My final last words before......

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
Sign...... One more week left. Indeed, time really flies......

flies

flies

flies

In a blink of an eye, the year 2009 is soon coming to an end for my secondary one life. In my opinion, many things, good or bad, happy or sad, had happened in this 365 days. Now, it is the time for me to reflect and review on my secondary one life. In my secondary one life, many things had changed for me in many areas. Firstly, I had to learn to adapt to a whole new secondary school life which is more CHALLENGING......BUSY......EXHAUSTING......




- Challenges & problems faced in my secondary one life


Not only do we have more subjects, but also more assignments and group projects to complete. Firstly, I had to learn to adapt and cope with the changes in our lessons. In addition, I also had to learnt to work independently. Besides these, I still had a very busy schedule everyday as I had to cope with my CCA - NPCC, Japanese (Third Language) and project competition. As you can see, this year is quite busy and challenging for me.

- How I had changed in this year

Nonetheless, despite some setbacks suffered during my secondary one life, I had also benefited and most importantly, grew to be more independent, matured and sensible. In this 365 days, I had also became an independent adolescent from a childish boy. In this meaning year, I had learnt Language Arts which includes English language and Literature. Through this learning course of taking Language Arts, I had learnt to appreciate English language and also improved in many areas. In less than 365 days, I had learnt the following different areas:
  • English Language:
  • Blogging
  • Letter-writing - Letter of complain
  • Narrative Writing
  • Comprehension
  • Summary
  • Letter-writing - Letter of response & request

  • Literature components:
  • Novel:
  1. Little Ironies
  2. Nothing But The Truth
  3. Zebra
  4. Village By The Sea
  • Poetry:
  1. The Lesson
  2. Last lesson of the Afternoon
  3. Mid-Term Break
  4. 2 mothers in a HDB playground

In this whole course, I had first started on my blog and learnt how to convey my feelings to the readers effectively. I had also improved on my writing skills on letter-writing and learnt to understand deeper in comprehension. This also enhances my reading skills which enables me to understand the passage better. In addition, I had also learnt summary which is also one of the many important skills in life.

As for literature, I had read three enriching novels and a short inspiring story. This had certainly helped me in reading and comprehensive skills. In addition to this, we had also analysed Village By The Sea, which is written by Anita Desai, chapter by chapter which gave us a better and clearer understanding of the characters, themes, conflicts and all other elements in the novel. To make us understand more about the novel, my class had also put up a play based on this novel. Indeed, we had really enjoyed this play and thus know better of this novel,

In addition, we were also exposed to poetry which is really interesting to me. In this course, I had enjoyed a lot and also learnt much about poems. We had done quite a number of poetry analysis and examined the themes, purpose of writing, audience, voice, mood and many more ......

Hence, to sum up this academic year, I had to say that I had really gained an immeasurable amount of knowledge in Language Arts this year. My qualities and intangible skills have improved and changed for the better. In addition, my secondary school education system also encourages me to learn independently with initiative. Indeed through this course, I had become a more independent learner which is willing to hunt for knwoledge.

Of course with the ending of this year, there will be a beginning of a new year. As for my expectations for next year, I really hope that I can continue to improve and succeed in my academic and other areas. Nonetheless, I will strive for the BEST and improve myself further. I will aslo do more practices to better prepare me for another challenging year. As the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect". Although the next few years may be more exhausting, hectic and challenging, but I will always continue to work hard and will be prepared for it!

0 Comments

Reflections on expectations......

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

Hi, everyone! In this blog, I will like to share about this big word - EXPECTATION and share my real-life experience. Speaking of expectations, the first thing which comes to my mind is our parents' expectations of us. Many parents, including mine, have high academic expectations of their children.


- High expectations of me

My parents start to have high expectations of me since I start going to school. Although their main concern is my academic, they also have expectations in several different areas such as behaviour, self hygiene and attitude. As parents of a student, they have high expectations of me as they want me to excel in my studies and have a better future. In my opinion, I believe this shows that my parents have the best interests for me and after all, having high expectations can also be an act of love to us!


In order for me to do well in my studies, my parents provide me with a conducive learning environment and buy a lot of assessments for me to revise. They expect me to work hard for my studies since I was young. Aim for perfection is what they want and they always tell me to strive for the best for everything. Well, I understand that they want me to be successful when I grow up, hence, their expectations are quite high. In fact, they always say that I must work hard and study well in order to get a good job. As a child, I will always try my best and put in all my effort.

In addition, they also want me to have a good learning attitude in order to study well, hence, they feel that having a high aim is a way for this. However, I must say that they do not have too high expectations of me, hence, they will try not to pose too much stress on me, especially when I am now secondary one (more assignments, exams, projects......).


What is different that I will always have high expectations on myself in academic. As a result of this, stress is inevitable and sometimes, I will really be unable to cope with my homework. But I will still do well for my exams, hence, I strongly believe that having a suitable level of expectations is good for us.


UCF psychologist Kimberly Renk once said, "that many parents and students hold different perceptions of what the parents' expectations are. Students often are trying to meet goals far tougher than the ideals their parents have in mind."


- What if I am a parent......?

Now, let's change our perspective. If I am a parent of two children, my expectations of my children will be quite similar to that of my parents. I will give them a suitable level of stress to help them to aim for perfection and nevertheless, I will have high expectations of them. In addition, I will hope that they will have good learning attitude and some important values such as perserverance and determination. I will expect them to work hard and strive for the best.


However, I will also understand their feelings and opinions of my expectations so that they will be willing to work hard for their goals. I will also hope that they will have their own expectations of themselves.


As you can see, both my parents and I have similiar goals for our children. This shows that although the generations are different, the goals and expectations of parents for their children are still the same and also tells us that all parents want their children to work hard to be useful adults who will make contributions to the society. So, I feel that all parents are the same and they all love and care about their children a lot as they will always find things which are the best for their childrens and have the best interest for them.
0 Comments

Book Review on Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
Hi, everyone! Once again, I had finished reading another well-written novel entitiled, Falling Leaves which was written by a famous, talented writer, Adeline Yen Mah. As I started reading this novel, I was touched by Adeline Yen Mah's account of her terrible childhood which was supposely to be wonderful for most people. I could not stop reading since I opened it as I was captivated by the psychological drama in this book.



Background

Falling Leaves was first published in 1997 and written by Adeline Yen Mah. This novel is actually a memoir of an unwanted Chinese daughter which was the writer herself. In other words, it is actually sort of like an auto-biography of Adeline herself. Adeline Yen Mah (Chinese: 馬嚴君玲) is a Chinese-American author and physician. She was born in 1937 but her exact birth date is unknown, though according to her biography, she was later given her father's birthday, 30 November as mentioned in the novel. She grew up in Tianjin, Shanghai and Hong Kong with an older sister, Lydia (Jun-pei); three older brothers, Gregory (Zi-jie), Edgar (Zi-lin)and James (Zi-jun) and a younger half brother, Franklin and half sister, Susan (Jun-qing). She has stated in her book, Falling Leaves that she has not used the real names of her siblings and their spouses in order to protect their identities. However, she used the real names of her father, stepmother, aunt and husband. Currently, she lives in Huntington Beach, California and spends her time in London and Hong Kong as well. She is then married to Professor Robert Mah and has two children.



