In-Class Blog Writing Prompt #11 (Term 2)

In a paragraph of at least 5 sentences, dicuss the following: do we still need heroes?

I think we definitely still need heroes. Heroes have been present ever since the world began; heroes of war, heroes of peace. What make heroes so important is that they stand out; they can do things that normal people cannot, they can see things in a way that the average shallow person can't, and all this are coupled with their undertering sense of courage and bravery. We need heroes, everybody need heroes - even in this modern day and age, where war and bloodshed are not so common, so says the same for heroes. Some examples of heroes include Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr. etc. These 2 extraodinary humans pushed on with their beliefs even when their lives were put at risk, clearly showing their heroism. It is the nature of man to need to have someone to look upon as a 'guardian angel' or 'leader', and heroes serve as a role model to many people in the world. Without heroes - well now I can't complete the sentence because I simply cannot imagine what a world would be like without heroes! There will always be heroes, as long as mankind continues to exist. It is just the matter of the magnitude of the heroic act, but heroes are nevertheless important for the full functionality of this world, to continue to be a beacon of inspiration to those who are not.

In-Class Blog Writing Prompt #9 (Term 2)

Share an English-language fiction book that you've read recently. What did you enjoy about the book? What in the book challenged you? Who would you recommend the book to? Locate the book on Goodreads.com and provide a link in your entry: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236056.There_s_a_Boy_in_the_Girls_Bathroom There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom: So what this book is mainly about is actually about a boy, Bradley Chalkers, who had serious attitude and acadamic problems, and as a result, he was held back for a year in fifth grade. It goes about his story on how he was a bully in school, how he reacted to people around him, and how he changed for the better. So what made me enjoy the book, is really how the author, Louis Sachar, manages to bring out so truly the way how a bully like him actually felt. I found the entire story very touching, espiecially how the school counselor actually went to such an extent in helping this boy that many teachers and students have deemed, "helpless". What challenged me in the book was actually Bradley himself. This was not a book I read recently, but I felt I really had to share it as at that time, I was pretty much like Bradley! No, I was not held back a year, but I didn't do that well in my examinations, I hated everyone around me, I even bullied people younger than me. That was when I was primary 3, and it was abook my mother bought for me, and this book really led me to reflect about all my actions. I would recommend this book to anyone who harbours hatred for the people, or basically everyone around them, just for the fact that they feel that they are outcasts. I feel that this book would really help them to reflect on how they see and treat others, and might even change them for the better.

In-Class Blog Writing Prompt #8 (Term 2)

What is the most important or significant thing that you have learnt so far from completing the Reading and Reasoning Exercises? The most important or significant thing that I have learnt so far from completing the Reading and Reasoning Exercises would be the issues and themes that I never thought of while reading To Kill A Mockingbird. As I was reading the book, what kept going through my head was prejudice, racism, prejudice. I was reading the book with this in mind, and never really thought about the other things that might be going on in the book. What the Reading and Reasoning Exercises do is that from the abstracts that they use for us to read and answer the questions, allow me to go deeper into a certain block of texts, and understand and see things from a different point of view. I find this very insightful. An example would be Miss Caroline's teaching style and method. As I read through that block of text on my own, I just saw that as 'Miss Caroline is a strict teacher'. When I went through it thoroughly during the R&R Exercise, I found out many other things, such as inferring about how she might have felt about Atticus, though being a educated and intelligent man, teaching Scout how to read before hand, and other things like that.

In-Class Blog Writing Prompt #7 (Term 2)

In a paragraph of at least 5 sentences, state one way in which prejudice can lead to war.

In-Class Online #6 (Term 2)

Write a letter of encouragement to one of the survivors; you may also wish to write to any other survivor whom you read about in the news over the last several weeks. The letter should be minimum 250 words long, and you must follow the format of an informal letter. Post the letter on your LA blog. To: Sandra Barron Survivor of the Japanese Earthquake Dear Sandra, My heart goes out to all those Japanese people that have died, and it lightenens me to know that you and your boyfriend survived. I read the article you wrote on: "The Internet Kept Me Company", and I found it very interesting. It is indeed amazing that what technology has done to Mankind; if all communication in the world went down, all hell would probably break loose! I understand that when a disaster happens, every normal person would definitely think of their loved ones; if they are alright, if they were affected by it, and you can't blame them. Although I felt that you should have left your house and joined the others in the streets, I know that you did what you felt was right, what you felt was more safe. You chose a path of security and information, rather than what scientist or experts might say. I applaud you for that, and that you also tried your best to inform other people of the disaster and what you knew about it. I am also glad that you made the right decision and decided to help your friend restock with 'a bag of Easter Eggs', as you might have just saved a life. I send my heartiest condolences to these Japanese people, their families and friends who lost their lives in tsunami earthquake in Japan. We can't undo what has happened, and cannot stop mothernature from unleashing her wrath. They are not here with us, but very far at the better place. I hope that you and your loved ones would safely go through such hard times, and emerge from this disaster like the rest of Japan will. Thank you for your time. Warmest Regards, Shaun Wong * Step 3 (optional): Imagine that a similar natural disaster has devastated Singapore; put yourself in the shoes of one of the survivors. Write a narrative of 250-350 words that explores the experience of living through such an event, what you thought and felt both during and afterward, the possible loss of family members and friends, the destruction of property and infrastructure, etc. Post your narrative in your LA blog. "Ahhh, nothing better than a good bath after a long day of school." I said as I enjoyed the feeling of each drop of water cascading down my skin. Bathing was one of my favourite activities, it is a form of exfoliating, of cleaning, of keeping your hygiene in optimal condition. "HURRY UP LAH! YOU BATHE SO..." My sister was interrupted, as I felt the whole Earth shaking. The water felt funny, it was splashing all over the place. The heater 'detached itself' from the wall, and crashed right beside me. I screamed in pain as electricity travelled through the water, to my feet, but never reaching my upper torso, as I hopped out of the water just in time. I heard heavy and rushed footsteps, followed by a ear-piercing, 'hyena-screeching' scream. I whispered to myself, "Oh S***." I immediately went for my clothes, but a portion of the wall broke and landed on my arm. I screamed and yelled, and screamed and yelled, as I saw the blood flowing from my right arm. I thought to myself, "Why God? No no no, my ARM!!!". I could not think of anything else but my family. As much as the pain I was experiencing, I wondered how my family members were doing. Then I heard someone struggling to open the toilet door from the outside. Realisation dawned on me, as I knew that I was trapped in the bathroom, with the toilet door still locked. I broke down, and started crying. I took the pain, stretched as far as I could to the toilet door, no it would not work. I had the remove this limb of mine. "This is it I guess. Like those SAW movies." I lamented. As if God had answered my prayer, my father managed to break down the toilet door with a baseball bat. Te moment my mother saw me, she rushed to hug me and with the rest of my family, we stayed in the toilet. After a few minutes, the shaking stopped. My father called for an ambulance. As I awoke in the hospital ward, I turned my head to look at my right arm. It was not there. I closed my eyes, knowing that this disaster had only brought misery and damage to Singapore, to me.

2O4 Online Lesson: 6 April 2011

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2O4 Online Lesson: 4 April 2011

In order for racial harmony to be achieved in a country, racial slurs should be made illegal. Racial slurs more often than not causes misunderstanding, hatred and tension among races in a country. Taking into account that Singapore is a multi-racial society, misunderstandings could worsen and evolve into something worse. hatred between races could cause inefficiency and unwillingness to work or study with each other, which would affect Singapore's productivity and economy. Rising racial tension among races, if left unbothered, would lead to racial riots or prejudice among court cases. However, all these can be avoided should racial slurs be made illegal, and controlled in a country, which would definitely lead to racial harmony. Reflection I have had a personal experience with racial slurs as a slurer. Come to think of it now, I really feel what I did then was unecessary. That was when I was primary 3, and there was this student from china in my class. He was an outcast, ostracised by all his peers. I kind of felt pity for him, but if I ever tried to get close to him, people would address me as the 'guy with the outcast'. So what happened was that one day, he shat on his pants. Yes, I had to be direct. We were all queueing up to let our teacher mark our homework scripts, and he was queueing beside me, and all of sudden blocks of brown 'ice-cream' dropped just beside my legs. I was horrified, and I immediately screamed, "EVERYBODY THE CHEENA CHINKI DOG SHIT ON THE FLOOR COME AND SEEEEE!!!!!". Before I knew it, everyone was laughing at him, and he sat down crying. I was not scolded or reprimanded by my teacher, but when I shouted that sentence, I really did not think or meant for him to be hurt by it. As I grew up, I was disgusted by my own insensitivity towards other races, and that at that point of time, there was no need for me to say that of him. That is also a main reason why till this day I disgust people who use racial slurs, but I too understand that it is just a part of the human mind to do such horrid things!

