One year has passed since I first stepped into Hwachong Institution to further my studies. Life here have been very enjoyable and fun. I have experienced many different things here, the new programmes, different teachers, and of course the new demerit point system which was not present in my primary school.
One of the system that I really enjoy is the exemption of examinations for certain subjects if you do really well in the subject before in various class tests. This allows us to focus more on subjects we are weak in, and score better in that subject. Unlike some of the more clever people, I was only exempted for 1 subject. However, because of that, I felt that I could concentrate better on other subjects.
Another term that I did not do very well in my tests was term 3. I have only gotten a 2.67, however, I could feel that I could have done much better. I suppose that I was too proud as my term 2 grades were quite good at 1.00. I have learnt from this that I cannot be proud as this would only lead to my downfall. Like English, my teacher had told me not to be proud and complacent, however, I turned a deaf ear to it and gotten an undesirable score.
My CCA this year(probably the rest of the years as well), is Scouts. I have placed Scouts as one of my top choices and I am very happy to have been chosen into it. Life at Scouts was very enjoyable and fun. I have learnt many new things that I would not have learnt joining another CCA. I have also achieved a scout standard at the end of this year and I am very happy about that. I believe that I would continue scouts after I leave Hwachong Institution( hopefully for the Hwachong college).
Another "memorable" thing that happened this year is when I gotten my very first demerit point. I was playing with one of my classmates loudly and was unfortunately caught by one of the teachers there. They complained that we were behaiving very badly and warned us that we would get demerit point for our unruly behaiviour. I was very worried then, but after much thought, I realised that I deserved that demerit point as I was indeed very rowdy then.
And on another occasion, I arrived late for assembly with most of my classmates and was scolded by the teacher-in-charge. I had actually thought that there was no assembly as it was raining, however, when I reached the terraces, we realised trhat there was actually assembly and that we are late. However, due to some unexpected kindness from the teacher in charge, we were let off with severe warnings but no demerit points. From this, I have learnt that there is no harm in checking whether there is assembly. Do not jump to conclusions that just because there is a light drizzle, we can skip assembly.
Overall, life was fun at Hwachong Institution. There were ups and downs, but ultimately, we benefit from these scoldings and teachings. I have really enjoyed my first year at HCI and I look foward to another fruitful year when I am in secondary 2.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Family expectations
1. My parents expectations of me:
I think that like most parents would, my parents expect me to try my best in every thing I do and hopefully get good grades. Also, like most typical parents, my parents expect m to behave well in school as well as at home even though I am not always like that. Other expectations include like " be more sensible" , " be more organised" , " don't get into trouble" . These are quite expected of most parents.
2. Expectations I will have of my child( if I have one) when I grow up:
I would think my epectations of my child would be of no difference to the expectations my parents have for me. Every parent would want the best of their child and I sould think there would not be any difference in my expectations in comparision with my parents'.
I think that like most parents would, my parents expect me to try my best in every thing I do and hopefully get good grades. Also, like most typical parents, my parents expect m to behave well in school as well as at home even though I am not always like that. Other expectations include like " be more sensible" , " be more organised" , " don't get into trouble" . These are quite expected of most parents.
2. Expectations I will have of my child( if I have one) when I grow up:
I would think my epectations of my child would be of no difference to the expectations my parents have for me. Every parent would want the best of their child and I sould think there would not be any difference in my expectations in comparision with my parents'.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Book Review
The book I am reviewing is " The arrival". This book is extremely interesting as it is a graphic novel. Now, Let me try to explain the story. This story is separated into 5 parts.
Part 1: A man, whom I presume is the protagonist of the story, has woken up and is packing his luggage. He is about to leave his family. His family has breakfast and the man sets off on his journey. The picture then zooms out to see many monsters in his town. He then boards the train, leaving his wife and daughter crying.
