We all need role models in our lives. Role models, ideally, must be a person whom some one looks up to. When he looks up to the role model, he is very likely to follow in his footsteps(of course, the role model must be walking in the right direction). There are many role models around me. My father is a role model. He only had secondary education, yet he managed to be the man he is today with a hard work. Nobody had taught him where to go in life. My grandparents were perfectly happy for him to have a low-paying job as long as he could feed himself.
Another example would be my cousin. When she was younger and attended school,her parents didn't know anything about her studies, nor did they engage any tutor for her. They didn't want her to go to university as they could not afford the fees. Thus, she came up with a plan to save money. She set targets and met them. And now, she is a newspaper journalist in New York. She is a perfect role model for me.
I have many other role models. Another cousin of mine, she was offered a job by IBM even before she finished university. Back then, competition was very stiff but she still managed to get the job, and whats more, IBM approached her to give her to job, not the other way.
Of course, the so called role models who lead people in the wrong direction are called bad influences. My youngest brother, who is 7 this year, loved to read when he was in kindergarden, and was very enthusiastic about doing homework. However, my 2nd younger brother, who hates studying and loves to play, influenced him rather badly. Nowadays, he would grumble when he was asked to do homework. When asked to read a book, he stood up every 5minutes.
In life, we have to identify the role models, and keep away from bad influences. If you really want those bad influences to be your friend, then you must not learn the the bad points which he has, which is highly unlikely considering that we are human beings.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Dreams and targets
Do you have a dream? Something that you would like to be? Perhaps a doctor, perhaps a scientist. Everyone has something that they work towards, their source of motivation. And a really worrying thing is that I do not have a dream job yet. I am in secondary school now, and I still have no target in life. I have nothing to work towards, and I shouldn't be acting as circumstances dictate. During my CA interview, the teacher interviewing us told us a news article about more and more young people getting drunk at bars and other places. I thought that it was because the people are living in a highly competitive world, and they needed to chill. The teacher told me that it was only applicable for a minority of the cases. The main reason was because the people do not have a goal to work towards. Thus, they have a lot of free time and they spend it getting drunk. If someone has a goal, he would work towards it until he has achieved his target. Thus, dreams are very important.
Again, I am using my father as an example. Yesterday we had a long talk and we covered many topics, including my previous post of me having the "brain-lag disease". This is the second topic we covered.
" So Zhan Yi, what do you hope to become?"
"Dunno."
My father then proceeded to tell me the importance of having a dream, which are all listed above. He then told me that when he was a kid, he had dreams of living in a big house, driving a car, able to get on a plane...and "now (he) was able to fulfill (his) dreams". My grandfather was an architect, and it is during this time when my father was interested in being an architect too. When my father was older, he requested some friends to assist him in setting up a company. Then when they set up the company, my father set targets every year, and he would try his best to make sure his targets were achieved. Thus, his company got more and more successful every year and my father was able to achieve his target
Having a dream, or a target, is something that is necessary in life, as it would be your source of motivation, to keep you moving on.
Again, I am using my father as an example. Yesterday we had a long talk and we covered many topics, including my previous post of me having the "brain-lag disease". This is the second topic we covered.
" So Zhan Yi, what do you hope to become?"
"Dunno."
My father then proceeded to tell me the importance of having a dream, which are all listed above. He then told me that when he was a kid, he had dreams of living in a big house, driving a car, able to get on a plane...and "now (he) was able to fulfill (his) dreams". My grandfather was an architect, and it is during this time when my father was interested in being an architect too. When my father was older, he requested some friends to assist him in setting up a company. Then when they set up the company, my father set targets every year, and he would try his best to make sure his targets were achieved. Thus, his company got more and more successful every year and my father was able to achieve his target
Having a dream, or a target, is something that is necessary in life, as it would be your source of motivation, to keep you moving on.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Always on the losing end of the argument
I am forever on the losing end of an argument. Even during current affairs, when someone posed a question, I am unable to think of any good replies to the question, so the only thing that I can do is just to stare blankly at the wall. After it is over, I would think of a really good reply or comeback. Thus, I would definitely fail all my CA interviews, current affairs discussion and anything that involves debating. I am very worried about this as failing Oral Communications would result in me going to 3Q.
Yesterday, I told my parents about this, and asked them whether I was suffering from "brain-lag", and if so how to make me think faster. My mum said I might be suffering from brain-lag, but my father told me this was not the case. He told me that, I just lack practice in thinking about current affairs. He told me that I should read newspapers and watch the news everyday, and after that, think about how what I saw would affect me. My father told me that while he was reading the news, and he sees some government policies, and immediately he thinks of how it would affect our family. He also offered to help me by listening to me opinions of some of the news weekly, and correct me if I show flawed thinking. If I do this every week, soon I will be able to have a more mature perspective and will have no trouble rebutting some of the questions my classmates pose.
