Just came back from MEP Camp! The MGS girls and ACS(I) guys rocked!
The lessons were boring - I only attended 3: Dance, IT, Music Therapy.I thought Dance was the most intersting one, followed by Music Therapy. Talked to lots of ACS(I) guys, they are in fact just like RI guys, just that there are I think, more gays.
Then MGS there was Hilary and Marisa and Cheryl, damn fun lot. Cheryl and ChuanXi are both some jokers lah but the whole thing was quite fun especially when the whole group tell very lame jokes. :)
Zhiyi was quite a laughing point in my group throughout the 2 days - the Laughing Machine as named by the ACS guys. I didn't really bother to defend Zhiyi, considering during group meeting he was eating chocolates and reading newspaper and sucking lolippops, and he got Ben Low pissed for the first time :)
Then ya, we did a lot of fun stuff, gotta change my view of ACS students.
I'll give the camp part a 7/10, the meeting friends definitely earn a 9/10.
Unfortunately I didn't talk much to the other TKGS people, they were basically like...bo chap I think, and I didn't even see a single st. nicks girl in our group.
Passed Tiffany the Czerny book that carved me into a technique person, asked her to practise Hanon, I'm teaching her FOC, but we're still finding a place for lesson.
Going to practise piano, be back at 10 to watch Planet Earth, 12 to watch Inuyasha.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Raffles the Desolate world
This is my schedule for weeks, in case anyone doesn't know:
Monday - CCA till 6.30pm, 8-10pm practise piano, often going to 11 plus
Tuesday - Tuition till 5.30pm, 8-10pm practise piano
Wednesday - CCA till 6.30pm, 8-10pm practise piano, Planet Earth at 10
Thursday - MEP till 5.30pm, practise piano (optional)
Friday - CCA till the cows go home (6.30pm around there?)Sleep, thanks to the loss, practise cello till 12am
Saturday - Cello lesson at 1, Viva Voce Lesson at 4.30
Sunday - Piano (literally whole day because I start practising at 10am all the way to 2pm my piano lesson, which goes till 5.30pm thanks to Yellow River Piano Concerto.
Jonathanday - Some day which I need for the rest of the stuff I have to do - HOMEWORK, ASSIGNMENTS, MUGGING
So if that day does not exist, then too bad.
But anyway I've just done my Mathematics Topical Assessment, and I just lost 1/2 a mark thanks to me not putting a statement. So my dreams of a full mark paper being returned to my hands wouldn't exist anymore. Just like Jonathanday! 11.5/12. Haiz.
I'm surprised that people do use some of my favourite lines:
lagi best (again best) - bryan
(insert name) is hebrew for (insert expletive, noun) - everyone
for eg. Mrs Tan is hebrew for nice and too kind! But sometimes it gets more vulgar than that.
I'm probably having an average sleeping time of 5 hours, like all Rafflesians do. Looking at Jun Sean sleeping beside me on the table today, I suddenly realised how tough the environment we are in.
From the outside, it is very...just very nice-looking, an ideal school any Primary 6 would want to go into. But honestly behind the scenes, Raffles Institution is a desolate, sarcastic hinterland, where the strongest survive and the weak wither. After 3 years some of them have indeed turned actual gays, which goes to show how much we are exposed to the outside world.
Then some of us lose our emotions, and from a nice kid have turned into a gangster-looking person, vulgarities scattering everywhere. Raffles? You're kidding me man. Of course I'm not. We look for ANYTHING to play with, those who are still sensible enough for play. We try to twist and turn with the rules, when soccer balls aren't allowed in class, and basketballs simply damage more projectors, we resort to the balloon.
So there would be the volleyball(oon). Crap lah. Now you know what is being the walls in Raffles.
I've been transformed. Nooo!!!
Currently I'm feeling very lethargic. Like after taking a hot bath and sitting under a fan, that, nothing-to-do feeling.
I feel like I'm going crazy!!!
I've adopted a new motto: Always be happy! :)
Monday - CCA till 6.30pm, 8-10pm practise piano, often going to 11 plus
Tuesday - Tuition till 5.30pm, 8-10pm practise piano
Wednesday - CCA till 6.30pm, 8-10pm practise piano, Planet Earth at 10
Thursday - MEP till 5.30pm, practise piano (optional)
Friday - CCA till the cows go home (6.30pm around there?)Sleep, thanks to the loss, practise cello till 12am
Saturday - Cello lesson at 1, Viva Voce Lesson at 4.30
Sunday - Piano (literally whole day because I start practising at 10am all the way to 2pm my piano lesson, which goes till 5.30pm thanks to Yellow River Piano Concerto.
Jonathanday - Some day which I need for the rest of the stuff I have to do - HOMEWORK, ASSIGNMENTS, MUGGING
So if that day does not exist, then too bad.
But anyway I've just done my Mathematics Topical Assessment, and I just lost 1/2 a mark thanks to me not putting a statement. So my dreams of a full mark paper being returned to my hands wouldn't exist anymore. Just like Jonathanday! 11.5/12. Haiz.
I'm surprised that people do use some of my favourite lines:
lagi best (again best) - bryan
(insert name) is hebrew for (insert expletive, noun) - everyone
for eg. Mrs Tan is hebrew for nice and too kind! But sometimes it gets more vulgar than that.
I'm probably having an average sleeping time of 5 hours, like all Rafflesians do. Looking at Jun Sean sleeping beside me on the table today, I suddenly realised how tough the environment we are in.
From the outside, it is very...just very nice-looking, an ideal school any Primary 6 would want to go into. But honestly behind the scenes, Raffles Institution is a desolate, sarcastic hinterland, where the strongest survive and the weak wither. After 3 years some of them have indeed turned actual gays, which goes to show how much we are exposed to the outside world.
Then some of us lose our emotions, and from a nice kid have turned into a gangster-looking person, vulgarities scattering everywhere. Raffles? You're kidding me man. Of course I'm not. We look for ANYTHING to play with, those who are still sensible enough for play. We try to twist and turn with the rules, when soccer balls aren't allowed in class, and basketballs simply damage more projectors, we resort to the balloon.
So there would be the volleyball(oon). Crap lah. Now you know what is being the walls in Raffles.
