The lesson Poem Analyze

Firstly , I think that the theme for this poem is violence. This is because in every stanza of the poem, a very violent image is projected to the reader like "throttled him then and there" and "he hacked his way".

For this poem, there are 10 stanzas and 4 sentences in each stanza. This make it easier to read and at the same time, it produces an imagery of a gun firing. This is because each stanza is short and fast to read, just like a gun firing.

The language used in this poem is also very figurative. The teacher said that 'I'm going to teach you a lesson, one that you'll never forget', however, he is not teaching a normal lesson in class but instead, killing all the students. It is also ironical, the teacher should be the one teaching the students not to be violent but he himself is super violent. All these are examples of figurative language that could be found throughout the poem. Also, the teacher failed to teach them a lesson as all of them are already dead and could not think or remember things.

Lastly, I think that the poet that written this poem may be a teacher himself before and had taught a class which is very noisy and naughty. I think that he is trying to express his feelings and telling the public that sometimes a class can be so noisy and naughty that a teacher can get very frustrated and wants to kill all of them. At the same time, he is also trying to tell the public that being a teacher is not as easy as many people think.

The Lesson

Silence ruled OK in the staffroom
as bravely the gangster walked in
the teachers ignored him
his voice was lost not in the din

'The theme for today is violence
and homework will be set
I'm going to teach you a lesson
one that you'll never forget

He picked on a staff who was working
and throttled him then and there
then garrotted the teacher behind him
(the one with curly hair)

Then dagger in hand he stabbed his way
between the chattering rows
'First come first severed' he declared
'fingers, feet, or toes'

He threw the dagger at a newcommer
it struck with deadly aim
then pulling out a machine gun
he continued with his game

The first blast cleared the backrow
(where those who work hang out)
tey collasped like rubber dominoes
when the plug's pulled out

'Please may I leave the room dear student?'
the trembling principal enquired
'Of course you may' said the gangster
put the gun to his temple and fired

The student popped a head around the doorway
to see why a din was being made
nodded understandingly
then tossed in a grenade

And when the ammo was well spent
with blood on every chair
silence shuffled forward
with its hands up in the air

The gangster surveyed the carnage
the dying and the dead
he waggled a finger severly
'Now let that be a lesson' he said

My Favourite Poet

William Wordsworth

Background:
William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was a major English romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English Litreature with the 1798 joint
publication Lyrical Ballads.

Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semi autobiography poem of his early years which the poet revised and expanded a number of times. The work was posthumously titled and published, prior to which it was generally known as the poem "to Coleridge". Wordsworth was England's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.
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First publication and Lyrical Ballads

In his "Preface to Lyrical Ballads" which is called the "manifesto" of English Romantic criticism, Wordsworth calls his poems "experimental". The year 1793 saw Wordsworth's first published poetry with the collections An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches. He received a legacy of £900 from Raisley Calvert in 1795 so that he could pursue writing poetry. That year, he met Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Somerset. The two poets quickly developed a close friendship. In 1797, Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, moved toAlfoxton House, Somerset, just a few miles away from Coleridge's home in Nether Stowey. Together, Wordsworth and Coleridge (with insights from Dorothy) produced Lyrical Ballads (1798), an important work in the English Romantic movement. The volume had neither the name of Wordsworth nor Coleridge as the author. One of Wordsworth's most famous poems, "Tintern Abbey", was published in the work, along with Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere". The second edition, published in 1800, had only Wordsworth listed as the author, and included a preface to the poems, which was significantly augmented in the 1802 edition. This Preface to Lyrical Ballads is considered a central work of Romantic literary theory. In it, Wordsworth discusses what he sees as the elements of a new type of poetry, one based on the "real language of men" and which avoids the poetic diction of much eighteenth-century poetry. Here, Wordsworth gives his famous definition of poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility". A fourth and final edition of Lyrical Ballads was published in 1805.
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Well, the reason that I chose him as my favourite poet is because he was once a great master of poetry. His poems were basically romantic and he expresses the feeling of the poems he write very well, making the reader feel as if they are watching a drama show. Below are some of his famous works of poetry:

I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD( Also Known as Daffodils)

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze

Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
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She Dwelt Among Untrodden Ways

She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove,
Maid whom there were none to praise
And very few to love:

A violet by a mosy tone
Half hidden from the eye!
---Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.

