Saturday, July 25, 2009 / 10:35 PM
Totto-Chan
The story taakes place just before World War 2 in Japan. A little girl named Totto-Chan got expelled from her previous school because she made a din in class. Therefore, she got accepted into a new school called Tomoe Gakuen. The school was not like any other school. This school was unique. They have train carriages as classrooms and library. The headmaster, also known as Mr Kobayashi is unlike other teachers, he teaches things that are not taught in other schools. Their timetable is also unique, they can study whatever that want but, have to finish their quota. They also go for numerous exciting excursions. Everything was fine andd Totto-chan enjoyed her new school until one day, the school got bombed during the war. Though Mr Kobayashi wanted to rebuild Tomoe, it was never achieved.
Well mostly the part that intrigued me is when the headmaster let everyone swim naked together in the school's pool. The reason why he did it also made sense. He said that everyone is equal and must not be ashamed of their bodies. The part that dissapointed me was when Rocky (Totto-chan's dog) almost bit of Totto-chan's ear. It was not really dissapointment but more of "grossed-out". Who knew the dog which Totto-chan loved so much would bit her ear.
I have learn to look forward to school everyday as there are new things to learn and exciting things to do. This can be applied in the future as well. Actually it can be applied to my entire life. Look forward for tomorrow, you will never know what new things it may bring.
Yes, I wholeheartedly reccomend this to my friends. It is interesting to read and there are lessons learnt.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 / 5:40 AM
In July 2009, there was a riot in Xinjiang between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese, it left 600-800 people dead. The cause of the riot has been building up over the years and the violence took place now on July 2009. It was because of ethnic tensions between the Uighurs and Han Chinese. Government curbs on religion and culture and an influx of migrants who now are the majority in most key citis including Urumpi.
The situation in Xinjiang is terrible and it leaves one feeling in pain and pity. Countries with different races should learn to co-exist with each other and not fight among themselves. They should practice Racial Harmony like us in Singapore. To expand their knowledge on each other races and culture. If not, the government or state official should step in and help cool down the riot.
If this ever happened in Singapore, the first thing that should be done is to enforce a law to ensure that the riot does not get too violent. For example to bring in the army so that the situation will not get out of control. Like previous riots in Singapore, the government can impose a curfew to ensure that no one gets injured. It might affect everyone's daily lives but it helps protect them. We cannot let such things crumble our relation with each other and the nation.
Sunday, July 19, 2009 / 2:49 AM
Research:
-British colonised Sri Lanka between 1796 aand 1948. They favoured the Tamils.
-The government in Sri Lanka today is controlled by the Sinhalese.
-They Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948 granted citizenship only to those whose forefathers were born there.
-Many Indians became stateless.
-Indian Tamils did not have basic rights such as;
- Education
- Jobs
- Housing
- Voting
-Indian Tamils still contributed significantly to the Sri Lankan economy by working in tea plantations.
- The different races in
Sri lanka are not evenly distributed throughout the island.
-Sinhalese peasants were moved from densely populated southwestern and central areas to tamil areas in the north.
-Buddhist monks and the Sinhalese army occupied tamil lands.
-Tamils were not happy.
-Sinhala became the official language of Sri Lanka in 1956.
-Tamils were given 3 years to learn Sinhala or be fired from their jobs.
-Because of that, it was hard for the Tamils to find jobs or get promoted.
-The new University admission criteria was introduced by the government in 1970.
-Tamil students must score higher than the Sinhalese students to get into the same course together.
-There are less tamils entering University because of this requirement.
-Tamils were not happy with the way the government treated them so they had a meeting to discuss the tamil's demands. (Peacefully)
-They were rejected.
-They formed their own group, Liberation of the Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE).
-Began terrorising Sinhalese people.
Plot:
Main characters : Divya and Genga.
- Genga wants to join the University to be a doctor.
- She was reminded that she had to score higher to get into the University.
