National Day 9th August 2011

I have always noticed the way people look like during the National Day Parade---Happy, exhilarated and ... Well, I never feel extremely happy or anything about National Day Parade. I have always felt that the Parade is about the same all the time, with the same marches, same performances and etc. I never felt a true sense of belonging in this country. I always treated it like a land where I have to abide the rule, a land where I will study and spend my life at. Thus, people always say that I am not loyal to my country, a betrayal and etc. Well, I believe I am, in a way. If the country is involved in a war, I may not actually risk my life to save "our"country after all. Is it worth it to risk our life for something that is only a house but may not actually represent a home. There is a huge difference between home and house. However, I believe there is still a certain gratitude that I bear for Singapore. It has helped me in one way or another. For example, Singapore has a great education system that allows me to actually come into such great schools like Hwa Chong Institution. Singapore has also provided me a house where I can live without fear of high crime rates or dirty living environments. Therefore, I would still like to thank Singapore for what it has given me throughout the fourteen years of my life.

Thoughts about SP( Special Programme)

To tell you the truth, after facing the "reality" from Term 3, I seriously doubt that I qualify for a Special Programme. Nevertheless, I will still work hard to actually try to get into one. I actually have some thoughts about going into 3Q before getting out o fit at Sec 4. I know that I do not have the discipline to actually stick to my work and revise independently. I wanted to actually enter 3Q and to actually develop the "mugger" spirit and to come out as a real student eager for knowledge. However, I do not want to miss out the opportunity that entering a Special Programme brings to learning more new things. I have set my mind to only IP- Special Program, not CSE-Special Program as I think it is more or less impossible for me to actually obtain an A1 for Language Arts. I do not despise Chinese Studies in Chinese(CSC) but the requirements are just too harsh for a student like me. I have basically decided on two programmes, namely the Bicultural Studies Programme or the Science Math Talent Programme. The main reason that I do not like the Humanities Programme is because of my fear for History and Geography. History and Geography is scary because of the load of information and statistics that one needs to memorise . I am okay with the literature part though, as reading texts and stories are pretty interesting. Well, Language Elective Programme is mainly studying of China History, Geograohy and literature which I am not interested in. BSP is fun as I get to learn the economy of China and other businesses in China which is relatively interesting and is a potential topic in the future. SMTP is cool as I get to do experiments in the SRC lab. This helps me to develop my science knowledge more broadly as I get to do more hands on rather than studying based on some textbooks and worksheets.

The comparison between the average Hwa Chongian and Samuel

The stereotype goes that Hwa Chong students are nerds. We all are nerds, in a way of course. The average Hwa Chongian "mugs" a lot. We can find examples from my class. Great examples will be Gary, Shao Xuan and Akira. They are well-known or I should say well-known to me in class for burning the midnight oil. They can revise and revise until midnight or even one or two a.m. in the morning to actually study. We can see that they are actually putting in a lot of effort in their studies. This actually make me feel embarrassed and guilty in a way as I sleep at nine thirty at most of the time. I believe in having a good night sleep. Besides, my parents always wait for me. They will only sleep after they see me go to my bedroom. I do not want to make them wait for too long. I am also not exactly the hardworking type. Thus, we can see one difference, lots of sleep(compared to students from Hwa Chong) and little sleep. Another difference is that the average Hwa Chongian is more wealthy. I am not exactly rich at all. None of my parents read university. From that , you can understand my family financial situation. The average Hwa Chong students are much more wealthy. Their parents are og higher rank in their companies and their monthly income reaches 10k. I may feel sad but where am I born to is not my choice. I can only work hard to fight for what I want. The final difference is that they are much more daring. As I am not exactly rich, I try not to attract too much attention. Thus, I am not exactly very daring and brave when it comes to speaking out and voicing my own opinion. I am scared that I will be laughed at or attract negative attention. However, the average HCI students are more open and they are more active when it comes to participating in discussions.

Reflection for R&R exam

I have never expected myself to get this result, truly. Although I hoped to get an A1 or A2 to rescue my MSG, I have expected a C5 or a C6 due to the result of the previous R&R exercise that I took being 5/20. I found the test quite hard as I do not understand a few concepts as well as a few questions. Besides, I have lost a lot of my confidence from the last test which I had only gotten 5. Thus, this made me feel as though everything that I had filled in can be 90% wrong. I was so scared that after completing every question, I will stop and hesitate. I would think about the problems or flaws from the answer that the teacher who is marking can find from my answers. Basically, I feel that the teacher was very lenient when it comes to marking my script. This helped a lot in achieving my current grade for the R&R Test. I would not dare to say that I had put in a lot for this test. I would even like to say that I regret not revising more on The Merchant Of Venice after hearing Ms Huang mentioning the most of the answers can be found from the annotations on the side of the book. Examples are the contrasting difference between the word mercy and the word justice. There was a table showing all the differences between this two concepts or words. My takeaway from this test is that I should study more on the various themes about the book and do annotations on it. I should also read more widely to improve on my vocabulary range and to improve my understanding of various texts.

