School Rivalry

This is something that has come across to me as quite shocking; that in Singapore there appears to be rivalry among the schools. For example, Raffles Institution is like the adversary of Hwa Chong Institution and perhaps Raffles' Girls is the enemy of Nanyang Girls'. It appears that the elite schools in Singapore cannot co-exist in peace.

Furthermore, this is worsened by the propaganda spread by the seniors in the school. I remember during my Secondary One Orientation, one of the cheers was that "Raffles Sucks!" and this was worsened when the Secondary Four seniors decided to create a skit which involved the top schools in Singapore. Basically, the representative of each school entered a race which left Hwa Chong as the ultimate winner.

I agree that in many sports and academics competitions there are bound to be clashes between Hwa Chong and Raffles Institution. However this does not mean that we must treat one another with great hostility simply because of our desires to win. Each school has their differences and we should accept the fact that we cannot be the best in everything.

I believe that we should treat students from different schools with respect. One must always remember that what makes us improve is the presence of opponents and without them we will stand still as a block of wood.

Confession of a mugger

If you look up the dictionary for the definition of "mugger", you will find that it means a person who commits robbery with violence, especially in the street or a large crocodile in Asia. What I am admitting it is not these, but the Singaporean student definition of "mugger", which means a pupil who studies a lot.

I confess: I belong to that category. I do all my homework on time. I study the topic and the related concepts. I revise all my past notes and worksheets before the test. However, do not get the misconception that I truly enjoy doing all of these. Yes, I savor the taste of submitting a good piece of work that I put my effort into, and yes I like seeing A's on my examinations but if given a choice not to do at all, I would rather spend it on leisure.

Besides, I like walking into the classroom knowing exactly what is going on instead of following the teacher blindly. Learning new theories and concepts is not really a bad thing as the world slowly opens up to you. Being a "mugger" is quite an experience, a fruitful one at that. To comprehend the world around you, sometimes you simply have to hit the books.

Last but not least, if there wasn't a "mugger" like me in your classroom, how would you get your homework done? :)

Possible Cancellation of Primary 1 Examination

The Ministry of Education is considering the possibility of removing examination for Primary 1 students in hope of extending learning beyond the borders of tests. In replacement of the examinations, the school will only give small quizzes to measure the student's understanding of the topic.

I agree to a certain extent. Students are often pushed hard to produce good grades, even from a young age. To do this teachers will give quite a lot of homework and assignments to prepare them adequately for the examination. Since Singaporean parents do not want to lose out to other children, they literally almost bury their own children in mountains of test papers and assessment books to ensure academic excellence. This will put unnecessary stress on the poor young students and develop a dread for examinations.

Students will also start to think that learning is all about getting good marks and being top of the class, which is not true. Learning is about understanding how the world works and gaining knowledge. But because all their teachers and parents highlight the importance of doing well in examinations for the sake of their future, the children tend to get the wrong impression.

However, there are also some disadvantages to this plan. First of all, what is the point of cancelling the examinations only for P1? You let the children enjoy one year of stress-free learning when they can enjoy their lessons, and suddenly in the second year BAM! EXAMS! Then the children will still have to go through everything as mentioned before. The pain is simply pushed back to a later date. If they want to go through with the plan, then make it longer. Maybe till P4, in the upper levels. That would certainly be more effective than just one pathetic year.

And of course, there will definitely be cases when the children are not motivated to learn since it is not examinable and there are no "Fail" papers to bring home. But I believe that would be quite a small handful since learning is enjoyable. Or is it?

War Poem

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!

Some background information on the poem...

This was written from the perspective of a soldier who took part in the Vietnam war. He was a victim to the many herbicide that were released as a weapon during the war. Because of the "Agent Orange", which was the code name for herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War, the poet experienced negative effects which eventually immobilized him. Such an experience was most horrifying and thus the poet criticizes the "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the herbicidal warfare program.

Point of View

The entire poem is told from the poet's point of view when he was personally involved in the war, witnessing the horrible destruction of herbicide. People were struck with diseases and poor, innocent children came into world with defects, all because of the many colorful herbicides that were sprayed by America without a concern. Witnessing for himself and even experiencing the painful suffering, it explains why the author wrote the poem in a highly disapproving and pessimistic manner. The rage at America's decision to use herbicidal warfare is shown throughout the poem.

