Justice vs Mercy

"The quality of mercy is not strain'd,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice"

 - Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

There has been an ongoing debate between justice and mercy. True, the mercy is an important and divine attribute, but what is it exactly? And what is justice which is the opposite of mercy?

Mercy - Mercy is a word used to describe compassion shown by one person to another, or a request from one person to another to be shown such leniency or unwarranted compassion for a crime or wrongdoing. (adapted from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy)

Justice - Justice is the concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, fairness, or equity. (adapted from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice)

So, which side are you on? I personally feel that while one should always show mercy, it is best mixed with justice. As the quote says, mercy is an attribute that benefits both parties, unlike justice, so why do I support a mix? I could refer to many incidents in the real world. On example would be the Oliver Fricker case here in Singapore. In case you do not know what happened, Oliver Fricker trespassed into an MRT depot and "vandalized" on one of the train carriages. He was sentenced to 5 months jail and 3 strokes of the cane. This is justice at work. Oliver Fricker did something wrong (in terms of the Singapore law) and thus is punished for his actions. Many would say that this is fair to Oliver; he committed a crime, but he did no harm to others, why is he harmed (3 strokes) in return? In this case, mercy should of course be shown. While it is stated in the law that it is fair to be caned for vandalism, compassion should also be shown, as everyone deserves a second chance, or even a third. But, if mercy is shown, and not justice, then criminals can go and do what they want and get away with it. Therefore, while justice is important, one should not forget mercy, as it is after all, "an attribute to God himself".

Mugging.

Hi all, it's been a long while (a month?).

Well, today, my topic will be on well, as mentioned above, mugging! Firstly, what is mugging? First, from dictionary.com -- an assault or threat of violence upon a person, esp. with intent to rob. Well, not what I was looking for. How about another online dictionary, like yourdictionary.com? To study hard and hurriedly, as in preparation for an examination. Yep. To study hard due to well, procrastination. So, mugging means to do last minute studying.

Now for my understanding of the word "mugging", based on experience, of course. Mugging refers to memorizing of tested material (of a test/examination) so as to pass or do well in it. It's my definition, you may disagree, but I believe that the material is memorized, and while it may be understood at that moment, it will eventually be forgotten once the examination is over. And thus I am strongly against it.

In my opinion, the knowledge one learns should already be in one's memory and he should understand it completely (how it works, why, etc.) and not memorized for a period of time. What is the purpose of examinations? To test your knowledge. If you just memorize what is tested and then forget it after, then is it considered "your knowledge"? I doubt so. As such, I believe that one should not "mug", but instead revise. My definition of revise? To go through all your past works and test yourself; if you do not understand it, do some research, ask questions, etc. After all, one might forget what he mugged and... you know.

Personally, I believe more in ability than in luck, which is why I feel guilty whenever I put in a random answer so as to have a chance of getting it correct. Sometimes, that one mark might be the difference between a grade, or even between passing and failing. So, in this competitive world, sometimes, we must do things we do not think so highly of, in order to do better, and that is probably the main reason why people mug in the first place. Of course, I would say that I do not mug, but while it may be the truth, it isn't reliable coming from me, so never mind.


Well. to mug or not to mug - that is the question. To me, the answer is no, I would rather revise and understand what I was taught, but you are still free to make a choice. You decide.

STOMP Article

Well, I guess you should know what I'm talking about. The STOMP Article. Okay fine you might not, so I shall just mention it. THE STOMP article regarding a rant on a teacher for taking his valuables to teach him a lesson.

The incident: Students left their classrooms unlocked and went for flag raising, teacher patrolling saw laptops and wallets on tables and thus went in to take them and teach the students never to leave their valuables unattended. And one of the students complained on STOMP.

My take: First on what he did. Why did he have to complain on a STOMP article? That ruins that image of the school completely! If the audience does not think that the teacher's actions are justified, the teachers in the school will look bad. If not, they will think that the students are spoilt brats.

Now on what the students did. Sure, the students should not have left their valuables in plain sight and "providing the opportunity" for theft (quoted from Mr Tan in a previous incident with my class, just without the online rant). It is their responsibility to take care of their own items.

Now on what the teacher did. His intention was to teach the students a lesson by scaring them. Of course, it probably wouldn't work, as my class still leaves their laptops on their tables, just with the doors locked. But nevertheless, I feel that the teacher should have respected the student's rights and not taken without permission. If he were caught, he might have been mistaken for a thief. Of course one learns from experience, so this might have been an effective method to him, instead of just talking to the students.