Looking forward to OBS

I have been looking forward to OBS for a long time since last year. The thought of having adventures on a near-no-technology place gives me the excitement that a teenager should have. As everyone knows, next year will most probably means separation of friends and classmates. Most of us have basically built up strong friendships over the two years of "hardship" and good luck. We have been through so much together and the thought of separation makes me feel really sad. I really hope that this OBS Pulau Ubin can make our last gathering a nice and memorable one, one that will capsule all our good memories. We would be able to bond there and carry out fun activities at the camp. We can also laugh at the lousy and the fat ones ( not serious, of course) and admire the "buff" and strong ones who can make through the certain courses with ease. Anyway, we had past experience at St. John Island during our Secondary 1 Annual Camp. I would say that it was a considerable fun experience except for the part when we slept at the tent. It was a horrible and unpleasant experience as we had to squeeze 5 people in one tent. It was not exactly very fair as I had to share tents with Wang Jinhui, Tsai Mingchin , Zhao Boning and Seah Shao Xuan. You can get what I am trying to int here, right? I only caught 3 hours of sleep and it gave me sores all over my body. I would just like to conclude that I hope the Secondary 2 Annual Camp will be much more fun and enjoyable. I hope that I can also end this year with picture perfect memories. I am also looking forward to the various water and land activities with my very best friends!

About my CCA

In my CCA, I am nothing but a member. I shall define reserve. In the Volleyball Club, there is the main team and then the substitutes. After these two groups come the members of the club who does nothing but train during training sessions. Members also do not go to competition and pick up balls most of the time for the main team and substitutes. Therefore, you can understand how my life is at volleyball. Although I would not say that Volleyball is very fun and entertaining, it is indeed enjoyable to me as I enjoy team play sports and the thrill when I get to play. It is always a long wait before I play and I seemed to always mess things up when I finally get the chance to "shine". Thus, wasting my chance. I would not blame anyone for this as I am not exactly very tall, skillful and posses certain personalities that make one a good player. However, I am also not exactly very happy and satisfied by just being a ball picker all the time. Thus, there is some sort of a mixed feeling. I guess I will have just have to work harder to fight a place in the team for myself! Sometimes, I feel like I am being underestimated by everyone all the time and that makes me feel upset. I will have to work really hard in order to let others change they way they look at me and also to find my own pride back.

FICTION WRITING

A Memo for the juniors


My dear juniors,

　　There are three main reasons why I am writing this memo：
1)You will face a lot of troubles in your Hwa Chong life.
　　 2)I am your senior, if I do not tell you about these, who will?
　　 3)Everything in this memo is based on the lessons that I had learnt from my past painful experiences. This memo can make your life in Hwa CHong much easier.
　　The following are what you should keep in mind at all times：
　　1)There are many bullies in school and try not to get onto their nerves 。Classmates who treat you exceptionally nice may not be your true friends. They may just want to get something from you or want to ask something from you. You must never have evil thoughts, but you must also be aware of the people around you.
　　2）In Hwa Chong Institution, you must never be lazy.There is a lot of homework and tests are frequent.If you are a lazy person, life there will be exceptionally hard and tedious for you.In addition, you also have to do ACE homework and Project Day making you even more busy. Thus, I hope you will be hardworking and control your own leisure time.
3）Life in HCI is extremely short, you should enjoy your time here now, or else the next time you look back, you will find yourself leaving the school for Nationl Service.Therefore, if you realise this earlier, you will get to enjoy "more" secondary school life.You may feel that the life here is extremely boring and tiring now but just give it a few years, you will learn that life at HCI is unforgettable and one of the most enjoyable time of your life.　　
4）Puppy love never lasts and it will change or disappear as you grow older and mature. If your so-called true love leaves you, do not be upset. Stay calm and let time heal you. The "love" that you are experiencing is only infatuation, do not be too upset.
　　5）I believe that there are some students in HCI that were born in a poor family. I hope that they will not despise themselves or feel that they are not good enough.There are lawyers and doctors whom were born in a poor family. They worked really hard to get to their current state. As long as you work hard and out in effort, you will still get somewhere in the future.
　　6）I do not expect you to thank me for leaving this memo behind.I only request you to respect your teachers and parents.Although these few words are mentioned in the community song， I would still like to emphasise on this words.This is because our parents and teachers have spent a lot of time raising us up and teaching us. You cannot deny that they had done a lot for you , therefore, you have to remember the kindness and care that they had bore for you.
　　7）Treat people around you in a nice manner but do not expect the same from them.If your peers need your help, you should try your best to assist them.Since everyone is classmates, we should help one another and not fear others that they will overtake you in studies. We should not be narrow-minded and I hope that u=you will accept this advice. 　　
8)I hope that Hwa Chong gentlemen will not use their pocket money to purchase answer keys of their homework or hire others to help them do their homework.When I was still a student, I noticed one of my classmate paying another classmate $50 to help them do their homework for a week.Their ways will stop them from learning.Thus, I sincerely hope that you will not do something like that.
　　9）It is fate that you and your classmates are actually friends and classmates. you should cherish your times together.In your next life, regardless of how good or bad is the friendship, you guys may never meet again!
　　Your senior

