My first semester as a secondary school student has been interesting...and tiring. Ever since CCA started, I have only been able to go home early on Tuesdays. CCA drags on till 7.15 and I would only get home at around 8.30. This means that I have almost absolutely no time to do my homework after doing necessary stuff like bathing and eating. Also on Thursdays, I have to go to Bishan for Third language and I would only reach home by 7.30. As such I would usually have to stay up until very late to complete my homework for the day.
But enough about the negative aspects of Secondary school life. There are positive sides too. I have made new friends since the first day of school and I can eat at MacDonald's every Thursday because of Third language. Others include more pocket money and more freedom when I am outside. Also, I get better things like new bags, phones and books. At Hwa Chong, we can get impromptu half-days, courtesy of the Principle. This usually occurs when there are good results for major exams or competitions just to "reward the students", to give them a day to rest.
Now for the interesting parts of Secondary school life. The life of a secondary school student is no doubt interesting, especially to a new student. For one, my school campus is big, with a size of 72 hectares. This means it takes about ten to fifteen minutes for someone to walk from one end to another which we would have to do sometimes. That may be why we get long 40 minute periods. Sometimes we can venture over to the college section of the school, usually during the breaks. (Many people do complain that the high school section's food is better than the college.)
Monday, May 25, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
BP
/*Write a 450-word narrative depicting the human-elephant confrontation in India.*/
I sighed as I walked through the devastated village, the victim of a stampede. Many mud houses lay destroyed on the ground. Worse still, the sight of mangled human bodies on the floor made my blood curdle. The scene of destruction was enough to shake anyone to the core. However, I had a job to do. I gathered up my wits and walked on as quickly as I could.
I often saw myself as a UN peacemaker working frantically to make peace in the Middle East. The only problem was that I was anything but that. An Environmentalist working in India, I had seen many examples of human-elephant confrontation over the years. Today, I am going to try to stop another example from appearing in my already long list. I walked to a group of angry villagers picking up knives and spears. They were already amassing an army to, presumably, attack an elephant for revenge.
I talked to the leader of the group, trying to stop him from going on with his plan of attack. It was all in vain. He refused to stop his attack, saying that his wife and one of his sons had been killed in the stampede. But after an hour of negotiating, he agreed to kill only one elephant. After that, he refused to talk with me any longer. Powerless to stop the group, I followed them closely.
We trudged through the forest for an hour or so, the natives ignoring me completely. It was hot and humid and my canteen was emptying fast. The trail was thin and only allowed for a single file.
It wasn’t long before we reached the waterhole at the end of the trail, a waterhole that the Asian elephants were known to frequent often. It was a mere fifteen minutes before the first elephant came lumbering in. It was a young elephant, merely ten years old. The natives ducked back into the dense forest and waited patiently for it to come.
The elephant, a female, came slowly to the waterhole and drank. It had a huge wound on its leg. This elephant was probably injured by another group of natives.
The leader nodded, his eyes glinting. He motioned to the group, coming up to a crouch himself. Raising his knife, he readied himself for the charge.
This elephant would not be able to run.
The knife swiped forward. With a deafening roar, the villagers swooped forward as one. The elephant was down in seconds. I watched horrified from my position on the trail as the leader sawed off the young elephant’s tail. The elephant was helpless to defend itself and screamed in pain. Another riled villager cruelly cut the end of her trunk off, causing blood to spurt out in all directions. This was not enough. The villagers all stabbed again and again, venting their anger on the already limp body lying on the ground. The stench of blood filled the air. By the time the last villager was done, the elephant had already been dead for an hour.
Slowly and painfully, I sank to my knees. This was the worst show of violence I had seen in my life. How could this happen? Was the world really that cruel? I would remember this day for the rest of my life.
I sighed as I walked through the devastated village, the victim of a stampede. Many mud houses lay destroyed on the ground. Worse still, the sight of mangled human bodies on the floor made my blood curdle. The scene of destruction was enough to shake anyone to the core. However, I had a job to do. I gathered up my wits and walked on as quickly as I could.
I often saw myself as a UN peacemaker working frantically to make peace in the Middle East. The only problem was that I was anything but that. An Environmentalist working in India, I had seen many examples of human-elephant confrontation over the years. Today, I am going to try to stop another example from appearing in my already long list. I walked to a group of angry villagers picking up knives and spears. They were already amassing an army to, presumably, attack an elephant for revenge.