PACT & Text Types/Forms

Newspaper Article 2 Children, a Boy and a Girl, Shocks the Public with their Miraculous Survival Shaun. W, (4/3/11) Just yesterday around 12pm, the parents of 2 siblings, a boy and a girl, called 911 to attend to their son after what they described their son experiencing as, "Severe and repeated headaches". After the police interviewed them, it was known that on the previous day, their children had apparently 'rolled down the hill' and 'came back with serious injuries'. The parents did not immediately call for the ambulance, but instead wrapped their son's head with 'brown paper soaked in vinegar'. A bystander that preferred to stay as anonymous commented that he thinks that the boy's injury might have got inflammation. At the current moment, the boy, Jack, is still being warded at the hospital. "If I had known...I would have never let them go out without my supervision!" the mother of the family said in between sobs. The sister, who's injuries had not been so serious, also commented, "I was fetching a pail of water with my lil' bro! I tried to help him, I did!".

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #5 (Term 2)

Pick a news story that you've read this week or last week in your Reading Period or online, and comment on the issue covered in it. How effectively was the story reported? Did it not cover any information you'd hope it would? Here is the link to the news article I read online about: http://news.xin.msn.com/en/weird/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4748370 Chatting babies video a YouTube sensation When I saw this article in a small advertisement box at the corner of my computer screen, it immediately caught my attention. I was like, "What? Chatting Babies?" I also managed to find the link to the youtube video of the twin brothers chatting with each other, saying things such as, "Ta tatata tata ta taaa. TA!" while raising up their hands and legs to pinpoint certain objects and each other. One thing I can say is that the title in itself was very effective in capturing the readers' attention, as the moment one sees this title, that person would sure be excited to know more about this phenomenon. "Chatting babies", in itself, is a mysterious and foreign thing to most people, using "YouTube sensation", tells readers that this is a phenomenon, and in that, a new and current phenomenon. This would certainly intrigue and grab the attention of many readers. I think the story was rather effectively reported, giving the details of where, when, what and how many people have already viewed this video, in just the first paragraph. This would allow readers who were maybe busy, or had their reading of the article cut halfway, know what the details of this entire phenomenon in just a short period of time. The article then when further on to briefing describe what happens in the video, and connects this with what experts(scientists) in other parts of the world say and think about this. The article ends off with a brief quote from the twins' mother, which allows readers to roughly know the family situation of these boys. What I had hoped that the article would cover, would be a more detailed description on the video itself, as when I was reading this article, I did not have time to go watch the video, so it kept me thinking about this article all day, until I got home and managed to watch the video. Truth be told, I actually watched the video from a facebook link, which was recomended by a friend of my! What a phenomenon! Here is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZSVlcOVEVI

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #4 (Term 2)

Write a short letter to the editor of The Straits Times, commenting on what Singaporeans can learn from the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and whether we as a nation possess what it takes to handle a similar crisis. To: The editor, The Straits Times Dear Sir/Madam, My heart really goes out to Japan, and all those innocent lives that were lost during the earthquake and tsunamis. The earthquake that hit Japan also caused the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant to lost her ability to cool herself, when her water pumps were damage, and further made impossible for repair by the tsunamis. The earthquake was a stunning magnitude of 8.9, which is the fourth largest earthquake that has ever happened in the world. It is comforting to know that many other nations such as USA are trying their best to aid Japan in rescue efforts, and I sincerely hope that Japan would be able to pull herself together, solve the nuclear reactors' problems as soon as possible, and make this event history. One thing's certain though, when all this is over, Japan would have to start from zero again. I think Singaporeans can really learn from this disaster. Singapore is a pennisula, protected by many other countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia from natural disasters. This is the reason why Singapore has never experienced any country-wide natural disasters before. I guess one can say that we should thank God for putting us in such an excellent geographical location. Even then, we would have to think, would Singapore be able to handle a similar crisis, or just breakdown and be destroyed? I think, if we had such a huge earthquake hitting Singapore, as a whole, we would be worst off than Japan, as we are a much smaller country. We would suffer more losses, as Singapore is the most urbanized country in the world, overcrowded with almost 5million citizens! One can just imagine how much infrastructure, how many lives would be lost with such a natural disaster. With that, Singapore also would receive lots of help from other ASEAN countries, and would be properly prepared as the government has ensured every able man take up National Service at the age of 18, and the 5 Defenses be known to everyone throughout Singapore. So to conclude, I think Singapore would suffer bigger losses than Japan, but we would be able to curb and control the situation, and recover much faster and better than Japan. Thank you for your time! Warm Regards, Shaun Wong Hwa Chong Institution 2O4 (29)

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #3 (Term 2)

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Miss Caroline seems passionate about literature, and wants to share the joy of it with the schoolchildren. What does literature mean to you? Explain its significance in life. Explain your view in a paragraph of at least 8 lines. So before I start on what literature means to me, I would like to establish what is the actual definition of literature: Creative writing of recognized artistic value. What does literature mean to me? I guess I would like to approach this in a neutral stand. Literature to me when I first started learning it, was a form, or rather level, of a language that requires skills of higher order to be able to understand and apply. Though from them till now, I have had many conflicting thoughts on literature. Sometimes as I analyse poems and look for literary devices, I feel that the fact that poets are able to link so many things together, and how deep a certain way a bunch of words are arrange can mean a whole lot more, just amazing. Then comes the time when I have had thoughts that literature is basically, pardon my language, bullshit. This was because I have heard of stories of artwork basically being a accidental splash of paint, winning the grand prize of an art competition. How does this happen? It is when people start to 'make a mountain out of a molehill' of just simple things. Having said that, literature is a part of a language, and without that part, that language would be shallow and no longer really a part of life. Literature is the part of a language that allows people, poets, authors to depict a certain image, to capture details to such a minute scale that readers can actually imagine themselves in the scene. Without literature, the world would be so much more dull!

In-Class Online Lesson #5 Group 5

Group #5: Shaun Wong(29), Benjamin Ung(28), Timothy Chuah(27), Tan Yu Xiang(26), Tan Teik Jun(25), Matthew Tan(24)

Montgomery Bus Boycott and Scottsboro Trials

a. What event sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott? (Shaun Wong)

b. Which two organizations were primarily involved in coordinating the boycott? (Benjamin Ung)

c. Why did the boycott catapult Martin Luther King, Jr. to prominence? (Timothy Chuah)

d. How is the Scottsboro trial related to the trial in TKAM? (Tan Yu Xiang)

e. State the specifics of each trial and why they were significant. (Tan Teik Jun)

f. In what way are these trials similar? (Matthew Tan)

a) In Montgomery, buses used a system of segregation, where whites were seated from the front of the bus filling all the way to the back, and vice versa for the blacks. When a bus was full, priority was given to the whites, so if a white entered a bus full of blacks, a black had to give up his seat for the white. What sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott was when Rosa Park, refused to give up her seat to a white man as she was tired of giving in. She had no intention of causing any trouble, but her momentary folly led to a huge chain of events, being arrested in 1 December 1955, which eventually led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

b) The two organisations were the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and the Montgomery Improvement Association. These organisations started the boycott movement and organised the entire boycott.

c) Because of the black community's eagerness to comply with the boycott–and because of the bus company's refusal to capitulate- community leaders held a meeting on the afternoon of the boycott to plan an extended protest. It named itself the Montgomery Improvement Association ,and elected Martin Luther King its president. Though only twenty-six, he showed great promise as a leader, and was enough to stand outside old local political rivalries. From the beginning, and throughout the most trying, violent events of the long 381 days of the boycott, King always emphasized the protest in Christian principles. The blacks never engaged in any form of violence when treated with it. This set the tone for all of King's subsequent campaigns, which let King to prominence.