Adeline Yen Mah has been heralded as one of the most important contemporary writers to have emerged from China. Her novels represent a complex tapestry in which political, religious, cultural and economic strands merge inextricably to reveal a society heavily steeped in tradition. Undoubtedly, Adeline Yen Mah had a harrowing and at times, unbelievable childhood. In 1997 after a silence of more than fifty years, she published her first novel, Falling Leaves, a calmly eloquent account of a dramatic tale.Adeline Yen Mah’s novel, set in the context of considerable political upheaval, is lucratively enlightening. Her chief impetus was clearly to portray the devastating reality of a family life devoid of love and benevolence. However, within this autobiographical framework, Yen Mah also succeeds in stressing the turmoil and inconsistencies inherent in the wider structures of Chinese society. The result is a novel that works on a multitude of levels, appealing to an audience of a heterogeneous nature......

Books written by her

  • Falling Leaves (1997)

  • Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter (1999)

  • Watching the Tree: A Chinese Daughter Reflects on Happiness, Traditions, and Spiritual Wisdom (2000)

  • A Thousand Pieces of Gold: A Memoir of China's Past through its Proverbs (2002)

  • Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society (2005) "Chinese Cinderella The Mystery of the Song Dynasty

Summary of the novel
Born in 1937 to an affluent Chinese family, after one eldest sister and three brothers, Adeline Yen Mah was the fifth and youngest children in her family. She was born in a port city which was a thousand miles north of Shanghai. This is a story of an unwanted Chinese daughter growing up during the Communist Revolution who was blamed for her mother's death, ignored by her millionaire father and unwanted by her Eurasian step mother. But things started to turn even bad for Adeline since she was born. Adeline's mom died not long after her birth. As a result, people in those time believed that it was a bad omen when such a thing occur. Hence, her siblings hated and treated her very badly. Although Adeline's father loved her mother very much, he did not transfer those love to the children after Adeline's mother 's death. This persisted but got worse one year later.

One year after, her father remarried a beautiful, imperious and spoiled woman of half-Chinese, half-French lady who proceeded to turn him into an unfeeling brute as well as make the children's life a hell. As ordered by her father, the children had to call her Niang. However, little did they know that this marriage was like hell on earth towards the children, grandparents and the sister of the father, Aunt Baba. Unfortunately, Adeline's years of mental and physical abuse then began when her mother died shortly after giving birth to her, leaving Adeline to suffer under a cold and heartless stepmother, Niang whose sadistic acts were never questioned and responded by her husband.


At that time, Adeline's family enjoyed rare privileges during a time of politcal and cultural upheaval. But wealth and position could never shield and protect Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse by her cruel and manipulative stepmother. To make things worse, Adeline was even bullied by her older siblings as they sort of blame her for their first mom's death and also at that time, she was the youngest, hence, it was common for her to be bullied and be in disadvantage. However, when their step mom had her own children, one boy and a girl, the other siblings including Adeline were then bullied by their step brother who was spoiled by the luxury given by his parents.

In the novel, Adeline's family then moved to Hong Kong when the communist came into power not long after World War 2. In Hong Kong, the father became more successful in hs career but in the household, no changes, still a hell hole to Adeline. Although her father ran a wildly successful import-export business that survived the Japanese occupation and transforms itself into other businesses in Hong Kong after the Communist takeover, the children including Adeline were kept on a tight lead with little spending money but not the step mother's children who was living in luxury.

As young Adeline grew up, she tried her best to please her father and Niang in order for them to have good impressions of her. In school, she studied hard and was great in her school results. However, to her utmost horro, this caused her other siblings to be jealous of her. As a result, her step mother would divide and conquer the siblings as she did not want them to be united against her. Fortunately, Adeline's only refuge was her beloved Aunt Baba who was the older sister of Adeline's father but she was also much despised because she was a spinster and financially dependent on her brother. In addition, she was bullied and given little privilege in the family. This then caused her to leave the house for work. As a result, Adeline was then left alone and she had to stand for herself now......


In her studies, she was very strong in her English. Her stories was her getaway from hell at home. Determined to survive through her enduring faith in family unity, Adeline struggled for independence as she moved from Hong Kong to England and eventually to the United States to become a physician and writer. She then went back to Hong Kong to work, after a while she decided to go to US. She became successful after much hardship there. Even when she was successful, she still yearn for her father's love and step mom's acceptance. Sadly it never happened. Her father may have loved her but would not dare show it because of the step mom.


But her horrific childhood still continued to haunt her. Her father, who was a multi-millionaire, passed away in 1988, but Niang prevented his children from reading his will by telling them that he had died penniless. Niang herself passed away two years later, and the drama surrounding her death played itself out like a scene from Adeline's childhood re-enacted 40 years later. It was only through writing her memoir that Adeline could accept her roots and exorcise the demons from her past. By writing this story she wants to tell people that no matter how tough life is, there is always a silver lining out there and urge people not to give up on their dreams.


Written with a powerful voice that illuminates the complexities of Chinese society and family relationships throughout all cultures, Falling Leaves is a work of startling, heartfelt intimacy by Adeline Yen Mah. It is a story of greed, hatred and jealousy; a domestic dramais played against the extraordinary political events in China and Hong Kong. FALLING LEAVES Written with the emotional force of a novel but with a vividness drawn from a personal and political background.


My reflections
In my opinion, this novel is a compelling, painful and ultimately triumphant story of a girl's journey into adulthood. Adeline's story is a testament to the most basic of human needs: acceptance, love, and understanding. With a powerful voice that speaks of the harsh realities of growing up female in a family and society that kept girls in emotional chains, Falling Leaves is a work of heartfelt intimacy and a rare authentic portrait of twentieth-century China.


I feel that Adeline’s childhood in China during the civil war was a period of fear, isolation and humiliation. The cause of this was actually not political upheaval but systematic emotional and physical abuse. Therefore, it is precisely amidst the political turbulence that a little girl struggles to survive an oppressive and potentially paralysing childhood in search for love and pursuit for dream. To me, this is perhaps the most explicit example of this is the growing presence of Western influence on Chinese culture. Hence, FALLING LEAVES has become a surprise bestseller all over the world. Don't you agree......?

1 Comments

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
Hi everyone! This is my updated online bookshelf which I believe is much anticpated. You can see 5 favorite Books, 5 Books which I have read, 5 Books which I am reading and 10 Books which I want to read. It is written as follow:

Powered by weRead
0 Comments

Poetry Analysis - The Lesson By Roger McGough (My poem)

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:


After reading the poem, The Lesson by Roger McGough, I was suddenly inspired to write another poem which somehow relates to it. This is a poem written by me and entitled "The attack". It describes how a student goes into the teacher's office and create a havoc, killing teachers with amazing weapons.


