get too worked up over money. Yes i do agree that earning a proper salary is important as we need to get by daily life. However, you may want to become an artist, or a musician, but many people will put you down and say things like, "Crazy ah, how to earn money like that?" Do not care about such people, and just focus on being successful in your own way.

So, what is your definition of success?

Long posts

2010-08-16T06:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, i do know my posts are extremely long and draggy, why can't i just cut to the chase? I am probably too lazy to summarize what i wrote, and when I talk or blog about something i am interested in i usually can't control myself and i go on and on and on. If i do go around in circles, maybe you would be kind enough to tell me? I do write a lot, especially for essays. I find it very hard to stop unless my brain just stops running and my inspiration runs dry. Maybe that is the reason i just cannot do summaries, both English and Chinese.

So to make this post not contradictory, i would like to keep it short and sweet. Please pardon me for my lengthy blog posts, but i'm sure after reading it ALL the way to the end, you would gain a greater understanding of me and my views. I actually do find my own posts really interesting.

Anyway, it's my blog, so I guess i have the right to type away till i'm satisfied.

Being a Parent - In reference to Emily of Emerald Hill

2010-08-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

After reading the book "Emily of Emerald Hill", i have understood that being a parent is one of the toughest jobs in the world. Many times, what the parents want their child to do and what the child wants to do are very different, and therefore, to please everyone in the family is very difficult.

The parent obviously wants their child to excel in whatever they do, and it is very common for them to force their child into completing what they could not accomplished. I have heard many parents forcing their children into learning Piano, or any sport like swimming. These parents probably wanted to learn a musical instrument or take part in such sports, however they never had the chance to do so in their lifetime. Therefore they feel that their children should be the ones accomplishing their dreams, however they do not understand that their child may not share the same dreams as them, and thus will not enjoy what their parents force them to do.

The parent also wants the child to be the best, especially in studies. This is most obvious in Singaporean parents. I feel that the Singaporean education system focuses too much on grades and tests. To me, an education should be more focused on preparing the student for life in the future, preparing them for the hardships in working life. That may come out in another blog post. Singaporean parents always want their child to be studying all the time, and rarely do they allow them to be independent in their studies. They will watch the child like a hawk, and how do you think the child will feel about this? Maybe this kind of approach is needed when they are young and immature, and do not understand what their priorities are. But is it really needed when a child is already 20+?

With reference to Richard, i believe that he was mature enough to make his own decisions. However, a young man like him should probably have spoken up a little bit more about his feelings about Emily's plans for his future. He always kept mum about his feelings, like when he did not want to go into Mr Chan's law firm, but he never did say anything about it until he wrote the letter.

Emily was a very insensitive parent, she did not think about Richard's feelings at all. She always thought that her plan was the best. As a parent i feel it is very important that they put themselves in the shoes of the child. Would the child like what the parent is doing? Would they enjoy it? Spend more time to get to know your child, instead of selfish reasons, try to encourage their child in pursuing their own interests, not the parent's interest.

To maintain a good parent-child relationship, we must have cooperation from both the child and the parent. The parent must be understanding and sensitive towards the child and his/her's feelings. The child must also learn to be independent and speak up when they do not like their parent's plan. The parents must therefore be understanding and do not force the child into doing what they do not enjoy.

Being a parent is not easy, being able to please both the parent and child is very hard. Therefore we must all learn to give and take, let the child enjoy his education and childhood. Seeing the child happy would also make the parent feel accomplished as a successful parent.

How are your parents?

Youth Olympic Games

2010-08-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

Being a athlete myself, I am actually quite excited about the Youth Olympic Games. I am quite amazed Singapore, a little red dot in the world map, is able to host the FIRST EVER Youth Olympic Games. However I think due to it being a totally new event, I realised many people do not really bother about the YOG at all! I just do not see the enthusiasm and excitement of the common people. The organizers and sponsors are doing a great job with the publicity, but an event this big, it should be talked about at every dinner table. Even the National Day Parade had to give way to the Youth Olympic Games. They had to use the Padang this year instead of the Marina Bay floating platform, but i must say, this year's display of fireworks was amazing.

