Importance of competition to me

Before I start this post, I'd like to say a great thanks to Xianda for joining Band and somehow getting put into the same section as me.

I compete in Hwa Chong everyday. Marks, prizes and even friends are competed for (don't ask me how). Being put into such an environment needs you to do your best at every time, in order not to get overshadowed by others. But recently I started to think about how I even survive in a school like Hwa Chong, when in like P5 i was almost failing english (and yet again in Sec 2) and I have this totally unawesome stage fright. So how exactly would I ever make it through Hwa Chong? I remember when a GEP student in Catholic High quit GEP because it was too stressful. Why doesn't it happen to someone like me, a person who has a problem articulating my opinions in a school that emphasizes oral participation?

The answer is simple, I posited(random word use), it was the competition that made me do well. Maybe I would have done near the best in a neighborhood school and not have so much stress from screwing up my english, but that just would be because of my talent in other subjects (except art) and also the fact I am well in my comfort zone. But in Hwa Chong, the competition makes me do better than what I can usually do. Secondary 1 somehow proved the potential I ( and also i1) had. I was sort of surprised of a less steep mark drop although I lived in fear of the exams (seeing my brothers results). Competition provided a burst for me, to spur me on to do 110%. Maybe its a natural thing. In band, I am also pushed out of my comfort zone. For a good sound, you need air support which comes from air, and you have to breathe in as much as you can to your diaphragm. So if you stop breathing in when you feel a little uncomfortable, the sound will not be nice. If you do not push yourself, there is not much a chance you will do well.

This theory was more or less untestable (actually totally untestable). I would not be crazy enough to screw up more tests in such an important year of my life. But another event today in band, it showed of this relationship. It was about four and I was having sectionals with my senior and Xinada. Xianda had a broken screw on his horn, and my senior decided to focus on me instead. How nice. While Xianda looked on, I played an exercise alone, and realised I was making mistakes that I usually did not make. If you are thinking my stage fright has something to do with it, theres about no way I could be scared of my senior. Only when Xianda started playing my normal sound came back. My senior asked me to start again, but I was still shaky. Not sure why, but it had something to do with not wanting to push myself over my comfort zone and play. Xianda, being better than me in the horn was a sort of goal to reach, and when I played without him, I realised I was uncomfortable with him not playing, not being that goal I was supposed to surpass. And then there went the hour,me trying to play but failing quite badly.

The effect would not be so strong with people i did not know well. After all, why would I need Xianda as that competition if I had the entire band instead? This gives me a much closer relationship with him, as I try to surpass him trying to surpass me. Thats why I should thank him, for helping me achieve much in this band without him knowing it. Our competition has led to progress, and I hope soon success. So with this I hope all my classmates would push each other on, in this environment full of competition and also have lots of fun on the way! :D

Question 2A

Its my first time doing such a piece of writing so I'm not sure if I should write this on Monday.



2a. I waited, twiddling my fingers, sometimes looking up from the book on my lap, sometimes glancing furtively towards the white door on the left, with an ominous sign on it saying "Danger, strong electric current inside. Please do not go in during testing." I gulped at the sign of the word "testing." What exactly did they do to the dozens of people that went in before me? I scanned around. Another person on my left, not inclined to have any chat. He was doubled over, in a posture I assumed to be praying. The white door opened. A monotonous voice inside called out "Next one in: 15647263." The man looked up, knowing it was his turn. I shuddered at the name tag they gave me. 14667738. It was like some name tag of a criminal, waiting for his turn on the death row. The door closed with a resounding click. The man was gone too. Now there was no one down the ash-white corridor. Just some chairs. With noone else, I knew I was next.



The last fifteen minutes I spent engrossed flipping and reading, trying to take my mind off the testing. But the voice called out again. "Next one in: 14667738." The door seemed to be held open by an invisible force. A strange white light emnated from inside. A straight staircase to heaven. Nice. A sigh came out from somewhere, and I realised it was mine. I shuffled into the room. A man in a white lab coat, presumably a researcher, was observing something from a monitor on a table. The door clicked behind me, and I looked back. Preparation/ Observation room. Another click, shutting me from the strange light that seemed straight ahead. The researcher told me, "Okay, you are here for a easy but a little dangerous experiment." He seemed to stress the word little. I had in my mind the thought to bombard him with questions, but I stopped when I opened my mouth. What was there not to trust in a man seemingly capable of a science degree, and also a job at this research institute? Furthermore I also volunteered for this, I had been warned about the dangers. I stood there, staring straight at him. he continued talking. "You will need to wear this." he explained while getting a wristband like thing out of a minifridge on the same table beside him. It was a weird green, and the liquid inside squished around. It gave off a green light, and was refreshingly cool when he wrapped it around my hand. The green liquid swished and changed to a lighter yellow, with a spiral of green still swirling inside, to a hypnotic effect. water vapour condensed on its side, and danced on the sides of the band. The researcher smiled and flipped on a button. The machines that lined the walls of the room started humming, to a tune that almost resembled a chord. The door in front opened and I could see where I was going into. It was a warehouse with a huge ball connected by a huge spiral of wires to the ground, and some pillars of wires. The researcher gave me a push into the warehouse, pointing me towards a chair. He allowed me to bring my book in. It was surprising that he did not follow me in. What was I really going for? I looked to the left, and saw some natural sunlight for once. But also the vans of paramedics. Sweet. I shuffled towards the chair and sat down, waiting for something to happen.