I've been transformed. Nooo!!!
Currently I'm feeling very lethargic. Like after taking a hot bath and sitting under a fan, that, nothing-to-do feeling.
I feel like I'm going crazy!!!
I've adopted a new motto: Always be happy! :)
Sunday, May 20, 2007
English Blog Portfolio: Stop Flaming!
It's everywhere, like a virus people are happy to be infected with.
It's inside, something people are not conscious about.
It's wrong, and it will always be.
It's called flaming.
(Don't start word count yet.)
I've seen lots and lots of flaming, but surprisingly none of been directed to me after 4 years of blogging. Ok maybe some, thanks to my tactless speech.
But in any case I've never flamed anyone before except for my mum, which I've have stopped after reading this newspaper report.
It's everywhere, like a virus people are happy to be infected with.
It's inside, something people are not conscious about.
It's wrong, and it will always be.
It's called flaming.
I've seen lots and lots of flaming, but surprisingly none of been directed to me after 4 years of blogging. Ok maybe some, thanks to my tactless speech.
Many of the flamers I see are female. No, I'm not a chauvinistic pig or anything, it's probably something to do with the female traits. Often, at the age of fifteen, girls' emotions are very unstable. They climb to a hyperactive state, and in minutes, even seconds, their world can be turned upside down - they turn depressed, they turn confused, and worst of all, they turn tactless. When I say tactless, I mean the extreme in this case.
Thanks to the hormones, they often turn depress. Some of them no longer care for their surroundings; their parents, their relatives, their friends. And as this newspaper reports states, "Teachers, classmates, parents - anyone that upsets them - they are all fair targets."
But this does not only apply for girls. I'm just saying that while all of us are growing, the female gender sometimes are more harsher.
This newspaper report has come at a very good time, considering these days chatrooms, tagboards, and MSN have been so accessible - especially to adolescents, people like me. Emotions run high, and often people are not conscious of what they are doing.
They do not know the consequences, the hurt, the wounds they are making.
They deserve it? Well you can talk to the person face to face - is there a need to publicise it and embarrass him?
He embarrassed you? Well you can always tell him that you don't like what he said, and ask him to apologise, simple as that. Vice Versa. What is so hard? Is pride a matter here? Someone has to give way, and why not you?
This sudden issue about flaming was raised after a classmate of the girl Debra who drowned in a canel (bless her soul) said that she deserved to die, because she was a bully.
Yes, we can understand the part about you hating your bully, but isn't branding him with horrible words behind his back too dishonourable? Much less a person who can no longer talk, who can no longer plead for innocence, who can no longer argue his case?
Last year I had Shawn bullying me for almost the entire year, but I did talk to him, and with the power of words alone, he stopped bullying me. Just words. Face-to-face. And no hard feelings at the end; we understood each other and we were no longer enemies. It always pays to be everyone's friend, to smile everyday and greet everyone without the fear of being ignored and threatened.
Being already fifteen years old, we are all starting to mature and grow up. Very soon, we are all going to be working adults, proud adults, and maybe even parents. Are we all still going to be childish, posting anonymous insults and blackmailing others? Are we still going to be flaming?
And are we going to transform this technology under our fingertips and the power of words as tools of destruction, destroying others' future and reputation.
Stop flaming today. Use the power of honesty and words to rebuild friendship.
Stop hurting people now.
The inevitable statement comes next: But he did it to me first!
I shall then end of with this famous statement: Do not unto others what you want others not to do unto you.
(604 words)
Come on everybody! Your blog is used to share your troubles with everyone, not for spreading trouble to everyone!
Stay happy always, my readers!
It's inside, something people are not conscious about.
It's wrong, and it will always be.
It's called flaming.
(Don't start word count yet.)
I've seen lots and lots of flaming, but surprisingly none of been directed to me after 4 years of blogging. Ok maybe some, thanks to my tactless speech.
But in any case I've never flamed anyone before except for my mum, which I've have stopped after reading this newspaper report.
It's everywhere, like a virus people are happy to be infected with.
It's inside, something people are not conscious about.
It's wrong, and it will always be.
It's called flaming.
I've seen lots and lots of flaming, but surprisingly none of been directed to me after 4 years of blogging. Ok maybe some, thanks to my tactless speech.
Many of the flamers I see are female. No, I'm not a chauvinistic pig or anything, it's probably something to do with the female traits. Often, at the age of fifteen, girls' emotions are very unstable. They climb to a hyperactive state, and in minutes, even seconds, their world can be turned upside down - they turn depressed, they turn confused, and worst of all, they turn tactless. When I say tactless, I mean the extreme in this case.
Thanks to the hormones, they often turn depress. Some of them no longer care for their surroundings; their parents, their relatives, their friends. And as this newspaper reports states, "Teachers, classmates, parents - anyone that upsets them - they are all fair targets."
But this does not only apply for girls. I'm just saying that while all of us are growing, the female gender sometimes are more harsher.
This newspaper report has come at a very good time, considering these days chatrooms, tagboards, and MSN have been so accessible - especially to adolescents, people like me. Emotions run high, and often people are not conscious of what they are doing.
They do not know the consequences, the hurt, the wounds they are making.
They deserve it? Well you can talk to the person face to face - is there a need to publicise it and embarrass him?
He embarrassed you? Well you can always tell him that you don't like what he said, and ask him to apologise, simple as that. Vice Versa. What is so hard? Is pride a matter here? Someone has to give way, and why not you?
This sudden issue about flaming was raised after a classmate of the girl Debra who drowned in a canel (bless her soul) said that she deserved to die, because she was a bully.
Yes, we can understand the part about you hating your bully, but isn't branding him with horrible words behind his back too dishonourable? Much less a person who can no longer talk, who can no longer plead for innocence, who can no longer argue his case?
Last year I had Shawn bullying me for almost the entire year, but I did talk to him, and with the power of words alone, he stopped bullying me. Just words. Face-to-face. And no hard feelings at the end; we understood each other and we were no longer enemies. It always pays to be everyone's friend, to smile everyday and greet everyone without the fear of being ignored and threatened.
Being already fifteen years old, we are all starting to mature and grow up. Very soon, we are all going to be working adults, proud adults, and maybe even parents. Are we all still going to be childish, posting anonymous insults and blackmailing others? Are we still going to be flaming?
