Intention of Creating Shylock

Intention of creating Shylock

I feel that Shakespeare created Shylock with the intention of attracting the Elizabethan's attention while at the same time, to evoke sympathy for the Jews.

In the past, anti-semitism was rife. The Jews were considered as the inferior race by the Christians and were widely discriminated and insulted. In the book, the Jew, Shylock, was portrayed as a villain, like what the Elizabethans viewed them to be in those days.

In Act 4 Scene 1, when Portia tried to convince him to show mercy towards Antonio, he refused to do so. He replies blatantly by saying:

My deeds upon my head. I crave the law,
The penalty, and forfeit of my bond.

To the Elizabethans watching the film, this would capture their attention as it was exactly what they thought the Jews were like. Therefore, by creating Shylock, Shakespeare was injecting a sense of realism into the play so that it was applicable to that era. And only by doing so, the Elizabethans would then be attracted to the film.

At the same time, he also tried to evoke a sense of pity for the Jews. In Act 1 Scene 3, he ranted about how he was discriminated against by the Christians, but more specifically, Antonio. He said:

Signor Antonio, many a time and oft
In the Rialto you have rated me
About my moneys and my usances.
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug,
For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe.
You can call me misbeliever, cutthroat dog,
And spet upon my Jewish gaberdine ----
And all for use of that which is mine own.
Well then, it now appears you need my help.
Go to then! You come to me and you say,
“Shylock, we would have moneys.” You say so! ---
You, that did void your rheum upon my beard
And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur
Over your threshold! Moneys is your suit.
What should I say to you? Should I not say,
“Hath a dog money? Is it possible
A cur lend three thousand ducats?” Or
Shall I bend low and in a bondman’s key
With bated breath and whispering humbleness
Say this:
“Fair sir, you spet on me on Wednesday last;
You spurned me such a day; another time
You called me a ‘dog’ --- and for these courtesies
I’ll lend you thus much moneys?’

In this particular speech by Shylock, it was apparent that he was subjected to alot of discrimination. His daughter also ran away from him, and took away his valuables. In this story, there were many moments where the readers really sympathised with Shylock.

Therefore, I think that Shakespeare created Shylock to draw the Elizabethan’s attention and evoke sympathy for the Jews.

Can Justice and Mercy Coexist?

Can justice coexist with mercy?

Justice: the quality of being fair and just. Mercy: leniency and compassion shown towards the offender. In definition, these two are completely different. Therefore, many people think that justice cannot coexist with mercy. I do agree with them.

I would like to tackle the question by asking what is the purpose of the law? The law is to make sure that the people who commit crimes get their punishment so as to maintain peace and security in the country. Justice is the result of law where the offenders get their just punishment according to the severity of the crimes. Before a sentence is passed, the judge would have considered the mental state, the need for self–defence and the circumstances leading to the crime. This is part of being just.

Showing mercy is different, it is giving the person a second chance in life after he has committed a crime. It may be because he realized what he has done is wrong. If there was mercy in giving the punishment, then the law would lose its purpose. For example, if we give a lighter sentence to one culprit, then we have to do the same for all the rest. If this continues, no one will get a tough sentence because everyone will just apologise and say they regretted what they have done. There is no way to give a tougher sentence because people will argue that it is not fair that others get a lighter sentence and he gets a tougher one.

I would like to quote the case of Vui Kong to support the argument that mercy cannot coexist with mercy. Vui Kong was caught for drug trafficking in 2008 when he was 19 year old. He was sentenced to death. While Vui Kong was serving his jail sentence, he repented.

He used to be a wayward teen who cared for no one but himself. But testimonies from those who were closest to him, including prison guards and family members, indicated that Vui Kong has matured and realized his mistakes. He started to learn English and Chinese during his term in the prison. He also learnt to meditate and even became a Buddhist.

Vui Kong has said that if he was given a second chance, he would dedicate the rest of his life to helping young people like him to stay away from crime.

After reading about his story, Mr Andre Loh, a Singaporean, wrote a letter of plea to President SR Nathan to ask for mercy. Many Singaporeans also signed online petition not to hang him.