d) The Scottsboro trial and the trial in TKAM are somewhat related. The author of TKAM, Harper Lee was inspired by the Scottsboro trial and she also used the Scottsboro trial as a reference to write the trial in her book as the specifics of both the trials are somewhat similar.

e) e) For the Montgomery bus boycott, the friction started when a black lady refused to surrender her seat to a black man, which did not comply with ‘regulations’ (refer to question a) then, resulting in her arrest, which in turn resulted in the stirred feeling from the black community, and subsequently the boycott. The boycott happened on Monday, the same day of the judging of the case, it crippled the financial deficit for the Montgomery public transit system, since the bulk of the paying customers were the blacks. Technically, the black people should be getting the priority. Notably, the protest continued even after Monday as it was effective in causing economic distress to the Montgomery buses. A short excerpt from the flyer circulated among the black community: “...This has to be stopped. Negroes have rights too, for if Negroes did not ride the buses, they could not operate. Three-fourths of the riders are Negro, yet we are arrested, or have to stand over empty seats. If we do not do something to stop these arrests, they will continue. The next time it may be you, or your daughter, or mother. This woman's case will come up on Monday. We are, therefore, asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial... “ The Scottsboro trial took place in the 1930s in northern Alabama, which was sparked off when nine black men were charged with rape of a white girl. The jury ignored evidences against the white women, for instance, that no physical injuries were present, one of the alleged victims also admitted that the rape story was in fact fabricated and asserted that none of the Scottsboro Boys ever touched either of the white women. But the juries still found them guilty for all 3 trials. 4 of the 9 dropped out of charge, all but 2 served prison, the rest were tragically killed. The defendants had been denied an impartial jury, fair trial, fair sentencing, and effective counsel. Why were the trials significant? Both trials show how discriminating and intolerant of other races then, and are against the white people’s unfair treatment of their black counterparts. Today, it is still widely considered to be an extreme reference of miscarriage of justice, leading to the end of all-white juries in the south. On the side note, the Montgomery trial was the first victory of US Civil right movement :D [with background references from the wikipedia article on montgomery bus boycott.]

f) In the Scottsboro trial, the blacks were accused of raping a white. There was not a fair trial as the jury who decides whether they were guilty or innocent were all whites. They were biased to the white and convicted the blacks for rape without any evidence. Similarly, in To Kill A Mocking Bird, a black man was convicted of raping a white woman with no evidence and the jury was all whites. Like the Scottsboro trial, there was also alot of lynching by angry mobs. These are the similarities between the Scottsboro trial and the trial in To Kill A Mocking Bird.

Reflection:

For the most part as I was reading through about the boycott and the trials, what question that kept resounding in my head was, "What is wrong with these people?". In the boycott, I do understand the 'racism' in it, in that the system of whites and blacks seating in a bus, but what really invoked feelings of anger towards the whites, were that they actually had a black woman arrested just because she did not give up her seat! I mean, even if you wanted to be racist, and wanted to inflict baised punishments other people, this was too extreme! Similarly in Mississippi Burning, the whites were constantly harassing the blacks for no apparent reason, and when one of the blacks finally got brave enough to speak up and bring the whites to court, justice was not done, with the jury and judge both all being whites. For the Scottboro trials, my heart really go to these men, to be convicted for a crime you commited is one thing, to confess to a crime and be convicted for it is another. I can certainly imagine the horrible conditions they were put through, which included being moved to another jail deemed "unfit for white prisoners". What's going on here both in the Scottboro trials and Mississippi Burning, is that the blacks almost never had a chance to go against the whites in a lawful manner, as the law itself was corrupted!

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #2 (Term 2)

In your opinion, has enough been done to combat racism?

I would a lot has been done to combat racism. From religious parties evangelising, to political parties strongly discouraging it, and even to the people themselves. I guess everyone in this world actually want to live in harmony, just that racism is always there, leeching on the back part of humanity's mind, waiting to strike at any moment. That's the irony of racism, it can never be stopped, because you can never legislate a person's feelings. Racism acts as a part of mankind, as long as there are two different races, there is bound to be conflict. So I think that the fact that Barack Obama, a black, can become the president of united states, was beyond anyone would ever think would happen. This also shows another side, in which that although racism cannot be completely eradicated, it can be reduced to as minimal as possible, with mutual tolerance between races and understanding each other's culture. Although it eventually boils down to the people themselves, the government also has a role to play, holding events and holidays such as racial harmony day, in the case of Singapore, would really, allow people to remember that racial harmony is hard-earned, and should not be taken for granted.

How do you think racism can be dealt with in Singapore?

Truth be told, I think racism in Singapore is already at its minimal. Although there are the usual conflicts now and then, I would say judging from the amount of races residing in Singapore, we have already done quite a good job! So what I think, is that the government should maintain this at its optimal level as long as possible, and by doing this, it would ensure that the future years of Singapore would also have as least amount of racism as possible. How I think we can do this is to start from birth, start with the children and students, as if from young they have already been mixed and exposed to other races, there will not be culture shocks in the future, and which they will become more tolerant and to other races.

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #1 (Term 2)

Reflect on your recent CIP experience helping out the aged and underprivileged. What was the biggest thing you gained from this experience.

For this year, my class, 2O4, went to St. Andrews Cathedral Home for the Aged.

My impression of elderly is actually rather contrasting, being the type of family I come from. I did have visits to old folk's home before this year, but everytime I step into the home, I have his feeling of sadness and boredom, and when I look at the faces of the old folks, usually I just see men and women waiting for their time to come. My grandfather is actually the opposite of that, he used to be a pastor in a church, and now that he is retired, he spends his time playing computer games EVERYDAY.My grandmother however, had a stroke just last year when she was in her 60s, and is starting to become senile.My point here is that, just looking at my grandparents, I can see how two types of old people live their lifes. Many of the elderly in the old folks home are there, most probably because of family issues or problems, and most are just
waiting to die! After my visit on Founders' Day, and talking to some of the elderly, is that they don't really expect much from life anymore, they are just living on, "stuck in a hole" as quoted from one of them, without knowing what is really going on in their families or the world.

I think what really made them happy would be that they had someone to talk to. Being in the old folks' home, they would have been seeing the same people for years, and having students to lend a listening ear to them really brought something to look forward in their lives. Also during the performance, I was touched when I saw how happy the old folks' were, how contented they were, with just my class' simple performance.

I think there is a need to be more open, for me and everybody else in my class. Some of my classmates were rather hostile at first, but everyone managed to find an elderly to interact with at the end. What I strongly feel is that we should have some sessions on basic conversational hokkien or teochew before the CIP itself, as there was a serious communication breakdown during the CIP.

To be frank, there wasn't much that I gained from this experience, as I have been through this "experience" a few times. I was simply reminded about another side of the world, that not everyone is actually happy-go-lucky or stressing out with their busy schedules, that there are people, the aged and elderly, just waiting for their time to come.

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #13 (Term 1)

What have I learnt from watching Mississippi Burning?

I have learnt that the fact that Barack Obama could, a black, become president of America, and even the winner of a nobel prize award, was no easy feat. Seeing how people treated the blacks last time, labelling them as "Niggers", set loose to pillage and burn, while the police stand at one side, having front row seats to the injustice being inflicted to the blacks.

I have learnt and seen, how harsh the whites were on the blacks, treating them like dirt, and the Mississippi, even the law isn't just, as seen when the judge lightens the punishment of four whites for burning down a black man's house, with the reason that these black men were, "Dirty, unhygenic...etc" and therefore provoked the whites to do such a thing. What on earth is wrong with this people.

Watching this has also allowed me to appreciate the racial harmony in Singapore, and serves as a reminder that we should not take this for granted, and achieving racial harmony was not an accident, not by chance, but by the work of many people, and constant tolerance in the society.

In-Class Online Lesson #4

Look at the 10-12 photographs that you recently took of your neighborhood and posted on your blog. Choose your ONE favorite photo.

2a) This is a picture of a mostly white bungolow, the clean, fresh coat of paint shows that this house is new.
b) The angular, black roof gives this building a unique feel.
c) An abundance of trees and plants, the rustle of the tree leaves can be heard.
d) The many transparent windows and opaque shelters make the owners of the house seem well-to-do.