And are we going to transform this technology under our fingertips and the power of words as tools of destruction, destroying others' future and reputation.
Stop flaming today. Use the power of honesty and words to rebuild friendship.
Stop hurting people now.
The inevitable statement comes next: But he did it to me first!
I shall then end of with this famous statement: Do not unto others what you want others not to do unto you.
(604 words)
Come on everybody! Your blog is used to share your troubles with everyone, not for spreading trouble to everyone!
Stay happy always, my readers!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Women
My mum just bought a new phone. Panasonic, I see.
A wireless cordless phone that costs $300. I wonder what technology will bring next! Hmmm...Wireless Computer? We already have that. It's called the laptop.
So my mum is now busy calling EVERYONE to tell them about the new phone. My aunts in fact.
Talking about my aunts. :) They're a nice lot. Let's picture this. Imagine 5 women standing together. We call them 2nd aunt, 3rd aunt, 5th aunt and blah.
So five women. Ji-yi, Sa-yi, Xi-yi (That's my mum), Gor-yi, Beh-yi (youngest aunt?)
All the prefixes are actually numbers in Hokkien, I left out the first (Dua-yi, meaning big aunt) because she doesn't frequent with the other aunts.
And the 3rd aunt usually stays with my grandmother, and both of them have super strong personalities. They always say not to have two tigers in one house. Which is very true, after a kitchen fight during the Chinese New Year in vacation this year.
:)
So anyway recently I went shopping with four of them, the four being my mum, third aunt, fifth aunt and sixth aunt. And gosh, you would have loved it.
Let me help you picture this, as I always do best.
I shall translate all into English for the benefit of my readers, although its a huge mixture of CHinese, Hokkien, and very little English.
(And so I arrive with my mum at Parco Bugis outside the foodcourt. I never talked throughout, just followed. Regretted it though ;) )
"Eh? We wait for so long now then you come."
"Ya loh. WHere do we go now?"
"I haven't eat yet, let's go eat lah!"
"DOn't want lah, we are going to look at Chinese teacups right?" (the aunty kind)
"Aiyah, might as well go eat. Let's go."
(After 10 minutes, and walking three rounds around those small shops, never once entering food court.)
"Let's go in now."
(wth? So we stepped in, and another problem ensued. We took about 5 minutes to look for a seat, a couple of raised arms to show the spot, and a couple of head shaking, and pointing to another spot. Finally we settled on one spot.)
"WHat do you want to eat?"
"Fried rice lorh."
"Don't want lah! So oily. U want to die ah?"
(I said I never talked once throughout, just followed)
"ok then the chicken rice leh?"
Blahblah.
(After sitting on the same spot for 15 minutes. THe aunties break groups and start finding for food. I sit at the table and help them jaga.)
But anyway what I'm trying to show here is how indecisive women can get. For one moment, they really wanna do it. Then in the next moment, poof, they take a large U-turn and make those around them suffer. I'm saying this only from looking at the behavior of my mum and my aunts.
After all, they are a nice bunch of people. And I still have my blog article to do. Crap. Wait. Isn't the flaming one considered as one? I shall remodel it later. :)
A wireless cordless phone that costs $300. I wonder what technology will bring next! Hmmm...Wireless Computer? We already have that. It's called the laptop.
So my mum is now busy calling EVERYONE to tell them about the new phone. My aunts in fact.
Talking about my aunts. :) They're a nice lot. Let's picture this. Imagine 5 women standing together. We call them 2nd aunt, 3rd aunt, 5th aunt and blah.
So five women. Ji-yi, Sa-yi, Xi-yi (That's my mum), Gor-yi, Beh-yi (youngest aunt?)
All the prefixes are actually numbers in Hokkien, I left out the first (Dua-yi, meaning big aunt) because she doesn't frequent with the other aunts.
And the 3rd aunt usually stays with my grandmother, and both of them have super strong personalities. They always say not to have two tigers in one house. Which is very true, after a kitchen fight during the Chinese New Year in vacation this year.
:)
So anyway recently I went shopping with four of them, the four being my mum, third aunt, fifth aunt and sixth aunt. And gosh, you would have loved it.
Let me help you picture this, as I always do best.
I shall translate all into English for the benefit of my readers, although its a huge mixture of CHinese, Hokkien, and very little English.
(And so I arrive with my mum at Parco Bugis outside the foodcourt. I never talked throughout, just followed. Regretted it though ;) )
"Eh? We wait for so long now then you come."
"Ya loh. WHere do we go now?"
"I haven't eat yet, let's go eat lah!"
"DOn't want lah, we are going to look at Chinese teacups right?" (the aunty kind)
"Aiyah, might as well go eat. Let's go."
(After 10 minutes, and walking three rounds around those small shops, never once entering food court.)
"Let's go in now."
(wth? So we stepped in, and another problem ensued. We took about 5 minutes to look for a seat, a couple of raised arms to show the spot, and a couple of head shaking, and pointing to another spot. Finally we settled on one spot.)
"WHat do you want to eat?"
"Fried rice lorh."
"Don't want lah! So oily. U want to die ah?"
(I said I never talked once throughout, just followed)
"ok then the chicken rice leh?"
Blahblah.
(After sitting on the same spot for 15 minutes. THe aunties break groups and start finding for food. I sit at the table and help them jaga.)
But anyway what I'm trying to show here is how indecisive women can get. For one moment, they really wanna do it. Then in the next moment, poof, they take a large U-turn and make those around them suffer. I'm saying this only from looking at the behavior of my mum and my aunts.
After all, they are a nice bunch of people. And I still have my blog article to do. Crap. Wait. Isn't the flaming one considered as one? I shall remodel it later. :)
Thursday, May 17, 2007
War and Peace
The day starts as usual. Nothing special, nothing different, nothing out of the ordinary. That is what it always had been - yesterday, today, tomorrow, and the days that will almost soon lead to the end of our lives. Or at least, my life. We go through the pace of life together, walk through the never-ending hills and slopes of life together, and even see paths which stop - some abruptly, some gradually.
Everyone has their own journey to walk through, but all of our journeys are different. Different in terms of length, in terms of smoothness. Not one is the same.
