(The events written here may be missing some pointers here and there but here goes)
Growth camp. Its somewhat like an annual camp which is compulsary and if im not wrong,the aims of this camp is to get us to understand a couple of things better. Some of them are ourselves and our friends. The lower secondary would have to camp in school while the upper secondary are split into two groups. 1 to the MOE campsite at Jalan Bahtera while the other group went to Malaysia to help out at a home for spastic childrens. I was in the second group.
18 march 2008, the day when the growth camp started. Like every normal day, we assembled in our parade square, sing the national anthem, said the pledge and had our reading period. All seemed the same till Mr yip (my physical education teacher) came out and told us to seperate from upper secondary and lower secondary and the upper secondary are divided into 2 more groups. Those headed for Jalan Bahtera and those heading for Malaysia. From then on Im not sure about the group that went to Jalan Bahtera. But we took a bus ride to KL than another ride to the spastic home. We were supposed to try and interact and assist the kids there. Although we might not be of much impact in their lives. We hoped to make 1 day in their lives better. Initially we had planned many activities for them, but as we took a tour around the home, we noticed we couldn't carry out many activities as we had trouble communicating with them. I felt so pathetic as i have no way to interact with them. I can only smile or frown at them to show its a yes or no. But in the end we had fun with them just by playing straws with them. Its really great watching them smile and just have fun, carefree fun. Something we Singaporeans or even normal people seemed to fail at doing. Anyway after that we headed to our campsite.
19 march 2008, breakfast was heavenly! For a camp it was really awesome. Well this day we did our hike. Many of us hated the idea of leeches being there. Many of them were in fact demoralised by them. But throughout the hike our mind was on else where. I had an interesting chat with Mr wong (my a math teacher). When we got back to the campsite, we did many team bonding activities and goal setting.
20 march 2008, time to return back to Singapore. In addition to all the sweaty clothes we also brought back many lessons.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Chong Boon School Rules
Rules, rules, rules. All school have them, all students hate them. What exactely is the point of having school rules which restrict our freedom we may ask. However from the adults point of view, rules are laws that keep us discipline. There has to be some flaw, everything has flaws right? Well, I would go through some of my school rules to show you some of their boon and bane.
Lets start with the most basic rule a school can have. The need for a school uniform. In Chong Boon Secondary (my secondary school), it is neccasary to wear chong boon attire which includes socks and shoes. True it is to have some sense of identity to chongboonites. However, it might have been too much. Sure shirt and pants can be uniformed but is there a need for uniformed socks and shoes? Well in my school, they allowed students to voice out their opinion. Many students have in fact denied the need for uniformed shoes and it has been removed. However the uniform socks still stays. Many students, especially upper secondary, ignored the need for a uniformed sock ending up being caught by teachers and having to walk barefoot for the entire day. As time goes by, the teachers decided to change the rules on a uniformed sock. Although no official announcement has been made, white socks is allowed. The sock and shoes may have changed. But do not bother testing your luck and asking if it is possible to come in our home clothes. The school needs students to have a some sense of identity and this is seen throughout most schools in Singapore.
Alright the uniform rule has been changed and can not be removed. Lets try another common rule. Handphones. Should they or should they not be allowed in schools. Again as per normal, Chong boon did ban it entirely from the school premises, however, students have suggested that handphones is needed to contact their parents after school if there is an urgent need. The teachers have considered on this and allowed the students to bring their phones to school however they are not to be seen or heard. Many of us may wonder, whats the point of having a handphone in school which is not allowed to be heard or seen. Well think about it, if handphone is completely allowed in school, teachers may be disrupted from the lesson with the help of a wrongly-timed phone call. Students may even message in class, play games in class via the phone and even send exam answers via messages. Therefore, the handphone rule has been changed to benefit us but could not be removed for reason.
It is true that some rules may restrict our freedom or even be an obstacle to us. However, we have to understand that it is to the benefit of us.
Lets start with the most basic rule a school can have. The need for a school uniform. In Chong Boon Secondary (my secondary school), it is neccasary to wear chong boon attire which includes socks and shoes. True it is to have some sense of identity to chongboonites. However, it might have been too much. Sure shirt and pants can be uniformed but is there a need for uniformed socks and shoes? Well in my school, they allowed students to voice out their opinion. Many students have in fact denied the need for uniformed shoes and it has been removed. However the uniform socks still stays. Many students, especially upper secondary, ignored the need for a uniformed sock ending up being caught by teachers and having to walk barefoot for the entire day. As time goes by, the teachers decided to change the rules on a uniformed sock. Although no official announcement has been made, white socks is allowed. The sock and shoes may have changed. But do not bother testing your luck and asking if it is possible to come in our home clothes. The school needs students to have a some sense of identity and this is seen throughout most schools in Singapore.