THE DEMONSTRATION

Silence ruled OK in the office
as bravely as a student walked in
the discipline master ignored him
stood helplessly in the middle of the scene

"The lesson today for my class was violence
and homework was set
I'm going to show you how our teacher taught us
one that you'll never forget

He picked on a teacher who was chatting
and throttled him then and
then garrotted the teacher behind him
and it never end

With a sword in hand he hacked his way
between the HOD rows
'First come, first severed' he declared
'heads, fingers, or toes'

He threw a sword at the headmaster
it struck with deadly aim
then taking a machine gun
and continued his game

The continuous shot cleared the VIP office
(where those who are important hang out)
they collapsed like rubber dinghies
when the plug's pulled out

'May you please leave the office?'
a trembling vandal enquired
'Not until I have finished, sir' he answered
put the machine gun to his temple and fired

The bully popped a head round the door
to see why a din was made
nodded understandingly
then tossed in a grenade

The student shot with a bazooka
with blood on every chair
silence shuffed forward
with its hands up high in the air

The student surveyed the carnage
the dying and the dead
he waggled a finger severely
'Now this is what my teahcer did' he said
1 Comments

Poetry Analysis - The Lesson By Roger McGough

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

This is the poem, The Lesson by Roger McGough:



Chaos ruled OK in the classroom
as bravely the teacher walked in
the hooligans ignored him
his voice was lost in the din

"The theme for today is violence
and homework will be set
I'm going to teach you a lesson
one that you'll never forget"

He picked on a boy who was shouting
and throttled him then and there
then garrotted the girl behind him
(the one with grotty hair)

Then sword in hand he hacked his way
between the chattering rows"
First come, first severed" he declared
"fingers, feet or toes"

He threw the sword at a latecome
rit struck with deadly aim
then pulling out a shotgun
he continued with his game

The first blast cleared the backrow
(where those who skive hang out)
they collapsed like rubber dinghies
when the plug's pulled out

"Please may I leave the room sir?"
a trembling vandal enquired
"Of course you may" said teacher
put the gun to his temple and fired

The Head popped a head round the doorway
to see why a din was being made
nodded understandingly
then tossed in a grenade

And when the ammo was well spent
with blood on every chair
Silence shuffled forward
with its hands up in the air

The teacher surveyed the carnage
the dying and the dead
He waggled a finger severely
"Now let that be a lesson" he said

Well, after reading this well-written poem, you may feel that there is an irony in the poem. In the second stanza, the poet stated that the teacher who was frustrated and angry with his rowdy class wanted to teach them a lesson that his students would never forget. However, the teacher then took out his weapons and killed his students heartlessly. Most students were then dead in the carnage. As a result, no students would be able to remember this lesson by their teacher if they were already dead. Hence, here is the irony where the teacher was unsuccessful to achieve his objective.

Structure of poem (SLIMS):
In this poem, we can observe that it has 10 stanzas with 4 lines each. Each stanza has two lines that rhyme. Its sequence is couplet end rhyme, however, it does not have internal or sight rhyme.

After reading this poem, you may have some thoughts in your mind right now. You may be amazed by the way the poet describes how the teacher used his weapons and killed his students. I especially like the way the poet brings out the scene where students were shot by guns or killed by grenade. Hence, we can observe that the poet uses imagery in his poem to "put" the reader in the poem and helps the reader to "see" the scene in the poem. Imagery plays a vital role in a poem as it helps to create the tone and mood of the poem. It uses senses and figurative language to describe the scene in the poem. The figurative language used includes metaphors, similes, symbolism and allusion. One example of it is in the sixth stanza where "they collapsed like rubber dinghies".
0 Comments

Lesson 6 - Compulsory Blog Entry - Gambling costs more than your money.....

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
After my previous blog entry on the dire effects of lotteries, I will be taking about gambling and its serious consequences on the youth. I will be also discussing whether the choice of building casino in Singapore is right in my point of view. Before I start, I have done a lot of research on the topic, gambling and will like to show the statistics.

-Situation of Singapore
Based a reading from MCYS Gambling Participation Survey 2008, I had realised that the rate of the youth getting addicted to gambling and lotteries is soaring as more gambling opportunities are found in Singapore. Here is the reading of the amount of youth starting to gamble:

KEY FINDINGS FROM MCYS GAMBLING PARTICIPATION SURVEY 2008


Age at first gambling experience: Approximately 75% of the respondents of the surveys who ever gambled began gambling as early as the age of 24 or younger -

These statistics also show a significant increase from 63% in 2005. Hence, we can infer from this evidence that Singapore is facing an early onset of gambling. This can be worse if there are more gambling opportunities.

Some gamblers might even:

  • Gambling longer than intended.


  • Gambling until the last dollar is spent.


  • Thinking of gambling losses causes stress e.g. loss of sleep, depression or even suicide.


  • Using income or savings to gamble while letting bills go unpaid.


  • Repeated but unsuccessful attempts to give up or control gambling.


  • Borrowing money to finance one's gambling needs.


  • Bankrupt

Source: National Council of Problem Gambing

In my opinion, I feel that gambling is really very harmful and dangerous at the same time as you may get bankrupt for just one bet. It may even lead you to more severe consequences and it may even cause your family relationships to turn worse. Hence, Singapore has finished building the casino, there will be more gambling opportunities and this will eventually cause a higher risk of the youth being exposed and addicted to gambling. As a result, problem gambling will soon occur, causing the youth of Singapore to be so obsessed with gambling that they might even gamble for their lifes and end up bankrupt.

-Severe Consequences of problem gambling
Problem gambling may be associated with mental health and well-being issues. These include feeling a loss in control, decision making, ability to cope and autonomy. In addition, gamblers may also engage in some other negative behaviours:

  • Personality disorders
  • Compulsive shopping
  • Anorexia / Bulimia / Eating Disorder
  • Psychiatric problems
  • Thoughts or fantasies of suicide
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Substance abuse or other addictions
  • Alcoholism
  • Drug use

Source: TSheedy/FutureDirections/Singapore/July07

Hence, this proved that if Casino is ready, there will be more problem gambling cases which will also lead to an increase of mental health problems in the society. In addition, if more people are to be addicted to gambling and cannot restrain themselves, they will also end up being bankrupt or losing their homes. To make matters worse, building casino may also cause a high rate of crime. Since more people are gambling, some of them might lose all of their savings and cause them to be bankrupt. Then, they might end up stealing and even going to jail. These are some of the negative effects of building a casino.

Some people might think that building a casino might attract more tourists to Singapore, but in my opinion, most of the tourists visit Singapore as they are attracted by its nature. But do you really think that the tourists who have never been to Singapore will be delighted to see a concrete city with casinos? Do you think that a casino really attracts tourists?
I am not too sure about it but I know having a casino will somehow increase the crime rate as more people will want to get money to gamble. Since the crime rate has increased, the tourists will be feeling that it is unsafe to visit Singapore, hence, it does not really helps a lot in attracting more tourists.

-My opinion
I really condemn the construction of the casino in Singapore as there are many negative impacts on the youth, society and tourism. Hence, I will not support to have a casino in Singapore due to long-term issues.

1 Comments

Lesson 6: Compulsory Blog Entry - Lottery, it is a form of leisure or addiction?

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
Quote from both of my parents:
"Buying lotteries is just like a form of leisure or enjoyment..... There is nothing wrong about buying lotteries. Just to not get too addicted to it, then it is ok....."

From the quote by my parents, it is obvious that adults nowadays are taking lotteries as a form of relaxation or leisure. Although I know that my parents are not very addicted to lottery, I think that this might only be an excuse for some adults. They might say that they just buy lotteries for leisure, but they might have not noticed that they had actually already addicted to it. However, a gambler will never admit that he/she is addicted to gambling as they were already so obsessed with it that they cannot even realise what they are doing. Playing with lotteries can also become a habit if the gamblers cannot control and restrain themselves.


Firstly, I will talk about the psychology of lottery gambling. Although many people will think that buying lottery is not really gambling, I think that the definitions of both terms are the same as both of them are making the gambler to "put their money in risk".


Why do I say so?