The Merchant Of Venice (Facebook)

Shylock's profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002786825575

Antonio's profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002809055708


Bassanio's profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002771885551

This I believe

I have always believed in these two words. They are courage and confession. Since I was young, I always had a very strong conscience. If I had done something wrong and I do not confess it to someone senior to me, I can actually feel so guilty that it can actually lead me to think of suicide. For example, when I was young, if I took a classmate’s eraser without his or her permission, I would feel extremely guilty. It made feel that I had actually stolen something, made me feel as if that I had sinned and everyone I knew will actually leave me to my own means. Well, you may actually say that this was a child’s mind-set but I will give you another example. In the recent years, I experienced something. As, I am not exactly the average Hwa Chongian, my family income is below 7k, which means I do not have as much money as them to spend on food, programmes and also accessories. To make it worse, I have 3 brothers which make the burden worse, leaving almost no savings for my parents. Thus, I develop some sort of despise against my parents, not hate but look down on them, like why didn’t they study diligently last time. Although I know that they could not receive higher education because they had to take care of their siblings, did not have a proper study environment and lack of money, I still hope that they had actually receive a higher education so they can provide a better life for us and also have some savings so they do not need to worry about medical and health problems. After gaining some “maturity”, I had this fear of having my classmates see my parents(my father is short) or actually understand my background. Somehow, I knew this was wrong and I can never hide this forever, thus, I decided that I have to change. I felt really guilty about thinking this way, my parents raised me up from young and they did not even grumble a single word. They had sacrificed so much for me. I decided to confess to them. I told them about how I felt and beg for their forgiveness. They told me it was okay and normal to be a little materialistic and to compare with others at my age. They told me to let go and to ignore others’ comments. They told me that those “friends” who actually insult you do not deserve to be your friends. Sometimes, only in these times are you able to find true friends. After this confession, my heart instantly turned lighter and I felt much more carefree. This “rock” had been on my head for a long time. Thus, I develop the concept that confessions make you feel better, do not bear it in your heart. To actually muster up the courage to confess is not easy. I can tell you from the bottom of my heart from my past experiences. When you really feel very sorry, it can actually take a longer time. For the despising of parents incident, it took me one year to get the courage to confess. I kept giving up the idea of confessing every time, just before I wanted to do it as I was too scared that they will be angry. I understand that you must remember that your parents will never hate you; they will always give you one more chance. I have one advice, break out into tears when you confess, that will definitely make you feel braver and better.

600 words :)

Project Day 2011 Reflection

I feel extremely excited about doing this project beforehand. I had never done a Cat 1 project, thus, the thought of actually making different solutions and pouring chemicals here and there was rather interesting to me and also rather new. However, I was most of the time absent during most of the lab sessions. I had other commitments that took up most of my time. Examples are : Science Olympiad Trainings , Third Language classes ( Japanese). However, I really thank my other two partners who have continued doing the project even though I was not there. Even more admirable was that they did not bear a grudge and they actually understood my predicament and also explained my situation the mentor. Thus, I tried really hard to make up to them by attending every session that I could. I tried to help them in one way or another, like helping them find the equipment, making the cue cards and trying to spot the flaws and mistakes in our project. I would not dare to claim that I did a lot for the project. However, I have to say that they did a lot of the project and sacrificed a lot of their personal time. Thus, I really have to thank them for their understanding and hard work. Nowadays, they are having their competition season which makes them extremely busy, pushing them to their limits to actually make time for the project. I have to make use of this time to actually make up to them for what they have helped me. Thus, this project have really made me learn a lot. I get to gain a better understanding about equipment that I had never used during my primary school days and also conduct an experiment that was very new and fresh to me. I also get to know real good friends that stood by me when I need help. They also gave me assistance and also taught me how to use the equipment when I needed help. They did not despise me for being in the dark about the on-goings of the project. Secondly, I really appreciate the help and patience of the lab staffs at the SRC biology lab for spending their time and patience in teaching us on how to operate the equipment and the various methods of sterilizing the equipment and chemicals usage. Last but not least, I want to thank our mentor , Miss Sandra Tan for actually making the effort to go down to the lab regularly to give us advice and also to give us step by step instructions on how to conduct the experiments. If we were supposed to conduct the experiment without her, I would not know of where we will be now. She takes time to listen to our question and also gives us feedback on what we should improve on. In any way, I would really like to say that I had benefitted a lot from this year’s project day.