Next, I saw the door close and the garage door leading to freedom close. They locked me in. Now I had no way to stop what the researcher had planned for me, or what I was expected to do. I began to read again. My heart was beating erratically, and I felt an abnormal sense of fear. The researcher's voice boomed right past the silence, echoing on the rigid, cold aluminum walls of the warehouse. "Now I strongly suggest you stay still on that chair. Don't worry, nothing dangerous is going to happen. I assure you it is spectacular." The ball in the middle of the warehouse started to hum and crackle. My breathing was hard and deep. I tried to keep my mind of the experiment. The ball crackled and sparked and I saw bolts of electricity arc to the ground. It was a spectacular show, being so close to an electrical storm. Sparks flew everywhere, reflecting off the pillars of wires, set off to a random course to somehow reach the ground. It was evident one would reach me soon. I was getting dizzy. The experiment was crazy! A split second, and a bolt zig zagged towards a pillar, and continued on its journey downwards. Three seconds, and its course was evident. It was arcing towards me.

The bolt struck, but I felt no pain. Was I already dead? Did I wake up in a hospital? Neither. The bolt was attracted to the band on my wrist. It glowed yellow, then red, then white, then a mix of random colours flying around inside, but still kept cool. I realised yet another thing. My hand was moving towards the ball, linked together by that bolt. The rest of the flying sparks seemed to beckon me towards it. I thought, "Strange! I have no control over my body and I cannot even turn the page of my book." Instead I was moving closer to the ball, dragged by an unknown force, forced to stand and walk, even when my sense of balance was affected. Too close to the ball, and I would die. I thought of how to escape, slowly running out of time. I yelled to stop the experiment. The wristband glowed stronger and stronger. Taking me with it. But something happened and I fell backwards. The strong crackling stopped. The researcher must have heard my plea and stopped the experiment. Back through the preparation room, the researcher did not tell me if the experiment was a failure or a success. He just thanked me for my participation and left me to think about my near death experience. But I guess that would make a great theme park ride!

the life of an overly polite individual

I read about an article stating about Singaporeans being extremely ungracious and not thinking about others, but states that they are overly polite. So I will now write about the life of an overly polite person.

The life of an overly polite person

At four he threw all his various, expensive toys down, telling his mother not to buy them anymore and waste money.

At eight, he threw the food his mother made onto the floor, trying to remind everyone that his mother's cooking indeed was bad.

At twelve he copied away at his friends test script, knowing this way he would pull up the class average.

At sixteen he vandalised walls, knowing he would beautify the environment with his unique designs.

At twenty, he became a bookie, fulfiling peoples desire to gamble, and also getting monetary benefit, thinking of the best way to generate a win-win situation.

At twenty four, he reminded people they could stand by refusing to get off the bus seat.

At twenty eight, he gave employment to some aunties and uncles by littering and not clearing his table.

At thirty two, he turned to gambling himself, wanting to spend the money on his family.

At thirty six, he weaved past lanes in front of others, and encouraged them to give way and help a person before himself.

At forty, he jammed the breaks in front of the ERP just to put in his cashcard, saving the police time by not breaking the law.

At forty four, he kicked cats and poured boiling water on dogs when he lost money in gambling. How considerate that he did not take it out on humans instead.

At forty eight, he blocked entrances to trains, allowing better human traffic flow out of the other doors. (All the passengers would go out of the other doors so allowing him and the passengers behind him to go in easily)

At fifty two, he cut the 4D queue so that he could use the prize money to bring his family overseas.

At fifty six, he tried to keep the peace at the library by talking as loud as he could so others would look at him and stop talking. What self sacrifice!

At sixty, he slept on benches in the park or sofas in the library, giving a subtle reminder not to while away time and waste it.

At sixty four, he went to shopping centers without bathing , giving the impression that he was supporting a saving water campaign by PUB.

At sixty eight, he jaywalked across the road and got hit by a car, even when he bothered to make the drivers more cautious and therefore the roads more safe. He did not make it past seventy.

It was clearly understood that such a man would surely be reserved a spot in heaven, for all the good deed he had done.

Tom Robinson's Trial song

Going to try. If this is not successful I'm going to do the article. The league of nations from history song inspired this. It is also from ABBA mamamia.

In "to kill a mockingbird" the Ewells made a claim
Their daughter was "raped" and a black man should take the blame
Tom Robinson, seemed to be the culprit
Few in town, wanted to doubt that
very statement,
It was because of racism.