Maybe it is because of the lack of a famous star coming to town? Many people know nothing about athletes that are that young, there are no Usain Bolts or Tyson Gays for them to get excited about, is that why there is a lack of excitement? Maybe the organizers should televise biographies of various athletes, not only Singapore athletes. This will enable the Singaporean crowd to know more about the athletes coming to Singapore, and increase the hype and excitement about the YOG.

But Singapore, one thing we must do is to put in the best show they can right now to all tourists, no more littering, no more illegal parking, no more Singlish, just try to impress the world. At least till the 26th of August.

What sport do you want to catch during the YOG? I really want to see long jump and triple jump, also Taekwondo. Since i am doing/done such sports before, i am quite interested to see the best teenagers in the world compete!

Superstition

2010-08-13T06:45:00.000-07:00

Since today is Friday the 13th, i would like to blog a little about superstition.

Why is Friday the 13th said to be an unlucky day? Friday the 13ths happen 1-3 times a year, and there is always this mysterious vibe about this Friday the 13th. In fact, there is no written evidence for Friday the 13th before the 19th century. However there are many theories proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.

Twelve is said to be the number of completeness. As there are 12 hours in a clock, 12 zodiac signs, 12 months in a year, and so on. While 13, is considered irregular and it transgresses this completeness.

Friday is thought to be an unlucky day. Some say it is because Jesus was crucified on a friday. Many stock market crashes and disasters have been labeled Black Friday by people too.

With the combination of both an unlucky number and an unlucky day, no wonder Friday the 13th is thought to be an unlucky day for all. So put on your 4 leaved clovers, beware of black cats, and never walk under a ladder.

Seriously though, have anyone of you encountered any misfortunes on any Friday the 13ths? Friday the 13ths are just like any other typical routine day for me, nothing special happens, and definitely nothing unfortunate happened. I do hope bad luck will continue to stay clear of me. No matter how ridiculous you may think superstition may be, I am certain that everyone has their own superstitions, how they make themselves feel 'luckier'. A great example of superstition would be Germany's coach Joachim Low insisting to wear his 'lucky' blue sweater where he won many matches, when wearing it, by a huge scoreline to the semi-finals match of the latest 2010 world cup. Superstition is all psychological and why not if it makes you feel more secure and lucky? Sometimes the psychological aspect of a battle is the most important, if you go into a battle with a confident look, the enemy would have already lost the psychological battle and definitely be weaker than you.

So is it good to be superstitious? Many people can be labeled as being too superstitious, like totally following Feng Shui books, thinking they will be able to change your fortune or health. Sometimes people can be blinded by their superstition, they do not go and hit the nail on the head, rather they rely on their superstitions to solve the problem for them. I am sure you have heard of people going to the fortune tellers when they realize they get sick regularly. Why not exercise a little more and watch their diet a little more, and save the time of moving your bed, or doing whatever the fortune teller will tell you to do? But personally, I am fine with superstitions, i respect everyone's superstition as i know its all in us to be a little superstitious as times.

What's your superstition?

Task 2 Home Learning 25-26 May

2010-05-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

Point Of View
A Vietnam war veteran soldier who is very against the use of the Agents and chemical warfare.

Evidence

The use of the words like "nefariously".

Explanation

The meaning of nefariously is, infamous by way of being extremely wicked. The poet uses it as, "Nefarious America ... " this shows he thinks America is extremely wicked in the way they are dealing with the Vietnamese.

Situation and Setting

The historical setting would be the Vietnam war, with America engaging in chemical warfare, the use of Agent Orange to gain an advantage in the Vietnam war. There is an internal conflict in this poem, as the poet which is an american soldier is putting down America's actions.

Evidence

Lines like, "America could not foresee" and "Execrable effects of agent orange spray!"