500 words just nice :)

How has learning about newsworthiness and types of news articles (straight news articles and feature articles in different sections of the newspaper)

I am always reading the feature article part. Feature articles seem more interesting as they have something like a short story in the front part which gets my attention and gets me hooked onto the story. There is always a reason for the extra mini story in the first paragraph of the article. This also means the article is very newsworthy and the firm wants more readers to read it. However, straight news articles can also be quite boring sometimes when they talk and emphasise so much on the boring stuff like finance and other stocks stuff. And that is why I enjoy feature articles better. I remember a article that was very interesting was the one from Times, the one about Tiger Mum. This article shows me how children learn in China and how come they are so hardworking and et cetra. I really enjoy feature articles nowadays.

Is it right for the justice system to pursue criminal charges several decades after the crime is said to have occurred?

Yes, I think that it is still right to pursue someone's crime even though that it has been committed a few decades ago. One must always pay the price for one's wrongdoing no matter how long has it been. Imagine you are the victim. Your son has been kidnapped by a kidnapper syndicate and they had amputated his limbs and position him somewhere in the world to act as a beggar to beg for a living. Finally after 15 years, you see your son again in Thailand and also managed to find the syndicate. Of course, you will be hating the syndicate for what they have done to your child and the separation between a parent and a child. You will also want them to be punished for their crime-doings as wells as the misery they have brought to other kids and parents. Now, after this small"simulation, you will realise that crime-doers will always have to be punished all else the world will be unfair and they will never learn. Time should never be part of the consideration as justice needs to be served.

À la carte

À la carte is a common word or phrase that everyone hears when they order food or whatever in a restaurant or even in hawker centres nowadays. Well, it means a reference to a menu of items priced and ordered separately. It also means to designate an option to choose, at no extra charge, a side dish to accompany a main course item. The origins of the phrase is actually quite simple. The phrase was adopted into English in 1826, predating by a decade the common use of the French language loanword "menu". However the actual meaning of À la carte in French is actually "according to the menu". Now, we all know that À la carte is kind of weird as how does "according to the menu" got changed to the meanings above.

Water for Singapore

Water for Singapore

By: Samuel Tan 2i217

Singapore: Two young tanned canoeists paddled across the clear waters of the new Marina Barrage. They were just one of the few people that had started to reap the benefits of the Marina Barrage. The Marina Barrage, the 15th reservoir of Singapore that was opened in the recent years, has three functions, mainly water supply, flood control and lifestyle recreation. Other than the Marina Barrage, Singapore also has many other ways of getting fresh water. The other ways are desalination, NEWater, stormwater management and the buying of fresh water from other countries.

Although Singapore may be a small country, but the amount of water it uses is a lot compared to other bigger countries. Singapore’s current per capita domestic water consumption is about 154 litres per day, compared to India which only used 135 litres per day. This may not seem like a large problem to most people as it does not seem important. Think it this way, Singaporeans do not have to think about running out of water when they turn on the tap or drink a glass of water. Singaporeans are getting too complacent with what they have, ignoring the droughts in other country as they struggled to get enough water for everyone in the country.

Singapore gets its water from the water from local catchment, imported water from Johor, desalinated water from the sea and recycled water from NEWater. However, the imported water from Johor may be cut off in the future in 2061 when the contract ends. Although the government promises Singapore that they will be able to provide water for the whole nation by then, it is still not cost efficient.

To use local catchment to get water may take up too much space, according to projections from government that reservoirs and catchment areas will take up 50% of the island in the future. It will be a challenge to balance the socio-economic development and water sustainable development.

Desalination is also not a good method. To desalinate the sea water, that will require a lot of fuels to heat up the water in order to remove the salt. As we all know that the price of fuel is not cheap, the amount of money spent to desalinate is not little. Other than it not being cost efficient, it is also not environmentally friendly. It uses up so much energy but it is only capable of meeting 10% of Singapore’s water need with a production capacity of 136 million litres daily.

NEWater may save us a lot of water because of the unique system of recycling water to produce fresh drinkable water. However, the process is not simple as the “used” water has to go thorough microfiltration, reverse osmosis and UV rays in order to come out as fresh drinkable water. The problem is that the cost of the whole system is not cheap.

Design water treatment capacity

Unit cost

US$ / ( /d)

3785 614

7570 539

11355 500

15140 474

18925 455

22710 440

26495 427

30280 417

34065 408

37850 400

Self-made table with info from http://www.costwater.com/membranes.htm

From the above table, we can see that the membranes are not cheap and the constant maintenance will take up a lot of money that could have been used to invest in other sectors of the economy.