I shall just leave the topic as it is as I feel both sides have done wrong, but the student who posted this online should not have done so as this affects the school's images.

Racial Harmony Day

Yesterday was Racial Harmony Day. Quite entertaining I guess. For the non-CMC members. Unlike me. Actually, it was quite entertaining for me. Well, let's go into detail and not beat around the bush.

Okay. For the non-CMC members, they were supposed (*ahem*) to go around the cultural bazaar and buy food, watch a play (if I remember correctly - I wasn't there) and go for some Indian mass dance. So the day was pretty packed. But I guess most of them just stayed in class to DotA (*cough*).

As for us CMC members, we were participating in the cultural bazaar full-time, selling our foodstuff. It went well, with us selling some traditional delicacies, and we managed to earn more than twice our budget! While it seemed like it would fail and it was going to be boring waiting for customers, we kept ourselves busy, with customers coming and going.

Well, how I/we spent the day is not the point, the main point is the importance of racial harmony. You probably know why Racial Harmony Day is a day of celebration commemoration. Just in case you don't, you can google here is a brief overview. After the merger with Malaysia, many racial riots started between the Malays and Chinese. After these incidents, Singapore took racial harmony and religious freedom seriously. There you have it.

Now that we know the story, let's talk about my views. This day of commemoration is a great idea, as it's another holiday for us! it prevents racial and religious prejudice to a large extent (*cough* TKAM, TMOV). Well, erm. That's about it from me. My thoughts on prejudice then. Prejudice is what it is pre-judging. It's unfair to those prejudiced against. It's just unfair. So I feel that racial harmony is important. =D

Projects' Day Results

Hi all,

As expected, things did not turn our well. Basically, we did not get through. And we did not get a good mark either. Well, 'good' is subjective, but to us, 17/30 is not good at all. Now my best possible grade for Independent Studies is A2. Disappointed, of course, but then again, I did not think we would have gone through in the first place.

Firstly, if I remember correctly, we were the only group with a script, and that pretty much says a lot about our preparation to the judges. Also, we did not contact our mentor often and did most of the work ourselves, so while we may think that we did our best, it may not have been the required content or format. Such a pity. Well, I can't push all the blame to my group leader; it isn't entirely his fault, it's all of our faults. Well, better luck next time. If there's a next time.

Projects Day Finals

Hi all, Project's Day is just over. And I think my group did pretty well. Overall, my group's performance, as compared to a few other groups, was good, and things went smoothly. Anyways, we put a lot of effort into our project, so we hope we'll get in!

However, there may have been a slight problem regarding our Projects' Day. One of our judges said that our attitude was not up to standard. While meaning no offense to him, but I would like to point out: If our attitude was not there, then why would we be standing here presenting our project? If our attitude was bad, we should not have even got through into the semis! But then again, if he said that our attitude was bad, then we might not even get through to the finals even though our content was very good! Hopefully that's not the case.

At least we did our best - one of my beliefs - to do things to the best you can, regardless of what and how people treat you.

My Holiday - A Summary

Woah, that was fast.

Hi all, it's the last day of the holidays. (DD=)

As the title says, this will be a summary of my holidays. (week by week, I suppose)

Okay, let's begin. On the first week, it was pretty boring (:|), as only went out on Tuesday and Friday for my CCA (Chinese Orchestra). Anyways, I spent the rest of the time doing homework gaming. (*cough*) The first week passes without me doing anything constructive. (...)

On to my second week. My family had planned to visit my grandmother all the way up north in Malaysia, Alor Star, Kedah, to be specific. We set off on Saturday, my father driving a whole 10 hours non-stop. Then, for the next few days, my uncle and aunts took me out to visit museums, shopping malls, etc. Of course, I had my daily dose of gaming, but I also did some of my homework. (procrastination did NOT help)

The third week was homework spam week. In other words, I spammed homework. In other words, I tried to spam homework. In other words, I tried to finish up as much homework as possible. Enough of other words. The computer and other forms of entertainment was distracting, but I managed to finish up most of my Chinese and LA homework. (with the help of no CCA =D)

The fourth week. It went by very quickly. Like, very quickly. I was finishing up most of my homework on the first day (Monday). Then, I went for the iLTC (iLeaders Training Camp) for 3D2N at Aloha Changi Resorts. It was fun. Really fun. I spent 3hours sleeping for those 2 nights. On the first day we had an Amazing Race Around Singapore, during which I learnt that there was a difference between Botanical Gardens and Singapore Botanical Gardens. The next day, we planned a mini-game for other groups to play, had a barbeque and a "campfire" without the fire. Throughout the two nights, I was either watching the World Cup (GO South Africa! [they got kicked out anyways]), playing card games, or sleeping (that was the first night). Then, it was over. Less than 72 hours passed so quickly. I went back home, finished up the rest of my homework, and here I am, typing this blog post.