She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and, oh,
The difference to me!
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Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known

Strange fits of passion have I known:
And I will dare to tell,
But in the lover's ear alone,
What once to me befell.

When she I loved looked every day
Fresh as a rose in June,
I to her cottage bent my way,
Beneath an evening-moon.

Upon the moon I fixed my eye,
All over the wide lea;
With quickening pace my horse drew nigh
Those paths so dear to me.

And now we reached the orchard-plot;
And, as we climbed the hill,
The sinking moon to Lucy's cot
Came near, and nearer still.

In one of those sweet dreams I slept,
Kind Nature's gentlest boon!
And all the while my eye I kep
tOn the descending moon.

My horse moved on; hoof after hoof
He raised, and never stopped:
When down behind the cottage roof,
At once, the bright moon dropped.

What fond and wayward thoughts will slide
Into a Lover's head!
"O mercy!" to myself I cried,
"If Lucy hould be dead!"
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* Information Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth
* Poem Sources: http://www.poemhunter.com/william-wordsworth

My Favourite Poem

Title: Welcome Morning
Author: Anne Sexton
Lyrics: There is joyin all:in the hair I brush each morning,in the Cannon towel, newly washed,that I rub my body with each morning,in the chapel of eggs I cook each morning,in the outcry from the kettle that heats my coffee each morning,in the spoon and the chair that cry "hello there, Anne"each morning,in the godhead of the table that I set my silver, plate, cup upon each morning.

All this is God, right here in my pea-green house each morning and I mean, though often forget,to give thanks,to faint down by the kitchen table in a prayer of rejoicing as the holy birds at the kitchen windowpeck into their marriage of seeds.
So while I think of it,let me paint a thank-you on my palm for this God, this laughter of the morning, lest it go unspoken.

The Joy that isn't shared, I've heard,dies young

Hyperbole: Hyperbole is a figure of speech which is an exaggeration. Persons often use expressions such as "I nearly died laughing," "I was hopping mad," and "I tried a thousand times." Such statements are not literally true, but people make them to sound impressive or to emphasize something, such as a feeling, effort, or reaction.

Personification: When you make a thing, idea, or an animal do something only humans can do.

Metaphor: Metaphor is when you use two nouns and compare or contrast them to one another. Unlike simile, you don't use "like" or "as" in the comparison.

Similey: Simile is when you compare two nouns (persons, places or things) that are unlike, with "like" or "as."

Symbolism: Symbolism is when something or some one is representing something in the real world.

"outcry from the kettle that heats my coffee" ------- Personification

"the spoon and the chair that cry "hello there, Anne"each morning"------- Personification

" pea-green house"--------Similey

"let me paint a thank-you on my palm for this God"-------- Symbolism

Book Review: Animal Farm

Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely-and this is vividly and eloquently proved in this short novel. "Animal Farm" is a simple fable of great symbolic value, and as the author explained: "it is the history of a revolution that went wrong". The novel can be seen as the historical analysis of the causes of the failure of communism, or as a mere fairy-tale; in any case it tells a good story that aims to prove that human nature and diversity prevent people from being equal and happy ,or at least equally happy.

"Animal Farm" tells the simple and tragic story of what happens when the oppressed farm animals rebel, drive out Mr. Jones, the farmer, and attempt to rule the farm themselves, on an equal basis. What the animals seem to have aimed at was at sort of communism, where each would work according to his capacity, respecting the needs of others. The venture failed, and "Animal Farm" ended up being a dictatorship of pigs, who were the brightest, and most idle of the animals.