Pollution also has to be tackled. We would not want our water catchment areas to contain contaminated water. As the government has projected that half of the island will be water catchment areas and reservoirs, we must ensure that the industrial waste must not contaminate the waters.

As Singapore has limited amount of water, we must ensure that all the water pipes and systems are not leaking and well-maintained. These are to ensure no water is wasted. The government should also close the water loop of Singapore. In order to conserve the water that we have, we should not discharge used treated water to the sea. The water should be treated again to save the water. When you discharge the water back to the sea, the water will turn salty and it needs to undergo desalination again in order to be drinkable again.

The most important solution is to save water and minimize our usage. When we do not use much water, there will be no need to build a lot of catchment areas and facilities. This will help save a lot of money. Water for Singapore will turn better.

Antisemism

Antisemism- A Current Problem Today

By: Samuel Tan

Barak Abravanel, a young Jew was cowering in an alley, surrounded by many tall young muslim adults. He had been chased for two days after his identity of being a Jew was revealed. Fortunately, a Times magazine reporter walked past and scared the muslims away.

Jews have been despised by people since ancient times. Anti-Jewish strikes and riots and persecution were a part of European societies, and were far from unknown in Muslim lands (as early as the Khaibar massacre of 628 AD). Many people feel that after the Holocaust, there is no more discrimination of the Jews. However, they are wrong.

Currently, in many parts of the world today, antisemitism is part of everyday life. The People are prejudice against or hostile towards Jews because of hatred of their ethnic background, culture, and/or religion. Records of antisemitic fights are recorded each month by monitoring groups, ranging from armed and other attacks on individuals and property attacks to the cemeteries and Holocaust memorials and the graffiti of antisemitic slogans on buildings, often those housing Jewish communities and churches. This shows that the prejudice against the Jews lives on even after the Holocaust.

The UN human rights commission formally disapproved antisemitism in a 1994 resolution (in the face of some bitter opposition, led by Syria), formally charging its special rapporteur(a person responsible for compiling reports and presenting them, as to a governing body.) on latest and new forms of racism with the responsibility of examining and reporting on antisemitic incidents worldwide.

Holocaust Denial

The Holocaust was genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II. The Holocaust denial movement today unites the racist groups with various Middle East groupings, media and even governments in their public campaigns against the Jewish people and Israel. Its aim is to present the holocaust as a lie, which only the Jews could invent, thereby shifting the blame and shame from perpetrator to victim. In recent Middle East media and propaganda, the Jews are refered as Nazis. Primo Levi recorded in the final work on his death camp experience, before his suicide, how SS storm troopers taunted the inmates: "However this war may end, we have won the war against you: none of you will be left to bear witness...because we will destroy the evidence together with you."

Despite the efforts of racists continuing to seek to "destroy the evidence" in the public mind, the Holocaust is overwhelmingly documented and recorded in contemporary history, and those people who deny about the Holocaust are scorned at, as illustrated in the verdict of the London crown court against holocaust denier, David Irving, last year.

The battle against antisemism is never over. However, the world is changing and people are getting more open-minded. Hopefully, there will be less people prejudiced against the Jews.

Now that you understand how the English Language evolved, share with us some words into which you have gained new insights

The word that I have chose is facade or façade. The word Facade has a French origin, which means it was one of the many words that were transmitted to English via the Anglo-Norman language spoken by the upper classes in England in the centuries following the Norman Conquest. The word generally means that
1.(architecture) The face of a building, especially the front view or elevation.  
2.(by extension) The face or front (most visible side) of any other thing, such as an organ.
3.(figuratively) A deceptive outward appearance; a front.
The word was originally from 1812, Antonio de Alcedo and George Alexander Thompson [tr.], The geographical and historical dictionary of America and the West Indies: containing an entire translation of the Spanish work of Colonel Don Antonio de Alcedo … with large additions and compilations from modern voyages and travels, and from original and authentic information, volume 2, page 13, “Demerara” (J. Carpenter)
The plantations are regularly laid out in lots along the sea-shore, called façades, about a quarter of a mile wide, and extending ¼ths of a mile back into the country.

Reflection for not finishing Merchant of Venice

Actually I would like to state that I had finished to page 270 but I still did not finish it on time. I am regretful to state that I had spent more time reading other books (including Chinese ones) during the holidays. I found Merchant of Venice extremely boring and hard to understand. I may spent up to three minutes on each page, pondering upon the words and their meanings. However, I know that it was irresponsible and lazy of me when I do not finish the book on time. I apologise for the inconvenience that I had brought to the class.

Diary entry

A day in the life of during a war

Dear diary,

I am merely a private in the camp. Tomorrow, I will at the front line of the army, charging into the enemy’s camp. Do you know what this means? It means death. However, I will make the most out of it. I shall not run, I shall not hide, and I shall take down ten lives with me. Unfortunately, I do not think I can see my family again. It means I will not even get a single chance to touch or even see my new-born baby girl. I would miss my wife, Elise too. Should I sacrifice my happiness and my family’s for the greater good of the country? Is it worth my life? Argh! The emergency bell has rung! We got a sneak attack by the enemy!