So, I enjoyed my holidays (pretty much). Did you?

Effects of War

Hi all, here's another mindmap I had to do during the holidays, regarding the effects of war on civilians as well as soldiers...

Merchant of Venice Mindmap

Hi all, this is one of the mindmaps I had to do for my LA holiday homework regarding the Merchant of Venice plot...

Term 2 e-Learning Task 2

Hi all,

This is Task 2: An Analysis of the poem. In case you want to read the poem again, here it is:

Children in the Darkness

There are children in the darkness Who have not seen the light There are children in the darkness Who someone will teach to fight   Chalk and blackboards will not be To this door there is no key From this life they can not flee And these children are not free   Could we simply light a candle Could we give them half a chance Could we teach them how to read Could we teach them how to dance   Or will a war consume them Their body and their soul Will their life and blood be poured Down some endless thirsty hole   Back into the darkness From which there is no flight Back into the darkness Into which there shines no light Henry M Bechtold

Okay, now for my analysis:

1. Point of View
The poet, being a soldier once himself, is anti-war, and he feels that war is unfair. He says that children are "in the darkness" and "have not seen the light"; the children are forced to be soldiers and learn how to fight, and do not know about what typical kids do (read, dance, etc.) War is seen to be "dark", and the children are trapped in war; "[they] are not free", have no freedom, and they cannot escape. He also mentions that the children are not even "[given] half a chance", let alone a chance, to experience life as a typical child, not knowing how to "read" or "dance". The children's "body and soul" are instead "[consumed]" by war, their whole "life and blood" left to drain on the battlefield.

2. Situation and Setting
In the poem, there is imagery of children being taught how to fight and take up arms during the Vietnam War. The contrast between "darkness" and "light", as well as its repetition, emphasizes the hopeless situation the children were in. War is portrayed as a "dark" place, cruel and depriving children from freedom, while other places free of war would be bright and cheery, with children with freedom and living their typical child lives.

3. Language/Diction
The poet uses various literary devices to emphasize the dire situation the children were in. Firstly, he repeats the phrase "Could we", emphasizing that the children are deprived of freedom and their usual child life. The imagery of a locked door with no key further shows how the children could not escape war. The personification of war consuming the children's "body and soul" emphasizes how cruel war was, and the contrast between "light" and "darkness" is similar to the contrast between war-free countries and war-struck countries: war-free countries are bright like "light" and cheery, while war-struck countries are "dark" and gloomy.

4. Personal Response
I feel pity and sympathetic for the children in war-struck countries. They have to face the hardships and harshness of war at such a young age that I doubt we can endure. They are forced to go to war for the sake of their country when they should obviously be enjoying their childhood in school or at home. In all, the poem evokes a strong feeling of pity for the children in war-struck countries in me.

Term 2 e-Learning Task 1

Hi all,

As expected, I do have work I have to post on my blog. 2 tasks, all regarding poems. Task 1 is to do research on a given poem and write a report on the conflict represented in the poem, and Task 2 is analyze the poem given. So here is Task 1:

First, the poem (easiest of them all):

Children in the Darkness

There are children in the darkness Who have not seen the light There are children in the darkness Who someone will teach to fight   Chalk and blackboards will not be To this door there is no key From this life they can not flee And these children are not free   Could we simply light a candle Could we give them half a chance Could we teach them how to read Could we teach them how to dance   Or will a war consume them Their body and their soul Will their life and blood be poured Down some endless thirsty hole   Back into the darkness From which there is no flight Back into the darkness Into which there shines no light Henry M Bechtold

5 10 15

So there's the poem. Now for the research:

Why is it that when I type the Title and Author of the poem in Google so many blogs come out!!! I'm trying to do research here! In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 33 already displayed. WHAT! All BLOGS.

Henry M Bechtold was in Vietnam in 1967-68 and in 1969 (during the Vietnam War 1955-1975), and till today, he could not forget the war and "[his] soul lives in Vietnam". During Christmas 2009, he was in a hotel room in Ho Chi Minh City (previously known as Saigon) trying to write a poem, but he could not get anything. Then, he saw this picture on the television:

and as he remembered the Vietnam war, the poem just came to him, and he quickly typed to out.