Alright the uniform rule has been changed and can not be removed. Lets try another common rule. Handphones. Should they or should they not be allowed in schools. Again as per normal, Chong boon did ban it entirely from the school premises, however, students have suggested that handphones is needed to contact their parents after school if there is an urgent need. The teachers have considered on this and allowed the students to bring their phones to school however they are not to be seen or heard. Many of us may wonder, whats the point of having a handphone in school which is not allowed to be heard or seen. Well think about it, if handphone is completely allowed in school, teachers may be disrupted from the lesson with the help of a wrongly-timed phone call. Students may even message in class, play games in class via the phone and even send exam answers via messages. Therefore, the handphone rule has been changed to benefit us but could not be removed for reason.
It is true that some rules may restrict our freedom or even be an obstacle to us. However, we have to understand that it is to the benefit of us.
Singapore flyer
As a kid, did you ever dreamt bout flying? A breath-taking bird's eye view of everything and everything looked small to you. The feeling of peace as you look down below you, everything which looked chaotic and messy seems soo peaceful. Well, this dream might become a reality to you if you have had a ride in the Singapore flyer. What is this Singapore flyer i spoke about? Its similar to a ferris wheel but instead, its known as an observation wheel.
I am sure many of you would not be interested in all the facts and figures and the difference between a ferris wheel and observation wheel. Allow me to share with you my personal experience when I was on my trip to the Singapore flyer.
We were all hyped up on the bus preparing for the trip to the Singapore flyer. However when we heard about how high the Singapore flyer was, our mind started wondering everywhere on how it would be like on the flyer. On a 42 stories high observation wheel... what is it like? Scary? Well that was what we all assume. When we all disembarked from the bus. All of us stopped our chattering and started admiring and staring at the Singapore flyer. Some of us whom are appointed the role of the group's photographer went on and started taking some shots of the Singapore flyer. However those who are afraid of heights already planned on what they were going to do during the entire trip of the flyer. Sitting there and doing nothing, covering their eyes... While we were all waiting for the teachers to get the tickets, we splitted into our groups and discussed our plan on who would do what in order to enjoy and complete our work.
Once the teacher received our tickets, we all proceded to the capsile. we had to hurry as the capsule would not wait for us to board it. When we boarded the capsule, we found out that it was much more stable than any of us had assumed. As the capsule turned steadily, we started our work, snapping photos, looking out for monuments and measuring the graph. In fact, some of us thought that we were too engrossed with our work to be afraid of the height we were at. However the truth was that we were not at all afraid when we were on the flyer. Heres the prove. Many of us were actually going around taking photos from every possible angle in the flyer. That means getting up close to all the edges of the windows. The view from the flyer was extremely picturesque. None of us could deny the fact and we all just could not resist the temptation to take photographs of the scenic view.
The entire trip took 30 minutes to complete a round. Once we got down of the flyer. We were able to take our lunch break however there was nothing there apart from a seven eleven store. After our lunch break, we went to the rooftop garden to do our mindmapping on our group topics. After that was done, we embarked for home.
From all our friends recount, most of them said that they were afraid at first and anticipated the flyer to be more scary. However they were all proven wrong.
I am sure many of you would not be interested in all the facts and figures and the difference between a ferris wheel and observation wheel. Allow me to share with you my personal experience when I was on my trip to the Singapore flyer.
We were all hyped up on the bus preparing for the trip to the Singapore flyer. However when we heard about how high the Singapore flyer was, our mind started wondering everywhere on how it would be like on the flyer. On a 42 stories high observation wheel... what is it like? Scary? Well that was what we all assume. When we all disembarked from the bus. All of us stopped our chattering and started admiring and staring at the Singapore flyer. Some of us whom are appointed the role of the group's photographer went on and started taking some shots of the Singapore flyer. However those who are afraid of heights already planned on what they were going to do during the entire trip of the flyer. Sitting there and doing nothing, covering their eyes... While we were all waiting for the teachers to get the tickets, we splitted into our groups and discussed our plan on who would do what in order to enjoy and complete our work.