Explanation

The first line shows that it concerns America, and their lack of foresight on the huge and lasting impacts on the Vietnamese. The last line of the poem shows that the effects of the spray was very big, and disastrous. It shows that the poem revolves around this major conflict of the usage of the Agent Orange

Language/ Diction

The use of imagery and strong words convey the message very directly and successfully. The poet tells us the dire consequences of Agent Orange, and the effects of chemical warfare.

Evidence

Phrases and words like, "... death potpourri!", "... WILL pay" and "Omnipotent", gives the readers a sense of death and gloom.

Explanation

Potpourri is a mixture of colorful dried fragrant plant material, which is used to probide a gentle scent in houses. However it's meaning here is that much death is caused from the many Agents, which have many different colours, like potpourri.

Omnipotent has a meaning of Having unlimited or universal power, authority or force. The use of the word shows that the author thinks America thinks of itself as an omnipotent power. America thinks it can do whatever it wants without thinking about the consequences, "... disregarding who will mourn".

Personal Response

I have learnt that Chemical warfare has a vast amounts of effects and should never be used in war. It affects many generations of innocent children and adults that know nothing of the war, but yet they are affected so greatly. The use of chemicals in war should be banned internationally.

Task 1 Home Learning 25-26 May

2010-05-25T02:04:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson

This small poem speaks of a modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering – not only to its intended victims, the Vietnamese people, but also the service personnel that used or even just came into contact with “Agent Orange”.
Agent Orange is the code name for an herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD—used by the U.S. military in its herbicidal warfare program during the Vietnam War. Other Agents such as Agent Purple, Agent Pink and Agent Green was also produced. These agents are called the "Rainbow Herbicides".

4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange

Interpersonal and Intrapersonal tasks.

2010-02-28T06:16:00.000-08:00

Intrapersonal task A:

Who would you want to be friends with in the novel? Explain.

I would want to be friends with Arthur "Boo" Radley. In the novel, he saved Jem and Scout's lives when they were attacked by Bob Ewell. He also gave things to Jem and Scout through the hole in the tree. He just wanted to see Jem and Scout happy, so he gave them things through the hole in the tree. He would be a friend which would help me when i am in need, he would be a friend that will pull me up when i am down. Though he may not want to socialize that much, or go out and have fun like normal friends would do, I know he is always watching my back, preventing me from any danger.

Interpersonal task A:
Conduct an interview with a friend (not from HCI) or family member. Find out from their point of view on prejudice and discrimination. Either record the interview or write out the interview transcript.

How would you define prejudice and discrimination?
A prejudice is a prejudgment, concept or belief, it is a thought.

Discrimination is the action, carrying out that thought, the prejudice.

What is your view on prejudice and discrimination?
I feel everyone is equal and no one should be discriminated, everyone has their own talent and no one is superior. We are in no right to have a prejudice against a group, we are in no way better than that group. Maybe we can blame it on the media, the country for starting prejudices against a group. The media has a very strong control over our mindset and the way we think about others are usually linked to the media. We have this prejudice that all Arabians are terrorists, this is not the case, we have been "brainwashed" by the media, constantly showing bombings or terrorists activities being linked to Arabians.

This leads to discrimination, carrying out the prejudice. We begin thinking that we are superior compared to the group we have a prejudice against. Thus thoughts eventually become action and we will soon remove the rights that group has. Like how the colored in America was not allowed to eat in restaurants, and there were signs placed outside reading "Whites Only". This is an example of discrimination against the colored.
Therefore I feel that no one, is not even to think about them being superior compared to anyone, everyone is equal and has equal rights.

2010 Home Learning 29/2/2010 (Multiple Intelligence test)

2010-02-28T06:03:00.000-08:00

To see my learning style/ profile, go to http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/results/results.cfm

and in the code box enter this d2g883255.
I feel that the Multiple intelligence test helps point out your strong points, however it may not be accurate as sometimes you may lie to yourself. Thinking that you are good in something but in actual fact you are not. We can take as many tests as we want, but it will not be truly accurate in showing us our true weaknesses or strong points. We must learn this through our work, through experience, only then would we be able to know our weaknesses or abilities.
I do feel that this test is quite accurate in pointing out that i am good with people, being strong in interpersonal terms. I feel I am quite easy to get along with. As i have said, we should not depend solely on this kind of tests to determine our personality but we should develop it naturally as we grow.