3)Passage A: from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

"Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole..." - alliteration
"Perfectly round door like a porthole..." - simile
"tube-shaped hall like a tunnel..." - simile

Passage D: from Distances by Vandana Singh

"The narrow stone passageways seemed to press in closer..." - personification
"crawling across a two-d floor like a little desert roll-bug..." - simile
"caught her breath, quickened her footsteps, passed under the frieze..." repetition

4) This is a picture of a mostly white bungolow, clean and new, like the building had just received a fresh coat of paint.
b) The angular, black roof gives this building a unique feel as if curves don't exist.

6) The angular, black roof gives this building a unique feel, as if one was in Cubeland - where curves don't exist.

7) Staring at the large and magnificent building before me, I was dragged into a virtual reality. The building before me was angular in shape, and had a edgy roof. It stood out from the rest of the houses, as if it had been taken from another land.

"This definitely must be a building from Cubeland!" I thought to myself. It must have been lifted from there, and planted right here, along with the trees and plants. The sound of trees leaves rustling reached my year soon after. The building stood out from the others, and the "moderness" and "newness" of the building probably contributed to that, like it had just received a fresh coat of paint.

The numerous transparent windows and opaque shelters were smooth to the touch, almost as if it was just cleaned and oiled. It did not seem right, which dragged me further into my virtual reality, where the buildings were perfect; smooth, angular and pixelated.

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #12 (Term 1)

"I'm tired..."

Today's Blog Writing Prompt is rather open, so what I'm going to do is take the lyrics of a song, Spose - I'm Awesome, and make a parody of it with I'm tired!

You'll find the original lyrics here: http://www.sweetslyrics.com/737769.Spose%20-%20I%5C

Here's my version of it:

Tired, tired, tired, tired...
I don't necessarily need to wake up today...
I'm gonna hug the pillows though...
Mother nagger I'm tired!
No you're not, dude wake up
I'm tired!
I'm shufflin around in my pajamas
I'm tired!
A quarter of my life gone by
And I met all my friends shut eye
Mother nagger I'm tired!
I will sleep during a brawl
I'm tired!
There's no voicemail, nobody called
I'm tired!
I can't afford to sleep till eight
And I talk to myself till the sun is bright.

So this is only part of the song, and I realised that it was pretty hard for me to continue due to the sexual connotations and abundance of vulgarities in the rest of the song. So i would guess this would have to do!

Photos of My Neighbourhood - Kembangan

My Poem about Calpurnia

Poetry about Calpurnia:

Calpurnia, she was something else,
She was all angles and bones, near-sighted;
She squinted, and her hand was as wide as a bed slat,
And twice as hard.

Our battles were epic and one sided.
Calpurnia always won, mainly because
Atticus always took her side.

She had been with us
ever since Jem had been born,
And I had felt her tyrannical presence
For as long as I could remember.

When she was furious, her
Grammar became erratic.
Atticus once mentioned that she
Had received more education than
Most coloured folks.

She yelled, “Don’t matter who they are,
Anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny!”
Just you wait, I’d fix you:
One of these days, I’ll drown myself in Barker’s Eddy.

However, my first year of school had wrought
An unexpected change in our relationship.
Her tyranny, unfairness, and meddling in my business,
Had faded to gentle grumblings of disapproval.
I went to much trouble,
Sometimes, not to provoke her.

Book References:
Pg 40 Paragraph 1

State the lines that will be included in the poem:
1. “my first year of school had wrought a great change in our relationship”
2. Calpurnia’s tyranny, unfairness, and meddling in my business had faded to gentle grumblings of general disapporval.”
3. “I went to much trouble, sometimes, not to provoke her”
Pg 30


State the lines that will be included in the poem:

1. “She was furious, and when she was furious Calpurnia’s grammar became erratic”
2. “Atticus said Calpurnia had more education than most coloured folks.”
3. “Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny”
4. “I told Calpurnia to just wait, I’d fix her: one of these days when she wasn’t looking I’d go off and drown myself in Barker’s Eddy and then she’d be sorry”
Pg 11 & 12

State the lines that will be included in the poem:
1. “Calpurnia was something else again.”
2. “She was all angles and bones; she was near-sighted; she squinted; her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard.”
3. “Our battles were epic and one-sided.”
4. “Calpurnia always won, mainly because Atticus always took her side.”
5. “She had been with us ever since Jem was born, and I had felt her tyrannical presence as long as I could remember.”

Character sketch on Atticus's tolerance

A description based on facts of how tolerant Atticus is:

What is it to be tolerant? The word tolerant is defined as “able to withstand or endure an adverse environmental condition”. The importance of tolerance is still relevant today. Without tolerance segregation would still be legal, minorities would still be oppressed and taken advantage of, and most of all it would make racism and bigotry acceptable, which by today’s standards, it is not. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” the author Harper Lee uses and teaches the theme of tolerance by using an array of colorful characters. First of all would be Scout Finch, the daughter of Atticus Finch, and the narrator of the novel. Next would be Mrs. Dubose, a seemingly nasty and horrible old woman afflicted by a horribly painful disease. Lastly would be Atticus Finch, father of Jem and Scout Finch, and a lawyer. These three characters convey the theme of tolerance the best of any characters in the novel.

However, Atticus Finch could quite possibly be the most critical character that conveyed tolerance and acceptance in the novel. As a respected lawyer in a small county, Atticus spoke with a voice of both authority and dignity. His decision to represent Tom Robinson infuriated the bigots and tyrants, and with good reason; Atticus is a man of high caliber and an excellent attorney who had a genuine interest in upholding justice. The mere thought of that would be enough to chill the bones of anyone who advocated hatred and prejudice. Even though Atticus loses the case and Tom Robinson is found guilty, he is still given an intense moment of respect for his fight for justice, tolerance, and acceptance. This is illustrated after court when he receives a standing ovation and Reverend Syke's says to Scout, "Miss Jean Louise, Stand up. You're father's passin'" ( Pg 211). This is why our group decided to do on Atticus.

Character: Atticus

“Let us leave it at this,” said Atticus dryly. “You, Miss Scout Finch, are of the common folk. You must obey the law.” He said that the Ewells were members of an exclusive society made up of Ewells. In certain circumstances the common folk judiciously allowed them certain privileges by the simple method of become blind to some of the Ewell’s activities

Taken from: Chapter 3 Pg 36
Shows: Atticus teaching Scout about tolerance, hence showing the fact that he has it in him.

Atticus was feeble: he was nearly fifty. When Jem and I asked him why he was so old, he said he got started late, which we felt reflected upon his abilities and manliness. He was much older than the parents of our school contemporaries, and there was nothing Jem or I could say about him when our classmates said, “My Father--”

Taken from: Chpater 10 Pg 95
Shows: Though Atticus was asked about “age”, which to some is a sensitive
topic, he still kind of joked about it and it shows he can tolerate such questions
and not feel hurt.

Atticus said to Jem one day, I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember its a sin to kill a mockingbird...

Taken from: Chapter 10 Pg 96
Shows: Even though Atticus did not like guns, he knew that Jem did and could
tolerate that and not disallow him from shooting birds.

… “She’s a faithful member of this family and you’ll simply have to accept things the way they are. Besides, sister, I don’t want you working your head off for us - you’ve no reason to do that. We still need Cal as much as we ever did”

Taken from: Chapter 14 Pg 142
Shows: Atticus understood that he had to accept things the way they were,
which shows tolerance to other people and things etc.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--” … “--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

Taken from: Chapter 3 Pg 35
Shows: Atticus was tolerant of others’ behaviour, as he always tried to see things from their perspective. He was never judgmental without good reason, and would always see things from different perspectives before coming to a conclusion.

‘ "Atticus says cheatin’ a coloured man is ten times worse than cheatin’ a white man,” I muttered. “Says it’s the worst thing you can do.” ‘

Taken from : Chapter 20 Pg 207
Shows: Atticus’ intolerance for white people’s prejudice on blacks or other coloured people. A person must not be judged based on their appearances or skin colour. He feels that it is ten times worse to cheat someone who is already at a disadvantage.