Conflict represented in the poem:
These children are deprived of a typical child's life, but are instead forced to go to war. They do not learn with chalk and blackboards, but instead learn how to fight. They have no freedom whatsoever and are tied to war, unlike typical children who go to school and have fun. They do no have a choice, not even half a chance, and do not know how to read, nor dance. All they would know is war, spending their whole life on the battlefield.

The next post will be on my analysis of the poem.

Literature Review Competition

Okay, the submission date is over. Okay, fine, technically it isn't over till 2359hrs, but you get the point.

So, how was the literature review? Well, I'm pretty proud of it. I did do it all by myself, and my teacher guide told me that it was pretty well done. What happened to the other group members? Well, firstly, when doing the literature review, I did not ask them to do anything, so yea, my fault. But when I asked them to do the reflections via an email, requesting that they respond once read, only one responded. And the one who responded did not send me his reflections either. So I did their reflections. Weird.

Okay, enough complaining. Well, another thing I can talk about it the Homestay trip I went for during Sabbatical Week. Well, all MSP students had to go to some village in Kota Tinggi, Johore, Malaysia, for some homestay programme so we could learn Malay, as well as the traditions and culture of a typical Malay village. It was pretty rewarding; we learnt to make baskets out of newspapers, bookmarks out of leaves, and I learnt Japanese along the way. Japanese? You must be wondering. Well, I went to a bookstore and bought a book teaching you how to speak Japanese, and read it during my free time, so I do know a bit of Japanese now.

Well, I think that's it for today, so see you soon (most probably tomorrow or the next day for e-learning).

Results.

Hi all,

Okay, straight to the point. Well, my partner and I got 1st. 1st runner-up. In other words, second. What a pity. We would have expected our story to have gotten 1st place (it was done very well), but no, only 2nd place was ours. While being a little disappointed, well, like I said before, I feel that the main point in competitions is not the prize (while it is a good target), but the process in doing it. So long as I have learnt something or enjoyed it, it is worthwhile.

Okay, I doubt I have anything else to say today... so yep. The result of the Story Telling Competition. 2nd place.

Back. Finally.

Wow. It has been a pretty long time since I posted (somewhere in March, I think). Anyways, why??? Why have I been a away so long? Well, my life is the life of a typical Sec 2 student... Competitions... School Work.... Homework... CCA... etc. How busy was I? Pretty. In fact, very. Let's talk about my competitions.

First, there was OM (Odyssey of the Mind). Apparently my group had slacked off for many weeks, and soon, 3 weeks was left before the competition, so... you know the rest of the story. We spent many hours doing up the props, structures, script, play, etc. We even stay back till 11 in school just to finish it. And finally, it was the day of the competition. Cool. We did our best and did pretty well (in our opinion). But we got 6th position (out of 8 i may add). So well, a little disappointed, but the purpose of competitions is not for the prize, it's for the fun in the process (in my opinion). Of course, our group's process lasted only 3 weeks, but still, it was fun while it lasted.

Okay. Done with OM. But 3 days after today, there's another competition. Too much pressure? Not really, but yes, a bit of pressure. So, Thursday's competition is the Malay Conversational Story Telling Competition (or something like that). So, while preparing for OM, I was suddenly called on by my Malay teacher to join this competition, and I said yes unhesitantly (I should start learning to say no). Anyway, while the story seemed pretty long, I could finish telling it in around 3 minutes (which was the time limit). I've done the props already, and so has my partner (it's a story for 2, I'm the narrator with lots of speaking roles, while he's the actor with lots of acting roles). Wish us luck!

Done already? Nope. There's another competition in one month's time. I guess I can slack, but you never know. It's the Science Literature Review Competition. Apparently my group of 4 has to do a literature review of around 1300 - 1500 words and submit it by the 24th of May. Cool. At least it wasn't clumped together with the other 2 previously mentioned competitions. I should start on it now... but never mind.

Okay, I think I'm done with competitions for today (I still have to practice for the Story Telling Competition), so I think that's all for today!

Changes to my blog

The following are my plans to improve on my previous blog (last year's blog):

Firstly, I will add a visitor count gadget (which obviously counts the number of visitors who visit my site). This would help me see how many people have checked my blog and thus let me see if I can be the 'celebrity blogger' I might be. At the same time it would help me check and see if my posts were interesting enough to attract attention or not. =D


Another improvement would be a slogan for my blog. It will be 'Doing the Impossible'. Although it is not really doing the impossible, it actually refers to reflecting on daily life. This, I know is far from impossible, but most people do not do this (maybe they are too shy?), so I would have reason to believe that this is quite impossible. My blog content would normally encompass this theme, although sometimes I would talk about current affairs of the world.


