Value of money

Would you bend down and pick up a 20-cent coin if you saw or dropped 1 on the ground? Probably not. In Singapore, everything has become so expensive that no one would waste their time in bending down and picking up a coin that would not buy them anything. Everyone has a busy life, and everyday is spent earning money.

However, a 20-cent coin is also earned with hard work. If we want a product in the shop that is worth $20, we would not be able to by it if we only had $19.80, even is the difference is only 20 cents. Thus, I think that it is quite wasteful if we drop or see money on the floor, and not pick it up. Even if it does not stand for much monetary value, it is still earned with hard work.

In places like India, 20 cents is nearly $7. In other words, 20 cents can actually buy you a meal, etc. When there is a disaster and people have nothing to eat, the 20 cents might be able to help a number of survivors of the natural disaster. Thus, we should not think that the 20 cents is insignificant.

Any comments?

Dickson

IS - Should it be used as criteria for continuing studies in HC?

In Secondary 1, many of us did not take ACE very seriously, because we did not know the importance of it. After all, it affected 10% of our overall mark. Many of us started rushing out our ACE in term 2 and term 3. However, we were still able to do well in the end, as some of us did very well in the exams, and even if we had little ACE, were still able to get through to Secondary 2 in the end.

However, now in Secondary 2, we are needed to do ACE as compulsory work. Come on, isn't ACE supposed to be something that we do if we are interested in a particular subject and something that we do for the fun of learning? By doing this, the school is forcing the students to do ACE in order to pass their exams, which does not address the main point of ACE at all.

Now, we are not able to do the last-minute rushing of ACE, if we wanted to do well. This, to me, is quite unfair as we are no longer able to leave work to the last minute and still do well.

If you use me as a real-life example, I think that I might be going to the Q class, because I do not have enough ACE in term 2. Sigh...

Dickson

Grades - Are they a correct representation of a students intelligence?

Well, there are many people in this world who just cannot do well in school, no matter how hard they try. These people may be smart in other areas, but they just are not able to show their intelligence in terms of their grades. I will state a few reasons why below :

1) Wrong way of studying

These people make up a huge percentage of the people who are smart but are not able to do well in school. These wrong ways of studying include listening to music while studying, watching television programmes while studying, etc. It is mainly these distractions that prevent these students from concentrating their efforts in absorbing the information in the textbook or notes.

2) Physically demanding CCAs

Some students participate in co-curricular activities that use up a lot of our energy. For example, swimming. Trainings for competitive sports like swimming usually take place very frequently and such swimming sessions can cause the student to not have the required energy to study. When they get home, they are just so exhausted that they might just lie down and sleep. This would cause them to not have the energy and time to study as their CCA is just too demanding. Hence, they would not have the time to prepare for their exams and their grades would suffer as a result.

There are still many other reasons, but I think that most students who are smart but cannot do well in school fall into the above two categories.

Any comments?

Dickson

YOG - Efforts of ordinary Singaporeans

Yesterday was the opening ceremony of the YOG. In my opinion, it was all very well-organised and the organising team can be proud of their efforts, in ensuring that there were no major hiccups in the ceremony. If there was one hiccup, I would say that it was during the march in of the flag bearers of all the countries. Some of them were unsure of where exactly to go, and I was rather amused with some of them, who walked all the way to the front, or to the wrong side, etc. Other than this, I think that the ceremony went quite well. The weather also did not pose any problems and there was no rain during the time when the ceremony was held, which was lucky because there were a number of activities that could not have taken place if there had been rain. These activities included the lighting of the cauldron with the Olympic Flame, and it would have been a major spoilsport if the 27,000 spectators had to use umbrellas and ponchos to view the ceremony. ( Even after paying so much to go to the Marina Bay Floating Platform to watch the ceremony live. )

But, we should ask ourselves. What can we, as ordinary Singaporeans do, to help leave a good impression in the minds of these foreign young athletes? These athletes are mostly between the age of 15 and 17, and they make up the future of the sports world. If they have a bad impression of Singapore, this might pose a major problem in the future, because these athletes would not come back to visit Singapore in the future if they do not have a good impression of Singapore.

So, what can we do to help? Firstly, we can ask our parents, who drive, to give way to the coaches that bring the athletes to their destinations. I think, if we give way to them, they will think that we are gracious and they might want to come back again in the future. Secondly, we can do our part by not littering. I mean, how would you feel if you are an athlete and you go to some country that you have never went to before and you see litter everywhere? Would you want to come back again? Obviously no.

So, I think that by doing our part, we can all help to leave a good impression on these athletes. Even if what we are doing are quite insignificant, I think that we can do a lot if we all work together. You can leave a comment if you have any other ways of leaving a good impression on these athletes.