I picked up a cup of the usual morning Milo and read the daily news.
"GDP expected to climb 2% by 1st quarter"
"Murderer found stucked in a toilet bowl"
The news soon gets more gloomy - deaths are inevitable after all.
"Man found dead in park"
"Boy beheads mum after argument"
Indeed, some journeys are tougher and more rockier, while some are quick and shorter. I'd prefer mine to be peaceful and long - who wouldn't want to live just a little longer?
I remembered a piece of news that shocked the world and produced a world shocker - the September 11 attacks. The impact was great and terrible; the stocks were falling, and the economy could hardly coped. I was in my own world at that time, in my hometown of Singapore where our security was tight and our government was efficient. It soon turned out to be both an advantage and disadvantage. I wouldn't really want to see the Esplanade being reduced to a pile of durian/metal spikes and burning remains. But it will soon lead to the ignorance of the outside world, the inability to feel the pain and loss felt by so many thousands and millions outside.
No, I'm not contemplating to reduce our durian into burnt-out shells and seeds while sipping my Milo - I'm thinking of how aware we are; not just us Singaporeans, but in fact the entire global population, about who is suffereing out there, beyond our cosy 5-room flats.
I remember another news - the death of Princess Diana. That was in 1997, where I was just a mere Primary 2 boy who has no ambition except for the usual "doctor" or "lawyer". I remembered the big hooha over it, and I learnt the word that could set any parents grinning - "paparazzi". Quite a long word for a small kid like me. But my grasp of English was not as good as my grasp of the world around me. I would later learn a famous and wonderful quote -
"One death is a tragedy. Many deaths are just numbers."
Winston Churchill said this during the Second World War, and indeed, it was very true.
From then on, I started thinking about war; not the weapons and machineries, but the meaning of war. It didn't really meant much to me, like how Princess Diana crashed on the 14th pillar of a expressway in Paris (I saw the pillar during a package tour of Europe when I was 10) meant anything to me. It didn't. All I had to do was to work hard for my studies - could Diana improve my Mathematics? No she couldn't. So she wasn't really a big deal for me at that time.
But there will come an age where knowledge of the world would help me in my Mathematics - or Geography and History, for that matter. I had arrived at that age, and I had started thinking. I thought of many different things. Who started the war? Why was this war neccesary? Why must they fight the war?
And then came the ultimate question - Why is there war?
As a citizen of well-protected Singapore, I don't understand the meaning of war, I've never been in a war, and I shall never hope to. War is bad, they always say. I often go on my "shameless" rounds, asking strangers the same question - "Why is there war?"
Often I get the same conversation:
"To end conflicts."
"But why can't they do it peacefully?"
"Because the other party refuses to comply?"
"Why must the other party comply? Why can't everyone sort out their differences, and live in peace and harmony?"
"Look I have no time, maybe you should get the Power Rangers to answer your question."
I know it's very cliched - having everyone to live in peace and harmony. I learnt from Social Studies that everyone is different, just like how everyone's lives are different, with the ups and the common downs. Some religions allow their people to eat pork, while some religions do not. Some people share their things while others don't.
I learnt from 3 years of philosophy that there's only one way to solve the problem of the existence of war and to bring peace - universal concensus. I have used the term many times in my essays, and it is always the most important factor. But impossible. Important by impossible.
Let's look at it this way, my young apprentice. If we were all to think the same, morally correct, that is, which means that we would both share our items, that would be no more conflicts. There would be no more school arguments about how selfish he is and how stingy he is. All of us would leave in peace.
But it's impossible. That's why we still have wars today. So how do we solve the problem? There is no direct way to solve the problem, honestly. The best we could do is to move as closely as possible to world peace and harmony, and being able to help each other to sustain life.
Wait. If school children are able to solve the problem of arguments, why not the United States and Iran, to give one example? That's easy. School children solve it through fights, the United States and Iran will solve it with war. We're back in Square One.
So why can't school children settle it through peaceful means? Well, some do, definitely. We sign childish treaties and shake hands like how the adults do it.
But only some, not all.
Not all of us can solve conflicts just by words and a shaking of the hands. At some point of time one of the parties would act, which would thus appear in tomorrow's paper - "America declares war on Iraq"
So, is there really no other way to stop the fighting and conflicts? If they were children, it's ok. The child stage is a stage for the child to grow up, obviously, into any adult. We don't see headlines like - "6 year old child kills friend after friend refuses to lend a pencilbox" So I guess that isn't really counted as a war. But adults? Shouldn't adults be able to think more carefully, more logically?
As I mentioned in one of the paragraphs just now, I believe we should all help each other as friends, as survivors of the Earth, and that all of us should only die of one cause - disease or old age.
Let's look to the past; Hitler killing Jews because they were "inferior"? Who says they were inferior? They were just like any humans - and as I said, all humans are different. You certainly don't kill your mum just because she's a woman. In fact, you should try to spend your life with her properly. And when the old move on, one should be both happy and sad - happy because you have spent your life with her with no regrets, and you've did whatever you can for her, and she moved on happily! And you're sad for only one reason - that you no longer have the company of her.
Unfortunately human relations aren't that simple. I have been told by my dad to be more realistic, which I agree. So which part of what I said wasn't real? Is not co-existing happily with my parents not possible? The Shi'ites and Sunnis - why are you killing people? Why are you asking the question, "Why should we live with them?" Because we are human!
There shouldn't be any war or conflicts at all. By now at this time and century, we must already be able to sort out our differences! Look at our hometown. Any Christians reading this - a Christian and a Muslim buried on the same ground on the same green plains, our first few presidents - Mr. Benjamin Shears and Mr. Yusof bin Ishak.
Is death the only way two parties can exist together? Why not in the living as well? I thoroughly belive that Mr. Benjamin Shears and Mr. Yusof bin Ishak have no problems living together when they were alive. So why all these fighting?
Almost everyday I see bloodshed - not real life, but on newspapers.
"Suicide bomber kills 32 in Iraq"
"Suicide bomber kills 12 in Baghdad marketpace"
This is no fault of anyone's, no fault of any race or religion, except for the terrorists. I have this burning question I wanted to ask since I first read about you.