Atticus was sent to defend this man
He wanted a fair judgement to be dispensed wo-o-oh

Tom Robinson, he was wrongly blamed
My My the result would probably be the same.
Tom Robinson was in a plight
Atticus hoped the truth would be brought to light
The blacks were lower (social status) than the ewells
like they were to be damned in hell.
Sadly the trial did not go his way

When the trial came it was a time of lots of tension
Atticus took the witnesses and the victim to mention
Where were all of her injuries
What hand bob wrote with,
and all about mayella life
Atticus had a solid defence

When Tom was questioned he made an error
He felt sorry for a white superior wo-o-oh

Tom Robinson, was a mockingbird
Unable to give anything but goodness
Tom robinson, trapped by his own humanity
How he wished that there would be equality
Sadly the jury was unfair
with evidence they still didnt care,
They still pronounced him guilty

The mockingbird's habitat

Without all the scientific stuff, let me launch myself into an explanation about the mockingbird's habitat.



Mockingbirds are small birds that have this strange (maybe not for birds) habit of mimicking sounds from other birds or insects. They chirp loudly and often continue for a very long time. They do not come together, they are territorial birds It is that small, and fluffed up, they seem... cute. During their mating season, male mockingbirds in order to attract females sing night and day. Mockingbirds do not give anything but goodness? Thats wrong. They peck at anything that comes near. How is that goodness. Thats aggressiveness.



Moving on, mockingbirds according to this website lives in open country with thickets, farmland and desert brush. Or bushes or trees. This is specifically to the northern mockingbird, but the northern mockingbird lives almost anywhere within the USA. which means also Alabama, and somehow Maycomb. Maycomb is in alabama which has a lot of rain throughout the years and has four seasons. A countryside area would hardly have any skyscrapers at that time, so mockingbirds would come during the summer, which is part of their mating season. They eat ants beetles, grasshoppers, berries and seeds, and during summer the berries and seeds ripen and there are more ants and grasshoppers. Basically, summer in maycomb (Alabama) conincides with the mating season of the Mockingbird, and Maycomb is in the countryside where there are many trees and bushes for the mockingbirds to nest in, and they have plenty of food. No fauna is needed to attract mockingbirds. They are not attracted to sweet smeeling flowers, and all they need is a random tree to nest in.

thinking night

thinking night = stay up heheh



now a weird topic, thinking about myself.
( It may be a little rambly, but note that these thoughts just pour out of my mind)

To me, thinking about myself and my actions is like watching a movie about my actions, without the popcorn and the comfy seat. Like right now, example, am I really typing a blog post in the middle of the nighthe, am I just seemingly putting in my version of whatever i am doing right now? Am I really there? This is further emphasized by sudden events that may cause grief or extreme happiness. I may not just realise I am there, doing whatever I do, and then do something recklessly, thinking it is all unreal. When some really bad things happen and I hide in my bed, I really wonder if I am in this world or not, and I star t to space out. Could I really be in some theater watching my own life story? No wonder why people need reality to sink in, like some people who win millions in a lottery (wish i were that lucky) or others who lose 5 of their family members in a freak accident (ouch) Sometimes I even wonder if I am really living, and experiencing the fun of being alive and such, and experiencing boring events (like the event that we are forced to go to five times a week -- just kidding) But thinking about myself allows me to reflect, and not wonder if im in a movie everytime. So thinking about myself is in essence me in a stand up theater watching through the character eyes a movie and thinking, should he be doing that and such. What a weird post. Brr

About Jia Chin's blog

Ever noticed that Jia Chin writes regularly about death and such? Ill try to do a post about that topic right now.

The old man hated life more than ever. When was it? When did he actually have silence? When was he able to reflect and recount on his past experiences? When was he ever alone? He thought of a plain meadow, wind, sunshine and above all , silence. He would be happy there. He dreamed of the scenery, the perfectness of it all. However, every few seconds, a loud horn, a sudden shout, a police car wailing, all these would snap him out of his own universe. That was it. After 10 years of slowly detioriating health and state of mind and tolerating such noises, he decided to make a choice. Silence. That was all he wanted. Total Silence. After 10 horrible years of hearing the ugliness of the human toungue, every shout, every argument, every insult as an act of viciousness, he had enough. His heartbeat became more rapid. I would end all the suffering. His already frail body was shaking. Silence. That was all he wanted. Total Silence. He was already dying. Somehow, he mustered the strength to sit up and look at the photo of him at a farm in Austrailia. It was so carefree, so silent. He was happy. Then, something in his heart broke. He flopped back onto the bed. He saw a glimpse of how happy he would be in the farm, in the meadow with peace and quiet. There was a instinctive struggle for life. He had... to .. go there one more... time...to experience the feeling again...
The old man died happy, in his bed in his apartment. Silence. That was all he wanted. Total Silence. That day, he grasped it in his hand. The old man hated life more than ever. Now, he had total silence.

Long time ever since I wrote something in my blog

So, its a long time since have ever wrote something in my blog.

So maybe there are 3 things I want to actually write about.

Maybe not three. maybe more.

Soo lemme ask a question. Why do you think my class 1I1 is like.. screwed?