I think I will keep this short and sweet, and go read some newspapers.
Yesterday, I told my parents about this, and asked them whether I was suffering from "brain-lag", and if so how to make me think faster. My mum said I might be suffering from brain-lag, but my father told me this was not the case. He told me that, I just lack practice in thinking about current affairs. He told me that I should read newspapers and watch the news everyday, and after that, think about how what I saw would affect me. My father told me that while he was reading the news, and he sees some government policies, and immediately he thinks of how it would affect our family. He also offered to help me by listening to me opinions of some of the news weekly, and correct me if I show flawed thinking. If I do this every week, soon I will be able to have a more mature perspective and will have no trouble rebutting some of the questions my classmates pose.
I think I will keep this short and sweet, and go read some newspapers.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Happy birthday Singapore-- and me
Happy birthday Singapore! Well done making it through the toughest times, the harshest moments, and becoming a first world country in just 45 years!!! We are small, but we are efficient. I'm proud to be a Singaporean!
Fun fact: Why is 10 August also a holiday?
Because it is Choo Zhan Yi's birthday :)(duh. why would anyone declare 10 Aug a sch holiday for no reason?)
Happy birthday myself!! In an attempt to raise my negative self-esteem, I will be talking more about myself. I celebrated my birthday today instead of tomorrow, and it was just a normal meal outside. I have no need for any presents and have already asked my parents not to get me a present. My father is more than happy not to, but my mother still got me one. My brothers forced me to accept their gifts for me as they wanted a present for their birthdays(Special mention of my youngest brother, who made a birthday card with <5 words on it). I refused when my parents offered to buy a birthday cake. What's the point of all these? I would only celebrate my birthday as if it were a festival when I am at least 65 years old.
I can already feel my gradual maturity. When I was younger, I pestered my mum for the whole day for a cake, then sulked for the whole week if I did not get presents. That was in the past. Now, its all about, examinations, test, ace and recently blogs(Yes, recently). Thanks to myself, I have one more day to wake up late. You know, every student in Singapore should thank me for this holiday. This is a very short post as I need to catch up on some sleep. Will post some more updates about my real birthday tomorrow
10 Aug: My real birthday
Nothing much happened, my brother only remembered to wish me happy birthday at about 11, and I thanked my mother for bringing me to this you(which is a smart move as I will probably get some good stuff to eat during lunch). Next time, instead of my mum getting me a gift, I should give my mum a present. As the chinese say, " A child's birthday is the mother's day of hell" or something like that. My birthday is nothing much, it should be the mother who gets the credit.
Fun fact: Why is 10 August also a holiday?
Because it is Choo Zhan Yi's birthday :)(duh. why would anyone declare 10 Aug a sch holiday for no reason?)
Happy birthday myself!! In an attempt to raise my negative self-esteem, I will be talking more about myself. I celebrated my birthday today instead of tomorrow, and it was just a normal meal outside. I have no need for any presents and have already asked my parents not to get me a present. My father is more than happy not to, but my mother still got me one. My brothers forced me to accept their gifts for me as they wanted a present for their birthdays(Special mention of my youngest brother, who made a birthday card with <5 words on it). I refused when my parents offered to buy a birthday cake. What's the point of all these? I would only celebrate my birthday as if it were a festival when I am at least 65 years old.
I can already feel my gradual maturity. When I was younger, I pestered my mum for the whole day for a cake, then sulked for the whole week if I did not get presents. That was in the past. Now, its all about, examinations, test, ace and recently blogs(Yes, recently). Thanks to myself, I have one more day to wake up late. You know, every student in Singapore should thank me for this holiday. This is a very short post as I need to catch up on some sleep. Will post some more updates about my real birthday tomorrow
10 Aug: My real birthday
Nothing much happened, my brother only remembered to wish me happy birthday at about 11, and I thanked my mother for bringing me to this you(which is a smart move as I will probably get some good stuff to eat during lunch). Next time, instead of my mum getting me a gift, I should give my mum a present. As the chinese say, " A child's birthday is the mother's day of hell" or something like that. My birthday is nothing much, it should be the mother who gets the credit.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
The other contributing factor to success
2nd post in 2 days! Goodbye LA ace. But today I am going to talk about the other less prominent factor to success, besides digging out enough creativity to last you for about 30 years and the willingness to slog it.The other factor is... luck. Sometimes, people are just unlucky. There may be a few talented people who have thought up some brilliant new idea but their boss is currently in a bad mood after a having his divorce and he just skims through the report and dismisses it as " load of crap". Luck and chance can be seen and found everywhere, they may bring good luck or bad luck.