In conclusion, Atticus is a man who respects every person was he would respect himself no matter if they were black, white, female, male etc. A good example of that would be that he respects his own children so highly that he has them refer to him by his first name(whole book) , because when you use a name like “Father” it gives the sense that he is above you, and Atticus doesn’t believe above anyone or anyone is above him.

The courtroom is not the only environment that Atticus contributed tolerance and acceptance to. In fact, the courtroom is only a small microcosm of his life where he was a just human being striving to instill tolerance and acceptance, among other qualities, into his children. As a single father, Atticus's efforts to teach his children the right way to live is extremely prevalent. Scout, as a young and rebellious as she is, seems to be very hesitant to really learn or accept anything from her father but proves that she actually does listen to her father when she recites one of his teachings "Atticus says cheating a colored man is ten times worse than cheating a white man".

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #11 (Term 1)

Using specific sensory details, describe accurately the neighbourhood where you live.

One word to my neighbourhood – awesome. I live in Kembangan; I would say it’s a rather small neighbourhood, located at the far east of Singapore. I would say that I am particularly familiar of the entire area around my neighbourhood, as countless times when I was chased out of my house for being naughty by my parents, I would walk around the entire area, taking in the nature and atmosphere. Now I shall attempt to bring you along with me!

Sight:

As you enter my neighbourhood, first thing that would catch your eyes, other than the MRT station, would be this large field with a track around it. Every day without fail, people would usually go to the field to play soccer(mostly Malays), and run around the track. Just ahead is the Kembangan community centre, where neighbourhood activities are held. Every Friday night, taekwondo lessons are held here. I know this as I used to be in the taekwondo class in Primary 3, but left at Primary 5 with a brown belt. The houses in my neighbourhood are most private property, terraces and semi-detacheds. There is also 3 condominiums around. The bus stops are conveniently placed around the entire neighbourhood, and various coffee shops selling Malay cuisine, Chinese cuisine and others are all around.

Sound:

My neighbourhood, as I would describe it, is peaceful and quiet. Neighbours do interact, but most of the time everyone is minding their own business! The only sounds you might here would be from construction sites and car tires screeching as they make sharp turns in the “maze” in my neighbourhood.

Smell:

Well, what I would say that is the air is rather fresh in my neighbourhood, as there are trees and plants EVERYWHERE. Other than that, what I usually would smell is the cooking from other neighbours.

I think that is about all, as I don’t think there is much to touch or taste in my neighbourhood. There is one thing though, occasionally, my neighbour would ring the doorbell and offer some of her home cooked mee siam for us to eat!

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #10 (Term 1)

Write about a vivid childhood memory of an event that helped to influence the person you are today.

I want to adapt this post as a LA-ACE blog post:

Vivid childhood memories, yes I have many of them. Few are filled with joy and happiness, most are unpleasant. I would basically say my childhood sucked.

Much of my suffering actually came from my parents. They say that parents love their children unconditionally, I can say for truth that there is no such thing as unconditional love. Everybody loves someone with a reason, with conditions. Yes, the love of parents for their children is amazing and stronger than any other love, but it is never unconditional. What if the child hates his parents, curses them, beats them, does not acknowledge them, basically causing suffering to them, and yet they still have to love him? The love is never unconditional, the condition always being that would be that they would want him to love back.

From the day I was born, I was a naive, innocent, and stupid boy. Yes stupid, I was never intelligent. I did many stupid things, spill my milk, spoil computers and television, throw away unfinished food. Even then, I always listened to my parents, always hearing them say, "What we do is for your own good, listen to us!" and I believed them. Of course, all this changed when I was in primary 3.

During that year, I failed my first examination paper. I think I dare say that I am the only child in Singapore that actually attended a proper education and failed a subject in Primary 3. All this because? I heeded my parent's advice, more specifically my mother's. I do not want to dwell on the details of what she said, but throughout my whole year in Primary 3, I listened to her on how to study, how to answer questions, how to manage my time in the examination paper itself. Sadly, much of what she said was wrong. At that point of time, I was wrought with sadness, caught up in the fifth circle of Hell(Anger), hating my parents to the core. Since then, I decided that hating them wasn't going to solve anything, I decided to do things MY own way, to study the way I felt best for myself, to solve issues in my life without their help.

Since then, I got into the best class in Primary 5, after much hard work in Primary 4. I went further on to the best class in my primary school in Primary 6, and after PSLE, I barely managed to get into Hwa Chong Institution. "You will never survive it pass PSLE, never pass O levels, never pass A levels, and never pass National Service," was what my father told me when I was in Primary 4. Looks like I proved him wrong. Maybe some would say that my father did it on purpose to allow me to be motivated by myself, to be independent, and do well in life.

So basically, that failure in primary school, made me who I am today. I still do things myself, and I once told my parents, "Other students have parents, I don't. I have sponsors." As much as I would really like that things can still go on this way, with me settling my own issues, and having them backing me up financially, whilst still continue to improve our relationship.

In chinese there is a saying that failure is the mother of success(direct translation), this is so, so true for me.

A Singaporean Short Story - Becoming

Below is the 2nd draft - the revised version of my short story for summative assessment:

Name: Shaun Wong (29)
Class: 2O4
Date: 23 January 2011

A Singaporean Short Story – Becoming

“Hey Kumar! Pass the ball over! Quickly!” I exclaimed. I steadied myself as I was preparing to receive the soccer ball, and as soon as I got it, I dribbled my way pass my two other friends from the opponent’s team. Then opportunity presented itself, my opportunity. The goal post was just metres away from me, and the only thing between us was the goal keeper. “The goal keeper,” I whispered to myself. “You’re not going to stop me this time!” I felt adrenaline rush through my veins as I took my aim and prepared to score the ball. When I felt I was ready, I summoned all my strength and kicked. Realisation soon dawned on me when moments later I heard a scream, followed by cries of surprise coming from all around me. “Ahhhhh! My leg!” Luke cried out in pain. He had tried to tackle me just before I kicked the ball and unfortunately coincidental, I had kicked him instead.

The rest of my friends and I lifted Luke up and carried him to the yi shen (doctor). As we arrived at the public clinic, we were dismayed by the sight that greeted us. Crowds and crowds, rows and rows, men and women both waiting for their turn to be examined by the yi shen. Some were patient enough, and still stood in queue, while others tried to squeeze through the unorderly mob, but to no avail, and yet our dear friend Luke was still suffering in pain while these people were oblivious to that fact. “It’s okay guys. Just carry me home and let me rest, I think i’ll manage. No hard feelings about today!” Luke said, bearing his teeth and barely managing a smile as he did so. At that moment I felt guilt, but decided not to dwell on it, but took joy in knowing that I had such a great brotherhood, and carried my ‘brother’, Luke, home.

“Why can’t you be more sensible? Your Pa (father) is out there risking his life for the country and his son goes about kicking other people’s sons? Why can’t you just understand?” my mother screamed at the top of her voice. I could tell from her eyes the anger and disappointment. “No Ma (mother), it was an accident, I swear!” I tried to reason with her, that it was not my fault. She shook her head, let out a sigh, and walked off, leaving me feeling wronged and accused. I treaded back to my room, with my head lower than ever before. Then I saw a picture of my Pa and me, and I could not hold back my tears anymore. My father was a soldier in the Malay Regiment, and all I was, was just a little boy who causes nothing but pain and suffering to my family and friends. He was always upright and held his head high; patriotic unlike any other men I had ever seen before. He was a perfect image to me, and I have always wanted to become like him, but here I am, with no accomplishments or potential whatsoever.

This was how I went on for the rest of my days, and would have so if not for the coming of the Japanese. The arrival of the Japanese on the shores of Temasek had forever changed my life. A week before their arrival, my Pa was still with us. He had told us that he had to go protect this country, and that he will come back to us after the war was over. I was not a single bit worried for him, knowing that being the perfect man; nothing could stop him from doing the right thing. My Ma however, was crying her heart out, begging my Pa not to go, but I simply could not understand why. “It’s okay Ma, Pa will surely come back! I will take care of you while he is gone!” I consoled my Ma, or at least tried to.

