SONNET 104
To me, fair friend, you never can be old,
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold
Have from the forests shook three summers' pride,
Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turn'd
In process of the seasons have I seen,
Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burn'd,
Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green.
Ah, yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand,
Steal from his figure and no pace perceived;
So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand,
Hath motion and mine eye may be deceived:
For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred;
Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.
Millions
This is meant to be my LA Free Pick Essay. The idea just came out from the blue, and the more I wrote, the more I thought, and the more disgusted I became. Its kinda personal now, but nevermind, read it at your own risk.
MillionsDear Reader,
As you read my essay now, I would imagine you to be sitting in a room, under the comfort of an air-conditioner, reading these words under strong light from a fluorescent bulb above. I would also suppose that you are aware that the light and air from the respective appliances work on electricity, which is produced by burning of fossil fuels. And in this process, approximately 1 kilogram of greenhouse gases are sent into the air with every kilowatt-hour of electricity. This in turn leads to global warming- the reason why news of rising sea levels, bizarre weather, and increased occurrences of natural disasters are splashed across the daily newspapers.
I would also assume you know that the paper in front of your eyes comes from a tree, which will produce about 100 kilogram of paper. In Singapore alone, we have already used 1.24 million tonnes of paper in one year. With quick mental calculation, that amount of paper consumes over ten million trees. A million trees- a home to millions of creatures.
We, as human beings, may be the most intelligent species of all, but we are also the most selfish, greedy, and evil species. We cut down forests, burn harmful amounts of fossil fuels, hunt aggressively, mine unnecessarily, and cause pollution at every corner we turn, as if we own the whole world. We seem to forget that we share this Earth with 1.5 million other species of plants and animals, including another millions of species yet to be discovered. Every day, an estimated number of 100 plant and animals species are lost due to deforestation. In our selfish greed and hunger to consume every available natural resource on Earth, we are literally chasing the other 1.5 millions species off our planet. The sad part is that we do what we do not because we must, but because we are just too negligible to do otherwise.
It is ironic that the 6 thousand million people on this Earth cannot save 100 species of endangered animals. Even with such massive problems occurring world wide, we human beings choose to create more havoc, in the form of wars, conflicts, terrorism and violence in the name of money and power. Blinded by greed, it would not be shocking that by the end of the world, when all hell breaks loose (like in the movie ‘The Day after Tomorrow’), the human race would still be throwing bombs at each other in a hasty act of suspicion, attempting to secure their own resources while competing for the chance to be the last man standing, even when the world is coming to an end.
Obedient readers of the daily newspapers would have noticed that every week there would be at least one article related to global warming, or deforestation, or something which mankind has committed to harm the Earth. The proof of our actions is there, the numbers are all printed in black and white, yet these facts rarely register in our brains. We carry on blindly with our daily lives of work, work and work (at least most people do). Observant people would also notice the appearance of recycling bins all around the island. Even so, people still throw away precious recyclable materials in the wrong bins, oblivious to the fact that they are killing the planet slowly with each piece of rubbish they refuse to recycle.
We humans pride ourselves for our intelligence, our ability to express feelings, and our ability to communicate. But we use our intelligence to create high-tech weapons of destruction. We express feelings not of love or concern but of hatred and anger. And we communicate harsh and unkind words. We are taking advantage of our abilities, and using them against each other, is that how we want to live our lives? It is painful to imagine that if the human race really did come to an end, the future species who inhabit the Earth millions of years later would look back on us just like how we look back at dinosaurs, and say (if they can talk) “Stupid idiots! These human beings had the brains and the power. Yet instead of saving themselves, they kill each other and the planet. What a waste.”
I wrote this essay not to force everyone to live in darkness without electricity, or without paper, but to instead remind others that the world may come to an end if we continue to be distracted and forget that our Planet Earth is rotting away. This is a wake-up call for those who are still dreaming of eternal peace in a safe world. We should stop doing what is unnecessary and start doing what is most important for the world, and not just one country. With millions of minds working together with the same goal, we can save millions of trees, millions of species, and secure a stable planet for future generations of mankind for the next million of years.
Marina Mickey???