I have extracted the following paragraph from Mr Loh’s letter to Mr Nathan, “I am certain that Vui Kong, if given to mentorship under someone such as Mr Lim – who by the way has said he is willing to take Vui Kong under his wings – will be an invaluable asset to the Government’s strategy to curb the inflow of drugs into Singapore.”

In this case, the government stood firm. I agree with the outcome because we should always think before we act. Vui Kong knew what was the punishment for drug trafficking and if he still did it for the greed of money, he had to pay a price for it.

If we start to be lenient, people will act rashly. What is there to deter someone from doing wrong ? What will become of the society ?

Is Shakespeare biased in his portrayal of the main characters of MOV?

I do not think that Shakespeare is biased in the portrayal of the main characters. One example is Antonio. He portrayed Antonio as a good-natured, honest, and helpful person. However, he turned out to be racist and conducted many anti-Jewish acts on Shylock. Another example was Jessica, Shylock’s daughter. Although she was a Jew, she was surprisingly unbiased and nice.

Finally, while Shakespeare described Shylock as an evil Jew, he also wrote that he was constantly being discriminated by the Christians. This shows that Shakespeare is not biased in the portrayal of the main characters.

Raising a Global Child

Jim Rogers argues that bilingualism is crucial in today’s context where the world is interconnected. And to prepare a child for the 21st century, bilingualism is imperative. He reckons that Asia has the potential to be the world superpower, and because America, the current superpower, is in heavy debt, Asia stands a very high chance to take over that important role. He believes that to truly prepare his children for the future, he should expose them to the Chinese language and culture so that they can thrive in time to come.

I concur with his views on this issue.

In fact, there is evidence that in just ten years from now, well over half the world’s population of almost 8 billion people will live in Asia and by linear projections, China will be the largest Asian economy and second largest in the world after the United States by 2020.

China has a huge domestic market and to do business in China, MNCs need people who can speak Chinese and know how to do business in a Chinese cultural context. Knowing the language and the Chinese culture will give us an edge when competing for an important position. Knowing the Chinese culture will reduce cultural shock and help us understand the Chinese counterparts better.

English remains important because it is a business language among the non-English-speaking countries. MNCs use English and most internet websites are in English.

I would like to quote Mr Lee Kuan Yew to show why we must learn both languages. He said at the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 2009 that if Mandarin were our first language, Singaporeans would be of little use to China. They do not need more Mandarin speakers to add to their 1.3 billion. English gives us easy access to English-speaking societies and the developed world. Thus, Singaporeans bring value-add to China.

Mr Lee also pointed out that China wants to collaborate with us because through English, we are able to connect with the West. At the same time, our Mandarin is fluent enough to communicate with PRC Chinese on different topics and subjects.

In conclusion, I agree with Jim Roger’s view that bilingualism is the basics to raising a global child.

The Education System

Education is an essential part of any child’s growth. It also prepares the child for the outside world. But how has the education system fared? Janelle Lee wrote a Facebook note voicing her views about the current education system and has pointed out a few areas she is unhappy about. I concur with her.

I agree with her view that the education system in Singapore is very examination-based. Students are just expected to memorize and regurgitate the facts during examination. Sad to say but she is totally right to say that students do not need to know things that are not tested in the examination. To put it in simple words, we are not expected to critique the things that we learn.

Some may argue that things have improved with the introduction of integrated programme. IP schools like Hwa Chong Institution are already changing their syllabus to incorporate a lot more things outside the school curriculum. But the emphasis is still on examination and a large part of our grade is based on the examination results.

Furthermore, there are only 11 IP schools as compared to around 124 O-Level Schools. As you can see, about 92% of the cohort still has to take the O-Level examinations. For the non-IP school, nothing has changed. There is still a lot of drilling to prepare the students for the major examination.

Well, all that we do seem to go against the true spirit of education which should encourage the students to be curious and to keep asking “Why?”. I think our current education system tend to stifle our curiosity because we really do not have much time to think out of the box and to be creative. Every day, we are just rushing to finish our homework and to catch up with the syllabus.

