My First Semester as a Secondary One student

As you'll know, the first semester of school is coming to an end. The June Holidays are arriving! I can't wait for the June Holidays. However, as I look back on this first semester, I felt that it was filled with agony, happiness. There were many problems which I faced in my life of being a Secondary One student as well. When school reopened in term 1, I was seriously excited as I just became a Secondary One student and was in Hwa Chong Institution. On the first day, we were introduced to the various things we needed to note in Hwa Chong. We were also introduced to our various teachers teaching us the various subjects. I knew that it would definitely be a big jump from Primary 6 as the number of subjects has increased, our critical thinking skills must be improved, there are more complicating things to learn and our thinking must definitely be more matured as well.

Being a teenager, I must definitely have a more matured state of mind and not continue to have the thinking I used to have when I was in Primary 6. There are many more things we have to do as well, such as ACE projects, a project for the Project's Day Competition and CIP. At first, I found it very difficult to cope as my time management was not very good. However, now, I have adapted to the life in Hwa Chong better. Furthermore, when I was doing a project with some of my friends and classmates, we had some disputes and some quarrels. But after a while, we were able to resolve the matter and complete the project. In term 1 and a bit of term 2, I was actually also the Chairman of my class and had to lead the class. In term 1, my class did not too cad for their academics, clinching 2nd in the cohort. We were elated when this result was announced by our consortium director, Mr Sim during the consortium assembly. It was certainly an achievement very good for our class.

After a few days of school in the first term, we had to spend two afternoons visiting various CCA groups and decide which CCA we are interested in so that we can join that CCA. As all of you should know by now, it is compulsory for all Secondary school students to have a CCA. After the try-outs, we had to go for the trials for the various CCAs under our own initiative and decide which CCA we really want to join. I went for the squash trials, waterpolo trials and track and field trials. In the end, I found out that all three CCAs wanted to take me. However, when we were supposed to put down our choices, I put Track And Field as my first, Waterpolo as my second, and Squash as my third. When the results were posted on the notice board on the back of my class, I found out that I was taken into Track And Field and I became a thrower, throwing javelin. I was happy that I was taken by them, but the training was quite tough for me. However, after a while, I got used to it and even found out that other sports CCAs' training are much more tougher than what I am doing now. I was happy at my CCA and actually, there was a time when I was thinking of whether I should change to waterpolo or not. However, after much thinking and hesitation, I decided to remain in Track And Field.

In term 1, as I could not cope with the homework and tests, I was very stressed out and felt a little depressed. However, although I was stressed, I still managed to revise my subjects, getting A1s for all the subjects except for English. For English, I got a C5 and I tried to identify my mistakes, trying not to make the same mistakes again in the future. And really, I improved in this term, getting an A1 for the Animal Farm Literature test and a B3 for the Narrative Composition. However, my I got a B3 for my Geography test and a C5 for my History test. I wasn't too happy about it and will try to work even harder for next term's tests. In term 1, my MSG(Mean Subject Grade) was 1.67. My oral participation points were also not bad, getting 4 for two subjects and 3 for the rest. Tomorrow, I will be getting back my result slip for term 2, with my oral participation points, my ACE points and my MSG for term 2. Wonder what I will get... I am seriously very anxious and eager to know what I got so that I can see which areas I need to buck up.

Also, the June Holidays are arriving, with tomorrow being the last day of school. I am seriously excited. Although I hope to play during the holidays, I know that I must also not neglect my studies and revise as much as I can for the upcoming tests. I will do ACE projects and do some CIP as well. During the June Holidays, I will be having training as well, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Therefore, I will not be so free during the holidays. I will definitely try to use the time well so that I can do well for the upcoming tests and the End Of Year Examinations, which I will be hoping to do so.

H1N1 Flu!!

I believe that most of you should know by now what the H1N1 flu is all about. It's effects on people are devastating, claiming many innocent lives. It is known to be able to spread from person to person at an extremely fast speed. Many measures have been taken to ensure the safety of Singaporeans in Singapore. An example is my school, taking measures to ensure the safety of the students.

Now, my school is currently taking the temperatures of students, making sure that they have no fever and are fit to attend school. My school has also reminded the students that if we have any flu symptoms or are sick, we are not to attend school. They have informed us many times, what the trigger temperature is. There was a time when my school also had to take the temperature of every parent who is entering the school compound such that the school is safe. They closed all the gates to enter the school except for one so that parents can only enter there and take their temperatures there. However, in the morning, there are too many cars entering the school compound as compared to after school as many students may have to stay back after school for their CCA or other personal matters. So, to facilitate the cars entering the school compound and to prevent the area outside my school from having a massive traffic jam, they decided not to take the temperatures of parents in the morning, but students can only alight at one particular block in the school. At that particular block, there will be a teacher there, asking the students if they feel unwell. This procedure is called visual screening. It had also been announced that if there was as much as one case of H1N1 flu in my school, there would be a suspension of school. I feel that my school has taken several measures to ensure the students' safety.