The author's mastery lies in his presentation of the horrors of totalitarian regimes, and his analysis of communism put to practice, through satire and simple story-telling. The structure of the novel is skillfully organized, and the careful reader may, for example, detect the causes of the unworkability of communism even from the first chapter. This is deduced from Orwell's description of the various animals as they enter the barn and take their seats to listen to the revolutionary preaching of Old Major, father of communism in Animal Farm. Each animal has different features and attitude; the pigs, for example, "settled down in the straw immediately in front of the platform", which is a hint on their future role, whereas Clover, the affectionate horse" made a sort of wall" with her foreleg to protect some ducklings.

So, it appears that the revolution was doomed from the beginning, even though it began in idealistic optimism as expressed by the motto" no animal must ever tyrannize over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers. "When the animals drive out Mr. Jones, they create their "Seven Commandments" which ensure equality and prosperity for all the animals. The pigs ,however, being the natural leaders, managed to reverse the commandments, and through terror and propaganda establish the rule of an elite of pigs, under the leadership of Napoleon, the most revered and sinister pig.

"Animal Farm" successfully presents how the mechanism of propaganda and brainwashing works in totalitarian regimes, by showing how the pigs could make the other animals believe practically anything. Responsible for the propaganda was Squealer, a pig that "could turn black into white". Squealer managed to change the rule from "all animals are equal" to" all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others". He managed to convince the other animals that it was for their sake that the pigs ate most of the apples and drank most of the milk, that leadership was "heavy responsibility" and therefore the animals should be thankful to Napoleon, that what they saw may have been something they "dreamed", and when everything else failed he would use the threat of " Jones returning" to silence the animals. In this simple but effective way, Orwell presents the tragedy and confusion of thought control to the extent that one seems better off simply believing that" Napoleon is always right".

Orwell's criticism of the role of the Church is also very effective. In Animal Farm, the Church is represented by Moses, a tame raven, who talks of "Sugarcandy Mountain", a happy country in the sky "where we poor animals shall rest forever from our labors". It is interesting to observe that when Old Major was first preaching revolutionary communism, Moses was sleeping in the barn, which satirizes the Church being caught asleep by communism. It is also important to note that the pig-dictators allowed and indirectly encouraged Moses; it seems that it suited the pigs to have the animals dreaming of a better life after death so that they wouldn't attempt to have a better life while still alive...

In "Animal Farm", Orwell describes how power turned the pigs from simple "comrades" to ruthless dictators who managed to walk on two legs, and carry whips. The story maybe seen as an analysis of the Soviet regime, or as a warning against political power games of an absolute nature and totalitarianism in general. For this reason, the story ends with a hair-raising warning to all humankind:" The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which".

Book Review: Blitz

This book is written by David Orme, in a series of books called Sharp Shades.

This book is about WWll and a boy by the name of Martin. He lost his parents and was therefore sent to live with his Aunt, Aunt Josie. Martin loved to live with Aunt Josie but was later evacuated to the country for safety reasons. In the country, he lived with Aunt Minnie but he did not enjoy it although he was well taken care of.

So, Martin escaped from school one day and ran to the train station to buy a ticket back to London. When he arrived in London, all he could see is debris caused by the active bombings. He frantically search for Aunt Jossie and finally found her in a bomb shelter. Aunt Josie was shocked to see him there and asked him to return to Aunt Minnie immediately for his life. She gave him some money and asked him to board a train back to Winchester immediately.

With no choice, Martin left for the train station and boarded the next train to Winchester. However, there was an enemy bombing attack and the train exploded. A lot of people died as a result but Martin was one of those lucky survivors. However, when Martin finally regained conscious, he forgot everything, including his own name.

So he wander around the city, trying hard to find out who he was and what was his real name. When he pass a house full of chickens and a woman feeding them, he suddenly remembers Aunt Minnie feeding the chicken;s in her house in Winchester. Slowly, he remembers his own identity and where he belongs to and that fatal train explosion which nearly took his life.

He went straight to the train station and waited patiently for the next train going to Winchester.