Is it because of Pilman?

Is it becae of my laptop keyboard being not sensitive?

Is it me??>?>>?>?>?

Is it the not so accurate marks??

Firstly about Phimann. His MSG is like 6++ and however from 1 he pulls the average MSG down 5.67/26. Doesn't seem a lot but also remember that usig MSG to compute insead of marks reslts in ths
using marks and MSG
subject Mrks MSG
eng 62 4
chinese 58 5
IMath 58 5
LSS 72 2
IS 58 5
IH 70 2

The maks average is 63 which is 4++ and the MSG?? 3.8333333333333333333333333.
lawl...

ergh
I don'twant to talk about philmann anymore.
But if you want t know m compuer keyboard can do the job.
Maybe not..

chaos theory

Maybe because my english ace is totally maxed (if projects day is included) but this blog is half dead. So I think that there is a way to revive this blog. Lemme write a pointless chaos theory.
All because of a pea:
The time is 9.30 am at the Brunch Club and a guy is eating a plate of corn, diced carrots, mashed potatoes, chicken and peas. Wait... peas? I forgot to tell you, that guy is allergic to peas. Narrators never tell you EVERYTHING. So the poor guy realises even with his specific order, a pea got into his mashed potato. His face begins to swell, and he begins to froth at the mouth. Struggling to even breathe, he topples the table, stunning the crowd. A waiter rushes forward to help him, and (what are the chances of that) slips on the plate sending pieces of chicken, corns and carrots, and a slab of mashed potato flying and hitting someone's wine lamb rump flambe. As it seems, the cook does a somersault and the plate in his hand, catches all of it skillfully onto a plate. The gas stove is still there. That could have caused a fire. He twirls it professionally and sprinkles garnishings of parsley and herbs, and a dousing of sauce. All is saved. Now you may be thinking what was used to cook the flambe? It can't be over the fire right? You are correct. The wine and sauce was in a metal pan, which the plate hit into the curtains. Wait a minute, isn't the pan hot. Yes, it's hot enough to burn... And so as the people are wowed, the fire spreads across the curtains and hits the gas stove, creating a small explosion and coincidentally, the Japanese restaurant right beside it, seperated by a wall opens its doors unaware of the danger next door. It uses tatami flooring... Yes, thats wood that burns easily. And if you haven't guessed, the Japanese restaurant is lit like a candle. Now there's really chaos. Everyone is running out, and the worst thing is there's a gas station and the internet hub that supplies the server that lets anyone use transmitting devices or the internet. Less said, theres a boom, a big boom. The people have evacuated, but the internet hub is devastated. No more internet so............................................................................................. but I'm not there, my internets not affected. Now the astrology space center is shrouded with rushing ashes and smoke. Not good. They are having a launch and from the control, they can't see the rocket. But the launch continues anyway. They fail to notice a safety latch is not on... The rocket fires with a blat sideways. Communication is cut off with the rocket due to the destruction of the internet hub. Now thats bad... The rocket is piloted by a greenhorn on his first expedition. Its his last one too. The rocket has to make a round to get back on course, but it runs out of fuel, hitting a communication satellite. It falls back to earth and reactivates a dormant volcano, which causes a lava flow, breaking through a dam, causing a inland tidal wave. If thats not good enough, the volcano spurts out so much ashes it blocks the sun for hours, and a sole flying solar powered plane suddenly loses all four engines and crashes into the sea. It takes a mere wreckage of a plane to tap a subducting plate, and it snaps up a good 50m. Nothing happens. The end. Or is it? A small wave rushes along and as it gets to shore, it swells up to 5 times its size 250m. That has to leave a mark. Then the rocket crashes into the earth's side, knocking it into the course of the sun. The world gets hotter and finally everyone dies. The real end.

And next, if you don't think this is a blog prompt, in India, from the look of it during NIC, to go organic is healthy. Organic food has just less pesticide and is more naturally made. It does not mean organic is healthier. Well the people in this line of business never advertised organic being healthier. On the subject of health enthusiast or health freaks I believe I like healthier, like a health enthusiast . Althoguh not as serious, I like to control my eating habits.Like recently, I didn't eat any cake as I thought it would be fattening. And I don't eat chicken skin or put anything on a salad. I believe when health enthusiast becomes health freak is when they take it overboard and start overexercising or fussing over 1 or two calories, or taking only one product because it has less sugar fat or salt. Being healthier will help you lengthen your life. Just don't take it overboard.

Shanghai: English as it is broken

Grammar, spelling, most of this.

Going to Shanghai gives you a huge variety of english mistakes.

Lets say:

I found this at the airport. And at a retail factory outlet.

Same retail area. Shanghai is not really known for its english.

This was at a park.

The one on the left is a sign for renting electronic boats in a lake.