In my opinion, gambling or buying lotteries only makes the gambler to fish out their money and hope that "their money can get more money". Some gamblers are gambling despite losing many times due to greed. When the gamblers win any lottery, they will be ecstatic and will want more as they think that Lady Luck is with them now, hence, they feel that if they do not bet or gamble, it will be a waste of opportunity. In addition, some gamblers might bet or gamble because it is only pure leisure or interest to them at first but later as they bet more often, they will get addicted to it without realising it so easily just like being addicted to drugs. In my opinion, I feel that gambling or buying lotteries will not really bring much wealth to gamblers as what you have bet is not exactly what you will get in return.


This is my view on lottery and gambling: You may just want to bet for that one minute, but you may get bankrupt in a second.....


The psychology of lottery gambling

Lotteries have traditionally been regarded as "soft" forms of gambling which are assumed to have very few negative effects on the gamblers. However, that does not mean that lotteries cannot bring the same effect as gambling does. Lottery is actually a form of gambling and this type of gambling can be more dangerous than the common gambling when it is passed overuncritically without looking at consequences or effects from a psychological perspective. National Lottery is also introduced and this is also one example of lottery gambling to me. However, what seems to be so interesting is that in 1995, the Government of UK originally once argued that the National Lottery was not a realform of gambling because it was for good causes. But I still believe that any situation in which people intentionally risk and stake their money or savings on a future event in a risking attempt to gain more money is gambling. Therefore, buying tickets for a lottery is a form of gambling.


Over the years, there have been many claims that lotteries may be addictive. In my opinion, I absolutely feel that lotteries are addictive, hence, I condemn and discourage them in my point of view. Actually, there are quite many factors that led me to discourage lotteries.


One of the major concerns is that if a place has a significant increase in gambling opportunities, it will then be a potential rise in the number of problem gamblers - or gambling addicts. Addictions are always resulting from an interaction and interplay between many factors including the person’s biological and/or genetic predisposition, their psychological constitution, their social environment and the nature of the activity itself.
It has also been clearly shown from research evidence that any place where accessibility of gambling is increased, there will then be an increase not only in the number of regular gamblers but also a significant increase in the number of problem gamblers. This obviously means that not everyone is susceptible to developing gambling addictions but it does show that if there are more gambling opportunities, there will be more problems with the gamblers.


Problem gambling

Another factor that caused me to condemn lottery gambling is another big term, Problem gambling which is also known as ludomania. This is an urge to gamble despite knowing or experiencing some harmful negative consequences and effects. Problem gambling develops from social gambling and will worsen if probelm gambling persists. Problem gamblers will still gamble even though they have the the desire to stop. The term is preferred to compulsive gambling among many professionals as few people described by the term experience true compulsions in the clinical sense of the word.


In addition, problem gambling is often defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others, rather than by the gambler's behaviour. Severe problem gambling may be diagnosed as clinical pathological gambling if the gambler meets certain criteria. Once the gambler has been diagnosed of clincal pathological gambling, it will be vey serious and difficult to cure. Although the term gambling addiction is common in the recovery movement, pathological gambling is considered to be an impulse control disorder, hence, I feel that gambling will lead to many negative consequences and effects such as problem gambling. As a result of problem gambling, gamblers might even affect your family members who are innocent and should not suffer the consequences for the gambler. Thus, I will encourage people to think twice and carefully before gambling and buying lotteries and the consequences may be dire and severe.


Problem gambling can cost you your savings, house and even your family. But the message from counsellors is, you can recover.

The following quote is from Charles Lee on addiction of gambling:
"Clients often feel that they are fine when they manage to quit for a few months. They lac the in-depth knowledge that addiction is a lifelong recovery process, and skills learning and relapse prevention training are vital for long-term success."

Problem gambling, gambling addiction or pathological gambling is a progressive condition similar to alcohol or drug addictions. Those with a gambling addiction have difficulties controlling their gambling habit, even when it has serious negative consequences for them and their families. Their gambling behaviour will increase over time, both in frequency and amount wagered.


-My opinions

Hence, I feel that lottery is actually a form of gambling and you will also get addicted to it. Its consequences may be as severe as problem gambling. It may cause the loss of savings and lead to many other consequences such as bad family relationships. Thus, I do not encourage and condemn lottery in Singapore as many youths are prone to these addictions of lotteries which may even cost their lifes.
1 Comments

Literature Online lesson 3 - Analysing Poem

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
The following poem is written by me on reminiscence of my primary school life:
My poem (Unforgettable memories):

Looking back on my primary school life,
There’s nothing but joy,
Six years on seventh heaven is what I call life,
Going through motions that are truly alive,

But the ride is not long-life,
Six years of primary school life,
Disappeared in a blink of an eye,
But things still continued and this is life.

School is like a daily routine for us,
Some will make a great fuss,
Some think that school is a torture chamber,
Some look forward to the holidays in December.

Life in Primary School is enjoyable,
It is never regrettable.
But some feel very bored,
And some feel that school is such a chore,

In my primary school,
I experienced many things, they are so cool!
I had seen people crying,
Seen people fighting.

I had seen friends playing,
Seen people laughing,
I had seen good friends helping,
And seen friendships been destroyed.

My primary school,
A home where I cherish moments.
Teachers are my parents,
Classmates are my siblings.

Now it's the end of my primary school life,
it's the beginning of independence.
I learned to cherish,
I learned to treasure.
0 Comments

Literature Online Lesson 2 - Historical & Biographical background of my favourite poet and his poems

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

"We seem to always know where we are in a Billy Collins poem, but not necessarily where he is going. I love to arrive with him at his arrivals. He doesn't hide things from us, as I think lesser poets do. He allows us to overhear, clearly, what he himself has discovered." This was what a poet, Stephen Dunn once said about Billy Collins who is also a famous poet.


Being attracted to poetry, I knew several famous poets and some of their masterpieces. I had been enjoying peotry a lot and also impressed by how the poets express their feelings and mood in their poems so well. To me, peotry is the act of expressing one's thoughts in a short story or verses indirectly. Peotry really arouses my emotions as poets use figurative language and imagery to express their feelings or create an idea of the poem. Speaking of this, Billy Collins will be the one who is really capable of doing all the thing that I had mentioned earlier. He was one of my favourite poet(since I had to choose one) and this is proved by his masterpieces of poems.

Why is he my favourite poet?
Firstly, I am very impressed by his style of writing a poem which I had enjoyed a lot. All his poems have great fluency and are successfully able to bring out the mood and idea of the poems using imagery and some figurative language which include personification and metaphor. In addition, Collins can also express the idea, his feelings or a mental image of his poem well. In his poetry, Billy Collins wrote better than others mostly due to the unique style of writing he uses to create his poems. I especially like his way of using simplistic stanzas to try to create images or idea of the poems, pulling the reader away from real life and draw them into his "poetic world". I am also impressed by the number of awards he had recieved. In addition, Billy Collins also cherished American poetry and put a lot of effort into creating poems. Other than these, his poems also rarely follow a significant topic. Instead, they are just some thoughts and ideas that happen to come from his head. Since he loves poetry a lot, he also uses poetry sometimes to offer relief when he or the reader was troubled. Hence, I am also impressed by his great passion of creating poems.