While my school is taking measures to fight against this flu now, other countries are also taking measures to combat against this flu. Hong Kong had confirmed its first case about a week ago. After the man was being suspected of the flu disease, he was immediately isolated. Metropark Hotel, where the man was at when he had the flu was closed and the hotel workers and guests were placed under quarantine. This is a measure to be taken to protect the flu from spreading to the rest of Hong Kong if one of the guests in the hotel has also contracted the H1N1 flu. Although the hotel workers and guests are unable to go home, I agree with this action being taken as it is for the safety of the other.

Police officers wearing masks to seal off
Metropark Hotel in Hong Kong, where first
confirmed swine flu victim was staying.

Courtesy of http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-05-01-voa39.cfm


The H1N1 flu might be very frightening to some of us, but if we maintain being hygienic, the odds of us contracting the disease will be much lower. Therefore, a piece of advice is that we should be hygienic, no matter when it is and lead a healthy lifestyle.


For the definition of what the H1N1 disease is all about, click here.
For more information on how Hong Kong deals with their first case of the H1N1 flu, click here.

Animal Farm

Courtesy of www.ingilizcenet.com
Found in the search engine, Google.

Animal Farm is a novel. However, it has a significance. It is not just an ordinary novel. It is actually a political satire and also an allegory to the Russian Revolution.

Now, for those of you who have not read Animal Farm, this is a brief summary on it. There is this farm ruled by a man, Mr Jones. On one night, a respectful old boar, Old Major, who is also the leader of the animals, gathered the animals and told them about a dream which he had. It is about a Rebellion against the humans. Old Major feels that it is unfair that the animals were under control of the humans and tells the animals of a song, which is all about a Utopian society. He also teaches the animals principles of Animalism, which is also communism. Soon, the animals chase out Mr Jones and the pigs rise to power. The prominent leaders among the pigs are Snowball and Napoleon. As there was a power struggle and Napoleon had a thirst for power, he reared newborn dogs and made use of them to chase away Snowball. As Napoleon has total control of the animals, he gradually amends the principles of Animalism without the animals notice except for the pigs and in the end, he becomes just like the humans.

In this book, the main characters represent some prominent people in history, during the Russian Revolution. Old Major represents two people in history, Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. Karl Marx was the inventor of the principles of communism while Lenin taught the principles of communism to the peasants of Russia. The animals of Animal Farm represent the peasants of Russia, doing all the blue collar work. The more prominent peasant in Animal Farm is Boxer, blindly following the leader, Napoleon. However, he was sent to be slaughtered in the end. He was a very hardworking peasant and was loyal to the farm. Snowball and Napoleon represent Trotsky and Stalin, who fight with each other for power over Russia. Napoleon has the dogs as a backup to chase away Snowball, just like Stalin having the KGB as a backup. Napoleon also has a propaganda tool to make use of to convince the animals on the farm to agree with his plans. The propaganda tool which he uses is none other than the pig, Squealer. In history, Squealer represents Pravda in Russia, getting support for Stalin.

However, after Stalin gains complete control of Animal Farm, he starts to deviate from the original teachings of communism, making decisions which are not in line with the principles of communism taught by Vladimir Lenin and became more equal than the people of Russia. This is similar to how Napoleon makes decisions which are not in line with the original principles of Animalism and became more equal than the other animals. In order to convince the animals that he did not deviate from the teachings, he requested Squealer to change the 7 commandments overnight when the animals were asleep. There was this time when Squealer fell down from a ladder while changing the commandment and caused quite a ruckus which awoke the animals. All the animals did not understand what was happening except for Benjamin, the wise old donkey. Although he understood what was happening, he chose not to do anything. In history, he represents the cynics in society. He has a high level of literacy level but chose not to do anything although he knew what the pigs were doing. This caused the pigs to go into complete control and deviate from the teachings of Animalism, becoming more equal than the other animals without the animals knowing about it. If he was not so apathetic, the animals would have understood and chased away the pigs based on equality as the animals also chased Mr Jones away based on equality. However, the other animals were not to be blamed for the pigs rising to power and becoming more equal than the others without them rebelling due to their ignorance. It was quite obvious right from the start of the Rebellion that the pigs had a higher literacy level than the other animals.