Today, I was flipping through the Straits Times (Yes, I do read the newspapers!) when a photo of the world-famous MM (Mickey Mouse, not Minister Mentor.) greeted me. No shocker there, I mean its probably a new disney event or something. To my absolute surpise, the article was about a POSSIBLE DISNEYLAND IN SINGAPORE. Before you go 'Hey you're a teen! Shouldn't you be jumping for joy? Next time you can just take the MRT and poof! You're in disneyland!', hear me out. I, as a trained student who is taught to be partial and fair and think from both points of views, feel that building Disneyland in Singapore may not be such a good idea.
Good Points:
-I get to buy disney princess stuff without paying an air ticket to fly to Japan!
-Attract more tourists (most probably from Malaysia)=Earn more money=Happy country
And you know the rest, more jobs, more production stuff, etc etc.
Bad Points:
I'm going to elaborate more on bad points.
Firstly Singapore market is relatively small. Our land is relatively small. And our population is relatively small. So I see no sense if we build a Disneyland, isn't it going to be relatively small? Hey, whats the point of a small disneyland?
Attracting tourists. True, malaysians will definitely fly/drive/swim over. But how about other countries? The best prize would be winning the Chinese from China, but won't they all go to Hong Kong? Japanese will definitely stay in Japan. So whose going to come to Singapore?
And we all know about Hong Kong disneyland. Its nice they have a disneyland in SEA, but don't you think its...well...small? Compare it to DisneySea, wow disneySea is the best! Can we really compete with that?
Singapore is already working on casinos and the IRs, do we really need a Disneyland? Well, maybe, since gambling caters to parents, and big-eared mouses to little children, but can we handle it?? I already worry for casinos, no one knows for sure how good it'll turn out. Now add in Disneyland, all at one go. I suggest take it slow, one at a time. If you do everything now whats left for the future? DisneySpace? Nah do not think so.
Locals may not even welcome the idea of a theme park. Don't they know Singaporeans are workaholics? Even students, school for 6 days a week, will they have time to drop by Disneyland? It may even have a bad effect on the students, some may play truant in exchange for a whole-day pass to disneyland. Its the cybercafes issue all over again.
If they really insist of building a theme park, how about something else? Like Universal Studios?? You know something special. Like one-of-a-kind. This will bound to be more attractive, less competition! Just look at legoland, I think its doing well. DisneySea, doing even better! Of course, Disneyland is doing well too, but if you want to go there you've got so many countries to choose from! Competition Competition!
I think I am talking too much, since nothing is confirmed. Lets see how everything goes, and how wisely Singapore will choose when it comes to having a 'Marina Mickey'.
love it or loathe it, Singlish is still what makes us Singaporeans!
LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ess4LnyrhQU
Let’s talk about Singlish – A mark of identityPub Date: 06/06/2005 Pub: Straits Times Page: H7By: Rachel ChangPage Heading: YouthInk GROWING PAINSIt makes Singaporeans appear crass and uneducated, say some, while others laud it for helping to define the nation's identity. 'LANGUAGES are the pedigrees of nations,' said 18th-century writer Samuel Johnson. My kick-boxing instructor told an exhausted class: 'I was in Bangkok recently and I saw a woman with her two sons. I knew immediately from four words she said to her son that she was Singaporean.'The words were: Why you like that?' Both men make the same point, albeit in different ways.
Language gives identity. A people's common language is their pedigree - their line of ancestry. That is perhaps why Singlish is so important to Singaporeans.
In a country with few defining cultural characteristics beyond Zouk and laksa, Singlish stands out as something uniquely Singaporean.
The beauty of Singlish lies in it being so succinct. Its ability to convey meaning so economically makes it too practical a tool to eradicate. Can you think of another language that conveys the urgency, futility and resignation of a situation as well as the words 'how now?' or the outrage, disgust, even admiration of a well-put 'siao!'? Speaking Singlish is a proclamation of who we are and where we feel we belong. Should the day come when the 'lehs' and 'mehs' finally disappear from our speech, I wonder if Singapore can be said to exist.The writer is about to begin a degree in philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University.
Above is an interesting article on Singlish. “Why am I interested in this topic?” You may ask. It all started with a newspaper article reporting possible efforts to ‘import’ Native English Teachers to attempt to improve our English Standards in Singapore (in other words, to get rid of Singlish).