I might also change the blog layout soon, but not now as I do not have the time, so maybe I will do it during the holidays. Changing the layout would give this whole blog some originality and not be so boring like the typical layouts that Blogger provide.

There. My plans to change my blog.

ANOTHER piece of homework....

Ok, I am also Picture Smart, so I have a choice between
a) A Map of Maycomb
b) An Obituary for Mrs Henry Lafayette Dubose
c) A comic strip on the trial of Tom Robinson
d) A civil rights movement poster for Maycomb

And yes, I have chosen A. And yes, I took 2 hours getting the infromation from the book, 2 hours compiling the information into a map on paper, 1 hour to draw the map out using iPaint (some drawing program for Macs) and 1 hour fixing a technical problem that prevented me from uploading this image below...

The Map of Maycomb

The picture might be too small - just click on the image and another page should pop up with a huge version of the picture.

Also, here are the quotes I got from the book to cross-reference with the map (with my notes too!)

MAP OF MAYCOMB

"some twenty miles east of Finch's Landing" page 10
--> shows us where Maycomb is

"Mrs Henry Lafayette Dubose's house two doors to the north of us" page 12
-->shows us where Mrs Dubose's house is based on where the Finches' house is

"the Radley place three doors to the south" page 12
-->shows us where the Radleys' live based on where the Finches' house is

"next door in Miss Rachel Haverford's" page 12
-->shows us where Miss Rachel and Dill lives/stays

"church, Maycomb's principal recreation" page 15
-->shows us that there is a church in Maycomb (I can't pinpoint the location, but there it is, across the street from the post office

"Cunninghams from Old Sarum" page 15
--> Cunninghams are from Old Sarum

"the Maycomb school grounds adjoined the back of the Radley lot" page 15
-->shows where the Maycomb grammar school is

"every day Jem and I would see Mr Radley walking to and from town" page 17
-->town is to the north, since Mr Radley walks past the Finches' house to go to town

"around the corner past the Radley place" page 21
-->there is a turn on the road while passing the Radley place


"she boarded the street one door down from us in Miss Maudie Atkinson's upstairs room" page 22
-->Miss Caroline Fisher also lives at Miss Maudie's

"round the post office corner in the distance" page 34
-->There is a post office at the far end of the street

"Cecil Jacobs, who lived at the far end of our street next door to the post office" page 41
-->Cecil Jacobs lives next to the post office, also at the far end of the street


"low wall that separated Miss Rachel's yard from our driveway" page 56
-->houses are very close to each other

"Mr Avery boarded across the street from Mrs Henry Lafayette Dubose's house" page 56
-->shows us that Mr Avery lives opposite Mrs Dubose

"Dill jerked his head in a sourtherly direction" page 57
-->the Radleys' live to the south of Miss Rachel

"He went the back way, through Deer's Pasture, across the schoolyard and around to the fence" page 63
-->so Deer's Pasture is behind the Finch's house, but as to how big it actually is, I'm not so sure, so I only drew it at that size.

"We had gone about five hundred yards beyond the Radley place when  I noticed Jem....... Mr Harry Johnson... lived on the southern edge of town." page 98
-->Mr Harry Johnson's house is roughly 500yards from the Radley place, on the southern edge of town

"The O.K. Café was a dim organization on the north side of the square." page 107
-->O.K. Café at the far north of Maycomb County

"First Purchase African M.E. Church was in the Quarters outside the southern town limits, across the old sawmill tracks." page 124
-->another church for blacks beyond Mr Harry Johnson's house and outside the town limits a.k.a. beyond Mr Dolphus Raymond's house too

"The tribe of which Burris Ewell and his brethren consisted had lived on the same plot of earth behind the Maycomb dump." page 135,136
-->Ewells live behind the dump

"We went by Mrs Dubose's house.... there were eight more houses to the post office corner" page 155
-->tada... exactly eight houses from Mrs Dubose's, although mostly unnamed...