I talked to the leader of the group, trying to stop him from going on with his plan of attack. It was all in vain. He refused to stop his attack, saying that his wife and one of his sons had been killed in the stampede. But after an hour of negotiating, he agreed to kill only one elephant. After that, he refused to talk with me any longer. Powerless to stop the group, I followed them closely.
We trudged through the forest for an hour or so, the natives ignoring me completely. It was hot and humid and my canteen was emptying fast. The trail was thin and only allowed for a single file.
It wasn’t long before we reached the waterhole at the end of the trail, a waterhole that the Asian elephants were known to frequent often. It was a mere fifteen minutes before the first elephant came lumbering in. It was a young elephant, merely ten years old. The natives ducked back into the dense forest and waited patiently for it to come.
The elephant, a female, came slowly to the waterhole and drank. It had a huge wound on its leg. This elephant was probably injured by another group of natives.
The leader nodded, his eyes glinting. He motioned to the group, coming up to a crouch himself. Raising his knife, he readied himself for the charge.
This elephant would not be able to run.
The knife swiped forward. With a deafening roar, the villagers swooped forward as one. The elephant was down in seconds. I watched horrified from my position on the trail as the leader sawed off the young elephant’s tail. The elephant was helpless to defend itself and screamed in pain. Another riled villager cruelly cut the end of her trunk off, causing blood to spurt out in all directions. This was not enough. The villagers all stabbed again and again, venting their anger on the already limp body lying on the ground. The stench of blood filled the air. By the time the last villager was done, the elephant had already been dead for an hour.
Slowly and painfully, I sank to my knees. This was the worst show of violence I had seen in my life. How could this happen? Was the world really that cruel? I would remember this day for the rest of my life.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sorry for the lack of posts
Again, I am sincerely sorry for the lack of posts these past few months. I have had no time to blog these few months, as Judo's training is starting to get vigorous. I also had a flurry of tests recently and my mother had to force me to study late into the night for them. Let me round uo the last few months.
Firstly, and most importantly, Swine flu, or H1N1 Virus, has spread to some countries in SEA. Fortunately[or unfortunately], it has yet to spread to Singapore. However, the MOH has decided to overreact and raise it to an orange alert, at least for the past few days, and create a lot of trouble for Singaporeans. These include 7 day quarantine for Singaporeans returning from Mexico, daily temperature taking for schools and offices nationwide, temperature taking at major events and buildings, etc.
Secondly, Mas Selamat has been captured. In fact, he had been captured more than a month ago. The Malaysian government apparently wants Singapore's to keep quiet about it. Mas Selamat was revealed to have swam to Malaysia from Woodlands/Sembawang area, a measly 1.1km stretch of sea. However, Singaporeans are reminded not to let their guard down and continue to be vigilant against terrorism.
Lastly, a more personal case. My tests did not exactly go well. My Chinese class test got a C5, and only because I fought hard for 4 additional marks. However, for other subjects, like Math for example, were much better [36/40. A straight A1]. Other than Math, geography today was another commendable result. 23 or 24/30[additional mark pending]. English composition was 22/30. A big shame, I need just a single mark more to get an A1. However, it is the best composition I have ever written up to date.
To end off, I would like to apologise yet again, for the lack of postings, and inform you that I would be rushing BPs for the whole of this week.
Firstly, and most importantly, Swine flu, or H1N1 Virus, has spread to some countries in SEA. Fortunately[or unfortunately], it has yet to spread to Singapore. However, the MOH has decided to overreact and raise it to an orange alert, at least for the past few days, and create a lot of trouble for Singaporeans. These include 7 day quarantine for Singaporeans returning from Mexico, daily temperature taking for schools and offices nationwide, temperature taking at major events and buildings, etc.
Secondly, Mas Selamat has been captured. In fact, he had been captured more than a month ago. The Malaysian government apparently wants Singapore's to keep quiet about it. Mas Selamat was revealed to have swam to Malaysia from Woodlands/Sembawang area, a measly 1.1km stretch of sea. However, Singaporeans are reminded not to let their guard down and continue to be vigilant against terrorism.
Lastly, a more personal case. My tests did not exactly go well. My Chinese class test got a C5, and only because I fought hard for 4 additional marks. However, for other subjects, like Math for example, were much better [36/40. A straight A1]. Other than Math, geography today was another commendable result. 23 or 24/30[additional mark pending]. English composition was 22/30. A big shame, I need just a single mark more to get an A1. However, it is the best composition I have ever written up to date.
To end off, I would like to apologise yet again, for the lack of postings, and inform you that I would be rushing BPs for the whole of this week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)