For example: During Adolf Hitler's rise to power, there was a little bit of luck involved as the time he came to prominence was when the worst of the Great Depression was over. If not for that little bit of luck, millions of Jews wouldn't have died(and we would have less to study for history). A few years later, when Hitler took a BIG gamble and remilitarized the Rhineland. Hitler was risking everything he had here. If the French had opposed them in anyway, they were to retreat, which would humiliate Hitler. Of course, as luck would have it, the French decided not to act and Hitler got away with his gamble.
Another example would be in the Merchant of Venice, during the casket test, the Prince of Morroco chose the wrong casket and thus doesn't get Portia as his wife. Again, what if luck had interfered and the Prince chose the lead casket, things would have changed entirely. Although this is a play, but things like these do happen in life.
As luck would have it, I suddenly cannot think of any other points to write so I'll end off here.
For example: During Adolf Hitler's rise to power, there was a little bit of luck involved as the time he came to prominence was when the worst of the Great Depression was over. If not for that little bit of luck, millions of Jews wouldn't have died(and we would have less to study for history). A few years later, when Hitler took a BIG gamble and remilitarized the Rhineland. Hitler was risking everything he had here. If the French had opposed them in anyway, they were to retreat, which would humiliate Hitler. Of course, as luck would have it, the French decided not to act and Hitler got away with his gamble.
Another example would be in the Merchant of Venice, during the casket test, the Prince of Morroco chose the wrong casket and thus doesn't get Portia as his wife. Again, what if luck had interfered and the Prince chose the lead casket, things would have changed entirely. Although this is a play, but things like these do happen in life.
As luck would have it, I suddenly cannot think of any other points to write so I'll end off here.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Wanted: Creativity
Its been n+486834 months since I last posted... and I believe that most of my classmates are the same. The reason: No blog prompts. Ms Soh doesn't seem to have given us any blog prompts this term. I had a look at my other classmate's blogs and most of their last posts was based on a prompt or an assignment. I spent 2h searching for the prompts on Ms Soh's website and after finding nothing, I tried to think of a topic to write otherwise I'm going to have negative LA ace. Nothing. My mind was clear, but I just couldn't think of any topics. People like Martin(see his amazing blog here http://www.i-suppose-you-blog-at.blogspot.com/) can compose a poem as easily as blinking. Thus, I think the problem is lack of creativity. I am unable to think up of any new ideas and this is a serious problem as I will never be able to improve myself if I cannot think up plans for improvement(and this is affecting me rather badly when I am writing compositions as "those few scenarios" always come up). The rest of the world moves on while I am stationary.
How do I solve this? Since I lack creativity, I...erm...well... can't think of anything to help me. Looks like I have to GOOGLE this. There was an article about some guy who wrote a book called "The Role Of Creativity In Business" on AUGUST 12, 2006(Sim Zhi Xin's 10th birthday). Of course, creativity is not only limited to businesses.Step 1:I will start by quoting some lines from the article.
"We’re all creative. We all have boundless imaginations. We always have"
"Without creative thinking how will the engineering team discover the next breakthrough product? How will the marketing team break out and stand above a crowded market place"
"we’ve had decades of structured learning that tells us to ignore our creative side and to only focus on the logical"
After looking at these quotes, particularly about the education we are receiving, I feel that they are right. Maybe our educational system is not what is best for us. For example, for comprehensions most of the answers can be obtained from the passage given. There is not much thinking involved, and personal response questions are a minority. Maybe it might help if there were more personal response questions because it encourages more thinking. Another quote from the article "Creativity isn’t a special gift – we’re all born with it. It never leaves, it’s just hiding. Look for ways you can let the two year old inside come out and play". This shows that we need more practice to let the creativity come out of us. But of course, we have to start from a young age because my creativity is already buried very deep inside me and by the time I dig it out I will probably be an old man.
I will end of this short post with another quote because I am not creative enough to think of anything fast and I'm struggling to keep awake
"If everyone has the same view, the same ideas, the same approach, the same results then why are all of us still here?"
How do I solve this? Since I lack creativity, I...erm...well... can't think of anything to help me. Looks like I have to GOOGLE this. There was an article about some guy who wrote a book called "The Role Of Creativity In Business" on AUGUST 12, 2006(Sim Zhi Xin's 10th birthday). Of course, creativity is not only limited to businesses.Step 1:I will start by quoting some lines from the article.