I personally feel that the pigs should not become so "drunk with power". However, it cannot be helped unless you have a really good self-control over yourself. Power corrupts as people become "drunk with power". People usually have a thirst for power and become corrupted and a perfect example would be the incident in Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution.

Well, this is all I am saying about Animal Farm. Perhaps, if you want to know what the other characters represent specifically, you could click here for more information!

Honesty

Honesty is the best policy. We have all learned that since young. But why are there still thefts? Why? Is it because of some financial problems at home? Is it because of one of the seven deadly sins, greed? There are many possibilities that might have led to the thefts we have today. From the thefts I have witnessed and experienced, it is most of the time because of greed and because of one's mistake of not taking good care of your belongings.

Why would I say that it is because of one's mistake of not taking good care of your belongings? It is because people normally just leave their belongings and valuables on their desks or anywhere where the things can be easily stolen. This leads to tempting people to steal your things. It might be just for that split second that the thief steal your belongings. It could be when you are looking away and the thief just takes your belongings and walk away.

However, if you keep your valuables by your side all the time such that the thief cannot steal, you are actually helping the thief not to repeat his mistake. He did all these thefts because of his habit. If you keep your things properly, the thief will not have any opportunities to steal and he will slowly stop stealing and lose this bad habit.

Although I said that if one leaves his belongings somewhere where people can steal easily, he is at fault, the biggest one who is at fault is still the thief. If he saw the belongings on the table, why can't he just resist the temptation of stealing so that his morals will not be badly affected and he will not have any bad records? If the person finds it difficult to resist the temptation, he should just look away or just simply run away so that he will get away from the valuable.

Honesty is a moral that should be taught to young descendants. Honesty is a moral that should be kept by people. Finally, honesty is the best policy! Being honest does no harm, but helps you instead so that you will not have a bad record. Theft is an offence punishable with imprisonment of up to three years or with fine or both. It will just ruin your future. You don't want your future to be ruined, don't you?

Let me reiterate what I am trying to say, HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY. Be an honest person. Hence, my last piece of advice is stop stealing if you have done so or don't steal at all!

For some interesting facts on thefts, click here.
To see what is the true meaning of honesty and find out more about this virtuous behaviour, click here.

Punctuality

Punctuality. This has been one of the problems in my school. There have been people going to school late, that is after the flag raising ceremony. For that, they were given demerit points, which will affect their conduct grades. The conduct grades will then follow them for the rest of their lives. If their conduct grades were so bad, they might be even restricted from achieving certain scholarships.

There are also other cases in my school and also in Singapore where people are not punctual whether in returning their books to the library or not being able to meet their friends or teachers punctually. Did they ever think of the consequences of not being punctual? Therefore, certain measures have been taken to ensure that these people are punctual, such as implementing fines of 10 cents or above. The condition has been improving but not very good yet. With many people getting better pays from their jobs, they do not mind forking out the 20 cents or 1 dollar. This is a wrong mindset and we should not learn from them. Did they ever think that it may bring inconvenience to the other people? If you borrowed a reference book and did not return it, other people who need the book for research will not be able to find the book and they might not be able to submit their projects or assignments by the deadline.

Besides, when people are meeting their friends, they should always be punctual. As everybody knows, time is precious. Not all people have the time to waste to wait for us, especially when the person you are meeting is a busy businessman. If you are not punctual in meeting your client for a important business deal which might cause the company a lot of money, you might be fired from your job and the company will incur heavy losses. Surely you do not want that, don't you?

Thus, please be punctual. Do not waste other people's time. If you feel that you will not be able to make it, please turn down the appointment and change it to another time when you are sure that you can make it on time.


For more information regarding the National Library Board's actions to those who have overdue books, click here.

"Water Incident"

Something happened yesterday and I named it the "water incident". Why is it called "water incident"? Well, you will understand after reading this entry.

Yesterday, I was in class doing my work. It was recess and I was trying to complete part of my homework I had received. Suddenly, I heard a loud "Bang"! I turned my head and realised that my classmate (I will not reveal the name), had knocked into a table while running and the water bottle on that table dropped to the ground, spilling the water everywhere. As I saw that my classmate was going to take some cloths out from the cupboard, I thought that he will clear the mess. Therefore, I continued doing my work.