"The south side of the square was deserted..... A light shone in the county toilet, otherwise that side of the courthouse was dark. A larger square of stores surrounded the courthouse square" page 155
-->stores around the courthouse

"Atticus's office was in the courthouse when he began his law practice.... he moved to the quieter quarters in the Maycomb Bank building... When we rounded the corner of the square, we saw the car parked in front of the bank." page 155
-->Maycomb bank at the corner of the square (as shown in the picture)

"Let's go up the street. Maybe he's visitin' Mr Underwood." page 156
-->The Maycomb Tribune Office is up the street

"He covered the courthouse and jailhouse news simply by looking out his upstairs window. The office building was on the north-west corner of the square, and to reach it we had to pass the jail." page 156
-->courthouse and jailhouse are near the office building (can be seen); office building at the north-west corner

"It stood on no lonely hill, but was wedged between Tyndal's Hardware Store and The Maycomb Tribune office" page 156
-->jail is between the hardware store and the office building

"from the Meridian highway.... They went around the square, passed the bank building and stopped in front of the jail." page 156,157
-->came from the east, from the Meridian highway, from Old Sarum

"We streaked across the square, across the street, until we were in the shelter of the Jitney Jungle door... ' We can get closer,' he said. He ran to Tyndal's Hardware door" page 157
-->Jitney Jungle just behind the hardware store

"Heck's bunch's so deep in the woods they won't get out till mornin'" page 157
-->Heck Tate lives in the woods? Unsure about exact location - might not actually be in the north

"People from the south end of the county passed our house in a leisurely but steady stream... Mr Dolphus Raymond" page 164
-->Mr Dolphus Raymond stays in the south, together with Mr X Billups, Mr..., but let's just mention Mr Dolphus Raymond only since he has a significant role in the story (chapter 20)

"A dirt road ran from the highway past the dump, down to a small Negro settlement some five hundred yards beyond the Ewells'. It was necessary either to back out to the highway or go the full length of the road and turn around; most people turned around in the Negroes' front yards" page 177
-->there is a dirt road coming from the Meridian highway (which is coming from the East), and along it is the dump, the Ewells' residence, and a Negroes' settlement

"had to pass the place goin' to and from the field... Mr Link Deas" page 197
-->Mr Link Deas' field is on the other side of the Meridian highway

"tonight, they'd overrun the drugstore, the O.K. Café and the hotel" page 213
-->Drugstore and hotel near the O.K. Café in the north???

"Barker's Eddy is at the end of a dirt road off the Meridian highway about a mile from town" page 245
-->the same dirt road that leads to the dump - Barker's Eddy is behind the Negro settlement

"rode slowly by the dump and past the Ewell residence, down the narrow lane to the Negro cabins." page 245
-->Dump first, Ewell residence second, Negro cabins third

"Jem was in the seventh grade and went to high-school, beyond the grammar school building" page 248
-->High school is further up compared to the Maycomb Grammar School

"she telephoned Mr Link at his store, which was not too far from his house" page 255
-->Mr Deas' store and house are near each other

"Miss Stephanie Crawford crossed the street to tell the latest to Miss Rachel" page 285
-->Miss Crawford lives across the street from Miss Rachel



Slight comment - because Finch's Landing is not part of Maycomb, I have not put it in the Map. But still, here are the quotes:




"neighboring landowner, Dr Frank Buford" page 49
-->There is another plot of land beside Finch's Landing (Buford's Landing?)

"Finch's Landing consisted of three hundred and sixty-six steps down a high bluff and ending in a jetty. Farther down stream, beyond the bluff, were traces of an old cotton landing, where Finch Negroes had loaded bales and produce, unloaded..... A two-rut road ran from the riverside and vanished among dark trees, At the end of the road was a two-storeyed white house" page 86
-->Description on Finch's Landing... A cliff, a stream, a jetty, a cotton landing, a two-rut road, dark trees, and a white house


Sorry if this post is a bit long, but I feel that I should show these quotes off, considering the fact that I spent 2 hours doing them...

HOMEWORK...

So..... I am muscially smart, and I have to make a poem/song about anything in the book...... How 'bout an acrostic poem about Atticus Finch? Here you go....

Ⓐlways righteous
Ⓣrue to his beliefs
Ⓣhat everyone is equal
Ⓘn this world of ours
Ⓒan and will fight for a black man
Ⓤnder such circumstances in Maycomb
Ⓢtill standing strong

Ⓕighting for justice
Ⓘn an unfair world
Ⓝever existed a harder task
Ⓒourageously,
Ⓗe still goes on, trying his best

Multiple Intelligence Test Results

So, here are my MI test results. As you can see, I am Number Smart, Music Smart, and Picture Smart. Okay, fine. I am smart in all 8 aspects, but I am more Number Smart, Music Smart and Picture Smart.