Why are you killing? Not just people, animals, plants, anything. Why are you in the first place, klling? Why can't you go back home to your families, talk to them, smile and laugh with them, enjoy yourselves with them, be with your families? Why do you want to live with this false sense of pride that you're going to heaven after killing people?
And what blood are you shedding? You're shedding the blood of your own, my dear terrorists. You're shedding the blood of Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists. And whose "dirty" blood are you shedding anyway? If anyone of you are even reading this, any of your "holy warriors" are reading this, whose blood are you calling "dirty"?
Who in the first place said it was "dirty"? Was it Allah? Was it God? Was it Buddha? Or was it your leader, who brainwashed you into thinking as such? Think, my radicals. Why are you doing this? Why can't you live your life in peace? You can't rest when there are Christian enemies alive? Oh come on, this was already so long ago. We're already in the 21st century, and we should be doing more important things - try to survive in this world, and trying to save our environments.
Let me give you this analogy. If tomorrow, like another usual day, a huge alien army invades Earth, are you going to fight alongside Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and people from all over the world; Freemasons, Jehovah's Withnesses against the aliens? Or will you attempt to destroy the entire Earth by still trying to instill internal strife?
We, as humans, must live in peace and harmony. There is no other way to survive. Out there, hundreds of people are dying, starvation, illness, diseases. Why are you trying to fight your war instead of helping these people? These people are the ones who need help, not your country. These are the people who need to be heard, not your army. And these are the people who do not deserve to die, for they never did any wrong.
All soldiers from all races, religions and languages, put down your guns and trust each other, for there is nothing to fear. All of us are indeed brothers, and there is no need for jealousy. We must all work towards peace, which many countries already have. But not all.
Forget about previous greviances. We are already in a new millenium, is there still a need for these childish and thoughless bloodshed?
Let's stop all wars now, and continue the peace.
Hey, I still need mine and a cup of Milo, don't you?
Everyone has their own journey to walk through, but all of our journeys are different. Different in terms of length, in terms of smoothness. Not one is the same.
I picked up a cup of the usual morning Milo and read the daily news.
"GDP expected to climb 2% by 1st quarter"
"Murderer found stucked in a toilet bowl"
The news soon gets more gloomy - deaths are inevitable after all.
"Man found dead in park"
"Boy beheads mum after argument"
Indeed, some journeys are tougher and more rockier, while some are quick and shorter. I'd prefer mine to be peaceful and long - who wouldn't want to live just a little longer?
I remembered a piece of news that shocked the world and produced a world shocker - the September 11 attacks. The impact was great and terrible; the stocks were falling, and the economy could hardly coped. I was in my own world at that time, in my hometown of Singapore where our security was tight and our government was efficient. It soon turned out to be both an advantage and disadvantage. I wouldn't really want to see the Esplanade being reduced to a pile of durian/metal spikes and burning remains. But it will soon lead to the ignorance of the outside world, the inability to feel the pain and loss felt by so many thousands and millions outside.
No, I'm not contemplating to reduce our durian into burnt-out shells and seeds while sipping my Milo - I'm thinking of how aware we are; not just us Singaporeans, but in fact the entire global population, about who is suffereing out there, beyond our cosy 5-room flats.
I remember another news - the death of Princess Diana. That was in 1997, where I was just a mere Primary 2 boy who has no ambition except for the usual "doctor" or "lawyer". I remembered the big hooha over it, and I learnt the word that could set any parents grinning - "paparazzi". Quite a long word for a small kid like me. But my grasp of English was not as good as my grasp of the world around me. I would later learn a famous and wonderful quote -
"One death is a tragedy. Many deaths are just numbers."
Winston Churchill said this during the Second World War, and indeed, it was very true.
From then on, I started thinking about war; not the weapons and machineries, but the meaning of war. It didn't really meant much to me, like how Princess Diana crashed on the 14th pillar of a expressway in Paris (I saw the pillar during a package tour of Europe when I was 10) meant anything to me. It didn't. All I had to do was to work hard for my studies - could Diana improve my Mathematics? No she couldn't. So she wasn't really a big deal for me at that time.
But there will come an age where knowledge of the world would help me in my Mathematics - or Geography and History, for that matter. I had arrived at that age, and I had started thinking. I thought of many different things. Who started the war? Why was this war neccesary? Why must they fight the war?
And then came the ultimate question - Why is there war?
As a citizen of well-protected Singapore, I don't understand the meaning of war, I've never been in a war, and I shall never hope to. War is bad, they always say. I often go on my "shameless" rounds, asking strangers the same question - "Why is there war?"
Often I get the same conversation:
"To end conflicts."
"But why can't they do it peacefully?"
"Because the other party refuses to comply?"
"Why must the other party comply? Why can't everyone sort out their differences, and live in peace and harmony?"
"Look I have no time, maybe you should get the Power Rangers to answer your question."
I know it's very cliched - having everyone to live in peace and harmony. I learnt from Social Studies that everyone is different, just like how everyone's lives are different, with the ups and the common downs. Some religions allow their people to eat pork, while some religions do not. Some people share their things while others don't.
I learnt from 3 years of philosophy that there's only one way to solve the problem of the existence of war and to bring peace - universal concensus. I have used the term many times in my essays, and it is always the most important factor. But impossible. Important by impossible.
Let's look at it this way, my young apprentice. If we were all to think the same, morally correct, that is, which means that we would both share our items, that would be no more conflicts. There would be no more school arguments about how selfish he is and how stingy he is. All of us would leave in peace.
But it's impossible. That's why we still have wars today. So how do we solve the problem? There is no direct way to solve the problem, honestly. The best we could do is to move as closely as possible to world peace and harmony, and being able to help each other to sustain life.
Wait. If school children are able to solve the problem of arguments, why not the United States and Iran, to give one example? That's easy. School children solve it through fights, the United States and Iran will solve it with war. We're back in Square One.
So why can't school children settle it through peaceful means? Well, some do, definitely. We sign childish treaties and shake hands like how the adults do it.
But only some, not all.