Injuries, how do you prevent them?

2010-02-27T16:29:00.001-08:00

Being a member of the Hwa Chong Track and Field team, i have many been stricken with many injuries. Jumping is a very high impact sport, which means a higher probability of injuries. I currently have a very bad knee injury which has been with me for the past 2 weeks. The National Track and Field meet is coming up and i cannot afford to be injured during this crucial period of time. So I would like to share with you a few ways of how to prevent injuries, no matter what sport you play.
I think everyone should know that you need to wear appropriate gear and equipment, you can't expect to run a marathon barefooted and not get injuries, unless your trained to do so like the Kenyans. Wear proper shoes with enough support, if there are shoes that are made specially for your sport it is recommended to get them, so you are able to perform better, and stay away from injuries.

Rest is needed. This is something i'm not doing, as I always thought that more trainings would come with better results. With my trainings being 5 times a week, I do not have much rest and maybe thats why I have been getting so many injuries. Rest will make you stronger and prevent injuries of overuse and fatigue.
Warming up is very important, always always warm up before training or playing your sport. Warmed up muscles are less prone to injuries, proper warm up suited for your sport is needed to prevent injuries. Mental preparation is also important if you have a competition.

Do not train when you have an injury. This is something I am not doing too, when training, I just ignore the pain and continue training. I have too much pressure on me to do well that I cannot afford to spend a whole week resting. When in pain, this indicates a problem, and training would make it worse and prolong the injury.
Pain is a signal from your body that it needs to rest, so we should all listen to our body and not worsen our injuries.
I hope I can stay away from injuries during this 4 weeks or so before the National Track and Field meet.

Perseverance (II) Derek Redmond

2010-01-29T06:41:00.000-08:00

I feel this too is a exemplary act of perseverance. He is a track and field athlete too, that is why i feel this video can be related to. I too have my own injuries, and therefore this video especially moved me and inspired me.
For people wondering, he tore his hamstring.

Perseverance

2010-01-29T05:49:00.000-08:00

I would like to start off this by sharing with you a quote,
He conquers who endures. ~Persius.
A simple equation can be drawn, no perseverance = no achievements. If you do not persevere, and give up without even giving it your best shot, you will never achieve anything in life. If you ever face a problem or difficulty, even just thinking about giving up will mean half the battle is already lost.
A perfect example of perseverance would be how Terry Fox almost ran across the whole of Canada, which is around eight thousand kilometers, at a pace of 42km a day. Terry Fox planned to run almost a marathon a day! He managed to run for 143 consecutive days, which totaled to 5,374 kilometers. He did all this with one prosthetic leg, he was diagnosed with a cancer called osteosarcoma. At that time, to treat his condition, he had to amputate his leg a few inches above his right knee. What he planned to run was called the Marathon of Hope. He ran the Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research, his goal was to get everyone in Canada in that time to donate one dollar to cancer research. Despite him losing a leg, and the whole of Canada thinking he was a fool at the start, he never gave up and kept moving on. Imagine running on practically one leg for 42km a day. I am very sure there was many times where he felt down and depressed, and thought about giving up. However, his will to fight, his will to complete the race, his "never say die" attitude, spurred him on.
Would you be as courageous as Terry Fox? Will you have the will to fight? The will to never ever give up? You do not have to run a marathon everyday to prove you are able to persevere. Life is full of walls you have to climb so you can continue your journey of life.
As some of you may know, the National Track and Field meet is in 2 months time. This 2 months are crucial, and i need to persevere through it. No matter how tough training is, or how tired i am, i must give it my all during training. During this 2 months, i will be very busy, having to juggle school work, tests and my CCA. Term 1 will be a difficult one for me, but I will never ever give up. I will not want to have regrets when this term is over, seeing my results for both my CCA and academic grades, I want to be able to tell myself that I have tried my best.
PERSEVERE!

