War - A Living Hell 5/25 HBL

Day 15:

Another day of misery, of hurt. I can hear moans and groans of pain from the various people around me. The sickness has taken its toll on these brave and courageous men and woman, people I have known since young. And who to blame for this heinous crime? The U.S. military and their partner in crime: Agent Orange.

Basic societal rule demands that one would have to take care of someone you've purposely harmed, yet those who have caused this are running free. Is there no justice in this world! They have caused so torment, so much misery with no retribution coming for them. It simply isn't fair. All that hopes and dreams, shattered. All because of a single mistake of the U.S. military. Somebody must pay for this! I will not let this go by unavenged! Those murderers shall be killed! By any means necessary. Even is it means joining the rebels, those people whose life hood is killing, not honest work like farming. Rumor has it that Shifty Will has... connections with the rebels. I must find him, for it is a sliver of hope, no matter how slim.

I pushed myself up from the ground, teeth gritted against the excruciating pain. Shoving the pain aside, I started walking. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", this journey, though not a thousand miles, has begun. Far off, I can here the song "Dawn of a Rebellion" from Rebel without a Cause. I grinned mirthlessly, oh, yes, I was a rebel, but not without a cause, certainly not...

Smiling - A Study of Why We Smile

Why do we smile? It is a question many have not thought of, yet a question that everyone should consider. We smile practically everyday, after all. There are mainly two different types of smiles. The 'voluntary' and the 'involuntary'.
The voluntary type is like when you smile merely to be polite. For example, when your aunt gives you a pair of woolen socks for Christmas (just and example). Normally, it would be alright but FOR CHRISTMAS!!! Since I live in Singapore, a pair of woolen socks are near useless. And giving someone socks for Christmas is just plain cheep. In this kind of situation, one would smile to be polite so as to not insult your aunt (thought she might deserve it) and embarrass your family by being rude. This type of smiling is very commonly used in our lives as most of us are hard pressed to find anything else to do when faced with this type of situation (and it happens really often in our lives). This type of smiles are usually insincere.
The second type of smiling, the involuntary, is the real kind of smiles. It is the kind of smile that lights up the whole world. This type of smile occurs when you do not consciously smile, hence the term 'involuntary'. An example of when you use this type of smile is when someone says something funny and you smile unconsciously or, when it is really funny, laugh. Here's a joke: How do you make a hot dog stand? Take away its chair :) If you DID find that funny, you would have laughed, or at the very least smile. This type of smile is also very common, maybe even more than the first type.
In conclusion, the two main reasons we smile are:

• To be polite - voluntary


• To express our joy or happiness - involuntary

Thanks for reading!

LA Mind Map - Vietnam War

Blog Prompts 10 - Does crisis bring out the best in man?

What is the best in man? Personally, I feel that compassion is the best in man but that is too shallow. It is not truly the best in man. The true best in man is altruism. What is altruism? The Oxford Study Dictionary’s definition of altruism is unselfishness. However, altruism is not merely unselfishness. The word unselfishness does not do the concept of altruism justice. Altruism is not just unselfishness, it is putting others before self, it is to put your own life at risk for the good of others, it is to help others knowing that you may very well die in the attempt. Now that we have established that the best in man is altruism, it is time to go back to our original topic. Does crisis bring out altruism, the best in man? My answer, sad is it may be, is no.

Firstly, as demonstrated by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, crisis does not bring out the best in man. It in fact does the opposite. Shortly after the hurricane moved away, residents of New Orleans began looting stores for food and water as it was not available to them through other means. Reports of carjacking, murders, thefts, and rapes in New Orleans flooded the news. ‘Sniper’ fire was even targeted at rescue helicopters, relief workers, and police officers by relocation or evacuation resisters. Of those who choose to resist relocation or evacuation there are two types. Those who are staying because of sentiments and those who are staying for the easy prey.