Lotteries- THINK

Lotteries may be an economic lure, due to the amount of revenue made each year, but for your social life and morals, it can be a disaster. Lotteries in an area may give rise to another problem Compulsive Gambling. I believe buying lottery tickets, may give you a high, making you feel good, on the meagre chances that you would actually win. If you did, you would probably put that money you won back into the lottery, thinking that your lucky streak will not end. It probably did already end. Saw any black cats lately? So the money would just disappear. Not through some ghostly means but probably through your own hands at the lottery. You would want to gamble more to recoup your losses. So you end up in a lose situation. Your chances are probably 1 in 13 million. Why take the chance. Asking my dad, i have decided not to quote him entirely. He always has some way of insulting anybody or maybe blaming himself. I don't want any government getting me into trouble for this. So he said, " why open lotteries and tear apart the morals of singaporeans, causing trouble in their families and financial problems, when people waste their money buying slips of papers which have numbers and this small bit of hope under the illusion that they may be making a big amount of money?" So he believes that gambling has not very good prospects for anyone, an therefore does not gamble. Its true, i have not seen him gambling anywhere, and when he does have to play mahjong, he plays with no stakes. (according to my mom, mahjong improves your memory.) The NPCG advertistment also brings up a point. Im against lotteries as they may give rise to the problem of compulsive gambling, and as in the advertistment, they give a lot of excuses to gamble. They would say that is their last try, but how many last tries do you think they may have done. Once you gamble, it is difficult to stop as you think your next try will be lucky, and just waste your money. So to quote the advertistment,"Often the people who really suffer from problem gambling aren't the gamblers." those would be the family members. I still dont believe in easy money as that is easy come, easy go. The money that is made would be gone just as easily. Dont start. So that is why i am against lotteries.

I made a cute little song for it sung as twinkle twinkle little star. More about slot machines though

Give me money, shooting star

Give me money, shooting star,
Instead I wished upon a bar
If three met, little win
Never big, it was a sin
Wasted money, shooting star,
how I wish I did not start.

Wei Ron

Favorite Poets - E learning

"For here the lover and killer are mingled who had one body and one heart. And death who had the soldier singled has done the lover mortal hurt."

Keith Douglas is my favorite poet, and this is a quote from one of his poems. He writes many war poems and intrigues me with his stands and perspectives. Keith Douglas is a good poet because he manages to convey a message that war is horrible in different perspectives such as a soldier killing or the only soldier surviving in the second world war. (that was a thesis statement, was it??)

Keith douglas did not have a really pretty life. His parents were financially poor, and their marriage collapsed, leaving Keith with his mother. He reflected on his childhood that "I lived alone during the most fluid and formative years of my life, and during that time I lived on my imagination, which was so powerful as to persuade me that the things I imagined would come true." By University his poetic talent was recognised but he could only publish one of his volumes of poetry before he was sent to army and the war. After certain battles, he would recount them and that would become part of his poetry. Pity he died young, in his army years.

Why does Keith Douglas intrigue me? He focuses on a external impression, making even the enemies of the allied (he was english) look humane. The people in his poems have mothers, people they care about, and not just killing. This makes his poems a lot more realistic. He has many different perspectives but all convey one message, that war is horrible, and not wanted. Like in the poem, How to Kill (i remember just doing some brief stuff on that) it shows how a soldier kills an enemy. The poem makes the enemy seem normal, and by killing. The description of the enemy is: "He smiles, and moves about in ways his mother knows, habits of his." And yet Keith Douglas makes killing this person supposed to be the enemy, a burden on the soldier's mind. So it is easy to kill but difficult to handle the consequences, showing that the poet does not like war.Vergissmeinnicht (Forget-me-not) is another poem by him, showing the aftermath of the battle. It describes tanks guns like demons mouths the place as a nightmare ground and is able to let you see a picture of the horrific effects of war.Cairo Jag was written when he was sent to the subsaharan area, near the middle east. He describes Cairo as a place but in the last stanza reaches a new world, a warground, where vegetation is of iron, metal brambles have have no flowers or berries, the dead themselves, their boots, clothes and possessions clinging to the ground, and manages to put a huge difference between cairo and a warground near cairo.

Poems How to kill, Vergissmeinnicht (Forget-me-not),Cairo Jag

http://www.poemhunter.com/keith-douglas/poems/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Douglas

My favorite poem

The Death-Bed by Siegfried Sassoon
He drowsed and was aware of silence heaped
Round him, unshaken as the steadfast walls;
Aqueous like floating rays of amber light,
Soaring and quivering in the wings of sleep.
Silence and safety; and his mortal shore
Lipped by the inward, moonless waves of death.

Someone was holding water to his mouth.
He swallowed, unresisting; moaned and dropped
Through crimson gloom to darkness; and forgot
The opiate throb and ache that was his wound.
Water—calm, sliding green above the weir.
Water—a sky-lit alley for his boat,
Bird- voiced, and bordered with reflected flowers
And shaken hues of summer; drifting down,
He dipped contented oars, and sighed, and slept.