After much pondering and discussions with friends, I must disagree of this idea of ‘importing’ foreign teachers to teach us Singaporeans. Although these foreign teachers may help add diversity to our Education System and also bring along new teaching methods from their homelands, they may not necessarily be BETTER (notice the emphasis on this) teachers than the local teachers we have now. Attached to the idea of ‘importing’ foreign teachers is the assumption that they are good teachers and will help improve our English standards. Yet what evidence do they have of this? I believe that the many English teachers who have taught me so far have done a fairly well job, and our current English standard is also fairly good, so why waste the efforts of importing Native English Teachers then?
When it comes to choosing the right people for the teaching job, other factors also come in place, such as attitude, passion, education background. We should not have this wrong mindset that British will speak perfect English and the Chinese will speak beautiful Chinese. You will be amazed that some Chinese can speak English perfectly well (and maybe even better!) as compared to the British.
Instead of looking at the teachers, I think the problem (if there ever was one in the first place) lies in our Education System. Right now, our way of teaching is very simple, all the tools that our English teachers need is just a blackboard, markers, worksheets, test papers, and more worksheets. All our lessons are confined into a small 4mx4m room. Yet, how much can you learn inside a small little tiny classroom, when the rest of the world is just right outside your door! All you need to do is open it, and greeting you will be new adventures, places to explore, new people to meet. I believe that the world is knowledge! This should be the education we students should be receiving, not just worksheets all day.
Another important factor that may contribute to our supposedly low standard of English is our Environment. As we all know, Singapore is a multi-racial society. We have people from all walks of life speaking so many different languages. It is hard for us to focus all our energies and efforts to work on our English Standard. Moreover, we are still currently in the process of improving our Mandarin-speaking abilities. At least we should be thankful that although we may not be very good at one language, at least we are fairly good at two different languages. A Jack of All trades I suppose.
Now I shall talk about Singlish. Yes, Singlish is not exactly a beautiful language, it’s name is not very attractive either. But we must admit, Singlish has become part of our lives and is part of our identity. Singlish is our very own language! Something that we can proudly call our own! Imagine if all of us decide to get rid of Singlish and take lessons from our imported Native English Teachers, we would be Singapore no more. Instead, we would be a mini-Britain and we shall all speak with that royal British accent. What’s so special and fun about that? We must also realise that Singlish is only a part of our casual conversations, and do not appear in our written work or reports. Thus, I do not see how Singlish would make such a drastic effect on our standard of English.
To conclude probably my longest entry ever, I believe that Singlish should stay and ‘imported goods’ should return to where they belong. Singlish is a mark of Singapore’s diverse and multi-racial society. It is our language, our way of being UNIQUELY SINGAPORE.
Stop animal abuse!
Selling ACRES Merchandise every recess near the canteen. Please support us and show your concern for the endangered and abused animals! Highly Intelligent dolphins should not be told to do stupid human tricks!
helping vs being taking advantage of
I love to help people. Well, there are exceptions in some cases, but if for a good cause usually you will see me lend a helping hand.
However, sometimes I get reluctant to help because I always feel that I am being taken advantaged of. We have a project, and I help out by offering my house as a meeting place. In the end, who dirties the place? Them. Who cleans up the place? Me. I have a printer. Who asks for my help? Who does all the printing? Me. We have a deadline. Who remembers it? No one. Who ends up rushing it out? Me. I have money? Who ends up paying for everything? Me. Who never returns the money, thinking that I don't remember? Them.
I guess that is why there are less and less helpful people in the world. That is because everyone is selfish and can only think about themselves. They laze around and shove other people the work. Yes, just because I am quite well-off, I have a car, I have my own room, I have computer and a printer, that is not an excuse to let me do all the work!!!
Sometimes I get mad, I lose my temper, I cry. But my mother always tells me that I cannot blame anyone else, because I am the 'helpful' one who agrees to do all that crap.
I am willing to help people. I just do not want to be taken advantage of. There is a fine line between HELPING and BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF. I hate the latter. Luckily, I have learnt my lesson. That is to share the responsibility. If its a group work, I will do my part and my part only. If the other does not do her work, fine, its her grades as well. I would rather get a mark we both deserved than to share my good marks with her (that will be so undeserving for the lazy bean).