Part 2: The man eats something and looks out of the window. The picture zooms out and and we realise that the man is actually on a ship.We then see many different kinds of cloud which means alot of time has pass. The picture also shows many people have also boarded the ship to escape from that town.Soon, they arrive at the city. They see many strange creatures and buidings there. However, it seemed much more peaceful than their town.The people then alight and queue up to enter the new city. The custom officers there checked his eyes, his mouth, his ears, his heartbeat before allowing him to enter. We then see the man looking out of another window and the picture zoom out to see that he was in a kind of machine that would fly him of to another place. We also see that many other people are flying there too. He alights and reaches a whole new place.He sees many wierd creatures and food and characters. He is lost. he suddenly finds some directions on the floor and he looked at his book. There are many symbols on it. A man comes and asked him a few questions. He drew a bed on his book and asked the man to bring him there. He reached the place and he payed some money for a nights stay.He experiments with the things there and found a strange creature lying on his bed. Another window is seen and we can see that many people are living in that place as well. Lastly, the picture zooms out and we can see how big the city is.
Part 3: This part starts off with the man waking up and seeing that creature on his bed again. He seemed very scared. He then washes up and sets off to find directons for something. He wanted to take another form of transport somewhere else.He meets a girl and asks her how to get a ticket on board the machine.The helpful girl then helped him obtain a ticket and they board the machine. They sit together and the girl starts talking about why she arrived on this island. The girl was captured by a man who took her book, locked it up and forced her to do work for him. She worked day and night wothout any rest with other girls. Every night, she was locked up in a room. Once, she found a spade and pried the door open. She then took back her book and escaped on a train to the island. They have arrived and the girl bid the protagonist farewell. The man looked around for something to eat. He drew a loaf of bread on his book and showed it to the shopkeeper. However, he did not ubderstand and brought him several other food instead. He and his son even let the protagonist try some of it. The son even offered to bring the man back home.On the boat, the man saw a tail similar to the tail of the creature attacking his town. However, it turned out to be the young boy's pet. The shopkeeper than explained why they came to this island. It appeared back in their town. giants have been using machines to suck up their people.The father and son were lucky enough to find a place to hide and only came up when the giants were gone. Another man found them and gave them directions to escape. The man and son found a boat there and they sailed all the way to this island. When they reached to shopkeeper's house, his wife took the ingredients and prepared food for them.The family then played an instrument each after the meal. The protagonist instead taught the young boy how to make origami. The shopkeeper's family then gave a pot to the protagonist as a gift.
Part 4: The protagonist wakes up and prepares breakfast for himself and his pet. He then goes around finding a job but to no avail. Then, he sees a man putting up posters and offers to help him.However, in the end, he realises he have put it up the wrong way. Next, he does a post job. And later, a job of making ceramic. He sees an old man and the man tells him why he came to this island.When he was young, he went to war but they did not win and his wife was killed. Feeling sad, he came to this island.
Part 5: The man writes a letter to his family.After many months, his family returns a letter informing him that they would be going over to that island.The man was very happy and the family reunited and they lived happily ever after.
Part 1: A man, whom I presume is the protagonist of the story, has woken up and is packing his luggage. He is about to leave his family. His family has breakfast and the man sets off on his journey. The picture then zooms out to see many monsters in his town. He then boards the train, leaving his wife and daughter crying.
Part 2: The man eats something and looks out of the window. The picture zooms out and and we realise that the man is actually on a ship.We then see many different kinds of cloud which means alot of time has pass. The picture also shows many people have also boarded the ship to escape from that town.Soon, they arrive at the city. They see many strange creatures and buidings there. However, it seemed much more peaceful than their town.The people then alight and queue up to enter the new city. The custom officers there checked his eyes, his mouth, his ears, his heartbeat before allowing him to enter. We then see the man looking out of another window and the picture zoom out to see that he was in a kind of machine that would fly him of to another place. We also see that many other people are flying there too. He alights and reaches a whole new place.He sees many wierd creatures and food and characters. He is lost. he suddenly finds some directions on the floor and he looked at his book. There are many symbols on it. A man comes and asked him a few questions. He drew a bed on his book and asked the man to bring him there. He reached the place and he payed some money for a nights stay.He experiments with the things there and found a strange creature lying on his bed. Another window is seen and we can see that many people are living in that place as well. Lastly, the picture zooms out and we can see how big the city is.