To me, the ideal education system is one that allows the students to ask unconventional questions, to explore things that they are curious to know rather than the textbook stuff. But is this possible at all? To be realistic, I am afraid not. We are living in this time where competition is stiff and only the fittest survive so it is hard to imagine that things will change and the pace will slow down to give the students more time to truly appreciate what we are learning.

In the world today, students enter good schools based on merits. A good school is a ticket to good education and good job with good pay eventually. Students cannot afford to do badly in major examinations. The stake is high and if the education system digresses to something else, the students may not perform just as well because they are spending less time on the things that are tested. This is not what we want either.

Lastly, the education system that Janelle wanted is good and will make sure the students learn more but we have to accept that this cannot happen in real life. If we want to stay in the competition, we have to follow the rule of the game and whether we like it or not, the fact is only the fittest survive.

Should water be treated as a commodity or human right?

Water is a basic necessity. The fact is humans need water to survive. Recently, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights did not mention water explicitly. This sparked off a debate on whether water should be treated as a human right or as a commodity

There is a vast difference if water is treated as a human right as opposed to being just a commodity. If water is a human right, people from around the world need not worry about the cost of water as they are entitled to it. However, if it is a commodity, the people in third world countries would not get clean water and some may even die.

In my opinion, water should be treated as a human right.

I am a strong advocate of human rights. I am appalled by the fact that there are many people out there without clean water to drink while those who can help are doing nothing about it. I feel that everyone should be entitled to this basic survival need and no one should be deprived just because they are poor and cannot afford to pay for it.

I am blessed to be in Singapore. I just feel some of us may not realize people in the third world country do not necessarily get what we have here. We get clean water from the tap and we know it is safe to drink. Every Singaporean can afford it because water is heavily subsidized by the government. However, the situation is quite different in the third world countries which do not have the technology know-how to treat dirty water to get clean water and at the same time, cannot afford to buy treated water because they are poor. To many, clean water is a luxury far beyond their reach.

A total of 1.3 million children under the age of six die each year from drinking infected water based on statistics released in 2004. It irks me to know that while we shower in clean water and drink bottled mineral water because some of us did not like the taste of the tap water, many people out there are drinking from the well and some even have no choice but to drink water they know is contaminated.

I strongly feel that the only way to solve this disparity issue is to make water a human right for everyone, the poor and the rich in the first world and third world countries.

Deep down, I do know that this is a far-fetched ideology which may sound good in theory and argument, but it will never be practiced in real life. There are too many unanswered questions to make it happen. The most basic question is who would pay to clean the water for the third world countries?

In conclusion, while I think water should be treated as human right, I accept the fact that it will not happen. I only hope that those who can afford will volunteer their help on humanitarian grounds when the need arises.

Should weekly day off for maids be legislated?

I strongly believe that maids are no different from anyone of us. Just like you and I, they need a day to relax and to explore the world outside for a change.

Although I am a strong advocate of human rights, I do not think that weekly days off should be legislated for all maid across the board.

The fact of the matter is if something happens to the maid, the employer is held responsible. For example, if the maid becomes pregnant, the employer would lose the security bond of $5,000. If the maid meets with an accident and is hospitalized, the employer has to pay for her medical expenses. And worse, if a maid absconds and cannot be found, the employer would lose half of their security deposit. Thus, if we allow maids to have day off, we must be sure they can be trusted to act responsibly. The maid must win the trust of her employer and this will take time.

We should try to balance the needs of the employer and the maid in this issue. The maids want day off to make friends. As it is, they are always hanging out with other maids at noon time and in the evening when they bring the kids down to the play ground, I do not think they are deprived of social needs.

The weekly day off is meant for they to rest and relax but we have heard of maids doing part-time work on their day off or employers who complained that their maids always come back from the outings more tired and listless. Also, what the employer dread the most is for the maid to make boyfriends on her off day and then create a string of other problems. But such problems have happened.