In the midst of doing my work, I received a call of nature. I immediately dashed out of the classroom and noticed that my classmate did not clean up the mess at all, but placed the clothes over the water instead, perhaps hoping that the clothes would soak up the water. I did not care so much already at that time and approached the washroom. When I came back to the classroom, I saw that the cloths were still there, but I did not do anything. I thought that probably, my classmate would pick up the clothes and squeeze the water out in the toilet, thereafter wiping away the remaining puddle of water. Hence, I continued doing my work. But I was wrong.

Not long after, recess was over and my English teacher was standing outside the classroom. My teacher said,"Why are there cloths on the floor?" It was at this point of time that I realised my classmate had not cleared up the mess. It was also at this moment when the teacher set us thinking about what would be the consequences if the water was not cleared up.

I thought,"Firstly, if people accidentally stepped on the puddle of water, they would slip. Secondly, if they step on the water and continue walking, the classroom would be dirty, with black footprints everywhere. Lastly, if people wanted to walk, the puddle of water would block their way as they would not want to walk through the water."

At this juncture, my teacher pointed out the problems faced by people which are exactly the same as what I thought. Then, three of my classmates went to pick up the cloths, ran to the toilet to squeeze out the water and came back to clean the water.

Actually, I wanted to help them. Please do not think that I am saying this because I want to cover up for myself. As a Hwa Chong student, I practise one of the morals in J-TIGERR, integrity. If I am in the wrong, I would definitely admit it and will not come up with things I did not do. However, I looked at my classmates and thought that they were using all the cloths already and they had almost finished cleaning by the time I wanted to help them. Therefore, I did not go forward.

I really regret not going forward to offer assistance. Even if I could not help much, I could have at least asked. However, I did not know what held me back, why didn't I think that I could at least asked if they needed help or not. Was it because I did not have the confidence to do so? Was it because I was afraid that my friends would say I did that as an act only? Due to this, I became one of the people who did not ask if they needed assistance or not and I feel really bad and regretful. I would learn from this experience and not be held back by anything and do what I want to do in the future, only if it is morally acceptable.

A Great Leader in History

If someone were to ask me who do I think is a great leader, I would say Adolf Hitler. However, please do not get the wrong idea that I like him because of his bad deed. Of course, I am not a sadist. Some of you might not know who is Adolf Hitler, so I shall do a brief introduction of who he is. He is a Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, popularly known as the Nazi Party. He was born in 20 April 1889 and died in 30 April 1945. He was the ruler of Germany from 1933 to 1945. He was a decorated veteran of World War 1 and joined the Nazi Party in 1920 and became its leader in 1921. His forces committed numerous atrocities during the war, including the systematic killing of as many as 17 million civilians including the genocide of an estimated six million Jews, a crime known as the Holocaust. His rebuilt Wehrmacht invaded Poland in 1939, leading to the outbreak of World War 2 in Europe. During the final days of the war in 1945, Hitler married his long-time mistress Eva Braun. Less than 40 hours later, the two committed suicide.

Well, looking at what he had done is really scary, performing the Holocaust and other unpleasant things. Therefore, you might be wondering, why do I think that he is a great leader? I personally feel that he is a great leader because he is able to lead millions of people and let them listen to him to start wars. If you look at his speeches, you might see that there are many people who are cheering on for him when he is speaking. He speaks loudly and with a demanding manner. However, the fact that he can make millions of people listen to him and perform the Holocaust and start the World War 2 is not easy.

Unfortunately, he is unable to use his leadership well. He abuses his leadership to conquer places by invading them. He caused many lives to be claimed and made the world in chaos. He practically made everybody living in those days live in fear. Even now, when people mention his name, we still get the chill. The question here is,"Why did he want to use his leadership in a wrong way like this?" Was it because he wanted to rule the world? Was it because he was not contented with Germany? Or was it because he did not like Jews? There are many possibilities to this question, but the truth remains unknown.

Adolf Hitler did so many bad deeds to the extent that there were attempts to assassinate him. However, all the attempts were unsuccessful. The attempts to assassinate Hitler left no possibility of Germany negotiating a peace with the Allies. Hitler intended to fight to the death in a struggle that would see the end of National Socialism or the end of Germany’s enemies. Unfortunately for him, about a year after an attempt to assassinate him on July 20 1994, he passed away by committing suicide with his wife, Eva Braun.

Although he was a great leader in the sense that he was able to lead Germany and let millions of people listen to him without much problems, he used his leadership in the wrong way and caused many innocent lives to be claimed and chaos around the whole world. Although he is a good leader, he is definitely a bad example to follow. If leaders could have the traits of Hitler's great leadership, but use it in the correct way, the world would be a much better place.

Information taken is credited to Wikipedia and this here.
For more information on one of the more significant attempt to assassinate Hitler, click here.