Once the teacher received our tickets, we all proceded to the capsile. we had to hurry as the capsule would not wait for us to board it. When we boarded the capsule, we found out that it was much more stable than any of us had assumed. As the capsule turned steadily, we started our work, snapping photos, looking out for monuments and measuring the graph. In fact, some of us thought that we were too engrossed with our work to be afraid of the height we were at. However the truth was that we were not at all afraid when we were on the flyer. Heres the prove. Many of us were actually going around taking photos from every possible angle in the flyer. That means getting up close to all the edges of the windows. The view from the flyer was extremely picturesque. None of us could deny the fact and we all just could not resist the temptation to take photographs of the scenic view.
The entire trip took 30 minutes to complete a round. Once we got down of the flyer. We were able to take our lunch break however there was nothing there apart from a seven eleven store. After our lunch break, we went to the rooftop garden to do our mindmapping on our group topics. After that was done, we embarked for home.
From all our friends recount, most of them said that they were afraid at first and anticipated the flyer to be more scary. However they were all proven wrong.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Chinese New Year
Imagine yourself as a tourist whom just visited singapore for a vacation around late january and mid february. As you enter the city, you see fireworks in the air; firecrackers sounding the streets; little boys and little girls all dressed in red ethnic costumes running around playing with sparklers. You begin to wonder, what on Earth are this people doing? Well, this scene is seen throughout many asian countries during Chinese New Year. This is a time when families reunite, exchange red packets.
How did this festival come about? There was a legend about how Chinese New Year came about. There was a mythical beast called 'nian' or year. It would visit a village during the start of Chinese New Year and wreak chaos. The villagers seek a wise old man whom drifted in to town not long before the attack. The wise old man told the villagers that the beast was afraid of loud noises and the colour red. The villagers heed the old man words and prepared for the next attack. They pasted red clothes on their door, dressed themselves in red clothings and prepared many items that could produce loud sounds, this includes cymbals and drums. When the beast came to attack the village, the villagers were all prepared. The beast were afraid to attack the villagers this time as they were all dressed in red. The villagers saw this and started making loud noises with the cymbals and drums. The old man heated a sealed bamboo and let it crack. The beast was frightened by this and dared not attack the village any more. The villagers treated this as a celebration and practised it every year. That is how Chinese New Year came about. However there are many different legends on the start of Chinese New Year and this is just 1 of them.
Every holidays has its own superstitions and believes, but what superstitions does Chinese New Year hold? Well many believed that on the festival date, it is appropriate to open all doors and windows to usher in the good luck. Switching on the lights is good luck to scare away the misfortunes that may affect the new year. Sweets are eaten to ensure a sweet year ahead. Cleaning up the entire house from top to bottom to welcome the good luck for the coming year, however, this is to be done BEFORE Chinese New Year. This is because that cleaning the house during Chinese New Year means that you are sweeping away the good luck. Buying books on that day is bad luck as books in chinese sound like lose. Avoid clothes that are black and white in colour, wear red clothes.
What about its practices? Red packets are often exchanged when visiting relatives. Inside the red packets contains cash. Usually varying from a couple of dollars to several hundreds. However, you will never find a red packet containing $4 as the word 4 sounds like death in chinese. People often buy new clothes on this festive season to symbolize the beginning of a new year. Often red is worn. During the festivals, you will find many people who hang the character 福 upside down on their doorsteps as it symbolizes the arrival of prosperity.
If you see any of your Asian friends next time, celebrating this festive season, be sure to greet them 'gong xi fa cai' which means congratulations and be prosperous.
How did this festival come about? There was a legend about how Chinese New Year came about. There was a mythical beast called 'nian' or year. It would visit a village during the start of Chinese New Year and wreak chaos. The villagers seek a wise old man whom drifted in to town not long before the attack. The wise old man told the villagers that the beast was afraid of loud noises and the colour red. The villagers heed the old man words and prepared for the next attack. They pasted red clothes on their door, dressed themselves in red clothings and prepared many items that could produce loud sounds, this includes cymbals and drums. When the beast came to attack the village, the villagers were all prepared. The beast were afraid to attack the villagers this time as they were all dressed in red. The villagers saw this and started making loud noises with the cymbals and drums. The old man heated a sealed bamboo and let it crack. The beast was frightened by this and dared not attack the village any more. The villagers treated this as a celebration and practised it every year. That is how Chinese New Year came about. However there are many different legends on the start of Chinese New Year and this is just 1 of them.