I (kind of) respect those who are staying for sentimental reasons that I can understand. New Orleans have been their home for so long, from since when they were little toddlers till now. It has been their only home and now they don’t know where to go. On the other hand, their homes are no longer safe and it would be wise to leave. Brutal practicality wins over sentiments for me. The other type of resister, the ones staying for the easy prey, are the ones that I will be using to demonstrate my thoughts that crisis brings out the worst in man. Normally, our society is bound by the laws and rules our founding fathers lay, but in the absence of these laws, chaos runs unchecked and our normally bound ‘dark side’ is unleashed. Things we wouldn’t even consider doing normally is brought to the forefront of our minds when our survival is at stake. Even unnecessary things such as carjacking and rape are done all because of one thing. The removal of laws that keeps order within our society allows man the freedom to do whatever he likes and that resulted in many people doing unlawful things now that they have the chance to do so.

Moreover, when disaster strikes, most people would adopt the ‘every man for himself’ mentality. As proven when a tourist asked a police officer for assistance and got the response, "Go to hell, it's every man for himself.", when people are confused or scared, they would automatically look out for number one, that is, themselves. This mentality often results in selfishness and thus makes any thought of helping others near impossible, much less altruism.

Yes, I do admit that there are rare cases where altruism is demonstrated, like the recent Japan earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis. The nation suffered blow after blow, yet it still stood firm. There were no reports of looting or theft or murders. Despite their need for food, people still lined up for their rations and even gave part of their own rations to others who need it more. However, these cases are far and few between. Perhaps it is that the darkness in the aftermath of disasters calls out to the darkness in our souls that makes us behave this way, but more often than not, crisis brings out the worst in man.

SYF 2011, bring it on...

"It's the results that matter, not the method." That is the Singaporean way, with what better example than our tough exam-based educational system? For the past four months, I've been putting all my effort into learning and mastering the two Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) pieces we are playing, with only the goal of getting Gold with Honors in the SYF Central Judging. For those of you who do not know, I am in Hwa Chong Military Band and I play the flute. The SYF Central Judging for Bands have begun this Monday. Four days have passed, and now it is our turn.

From day one, all the blood, sweat and tears I have put into band has been for the sake of getting that prestigious Gold with Honors, and I do believe that we can get Gold with Honors. I'm not blowing my own trumpet here (ha ha, so funny), I really do feel that we can achieve that goal. Yet today, when my seniors gave us our 'prep talk', one of them said something that floats hauntingly in my mind.

He said,"The journey matters more than the goal. Of course, the goal is still important, but it is the journey that matters." This is indeed true. If at the end of the journey, the traveller has not changed for the better, then what was the point of the entire journey? Sometime during all the hard work that I have put into band, I have forgotten that. I have forgotten that I work so hard, sacrificed so many hours, practiced so many times, it is not just for that Gold with Honors. It is to become a better flute player, a better musician, and a better person in general. I have forgotten that music, like death, in one of the great universal unifiers. Music breaches all racial barriers, transcends all religious beliefs, and sweeps aside all our differences to bring us together as one. I have forgotten all those, but now I remember.

As I look back, to when I first picked up the flute, when I blew my first note, when I learnt my first major piece, when I first performed in front of an audience, when I first played in a concert, when I first started learning my SYF pieces, I realise that I have come a long way since all those 'firsts'. And I know that whatever the band gets tomorrow, I will have no regrets. No matter what we get, I will know that I have improved as a flute player, as a musician, and I will continue to sustain that growth for as long as I live. In this aspect of my life, at least, the journey matters more than the end point. Tomorrow, when I play those two pieces, I play it not for the Gold with Honors, but for myself. I play those pieces to express myself, my deepest thoughts. Music played from the bottoms of hearts will reach out to and touch bottoms of hearts. Four days have passed, and only three bands have gotten Gold with Honors. The bar has been raised, the challenge has been set, Gold with Honors no longer means just a notch above Gold, but we're ready. Let's do this...