Not all of us can solve conflicts just by words and a shaking of the hands. At some point of time one of the parties would act, which would thus appear in tomorrow's paper - "America declares war on Iraq"
So, is there really no other way to stop the fighting and conflicts? If they were children, it's ok. The child stage is a stage for the child to grow up, obviously, into any adult. We don't see headlines like - "6 year old child kills friend after friend refuses to lend a pencilbox" So I guess that isn't really counted as a war. But adults? Shouldn't adults be able to think more carefully, more logically?
As I mentioned in one of the paragraphs just now, I believe we should all help each other as friends, as survivors of the Earth, and that all of us should only die of one cause - disease or old age.
Let's look to the past; Hitler killing Jews because they were "inferior"? Who says they were inferior? They were just like any humans - and as I said, all humans are different. You certainly don't kill your mum just because she's a woman. In fact, you should try to spend your life with her properly. And when the old move on, one should be both happy and sad - happy because you have spent your life with her with no regrets, and you've did whatever you can for her, and she moved on happily! And you're sad for only one reason - that you no longer have the company of her.
Unfortunately human relations aren't that simple. I have been told by my dad to be more realistic, which I agree. So which part of what I said wasn't real? Is not co-existing happily with my parents not possible? The Shi'ites and Sunnis - why are you killing people? Why are you asking the question, "Why should we live with them?" Because we are human!
There shouldn't be any war or conflicts at all. By now at this time and century, we must already be able to sort out our differences! Look at our hometown. Any Christians reading this - a Christian and a Muslim buried on the same ground on the same green plains, our first few presidents - Mr. Benjamin Shears and Mr. Yusof bin Ishak.
Is death the only way two parties can exist together? Why not in the living as well? I thoroughly belive that Mr. Benjamin Shears and Mr. Yusof bin Ishak have no problems living together when they were alive. So why all these fighting?
Almost everyday I see bloodshed - not real life, but on newspapers.
"Suicide bomber kills 32 in Iraq"
"Suicide bomber kills 12 in Baghdad marketpace"
This is no fault of anyone's, no fault of any race or religion, except for the terrorists. I have this burning question I wanted to ask since I first read about you.
Why are you killing? Not just people, animals, plants, anything. Why are you in the first place, klling? Why can't you go back home to your families, talk to them, smile and laugh with them, enjoy yourselves with them, be with your families? Why do you want to live with this false sense of pride that you're going to heaven after killing people?
And what blood are you shedding? You're shedding the blood of your own, my dear terrorists. You're shedding the blood of Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists. And whose "dirty" blood are you shedding anyway? If anyone of you are even reading this, any of your "holy warriors" are reading this, whose blood are you calling "dirty"?
Who in the first place said it was "dirty"? Was it Allah? Was it God? Was it Buddha? Or was it your leader, who brainwashed you into thinking as such? Think, my radicals. Why are you doing this? Why can't you live your life in peace? You can't rest when there are Christian enemies alive? Oh come on, this was already so long ago. We're already in the 21st century, and we should be doing more important things - try to survive in this world, and trying to save our environments.
Let me give you this analogy. If tomorrow, like another usual day, a huge alien army invades Earth, are you going to fight alongside Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and people from all over the world; Freemasons, Jehovah's Withnesses against the aliens? Or will you attempt to destroy the entire Earth by still trying to instill internal strife?
We, as humans, must live in peace and harmony. There is no other way to survive. Out there, hundreds of people are dying, starvation, illness, diseases. Why are you trying to fight your war instead of helping these people? These people are the ones who need help, not your country. These are the people who need to be heard, not your army. And these are the people who do not deserve to die, for they never did any wrong.
All soldiers from all races, religions and languages, put down your guns and trust each other, for there is nothing to fear. All of us are indeed brothers, and there is no need for jealousy. We must all work towards peace, which many countries already have. But not all.
Forget about previous greviances. We are already in a new millenium, is there still a need for these childish and thoughless bloodshed?
Let's stop all wars now, and continue the peace.
Hey, I still need mine and a cup of Milo, don't you?
Sunday, May 6, 2007
An Essay on Flaming
TUESDAY 15/05/2007
sorry guys im using this post as an "edit" because I can't post any new posts. Thanks to Blogger. These few days within a week me and my team have been busy creating a parody of ROmeo and Juliet. Andrew's brother Matthew gave 8/10 or more while LitRA says plot is a little thin. I'm looking forward to being given the thumbs-up by Miss Chew before I add additional things such as plot thickening and more careful studying of the play and reviewing it over again.
My next step would be adding music to it, and I've already thought of a melody for the front, but before that we must clear up the scripts for any theatrical errors.
Hello everyone I'm back for a post again.
This time its on...
ONLINE FLAMING!
I've seriously never been flamed before although I kind of have this inclination that girls usually are the ones who are flaming. Ok guys do flame too. Let me give you an example. (finding)
Ok I attempted to search ShiDe's post for any flaming. Unfortunately I didn't. AH! I know a good blog. Like I just thought of it. Here it is.
A brilliant example of a flaming poem:
Some people just need to learn how to shut up and stay still.
Some people need to stop acting gay for a thrill.
Some people shouldn't act gangster for attention.
Some people shouldn't scold people with good intentions.
Some people should stop using the f words as full stops, and learn punctuation.
Some people just have some stupid delinquent fixation.
Some people are just too overdependent.
Some people think they're so bloody independent.
Some people are way too manipulative.
Some people are extraordinarily hyperactive.
Some people come to school to copy homework (and wheres the "home" in that?)
Some people think they're hot, but are actually damn fat.
Some people want to be rock stars, but are failing at everything else.
Some people love digging their graves by themself.
Some people walk around with their shirts tucked out to look cool.
Some people like that should just drop out of school.
And go and sit in a puddle, Or curl up and die.
I'm not gonna to miss you, I'm not gonna cry.
Btw the bit where I said I have never been flamed is true, though its hard to believe, because I'm in good terms with everyone, but of course you can't flame your mum. (can you?) So she's not counted. :)
And I'm not targeting anyone (no sarcasm, seriously.) In RI I would most likely go, "Oh oh, I'm targeting ALOT OF PEOPLE!!! BE scared..!" But here I wouldn't because my audience are genera! Thank you thank you.
