Term 2 Home Learning Assignment

My badge has a Latin motto
Hope for the future
The future is hope
Or something

The writer is thinking about the little thinks that were part of his school life but we can see that he does not really pay much attention to his school as he is unsure about his own school's motto.

At times black crows try to interrupt
When we sing the National Anthem

I guess he was thinking about how these little "bad" occurrences help shaped him into the man he was and played a part in his life.

It is difficult to maintain
The whiteness of my shoes
Especially on Wednesdays

He should mean that wednesday was a day when something would usually stain his shoes, or maybe he might be thinking, "stain" his heart.

I must admit there is something quite special
About the bare thighs of hardworking scouts

The fact that he ADMITS means that he despises the scouts initially.

The Malay chauffeurs
Who wait for my schoolmates
Sit on the car park kerb
Telling jokes to one another

We can see that the author himself does not have a chauffeur and seeing his classmates' chauffeur waiting for them everyday makes him jealous. While being jealous, then he takes down every single detail of what the chauffeurs are doing.

Seven to the power of five is unreasonable

I guess that he does not really like maths and finds that the maths equations are not logical and unreasonable.

On Chinese New Year
Mrs Lee dressed up
In a sarong kebaya
And sang Bengawan Solo

He respects Mrs Lee and her way of dressing up. Judging from the way the author takes note of Mrs Lee specially, perhaps she must have a high priority in his heart.

The capital of Singapore is Singapore

This shows that he has enough of the facts and things he has to memorise about Singapore that he just wants to forget everything and remember that the capital of Singapore is Singapore.

My best friend did a heroic thing once
Shaded all A’s
For his Chinese Language
Multiple-choice paper

He respected his friend doing such and act and even says it is heroic. This proves that he is thinking how bored an exam can be and these things should be done to add a tinge of excitement.

In our annual yearbook
There is a photograph of me

He appreciates the fact that his photograph is taken.

Pushing a wheelchair and smiling
They caught me
At the exact moment


When my eyes were actually closed


I guess these are the final stanzas which could mean that his life is full of many surprises. Some surprises may caught him without even him knowing him, like him saying, "When my eyes are actually closed".


PART 2 (My Memories as a primary school boy)

My memories as a primary school boy is very different from the memories of the author's primary school life. No one really attempted to cheat in the exams and even if something like that happen, I think I would not find it very heroic. My teachers are strict, but I guess that is what forms the core and character in me. One incident I remember clearly is a betrayal. Even though it happened when I was Primary 2, I still remember it vividly. One day, sitting in my school bus innocently, my friend came up to me and called me to spray him with my water bottle. Listen well, he told me to spray him. After that, he went to complain to my teacher that I sprayed him. At that time, spraying of water was taboo in my teacher's eyes. Then I got scolded and embarrassed in front of all my classmates. That was it, part of my life but I guess from then onwards I know who are my true friends and who are not.



MY VERY OWN POEM

Summer ends with a school ahead
Winter comes with a sudden dread
There I enter my destined school
Unaware of the tears I shed

I made it through Year 1
Roughed it by Year 6
What happened from Year 3-6?
Only remembered the dreadful Year 2

An innocent boy in a bus
Trusted and betrayed by his friend
A pure heart unpurified in the end

A primary school life over
A betrayal forgotten
A new life awaits
Not forgetting my friends

The Death of Dr Goh... and others...

As you have all know, Dr Goh Keng Swee had just passed away, leaving the face of the world. But his achievements have left a mark on the world, just like the the Great Wall of China, visible even from outer space, or maybe even greater than that. Its impact on Singapore was massive, even though he was born in Malaysia. I woke up today, brushed my teeth and began reading the newspaper. There it was, Dr Goh on the headlines once again. He was not a celebrity, to be honest, I did not even hear his name before he died. Sometimes, doing good does not lead to being famous. This spirit was evident in Dr Goh's life, the young Singaporeans including me never even hear his name before he died, but he strived on, leading to achievements comparable to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

Perhaps, God has ended the life of a memorable man to inspire many more people, leading them to the right path. Even at Dr Goh's death, he has given the people a lesson to learnt. What a man, what a man to learn from. Having learnt such a lesson, I am again inspired to be a person just like Dr Goh! May God bless him.