Blog Prompts 9 - Should students be given the autonomy to develop their own curriculum?

Imagine a school where students decide what they want to learn, and when. Where students pursue their own interest. Where students learn essential life skills voluntarily. That is the kind of school a school can be if students were given the freedom to develop their own curriculum.

Firstly, being given the power to create their own curriculum, the students would feel more 'free' and this would thus be beneficial to their rate of learning. For example, a student under the impression that he is 'forced' to study a particular subject would perform infinitely worse than a student that feels that he is studying the exact same subject. It is that extra element of the feeling of freedom that brings in that special dimension to learning. This would allow the students who develop their own curriculum to learn much better than those who have their curriculum developed by others.

On the other hand, some people believe that students are not matured enough to decide things such their own curriculum for themselves. However, I believe that if we never let students decide important thing for themselves, then they may never mature. Only through handling great responsibilities does one be come more mature and thus more independent.

On whether we should implement this is Hwa Chong, I feel that we should 'test drive' this experiment among a few students in Hwa Chong first before deciding whether to inreoduce it to the entire school as a whole or just scrape the project altogether.

Blog Prompts 8 - What are the qualities you look for in a potential MP/ Minister?

Personally, I feel that a potential MP/Minister should have:

• Empathy

I'm pretty sure that anyone out there would know why a future leader of the nation would need empathy. What other reason is there than to empathize with the very people they serve? Notice my use of the word 'serve', not 'lead'. Personally, I believe in servant leadership, and that brings me to the next quality I would look for in a potential Mp/Minister:

• Humility

As always, a leader must learn humility, as must everyone else. A leader must be able to accept that he/she does not know absolutely everything and must admit that everyone makes mistakes, including themselves. And of course, a future leader of the nation must have:

• Experience

As a lot of people apparently think so from all the online 'slamming' I've seen against Tin Pei Ling, age is a crucial factor in choosing a candidate. I partially agree with that thought, but I would like to modify it to experience. So what if someone is young? I feel that it is not the age that counts, but the years of experience. An 80 year-old man might not have as much experience in politics and serving the people than a 30 year-old man. If age is a deciding factor in choosing a candidate, why not get a 1000 year-old man (who would have the unfortunate coincidence of being dead) to be our next Prime Minister? Of course, a dead person would be sorely lacking in the next quality and that is:

• Drive

A leader must have the passion to succeed, the drive to bring the nation forward as one, then only can the country succeed. Without the same passion and drive, the country would not be able to grow and enter the global market. It would forever remain stagnant and in this competitive world, to remain stagnant is to be forgotten in the ruins of antiquity. And last but not least:

• Integrity

As the famous saying saying goes 'power corrupts'. An MP/Minister should have the integrity to not fleece of money from the government's funding for his/her own purposes. For when the people finds out that the MP/Minister has been taking their money for selfish purposes, the Mp/Minister would instantly lose all the trust and rapport the people had with and in him/her and he/she would never be able to earn it back as long as he/she lives.

After all that explanation and stuff, I'm sure you know why those are the qualities I look for in a potential MP/Minister. If you have any thoughts or comments on this issue, or any other qualities you would like to see in a potential MP/Minister, just comment on this post but NO SLAMMING PLEASE!!! This is a neutral blog post that does not intend to cause any harm to anyone in this world at any point in time. So please respect that ideology.

Online Lesson Wk 2 - Descriptive Piece on War

I can feel their eyes on me. I know how I must look like, with my deep, sunken eyes, eyes that have lost all hope, eyes without life. War does that to you. Having seen countless people dying, the survivors shuffling among the ruins of their former homes, living yet dead, this old soldier have seen enough of war. War is not glorious, nor is it clean. War is gory, war is messy, war is not knowing whether it's the last second you'd ever live, war is seeing your platoon-mates, people you have trained, fought, done practically everything together, die in the blink of an eye. War is hell.