Every holidays has its own superstitions and believes, but what superstitions does Chinese New Year hold? Well many believed that on the festival date, it is appropriate to open all doors and windows to usher in the good luck. Switching on the lights is good luck to scare away the misfortunes that may affect the new year. Sweets are eaten to ensure a sweet year ahead. Cleaning up the entire house from top to bottom to welcome the good luck for the coming year, however, this is to be done BEFORE Chinese New Year. This is because that cleaning the house during Chinese New Year means that you are sweeping away the good luck. Buying books on that day is bad luck as books in chinese sound like lose. Avoid clothes that are black and white in colour, wear red clothes.
What about its practices? Red packets are often exchanged when visiting relatives. Inside the red packets contains cash. Usually varying from a couple of dollars to several hundreds. However, you will never find a red packet containing $4 as the word 4 sounds like death in chinese. People often buy new clothes on this festive season to symbolize the beginning of a new year. Often red is worn. During the festivals, you will find many people who hang the character 福 upside down on their doorsteps as it symbolizes the arrival of prosperity.
If you see any of your Asian friends next time, celebrating this festive season, be sure to greet them 'gong xi fa cai' which means congratulations and be prosperous.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
technology (threat or promise?)
All around the world, from homes to schools and even to mountain tops, technology has without doubt revolutionized our world. From the simple time-telling sun dial, to our multi purpose watches. It is indeed that technology has changed the very way we live.
With technology, the need for rushing from place to place with a slow carriage has been eradicated and replaced by fast paced automobiles. With telephones now, communications between areas are now possible. But it does not stop there. Due to the creation of the internet, it is now possible to communicate with people from other countries and even see them. Even if you are indulging on the comfort of your home, you can interact with a person, bracing the elements on Mount Everest! Companies have taken advantage of the advancement of technology to set up branches all around the world. In the future, technology may even cure diseases that seemed incurable now.
However, every single item on Earth has its boon and bane and technology is of no exception. Many students have actually took advantage of this development, coupled with some street smarts, to actually misuse technology in school such as using of hand phones during examinations. Due to technology, people are being too dependent on it and have become slack. It’s not only the people or students whom are affected negatively, even the environment is suffering. Remember our helpful automobiles? Well some automobiles actually contribute to global warming as it emits carbon monoxide which is a form of greenhouse gas. This traps the heat from the sunlight causing the Earth to be warmer.
Therefore, technology brings both threats and promises to our future. In my opinion, if we moderate the use of technology, the threats can be lessen and even prevented.
With technology, the need for rushing from place to place with a slow carriage has been eradicated and replaced by fast paced automobiles. With telephones now, communications between areas are now possible. But it does not stop there. Due to the creation of the internet, it is now possible to communicate with people from other countries and even see them. Even if you are indulging on the comfort of your home, you can interact with a person, bracing the elements on Mount Everest! Companies have taken advantage of the advancement of technology to set up branches all around the world. In the future, technology may even cure diseases that seemed incurable now.
However, every single item on Earth has its boon and bane and technology is of no exception. Many students have actually took advantage of this development, coupled with some street smarts, to actually misuse technology in school such as using of hand phones during examinations. Due to technology, people are being too dependent on it and have become slack. It’s not only the people or students whom are affected negatively, even the environment is suffering. Remember our helpful automobiles? Well some automobiles actually contribute to global warming as it emits carbon monoxide which is a form of greenhouse gas. This traps the heat from the sunlight causing the Earth to be warmer.
Therefore, technology brings both threats and promises to our future. In my opinion, if we moderate the use of technology, the threats can be lessen and even prevented.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Does the internet does more harm to students or good?
The internet has undoubtly revolutionised the world we live in now. From homes to schools, from adults to teenagers of all age. However, many people blame that the main reason that student are becoming more lazy, fail to hand in their homeworks in time and getting horid results. I myself disagree to this fact as some of the us teenagers are using the internet for different uses. Uses such as research on projects, reading the news online and if we do not have any projects, some of us are surfing the net for educational purposes.
Most of this facts are sadly true. Thanks to games and the messenger, teens nowadays are more focused on making friends or gaming and denying their work and studies. However not all teens do that. There are some who actually use the internet to do research on anything their interested in or even learning some new talents or even searching on the net to improve something such as their skills.
To me, the internet has become a great part in our lives also it might have also ruined students. However, its all up to the students will. Whether they choose to study or play. They may have homework but they choose to deny it and choose to use the computer for gaming purposes.