I'm trying to keep this post as upbeat as possible, but I hope that you readers would really understand how it's like to be flamed. I mean firstly you don't feel good, really. There's this feeling that someone hates you, and you can't live comfortably with your life. You just got to apologise or flame that person back. No one likes such a feeling. Even a crazy person like me doesn't, although I do the weirdest things such as feeling a sense of triumph after loosening the shoelaces of the man (not telling who) who sits behind me, seeing his face of shock, defeat, amusement, crap all in one. :) I mean I don't mean to do that, Shide, but...oops!
I'm talking from a point of view of the person getting flamed, but for me I've never experienced flaming before, and that doesn't mean I just gave you the green light to burn my tagboard.
Here's are some major excerpts from the news article:
"Fifteen years ago, things were straightforward.
Angry? Write in your diary.
Wronged? Make copies of a poison-pen letter for your classmates.
Horny? Try for a dodgy tryst in Geylang."
"Teachers, classmates, parents - anyone that upsets them - they are all fair targets.
Angry? Name, shame, and "flame" your enemies on your blog.
Wronged? Take revenge by circulating incrimnatiing pictures of your nemesis.
Horny? Show off your naked body to anyone who will watch - get it voted on, even."
Oh shit. So, parents are counted too? (turns head to stare at mum watching intently at show)Should stop online flaming my mum. Should go literal flaming now. Ok but from today onwards I will stop flaming the dictator. No I'll stop flaming my mum.
But in any case, I shall continue to post some excerpts:
"Their tactics are worthy of tuerilla warfare. THey use fake identites; they strike anytime, anywhere; they also execute "instant and limitless dissemination of words and images", their digital tools and cyberplayform an easy means of exacting revenge. That kind of access spells power - an absolute kind. And we all know what they say about absolute power. Teens in the Canadian study said that after bullying someone, they experienced regret or ambivalence. But quite eerily, they also said it made them feel 'positive and powerful'
Perhaps popular too. "
Ok these short excerpts were taken from an article in the Straits Times on 06/05 Sunday.
If you have any queries you can seriously email the writer on sereneg@sph.com.sg
So, after all the talking, I've decided that everyone should eat apples for lunch at 2?
No. I'm just saying let's all stop flaming each other. Decided through the course of writing this essay that not only girls flame, but guys too. But seems to me that girls' flaming seem more horrible. I'm a chauvinistic pig.
But I hope there are replies from both genders about this post of flaming, and for girls can anyone of you comment on why I think you'll flame more horribly? Guys are more vulgar though. I've seen a girl flamed till I needed to repair my computer, no thanks to the heat generated. (prolonged usage or burns?)
There were the words, "bitches" "hag" "shit" "lard" blah anything you can find in the world.
Let's sidetrack. Imagine my grandma flaming. Impossible. Seems to me that the youths in the world have used the Internet as their battleground.
But in any case please do comment.
sorry guys im using this post as an "edit" because I can't post any new posts. Thanks to Blogger. These few days within a week me and my team have been busy creating a parody of ROmeo and Juliet. Andrew's brother Matthew gave 8/10 or more while LitRA says plot is a little thin. I'm looking forward to being given the thumbs-up by Miss Chew before I add additional things such as plot thickening and more careful studying of the play and reviewing it over again.
My next step would be adding music to it, and I've already thought of a melody for the front, but before that we must clear up the scripts for any theatrical errors.
Hello everyone I'm back for a post again.
This time its on...
ONLINE FLAMING!
I've seriously never been flamed before although I kind of have this inclination that girls usually are the ones who are flaming. Ok guys do flame too. Let me give you an example. (finding)
Ok I attempted to search ShiDe's post for any flaming. Unfortunately I didn't. AH! I know a good blog. Like I just thought of it. Here it is.
A brilliant example of a flaming poem:
Some people just need to learn how to shut up and stay still.
Some people need to stop acting gay for a thrill.
Some people shouldn't act gangster for attention.
Some people shouldn't scold people with good intentions.
Some people should stop using the f words as full stops, and learn punctuation.
Some people just have some stupid delinquent fixation.
Some people are just too overdependent.
Some people think they're so bloody independent.
Some people are way too manipulative.
Some people are extraordinarily hyperactive.
Some people come to school to copy homework (and wheres the "home" in that?)
Some people think they're hot, but are actually damn fat.
Some people want to be rock stars, but are failing at everything else.
Some people love digging their graves by themself.
Some people walk around with their shirts tucked out to look cool.
Some people like that should just drop out of school.
And go and sit in a puddle, Or curl up and die.
I'm not gonna to miss you, I'm not gonna cry.
Btw the bit where I said I have never been flamed is true, though its hard to believe, because I'm in good terms with everyone, but of course you can't flame your mum. (can you?) So she's not counted. :)
And I'm not targeting anyone (no sarcasm, seriously.) In RI I would most likely go, "Oh oh, I'm targeting ALOT OF PEOPLE!!! BE scared..!" But here I wouldn't because my audience are genera! Thank you thank you.
I'm trying to keep this post as upbeat as possible, but I hope that you readers would really understand how it's like to be flamed. I mean firstly you don't feel good, really. There's this feeling that someone hates you, and you can't live comfortably with your life. You just got to apologise or flame that person back. No one likes such a feeling. Even a crazy person like me doesn't, although I do the weirdest things such as feeling a sense of triumph after loosening the shoelaces of the man (not telling who) who sits behind me, seeing his face of shock, defeat, amusement, crap all in one. :) I mean I don't mean to do that, Shide, but...oops!
I'm talking from a point of view of the person getting flamed, but for me I've never experienced flaming before, and that doesn't mean I just gave you the green light to burn my tagboard.
Here's are some major excerpts from the news article:
"Fifteen years ago, things were straightforward.
Angry? Write in your diary.
Wronged? Make copies of a poison-pen letter for your classmates.
Horny? Try for a dodgy tryst in Geylang."
"Teachers, classmates, parents - anyone that upsets them - they are all fair targets.
Angry? Name, shame, and "flame" your enemies on your blog.
Wronged? Take revenge by circulating incrimnatiing pictures of your nemesis.
Horny? Show off your naked body to anyone who will watch - get it voted on, even."
Oh shit. So, parents are counted too? (turns head to stare at mum watching intently at show)Should stop online flaming my mum. Should go literal flaming now. Ok but from today onwards I will stop flaming the dictator. No I'll stop flaming my mum.