My stand is if the maid is new, it would be better for the maid to stay home. The compulsory day off once a week can be enforced for maids whose contracts are renewed. If the maid is good enough for the employer to extend her contract, it is time for her employer to grant her the day off that she deserves.

Having said that, some families with small children, elderly or disabled people have real needs for the maids to be around most of the time, for such cases, the law should allow the employers to buy the day off.

Online Lesson 26/5/2011

There are children in the darkness
Who have not seen the light
There are children in the darkness
Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be
To this door there is no key
From this life they can not flee
And these children are not free

Could we simply light a candle
Could we give them half a chance
Could we teach them how to read
Could we teach them how to dance

Or will a war consume them
Their body and their soul
Will their life and blood be poured
Down some endless thirsty hole

Back into the darkness
From which there is no flight
Back into the darkness
Into which there shines no light


This poem is about children being trained by Al-Qaeda to be terrorists next time. They were kidnapped by the Al-Qaeda Group to help them perform kidnapping so as to raise funds for Al-Qaeda through the ransom. These children do not attend normal school like we do, and all they are exposed to is just weapons, killing and more killing, which is being referred to as "darkness" in this poem.

War Report- WW2

World War II started on 1 September 1939 and ended 6 years later, on 2 September 1945. Trouble started when Germany and its allies, Japan, Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia, Finland, Vichy France, Hungary, Bulgaria, Denmark and Albania formed the Axis Powers to conquer the world.

For a long time, historians have been studying the case closely to decipher the causes, consequences and take home some learning points.

One of the reasons why Germany started the war was because the Germans were very unhappy about the Versailles Treaty.

The Versailles Treaty indicated that Germany should accept the blame for starting World War One. Thus, they had to pay £6,600 million for the damage caused by the war and was only allowed to have a small army and six naval ships. No tanks, no air force and no submarines were allowed. The Rhineland area was to be de-militarized. Land was also taken away from Germany and given to other countries. Union with Austria was forbidden.

The Germans could not afford to pay the money. This was because during the 1920s the people in Germany were very poor. People were dissatisfied with the government and they voted Hitler to power because he promised them to renounce the Treaty of Versailles.

Up to now, many historians still think that the Second World War was Hitler's personal war. He wanted to fight the war because he believed that Germany did not deserve to lose in World War I and he wanted revenge. He also hated the Jews and claimed that the Jews were to blame for all the difficulties Germans were experiencing. He wanted to kill all of them.

Hitler was domineering, compulsive and also paranoid. His personal agenda was to unite German-speaking people and to dominate Europe and the World.

Hitler broke the Treaty of Versailles (28/6/1919) and went to war with France. He also invaded Poland and The Soviet Union and other parts of Europe. While this happened, Japan was busy attacking Asia and the Pacific.

World War II claimed more than 60 million innocent lives. More civilians died than the soldiers. They died horrible deaths from explosion, firestorm, suffocation and starvation.

About twenty out of every one hundred residences in Germany were destroyed. Two and a quarter million homes were destroyed in Japan and 460,000 in Great Britain. Every fifth Greek was left homeless and 28,000 homes in Rotterdam were obliterated. Total damages were estimated at US$4 trillion.

So what were the lessons learnt? The Second World War taught the world that war is actually a great fuel for invention. Germany was able to develop technologies because of the need created by the war. Computer technology developed because of America efforts to crack enemies code and the enigma machine.

It has also taught the world about the power of rumors and political posturing. The idea of image, or propaganda played a huge part in the Second World War and was used to great extent by Germany in gaining support for their efforts.

Most importantly, it showed us that fear and anger could lead us down the wrong path. World War II was an example of how anger and resentment had destroyed the world.

As for me, I wonder what all the killing had accomplished?

Students should be given more freedom in deciding school rules

The common complaint among students these days is the school rules are over restrictive, old fashion and not keeping pace with the changes around us, for example, why students cannot wear home clothes to school, why students must cut their hair when it reaches the collar line, etc. If there is a choice, we want more say in setting the school rules. On the contrary, I personally do not think it is not a good idea to give students too much freedom in setting the school rules. My reasons are simple.