After all these things, is it surprising to lose all hope of life? To lose the belief that tomorrow would be a new day, a new beginning? To give up living? For what else is there to live for? What are we but pawns to be sacrificed in a politician's game? We are expendable. We can easily be replaced, for many do not know the truth about war, many are clamoring for the chance to fight in this 'holy' war, the war to end all wars.

No, I must continue living, if not for myself, then for the green recruit they would send to replace me, for those who still do not know the truth about war, to bring the light of knowledge to chase away the darkness of ignorence in those people's minds, to let them know the truth about war...

Blog Prompts 7 - Should we care about what happens in places far away from where we live in general?

Well, I feel that we should care about what happens in places far away from us. "Why?!" many of you may cry. "Those things happen in places far away,they do not affect us! They only happen there! They won't happen here!" But that's where you are wrong.

Any incident that happens anywhere on Earth can happen just as quickly, just as mercilessly anywhere else. There is no such thing as an isolated incident or event that will only happen once and at that particular place. As George Santayana once said, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." And so we too must learn from both past and present challenges and use that knowledge to avoid such incidents in the future. Anyway, it just happens that one particular incident happened today that I would like to bring light to. A few people who I will not be naming (*ahem*losers*cough*) were caught playing computer games in class today after school. For many of them, it was their second offence. Like I said, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." I only knew of this as I have lent my laptop to one of those who were caught. But its alright people, I will be getting it back tomorrow and the blogging shall continue. I'm blogging this on a 7 year-old (at least) computer (I'm not joking). Anyway, back to the topic.

Those people have been given a warning and have already gotten their laptops confiscated for a month, yet they persist in their behavior. If what George Santayana said is true, and I believe it is so, then these people would keep on getting their laptops confiscated again and again unless they learn from their mistakes and do not commit such 'crimes' in the future. All in all, I feel that this is why we should care about what happens in places far away from us so as to learn from their mistakes and take precautions against making such mistakes in the future. Illuminano il buio!

Movie Review: 'V for Vendetta'

This movie is set in the near future, just a few years down the road. The government rules the people with an iron fist and the people live in constant fear of the secret police, also known as the 'Fingermen'. 'V' is a freedom fighter who fights against the totalitarian government using terrorist tactics and has gained extraordinary speed and reflexes through a secret government project to create a biological weapon. V's preferred weapons are knives which he straps all over his body. One night, V rescues Evey, a girl who works at the state-run British Television Network, from the Fingermen and brings her to a rooftop to watch his destruction of the Old Bailey. This is preceded by the tune '1812 Overture' being played on the public announcement system. I find the destruction of the Old Bailey particularly funny and you can see for yourself why by just visiting YouTube in your spare time. Thank goodness for modern technology, huh? It's one of my favourite movies not just because of the great storyline and the special effects(it was made by the creators of The Matrix after all), but also for the significance of the movie in our present day society.
The movie deals with issues such as corruption, freedom and liberty with a dash of symbolism. This movie is quite similar in concept to the recent uprising in Egypt and thus is relevant in today's society even more because of that. I hate to ruin a good movie but V died in the end and I want to make a point about that. My point is that we, as human beings, treasure life a lot but for the right cause, we are prepared to die. Not that I am encouraging anyone to sacrifice themselves for the 'greater good' but that that should be the only reason why we kill fellow human beings or ourselves, to serve a cause greater than you or me can complete alone, to do so so that future generations will benefit from your actions. That is your legacy.
And now my last few words. Search 'V for Vendetta ' on YouTube and the 1st one is the trailer, the 2nd V's introductory speech to Evey with an insane amount of alliteration, the 3rd his speech to London after he hijacked the television broadcasting station and the 4th the final fight scene which has really great special effects. If you want to see the Old Bailey getting blown up, search 'V for Vendetta Old Bailey' and click on the 1st one. V seemed quite insane as he laughs when the Old Bailey explodes. Towards the end of the final fight scene, there is a sentence V said that I would like to quote to end my 'review'. "Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr Creedy. And ideas are bulletproof."