But in any case, I shall continue to post some excerpts:
"Their tactics are worthy of tuerilla warfare. THey use fake identites; they strike anytime, anywhere; they also execute "instant and limitless dissemination of words and images", their digital tools and cyberplayform an easy means of exacting revenge. That kind of access spells power - an absolute kind. And we all know what they say about absolute power. Teens in the Canadian study said that after bullying someone, they experienced regret or ambivalence. But quite eerily, they also said it made them feel 'positive and powerful'
Perhaps popular too. "
Ok these short excerpts were taken from an article in the Straits Times on 06/05 Sunday.
If you have any queries you can seriously email the writer on sereneg@sph.com.sg
So, after all the talking, I've decided that everyone should eat apples for lunch at 2?
No. I'm just saying let's all stop flaming each other. Decided through the course of writing this essay that not only girls flame, but guys too. But seems to me that girls' flaming seem more horrible. I'm a chauvinistic pig.
But I hope there are replies from both genders about this post of flaming, and for girls can anyone of you comment on why I think you'll flame more horribly? Guys are more vulgar though. I've seen a girl flamed till I needed to repair my computer, no thanks to the heat generated. (prolonged usage or burns?)
There were the words, "bitches" "hag" "shit" "lard" blah anything you can find in the world.
Let's sidetrack. Imagine my grandma flaming. Impossible. Seems to me that the youths in the world have used the Internet as their battleground.
But in any case please do comment.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Goodnight
Two activities today: Mr Song's cello lesson and Miss Hoe's Viva Voce lesson.
I reserve my weekends for only music and perhaps some recreational stuff such as homework. But there isn't any piano lesson tomorrow. Crap.
My concert is on June during the Singapore Arts Festival, which means you would be able to see me in the booklet for SAF!
I reserve my weekends for only music and perhaps some recreational stuff such as homework. But there isn't any piano lesson tomorrow. Crap.
My concert is on June during the Singapore Arts Festival, which means you would be able to see me in the booklet for SAF!
Friday, May 4, 2007
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Caning a Composition
My mum has become more irritating then before! And I have set a ultimatum for myself: The cane must die.
Meanwhile yesterday I visited Shawn's house for a practise on his Kabalevsky's piano concerto, and for the first time I came into contact with a dog. Name's Yuki, she's a very happy dog, and of course she brought happiness to me. She pass motioned in Shawn's brother's bedroom, and knowing she was wrong, hid somewhere in the house. Shawn and I found her in the corner of two sofas placed in an L shape. She was hiding under the small table!
Shawn said even dogs knew when they did something wrong, and he told Yuki that "Mummy will be back very soon to scold you!"
Such a cute dog. It gave me a shock once though, when we were practising Yuki licked my right calf, and I jerked suddenly, bringing my knee hammering straight into under the keyboard. Embarassing but well, we'll human anyway.
I played my composition for Shawn, with only the right hand completed only for the second half, and he said there wasn't any harmony mistakes he could find.
Yesterday night at about 11pm I quickly touch up on some parts of my compositions, by playing the entire thing and trying to find something that sounded wrong, which I did. Then of course I corrected them. I had about 6 hours to aad the left hand, which I did from 4 to about 10pm.
Recorded it with extremely sweaty and nervous hands on my mp3, and as technology allows it, in a few minutes time I was sending it to my first receiver, Jinghui from my MEP class and my RE group. Sent it to some other people very soon, Tianyi, Ben Low this morning, and some other guys. John Lee too. Tianyi thought it was by Bach and she wanted to comment on my playing I supposed, which I think she could have given me 5/10 (I was playing my composition and it wasn't really the manner which I was worried about, it was the composition itself) but I told her it was my composition. And we talked a little about how starters started composing; by copying styles. Of course I did that. Couldn't have possibly started on a entire new style, although I do have one. It's basically placing the melody on octaves, and left hand full of broken chords, appegios, scales and guess what. My style is a mix of Chopinistic melodies (although not as good) and Lizst-styled technique (obviously not as good).
The reviews were rather good, although Ben Low said the finale sounded screwed with a bashful smile (or was it?) If it wasn't I shall make it a point to strangle him tomorrow.
Bye!
Meanwhile yesterday I visited Shawn's house for a practise on his Kabalevsky's piano concerto, and for the first time I came into contact with a dog. Name's Yuki, she's a very happy dog, and of course she brought happiness to me. She pass motioned in Shawn's brother's bedroom, and knowing she was wrong, hid somewhere in the house. Shawn and I found her in the corner of two sofas placed in an L shape. She was hiding under the small table!
Shawn said even dogs knew when they did something wrong, and he told Yuki that "Mummy will be back very soon to scold you!"
Such a cute dog. It gave me a shock once though, when we were practising Yuki licked my right calf, and I jerked suddenly, bringing my knee hammering straight into under the keyboard. Embarassing but well, we'll human anyway.
I played my composition for Shawn, with only the right hand completed only for the second half, and he said there wasn't any harmony mistakes he could find.
Yesterday night at about 11pm I quickly touch up on some parts of my compositions, by playing the entire thing and trying to find something that sounded wrong, which I did. Then of course I corrected them. I had about 6 hours to aad the left hand, which I did from 4 to about 10pm.
Recorded it with extremely sweaty and nervous hands on my mp3, and as technology allows it, in a few minutes time I was sending it to my first receiver, Jinghui from my MEP class and my RE group. Sent it to some other people very soon, Tianyi, Ben Low this morning, and some other guys. John Lee too. Tianyi thought it was by Bach and she wanted to comment on my playing I supposed, which I think she could have given me 5/10 (I was playing my composition and it wasn't really the manner which I was worried about, it was the composition itself) but I told her it was my composition. And we talked a little about how starters started composing; by copying styles. Of course I did that. Couldn't have possibly started on a entire new style, although I do have one. It's basically placing the melody on octaves, and left hand full of broken chords, appegios, scales and guess what. My style is a mix of Chopinistic melodies (although not as good) and Lizst-styled technique (obviously not as good).
The reviews were rather good, although Ben Low said the finale sounded screwed with a bashful smile (or was it?) If it wasn't I shall make it a point to strangle him tomorrow.
Bye!
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