Firstly, I think students up to high school level are still young and immature. Students in this age group like to go for fun stuff and do unconventional things. We have to admit that we do not think much about whether the changes will be practical and sound, also whether they will have any long term repercussions and the problems that may arise from the changes. We often think of our own needs more than the need to maintain a proper school image.

Just look at one simple example. If given a choice, many of us would vote to be allowed to wear home clothes to school. We think we know what is indecent but it is too subjective. Also, students will be comparing what they are wearing instead of focusing on their school work. Then, what will the public think of us when they see us all dolled up ?

I also do not think students in my age group will always do the right thing if we are given too much freedom. For example, in my primary school, we were not allowed to bring soccer balls to school. But my class managed to convinced my form teacher that we needed some relaxation before the PSLE and would only play for 20 minutes everyday. My form teacher finally relented but in end, we went beyond 20 minutes because it was too hard to stop in the middle of a game. If we can break such a simple promise, I really have my doubts that we will adhere to the rules that we make and to keep to all the promises that come with it.

In conclusion, I believe that the students lack the maturity and discipline to set their own school rules.

Descriptive essay on pictures of war

I looked around. It was an old and war-torn place. Buildings had cracks on them and the place was silent. Too silent for my liking. There was hardly anyone, the only people here are 3 men dragging an unconscious old man across the street. They looked anxious. Very anxious. The opposition here might have hit the man. Doesn’t look good at all, with scars and blood all over his jacket. Passers-by looked on. There was nothing they could do; the man was going to die anyways. I have seen too much of this happening since the war. Not that I was scared I would become one of them one day, but because I was disgusted. We were all Germans. Even if I didn’t know him or her, a German down would evoke that sense of disgust and feeling that I had to do something. Something to chase those pesks in our homeland away.

I looked around in the dilapidated place. It was like a black and white scene. It was all so sad, so dark and gloomy. No one could live a peaceful life here when there was war. Even a place which evoke memories and good times might turn into the place you had a last breath.

Does nuclear energy still have a part to play in this world?

Nuclear energy was introduced to reduce the amount of fossil fuels needed to generate electricity. Now that Japan's Nuclear reactor leaked, which caused a big headache not only for Japan but also for the surrounding countries, together with the Chernobyl incident in 1985, people are starting to think that nuclear energy is not a very good alternative, and that we should not have used it in the first place. I beg to defer.

Why is that so? Now, let's weigh the pros and cons and be rational about the whole issue.

First of all, we all know that fossil fuels are non-renewable. We learnt that in our primary school Science. Fossil fuels give out greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide which causes global warming. Considering that scientists around the world are warning of signs of global warming happening earlier than expected, we should be finding ways to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted, hence, it does not make any sense for us to stick to the current source of energy, which is the fossil fuels. We have to find alternative sources of energy to save the earth. As a matter of fact, nuclear energy produces less carbon dioxide and other green-house gases and can help us preserve the earth. This is based on experiments carried out by the scientists and results were proven scientifically. Thus, we have to agree that nuclear energy is a greener alternative.

Secondly, nuclear reactors are able to produce more energy, they are also more reliable and uses less space. Many of those who are against nuclear energy are likely to suggest using wind, or solar energy. However, wind and solar energy are not consistent source of energy, and they do not produce enough energy for the world. Just imagine on non-windy day, where would the energy can from ? Are we going without lights for that day? Those who argue for solar energy may say solar energy is abundant, it is there as long as there is Sun. However, solar panels are costly. Although nuclear reactors may be quite expensive, it can generate a good amount of energy and is a consistent source of energy whereas solar panels are expensive and solar energy is also not consistent on rainy and cloudy days. Another concern is space. Nuclear energy takes up very little space, compared to solar panels. If we use wind, we need to use 1% of the world's land space just to generate the energy America needs. Now imagine how much space we need to generate the energy demand for the whole world.