“I won’t be too sure about that, but thank you.” My Ma replied in between sobs. At that point of time, my heart skipped a beat. When I heard my Ma, and saw her tears, I actually believed that she was telling the truth. I wiped that thought out of my head, and decided to have faith in my Pa.

The Japanese were ruthless, not caring a single bit about the people of Temasek. Yes, the worst of my nightmares had come true, the Japanese had conquered us. Their soldiers were set free to pillage and burn, leaving the locals to their own fate. Then the front door of our house fell. “Hands up, don’t move!” A Japanese soldier commanded in English, with a Japanese accent. This was it. It was time to prove that I was like my father, that I could protect my own family. I charged towards the Japanese with a pair of wooden chopsticks and stuck it in his eyes. Then before I could flee, I felt a sting of pain on the side of my head, and darkness overwhelmed my sight.

“Ugh, my head...” I lamented to myself. As I slowly cleared my head, I spotted my Ma crying at the corner of the house, naked and full of bruises. “No...no!” I screamed in denial. Tears cascaded down my cheeks with each passing step towards my Ma. I stood beside her, and she handed me a crushed up letter. All my fears rushed to my head, but I mustered all courage and opened the letter. Then my fears came true, it was a letter of condolences, a letter of condolences to my dead Pa. Grief overwhelmed me, and so did anger. It was at that moment that I told myself to never let such a thing happen to my Ma again, it was that moment when I decided to become like my Pa, my father, a true Singaporean.

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #9 (Term 1)

Pick a scene from your favourite movie and describe the setting in detail. Use specific sensory details to capture the mood and atmosphere of the scene.

Firstly, my favourite movie has got to be the entire series of Saw. The scene that I would like to blog about today would be a scene from Saw 6. Now before I start with anything, I would like to say that what really intrigues me about this movie is how creative the directors and producers of the movie are. The same says for the other movie series of Final Destination. The way Saw sets the traps, how many ways a person can die, and all in a matter of minutes to decide your life or death.

So this setting in this scene in Saw 6 is actually set in a desolate factory, in a room with bright red lights and colourful doors, and in the middle is a spinning carousel. The whole atmosphere; carnival and playground-like. Blood stains the air and the sound of 6 office workers screaming for help deafens the ear. A shotgun is placed in front of the spinning carousel, waiting to unload its first shell or be lifted up by pressing two buttons in a machine, which will drive a spike into the person's hand. The entire setting is such that death and fear and horror is going on, but yet the carnival music and funfair atmosphere contradicts it.

To me, this is by far the longest, most interesting and perverted trap in Saw. I do not really want to dwell on the storyline itself, but watching the whole movie, seeing how the manager is given the chance to sacrifice his hand each time to save one of his assistants and all because of a flawed and baised policy that they were working on that indirectly decides whether a person lives or dies. In such a situation, while watching the movie, one would be really excited to find out which assistants would the manager decide to save, but to see the assistants start lying and cursing each other in order to save each other's life, and to see the manager just ignore some of the assistants, is really, just perverted.

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #8 (Term 1)

Who is your favourite character in To Kill a Mockingbird and why? What makes him or her appealing to you?

Atticus. My favourite character in To Kill a Mockingbird has got to be Atticus. In the book, Atticus is a lawyer and resident of the Maycomb County, Alabama, and the father of Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch and Jean Louise "Scout" Finch. He is also a central character in the novel!

So what makes him so appealing to me? Firstly, he is a lawyer! I have always respected lawyers for what they do, the ones that actually care about justice that is. Also, law would be a career path that I might consider in the future, so Atticus serves as a role model.

His occupation aside, Atticus is perhaps the most honest and upright character in To Kill a Mockingbird. As I read the book and watched the movie, my feelings for him were almost alike; he was the ideal lawyer that trys to uphold justice even if it might cause commotion for defending a black man, the understanding father who time and again teaches his children values and sets an example for them, he is an expert marksman, but still choses to keep this fact hidden from his children so that they would not in any way think of him as a man of violence. He is highly moral, something many of us struggle to be and does not prejudge anyone, regardless of race or language.

So basically Atticus is a almost perfect man that many people look up to for advice, to see what a man of high moral truly is.

IN-CLASS ONLINE LESSON #2

Re-read Ray Bradbury's story "All Summer in a Day." In your blog, identify who should be held responsible for Margot's treatment, and why.

I feel that William should be held responsible for Margot's treatment. William was the one to have always gone against Margot, from when he refused to believe that Margot wrote her own poem about the Sun, to the fact that they would ever see the Sun again. When the teacher was not around, William took the chance to sort of bully Margot, pushing her around and finally leading everyone to put Margot in the closet.

When the Sun really came out in the end, no one ever thought of Margot, little did William know that while him and the other schoolchildren were enjoying the once-in-seven-years Sun, Margot was rotting away in the closet.

Then (in the same entry) imagine yourself as one of the schoolchildren; what might you have chosen to do which would have led to a positive outcome?

Of course the easiest thing I could have done was to just release Margot from the closet or prevent her from being put into it by William in the first place, but then comes the question if I am able to stand against the other schoolchildren myself.

Even then, there are many things that I could have done for Margot such that there would be a positive outcome. I could be the one to tell the teacher when she arrives so that she might release Margot just in time for everyone to see the Sun. Then after thinking through this again, I thought that this would not really be a positive outcome, as William and the others might bear a grudge against me and Margot, and this might lead to some nasty concequences in the future.

Then I could also wait for everyone to run out to enjoy the Sun to release Margot, but then I would be missing some of it myself, and the Sun would only be out for two hours!

Alternatively, I could do what happened in the short film version of this short story; I could pick some flowers and give it to Margot after the Sun sets, and tell her what it was like, but then Margot would not be able to see the Sun herself.

So basically what I am trying to say here is that there would be no outcome that is certainly positive, although the three outcomes that I stated above are all much more "positive" then what actually happens in the short story, where Margot did not get to experience any part of the Sun at all.

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #7 (Term 1)

Who is your favourite fictional character, and why? What makes him or her memorable for you? This character can be from a book, short story, play, movie, comic book, manga, anime series, etc., as long as it is fictional.


I would say that I don't really have a fictional character that I like best, but it really depends on my mood as to what type of fiction I feel like immersing in. For example, most of the time I would be interested in fiction that contains some action. Then my favourite thing to go to would be X-Men. My favourite character in X-Men, is none other than Wolverine. I have read the comics, watch the movie, and even have the game that was made specially to tell the origins of wolverine. What makes him so memorable to me is actually his immortality, being able to heal wounds almost instantly, and the fact that his bones have been reinforced with adamantium to such a stage where they are almost unbreakable.

I like how he is such a serious person, or rather beast, with so much bloody action going on with his life, and yet when he meets some other mutants(Jean Grey, Beast, Cyclops etc.), he's able to
maintain a certain sense of humour. The story only gets more interesting when he fathers a son that only wishes to kill him, and the battle of immortals begin.

Other favourite characters of mine would be mainly Princess Peach from Super Mario and Gandalf from Lord of The Rings.

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #6 (Term 1)

What is your favourite memory of Chinese New Year? Provide details using all five senses.

The sense of taste:

After every Chinese New Year, I am bound to put on some weight. Even before the festival itself, everyone would have started preparing and buying Chinese snacks, most of which is very, very fattening. Then again, these snacks are always so yummy and irresistible. I would say that among all the festivals celebrated in Singapore, the one where I eat the most and taste the most is definitely Chinese New Year.

The sense of sight:

Before Chinese New Year, what you would see around Singapore houses and streets is that there ar boundless decorations everywhere. Everywhere you go you would see lanterns and lights, and fake fire crackers too(those are banned in Singapore). So basically during the festival of Chinese New Year, be prepared for your world to turn into a red and lively one!

The sense of smell:

I think that the only things that we would be smelling is the delicious food, so the sense of smell is pretty much the same as the sense of taste.

The sense of sound:

During every Chinese New Year, my aunt would invite us to her place for a renuion dinner, and never once has she failed to invite a lion dance troupe to "bless" house. The entire neighbourhood would be filled with sounds of the traditional Chinese drum, people shouting and clapping, all to the dance of the lion.