Part 3: This part starts off with the man waking up and seeing that creature on his bed again. He seemed very scared. He then washes up and sets off to find directons for something. He wanted to take another form of transport somewhere else.He meets a girl and asks her how to get a ticket on board the machine.The helpful girl then helped him obtain a ticket and they board the machine. They sit together and the girl starts talking about why she arrived on this island. The girl was captured by a man who took her book, locked it up and forced her to do work for him. She worked day and night wothout any rest with other girls. Every night, she was locked up in a room. Once, she found a spade and pried the door open. She then took back her book and escaped on a train to the island. They have arrived and the girl bid the protagonist farewell. The man looked around for something to eat. He drew a loaf of bread on his book and showed it to the shopkeeper. However, he did not ubderstand and brought him several other food instead. He and his son even let the protagonist try some of it. The son even offered to bring the man back home.On the boat, the man saw a tail similar to the tail of the creature attacking his town. However, it turned out to be the young boy's pet. The shopkeeper than explained why they came to this island. It appeared back in their town. giants have been using machines to suck up their people.The father and son were lucky enough to find a place to hide and only came up when the giants were gone. Another man found them and gave them directions to escape. The man and son found a boat there and they sailed all the way to this island. When they reached to shopkeeper's house, his wife took the ingredients and prepared food for them.The family then played an instrument each after the meal. The protagonist instead taught the young boy how to make origami. The shopkeeper's family then gave a pot to the protagonist as a gift.
Part 4: The protagonist wakes up and prepares breakfast for himself and his pet. He then goes around finding a job but to no avail. Then, he sees a man putting up posters and offers to help him.However, in the end, he realises he have put it up the wrong way. Next, he does a post job. And later, a job of making ceramic. He sees an old man and the man tells him why he came to this island.When he was young, he went to war but they did not win and his wife was killed. Feeling sad, he came to this island.
Part 5: The man writes a letter to his family.After many months, his family returns a letter informing him that they would be going over to that island.The man was very happy and the family reunited and they lived happily ever after.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Song lyrics
I do not usually listen to English songs, but if there is a song that describe me best, it would be a song that describes a rash person. I find myself a very rash person. Every time I see something, I would rush to do it, without thinking of the consequences. For example, each time I want to buy something that I like, I would just buy it, not thinking if I really need it or if it is too expensive. Also, sometimes when I am playing with my friends, I do not consider if they really want to play or if "playing" with him in this way would hurt him.
Friday, July 3, 2009
poem analysis c)
One-Dollar Gambler
I have one dollar to bet on number 13
One dollar for a loaf of bread
With a piece of ham, sandwiched between two slices of tomato.
One dollar for a hot milk tea
Before work time starts.
One dollar for some paper and ink
And some knowledge for a blind man.
One dollar each morning,
One dollar each night and for each brick I laid.
But, I bet one dollar. The counter closed
The next day number 13 appeared
In the middle of my drowsy eyes
On top of my nose
Or somewhere in between the hollowness
Of my empty hands.
I now have zero dollars to bet
Zero dollars for bread, tea, paper, ink and bricks!
Zero dollars, again, for number 13.
by Phan Thi Nam Mai
Again this poem shows how you can lose everything you have or you can have in just one gamble. The author here shows that he has a dollar to spend on different things like a loaf of bread with ham and tomatoes, something that is really important to him. However, he loses that one dollar after gambling and is now left with nothing at all
I have one dollar to bet on number 13
One dollar for a loaf of bread
With a piece of ham, sandwiched between two slices of tomato.
One dollar for a hot milk tea
Before work time starts.
One dollar for some paper and ink
And some knowledge for a blind man.
One dollar each morning,
One dollar each night and for each brick I laid.
But, I bet one dollar. The counter closed
The next day number 13 appeared
In the middle of my drowsy eyes
On top of my nose
Or somewhere in between the hollowness
Of my empty hands.
I now have zero dollars to bet
Zero dollars for bread, tea, paper, ink and bricks!