A new year, a fresh start.

2010-01-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

Happy new year everyone, it already been 23 days into 2010. Time really flies, doesn't it? I will be updating this blog regularly, on my opinions and my thoughts of various things. I know my blogskin is boring, but its much better than those blogskins that are really confusing and some make the blog post so small, its really hard to read. "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" - Leonardo Da Vinci.
I would love to have more followers, so anyone reading this, just follow it! I'm also very happy to follow your blog too, so if you want me to follow your blog, just type it on the chat box at the side. I will also link your blog if you want me to do so.
This is just a short post to kick off my blogging for 2010, so look forward to many interesting posts to come!

Happiness.... What is happiness?

2009-07-07T02:49:00.000-07:00

Well, the meaning of happiness is different for everyone. Happiness can mean money for some people or maybe happiness can be love for other people. To me, I feel happiness is to be able to lead a life where your conscience is clear and all your loved ones are around you. That is a life I would want. I would not mind working day to night as long as when i return, i can see the faces of my loved ones. Family is the most important thing to me. Without my family, I would not have the motivation to do anything. Many people thing money is the most important, as the saying goes, " Money makes the world go round." Yes i do agree we cannot survive on love alone. We must also have enough money to enjoy a stable life. Without money, we would face many financial problems. However, money to me is not very important. If you had a large sum of money, what would you do with it if your family is not there with you to enjoy your wealth with you? I would not want to spend my life lonely, i want to spend all my good times and bad times with my family.

Is progress beneficial for society?

2009-07-07T02:48:00.000-07:00

How can a society improve without progress? Which country would want to stay the same, while techonology improves? Look at Thul, a small village with many young boys working like Hari. Would you want Singapore to be like Thul? No! We need to move on with time, and never dwell in the past. Things are forever improving, and we should use this improvements to good use and enable us to help improve our standards of living. Progress and improvement should always be in our minds. Without them, we will always be the same, never improving. Without constant improvement, how can we be a successful person? Therefore I say progress is very beneficial for society.

Shel Silverstein

2009-06-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

"I will not play tug o' war. I'd rather play hug o' war. Where everyone hugs instead of tugs, Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses, and everyone grins, and everyone cuddles, and everyone wins." as said by Shel Siverstein.I chose him as i feel he is a very all rounded person. He was a poet, playwright, illustrator, screenwriter, and songwriter. A jack of all trades. He has also a sense of humor. I feel the poems also can relate to children like me. One of my favourite poems of his is 'Messy Room' . Another reason why I like him is that he is very unique. His poems are very descriptive and allows me to imagine what is in the poem.

Shel Silverstein was born in 1932 and died in 1999. He never planned on writing for children, however,his children’s works was available in more than 30 languages around the world. Silverstein also enjoyed a long, successful career as a songwriter with credits that included the popular “Unicorn Song” for the Irish Rovers and “I’m Checking Out” written for the film Postcards from the Edge and nominated for an Academy Award in 1991. “When I was a kid,” he told Publishers Weekly in 1975, “I would much rather have been a good baseball player or a hit with the girls. But I couldn’t play ball. I couldn’t dance. So I started to draw and to write. I was lucky that I didn’t have anyone to copy, be impressed by. I had developed my own style.”
'Where the Sidewalks End' Shel Silverstein's first collection was a instant hit and was an instant classic, It was published in 1974. It was applauded for its zany wit, irreverent wisdom and tender heart.

3 Poems by him
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/poems/14819 ( Whatif)
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/poems/14820( Bear In There)
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/poems/14828 ( Boa Constrictor)

Shel Silverstein Biography:
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/biography

Quote:
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/quotes

Poems:
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/poems

2009-06-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

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

I like how the author describes everything very vividly. Like " His books are all jammed in the closet," The author also gives characters in the poem names. Ed the lizard, Donald, Robert, Willie.

I think this poem really related to me and this is why i liked it so much. Even though my room is not that messy, I am guilty of having a fairly messy room. With useless things lying all over the place, I feel very disorganized. I always take a long time to find my things too. I always give the excuse that i have no time to clear my room.