The sense of touch:

I don't think there is anything unique that we would be touching during Chinese New Year, but I do have to say that our hands would usually be filled with Ang Paos(Red Packets)! At least for the children though, since the adults are the one giving. It is indeed a joyous occasion for the children in the family, as they get some extra pocket money to spend!

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #5 (Term 1)

Describe a situation in which you collaborated intensely and at length with another person (Projects Day, CIP/Consortium event OS, creative product, etc.)

One such situation would really be an event, but not a event that was held by Hwa Chong. This event was called ISpace, where we would organise this event every year for the primary school Infocomm Club members to visit Science centre, ISpace. This would open up their eyes to our current technologies and also broaden their perspective on Infocomm through talks. So basically I was usually part of the logistics team, and my job was to contact vendors for the lunch buffets, to prepare name tags for all the students, and work closely with the public relations team to make this event a success. It is indeed hard work every year, but it pays off when I see the primary school students learning something actually of use to their Infocomm path.

What did you learn about your own abilities to cooperate and work together during your collaboration?

What I felt was that it was rather easy for me to cooperate with other people. In fact on almost every single project or cooperative work I have done with other people, I am always at ease, and able to communicate with the members in my group to come up with the work or event. I keep finding myself able and happy to work with other people, and every year when I hold this ISpace event with all the other people, I am reminded of how being able to work as a group is very important in life. Cooperating learning is also a Habit of Mind, which is what we are currently learning in AAT too!

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #4 (Term 1)

Write a reflection on the "Comic Strip" Home Learning lesson that you completed yesterday.

I have had prior experience on creating comic strips in primary school before, but I never came across Toondoo(considering it is more of a place for "non-artist"s as they say). I feel that out of all the E-Learning sessions we had for LA from this year and last year, this was my favourite. I had many ideas on what to do for my comic strip, but I felt a maximum of 2 was too little to tell a story. It was enough to tell a message though. While using toondoo I was very limited to the characters and images they had there, and though we could import images, it wouldn't really fit, and trying to cartoonise it would be consuming too much time. Even then, I really enjoyed the entire process of creating the comic strip, and posting my hard work on my blog after one and a half hour.

What did you learn from the experience? Did you enjoy the assignment? Would you create more comic strips in the future?

The main thing I learnt from this experience was that, making a comic strip doesn't always have to be for humour, or just for fun. It can also be used to tell a story, to learn and improve your composition skills. I would say that this was one of the assignments that I enjoyed the most, from brainstorming about my theme or message, to choosing a nice background and characters, and putting it all together! I would definitely create more comic strips in the future, for fun and for the benefit of my English.

HBL Blog ACE - Cartoon Strip

Below is my cartoon strip:

By swbest View this Toon at ToonDoo Create your own Toon

By swbest View this Toon at ToonDoo Create your own Toon

By swbest View this Toon at ToonDoo Create your own Toon

I know I exceeded the number of cartoon strips, but I felt the need to really do so.

Firstly, I would like to elaborate on what this story is about. Basically this entire comic strip is about how starhucks(starbucks), is severely overpriced, and how time-consuming the process of buying just a simple cup of coffee becomes. I did exaggerate that part a little, but it was only to add on to the effect. However though, I would not say the "time-consuming" part for Singapore, as most of the times the Starbucks in Singapore do give very quick service.

Where I experienced this was actually in UK, when I was there for a holiday. Basically what happens is that the person serving us would always ask questions regarding vouchers, discount and whatnot. Fine, that's actually alright, since it's their interest that we get our coffee with the best price. Then when you take a look at your receipt, BOOM. $6.50 for a cup of coffee, for a cup of "Starbucks" coffee.

Then there are the times where you are in a rush and just want to order a cup of coffee, no particular size, and you get the question, "What size would you like to have? Venti?(Which is the biggest size)"

Now when I chose the background, I was looking for an indoor background and one with a clock. This is to emphasis on the "time" effect, though I regret I couldn't actually change the time. When I was choosing the characters, I made sure the waitress was always smiling, giving the effect that she has been serving customers this way for years.

When I was choosing the guy buying the coffee, I wanted someone who looked like a standard office guy, to give the effect that he just wants his coffee, and go to work, like most office people. Finally, I added the old man so that I could put some humour into my comic strip. The reason is obvious of course, an old man has all the time in the world to buy his coffee.

Alright, I hope that you would enjoy my comic strip that I spend quite some time doing!

In-Class Blog-Writing Prompt #3 (Term 1)

What are your learning goals for this year in Language Arts, and why?

So basically I think everybody would agree with me, that everyone in this class would like to get A1 for Language Arts. That though, is a goal, but not a LEARNING goal. So what I'm going to blog about today is my learning goals this year.

Firstly, I would really want to improve my English standard as a whole. This is a goal that I perhaps set for all my subjects every year.

Secondly, I want to make sure that I learn as much as possible from unseen poetry and "How To Kill A Mockingbird" are done well and to the best of my ability, as those two sections are the sections in Language Arts that I prefer more.

Lastly, I want to learn and do well for the new "Writing Paper" test this year that is replacing comprehension. This thing is new for all of us, and learning as much as I can from it will really do me benefit.

So those are the three learning goals that I have for Langauge Arts this year, and I would just like to end off that I set these as goals, not just empty resolutions! Let's hope that everyone in the class achieve them too!

In-Class Online Lesson #1 (Part 2 - ACE)

These were the two senarios that we were presented with, and we only had to choose one.

1. Have you ever been in the company of a group of which you were clearly not a member? What was the circumstance? How did you act? How were you treated?

2. Have you ever been part of a group of people who were unkind to one or some individuals? What was the circumstance? How did you act? What did you feel?

Well in my case I would choose number 2, as I have a particular experience that I would like to share.

Firstly before I write anything, I just would like to say that this story might be insulting to some people, and that I really mean no offense or whatsoever. So basically my experience takes place in primary school, when I was primary 3. During that time I was required to join the "TAF" club(Trim and Fit club) as I was overweight. I remember being one of the first ones there, so what we had to do was exercise during recess period.

Gradually when I primary 5, I lost quite a bit of weight and was only slightly overweight, so I could leave the TAF club the next year. During that time though, a lot of new people came in, and most of them were much, much more overweight than me. I remember there this particular primary 3 student(youngest among all of us), who was severely overweight. As a primary 3 student, he was already bigger than most of the primary 5 students. My first thought was, "How does somebody get so fat?" Of course that was me telling the truth, but after that I wiped that thought out and said to myself that, I was once fat too, and I had to help this primary 3 student.

Everytime during the TAF club sessions, this student would always be the last to finish his running laps, and at the end of it he would always be the laughing stock for everyone else. As I looked at his face then, what I saw was despair, anger and embarrassment. From that though, I could imagine myself being him, putting myself in his shoes, and I was like, nobody ever deserves to be treated like that. The fact that he is willing to keep on running and carrying on in the TAF club shows that he actually wants to lose weight, that he actually wanted to stop being picked on by everyone else. And typing this now as a sec 1, I all the more found out that it really wasn't his fault, as his body type was most likely an endomorph!

(A characteristic of an endomorph body type would be that they have difficulty in weight loss. For more information on endomorphs and other body types, check: http://www.bodybuildingpro.com/bodytypeinformation.html )

So after that I decided to first talk to that primary 3 student, and give him some advice on weight managment and loss. I also encouraged him to ignore what the others said, but just concentrate on doing what he thought was best for himself. At that point of time I could see that he was truly grateful to me, and I am glad I indeed went up to him and told him that.

A lot of times, I must say, children are suffering insults and humillation because of their traits. These traits are usually a result of their parent's traits. For example, eyesight problems, body weight problems and looks and appearance problems. A child that has parents that both wear spectacles is most likely to be wearing one soon too. A child with parents who are endomorphs(naturally fatter bodies), is likely to be overweight. Ugly parents never have good-looking children. The point here is to not to blame the parents, but I really wish to just wake up the society of students, of the teenages and children, that how someone looks and his outer appearance, do not determine his inner character. I used to get this question a lot in primary 3, " Eh Shaun, how do you become so fat? I eat and eat and eat but I still cannot become fat." When I hear that, in my heart all I feel is that it's not my fault that I was fat, but my parent's. Well of course a person who was born naturally fat could still exercise to lose weight and keep fit, which was exactly what I did, but some people simply don't and still get the same results!

