Comment on George's blog

Hi readers, below will be my comments on George's blog -- http://georgeblogging.blogspot.com/ on the topic of "Russian Heat Wave"

After reading George's post, I was shocked by the number of lives have been lost due to fires and droughts. In my opinion, I feel that many countries do not take global warming into eye and this has thus caused many serious consequences. Apart from countries which are heavily affected by the increasing effect of global warming, others do not even give support to prevent the destruction of the ozone layer. There had been an organised meeting in Singapore to help prevent the extent of global warming to get too large, but it ended up without an agreement as a few countries did not agree to the terms. In conclusion, I urge the government that they should start to take heavier action to prevent global warming as it would be easier to start early rather than when global warming has becomed an extremely dangerous concern to the Earth.

Comment on Sze Chuan's blog

Hi readers, below will be my comments on Sze Chuan's blog -- http://causticpotashhhh.blogspot.com/ on the topic of "Flooding in Orchard Road"

I feel that these flash floods happen more oftenly in Singapore nowadays. I suppose it is caused by the depletion of the ozone layer and also the increasing threat of global warming. However, I still feel that Singapore is fortunate that the floods that happen are not as serious as compared to other countries where citizens actually get drowned by the floods. Furthermore, Singapore's government have been taking several measures after the first flooding incident to prevent the loss of too many goods, at the same time trying to prevent citizens from getting stranded. In conclusion, I think that people who make use of this flood incident to obtain goods that are submerged in the water does not have any integrity. They make use of a natural disaster to obtain benefits for themselves, indeed should be despised by others.

Comment on Sze Chuan's blog

Hi readers, below will be my comments on Sze Chuan's blog -- http://causticpotashhhh.blogspot.com/ on the topic of "Boy cladded in bermudas, T-shirt and flip flops runs 13 km with the runners carrying the YOG torch"

I feel that this boy is what Singapore is looking for. With such a determination to run with the Olympic torch, Wei Jie must have a very strong national pride for Singapore. He is able to neglect his studies and run with the torch for a mere 13km, this shows that he is indeed a very persistent soul who is able to persevere to reach his goals. Since the YOG torch relay began, I have not heard of any Singaporean, apart from Wei Jie, who ran with the torch to give some support. Therefore, I suppose that Wei Jie has set a very good role model to us by showing his perseverence of reaching a certain goal. As students, we should also learn how to overcome obstacles in our path and not just give up easily upon seeing a difficult question.

Comment on Marcus Lau's blog

Hi readers, below will be my comments on Marcus Lau's blog -- http://blanketboymarcus.blogspot.com/ on the topic of "Success"

I feel that success is when I have accomplished a task which I have put in a lot of effort into. According to the dictionary, success is the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like. However, I take the same stand as Marcus and feel that this definition is not real success. Success requires hard work, while wealth can be attained in many ways, some which does not require any work at all. Therefore, I feel that the dictionary definition of success is unrealistic. All in all, everyone has different views on their own real success. I feel that no matter how many failures a person has faced, he will have successed even more times compared to his failures.

Comment on Qing Zhou's blog

Hi readers, below will be my comments on Qing Zhou's blog -- http://ep9cfail-blog.blogspot.com/ on the topic of "Why can't people just show some support for the YOG"

After reading Qing Zhou's post, I feel quite shocked by the fact that our citizens do not show any support for the YOG. However, I think that the YOG came at the wrong time of the year, during students' test period, which then causes a lot of students unable to buy the tickets in case of a clash between a test and the YOG game. As the YOG games are played by teenagers around our age, I assume that it should be meant for us to watch. In my own opinion, I conclude that it is true that Singpore citizens do not show any support for the YOG and that most spectators are forced to watch the games. One example is the students in school uniform who watch the shows after school time, I heard that they are forced by their schools to buy the tickets. All in all, I feel that the YOG is a rare opportunity for us to watch as it is held in our homeland and that we should all grab this opportunity.

Comment on Joel Lee's blog

Hi readers, below will be my comments on Joel Lee's blog -- http://jneater.blogspot.com/ on the topic of "Swiss Vandal".