Blog Prompt 6 - "Where Is The Love" by the Black Eyed Peas

Today, we will be discussing the song "Where is the Love?" by the Black Eyed Peas. You know, the one that was very popular a loooooong time ago. Click here for the lyrics. The issues discussed are war, hatred and discrimination which are all closely linked and are still quite prominent in today's society. Well, it is really as they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. How more paradoxical can you get?
Anyway, I feel that the root cause of the problems above, mainly discrimination, is that we can't differentiate the information which are given to us. Now in the modern age, all of us are getting spoofed information over the Internet and the majority of us, myself included, are unable to differentiate true or false information. The Internet is, electronically speaking, an enormous platform and thus people would be hard pressed to find the reliability of the information we see on the Internet. Most of the information we get over the Internet is one-sided or biased and this leads to us forming stereotypes which leads to us becoming biased, prejudiced and eventually, discriminating. If you do not know the difference between stereotype, bias, prejudice and discrimination, look it up on Google. I'm not going to just spoon-feed you the information.
Anyway, the presence of discrimination makes it easier for wars to get started and this would lead to hatred and even more discrimination. Also, it is quite a nice song and you should listen to it on YouTube if you have not yet.

Blog Prompt 5 - Can students from poor families can succeed in life?

Today, we are discussing the topic of whether students from poor families can succeed in life. Apparently, MM Lee says that people with a PhD should marry other people with a PhD so as to produce intelligent children who will then succeed in life. But ask yourself this, what is success? There is no definite answer and so let's just take that to succeed in life is to make lots of money. Personally, I feel that to succeed in life is to be happy and to die contented and peacefully in your sleep but let's not go there now. Anyway, the basis of the theory in my second sentence is based on the assumption that parents with good genes will pass them on to their children. However, this goes against meritocracy, which is encouraged by the government and means that if you work hard, you will succeed. Working hard, the basic essence of meritocracy, is also the only way to break the poverty cycle which is depicted below:





Though, it is rather pixilated, the basic idea is that a poor parent would not have enough money to send their children to a good school and thus the child grows up to be rather uneducated and this results in a poor parent as he/she would not be able to get a good job due to their low education and the cycle repeats itself again and again. BUT, rich and talented parents do not guarantee a successful child. After all, talent is nothing without hard work. As Albert Einstein once said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." My opinion mirrors his on this issue. Even if one has the money to buy assessment books or pay for tuition fees, that is not a sure-fire way to ensure that your child succeeds in life. Hard work and determination is the only road to success. And that is all I have to say on this matter. Thanks for reading. Please comment=]

Description of Atmosphere

The sun rose from the east and shone its golden rays upon the earth. The clouds blushed a rosy pink and then dispersed like wisps of mist in the morning sun. The gilded rays filtered through the silent trees, casting an orange sheen over the entire forest ground. The rising sun struck the morning dew on the trees, making them glow and shine with an inner light that turned the trees into priceless trunks of topaz. Jake turned his face towards the rising sun, feeling its warmth on his face. The sun rose upon the first day of a new world. There was a new hope, a new day.

Blog Prompts 4

As of 2010, only 67% of Singaporeans say they have close friends of a different race, religion or nationality. I feel that this is really a pity though Singapore is mostly made up if Chinese (74.2% of Singapore's population is Chinese - 2009 figures). In that case, a non-Chinese would have to have at least 3 Chinese friends to reach a 100% figure. That is, of course, possible. I feel that we still need to understand other races even though we are the majority as it would be easy to misunderstand someone if you did not understand their culture and religion. Moreover, to understand someone else's religion would be taking the 1st step to forming good life-long relationships with that person