Dickson

Latchkey Kid VS Normal Kid

Dear Readers,

I'm back here, after nearly 2 months, to revive my blog. Today, I would be commenting about the difference between the Latchkey Kid and the Normal Kid. According to the dictionary, the term "latchkey kid" refers to a child who returns from school to an empty home because his or her parent or parents are away at work, or a child who is often left at home with little or no parental supervision.

According to research, children who grew up being a latchkey kid might suffer from multiple negative effects. These effects include boredom, loneliness, being prone to peer pressure, etc. These children might also be easily swayed by their friends to commit acts that are morally or legally wrong. These children will be more prone to smoking and having alcoholic drinks even when they are underage. If the situation is serious, the child might also suffer from depression because they are lacking from love from their parents. On the other hand, being a latchkey kid might also cause the child to become more independent and to become more self-reliant.

Usually, parents leave their children to become latchkey kids because they are just too busy at work to stay at home to take care of their children. In this case, they are giving up the chance to oversee their children's emotional, physical and psychological growth just to earn more money. However, I will admit that parents attempt to earn more money to give their children a better environment to live and grow in.

Now, I will pose a question to you. Being a parent involves taking care of the child. Is satisfying the child's material needs really enough for the child? Are such parents fit to take up the sacred responsibility of being a "parent"? I will leave that for you to ponder on.

Dickson

Home Learning Task 1

Task 1

Based on your understanding of the selected poem, perform extensive web research and write a report on your blog detailing the conflict represented in the poem(s) of your choice. Bear in mind that this piece of background information will allow your blog audience to further understand the poem as well as your analysis of the poem in Task 2. Be sure to include your references and credit your sources.

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colours death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of Agent Orange spray!

In this post, I would be writing a report about a poem entitled “Rainbow death. The poem is about the types of gas used in chemical warfare. In the first stanza, the phrase “green, pink, purple and other colours death potpourri” tell us that there are many different types of gas that can be used to kill. In the second stanza, the last three lines tell us a bit about the notorious gas known as Agent Orange.

We know that millions of veterans are dealing with the after effects of Agent Orange, called such because of the Orange band painted around the barrels. During the war, the Military colour coded their ordnance: yellow meant explosive, red meant chemical, blue meant inert (training rounds), black was armour piercing. Those colours might be modified into other categories.

Thus, I think that the poet wrote this poem to tell us about the negative effects of chemical warfare and how its effects last even after the war. He is also trying to discourage the use of chemicals in war as it harms the civilians.

Below is the author's thoughts of his poem.

I am a Vietnam War veteran (as are my four brothers) who served in the USAF Security Service. I, along with a dozen or so intelligence school grads, prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, before anticipating being sent to Vietnam or elsewhere in southeat Asia in 1970. About half ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of us were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron, and what eventually was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang!
My health problems started approximately 15 years ago with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Four years ago my central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness. NO VA physician has ever rendered ANY medical assistance! My number one educated guess is the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during my year there as an intelligence analyst. Organo-phosphate toxins may not run their toxic course until 20 to 30 years after initial exposure.

Since my brain still functions moderately well (and I have mobility issues), I have turned to writing just like my late Father and the late singer (and writer) Johnny Cash.

Hubert Wilson.

Any comments?

Dickson

( References: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Rainbow,

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_were_the_effects_of_the_chemicals_in_the_vietnam_war)

Home Learning Task 1

This small poem speaks of a modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering – not only to its intended victims, the Vietnamese people, but also the service personnel that used or even just came into contact with “Agent Orange”.

Wikipedia reports, “Agent Orange is the code name for a herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD—used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War.

According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.[1]

From 1962 to 1971, Agent Orange was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the herbicidal warfare program. During the production of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed. Agents Blue and White were part of the same program but did not contain dioxins.” To read more in Wikipedia go tohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange

This poem may remind us that wars aren’t over when the wars are over.

DR March 2010

Author’s comments follow the poem.


Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson

Rumors persist of still another more toxic color coded herbicide at the end of this deadly rainbow!

I am a Vietnam War veteran (as are my four brothers) who served in the USAF Security Service. I, along with a dozen or so intelligence school grads, prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, before anticipating being sent to Vietnam or elsewhere in southeat Asia in 1970. About half ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of us were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron, and what eventually was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang!
My health problems started approximately 15 years ago with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Four years ago my central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness. NO VA physician has ever rendered ANY medical assistance! My number one educated guess is the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during my year there as an intelligence analyst. Organo-phosphate toxins may not run their toxic course until 20 to 30 years after initial exposure.

Since my brain still functions moderately well (and I have mobility issues), I have turned to writing just like my late Father and the late singer (and writer) Johnny Cash.

Hubert Wilson.