Zero dollars, again, for number 13.
by Phan Thi Nam Mai
Again this poem shows how you can lose everything you have or you can have in just one gamble. The author here shows that he has a dollar to spend on different things like a loaf of bread with ham and tomatoes, something that is really important to him. However, he loses that one dollar after gambling and is now left with nothing at all
poem analysis b)
The Green Clothes
The colourful tips,
The smoke,
The dry lips,
The tired voice, “No more bets”
The hands,
Erratic sights,
Constrained tones,
Mesmerizing lights,
Twenty eight seconds of roulette’s spin
Nervously jigging ball
The clothes are green
Somewhere, in another world,
The ringing of falling coins
and obtrusive melody: “Tu-ru-ru-ruuuu”….
These are very, very far.
His body, glance, nerves,
Brain, space and time are
Condensed in the small ball,
Which is trembling in the circle.
Dryness in the throat. That is all:
Morning, 4:48, emptiness … .
The blazing desire to win back,
To take revenge, to bring back
The nerves, the time, the brain
And all that was spent in vain.
by Gulnara Karimova
This poem shows how addictive gambling can be. Despite the author being so tired , he wants to continue gambling to recover his loss. "The ringing of falling coins
and obtrusive melody: “Tu-ru-ru-ruuuu”….
These are very, very far."
These few lines also emphasises how winning in a gamble in so difficult
The colourful tips,
The smoke,
The dry lips,
The tired voice, “No more bets”
The hands,
Erratic sights,
Constrained tones,
Mesmerizing lights,
Twenty eight seconds of roulette’s spin
Nervously jigging ball
The clothes are green
Somewhere, in another world,
The ringing of falling coins
and obtrusive melody: “Tu-ru-ru-ruuuu”….
These are very, very far.
His body, glance, nerves,
Brain, space and time are
Condensed in the small ball,
Which is trembling in the circle.
Dryness in the throat. That is all:
Morning, 4:48, emptiness … .
The blazing desire to win back,
To take revenge, to bring back
The nerves, the time, the brain
And all that was spent in vain.
by Gulnara Karimova
This poem shows how addictive gambling can be. Despite the author being so tired , he wants to continue gambling to recover his loss. "The ringing of falling coins
and obtrusive melody: “Tu-ru-ru-ruuuu”….
These are very, very far."
These few lines also emphasises how winning in a gamble in so difficult
poem analysis a)
Tom Beatty-
I was a lawyer like Harmon Whitney
Or Kinsey Keene or Garrison Standard,
For I tried the rights of property,
Although by lamp-light, for thirty years,
In that poker room in the opera house.
And I say to you that Life’s a gambler
Head and shoulders above us all.
No mayor alive can close the house.
And if you lose, you can squeal as you will;
You’ll not get back your money.
He makes the percentage hard to conquer;
He stacks the cards to catch your weakness
And not to meet your strength.
And he gives you seventy years to play:
For if you cannot win in seventy
You cannot win at all.
So, if you lose, get out of the room—
Get out of the room when your time is up.
It’s mean to sit and fumble the cards,
And curse your losses, leaden-eyed,
Whining to try and try
This poem shows how you can never win in a gamble and that the banker will meet your weakness in order not to let you win. The author also shows how he was a lawyer before but ever since he started gambling, he lost everything he had. This further shows how bad gambling is and how you can lose everything you have just by gambling.
I was a lawyer like Harmon Whitney
Or Kinsey Keene or Garrison Standard,
For I tried the rights of property,
Although by lamp-light, for thirty years,
In that poker room in the opera house.
And I say to you that Life’s a gambler
Head and shoulders above us all.
No mayor alive can close the house.
And if you lose, you can squeal as you will;
You’ll not get back your money.
He makes the percentage hard to conquer;
He stacks the cards to catch your weakness
And not to meet your strength.
And he gives you seventy years to play:
For if you cannot win in seventy
You cannot win at all.
So, if you lose, get out of the room—
Get out of the room when your time is up.
It’s mean to sit and fumble the cards,
And curse your losses, leaden-eyed,
Whining to try and try
This poem shows how you can never win in a gamble and that the banker will meet your weakness in order not to let you win. The author also shows how he was a lawyer before but ever since he started gambling, he lost everything he had. This further shows how bad gambling is and how you can lose everything you have just by gambling.
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