Thirdly, contrary to what most people think, nuclear energy is actually safe. Since the time nuclear energy is used, there are just two major nuclear plant accidents, one in Chernobyl and the other one in Japan just recently. Furthermore, the reactors used in these nuclear plants are the old models, for example, the nuclear reactors that Japan used has only one protective shell. With the state of the art technology now, we can have generators with 3-4 protective shells which will make it a lot safer to use. Another reason for the leakage in Japan is the nuclear reactors are made to withstand 7.00 magnitude of earthquake and 7m tall tsunami. But the earthquake that hit Japan recently was 9.0 in magnitude and the tsunami was 20m tall. We need to understand that Japan's nuclear reactor was made 40 years ago, with the state of the art technology now, the new nuclear reactors can be made to withstand bigger earthquake and tsunami.

Taking all the above points into consideration, I strongly believe that nuclear energy still has a part to play in this world.

References:

http://www.ted.com/talks/debate_does_the_world_need_nuclear_energy.html - TED Debate

Term 2 Online Lesson 1: Crisis in Japan

Blk 908, Teriyaki Road, #01-209,
Yuji, Hiroshima, 207-3346
13 March 2011

Dear Uncle Harry,

You must have read the headline news on Japan. Japan is in chaos after the 8.9 earthquake and tsunami that struck 2 days ago (11 March). It happened out of nowhere. It really took the whole Japan by surprise.

I was just in my apartment my parents rented and we were just listening to the news, when suddenly there was a very big tremor. We were all used to these types of tremors, but not such a big one. We started panicking and squatted under the table. We were all so scared. Vases dropped, lamps started swinging uncontrollably from the ceilings.
By the time the tremor stopped, everything was in a mess, but there were no screaming, all quiet. The silence was oppressive. We took a look outside and saw a horrible scene. Buildings had collapsed and bridges were broken, impassable roads and miles of wreckage. Then came the big hit.

We saw a huge wave coming towards us. It was not just a big wave; it was a huge wave of at least 20 meters tall. And it looked like it would swallow us. We were blank for a few seconds and by then, the wave was near us. I prayed in my heart

Fortunately, the prayers were heard. We live to see another day, or rather, live to see all the horror. It was destruction beyond words, and it is on a scale I have never seen before.

Soon, we were evacuated to a temporary site with all the survivors. Shockingly, only a few people made it, most of my neighbours were buried under the rubble.

It was really painful to see this bustling town turning into dead town in a matter of minutes. Despite all the shock Japan received, the Japanese spirit lives on. Rations came after grueling hours of waiting and although everyone was famished, we all queued in an orderly manner. No quarrels, just silence and occasional whimpers and sighs.

Right now, we are living in a temporary shelter with about 4 households. We got along well and share our rations with one another too. With the stoic Japanese spirit, we will rebuild. No doubt about it.

Yours Sincerely,
Alastair

Write each character’s experience from a first-person point of view

A new student:

And the headmaster droned on about the school’s latest achievements, which put more stress on my shoulders to perform. Thoughts filled by head. I have always wanted to come here and study. It was a prestigious school, and only the best of the best was given the chance to come here. As I sat on the bench, the headmaster called us to recite the four pillars. My father called me to stand up and I did, but being a new student, I had no idea what the four pillars were. I stood there and looked around. I have a lot to learn about this school….

A parent:

The headmaster listed a whole list of achievements, which has thoroughly impressed me. I looked at my son. He worked hard to get into this school, and I am proud of it. It is not easy to enter this prestigious school. The very fact my child is here is because he is gifted, and I believe so. He is the cream of the crop. “Please recite the four pillars,” the head master announced. The students stood up and I called my dear son to stand up too, as he was a student too, but seeing that no one else was standing up, I realized I made a mistake, and he sat down again…

My comments for my peers

Please refer to the screen shots below:

1. Benedict Lee
2. Wong Wei Cong
3. Xavier Neo

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Write a 200 word long reflection on the LA Lessons you had so far

I feel that the LA lessons so far have been enjoyable and much more enriching than last year. It has exceeded my expectations.