I agree with Joel's point that the judge is being a little more strict to this case by convicting Oliver Fricker of seven months in jail and three strokes of the cane. However, I shall say that it is unfair as Oliver Fricker is a foreigner who just wanted to "beautify" the MRT train. Moreover, I feel that if Singapore lay such a heavy sentence on Fricker, it will cause Singapore's relationship with Switzerland to be strained and may lead to further consequences. In my own opinion, I feel that Fricker should be not be convicted of caning, but instead a longer sentecne in jail and a large sum of money. From the point of view as a reader, I still do not understand Fricker's intention of vandalizing a MRT train and find that it is a really foolish thing to do as it will lead to unforseen circumstances.

Alternative Ending to EoEH

Hi readers, today I will be writing an alternative ending to the novel Emily of Emerald Hill. The novel ended with Emily remembering her years as a mother and the head of Emerald Hill. However, I feel that this way of ending is pretty boring and normal and thus I shall propose another ending to the novel.

As the years went by, Emily became lonelier with Charles, Edward and Doris visiting her only during Chinese New Year and her birthday. Gradually, Emily suffered depression.

On her 75th birthday, she was given a large television set by her children. However, on the very occasion, Emily's health condition unfortunately also detoriated. The doctor had diagnosed her with Alzheimer disease, urging her children to spend the last few days together with Emily.

As Emily was admitted to the ward, she held a grin on her face, telling her children that they have to take good care of Emerald Hill as it is their family's "treasure". Days past with Emily getting paler and paler...

At one period of time, Emily started talking about her past times as the head of Emerald Hill, telling her children about the hardships she had went through. One that silent night, Emily's soul left her body willingly, reuniting together with Kheong and Richard...

Editor-in-Cheif of 7he$Tr@1Ght$71mE$

Bryan Santoso

Singapore English -- "Singlish"

"Dis country weather very hot one."
"Dat person there cannot trust."
"He play soccer also very good one leh."

Hi readers, I suppose all of you should know about "Singlish".

Singlish, sometimes known in the academic community as Singapore Colloquial English, is an English-based creole language spoken in Singapore.

As a student, I can say that Singlish is strongly discouraged in schools at a governmental level as it is believed to hinder the proper learning of proper English. For many students, using Singlish is also inevitable when interacting with their peers, siblings, parents and elders as it has becomed a bad habit since young.

Singlish derives its roots from the 1819 of British colonial rule over Singapore. During that period of time, many foreigners came to Singapore for trading purposes. British English was then spoken, but not long after immigrants moved in, the language became influenced by them. Therefore, Singlish now consists of Malay, Hokkien, Mandarin words which then make Singlish not a formal way of communicating.

Frankly speaking, I feel that it is quite impossible to eradicate Singlish as it is just natural that we say a few "la" and "lo" during conversations. Even so, the government has already tried to promote the use of standard English instead of Singlish, but it was to no avail.

As a permenant citizen of Singapore, I feel that Singlish makes Singapore unique in a way that we have somewhat created our own nation's language.

"Ei brudder, come on la. Guo Qing Ri just past le, you dunno meh. Wa, you balik kampung la."

Editor-in-Cheif of 7he$Tr@1Ght$71mE$

Bryan Santoso

Haiku

"The old pond;
A frog jumps in -
The sound of the water."

Hi readers, do anyone of you recognize the famous haiku above?
Haiku in english is a development of the Japanese haiku poetic form in the English language. Some of the more common practices in English haiku include the use of three lines of up to 17 syllables and a season word (For example, cherry blossoms indicate spring, snow indicate winter, and mosquitoes indicate summer, but the season word isn't always that obvious. )

What can you actually write about in a haiku?

Haiku-poems can describe almost anything, but you seldom find themes which are too complicated for normal people's recognition and understanding. Some of the most thrilling Haiku-poems describe daily situations in a way that gives the reader a brand new experience of a well-known situation.

Many people might wonder:"Whats the point of writing a haiku?"

Haiku helps to let the reader stop for a few moments and feel the situation as stated in the haiku -- a glimpse of what others are facing. It also reminds the reader to experience things fully instead of passively letting them wash over them. Most importantly, it calms and soothes the reader, like a brief moment of meditation that's not forced or contrived.

Although haiku might not be as popular as other poems, it still has its benefits. A haiku, having only a maximum of only 17 syllables, conveys lots of thoughts into the readers mind by using only a few wordsm which in turn makes it an incredible type of poetry. After a long day of studying, try reading a haiky in your heart, slowly understand the hidden meaning and a smile will naturally appear.