My favourite character in Village by the Sea

2009-06-06T00:53:00.000-07:00

My favorite character in Village by the Sea is Mr Panwallah. He is very kind hearted and is the main reason Hari had a enjoyable time in Bombay. Mr Panwallah served as a father to Hari. A father's love is one that Hari never experienced before as his father was an alcoholic and never took care of him. Mr Panwallah teaches us to be kind to others and not to be so self-centered. He saw Hari and immediately gave a warm smile to him. Mr Panwallah also taught Hari many things like how all things must change. Mr Panwallah's kindness touched me. I hope people should learn from Mr Panwallah. Everyone should be kind and caring to other people. This is why Mr Panwallah is my favourite character in Village by the Sea.

My favourite part of village by the sea.

2009-06-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

My favourite part of the book is the part Biju spoke up for the village when the watchman mocked the village. This made me change my impression of Biju. This act really impressed me as even though Thul is a very small village, Biju is proud to be a part of his village. This is a value all of us should learn: Love for one's country. All of us should be proud to be a Singaporean. We should never forget our country. It is very important to love one's country and it is important to also be patriotic. Without the citizen's support, a country can never prosper and develop. Therefore i feel everyone should learn from Biju, to love their country and stand up for it. Everyone can play a part in helping its country prosper, everyone can just love their country and never forget where you are from, this will allow a country to prosper and develop.

I rather be the city rat then the country rat.

2009-06-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

Of course I would want to be a city rat! Well, in the city it is filled with rush and time stops for no man. However, my dream in life is to make a lot of money. Of course i would use my money to a good cause. In the country, you have almost no chance to make a name for yourself and it has a too laid back style. Maybe when i have finally made a large sum of money and decide to retire, I will not mind to experience the country side. When I become old and retire, I don't think i will be able to handle the city life anymore. Well the country may not always be people riding horses, having farms, wearing straw hats and sitting on the rocking chair doing nothing. The country can actually be quite interesting. I have been to Australia's country side before and it was a amazing experience for me. I was able to chop wood and actually see numerous stars. I felt really relaxed during that trip. The country and the city has its own pros and cons, but for now I rather be a city rat than the country rat.

Ah... Finally the holidays!!

2009-06-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Its finally the holidays! It is always good to take a break. Its been a week into the holidays so how have you spent it? Well, I was mostly playing for this week as i decided to play for this week and then finish ALL my homework and ACE next week. So how do u intend to use your holidays?

Chinese Composition Test

2009-04-20T17:14:00.001-07:00

Tommorow is the chinese common test, it consists of 2 components.
1. Letter writing
2. Compostion
Well, because chinese is my weakest subject and i HATE compositions.... Well i hope everything will go well tomorrow and hopefully i will score at least a b4. Just to get over and done with it i guess.....

Hitler one of the "greatest" leaders of all time

2009-04-10T07:47:00.001-07:00

Well this post was inspired by me taking the "What Famous Leader Were You" quiz. As you can see i am Adolf Hitler.
After seeing the video of his speech, how do u feel? Ok... Maybe most of you will feel nothing. However, it was his speeches that really brainwashed the whole of Germany to want to take over the world, which caused WW2. His speeches are really amazing and seeing how he talks, you can see what drove Germany to want to conquer the world. Hitler is actually one of my favorite leaders of all time. Though people may say he is crazy or insane, I do not think so as he was just driven by his ambition to take over the world.

Would you be a very powerful leader?