With due respect to my LA teachers last year, they were practically forcing down information, words, literacy terms etc and etc down our throats. Do we understand them at all? Some yes but many a times, not fully.

Much to my pleasant surprise, this year is totally different. We have a new teacher and a wonderful one indeed. Mr. Lum changed my attitude towards LA. I learn and more importantly, I am putting what I have learnt into practice, in my short story writing and the weekly blog post. He honed our writing skills through the blog post and we feel that we are better prepared for the term test.

I particularly enjoyed the lesson on prejudice. Knowing there are so many forms of discrimination but yet there is very little we can do to change it was both eye opening and heartrending.

There is really not much to change but I personally hope to see more opportunities of group presentation. The presentations we had so far were individual. Thank you.

Write a 200 word long description of the photo you chose last week

A strong wind blew and the trees swayed in unison. The lush green trees surrounded it just like they were protecting it. This is Hwa Chong’s Swimming Complex.

Whenever I look at the pool, it never ceases to captivate me. The water is always so inviting, be it on a hot burning afternoon or freaking cold day. This place is a haven to me.

Almost every afternoon, you will see water polo players swimming in the pool, like a shoal of fish, coming out to the surface once in a while to take in some air before going into the water again.

When there is a game, the place will turn into a coliseum, with the gladiators below, fighting their hearts out in the pool and the spectators on the second floor, shouting out in joy and going hysteria. The coach will be at the side of the pool, screaming out their commands.

When all come to an end, the place returns to its tranquil state. A strong wind continues to blow, and the trees continue to sway in unison.

That is Hwa Chong Swimming Complex, my paradise on Earth.

Characterisation: Story Excerpt

Character: Novak Djokovic

It was time.

All the Serbian tennis fanatics were at the edge of their seats, everyone at the Wimbledon stadium, including all at home watching the game. It would be a tough match and we all knew it.

But Djokovic was not about to give up. Not when he had come this far and so close to the Grand Slam Finals. He looked at the scoreboard, hung his head low and then stood up to walk towards his fans.

“You guys have been the world to me, and I am not going to give up. I am going to win it for you.” His fans applauded. But deep down, the fans knew the chance was slim. He knew it too but he had to put on a brave front for the sake of all those who had come to support him. He did not want to let them down.

He stood at the clay court and looked intently at the thousands of fans, many of them had flown all the way from England just for the match. Then, the final moment came and the umpire blew the whistle.

They came to see him win. And he would do it just for them.



Thank you.

LA podcast

LA podcast

Access this URL for my mindmap:Enter this URL to access my mindmap http://prezi.com/mbdx3xsss0en/la-podcast-mind-map/

Done by:

Alastair Pang (Leader) (2A1 20)

Wong Wei Cong (2A1 31)

Chen Wei Loon (2A1 04)

Jonathan Choong (2A1 09)

Richmond Lim (2A1 25)

My favourite place in Hwa Chong

My favourite part of Hwa Chong Institution is the Hwa Chong Swimming Complex.

The place means a lot to me as I am in water polo. I have go there practically three times a week to train. After being there for more than a year, it is like a second home to me.

I like the food at the poolside café. It has my all time favourite friend rice. When I am with my polo teammates, we don’t talk about homework. We will chat about the online games we play during leisure.

Every time when I look at the pool from the overhead bridge, my mind will be filled with all the fond memories of the fun I had with my polo mates. It has healing effects on me. I feel relaxed.

The swimming pool always reminds me of the vigorous training we had before each competition and also about how hard we played to bring proud to Hwa Chong. It goes with my motto of giving my best in whatever I do and not giving up so easily.

The swimming pool is built with generous donations from the old Hwa Chong boys, and I always remind myself that just like them, I will contribute back to Hwa Chong after I graduate from here. I believe strongly in returning kindness for kindness. Thank you.