Now, for the "others" part in my title, the term is almost ending and I think you have guessed it right, the topic "Results" is back once again. This term was... by all means, Horrendous. A string of B3's was by right the worst judgement I could ever have. Maths, Science, Chinese and Infocomm were given B3s as if my luck in life took a serious plunge. However, after looking at my results from another point of view, I realised that perhaps God was giving me a warning to buck up, to train in subjects I was bad in.

After saying so much, I have not even reach the climax yet. Now, for the climax, I told my Mum that I wanted a Mathematics tutor. In my heart, I knew that this decision was important in my learning of Maths. Of course, I would have to be responsible for my choice, which means attending tution and doing the additional homework, but I am not afraid, I know that I have my friends, teachers and most importantly, God behind me supporting me.

Jack Da Man

Sunday... Just another day...

Guess what? Athens is in a disorder right now while I am happily blogging. Ironic right? Just fits the topic Mrs Anu always talk about in class. Speaking about class, many things have happened there. Lets leave that for another post.

This post is specially dedicated to Kevyn and Yuxiang. Well, we just ran our 4x100m two days back. It started off quite well, with Zihan sprinting, although not really taking the lead. Yuxiang made an outstanding run by overtaking all the other runners. But, the interesting part has not come yet. He was about to pass the baton to Kevyn when he stepped on Kevyn and tripped. He fell down himself and his spikes accidentally cut Kevyn's leg. By the way, the spikes I am referring to are the ones found on spike shoes specially made for sprinting. Anyway, Kevyn still maintained the lead and we won! The thing is that they did not give up when they were injured, not mentioning that Yuxiang himself fell down and had some bruises while Kevyn had quite a deep cut on his leg. Thanks you all!!

Jack Da Man

The Finals...

Today, was the day, that the day, said that the day would be good, as predicted. Finals sound like a word to be taken into account, especially when it comes to your CCA. The stadium was packed and filled with students swarming all around the place. Hwa Chong students were visibly seen with their uniform so "neatly" tucked in, and them being clustered into a group. I was one of them, as I was a reserve for the first team, or should I say, Reserve's reserve's reserve's reserve. Yes, that is my position and I am proud to be there.

I always wished to run in an atmosphere full of students cheering hard and the atmosphere was present today. However, I lack the speed and technique to be fit running for the school as the Secondary Twos were extraordinary! Although we did not get first for our relays events, eventually, we got 1st for the overall points.

The whole Hwa Chong Track and Field team was invited to the field. There was a gut feeling that something good will happen. And it did. The B boys won 1st too!!! Having the experience of standing still and singing the school song proudly in front of the audience was extremely valuable to me. Deep inside my heart, a sense of pride stood like the Tan Kah Kee statue in school, high and mighty, proud of myself, Jack Tan and most importantly, proud of my school, Hwa Chong Institution.

Track and Field Competition 2010

Hey! I just realised that I have never talked to you about my CCA competitions. The 51st Annual National Track and Field Competition have already began. I took the 400m singles event. If you are my classmate, I guess you know that I did not qualify. Of course I was disappointed when I saw the results but the comfort was I missed the qualifying mark by 2 seconds only. I am still a Secondary 1 student and I am racing with the Secondary 2 students. I still have another year to catch up with the timing and I am confident that I can pass the qualifying mark next year. Just to let you know, my cousin is also in Track and Field but she is in a different division from mine. She is in Hwa Chong Junior College and she managed to ace her events (If I am not wrong). From that, I realised that it takes time to adapt to your CCA requirements and ace it. I am sure I can do it next year and for all who are reading my post now, thanks!