Night, with a gust of wind, was in the ward,
Blowing the curtain to a glimmering curve.
Night. He was blind; he could not see the stars
Glinting among the wraiths of wandering cloud;
Queer blots of colour, purple, scarlet, green,
Flickered and faded in his drowning eyes

Rain—he could hear it rustling through the dark;
Fragrance and passionless music woven as one;
Warm rain on drooping roses; pattering showers
That soak the woods; not the harsh rain that sweeps
Behind the thunder, but a trickling peace
,Gently and slowly washing life away.

He stirred, shifting his body; then the pain
Leapt like a prowling beast, and gripped and tore
His groping dreams with grinding claws and fangs.
But someone was beside him; soon he lay
Shuddering because that evil thing had passed.
And death, who'd stepped toward him, paused and stared.

Light many lamps and gather round his bed
.Lend him your eyes, warm blood, and will to live.
Speak to him; rouse him; you may save him yet.
He's young; he hated War; how should he die
When cruel old campaigners win safe through?

But death replied: 'I choose him.' So he went,
And there was silence in the summer night;
Silence and safety; and the veils of sleep.
Then, far away, the thudding of the guns.

This is a war poem as you can see in the last paragraph Then far away, the thudding of guns. WHere a man, in his deathbed, is far away from the war, and in safety and silence. The is use of figurative language in the poem, like in the first stanza, there is personification as the silence takes a human action, and "heaped" around him. In the next stanza, there is a lot of reference to water, that he remembers, his good memories on a summer day, and in the third stanza, there is use of personification as the clouds are seen to wander, and the use of metaphor as the clouds are referred to as blots of colour, purple, scarlet, green, and the use of the word drowning is a hyperbole, as it shows his struggle against death. In the next stanza, there is more reference to water, in the form of rain. And there is a hint that he would die, as the rain was slowly and gently washing life away. In the next stanza, it is shown a simile as the pain is referred like a prowling beast, and this is yet another personification as the pain "gripped and tore" his dreams with "grinding claws and fangs". By the next stanza, the people know the person is going to die, and are gathering. The person next died in his sleep, and there was silence, once again.

Why I like this poem
War poems are somehow nice, with the person dying, but what a person thinks of when he his killing another or dying of a wound. Take another poem, how to kill, yet another war poem, but since i did it before, i believe this would be a good add on to see what people think and what happens, when they die. Death is seen as a person and the poem actually needs you to read in depth to actually check whats the meaning of the poem. It is also more simply written, unlike those with Thou, Thee, Thy and others like those. Those are just difficult to read.

Do we control technology, or does it control us?

Do we control technology or does technology control us?

ROBOTS TAKE OVER THE CITY!!!!!!!!!
Does that sound a lot like technology controlling the world? Now that is a bit exxagerated as technology can control us in more subtle ways. Take using the internet for research. What happens if the internet collapses and the fabrics of websites get ripped to shreds? Would you be able to get convienient research? We are sometimes, so reliant on technology if techology is not accessible, we cannot get anything done. Actually, technology can be even classified as simple things like knives, books, picture frames, and stuff like that. So we are in a world of technology, and it is impossible not to use any. Even basic wheels and plastic containers are technology, however primitive, so we are heavily reliant on technology. This is a small form of controlling. There is another scenario. In a way, technology is used to kill. Guns, machetes, nets, guns, grenades, bombs, guns are all technology. If technology advances way too quickly, new ways of killing, biological weapons, can all be found. So even though, we are able to control the growth of technology or technology itself, manifested in the forms of things, it is easily able to control us.

I am lying. True or False?

To this philosophy there are two ways of explaining, one the direct way and the other the Push-out-all-your-thoughts-that-do-not-make-sense-into-a-single-blog-prompt way.

So at first we will try the Push-out-all-your-thoughts-that-do-not-make-sense-into-a-single-blog-prompt way. (If you don't like meaningless explanations just skip this)

I am lying. True or False. Well, If I were to say it were true, then I would be lying as in that statement, I told the truth. But if I was in fact telling the truth, ignoring that fact, it means I am lying on that statement. But If I lied about me lying, I would be telling the truth which is contradictory as I am lying. So even if the statement is false that means I am telling the truth. But I cannot be telling the truth because I am lying. Which brings me to my next statement, about lies and truths If you are telling the truth about a truth you are telling the truth. If you are telling a lie about the lie you are telling the truth. So what does this say? If this statement is true its false and if it were false its true. So my final answer is... ah i forgot again. Never mind just move on.
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An better explanation

First for starters lets look and think about the statement. When you look at a lie maybe something like we call Cinda (first thing away from register 26) horrible nicknames everyday which is obviously a lie. So if you say true you are referring to us calling Cinda horrible nicknames everyday and if you say False you are also referring to us calling Cinda horrible nicknames everyday. But with the statement I am lying the only thing you can refer to is the fact that you are lying. Since it refers to itself, it is called self-referential. This is also part of the paradox. Now the mathematical way. Now since this statement only deals with true or false lets make true a + and false or lying a - . since the statement I am lying is a - you can see how it continues. In math a - times a - is a + and a + times a - or a -times a + is a -. In other words:

- X - = +
+ X - = -
- X + = -

So saying true to this statement results in a - times a + which is a -. But - means lying so what you put as a truth comes out as a lie.
On the other hand saying false to this statement results in a - times a - which is a +. But + means truth so what you put as a lie comes out as a truth.