In addition, Billy Collins is my favourite poet as he is already a talent when he was in grade school as at that time, he was able to express his feelings and thoughts on paper very well. Different from other poets who will be frustrated if they do not have any ideas to create poems, Billy Collins does not force himself to write if he does not have any inspration in order to produce great works. He usually does not force meter or rhyme into his poems to capture the readers' attention but he used clever and witty description and comedy which I enjoy very much. Billy Collins is really a writer with warmth and surreal humor which can be seen in his intersting and enjoyable poems.


Historical & Biographical background
Being a former U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins was actually the author of several poetry books. He was born in New York City in 1941. Collins then completed fellowships at the New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and The Guggenheim Foundation. He was already a talent in poetry when he was in grade school. He was then educated at College of the Holy Cross where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1963 and at the University of California, he received his doctorate in English. He was a current teacher at Lehman College now.

Billy Collins has been very successful in creating six published poetry books and they are featured around his country. His poetry is in many periodicals and he also does a lot of public reading in which he draws a large crowd. In addition, his poetry has actually appeared in anthologies, textbooks and even a variety of periodicals which includes Poetry, American Poetry Review, American Scholar, Harper's, Paris Review, and The New Yorker. His work has been featured in the Pushcart Prize anthology and has been chosen several times for the annual Best American Poetry series. Billy Collins has also edited Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry (Random House, 2003) which is an anthology of contemporary poems for use in schools and was a guest editor for the 2006 edition of The Best American Poetry. In addition, Billy Collins has also earned many awards for his incredible explanations and description using words in his poems. He actually won Best American Poetry twice for two of his books, which were once in 1992 and the other one in 1993. He also won the Bess Hokin award in 1992 and most recently, he was then named US Poet Laureate in 2001. This award is one of the greatest and prestigious ever recieved by a poet. He was then joined by former poets laureate Robert Hass, Rita Dove, and Robert Pinsky at the 2002 Dodge Poetry Festival. After that, Billy Collins still continues to strive as an achieved poet as people continue to find his simplistic poetry great. When he became an author, he eventually wrote several famous books on poetry which include:



  • Ballistics (2008)

  • She Was Just Seventeen (2006)

  • The Trouble with Poetry (2005)

  • Nine Horses (2002)

  • Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001)

  • Picnic, Lightning (1998)

  • The Art of Drowning (1995), which was a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize

  • Questions About Angels (1991), which was selected by Edward Hirsch for the National

  • Poetry Series

  • The Apple That Astonished Paris (1988)

  • Video Poems (1980)

  • Pokerface (1977)

Later, he then served two terms as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. In New York, he has also been recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library (1992) and was selected as the New York State Poet for 2004. He was recently appointed Claire Berman Artist in Residence at The Roxbury Latin School, in West Roxbury, MA. He is a distinguished professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York.

How do people and poets feel about Billy Collins?

“The most important thing to say about Collins is that he is a deliberately minor poet, even a rebelliously minor poet, a poet who would reject major status if it were thrust upon him. Billy Collins has excelled his way through poetry fairly easy with his light verse style poems. ” This was quoted by Richard Alleva in his article of "A major minor poet".

His masterpieces

The Golden Years


by Billy Collins

All I do these drawn-out days
is sit in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge
where there are no pheasants to be seen
and last time I looked, no ridge.
I could drive over to Quail Falls
and spend the day there playing bridge,
but the lack of a falls and the absence of quail
would only remind me of Pheasant Ridge.
I know a widow at Fox Run
and another with a condo at Smokey Ledge.
One of them smokes, and neither can run,
so I’ll stick to the pledge I made to Midge.
Who frightened the fox and bulldozed the ledge?
I ask in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge.




Fishing on the Susquehanna in July

by Billy Collins
I have never been fishing on the Susquehanna
or on any river for that matter
to be perfectly honest.
Not in July or any month
have I had the pleasure--if it is a pleasure--
of fishing on the Susquehanna.
I am more likely to be found
in a quiet room like this one--
a painting of a woman on the wall,
a bowl of tangerines on the table--
trying to manufacture the sensation
of fishing on the Susquehanna.
There is little doubt
that others have been fishing
on the Susquehanna,
rowing upstream in a wooden boat,
sliding the oars under the water
then raising them to drip in the light.
But the nearest I have ever come to
fishing on the Susquehanna
was one afternoon in a museum in Philadelphia
when I balanced a little egg of time
in front of a painting
in which that river curled around a bend
under a blue cloud-ruffled sky,
dense trees along the banks,
and a fellow with a red bandanna
sitting in a small, green
flat-bottom boat
holding the thin whip of a pole.
That is something I am unlikely
ever to do, I remember
saying to myself and the person next to me.
Then I blinked and moved on
to other American scenes
of haystacks, water whitening over rocks,
even one of a brown hare
who seemed so wired with alertness
I imagined him springing right out of the frame.

Some Days

by Billy Collins
Some days I put the people in their places at the table,
bend their legs at the knees,
if they come with that feature,
and fix them into the tiny wooden chairs.
All afternoon they face one another,
the man in the brown suit,
the woman in the blue dress,
perfectly motionless, perfectly behaved.
But other days, I am the one
who is lifted up by the ribs,
then lowered into the dining room of a dollhouse
to sit with the others at the long table.
Very funny,
but how would you like it
if you never knew from one day to the next
if you were going to spend it
striding around like a vivid god,
your shoulders in the clouds,
or sitting down there amidst the wallpaper,
staring straight ahead with your little plastic face?

“But if something does flash before your eyes as you go under, it will probably be a fish, a quick blur of curved silver darting away, having nothing to do with your life or your death.” This states Billy Collins in one of his famous poem, “The Art of drowning”.
0 Comments

Book review: One Singapore 3 More Singaporean Stories - A book every Singaporean should read

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
Once again, I am writing to introduce another well-written book to you after Robinson Crusoe, Animal Farm and Pollyanna. This book is entitled "One Singapore 3 More Singaporean Stories" and it is written by a famous local writer, Goh Sin Tub. Different from the three novels, this book is actually a non-fiction book with compilation of Singaporean Stories in the early times when Singapore gained independence. It is actually a sequel to two another books, One Singapore and One Singapore 2 which are all about interesting and touching Singapore stories. These authetic Singaporean stories are all actually told by real Singaporeans about the problems, encounters or stories that are so memorable that they cannot forget in their lifes.

-Story background
This story is written in 2001 by Goh Sin Tub who is a well-known pioneer of Singapore literature. Besides being a reknowned writer, he was a teacher, civil servant, banker, builder, social worker and former chairman of the St. Joseph's Institution (SJI)'s Board of Governors. In addition, he is winner of several national short story writing competitions. This shows that Goh Sin Tub really loves writing and he is very good at literature. Besides that, he also has more than a dozen books to his name written over the past two decades, including a collection of short stories in Malay. His past bestsellers include Honour and Other Stories, The Nan-Mei-Su Girls of Emerald Hill, The Ghost Lover of Emerald Hill, Ghosts of Singapore, Loves of Sons and Daughters, 12 Women and their Stories, Moments in a Singapore Life, and his One Singapore trilogy.