Situation/Setting

The historical setting is in the period after Vietnam War, the war between communists and anti-communists. 20 million U.S. gallons of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. This was the situation at the time. Agriculture was removed in that region, along with the health and livelihood of the civilians. Eco-systems were on the brink of destruction.

Language and diction

The AABB rhyme scheme was able to emphasize the last word of every line, like "dead" and "spread". There is also a metaphor in the poem: "death potpourri" which compared the collection of things to the different types of people that were killed in the war. The careful choice of words managed to bring out the negative and sarcastic tone of the poet. "mourn" "unborn" "disregarding" "deceit" "Nefariously"

Personal Response

War is meaningless. Every battle would mean loss of lives. Blood would be shed for no reason. Land, power would not make any difference if there were no longer any soldiers left to use it. Living in fear and agony remained for those who lived. Stability and peace would simply drift further away, slipping through our fingers, soon becoming a distant dream. Lives will never be the same. The impact does not go away.

So WHY?

Diary Entry Of Scout Finch

Dear Diary,

I am really proud of my father. He has really surprised me with his action today. I have always thought of him as boring and "lame" in a way. He does not fish, drink, play cards but instead just sits in a corner and simply reads. I was not really proud of him as my father.

But after witnessing him shoot the dog calmly and accurately, my perspective of him has changed to a total new direction. Now, I can only tell you just how proud of him I really am. He handled the gun really well without much of a problem.

"Bang!" The dog was dead. All it took was one shot. Even Jem could not believe his eyes! It was really unexpected that our father could be such a great shooter. No wonder his nickname is One-Shot Finch! But why did he not tell us? Never mind, maybe he just forgot to tell me.

Oh well, that is it for today. Bye Diary.

My Speech

'Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertillized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.' -taken from Charlotte Bronte

'Courage is saying, 'Maybe what I'm doing isn't working; maybe I should try something else.' -taken from Anna Lappe.

Good morning one and all. Today i am going to discuss the question 'Is Maycomb a good place to live in?'

I believe the answer is no. The reason i felt so is the very reason I stayed inside the house, people lack courage to accept something or someone different. They fear the unknown, which then turns into ungl hatred. Take for the black people living amongst the white community, the discriminating stares and treatment they never fail to receive wherever they go. Be it shops, buses , trains, schools and even toilets, there are distinct differences in treatment for the coloured-folks and whites.

The Tom Robinson triail is another display of Maycomb's ungly human nature. Before the trial, a mob of people went to Tom Robinson's jailhouse and tried to lynch Tom Robinson. There was not any proof at that time which could truly convict Tom Robinson of the crime and therefore they should let him go through the trial. In fact the entire case of rape was actually based on the words of Mayella Ewell and nothing else. In the end, Tom was still guilt of the crime he did not commit showing how racist the community is.

Then there is also me, Boo Radley. People fear and think of me as a monster just because i stay inside the house and rarely come out to the miserable reality, having seen all the horrible human natures which exist in Maycomb. They are all two-faced hypocrites, believing in fairness and yet showing none to the discriminated who were not given a choice as to what race they were. People in Maycomb also stereotyped the blacks to be dishonest and hence no blacks can be trusted.

In conclusion, Maycomb is not such a good place for living due to all the prejudice and the lack of courage to stand up for what one believes is right, even if it meant to go against the flow. Fair treatment ceases to exist in Maycomb and so I would like to leave you with this final point: All man are created equal, but treated diferently in Maycomb.

Hence I conclude that Maycomb is not a good place to live in due to the cowardly, blind and racist people who live in it. The ugly human nature is simply unbearable.

Motivational Quote

Today we messed up really bad with our routines, maybe because it was Monday so we were not really used to jumping. Even our leader also messed up when usually he practically does not fail a single routine yet today he failed a record number of four!

As a result, we were to increase the amount of physical training as in double or triple the usual amount. By the time we finished, there was not a single person that remained standing. It was till the point when something really simple like standing cannot be possibly executed.

It is times like this when you start cursing the teacher for pushing you so hard, when you just stop and think: Why is the coach so cruel? Can't he be more humane?

But just when I really how bad a coach he is to simply break our bodies, he says,"You guys can hate me for what I am doing to you, but you have to get the champions." Upon hearing this statement, I suddenly understand how much sacrifice he is willing to make for the victory of our school. Even though it might mean we feel hatred for him, but he knows someone has to do that job and he just had to take it upon himself.

After his words today, I realise that the world is still full of good people and not the cruel, cold world I imagined to be.