2009-03-10T04:49:00.000-07:00

All of you reading this at once will say YES!!!! However, have you ever thought what a powerful leader would have to sacrifice? What must they do to stay away from trouble? As they know the media is always waiting for them, to just make a mistake then, on the newspaper's headlines for tomorrow will be whatever the powerful leader has done. Lets say YOU are a powerful leader.
If u one day, u decided to go drinking with some friends, but you got drunk. Even if you did not do anything wrong, the media would make such a big fuss out of it, u will be despised of by the whole community. Powerful leaders have no privacy. Everyone needs privacy once in awhile but these powerful leaders have very very little privacy. This will be so tiresome to always have someone outside your door holding guns. When you travel around Singapore, you see one big group of police officers on their motorcycles and cars to escort you. There are many things that you have to sacrifice when u want to be someone powerful.
Of course there are many wonderful things someone powerful can get too.
But for me, I don't want to be someone powerful. You know what I want to be??
RICH!!! FILTHY RICH

Time management

2009-03-10T04:34:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to talk about time management. Time management is very important, don't u think so? If we all practiced time management, we all would have finished our geography test on time and maybe do a little better. Well many things in life are decided on how u manage your time. To succeed, we must have time management. We must see, which things are important and should be done before others. With the practice of time management, we would always complete things on time. When we practice time management, we would do things much better. It is obvious that if u rush something, that piece of work or assignment will be very poorly done. When u manage your time, we are able to think slowly and carefully. When we are rushing to meet a deadline for something, we will usually panic, then that piece of work will be like rubbish.
All great leaders are people who can manage their time VERY well. Lets say our prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, he is always so busy. Meetings and meetings, he may seem like he does not have time to do so many things! however, he manages time well and finds the time to spend with family and friends.
So, we should all try and practice Time management in our lifes.

Socratic Seminar (Black Hat)

2009-03-05T00:16:00.000-08:00

What points do you agree or disagree with and why?
I feel there are many lambs in the short story 'Lamb to The Slaughter'

I agree that Mrs Maloney is one of the Lambs in the story as Patrick Maloney was very insensitive towards her feelings. As she was already pregnent, Patrick was very selfish to leave her just like that. Mrs Maloney, obviously shocked, killed her husband. This means that now she has to raise the child single-handedly and work harder to have income for the family, this means that she has to suffer more.

The unborn baby is also a lamb because the child will be without a father and a baby needs a fatherly figure in its life and if the mother does get caught, the child will be an orphan. This is why the baby is the one that suffers most.

But there are a few points i disagree with:

I disagree that the police is one of the lambs. It was not their fault that they got fooled by Mrs Maloney's flawless plan. If you were a police I don't think you would have suspected a leg of lamb to be used as a murder weapon. The police can also be helped by forensic scientist to solve the case so they are not the real lambs.

I disagree that Mary did not care for the baby. People said that she was insensitive towards the baby because she was drinking whisky which could hurt the baby's growth. However it is the westerner's culture to have a drink as their country is usually very cold and alcohol keeps them warm.

New Skin

2009-02-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

As u can see my blog skin has changed cause i feel that the other skin was not very good, especially when its for class work. So now you people can comment! Please try to do so...

Language Arts Assignment

2009-02-23T04:25:00.000-08:00

Headline;74 dead in Shanxi mine explosion

A gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in northern China yesterday killing at least 74 miners. This is the nation's worst accident to hit the mines in more than year. Luckily 60 other miners were trapped underground and rescued only hours later. The amazing thing is that some of the trapped miners actually could contact their families on their cellphones! How could there have been reception? It is said that 436 miners were working underground when pre-dawn blast occured at the Tunlan mine in Gujiao City near Taiyuan, capital of the main coal-producing province of Shanxi. 114 miners were under observation at hospital including five whose injuries were quite serious, according to the official Xinhua news agency.Most miners have suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, which can lead to death. The ironic thing is that this happened only 2 days after senior provincial officials held a conference about mine safety.Presiden Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have issued instructions to save those still inside the mine. This is one step China has taken to improve safety at its mines, but the mining industry is still the world's deadliest. Government figures have also shown that almost 80% of the nation's 16,000 mines are illegal. This is too much! Such a vast of illegal mines in China this causes the increase of deaths in mines. Without the proper government guidelines or without the help of the government for finance, these illegal mining companies will forgo safety precautions to save money. These people are really too selfish, forsaking the welfare of the workers just because they do not want to waste money. Hopefully this will serve as a wake up call for China that a small accident will affect many people. Maybe China will improve the safety of their mining industry. All we can do now is to pray that the people still stuck in the mines are fine and are able to resume their life's normally after that tragic incident