Now, on to the question. How does this MI test help me? Does it even help me? Well, it does help all of us discover our hidden talents! how we learn best, like me, where I learn best by using songs, patterns and rhythms to learn, since I am Number Smart and Music Smart. This would certainly help us a lot, since we now know how we learn best as an individual and our learning styles. With our favoured learning styles in mind, we would know how we learn best and then put that knowledge to good use by using those styles. So there, the question is answered. Yes, it does help us. And apparently I'm logical, musical and visual.

BUT. We only have 6 options for the next piece of homework.

Linguistic,  Musical, Interpersonal, Naturalist, Spatial / Visual, and Intrapersonal.

WHERE IS LOGICAL AND KINAESTHETIC!!!??? So yes, I cannot do logical, and I have to do Visual/Spatial, together with Musical. How sad. But a Map of Maycomb and a Song about The Trial would be fun, wouldn't it?
 =D

=(

I seriously see no reason for our parents to bring us out to places such as the supermarket or restaurants. Is getting good food really that important? Must we really follow them go get groceries if we don't even have a choice of what to buy? Must we do all those uninteresting things (to me)? Why can't they just do it themselves, on their own? I would rather do something interesting like homework or play games, or even just sitting in a corner thinking about things like this. These appeal to me more than shopping or dining out.

I mean, are we really obliged to follow our parents wherever they go? As teenagers our age, I think we have the right to choose, right? If we see no purpose in doing something and someone else is doing it anyway, then what's the point of wasting your time doing it? Even if we were forced to do something we have no interest in, it would be pointless since we would not learn from the experience, right? Okay, fine, occasionally we would find out that the 'uninteresting' thing might actually be of interest, but things that we have done and found no interest in, should we even do it if unnecessary?

I feel that I have wasted my time following my parents doing things like those, but to some of you, it might have been eventful. I still feel that I could have done something more meaningful, such as the homework for tomorrow, or even CIP with my friends! But what is done is done, I can't do anything to reverse it, so let's just forget that incident. Hopefully my parents will read this blog post and understand, since I'll feel a little awkward telling them straight. So yeah. Things will always be pointless to those who deem it uninteresting. Like me. I might change my perspective, but not just yet.

YEAH!

NICE! Exams are finally over! And the homework isn't stressing as much as before. SWEET! I can relax a bit more now. Let's have an overview of the tests last week...

Previous Friday - LA Speech test
Monday - History test, IS test
Tuesday - Geography test, Chinese test Part 1
Wednesday - Supposed Malay test, but postponed due to Piano test (external)
Thursday - Chinese test Part 2, Math test, Malay test
Friday - None =D

Anyways, the tests were pretty simple, none were very hard, but perhaps, I might have fared better if I studied a wee bit more. Some results are back, such as the Math test which I did pretty well.

Now that the tests are over, I realize that they weren't that hard, were they? Let's hope I get A1 for all the subjects then. That reminds me, the was another Science test, but it was waaaaaay before Chinese New Year. =D And I did very well for that test. Yeah.

So, I have 4 days to relax at home due to home learning. Pretty nice, to have time relaxing after a whole week of tests. Come to think of it, school isn't really that stressful, is it? Of course, you must obviously do your homework as soon as possible so they don't pile up and stress you up. Yep. Nice. It's over, and in another 2 weeks it's the holidays. =D

I'm confused. O_O

That was fast. It's already week 7 and I didn't notice it! This week's the deadline, and I still have 2 posts to go. Oops. Time really flies. So many things happening this week and next week. I reeaaaallllllly need to destress.

First there are tests, such as the speech situational writing test tomorrow, and a history test on Monday, and a geog test on Tuesday, .... Then there are assignments to be completed, like my Science project, and my chinese situational writing, and these blog posts, and my projects day project, and plenty more.

I'm beginning to wonder how I managed to survive Secondary 1. Heh. School, school, school. Education, education, education. Is that the only thing that matters for the youths in Singapore? Please note this is not a complaint, just my thoughts. I mean, yes, education is important to go far, and yes, school is important. But we hardly have time to study and do homework, with all those tuitions, remedials, and CCA, let alone play. Okay, fine, we do have some time. But is it enough? Nowadays youths are getting more rebellious; is it possible that this is the reason?

Are we really that different from other countries like Malaysia(read previous post)? Is it true that we have no time to relax and have fun? I'm not sure. I don't mind homework. Sometimes it's hard, sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it takes time, sometimes it can be done quickly. Sometimes the deadline is pretty far away, sometimes we have to hand it up on the spot. Most teachers aren't unreasonable. In fact, I'm not sure what I'm trying to point out here. I'm just destressing by voicing out my feelings. Perhaps the youths of Singapore are just tired, or lazy, or something. I'm not sure. Maybe. Just maybe.