Mind Map - The American Civil War

Blog Prompts 3 - Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

Today, we are discussing about this article about 'Chinese' and 'Western' parents, their methods and the pros and cons. The article can be found here. Those kids sure have it tough! I feel that the examples the article gave are rather extreme and stereotypic and though most people think that way, the truth is that most parents are neither completely 'Chinese' or 'Western' and are in fact somewhere in between. Both methods have their pros and cons but I feel that a combination of both is the best. For example, the author wrote that 'Western parents have to tiptoe around the issue (that their child is fat), talking in terms of "health" and never ever mentioning the f-word, and their kids still end up in therapy for eating disorders and negative self-image'. In this aspect, I feel that the 'Chinese' parent's direct and blunt way of just telling their child that he/she is fat is better as the child might not even realise that he/she is fat and if you, as parents (if you are) do not let your child realise that, he/she would just grow fatter and fatter and most likely will get ridiculed in school. Perhaps this is the reason that 'Western' kids end up in therapy for eating disorders and negative self-image.

24th January's Home Learning

The theme of this comic strip is partly humor and partly to demonstrate that our advance in technology is not an advance in our morals, in fact, it is a degrade in our social morals. The white dove(or pigeon) represents the past when we where more advanced in our morals and the black rabbit represents the present where our advance in technology pulls us back and caused our morals to degrade.

I choose the dove(or pigeon) to mostly be white to show that it is 'purer' than the rabbit, which is mostly black. The black rabbit lost the race as it stopped to answer it's phone which I used to show that technology is pulling us back. Thanks for reading!

Blog Prompts 2

Is it better to have not known something than to have known something and to ultimately lose it later? Well, to know something and then to lose it would be very painful and might cause you a lot of heartache but, you will know the happiness and joy of knowing the something and that could be enough for you to carry with you throughout your whole life. Some people might not want to know the something in order to escape the heartache that will come with losing it. To those people I say this: if, by your definition, it is better not to know something in order to escape the heartache that will come with losing it, than what is the point of life? You will lose everything in the end anyway and besides, nothing is without risks. If you still have that mentality, then why are you still living(not that I'm suggesting suicide)? You know life the moment you are born and you will ultimately lose it. There is no escaping this fact. The fact that you are still alive and reading this shows that you do not really believe that it is better not to know something in order to escape the heartache that will come with losing it. Ciao!

Blog Prompts 1 - Have you ever been excluded from a group of people, or been in a group of people who excludes other people?

Two year ago when I was in Primary 6, there was this guy my class who was severely overweight and was the subject of much casual bullying. one day during PE, we were required to run the shuttle run which was 4 x 100m. When it was the overweight guy's turn to run, he ran quite slowly and clumsily as he could not stop properly. The bullies in the class laughed and some people just followed due to the so-called 'mob-mentality'. I cannot say that I defended the student but neither did I laugh and that was a source of comfort for him. From that day onwards we were friends but both of us were quite quite so I did not know much about him beyond the surface. He loved Science and got me much more interested in Science that I was at that time.

Debate: Is Lying Justifiable?

So, is lying justifiable? Most of you will say 'Yes. it is.' since all of us have lied before and will not want to be caught in a spot if we say no. I feel that the answer should be sometimes as there are these so called 'white lies' which people claim that are told for benign reasons. Benign is an adjective that means kindly, by the way. But are telling 'white lies' good for the recipient? Say the your aunt is slightly plump and when she asks you whether she is fat, do you say that she is fat or that she is just perfect to make her feel happy? However, if you keep on telling her that she is perfect and then suddenly one day someone not so considerate tells her that she is fat and then your aunt would be crushed as all the time she was thinking she was perfect because of you and suddenly someone tells her that she is fat! If this really happens, should you have told your aunt that she is perfect? You think about it. Of course, if your aunt is severely overweight, you should just tell her the truth, that she is really fat, as it will be good for her health.

In this case, one can argue that you did not tell the 'white lie' with the intention to harm your aunt. By this definition, telling a lie is justifiable until you hurt someone by telling the lie. But then how will you know whether your lie will hurt someone or not? Think about this the next time you are going to tell a lie('cos you will, believe me).