2009-01-28T00:28:00.000-08:00

Adeline Ng Ai Choo

I feel Adeline did this because of the pressure given by her parents. I feel parents nowadays are putting TOO much pressure on their child. Though they think they are not putting pressure they are. I am sure everyone felt lots of pressure during the PSLE period. Parents will go telling u all stories of how well ur siblings did or stuff. I REALLY HATED IT. Well i coped with it and i did not commit suicide. Though some people will only study when there is pressure, i feel ultimately too much pressure is VERY BAD but a little will be good.

No comments

2009-01-18T22:47:00.001-08:00

Sorry everyone, i just realised the blog skin i am using does not allow you guys to post ur comments but i have a tagbox so should u want to post ur comments please type what article ur commenting on. Thanks! Sorry for the inconvenience.

Thoughts/Reflections on article "Shoot First, Feel Bad Later"

2009-01-17T22:36:00.001-08:00

I feel creators of games nowadays are becoming smarter and smarter. To lure people to buy their games, they add a mix of action and real life issues. People would think," wow! This game is yet fun yet educational!" Comparing to when games first started out, games have truly developed by leaps and bounds. Games last time were all 2-D only with everything around your character looking very "boxy". If you just take a normal game now, you would see the most precise details in the game, where all the characters, trees, cars, etc. all look very realistic. Most of the games nowadays are also in 3-D. A gamer myself, though I do not really like the idea of education in a shooter as I feel it takes away the fun of the game. I feel when i play games, I don't want to learn anything except how to defeat monsters and how to get items. However, I feel it is good for the younger generation as they will learn about the many problems in the world. This may help them spark an idea to solve the idea. These people may be the next Nobel prize winners for contributing to society in solving a big problem.

Thoughts/Reflections on PCME handout for Term 1 week 1 - Intergrity

2009-01-17T22:25:00.000-08:00

My thoughts and reflections on the issue of integrity.(PCME lesson term 1 week 1)

I feel the handout shows that online petitioning is not credible as one person can pose as many people then submit many petitions. This questions the integrity of such a person. That person is being very selfish as he only thinks of what he wants and makes its seem its a very big problem as there seems to be many petitions from different people. This article also shows how technology has changed how the world works nowadays. Last time, people had to write in to petition or go to the Speaker's Corner to petition for or against something. Now with the help of technology, people can petition just from the comfort of their home. However, nothing is perfect. Therefore people are able to use technology to do many morally questionable things. I feel that if we want to not have the trouble of traveling from our houses to somewhere else to petition, we should treasure our privilege of being able to sit comfortably in our homes to do such things. We should also spare a thought for the people you are petitioning to as they have the trouble to check on the credibility of each and everyone's petition.

Fishy Business

2009-01-17T21:57:00.000-08:00

Q: You are a member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty To Animals and want to raise awareness of the cruelty of whaling in Japan. Prepare a speech to be made at a public forum on the cruelty of the fishing industry to whales in Japan.

A:Hello everyone, I am Marcus Lau from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty To Animals. I am here to raise the awareness of the cruelty of whaling in Japan. Whales are endangered and must be protected! However, the Japanese government maintains that certain populations are strong enough to sustain a managed hunt.The Japanese have had a record of whaling since the eighth century. Whales have long been a source of food, oil, and crafts' material. Japan's whale consumption peaked in 1962 at 226,000 tons, then declined steadily until it fell to 15,000 tons in 1985, the year before the commercial whaling ban.After halting its commercial whaling, Japan began what it termed "scientific research on whales" to provide a basis for the resumption of sustainable whaling. The number of whales killed under the project has risen steadily, from less than 200 in 1985 to almost 1,000 in 2007. We must protect the whales! More and more animals are becoming extinct, we don't want another one to be extinct! We must try our best to stop whaling in Japan!

Information taken from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Japan