At last, he was back in his Aunt Minnie house. However, this time round, he enjoys staying with Aunt Minnie, because of the peacefulness of the country.

Book Review: Plaque

This book is written by David Orme titled Plaque, in a series of books called Sharp Shades.

Basically, this book is about plaque, a dreadful illness that has caused millions of death throughout history. The Great Plaque of 1665, described in this story, was the last great outbreak of plaque in Britain, causing over 100,000 deaths in London alone.

Henry is a boy living in the period of the plaque. His family consist of him, his parents and a brother, Jasper. His father worked as a saddler. Master Coulter was one of his customers and a good friend. I wanted to be an apothecary and was hence apprenticed to Master Coulter.

When the deadly plaque struck the whole city, Henry's father died and his mother and brother escaped the city to their uncle's farm, leaving Henry all alone to attend to his father's funeral.

After much trouble, poor Henry finally managed to find a person to give his father a proper burial. Then, Henry tries to escape the city by swimming across the Thames river to Camberwell- where his uncle's farm is.

After much hardships, he finally managed to swim across the river. However, at this point of time, the poor boy was down with the deadly plaque. He lie down on the roadside and prepared himself to die.

However, his life wasn't coming to an end. His brother found him lying by the roadside and at once knew that Henry had contacted the deadly plaque. He brought him back to the farm and nursed him, hopping that Henry would recover. Indeed, Henry recovered. It is really a miracle that Henry could survive. Knowing that survivors from the plaque would rarely get it a second time, Henry immediately headed back for the city, to his master's house and continue learning from him.

Book Review: Fire!

This book is written David Orme, titled Fire! in a series of books call Sharp Shades.

This book is about a The Great Fire of London. In this book there are two sisters who were abandoned by their parents when they were babies. They were adopted by the church parish. When the two sisters were old enough, they were sent to work elsewhere. The two sisters are named Martha and Martin. Martin was sent to be an apprenticed to Mr Brown, a shoemaker, while Martha was sent to be a lady's maid.

Martin had a very bad master. Her master was very cruel and gave Martin very little sleep and made sure she worked alot. However, Martha master was a very kind lady just that she was paralysed.

When the great fire broke out, everyone at that time was running for their lives. Martin's master ran away from the fire but left Martin behind.

Martha master was paralysed and hence she could not escape. However, she asked Martha to escape on her own and don't bother about her. Being a loyal person, Martha just could not bring herself to do that.

Similarly, both sisters could not escape. But in the end, The sisters were reunited at Martha's master's house. The old lady tried to escape but fell to her death when she was trying to climb down the stairs and thus Martha was very sad. However, the old lady left behind a will. The will reads" All my possession will go to Martha." So the sisters finally have their own house and they would not have to work for masters again.

Differenciated Assigment

Dear diary,

Over the few days, a lot of things had happened to me and all these problems were caused because I wanted to get back at my English teacher, Ms Narwin. I wanted to get into the track team, but was refused because I did not pass all the subjects. The only subject that I failed was English. Thus, I hated Ms Narwin for not giving me the passing mark. I did not even think that the cause of me failing English wa my own laziness and I blamed Ms Narwin for that.

I therefore decided to get back at Ms Narwin in class by humming the national anthem when it is played in the morning. I knew that was against the school rules but I did this purposely to fustrate Ms Narwin. Little did I know that what I did had became a big issue and caused great misery to myself and Ms Narwin. When Ms Narwin asked me to stop humming, I felt very frustrated and I told this to my parents. I told them that I am doing this out of patriotism for my country. My parents then told me to do what I think is right.

The next day I did the same thing and was a again scolded by Ms Narwin. I did not stop and continued singing. Ms Narwin was very angry and send me to see the vice-principal. I told the vice-princpal that I was just being patriotic and not a troublemaker as what Ms Narwin had said. I also told him that Ms Narwin was against me and I requested that I have a change of teacher. However, the vice-principal did not agree to my request.