Editor-in-Cheif of 7he$Tr@1Ght$71mE$

Bryan Santoso

Roald Dahl

Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander. He rose to prominence in the 1940s with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors. His short stories are known for their unexpected endings, and his children's books for their unsentimental, often very dark humour.

Hi to all readers, today I will be introducing to all of you my favourite author -- Roald Dahl. As a fan of this marvellous author, I have read most of his books, being written for adults or children. Following, I will be touching on Roald Dahl's children storybooks.

Dahl's children's works are usually told from the point of view of a child. They typically involve adult villains or villainesses who hate and mistreat children, and feature at least one "good" adult to counteract the villains. These stock characters are possibly a reference to the abuse that Dahl stated that he experienced in the boarding schools he attended. They usually contain a lot of black humour and grotesque scenarios, including gruesome violence.

The Witches, George's Marvellous Medicine and Matilda are examples of this formula. The BFG follows it in a more analogous way with the good giant the BFG or "Big Friendly Giant" representing the "good adult" archetype and the other giants being the "bad adults". Furthermore, class-conscious themes also surface in works such as Fantastic Mr Fox and Danny, the Champion of the World.

Roald Dahl's books are usually easy to understand as they cater to mostly children. Many might think that as these books were written for children, they would be the boring "Once upon a time..." story and thus not give any interest for them. However, having read most of the books Dahl has written, I can assure all of you that once you start reading one of his books, you will never stop as the urge to know the ending of the storybook will push you on...

What are you waiting for? Grab a Roald Dahl book and finish it!

Editor-in-Cheif of 7he$Tr@1Ght$71mE$

Bryan Santoso

Tongue Twisters

"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

But if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Were they pickled when he picked them from the vine?
Or was Peter Piper pickled when he picked the pickled peppers
Peppers picked from the pickled pepper vine?"

Hi once again to all readers, it is time for me to share about "Tongue Twisters" this time.

A tongue twister is a phrase or sentence which is hard to speak fast, usually because of alliteration or a sequence of nearly similar sounds. It helps develop speech skills & helps in speech therapy. To get the full effect of a tongue twister you should try to repeat it several times, as quickly as possible, without stumbling or mispronouncing.

Some of you might ask:"Why is it so difficult to read tongue twisters?"

Many tongue-twisters use a combination of alliteration and rhyme. They have two or more sequences of sounds that require repositioning the tongue between syllables, then the same sounds are repeated in a different sequence. For example, in the sequence: She sells sea shells... The shells she sells..." requires a speaker to switch rapidly between the sh and s sounds.

According to the Guinness World of Records, the hardest tongue twister in the English language is "The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick." Try pronouncing these few words at a fast pace without stumbling and master the very skill of tongue twisting!

Editor-in-Cheif of 7he$Tr@1Ght$71mE$

Bryan Santoso

Reading

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who lived in Buckingham Palace..."

Hi readers, I will be sharing about 'Reading' today. I will first begin by stating the definition of 'Reading'.

Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of deriving meaning and constructing meaning. It is the mastery of basic cognitive processes to the point where they are automatic so that attention is freed for the analysis of meaning.

Many people might ask:"Everyone around the world read, but what is their goal? Why do they want to read? Does reading actually benefit them in any way?"

Frankly speaking, the general goal of reading is the acquisition of meaning from the ordered arrangement of symbols, followed by "reading to obtain understanding" and lastly "reading to obtain information".

Moving on, I shall mention several benefits of reading. Have any of you experienced embarrassing situations where you didn't have anything to talk about to a new friend? Did you hate yourself for making a fool of yourself? Do you want a remedy for this? It is simple. Start Reading. As reading helps to widen your horizon of knowledge, you will always have something to talk about. Furthermore, with a larger range of konwledge, you will easily build a high self-esteem and more people will look for you for answers. Subsequently, holding a book or magazine on your hands while on the bus or MRT makes you seem more like a scholar.

Above are only a few benefits of reading from a small scale, there are still many more awaiting for you, so what are you waiting for? Grab a book and start reading it!

Editor-in-Cheif of 7he$Tr@1Ght$71mE$

Bryan Santoso