- Fustrated, joined the LTTE somewhat forcefully. (Got brainwashed by the LTTE of all the good things she could accomplish)
- Divya held a grudge as Genga didnt tell her anything and left without saying goodbye.
- LTTE was about to attack Sinhalese people in the south.
- Genga was opted to be the Suicide bomber.
-Villagers packed up and prepared to leave for India (Divya included)
- Divya and her family had to go to the south to be able to escape to India.
- She was in a village southwest of Sri Lanka.
- Genga was to bomb that area.
- They met.
- Genga changed her mind and tried to catch up with Divya.
- After hearing what Genga said to her Divya decided to be friends with her again.
- But it was too late, the bomb was being controlled by the LTTE.
- She was left with a minute.
- She shouted at Divya to run away with her family before it was too late.
- Divya couldnt bear to part with her friend.
- In the end she ran away and Genga was left to her fate.
- The story ends with a teardrop on Divya's face.
Sunday, July 12, 2009 / 6:41 AM
'Should Singlish be the official language in Singapore?'
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'Should Singlish be the official language in Singapore?' No, Singlish should not be the official language in Singapore. Singlish comes from the word Singapore and english being combined together. What is Singlish? Singlish is the way most Singaporeans speak. Singlish is not proper english to being with. The sentence structure, other languages being placed into one sentence, and adding extra words like "lah, lor, leh,hor,etc." Since it's not proper english, the Singapore government discourages the usesage of Singlish, that is why they have came up with a programme, Speak Good English. It encourages the young ones in school to speak better english.
The reason being, the Government wants Singaporeans to be able to communicate well with the world as people from overseas might not understand Singlish.
There is an online Singlish dictionary for people to access and find out meanings of words or phrases they dont understand.
http://www.talkingcock.com/html/lexec.phplexicon=lexicon&op=LexPKLTherefore, Singlish should not be an official language in Singapore. Singlish shows weakness in one's english and neither is it something to be proud of.
Monday, July 6, 2009 / 4:27 AM
"Are Singaporeans gracious and socially responsible? Discuss."
There are a lot of things in which you can explore in this topic, especially in view of the H1N1 virus and how Singaporeans are managing the situation on an individual basis.
Take note that you must utilise PEEL in your discussion and cite sources if possible. Word count will be 200 to 300 words.
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"Are Singaporeans gracious and socially responsible? Discuss."
Most Singaporeans are gracious and socially responsible. However, there are a few who are not.For example, many years back the Singapore Government imposed a law that gum is not allowed in Singapore. The reason why they put a ban to gum was because Singaporeans could not throw away the gum into bins. They usually stick it where ever possible. For example, railings, under tables, on the wall, etc. They were not gracious enough to think of others and it was a hassle for the government to clean up after their act. Therefore, the ban of gum. Until now there are still citizens out there who still chew on gums and leave it behind at public areas.
Not forgetting the gracious people of Singapore. During the SARS and the current H1N1 outbreak, people have rushed to buy masks, thermometers, sanitisers, etc. When they have symptoms of the virus, they would think of others and not go out and spread it. If they have even the slightest symptoms, they will wear masks in order not to spread it. In schools, we conduct tempreature takings everyday to monitor our tempreature. During the SARS outbreak in 2003,
I remember the whole school buying aniseptic wipes to clean the table before use as a precaution. The Ministry of Health (MOH) is doing it's best to help out those with contact of H1N1. Most of them are being quarrantined. Still, there are inconsiderate people out there not wanting to go for treatment.
Social Responsibility, for example the inconsiderate people with H1N1 that do not want to go fo treatment, they are endangering the public. They only think for themselves and they are not responsible enough to do the right thing. They are only going to make things worse by hiding. If it was a socially responsible person, he/she would call 993 (the hotline for the hospital if you think you contacted H1N1) and he/she will not wander into the crowds outside.
In Singapore there are actually a balance of gracious and non-gracious people.