On following day, I did the same thing and was brought to see the vice-principal again. This time, the vice-principal gave me two choices which are either to apologize to Ms Narwin or get suspended from school. I choose to get suspended from school. When my parents knew what had hapened,they were very angry with the school and told this to the reporters. The reporters wrote on this matter with the headline, “Patriotic boy gets suspended from school”. Not long after, a lot of people came to know about this matter.

The public thinks that what Ms Narwin did was wrong and some even asked the school to sack Ms Narwin. This issue causes a lot of troubles for Ms Narwin and the school. Some of my friends said that what I did was on purpose because I don’t like Ms Narwin. Most of my friends started to dislike and avoid me. Life has become very miserable and I decided to change to a new school. However, I was even unhappier in my new school as my new school has no track team and I am exposed for not knowing the national anthem. I truly regretted what I had done but I have only myself to blame for my present predicament.

HOTA

The Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) provides an opt-out organ donation system that allows for the removal of kidneys, livers, hearts and corneas from Singapore citizens and permanent residents who have died, for the sole purpose of transplantation. Administered by the Ministry of Health (MOH), it also regulates organ donation by living persons. Enacted in 1987, it has since undergone three rounds of major amendments to extend its coverage so that more people can benefit from organ transplants.

History
Before HOTA was implemented, organ donation in Singapore was done only on a voluntary basis under the Medical (Therapy, Education and Research) Act, or MTERA in short. The current MTERA was enacted in 1972. It repealed a similar law that was passed by parliament in 1965, as this earlier legislation had been found to be flawed because of its ambiguities and stringent rules.

However, MTERA proved inadequate to meet the transplant needs of patients suffering kidney failure due to the lack of voluntary donations. Only 22 kidney transplants were performed between 1970 and 1978, and there were none between 1979 and 1981. This prompted then Health Minister Goh Chok Tong to suggest setting up an opt-out system of obtaining cadaveric kidneys. After extensive studies and public consultation, the government introduced HOTA in 1987 to allow for the removal of kidneys from non-Muslims who die from accidental causes.

The impact was significant. Between 1987 and mid-2004, 222 patients received kidney transplants under HOTA, an average of 13 per year. Since mid-2004, HOTA has been amended to widen the pool of cadaveric organ donors and thus benefit more people in need of transplants. In 2007 alone, cadaveric organs were used to perform 46 kidney transplants, 12 liver transplants, 4 heart transplants and 106 cornea transplants.

Key Changes Under the Human Organ Transplant (Amendment) Act 2004
(1) Inclusion of deaths resulting from non-accidental causes.
(2) Inclusion of livers, hearts and corneas in cadaveric organ donations.
(3) Regulation of living donor organ transplants.

Key Changes Under the Human Organ Transplant (Amendment) Act 2008
(1) Inclusion of Muslims.
(2) Provision of enforcement powers to give MOH the authority to investigate offences under HOTA.

Key Changes Under the Human Organ Transplant (Amendment) Bill 2009
(1) Removal of the 60-year upper age limit on cadaveric organ donors.
(2) Allowing donor-recipient paired matching. Put simply, this is a system whereby recipients who have medically incompatible donors exchange their donors so that each recipient receives a suitable organ. The exchange can be carried out across two or more donor-recipient pairs.
(3) Reimbursement of living donors in accordance with international and local ethical practices.
(4) Increased penalties for organ trading syndicates and middlemen.

Description
All Singapore citizens and permanent residents who are at least 21 years old and of sound mind are automatically included under HOTA, unless they opt out. Upon their death, their organs will be removed if the following conditions are met:
- they died in a hospital;
- their organs are suitable for transplant; and
- there are suitable recipients for the organs to be removed.

People who have not opted out of HOTA will have a higher priority on the waiting list should they need an organ transplant.

HOTA covers only kidneys, livers, hearts and corneas, but people may pledge to donate any of their other organs and tissues (e.g., lungs, bones and skin) upon their death, for the purpose of transplantation, education or research under MTERA. The minimum age requirement is 18 years old. Foreigners can also sign up as donors under MTERA.