-Story Summary
This book compiles many true Singaporean stories during the early times of Singapore. The book includes many stories in six sections which are Singaporean encounters, in light vein, inspirations, family gems, dixcoveries by Singaporeans and memories. The author had actually interviewed some Singaporeans of their stories in the early times. The stories are all authetic and brings out Singapore's History. These stories are wide-ranging, from Singapore Colonials times, the Japanese Occupations, the return of British rule to the merger with Malaya and Singapore's Independence. In this book, there are some very touching stories such as how Singaporeans suffered from the Japaneses Occupations. Other stories are inspiring as they motivate readers with important life values. At the same time, this book also teaches readers of early Singapore and how Singaporeans lived at that time. It also help young Singaporeans to better appreciate and understand Singapore's past.

In the book, there are also some stories of some important people in Singapore's society such as the story of first Singaporean, which was the Singapore's first President Yusof Ishak. The author had mentioned his great contributions to Singapore and wrote his remarkable story. One of the touching stories in the book is Big Brother which is a touching story about the author's brother. In this short story, the author wrote that his brother always took very good care of him and stood for him when the author was in trouble. There was also once when the author was bullied by a well-built boy and his brother stood up for him and fought with the bully. He also got scolded from his mother after having bruises all over his body. Although the author's brother did not really show his care and love to the author in a direct way, the author could still feel that his brother really loves him very much. At the end of the story, the author also mentioned how much he respected and admired his big brother.

-My reflection
After reading this non-fiction book, it greatly touched me of the hardships experienced by the Singaporeans in the early times. In addition, I had also learnt some important life values from the short stories of the Singaporeans. Being very interested in Singapore's History, I had also enjoyed reading this book a lot as it brings alive Singapore's past. This book also gives me a sense of a Singaporean as I had read quite many of their stories. I am really proud to be a Singaporean......
0 Comments

Book review: Pollyanna - A amazing story about the power of optimism

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
While you may be amazed by the previous two novels, I had also read another famous novel entitled "Pollyanna" and this story is written by a quite reknowned author, Eleanor H. Porter. This novel had left me great impression as it is really one of the finest piece of literature works in the world. This novel is actually about a miraculous story of a girl, Pollyanna who transform the lives of everyone she meets with her optimism. She always looks on the bright side of her life and never bear a grudge. But one day, a terrible accident caused her to be in great despair and she did not know how to be optimistic about it. "Pollyanna" is also one of those popular stories of the turn of the Century.

-Story background
This story is a children's literature novel written in 1913 about a girl, Pollyanna who uses her extreme optimism for her life. In a fundamentally honest and straightforward way, the author brings out the trials of life such as poverty, loneliness, and illness in the story and tells us that a cheerful child's presence and encouragement can alleviate social and personal sadness. In the story, Pollyanna makes use of her optimism to help people see the positive side of life rather than the sad and negative one. In addition, this novel is also a solid adventure romance tale and it encourages readers to be optimistic towards life.

The positive vision taught by "Pollyanna" can be adopted into everyone’s life without age, race, geographical or any other difference. The author successfully uses Pollyanna to evoke the texture of life in small-town New England in the early 1900s. In the story, the author uses the country dialect and the rich regional flavor to mark the dialogue of such characters as Nancy and Old Tom. The author also skillfully employs imagery and symbolism such as Miss Polly's "tight hair" actually represents her tight and aloof personality. The characters show the different personalities of different characters and the changes of their personalities as the story moves on.

-Story Summary
This novel is about a eleven years old orphan girl, Pollyanna Whittier, who transforms the lives of the people around her with her extreme optimism towards her life. Being the main character of the story, Pollyanna was a young, innocent and kind girl. She liked to help one another and encourages people to be positive towards their life. At the introduction of the story, Pollyanna was said to have led a hard life since her mother passed away when she was still young and she has been impoverished her life. But her father brought her up and taught her many important values. When Pollyanna was a very young girl, she once hoped for a doll in the missionary barrel as Christmas present but she was very disappointed uopn seeing that it was only a pair of crutches in it. She was sobbing uncontrollably but her father who was a traveling minister then introduced the "Glad Game" to her to cheer her up since she was so disappointed. Her father also played the "Glad Game" and told her that they should be glad as they did not need it. It was actually a game to find something to be glad about in everything even if it is a bad thing. After learning to play the "Glad Game", Pollyanna eventually enjoyed playing it and this changed her life and others too. She then learnt to appreciate what she had.

But unfortunately, her father also passed away some time later when Pollyanna was still eleven years old. After her father's sudden death, Pollyanna was later sent to her maiden aunt, Aunt Polly's house to stay with her in Beldingsville, Vermon. Her aunt was a weathy but austere and humorless woman who always does her duty but not anything more. Her aunt then relegated Pollyanna to a hot, stuffy and small attic without carpets and pictures to live in as she hoped that Pollyanna would not disrupt her household routine. But luckily, Pollyanna remembered the "Glad Game" which was taught by her father and remained optimistic of she had been recieved from aunt even she was left with nothing as both her parents passed away. She played the "Glad Game" when she was living in Aunt Polly's house. When she was stuffed in a small, almost airless attic, she said that she should be glad as she actually had a high window to enjoy the beautiful view. When Aunt Polly punishes her for being late for dinner and gave her only a bread and milk to eat in the kitchen with her servant, Nancy, Pollyanna said that she was glad and loved to eat bread and milk and like Nancy to accompany her.

With her cheerful and optimistic personalities, Pollyanna eventually brought much gladness and transformed her aunt's dispirited New England Town to a pleasant place to live in. While living in her aunt's house, Pollyanna also met some Beldingsville's most troubled people such as Mrs Snow and Mr Pendleton who was a miserly bachelor. She had also taught the people how to play the "Glad Game" and transformed their lifes. In addition, Mrs Snow and Mr Pendleton had also showed a significant transformation of their characters. Pollyanna had taught them how to be glad for what they had as compared to those who experienced worse things. When Old Tom the gardener was bent over with arthritis, Pollyanna told him that he should be glad as since he was so close to the ground, he would not have to muster so much strength to stoop down to do his weeding. Aunt Polly was also taught by Pollyanna of the "Glad game" and she at first resisted the game but later she became another player. Pollyanna also could feel the love and care of Aunt Polly after teaching her to play the game. Althought Pollyanna had experienced poverty, deprivation and initial rejection of Aunt Polly, she still could be optimistic and never gave up.

But all these happy times soon past by and Pollyanna faced a huge problem. Her robust optimism was then tested when she was hit by a motorcar as she crossed the street. She was then severly injured and hospitalised. At first, she was not that sad as she did not really knew her situation but when she overheard the specialist saying that she might not be able to walk anymore, she was taken aback and was in great despair. She did not know what to be glad about it. At that time, her little thoughts become shaky and she was scared. But luckily, all others who experienced the encouragement from Pollyanna and played her "Glad Game" came and encourage her to be glad that she still had her legs. Pollyanna then regained her confidence and became optimsitic as before.

At the end of the story, it is said that Aunt Polly is getting married to her former lover and Pollyanna finally learnt to walk again after the treatments and appreciated the use of her legs more after the accident.

-My reflection
After reading this novel, I really impressed by Pollyanna's optimistic personalities. She was very positive towards life and never gave up. I really enjoyed reading this story. It is worth-reading and well-written. In addition, I am also amazed by the style of writing of the author as the whole story really captures my attention. A good book, absolutely.
1 Comments

Book review: Animal Farm

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
After reading Robinson Crusoe, the novel, another novel entitled "Animal Farm" captured my attention. This novel, Animal Farm, is written by George Orwell in 1945 and this might be the most famous work of political allegory ever written. The author wrote this novel to bring out a historical analysis of the causes of the failure of communism and using farmyard animals such as pigs, horses and dogs who overthrew the farmers in search of utopia to show that a state of equality is impossible to achieve due to the corruptive influence of the power required to necessitate it. This novel succesfully presents how mechanism of propaganda and brainwashing works in totalitarians regimes.