Weird isnt it. This sentence is a contradiction, or a paradox, more referred to as the liar's paradox. It is difficult to actually understand it.

Philosophy Should you criticise people or the opinions they have?

Should you criticise people or their opinions?

Criticism is both beneficial and bad to people. The beneficial part is, it gives you chance to improve. Why would there be three people as judges in Singapore or American Idol telling you all your weak points and telling you "you suck" blatantly? These judges have high standards, but also are giving tips to improve (although it seems like insults) . More relevant is RS, where the three judges critisize your work, in order to make it improve, to become the best or at least better. Critisizing people could make them change for the better too. When you get a job, criticism is important. It could even be part of your job. But to put it in way, criticism can give your boss think that you are good.

But also it has its bad points. critisizing people can cause them emotional breakdowns, lose their will to continue and perservere. It depends on how harsh you are. Well also it is wrong to criticise people's opinion as your opinion on that matter may be different but not better. Even if their views are more extremist (government protesters chaining themselves to trees) they may not be wrong (in your opinion) . In their opinion, you may be wrong!

So criticism wins 8 - 5 lines. Criticise away ! (Not on me I dont need useless comments or rants)

Perfect World

Perfect worlds are not possible. firstly, the way perfect is defined, it would be due to perspective anyway. All the itty bitty little details have to be liked by everyone, then everyone would call it perfect. But there are too many likings by different people, like when you ask a bunch of playground kids on their perfect world, one would go "Oh Oh I want the volcanoes to be made of chocolate!" " No! No, chocolate makes me dizzy, Sugar Peanut for mountain please!" "I'm allergic to peanut, what about a sugar mountain?" So we all have different definitions of perfect, and what are the chances of two, with all their choices of things and even position of them. Let alone the entire world, be the same??? Also, human nature is also to be better than the rest, greedy, selfish, caring only about ourselves. These characteristics could soon destroy us, so how would we be able to make a perfect world. Before a perfect world, there need to be perfect people. But I cannot say Im perfect, or anything I do is perfect, and along with perfect, everything has to be the same. I also cannot say others or their characteristics are perfect. There is always room to improve. Another point is, even if there were perfect worlds, can they actually be maintained? If they cant, they are not perfect. In Bhuddism ( I've read books) To become perfect and happy is to successfully detach yourself from any of lifes desires, and care for others before yourself. Even then you are not perfect. Perfection of the world is not possible.

Philosophy Truth and Everything but the truth (lie)

If everybody thought something is true, is it true?

Not always. Lets say an easy example: A popular party (maybe from a certain school in bishan) announces and uses subliminal messaging and propaganda to say "Hwa Chong Sucks" in a way like "HWA CHONG SUCKS???? no way !" ( just look at the capital letters) ok fine away from that and everyone thinks the party is right. Obviously its not right? (HWA CHONG ROCKS) Lets say also about lawyers. Two of them, fighting over some random case: lets say a girl was raped by a man and the woman sues the man. Lawyers are like fighting over a blind case, with only little evidence. There are three scenarios: The usual one being the man did rape the girl, the less surprising one being the girl was raped by someone but not the man and he was framed ( also interesting) and another one being the girl was not raped and was suing the man to get money (who knew women could be this evil) no matter which case, its not what is really right, what did happen that day, it is about which lawyer can convince the judge. No one had saw and could prove that which of the scenarios were the truth. So the better lawyer wins, and gets money even if the client is obviously in the wrong. So the person who wins may not be right, although the public believes it is right. On a side note, lawyers are teased and joked because even if any of the three possibilities happen, the lawyers are the beneficiary. (They get paid no matter what, a lot and to put it into symbols, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$)

So in this case, if one lawyer manages to convince the judge, even if that may not be the truth but everyone still thinks the lawyer is right.

Truth can be influenced and distorted easily. If you once thought this but a influential group that you trust and believe thought that, you would also think that so you are not giving what you really think (which is this[boy this is more confusing than I thought]) Usually truth are distorted for a person's gain. A weird truth that is distorted (lie) is a white lie. Its usually harmless and looks something like this.

Wife: Hows this dress?

Husband thinks : *Boy she looks idiotic*

Husband (politically correct answer): Darling you look great in anything!

Distorting truth can also be used to blow up or quieten down incidents removing information that is not wanted, through the media and stuff like television newspapers and the Internet. Then people would get a wrong impression of this.

55 fiction- random tries again/computer games

Getting together:

You could call it a party. Foreigners, strangers, does not matter. We are chatting about events in our lives.

I see my colleague. Wincing with pain, I grip her arm. She smiles.

Only if everyone could keep quiet, they would hear me shouting. After all, buried alive by debris is a bad way to die.