Besides cadaveric organ donation, HOTA regulates living donor organ transplants. In such cases, HOTA allows for the removal of a kidney or any part of the liver of a living donor for the purpose of transplantation, provided there is written authorisation from the hospital's transplant ethics committee. Following the 2009 amendments, payments may now be made to living donors to reimburse them for the loss of earnings and other costs or expenses, including medical care and insurance protection, incurred as a result of the organ donation. Although the proposed amendments were eventually passed, this issue of reimbursement was the subject of a heated debate in parliament as some Members of Parliament were concerned that it could be a backdoor to organ trading.

The Village By The Sea Book Review

The Village By The Sea is a novel written by writer Anita Desai.

Plot

The Village by the Sea is set in a small village called Thul. Lila, the eldest child among the four siblings, is thirteen years old. Her twelve year old brother Hari is the only person with whom she can share her troubles. Their mother is ill and needs constant care and nursing. She is anaemic and is growing weaker and weaker by the day. Their father who has been out of work for months is a Drunkard, and always shouts at his family when he is drunk.

With two younger sisters to take care of as well as their mother, life for Lila and Hari is not easy at all. Their father is a good for nothing guy who idle every day and drinks toddy. There is a constant need for money as the family is almost always in debt. Hari decides that he has had just about enough and leaves for Bombay.

Lila is left alone to manage her sisters Bela and Kamal, as well as her mother, and somehow keep the family strings together. Help comes from an unexpected source, the rich De Silva's.

Meanwhile, Hari is new in the great city of Bombay, and all alone. A kind watchman at a apartment where the De Silvas live, brings him to a generous restaurant proprietor, Jagu, who takes pity on him and welcomes him to work in his restaurant, Sri Krishna Eating House. There, Hari builds a strong friendship with Mr. Panwallah, the lovable watch repairer whose shop is just beside the eatery. Through his experience with Mr. Panwallah and Jagu and the chain of events that take place in Bombay, Hari realises that he should return to his village with savings and help his family overcome their hardships.

Meanwhile, Lila, Bela and Kamal are forced to admit their sick mother in town hospital through the help of the De Silvas. Their father turns over a new leaf, and accompanies their mother throughout her treatment without drinking and without having any debts. While Hari returns, he returns as a child who is adapted to the changing environment.

Themes

The themes in 'The Village by the Sea are:

• Poverty & Wealth
• Change & Adaptation
• Urban & Rural India
• Benefactors
• Family

The book that influenced my parents

The book that influenced my my mum was a Chinese book that she read when she was around 10 years old. The book is titled "三国演义", in English, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The book is mainly about how the three kingdoms fight using their wits and military over lands. In the story, there are many characters who are very bold and clever. However, there are also characters who are betrayers and bad people.
The character that influenced my mum most is a character called"诸葛亮". This character is very wise. During difficult situations, he could always find a solution to it. Because of this, he was favoured by the emperor. Hence, many people were jealous of him and wanted to remove him from the court forever. However, he was always able to use his wisdom to get himself out of trouble.
How did this character influenced my mum? Because of this character, my mother began to study hard during her schooling days. It is because my mother was shocked to see what wisdom of a person can do. So she decided to be like that character, full of wisdom.
Because of this character, my mum went all the way in her studies until finishing university. And till today, she is still very glad that she had read that book when she was young!!!

Student Robbed At Knifepoint

An 18 year old student was threatened with a blade and robbed in the early hours of Thursday morning.
He was walking near Block 647 of Yishun Central when he was stopped by a man, who whipped out a six-inch long blade. The man demanded that he hand over his mobile phone and wallet.

The student did so, and was not injured. The thief, who was described to be sporting a tattoo between his eyebrows and dressed in a T-shirt, Bermudas and slippers, then fled.