-Story background
Although the title of the novel suggests that the story is only about animals living in a farm, the story is actually a much more in depth analysis of the workings of society in Communist Russia. The farm animals are used to illustrate how the communist class system worked, and how the Russian citizens reacted to this, and how propaganda was used by early leaders of Russia, and the effect this type of leadership had on the behaviour of the people of Russia. The three pigs, Old Major, Snowball and Napoleon, are the main characters in the book and they are all used to be compared to different leaders in the Russian Revolution. In this novel, the author is trying to illustrate his own thoughts on Soviet Communism which is a hot topic.

-Story Summary
This story is about Old Major, the boar who was a much respected leader, started with a dream of taking over the running of a farm from the farmer by animals for animals. Old Major hoped that animals will form a rebellion and overthrew the human race and thought that there were liberty and equality for all in the farm. After since Old Major had passed away, the animals of Manor Farm were led by the two pigs who were also the protagonists, Napoleon and Snowball, and drove out Farmer Jones and his wife. After gaining power of the farm, the animals set up Animal Farm which their dream seemed to be coming true. After the revolution, the pigs became the leaders and gained power while taking over the running of the farm as they were the most intelligent animals. That was when the corruption started. The pigs started to control the animals of the farm and set down some rules which is the Seven Commandments to ensure equality and prosperity for all. The animals in the farm first agreed to these rules as they felt that they would get what they believe - equality and communism. It is written as follow:

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.

As the months and years past by, Napolean who was one of the leaders got the control of everyone and slowly exerted his influence. Napoleon began to twist what was once the truth but not now and used his trusty spindoctor to ensure the animals of equality and communism but eventually forgot what was agreed by all which was to be equal. As each passing day went by, this continued until eventually no animal could tell the difference between the man and the pig (Napoleon and Snowbell). Eventually, power corrupted and influenced the pigs. Hence, it appeared that the revolution was a failure from the beginning, even though it began in idealistic optimism. The pigs, however, being the leaders of the animals, managed to reverse the commandments, and through terror and propaganda established the rule of an elite of pigs, which was led by Napoleon which was the most revered and sinister pig.

In the story, Squealer, a pig "could turn black into white" was much responsible for propaganda caused. Squealer could speak very well and was persuasive as he could argue at some difficult points yet, he had a way of skipping from side to side. He managed to change the rule from "all animals are equal" to "all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others"which was presented in the story. In addition, he also managed to convince the animals that the pigs could eat more than the others as their roles were very important and they had heavy reponsiblities as they "helped the animals to run". As a result, this caused the gullible animals to believe what the pigs said and become thankful to Napoleon, for what they believed that Napoleon had "made their dream to reality".

A contributing factor to the propaganda showed in the story was that the pigs, which actually worked less but received more rations than other animals. This increased the confusion of the animals as they wondered why one species was receiving more than another in an equal society as the pigs promised. However, the other animals still respected and trusted their leaders and were willing to sacrifice to work harder for a better life. Here, the story brings out the situation in Russia which was more or less similar. In both the story and real life, greedy leaders took full advantage of the desperate commoners who were willing to sacrifice anything for them. The leaders were capable to turn matters upside down which were different from what they promised before. The commoners were then subjected to propaganda.

In "Animal Farm", Squealer and Napoleon which were he leaders decieve the animals that Snowball was a traitor and convinced them that he was a criminal through propaganda in order to gain more advantages for themselves. In the sotry, the horse, Boxer, actually represented the cruelty of how people are used for their skills and talents for others' advantages but as they turned powerless or useless, they were then disregarded as they were not needed anymore. Boxer which was the hardest worker on the farm as he contributed the most to the building of the windmill in the farm. But when Boxer was unable to continue work, Napoleon then got rid of him. This showed that the cruelty of human nature as man have the tendency to use other people to achieve their goals but disregarded them once they are useless or when man have found someone better. In the story, the author also presented the confusion of the animals as they all believed that Napoleon was right but they were confused by the better treatment which the pigs recieved.

-My reflection
After reading "Animal farm", I feel that this novel is more than a book but it can be seen as an analysis of the Soviet regime and shows the the situation of propaganda and totalitarianism in general. In my opinion, I feel that it is really well-written and might be the best book in the world to show the negative side of politics. In addition, I also like the ending of the story which was a warning to the society about propaganda which is written as follow:
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which".
0 Comments

Book review: Robinson Crusoe - A wonderful classic of shipwreck and adventure

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

Imagine yourself being stranded on an unhabited island alone. No food along with you, no money and no help. You are just the only human being on the island. How will you manage to survive and recover from desperation? Well, Robinson Crusoe could.

During the school holidays, my eyes are glued to the book entitled" Robinson Crusoe" written by Daniel Defoe. This novel is written in 1719 and the author was inspired to write this novel by a true story about a man, Alexander Selkirk who was rescued after spending about 3 years on a Pacific Island in 1709. This novel is about a magnificent classic of shipwreck and adventure.

-Story Background
The protagonist of this story is Robinson Crusoe who was born in 1632 and is his family's third child. Being not bred to any trade, Robinson Crusoe's mind started to fill with rambling thoughts and was very fond of sailing. But unfortunately, Crusoe's father determined that his son would become a lawyer. Undaunted, Crusoe once said in the novel that he "would be satisfied with nothing but going to sea." Still, his mother and father did not allow it. A year later, Robinson Crusoe decided to sneak away from his parents and accepted passage to London. He then left on September I, 1651. That was when a series of adventure and mishap began. To Crusoe's horror, the voyage started badly. His first ship was lost in a mighty storm, but he did not give up and tried again. Little did he know that his second attempt was even worse! To his utmost horror, he was abducted by pirates and sold into slavery. But he still eventually managed to escape and then travelled to Brazil, where he became a wealthy plantation owner. However, he could not resist himself from sailing again. Strong-willed, He decided to try another time. Once again, this voyage ended up in complete disaster. As a result, his ship was trapped in a great storm and it was lost in the sea. Being the only survivor of the shipwreck, Crusoe then found himself stranded on “The Island of Despair” which he called. To make matter worse, the island was not near any shipping routes. His adventure soon began as he was plunged into desperation without any help and support. He was alone to make a life for himself on the island.

-Story Summary
After Robinson Crusoe was left stranded on the island due to the shipwreck, he was in despair without any hope, but slowly as he was adapted to the island, he started to recover from desperation. To survive on the island, Robinson Crusoe began to gather food, such as grapes and melons. With patience and ingenuity, he constructed a fortress home and developed a farm. He domesticated animals and learnt to make the tools in order to continue living on the island. As the years past by, Crusoe improved his situation. However, he was lonely and he sought for companionship to no avail. He was alone on the island without human company for twenty-four years.

After more than 20 years on the island, Robinson Crusoe one day found a human foot print which he believed was not his, and he was scared to death by his discovery: he dicovered that he was actually surrounded by canibal barbarians living on the opposite shore of the island. Some time later, Crusoe witnessed a human sacrifice and saw one of the preys escaping from the barbarians. Eventually, he rescued the inhabitant of a nearby island from cannibals. Crusoe then named him "Friday" since he was rescued on a Friday. Since then, Friday became Crusoe's loyal companion. Friday was alos taught by Crusoe to speak English. In addition, he was also introduced to the Bible which was the only book Robinson found in his sunk and broken ship.
But for twenty-four years he has no human company - until one Friday, he rescues a prisoner from a boatload of cannibals.