400m is a very tiring event, well in my opinion, it is. Well, I am slow in 100m, medium at 200m, even worse at steeplechase and I like Bobby. Bobby is my friend, BEST friend. To avoid any confusion, the person I am referring to is not in my class, so, not you Zihan, or Yuxiang, or David. I am referring to the guy from 1A2, I knew him when I was primary three, when I was looking like this! (Above there)

One very day, Bobby was running the corridoor, chasing his friend. At first, Bobby ran past me, then Bobby's friend ran past me, at first I thought they were two same people, then I wondered, how can that guy (I did not know him yet) run so fast that I see a split image of him? Finally, I found out the truth from him and that was what actually started our friendship.

English Ace Assignment (Part 1)

Child Labour in India

India, what a huge country compared to Singapore, but it pales in comparison when the topic entitled "Economy" is brought up. It is internationally agreed that the economy of a country plays an inportant role in terms of determining the stability of a country. Indian has vast area of land, many people and needless to say, many geniuses. Returning to the economy, it is always pulled in when the topic "Child Labour" is mentioned. Is the reason for child labour the poor economy of India? Is this the inexplicable truth or are there many other hidden reasons which lies beneath the dense outlook of the this problem, which might bring us straight to the crux of the problem to solve it. To me, taking the very first step is to look at things in different viewpoints, the government of India's viewpoint and the viewpoint of the World Human Rights Organisation.

Government of India's viewpoint

In Northen India, the exploitation of little children for labour is an accepted practive and perceived by the locals a necessity to alleviate poverty. Even if the government feels that this practive is unacceptable, it has not other choice but to accept it. The main reason is the lack of innovative solution to this problem - poor economy. They cannot come up with revolutionary ideas which would help the locals change their perception so they are forced to use this mean of improving India's economy.
If I were the India's government...
We are trying our best to alleviate the problem of child labour by invoking a law that makes the employment of children between 14 illigal, except in family owned enterprise. We are trapped in a situation where we have to choose between improving the coiuntry's economy or protecting the children of the country.
Verdict --- Give us a solution or banning child labour will be a difficult task.



World Human Rights Organisation's viewpoint

They feel that the situation of child labour is desperate. The children work for eight hours at a stretch with only a small break for meals. The meals are also frugal and the children are ill nourished. They do not have education and are ill treated. Serious actions should be done to this problem. We must put greater emphasis on health and safety issues regarding the children working. In order to prevent risking the children's safety, we must ban child labour. Children are often exploited and deprived of their rights in India, and until further measures are taken, many Indian children will continue to be working in danger.
Verdict --- Ban child labour to prevent the children from being in danger.


My viewpoints

I feel that child labour is of course something which everyone wants banned but major actions are not taking palce. Coming back to my very first point, there are abundant geniuses in India. Instead of implementing rules which are easy to break, India should gather all manpower to think of a solution. As I have said, there are many more geniuses in India than in Singapore, but Singapore can still continue to upgrade itself, even without vast spaces of land. I think that the major changes that should be made are - changing the mindset of the people living in villiages, changing their way of life in terms of child labour and frequent checks on the areas of suspected child labour. Indeed, child labour will help the economy grow, but in turn, the children's education is affected badly. In addition to that, the change of the state of economy is insignificant. On the other hand, if the children are not given the chance to study, the undeveloped child geniuses may not be groomed well and the country will have less leaders. The future of the country is bleack as there will be less future leaders.
Verdict --- Ban child labour and think of the future.





Sources --- www.indianchild.com/child-labour-india.htm
www.childlabor.in/child-labour-in-india.htm

Live with meanings...

Sad. That was the feeling I had when my maid entered the boarding hall. Today was the day my maid went back to her hometown. I wondered if I should be happy or sad, but my expression said it all. She had been working for my family for three and a half year already. She knew what my needs were, attended to them and took care of me. I remembered once when I received bad results when I was in primary school and was crying. I felt all alone, as my parents went to work in the afternoon, then she came to comfort me. I also remembered the fact that when I go out, she always follows me. She brings me safely to my destination, no matter how far it is from my house. She watched me grow, from a puny little primary 4, to a tall secondary 1 student who is taller than her now. I just wish, just wish to say once more, a short little "Thank You".

Dedicated to my maid, Leha.