Regarding this case, I would like to express my point of views. Firstly, I think that this case happened because nowadays, the economy has worsen. So a lot of people will lose their jobs. When people lose their jobs, they will have no money and will resort to stealing, robbing,etc.

Also, people now are more daring and they do not think of the consequences of their actions. This may be because that when they are young, their parents did not teach them anything about moral values and did not care about them. For example, the parents do not care about who are their children's friends, or their children's academic results,etc. There is a lack of communication here and hence, lead to their child having the wrong thinking.

Last but not least, I think it is because that now, most teenagers are carrying very expensive items like mobile phones, laptops, etc. This has become so normal and this also make teenagers easy targets for robbers.

So, I really think that we should be more careful when we are alone next time and try not to carry any expensive items with you. Also try not to walk alone in the dark and at an desolated place.

My First Camping Reflections

During the one week school holidays, my school organised a secondary 1 camp for all of us. When I knew that I will soon be going for a camp, I am feeling both excited and a little fearful of the camp. This mainly because this is my first camp and also, I fear that I will have to bear with very unhygienic conditions and bad living conditions and most importantly, no usage of electronic devices.

Before the camp, we were all given a camping list which is to tell you what to bring for the camp. When I saw the list I was simply shocked!!! There was so many things to bring, and they do not even allow us to bring hand phones! When I finally finished packing, I need to use a very huge back and had to carry a very large plastic on one hand. Also, both this items are very heavy things!

Finally, the day of the camp arrived. I felt very excited and woke up extremely early for a new day. At the beginning, they introduced us to our camp trainers and our group for the camp. Then we proceeded to the camp site- Sarimbun Campsite.

It was in the afternoon when we reached there, and so it was very hot. However, the camp trainers forced us to sit under the hot sun. At the beginning of this camp, I am already not enjoying it...

Later into the afternoon, it is finally our lunchtime!!! We grab our utensils, and dashed to to the "canteen". However, the food vendors were late and our lunch time was delayed by at least an hour. When we finally got to eat lunch, we were all very frustrated although the camp trainers apologised to us profusely. In my mind I think that if the camp is going to continue on like this, I am definitely not going to enjoy this camp.

However, the activity in the afternoon were very fun and interesting. We had the Sarimbun Challenge, in which we will have to go through many challenges before we complete the mission.

Personally, I felt that this activity was very enriching and it helps us to build up our team spirit. So, by the end of the day, we all knew each other better and made a lot of new friends!:)

After this activity, we all went for a shower before we proceed for our dinner. That evening, we had a very scrumptious dinner and after that we began to learn some camp fire songs that we will sing the next day. Then we went to bed immediately.

On the next day, the activity everyone is looking forward is the camp fire at night. Finally, the moment that everyone looked forward to has come! It was really an interesting time!! Our camp chief, Mr Tan kick start the camp fire with a speech. Then we had a really fun time singing and laughing. It was truly an enjoyable night that I will never forget for life.

After two days, we were finally going to be back to our "home sweet home". Everyone felt a little sad as all of truly did have a whale of a time there. From this camp, I learnt that we must learn to get out of our comfort zones and experience outdoor, independence and living in a group. Only then will we be able to live life to the fullest!!!

Check out the camp website for more details on the campsite!!!

http://www.innotrek.com.sg/node/10

http://www.scout.org.sg/company_profile/history.htm

My Reflections

Ever since I started my first blog, I learnt a lot of new things.At the beginning I thought that a blog is just an online journal that can be viewed by people all around the world and that you could post anything you like onto your blogs. However, as I move along, I found out that blogging is not that easy.

Firstly you will have to know what are the policies to follow while blogging, secondly, you will have to know how to write an interesting blog. As I have mentioned, at first I thought that you could just post anything you like onto your blog, but that is obviously a wrong concept of blogging. You can't post anything you like onto your blogs for example, pornography, personal information, etc. I think that all we could post on blogs are some very common things and issues all around the world and I think that we SHOULD not post anything else more than this.