Okay, looks like I am straying from the point. I hope that any person that reads this will realise that before you be judgemental, know that you are putting yourself in a superior position at the expense of others. This is extremely distasteful to me, and I detest(pardon my use of strong words) people who judge books by their covers. So I would like to end off saying that after all we are all equal and deserve to be treated the same, regardless of race, language, or religion, AND appearance!

In-Class Online Lesson #1 (Part 1)

聽媽媽的話 Ting Ma Ma De Hua Listen to Mother's Words

Hear the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9PFQSVZdzM

詞: 周杰倫
Ci: Zhou Jie Lun
Lyrics: Jay Chou

I got this translated version, and editted some of the English parts from: eminemjamesuk & Ling - www.jay-chou.net

小朋友　你是否有很多問號　為什麼
Xiao peng you, ni shi fou you hen duo wen hao, wei shen me
Little children, do you have a lot of questions, why

別人在那看漫畫　我卻在學畫畫　對著鋼琴說話
Bie ren zai na kan man hua, wo que zai xue hua hua, dui zhe gang qin shuo hua
When other kids are reading manga, I am learning to draw and learning to communicate with the piano

別人在玩遊戲　我卻靠在牆壁背我的ABC
Bie ren zai wan you xi, wo que kao zai qiang bi bei wo de ABC
When other kids are playing games, I am leaning on the wall memorizing my ABCs

我說我要一台大大的飛機　我卻得到一台舊舊錄音機
Wo shuo wo yao yi tai da da de fei ji, wo jue de dao yi tai jiu jiu lu yin ji
I said that I wanted a large airplane, but I got an old recorder


為什麼　要聽媽媽的話　長大後你就會開始懂得這種話
Wei shen me, yao ting ma ma de hua, zhang da hou ni jiu hui kai shi dong de zhe zhong hua
Why should I listen to mother's words? When you grow up you will understand what I am saying

長大後我開始明白　為什麼我跑的比別人快　飛的比別人高
Zhang da hou wo kai shi ming bai, wei shen me wo pao de bi bie ren kuai, fei de bi bie ren gao
After I got older I started to realize why I run faster than others and fly further than other people

將來大家看的都是我畫的漫畫　大家唱的都是　我寫的歌
Jiang lai da jia kan de dou shi wo hua de man hua, da jia chang de dou shi wo xie de ge
In the future, people will be reading my mangas and all the songs they sing will be written by me

媽媽的辛苦　不讓你看見　溫暖的食譜在她心裡面
Ma ma de xin ku bu rang ni kan jian, wen nuan de shi pu zai ta xin li mian
Mother's hard work isn't seen by others. She knows the warm recipe by heart

有空就多多握握她的手　把手牽著一起夢遊
You kong jiu duo duo wo wo ta de shou, ba shou qian zhe yi qi meng you
When you have time, hold her hand and sleep dream together

聽媽媽的話　別讓她受傷　想快快長大　才能保護她
Ting ma ma de hua, bie rang ta shou shang, xiang kuai kuai zhang da cai neng bao hu ta
Listen to mother's words, don't let her get hurt. Grow up quickly so you can take care of her

美麗的白髮　幸福中發芽　天使的魔法　溫暖中慈祥
Mei li de bai fa, xing fu zhong fa ya tian shi de mo fa, wen nuan zhong ci xiang
Beautiful white hair, growing inside happiness. Angel's magic benevolence within (her) gentleness

在你的未來　音樂是你的王牌　拿王牌談個戀愛
Zai ni de wei lai, yin yue shi ni de wang pai na wang pai tan ge lian ai
In your future, music is your key to success, use it to get into a relationship

唉　我不想把你教壞　還是聽媽媽的話吧　晚點在戀愛吧
Ai wo bu xiang ba ni jiao huai hai shi ting ma ma de hua ba, wan dian zai lian ai ba
Sigh, I don't want to teach you to be a bad kid. Why don't you listen to what your mother says and get in a relationship later

我知道你未來的路　當媽比我更清楚
Wo zhi dao ni wei lai de lu, dang ma bi wo geng qing chu
I know your future path, but your mother knows it even better

你會開始學其他同學在書包寫東寫西
Ni hui kai shi xue qi ta tong xue zai shu bao xie dong xie xi
You will start imitating friends and write things on your backpack

但我建議你最好寫　媽媽我會用功讀書
Dan shi wo jian yi ni zui hao xie, ma ma wo hui yong gong du shu
But I suggest you better write: Mom I will put in my best effort to learn

用功讀書　怎麼會從我嘴巴說出
Yong gong du shu, zhe me hui cong wo zui ba shuo chu
You will study hard, why is it coming from me?

不想你輸所以要教你　用功讀書
Bu xiang ni shu suo yi yao jiao ni, yong gong du shu
I need to teach you because I don't want you to lose. Study hard

媽媽織給你的毛衣　你要好好收著
Ma ma zhi gei ni de mao yi, ni yao hao hao shou zhe
The sweater mother gave you, you have to keep it safe

因為母親節到時我要告訴她　我還留著
Ying wei mu qin jie dao shi wo hui gao shu ta, wo hai liu zhe
Because on Mother's Day, you would want to tell her, I still have it

對了　我會遇到了周潤發
Dui le, wo hui yu dao le zou ren fa
Oh yea, I will meet Zhou Run Fa*
*Zhou Run Fa is a famous actor (Yes...He is Chow Yun Fat)

所以你可以跟同學炫耀　賭神未來是你爸爸
suo yi ni ke yi geng tong xue xuan yao du shen wei lai shi ni ba ba
So you can show off to your friends, "The God of Gambling will be your father"

我找不到童年寫的情書　你寫完不要送人
Wo zhao bu dao tong nian xie de qing shu, ni xie wan bu yao song ren
I can't find the childhood love letter. Don't give it away after you write it

因為過兩天你會在操場上撿到
yin wei guo liang tian ni hui zai cao chang shang jian dao
Because you will find it on the playground two days later

你會開始喜歡上流行歌　因為張學友開始準備唱吻別
Ni hui kai shi xi huan shang liu xing ge yin wei zhang xue you kai shi zhun bei chang wen bie
You will start to like pop music because Jacky Cheung is about to sing Kiss Goodbye*
*(Kiss Goodbye is a famous song that was a hit in the 90s)

聽媽媽的話　別讓她受傷　想快快長大　才能保護她
Ting ma ma de hua, bie rang ta shou shang, xiang kuai kuai zhang da cai neng bao hu ta
Listen to mother's words, don't let her get hurt. Grow up quickly so you can take care of her and protect her


Okay so the reason why I decided to choose a chinese song is that because most of the chinese songs we hear are based on values and how to behave in life, in the case of this song, filial piety. Just for information purposes, Jay Chou is actually a really talented singer-songwriter and actor in Asia. He is starring in the coming movie, "Green Hornet", as the green hornet.

I had to correct some of the english translations as it didn't really fit when translated. The bulk of the song(except for the chorus), is actually sung as a rap, so when translated from Chinese to English, there are some parts that don't really rhyme.

This song is really about Jay Chou telling children about his childhood, about how he decided not to follow his friends in doing things and wasting their time, and listen to his mother instead. He also goes on and tell them how this has benefitted him in life(In the future, people will be reading my mangas and all the songs they sing will be written by me), and that the children should listen to his experiences. Basically why I really feel that this song has an impact on me is that I am actaully a person that never ever listen to my parents. Well at least since primary three. I felt that I could do things much better than my parents, and decided to do it the way I want to. So far though, I feel I have been quite a success. I mean when I was in primary 1 to 3, I was always one of the few people that got last in class. Finally at primary three, I followed my mother's "detailed" advice and failed my first subject. From then on I decided to just study the way I felt best for myself, and do my work at my own time and pace. In primary 5 I went into my primary school's best class, same in primary 6, and now I'm in Hwa Chong!

When I heard this song however, I thought to myself, yes I have gone to a good school with my own merit, but without my parent's support(money and house), I would never get this far. So this song made me think about my actions again, and what I concluded was that regardless of what my parents do or are, they are after all my parents. Since then I actually decided to try my best to listen to my parents, and I hope one day I will be able to live well with them again.