However as I said before some students actually surf the net to research on their projects, reading the news online and surfing the net for educational purposes. Therefore, it is not entirely the internet that does harm, it's the students choice. In my opinion more of them are not denying their work and studies because of the internet.
Most of this facts are sadly true. Thanks to games and the messenger, teens nowadays are more focused on making friends or gaming and denying their work and studies. However not all teens do that. There are some who actually use the internet to do research on anything their interested in or even learning some new talents or even searching on the net to improve something such as their skills.
To me, the internet has become a great part in our lives also it might have also ruined students. However, its all up to the students will. Whether they choose to study or play. They may have homework but they choose to deny it and choose to use the computer for gaming purposes.
However as I said before some students actually surf the net to research on their projects, reading the news online and surfing the net for educational purposes. Therefore, it is not entirely the internet that does harm, it's the students choice. In my opinion more of them are not denying their work and studies because of the internet.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Something interesting that happened in my holidays?
Hmm? My holidays are pretty much boring if you asked me. However there was the secondary 1 orientation camp. It was held from 26 to 27 december in our school.
1st day:
*trying hard to recap so if there is any mistake dont blame me :D*
If i'm not wrong, I went to school, met my friends and waited for the secondary 1s to come. Once they have arrived, we went to help out the orientation group leaders (OGLs) with the ice breaking. Jie wei and I attached ourselves to yellow house and was shocked. The secondary 1s in that group was already extremely enthusiastic and it was only the first event of the day.
After the ice breaking was versus games... this time i attached myself to Jie wei's station which apparently was the game twister. It was kind of fun as i get to torture the secondary 1s with hard commands *kind of sadistic* but the all managed to complete it.
The next event was amazing race... something ain, beverly, gayathree, vincent and i organized. Once all preparations were completed the rules were explained to the sec 1s and we got some 'victims' with us. The objective of the game is to complete all the task assigned to them n find their 'victims'. My booth was the blind mice. Very interesting as the sec 1s try to get over the obstacles blindfolded. It was a good thing they trusted me if not they might walk off the table and fall down. Well once all this was done, it was time for all of us to go back home.
2nd day:
The days event were mostly on talks so i wont touch on it. There was the mass games but me and valen had to miss it as we had to meet jason to help us out in our campfire. So throughout the whole talks thing, me, valen, saiful and jie wei had to help out with the campfire. Soon it was time for the camp fire item preparations. Most of the houses were doing cheers... sadly... But its alright. Hopefully next year we could get some of them to dance :D. After that was the campfire! Which we were tired from preparing it but surprisingly we had the energy to shout, cheer and play games! After the campfire we packed up and head home.
Lazy to carry on from here those who were at the camp would know i skipped alot of details and yes i did :D sorry.
1st day:
*trying hard to recap so if there is any mistake dont blame me :D*
If i'm not wrong, I went to school, met my friends and waited for the secondary 1s to come. Once they have arrived, we went to help out the orientation group leaders (OGLs) with the ice breaking. Jie wei and I attached ourselves to yellow house and was shocked. The secondary 1s in that group was already extremely enthusiastic and it was only the first event of the day.
After the ice breaking was versus games... this time i attached myself to Jie wei's station which apparently was the game twister. It was kind of fun as i get to torture the secondary 1s with hard commands *kind of sadistic* but the all managed to complete it.
The next event was amazing race... something ain, beverly, gayathree, vincent and i organized. Once all preparations were completed the rules were explained to the sec 1s and we got some 'victims' with us. The objective of the game is to complete all the task assigned to them n find their 'victims'. My booth was the blind mice. Very interesting as the sec 1s try to get over the obstacles blindfolded. It was a good thing they trusted me if not they might walk off the table and fall down. Well once all this was done, it was time for all of us to go back home.
2nd day:
The days event were mostly on talks so i wont touch on it. There was the mass games but me and valen had to miss it as we had to meet jason to help us out in our campfire. So throughout the whole talks thing, me, valen, saiful and jie wei had to help out with the campfire. Soon it was time for the camp fire item preparations. Most of the houses were doing cheers... sadly... But its alright. Hopefully next year we could get some of them to dance :D. After that was the campfire! Which we were tired from preparing it but surprisingly we had the energy to shout, cheer and play games! After the campfire we packed up and head home.
Lazy to carry on from here those who were at the camp would know i skipped alot of details and yes i did :D sorry.
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