Over the one month period, I have also learnt what is reponsible blogging and what is not and also , how to write a good, informative and interesting blog(Although I am still trying very hard to do that). Nevertheless, blogging is certainly a very good experience for me!:)

My Reading Habits

From young, my parents always wanted me to have good reading habits as they think that by constantly reading, I will improve my language and speak better English and not "Singlish". At first, I think that sitting still for hours in the room reading a book was the most boring thing on Earth. However, as I get older, I realise that actually reading is very enjoyable and I can get to learn a lot of things from a book, be it a fiction or a non-fiction book. For example, I get to learn how to write a good composition, learn appropriate grammar usage from the book, widen me vocabulary, teach me moral values etc.
I remember once when I came across a really good book in primary 4 and the title of the book is "James And The Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl . You all may think that this bokk is a little childish, but as I had mentioned, I was primary 4 at that time. Basically, this book is talking about a boy whose life was very terrible and had very strange encounters. However, after much hardships, he was finally able to enjoy his life. After reading this book, I immediately realised how comfortable and luck was I and from that day onwards, I constantly reminded myself to be satisfied with my life and not ask for more luxuries.
So, throught the next two years, I am constantly reading not only storybooks, but also newspapers so as to know abot what is currently going on in the world and to constantly update myself. Now, reading has sort of become part of my life and I would always read at least one book a week regardless of how busy I am. So, in one simple sentence, I developed my love for reading becuse of my parents and I am very grateful to them.
The URL below is my electronic bookshelf on weread .com displaying some of my most loved books.Do check it out!:)
http://weread.com/profile/1P401/62A144B4-519A-46C6-AC64-B15CFBC95356?con_sandbox=booksiread&container_type=booksiread&reviews=1

Will Green Cars Save The Environment??

Nowdays, people are comming up a lot of new ideas to save the environment, including "green cars". Now let me explain what are exactly "green cars".

Basically green cars, or Hybrid Cars are powered by the following:
Power sources include:
On-board or out-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS)
Gasoline or Diesel fuel
Hydrogen
Compressed air
Human powered e.g. pedaling or rowing
Wind
Compressed or liquefied natural gas
Solar
Coal, wood or other solid combustibles

In fact none of these power sources are truly convenient.Also, when we use electricity powered cars, we may run out of electricity halfway and be stuck in the middle of a road.Also, when we charge our car battery in our homes we are still indirectly polluting the environmrent as our electricity supply are directly from power stations. And when we demand for more electricity, the power stations will need to burn more fuel and release more pollutants into the air.

In my opinion, I therefore think that Hybrid Cars are not very convenient and also more expensive and, will still pollute the environmemt. So I think that we should not depend so much on private transports but instead switch to public transports.

[Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vehicle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_vehicle]

"Why Did I Do It?"

I regretted disobeying Ms Narwin, and now, where am I? Washington Academy. Actually I do not know how to sing the national anthem, but i did it deliberately. I refused to admit the truth as Ms Narwin is really treating me unfairly which cause me to have a grudge of her. I was thinking of a way to "punish" her. When she tried stop me from causing a disturbance, I thought that she had no right to do that, so I defied and even wrongly accuse her. Now, I am "forced" to sing the national anthem while my previous school, Harrison High, forbids it! At this moment, I finally appreciate the things Ms Narwin and other staff had done for me. If I had the chace to go back to Harrison High, I would surely apologise to Ms Narwin and all the other staff for giving a bad name to the school and causing them so much trouble.

School Reopening

Finally school had reopened but this time i will be in secondary school, and saying goodbye to my primary school life.Firstly I will have to adjust to the new surroundings and WORST of all without my friends.Secondly, I will have to wake up very early in the morning or else i will be late.Last but not least, i will have to take on A LOT MORE SUBJECTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In secondary school i will also need to choose a new cca as it is compulsory. However i will have to go for the cca trials which is vey time consuming.

My new classmates are quite friendly and no one is a"BULLY".All of them are quite easy going and helpful.One last thing before i go, is that i like my new school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!