Descriptive Paragraph

Image at 3:40

Moans and cries filled the air as the smell of iron in blood stung their noses. The war in Cambodia had already lasted for 5 years and it is still going on. Three valiant soldiers are fending a fort with their lives. The fate of the country lies in their hands. Their ammunitions are running low and their comrades had left them here to fend for themselves. Gunshots thundered in the air, attacking their eardrums. “Aarh! Pain!” one of the soldier moaned. He had just been shot on his leg and it is not good for them. Two other comrades rushed towards him and offered comfort. They had been like true brothers throughout the war, covering each other’s backs, never leaving each other behind. A slight breeze came and the tree leaves gave a tiny rustling noise. The breeze was the only sign of peace and comfort. However, silence is a bad omen, a sign that shows a tough night looming ahead.

Hwachong Cross Country'11

We were going to embark on the 2o11's Cross Country Race. All, the whole of SEC 2,were standing at the starting line, preparing to start the run. Beads of perspiration rolled down my face as my heart started pounding faster and faster. Sweat filled with hardwork had been perspired by me as I had gone through several practices during PE. I had to perform well. I need to win. I needed to help 2i2 to gain reputation. "Start!" the emcee shouted. Many students started to sprint forward wih all their might leaving nothing behind except sweat and the hunger for victory. I had decided to stay slow and steady in order to jog for the whole 3.6km. My stamina had improved tremendously throughout the past few weeks and was confident of jogging for the whole race. Soon, I was far behind most of the students but signs of fatigue had already shown up on some students' faces and I had overtook them with ease. This shows the importance of stamina in a long distance run, instead of dashing forward recklessly. After running up the slope of the Tan Kah Kee Drive, I began a slow jog down the other side of the drive. I had the learnt the importance of jogging slowly down the slope instead of running down at full speed. By jogging, I will manage to keep my momentum and keep myself out of danger. It was a slow run but with patience, nothing is impossible. I started to move up the slope that lead to the Boarding School. It was quite a steep slope and was quite energy-consuming for my leg muscles as they strained under the tiring upslope jog. My forehead had already collected at least a hundred beads of sweat and some of them were dripping slowly into my eyes,stinging them after overcoming the defence from the eyebrow. Some shades of greenery could be seen at the tip or top of the slope. The tall and shady trees gave me some cover from the torturous sun rays as a cool breeze refreshed my mind, reviving my energy. After a few moment, I had reached the top of the slope. The scenery there was quite different from the one you see in the terraces. I can see many bungalows and terraces, beside some tall buildings. Shades of green can be spotted anywhere near the buildings. It was quite a magnificent view. After taking a quick glance, I started making my way down the slope. The downhill jog was generally much smoother and easier. However, I had followed Mr Ken Toh's advice and moved down slowly, instead of dashing down with all my might. By now, I had overtook many other students that had sprinted at the starting line. However, there are still some students who had sprinted generally all the way and were near to the finishing line by now. I would never match up with them as they are from the Cross Country Club. After finishing the downhill slope with ease, I went back round the Kah Kee Drive. On my way, I noticed a green van cruising by me and then realised it was the MILO van! I was tempted to stop halfway to get a refreshing cup of MILO. I knew that drinking too much fluid during an exercise will result in stitch and thus, I decided not to take any chances. Soon, I had reached the track. I could hear the Top 20 Songs Countdown and they were playing my favourite song. My legs moved to the beat and started gaining energy. I started picking up speed, getting encouragement and support from the audience who were clapping loudly and my favourite song which was giving me motivation and energy to sprint on. Not for long, I shot past the finishing line getting thunderous applause for the speed that I was moving 50m before the line. I was exhilarated when I heard that I was 8th in the whole mass run and had broken my own personal record by thirty seconds! I had not expected myself to be doing this well. Like they say,"Practice makes perfect", I am glad that my efforts and hardwork had paid off.

Term 1 LA Test

My result is only 18/30. I feel sad. I regret. I hope. I wish. I work.

I have to learn from my mistakes from this test in order for me to improve. Ms Huang told me that my language was not bad but I did not apply them properly and I was lazy. I need to read more books and to improve on my vocabulary command. Ms Huang recommended Detective stories as they have rich descriptions of the settings that will enable us to improve on our descriptive language. The descriptions of the characters will also allow us to learn more descriptive language that can be applied. I also have to get more ideas on writing different type of essays. It was necessary as the essay that I had written had a bad plot. I had no idea what to write when I saw the word 'compromise'. After a few minutes, I can only cook up with a lousy story that did not display much of the word 'compromise'. Normally, the moment I see the theme that I was supposed to write, an idea will immediately, or I would say instantly come to my mind. And that idea will generally be acceptable or sufficient to give me normal grades. However, I had known that whenever that I am stuck on generating ideas, I know that I will be doomed. That is why, I have to read more books, like what Ms Huang said, in order to get more ideas and to improve on my language command.