Several years later, Friday once told Crusoe of the region where he used to live before. He mentioned that there were white bearded people, like Robinson Crusoe himself, that remains abandoned after another shipwreck. That was when Crusoe knew a mutiny on board left the captain of the ship marooned on the island. Crusoe and Friday then rendered aid to the Captain and his men to retrieve the vessel. Finally after 28 years stranded on the island, Crusoe was managed to return home to England with the help of the Captain and his men. In addition, Friday accompanied him home. When Crusoe was back in London again, Crusoe then learnt of the new life and the new civilization that had evolved since he was left stranded on an island for 28 years ago."

-My reflection
After reading this exciting, amazing novel, I had impressed by how the author written the novel. This whole novel is like a biography of Robinson Crusoe, telling his adventure in a diary format. I had been impressed by his style of writing. He could turn the story so exciting, amazing and unbelievable! From the novel, I had also learnt some important values such as perseverance. Despite Robinson Crusoe being left stranded alone on a deserted island, he could still survive and did not give up. This tells us that how he managed to cope with all the challenges and struggles. It also tells us how man cope with reality when they face challenges. Anyway, I really feel that this is a great, well-written novel and perhaps one of the finest literature works in the world. It is really worth-reading.

Check out my elctronic bookshelf for more updates!

0 Comments

My Electronic Bookshelf (updated)

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
Powered by weRead
0 Comments

STTA (Singapore Table Tennis Association) VS Coach Liu

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:

As you may know, there was a hot topic recently in the newspaper and the media about the saga between the STTA and Singapore Table Tennis National Coach Liu Guo Dong. On 14th May 2009, the newspaper wrote "Table tennis saga continues with coach Liu getting more support". Now, you maybe curious of what is happening but I assure you that you will have a clearer view of the saga.


The saga started when there was a public debate on Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA)'s decision of not nominating the former Singapore National table tennis Coach Liu Guo Dong for the coach of the year. Despite winning a historical silver medal for Singapore in the Beijing Olympics 2008, Coach Liu Guo Dong is not nominated for the award. This caused the some members of public to feel unfair for Coach Liu Guo Dong as they think that Coach Liu deserves the award for his commitment to Singapore Table Tennis Association by clinging a silver medal for Singapore. He also helped Singapore to end the republic's 48 year Olympics Medal drought. However, STTA did not feel this way. Instead, the chairman of STTA, Ms Lee Bee Wah, said that Coach Liu's integrity and professionalism was in question and thus, she decided not to nominate him for the award. Her view of Coach Liu had become an insult to Coach Liu and caused him to feel unhappy and insulted.


Ms Lee said that Coach Liu was biased to the table tennis men's team and neglected Gao Lin who was one of the table tennis player. She claimed that Coach Liu focused more in the women's team than the men's team. This caused Coach Liu to feel unfair for himself as he feel that it is not true to say so. Hence, Coach Liu wanted to have an explanation from STTA as he felt that the claim by STTA might tanished his reputation.


The STTA could not be reached for comment, but Coach Liu also told the media he plans to meet the association's president over the next few days. And he said if he does not get a clarification, he would consider taking legal action. This caused things to go worse,


Mr Liu said: "She just needs to apologise. I will not ask for trouble. She just needs to clarify her remarks. I have feelings for Singapore."


STTA did not issue any public statements castigating Liu for lacking “professionalism and integrity.” Lee Bee Wah has to answer for her own words. Since she dared to hurl accusations at Liu in public, she must be prepared to substantiate them. Till now, Lee had refused to defend herself or comment further on the matter. Why do you think she is refusing to give any comments?


It is most unacceptable and unbecoming for a leader to walk away and leave her subordinates to clear up the mess she had created herself. This will even caused more problems. She can prevent all this fuss by explaining the whole thing to the media and Coach Liu instead of refusing to give any comments. In addition, she could have easily apologise to Coach Liu for the insult to him. She could have also retracted her statements and then, this whole saga would have been solved so easily.

STTA think they can bully a non-English speaking China coach into submission and let the matter rest. They cannot be more wrong.

It is also pointless for Liu to waste his time meeting STTA if all they want is to save the skin of Lee Bee Wah who continues to hide behind the association.

Coach Liu said: “The least you can do is to not attack me through the press, or to comment that I have moral issues. If it was said on a personal level, I would have dismissed it. But the comments were published in the papers, so you can imagine the harm done to me."


But now the coach has the support of Dr Tan Eng Liang, who had worked closely with him prior to the Beijing Games. Dr Tan does not doubt Liu's professionalism as he had delivered the silver medal for Singapore.


Do you think this whole saga could have been prevented easily if STTA have done what I have earlier mentioned? The moral of the saga is "Always think twice before you act".
0 Comments

A story that greatly affected my parents' life......

Author: Chua Song Yang Posted under:
Hey everyone, have you ever asked your parents before about their reading habits? Do you know what is their favourite book? Or do you know which book gives your father or mother the greatest impression that changes their reading habits or lifestyles? If you have not done so, try doing so as you will know more about your parents through their favourite books or reading habits.


As for me, I interviewed them about their reading habits and their favourite books and my eyes widened in disbelief as I could not believe their favourite books! My father had told me that when he was a teenager at about my age, he was so addicted to wuxia (martial) novels and comics that his eyes were glued to the books which he had borrowed from his friends. One of the novels which he impressed the most is The Legend of the Condor Heroes. My father said that he loved novels written by Jin Yong who is one of the most influential modern Chinese Language Novelists. His novels were all very exciting and most importantly, Jin Yong's novel are widely range, from wushu to romance. His novels are all so famous that quite a lot of movie companies used the story background for their movies. Artists also drawn out the wuxia novels Jin Yong had written.
The Legend of the Condor Heroes is a story set in the Song Dynasty and it is a novel about the friendship of two young men, Yang Tiexin and Guo Xiaotian who became heroes in their own right as they fought bravely the invading Jin soldiers in the war. They were very good swore brothers and they even swore to each other their unborn children would become either sworn brothers (if both were of the same gender) or be married (if they were of opposite genders). Then, the story focuses on the trials and tribulations of their sons following Guo Xiaotian's death and Yang Tiexin's disappearance. After that, the story tells about Guo Jing who was the son of Guo XiaoTian and Yang Kang. Later, Guo Jing was mentored by the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan in martial arts but he was a slow learner and only managed to master part of the skills he was taught. Yang was mentored by Qiu Chuji of the Quanzhen Sect. Then, the story tells the adventures of the two warriors and the story ended with Yang Guo, who was the son of Yang Kang and would become the protagonist of the sequel novel.
Jin Yong had also written many famous novels which captured a lot of readers' attention from all over the world. Jin Yong's novels includes The Book and the Sword, The Deer and the Cauldron, The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain and more...... After interviewing my father, I am so amazed by his favourite novel and started to be interested of them.
If you are also attracted to Jin Yong's wuxia novels, you can visit this website as they have all Jin Yong's interesting, eye-glueing novels :http://www.ccler.com/jinyong/
0 Comments