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On to the real stuff:

"Teenagers should not be allowed to play computer games"

The probable answer is NO WAY. I mean a teenager not liking to play computer games, what are the chances. Altough computer games have their bad points, but the term responsibility is very important. I play computer games too, but not everyday. You must have self discipline, even during the freer holidays and stop yourself from playing hours on and on. Having this statement is like this argument:

"Want to go to place A?"

"Yes, but going there is difficult, you see... blah blah blah... are you sure you have the time?"

"fine, then we dont go."

" But I want to go to place A."

"Then we'll go."

"But its so difficult."

"Then we wont go altogether."

Computer games may be similar to this. As computer games have many bad points (which adults always LOVE to emphasize) it would be better to just not play them altogether. Like I said, responsibility is important. You have responsibility to stop playing at a certain time (eg midnight) then your parents will definitely allow you to play.

Well to my opinion, not all teenagers do not have self discipline or responsibility (double negatives) so not all teenagers should not be stopped from playing computer games. I believe I have enough responsibility to play computer games (teehee) and unlike somebody, do not spam videos like Arby n the ch33f (ignore that).

Gah. Blocked. Continued if possible.

My first semester as a secondary school student

do not mind, but this mEssage is so Not written in CODE. got that ? Do not try to tell me hat this message is in code. ( all right you should be still able to read this )

Few mnthos sncie my PSLE, and I am porgsesirng wlel. I am sifetaisd wtih my rlusets.

Fine I have to hand this up during before the end of the period so i will REALLY start writing. (inay igpay atinlay)

Summary

1. Plus side
2. Minus side
3. "Interesting" points
4. Future plans

1. Fine. I am satisfied with my school, consortium (GEP), class(not), and CCA. I am in the school band, not one of the choices I once had in mind (actually air rifle). I play the horn, which is a difficult instrument, but band is a fun CCA, there are competitions/ performances and you get to enjoy the music (except the screwed up notes) Even though CCAs in Hwa Chong have HUGE commitment,(we have to go back in the holidays) there are outings/ many, many tours overseas, but we do not have any currently ( because of a particular swine flu *ahem*)

On to the next point. I like the lessons, especially IS (infocomm studies) We get to learn basic skills in whatever, flash, photoshop, DevC++ (this isnt really a english word), movie maker or HTML (computer language, please ignore) And the lessons are very useful, instead of spamming Homework (unlike a certain school in Bishan) Hwa Chong is more projects based. This is more practical as you would not get homework when you grow up to work. So the point of all this is: I like projects where teamates do not slack.

Another plus is blogging. Looking back at P4 (horrible memories of another philmann like person) I realise that there is not much to stuff on a blog, but with hwa chong there is much rewards for your thinking (eg ace points) for topics, usually on interesting things around the world and a bit of current knowledge. And it takes up more time than homework, but I like these as there is usually no time limit. There is also alot of competitons or ace stuff (like tours in history), which demand time but are really fun .

Minus

2. This is not a rant. How I wish it was, So It would be So much easier. A boy from hwa chong is more stressed than most from a neighbourhood school - there is Rarely Any chance to No, not rant, To rest. (codes are difficult to write)

School is more demanding now. Obvious, but now we are progressing into the third term, where it will be the most demanding time, to max out our ACE. Problems may start to crop up, like Philmann (yet again) in another saga of behavior problems. Hwa Chong really pushes you to your limit. That means higher stress levels. But I go along, taking everything as it comes. Now, homework and projects are much more than during P6. Exam results are also important, CCA is a lot of commitment and my holidays are filled up with events. The End of year exams will pose a biger challenge. But for now, I am more slack. Also, troublemakers are also my hates, those who disrupt the class. There are not really many minuses about this school though.

Interesting facts:

3. This is a whole list of facts that encompasses what interesting points there may be.

Firstly, ispark as GEP ers are usually looked down, teased on but this year, the rivalry seems to the extent the consortiums are booing each other now.

Secondly, table tennis is played alot in school this year (wonder if last year was the same)

Thirdly, Music is looked on as a joy, or fear, because of a certain teacher...

Also, for this semester, Monday is the best day for 1i1ans. (arent you supposed to HATE mondays)

And to add on, the stuff in a classroom spoil unbelievably quickly

Amazingly, there are so many reports of lost things in Hwa Chong.

Also, on some days, everybody stays in class to rush homework

eight (darn ran out of stuff), it is nice to sit in your class as the wind just blows, and it is very cooling

nine when we have to make trips to eg. the computer lab or to the science/ art block and to music class, we rely on Matthew as a marker (to get there before him)

ten, it is tradition to stay in class on certain days because of long queue at the canteen

eleven, we give a stare or keep away from people at the end of the term who get an MSG of more than 4.0 in 1i1

twelve, the computer always needs fixing

Future plans:

4. I believe I have a few goals to achieve

• To get into icouncil
• get an MSG of below 1.5 (currently not)
• to beat xianda at playing the horn
• To get a new horn/ mouthpiece

But with these I probably have to work harder (be more enthusiastic in lessons and Band) and then get into CSE in sec 3.

to be continued??