Reflection of Mississipi Burning

The show is quite vulgar and violent but it clearly shows the discrimination of the African-American through several lynching and encounters between them. It was quite sad and heart breaking to see so many innocent Blacks killed by the Whites. Even though all of them are Christians, the Whites still firmly believe that the Blacks are evil and guilty. The Whites even killed the Civil Rights Activists to keep the Blacks as their slaves and under their control. However, the Blacks kept under low profile and never once retaliate. They kept calling the Whites, sir and madam, never once dared to disobey their orders and talked back. They can only kept their head low even after seeing their churches being burnt down, their race people being lynched, killed and bullied. I felt sad to see all the bullying and felt that they should fight for their rights as they had done nothing wrong to deserve that. However, the show kept showing the terrible side of the Whites, as they emphasised on the pity of the Blacks. This made the viewers feel that the Whites are very evil while the Blacks are throughly kind and pitiful. This concept is wrong as all type of races and religions have bad people. Your race does not decide whether you will be a bad person. Thus, the show had ended up degrading the Whites while trying to get the audience to pity the Blacks.

Racism

I believe that racism means being prejudiced against a certain race. I strongly opposed people who shows racism qualities. One good example is the discrimination of the Blacks who are the African-Americans during the 1900s. Many of them had been lynched or segregated by the Whites during that time. The Whites had thought that they were somehow higher rank than the Blacks. They thought that the African Americans were liars and evil. I was outraged at their point of view. What makes them think that just being white makes you a greater and godly person? They think that they are so almighty just by having a white skin tone. I feel that racism is a foolish thing as the skin colour of a person does not show any thing about the person. Equality should be important as everyone is equal regardless of their race, religion, sex and age. Race is something that we are born with, the person cannot decide what race to be when he is born. We cannot discriminate a person just because of his race and skin colour. We can only judge a person by his character and person. Fortunately, the society in these days have minimise racism and many people have started to believe in equality in all races. I hope the equality will not be pushed over in the future to prevent unnecessary bloodshed and tears.

Pg 20 To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide

1.Jem and Scout were concerned with Bob's threats effects on Atticus.

2. Bob tried to murder Scout and Jem for revenge after he lost his pride in the court. However, he did not manage to kill them but was stabbed in the end. Boo Radley brought the injured Jem back to Atticus. This showed that Boo was a compassionate man not any weirdo that Jem and Scout had thought.

3. Scout treated Boo politely and was filled with gratitude. She took Boo to a slightly darker corner so that Boo will not feel to uncomfortable. She used to think that Boo was a weirdo that had weird and dangerous behaviors but after this incident, she realised that Boo is also a normal person that was kind.

4. Yes. Scout was still young and she did not do it on purpose. She could have died if she did not act on self-defence.

5.Yes. If we take one step by one step, the improvement will be more stable. The improvement will not be pushed over that easily. Although during the long change many black people will be killed, the improvement will be better and the public will also be able to accept other races slowly. You cannot expect to change thier point of view in a short amount of time.

Pg 16 To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide

1. A group of people wanted to kill Tom Robinson who was defended by Atticus. Scout spotted Walter Cunningham's father and used Entailment as a topic to get their interest. After that, they left the jail.

2. Atticus showed that Bob was a left-handed and Tom a left-handed too. He also showed that Tom did not raped Mayella as his left-hand was torn off by a machine.

3.Mayella is scared that his father will punished her and abuse her further. Atticus feared that the jury will still stand on the white men's side and not on justice's side。

4. The author kept emphasising on Mayella crying whenever she was questioned. He also showed many signs of her feelings of helplessness.

5. No. Now, the court will no longer be prejudiced against any races but focused and emphasised on concrete evidences. The jury and court now believes on freedom and equality so races and other factors are not important when it comes to decide who is guilty or not.

Compromise

I feel that many things cannot happen without compromise. Basically, compromise means that a settlement of differences by mutual concessions . An example is the compromise made between Scout and Atticus agreeing on Scout going to school and Atticus reading books to Scout every night. Having compromise also makes the world a better place. Because of the agreement that both war parties agree on, many bloodshed can be avoided. However, compromise may be something bad as concessing to someone's illegal activities is wrong. I had a compromise between a student called Trevor(a student in my primary school). He is a school bully and he used to sit right beside me. He used to grab my collar and "strangled" me. He also jabbed my stomach quite often. I was no match for him as he is much taller and stronger than me. I though of an idea related to homework. I notice that he seldom does his homework and his results most of the time was horrendous. Thus I decided to offer a compromise. I told him that if he would stop bullying me, I will tuition him and will also give him some tips on a certain subject before the exam. He agreed to it without hesitation. After that, we signed our math textbook, Agreement by blah, blah, blah.. by Evil Trevor and Smart Samuel. Thinking of it, it was quite funny to think that we attempted to act as adults. Compromise can made by anyone to any people. As long as you guys need something to agree on, a compromise an be made.