P.S. I'm not trying to tell any teachers to lessen their homework or anything. I'm just stressed and need to voice out my feelings.

I'M BACK!!!

Ahh... Finally, I get to use the Internet. 4 days at my grandmother's house in Malaysia, 4 days without Internet. At least I had offline games to entertain myself. It was hard. Seriously. Anyways, complaining about not having Internet can't be elaborated much and it isn't the reason I'm posting this post.

It's just that, when I went to Malaysia this year, I noticed the differences between Singaporeans and Malaysians, and people of different races and cultures. Perhaps the previous times I did not bother since I was to busy, but this time, most likely due to boredom and lack of entertainment, I noticed quite a few differences.

One incident would be when my mother went to buy cendol. In case you don't know what that is, it is a traditional dessert originating from Malaysia. Anyway, the vendor was taking a loooooong time serving the other customer that came before us, and my mother was getting impatient. Even though we are Malaysians, my mother was pretty impatient, while the vendor still took her time.

This goes to show how great our environment affects us. In Singapore, it is very rushed and we are always having a race against time, but in Malaysia, it is more relaxed, and moves at a slower pace, so the vendor thinks that we do not mind waiting, while in actual fact we do. This actually encompasses the whole difference thing, since it shows how the environment actually affects us a lot.

How about another thing? The folks there might be more economically challenged than us, but at least they enjoy life - fly kites, etc. unlike us, who sit in front of the computer for the whole day playing. Our parents keep saying that we should go out and enjoy ourselves, I completely agree. But in this fast-paced society of ours, is there really even time to relax like the considerably slower-paced and traditional society of Malaysia?

Insensitivity?

I'm not sure if this is insensitivity, but anyways, today, during a specific lesson (I'd prefer it remains anonymous), our class was very, VERY noisy, and the teacher had a very hard time teaching us.

She's actually a very nice and kind teacher, and allows us to talk in class (obviously at a certain volume), but i think today we have crossed the limit. I'm not trying to sound noble or anything, but I just think it's very unfair to her.

She tries so hard to teach us for our good, but we just keep on talking and not paying attention. If you were her, obviously you would be infuriated. We could not even greet her properly at the end of class, angering her even further. But even at her limit, she's still able to withstand the anger within (if there's any) and only asks us to "go away", and not "touch her things".

I mean, she doesn't scold us or anything, and only when we get too noisy she would raise her voice and tell us to lower our volumes; she's very nice, so I think we should know when enough is enough. Not that we should raise our volumes at teachers whom are not that nice, but still, I think that it was pretty unfair for us to not treat her with respect when she is trying to do the same to us.

It's our loss, not hers, and she's trying to help us. Shouldn't we try to not anger her?

First Post... finally!!!

Ok, hi guys, this blog will be for my English ACE.
Anyways, after a whole week of procrastination and forgetfulness, I have finally decided to do this 1st post so I will not forget again.
So, what to post here? Hmm...... How about last week's occurrences?
Well, homework was piling up, so I finally stopped procrastinating (again) and did them all. Two down, plenty more to go! Then, on Friday, it was the same old boring schedule, go to school, learn, go for CCA, go home. The end.
But that Friday was different. While we were at our LA lecture, 4 of my classmates' laptops were stolen! They were frantic, and sadly, I had to miss half of my PE lesson to report the incident. Some of us who didn't lose our laptops told them that it was probably one of those teachers coming in and taking our laptops to teach us a lesson. So, in the end, we got scolded for not locking the door (I did lock the door!) and not taking care of our own belongings. We were not even putting the blame on the school, we just thought we had to report it, but still, what's done is done, so nevermind.
Then, after recess, guess what? Our predictions were right! The 4 students were returned their laptops and school was back to normal. =D

Okay, that "incident" is over, let's fast forward to CCA time =D
So, I went for my CCA, Chinese Orchestra, as usual. Usually, we would have group practice from 2.20-4, then from 4-6 we would have the combined practice. So, me, still a junior, would stay back with my 2 other classmates and practice together. However, the teacher had asked me to play a song, and apparently I played very well, so she asked me to go up to the CO room for combined practice. I was okay with that, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I was leaving the other 2. But that's okay. Since I'm now a senior xD.

Okay, since nothing else interesting happened last week, I'll just finish this post off by saying: "Bye =D".

Thanks for reading xD.

PS my next post should be around next week. (trust me, I won't procastinate this time!)