My ToonDoos

By Alastair2a120 | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

By Alastair2a120 | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

I chose the pizza from outer space as it is unusual, and in the later part of the story, it is important as the creature has to be unusual to strike fear and make the people run away from him. For the first picture, I chose one from the perspective of the pizza and to show the Earth as a tiny planet that can hardly be seen to emphasize on one of my themes: curiosity. Because the planet can hardly be seen as it is partially blocked, I want the reader to experience the feeling of curiosity that the pizza is feeling about Earth. For the second picture, I chose an indoor setting as I want the readers to feel like they are already there and step into the shoes of both the pizza and the person. I chose the picture of the streets to show the theme curiosity. The pizza was so curious that he went to the streets. The last picture is big to give readers some food for thought. I gave some empty space for the reader to think about this incident, and I have to chose a place which seems empty as the pizza would most probably land the plane somewhere no one would see.

Reflections on "Where is the love" by Black Eyed Peas

This song by The Black Eyed Peas is about discrimination. The song mentioned many wrong deeds that humans do without even realising it. Sad to say but the fact of the matter is discrimination is going on and on. In the song it says :

But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And if you hating you're bound to get irate
Yeah madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates

The main message of this song is that the solution to everything in life is love, which is something that this world is lacking.

The part that hits me the hardest is when one of the singers starts rapping:

I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm getting older y'all people get colder
Most of us only care about money making
Selfishness got us following the wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting their young minds faster than bacteria
Kids want to act like what the see in the cinema
Whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness and equality
Instead of spreading love, we're spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling down
It's no wonder why sometimes I'm feeling under
I got to keep my faith alive, until love is found
Ask yourself
Where is the love

I find this very impactful as it sums up all the root causes - the wrong message that the media sent out, the fading away of human values, fairness and equality, the lack of understanding and love for others. It all comes down to the crust of the matter : Where is the love ? The love for all mankind that will solve all the problems that the world is experiencing.

I blame it on the competition and our competitive nature. We want to win all the time and in doing so, we go great length and do many wrong things to show that we are better. Humans by nature are also not so forgiving, so when someone does something wrong to us, we wait for the chance to strike back. It is a vicious cycle.

I want to take this chance to share with you what I overheard a man saying: "For millions of years, mother nature took care of everything and nothing happened until some scum came along and ruined everything. That scum is humans." I agree with him totally.


Thank you.

Write about a song that had impacted you: Fireworks by Katy Perry

Fireworks by Katy Perry is one song that has big impact on me. I heard it on the radio but didn't quite comprehend it at first. I also didn't bother to find out the lyrics as I was really not expecting much from Katy Perry because she was known to compose songs with no absolute meaning. Then later on, I chanced upon a mini documentary about the making of this song. I then knew that Katy went all way out to the outskirts of USA to record some of the hidden talents like a 14 year old boy who knows how to compose songs and a 10 year old violin player.

These people have talent but just not given a chance to showcase what they can do. They are nobody to us.

In the lyrics, she wrote :

"Do you ever feel like a plastic bag

Drifting throught the wind
Wanting to start again

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards
One blow from caving in"

The song reflects what we all face in real life. Others measure us by how well we do in school and how much we earn. We struggle just to meet what others expect of us. It is just like a house of cards, running the risk of caving in at any moment. If I can choose, I would like to be just an ordinary plastic bag in the sky. I may not be the best, but at least I feel free to just float in the sky and nothing to worry about.

The song also gives me the motivation to stay firm and never give up. Whenever I feel like giving up, I will remember the lyrics that go :

"Do you know that there's still a chance for you
Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July"

Just like what the song says, we are all talents, we are good at somethings and not so good at others. We just need to believe in ourselves and never let anything get in our way of pursuing your goals and dreams in life.

Just like you, I do have doubts about things that I want to do. I fear that I will not do them well. But just like what the song says, I will work hard no matter what the result will be.

"You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow"

This is another reality. When we fail, we think we are useless and I also think that way myself. But I think differently now. I keep reminding myself that "after a hurricane comes a rainbow".

This is one song that has long lasting impact on me. Hope you find yours too. A song that can push you on and keep you going when times are bad, just like what Fireworks did to me. Thank you.