Pg12 To Kill a Mockingbird

1. They went to disturb the Radley's place with their weird antics. They felt that Boo must be a scary and terrible person.

2. They found gum and some random stuff. Boo may have been giving them things through the knothole of the radley tree.

3. Cecil Jacobs and Francis were insulting Scout's father, Atticus. Citizens of Maycomb had been racist against black people for generations. She has been influenced by her father with good qualities about equality in races.

4. It was both Atticus's duties to kill the mad dog and to help and defend Tom Robinson.

5. Atticus is both a good and bad father. He teaches his children good and correct things like equality and the importance in learning. However, he spends little time with his children because of the huge amount of time he spends on reading and doing his work.

Description of setting

A cluster of old buildings gathered at the port to send away the new ships that were about to take on the voyage of their lives. It was never pleasant to part away with friends you have just met. Tears seemed to stream down the windows of the buildings, as the bade each other farewell. The ships cruised down the calm blue water that were embracing the port. However, some ships could not bear to part with their sobbing friends, decided to stay for a little longer, and to have a nice chat with the buildings. A tall and lonely yellow building towered above most buildings, looking out to the sea, hoping that he will one day, find a friend. A green handsome boat was flirting with a blue gorgeous boat, while little boats chit-chatted with each other beside them. The port was a very bustling place full of life, do come and visit someday!

Comic Strip

By samueltan97 | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

1. I pick an old woman to emphasise the frailness of her when she carries a heavy bag of groceries and her heavy hand bag. I　ｕｓｅｄ　ａ　ｒｏａｄ　　ｗｉｔｈ　ｖｅｈｉｃｌｅｓ　ｔｏ　ｓｈｏｗ　ｔｈｅ　ｄａｎｇｅｒｏｕｓ　ｓｉｔｕａｔｉｏｎ　ｓｈｅ　ｉｓ　ｉｎ.　Ｉpick a small boy to show his kind little heart.

2.It makes the whole scene like a kind boy helping an old woman with the carrying of groceries which make the boy seem very kind

Comic on Jim Crow Laws

This comic shows the overthrowing of Jim Crow laws as they were still disadvantageous to the black people. Although they are equal, they are separated from each other which means they eat in different restaurants and relax in different leisure centres. I feel that both white and black people should be able to live in harmony

Blog Prompt 2

I had been unkind to a classmate from 1i2 last year. In fact, I believe our whole class did. To protect the classmate, I would not disclose his name. The guy was different. He acted much like a child, compared to us. He is always running about in the class, mimicking a sniper holding a rifle. He also rolled about in the class making noises that sounded like guns reloading. He is also very sleepy and blur. He was once very late for school ( about 9+am), because he took 857 instead of 852. He also missed the IDS trip because he could not get out of bed after playing computer overnight( what he does most of the time!). He always fall asleep in class and never hands in his homework on time. We teases him most of the time and also disturb him by making funny names and ask him to do our "dirty jobs". I had once found i funny to see his reactions whenever we teases him. But now, I feel a bit guilty to how I had treated him in the past.

Blog Prompt 1

Wind and window flower by Robert Frost

Lover's forget ur love
and listen to the love of these
she a window Flower,
and he a Winter breeze

when the frosty window
was melted down at noon
and the caged yellow bird
hung over her in tune

he marked her through the pane
he could not help but mark
and only passed her by
to come again at dark

he was a winter wind
concerned with ice and snow
dead weeds and unmated birds
and litle of love could know

but he sighed upon the sill
he gave the sash a shake
as witness all within
who lay that night awake

perchance he half prevailed
to win her for the flight
from the firelit looking glass
and warm stove window light

but the flower leaned aside
and thought of naught to sasy
and morning found the breeze
a hundred miles away

It showed that the window flower did not take notice of poor wind. I pitied the winter wind as his love for the window flower was not taken to any notice and he must have left feeling resigned and very sad. I learnt to be more aware of others' feelings and to be more sensitive with people around me. We will never know if we had hurt a person's feelings deeply.

KWL for 12/1 (Prejudice)

K> Prejudice=Discrimination of certain race, gender, sex and religion

W> I want to learn more examples and facts about prejudice that humans had been facing and " applying" since the beginning of time

L> I managed to learn more facts, examples and also managed to widen my point of view by listening to my team mates and through a mind mapping session with them. I believe thatthis will enable us to study To Kill A Mockingbird more smoothly.