"We’re all creative. We all have boundless imaginations. We always have"
"Without creative thinking how will the engineering team discover the next breakthrough product? How will the marketing team break out and stand above a crowded market place"
"we’ve had decades of structured learning that tells us to ignore our creative side and to only focus on the logical"
After looking at these quotes, particularly about the education we are receiving, I feel that they are right. Maybe our educational system is not what is best for us. For example, for comprehensions most of the answers can be obtained from the passage given. There is not much thinking involved, and personal response questions are a minority. Maybe it might help if there were more personal response questions because it encourages more thinking. Another quote from the article "Creativity isn’t a special gift – we’re all born with it. It never leaves, it’s just hiding. Look for ways you can let the two year old inside come out and play". This shows that we need more practice to let the creativity come out of us. But of course, we have to start from a young age because my creativity is already buried very deep inside me and by the time I dig it out I will probably be an old man.
I will end of this short post with another quote because I am not creative enough to think of anything fast and I'm struggling to keep awake
"If everyone has the same view, the same ideas, the same approach, the same results then why are all of us still here?"
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Home learning
Rainbow Death
America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri( an unusual or interesting mixture of things)!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.
Omnipotent(having unlimited power; able to do anything) and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously(evil or immoral) America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable(very bad) effects of agent orange spray!
Task 1
"Rainbow Death" talks about modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering – not only to its intended victims, the Vietnamese people, but also the service personnel that used or even just came into contact with “Agent Orange”.
"Agent Orange" is the codename of a herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD(Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin)—used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War.
Coming into contact with "Agent Orange" have resulted in numerous deaths and disabilities, and many children were born with birth defects.
They were other "Agents" too. Agents Purple, Pink, Green, blue and white were also used.
Task 2
POV: The point of view is from a Vietnamese soldier.
Evidence:"Toll on the innocent and unborn" "disregarding who will mourn" "Nefariously America"
Elaboration: During the Vietnam war, America joined the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam.It used Agent Orange, a toxic herbicide, which caused many deformities and many babies were born with birth defects. Thus, the poet describes America as "nefarious", which means evil or immoral.
Situation and Setting: After the Vietnam war.
Evidence: "America did not foresee"
Elaboration: The phrase did not foresee shows that it was some time after the Vietnam wart.
Language/Diction: Alliteration
Evidence: "thinking twice"
Elaboration: The "t" sound is similar to spitting. The poet is showing his contempt for the Americans for what they did to generations of Vietnamese people.
Personal response: Even when war is over, the effects of war will linger.
Evidence: "Generations untold WILL pay" "illness, birth defects and prematurely dead"
Elaboration: When people are exposed to agent orange, it will result in death or deformity.The deformed people will then pass down their condition to the next generation of people, and so on.
America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri( an unusual or interesting mixture of things)!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.
Omnipotent(having unlimited power; able to do anything) and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously(evil or immoral) America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable(very bad) effects of agent orange spray!
Task 1
"Rainbow Death" talks about modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering – not only to its intended victims, the Vietnamese people, but also the service personnel that used or even just came into contact with “Agent Orange”.
"Agent Orange" is the codename of a herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD(Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin)—used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War.
Coming into contact with "Agent Orange" have resulted in numerous deaths and disabilities, and many children were born with birth defects.
They were other "Agents" too. Agents Purple, Pink, Green, blue and white were also used.
Task 2
POV: The point of view is from a Vietnamese soldier.
Evidence:"Toll on the innocent and unborn" "disregarding who will mourn" "Nefariously America"
Elaboration: During the Vietnam war, America joined the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam.It used Agent Orange, a toxic herbicide, which caused many deformities and many babies were born with birth defects. Thus, the poet describes America as "nefarious", which means evil or immoral.
Situation and Setting: After the Vietnam war.
Evidence: "America did not foresee"
Elaboration: The phrase did not foresee shows that it was some time after the Vietnam wart.
Language/Diction: Alliteration
Evidence: "thinking twice"
Elaboration: The "t" sound is similar to spitting. The poet is showing his contempt for the Americans for what they did to generations of Vietnamese people.
Personal response: Even when war is over, the effects of war will linger.
Evidence: "Generations untold WILL pay" "illness, birth defects and prematurely dead"
Elaboration: When people are exposed to agent orange, it will result in death or deformity.The deformed people will then pass down their condition to the next generation of people, and so on.
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