Had English mid-yr today. It was ok(that is what my siblings and I always tell my parents, and they always complain that we are always saying that our papers are 'ok').
After the paper, my friend(Joyce) and I were walking out of school(which is located in a quiet area far from the main road, so good for studying but a little hard on the foot) when we saw a pick-up. It was driving along and there was a loudhailer announcing something about what the PAP will do for the Potong Pasir constituency if they won in the coming elections. Or something like that. It was speaking in Hokkien, and even though I am Teochew and Teochew is quite similar to Hokkien, I couldn't hear it clearly anyway.
When we saw it, the first reaction we both had the same reaction: we both said, "Oh my God!" at exactly the same time. I am usually against saying the words 'Oh my God' because the person either does not believe in God, or that he/she is taking the name of God in vain. Perhaps we said that due to the shock of seeing such a vehicle for the very first time.
Of course, we have seen something similar in our history textbooks, but for me it was the first time seeing it with my own eyes. Or possibly I might have seen it before but I forgot. Or maybe I saw it in a picture and it got stuck in my memory, leading me to think I've ssen it before.
I couldn't hear really too properly, but I heard the name 'Sitoh Yih Pin' being said, and before I heard that, silly me was still thinking, which party's truck is this? Then I realised that all the PAP flags were all over the pick-up. Sorry, I am just hopeless. Knowing this, when the vehicle drove past, I was looking for Mr. Sitoh in the cab of the vehicle cos that was what was shown in the history books. However, I only saw a middle to old-aged man sitting there by himself. That was when I realised that it must be a tape or CD of some sort and the driver's job is just to drive past houses and more houses while the taope/CD played of it's own accord.
Now that I think about it, it's really silly to think so. In the past, when the pictures in the history books were taken, things such as tapes and CDs weren't invented yet, so of course the real person had to sit in the back of the pick-up and speaking into a loudhailer. Now, with much improved technology, these tapes/CDs can be loaded onto a pick-up with an appropriate player, then you can just hire a guy to drive the pick-up wherever you want to recommend yourself to the people. This method also cover more ground in a given time, especially in the limited time before the big day, which by the way is on May 6th.
I originally thought that the constituency I was living in was uncontested, but it seems like it is. So this evening at about 6.45, we too heard another PAP pick-up driving past, but this time asking the people to vote for Mr. George Yeo. Or maybe it was Mrs. Lim Hwee Hwa. Actually, it is rather shameful to know the political situation better in the area my school is in than the situation in the area I live in.
My school plays an active part in the voting process. hahahaha. Okay, actually, my school's hall is the voting centre for Potong Pasir constituency and it is at the same time a counting centre for another constituency. A pity I can't vote... not that I really want to vote, but I want to see the people voting. That's what I'm interested in. So, the school has to surrender it's grounds on May 5th so that specialised personnel can check the school throughly for bombs and such.
Originally, when my school received this news, it decided to move the mid-yr exams which were on Friday, May 5th to the following Monday. However, now they(and following that we) were told that the school authorities only have to hand over the school grounds at 2 p.m. on Friday. So we are having the exams on Friday as usual... T.T.... and now I have to go study, already used up too much time writing this.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Languages
haha, had Mother Tongue exam today. My mother tongue is Chinese, of course. It's a lovely language and I can hardly believe it when people say that they hate learning Chinese. It's amazing how beautiful languages are. A mix of sounds, symbols or even gestures in the right order, and you get a perfectly usable language.
I particularly think it's nice to be a linguist. It is always good to know more languages so that you know what people are talking about and whether or not they are scolding you. You are also able to compare the differences between languages and then you are more aware about the meanings behind them and why they were formed in this way. .For example, have you ever stared at a certain word or letter and wondered how come it was formed in that particular way, like why the letter 'a' looks like 'a'? In this aspect, I like Chinese because there is always an explanation as to why the word was formed in this particular way because Chinese script is pictorial, just like the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Of course, it is not really that pictorial now because Chinese words have been changed many times over the millenia when the Chinese civilisation is in existence.
Maybe I shall be a linguist, but where will I learn languages then? At a language laboratory? hahaha. There isn't any that I know of. Unless you learn from somebody then. Actually, I learn Japanese.
An encyclopedia I once read wrote that Japanese is apparently unrelated to any other language. I disagree. Yes, it may be that spoken Japanese words are quite unrelated to other languages, but the written script is very similar, the traditional Japanese script that is. Chinese can read some Japanese words because they are written in Chinese-invented script, just that it is pronounced in a different way in both languages. In fact, when the Japanese invaded Singapore in 1942, the soldiers could communicate with the Chinese locals by writing down what they wanted. If they wanted to talk to Malays or Indians, they would just ask the Chinese to tell them what they wanted.
This has a historical origin. During the rule of the Chinese emperor Qin Shihuang, people were ordered to look for a herb or any type of medicine that would enable someone to live forever. Since everyone wanted to get rich, many people tried to make the 'Elixir of Life' but ended up inventing gunpowder instead. I am sidetracking, if you didn't notice. Okay. So people either wanted to get into the emperor's good books(and just see what happened to the people who tried to do that) or get as far away from the Chinese empire as possible.
A certain old man went to the emperor and told him that he would be able to find the herb guaranteeing immortality, but the conditions were that he would have to sail to a far island to brew this concoction, and at the same time, he needed 50 virgin boys and 50 virgin girls. So the old man and the 50 boys and 50 girls(the ship must have had been very crowded. I wonder if they got seasick?) sailed for a long way east. At last, they reached a land which is today known as Japan. As Japanese originally descended from Chinese, it is hardly surprising that some of the olden script used in China at the time is present in the Japanese written language. To be fair though, they have been different from the Chinese for 2000 years now and the invention of their language is just as remarkable as any other.
haiyah. Look how far I went just talking about languages. Oh well, going to prepare for English mid-yr tomorrow!
I particularly think it's nice to be a linguist. It is always good to know more languages so that you know what people are talking about and whether or not they are scolding you. You are also able to compare the differences between languages and then you are more aware about the meanings behind them and why they were formed in this way. .For example, have you ever stared at a certain word or letter and wondered how come it was formed in that particular way, like why the letter 'a' looks like 'a'? In this aspect, I like Chinese because there is always an explanation as to why the word was formed in this particular way because Chinese script is pictorial, just like the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Of course, it is not really that pictorial now because Chinese words have been changed many times over the millenia when the Chinese civilisation is in existence.
Maybe I shall be a linguist, but where will I learn languages then? At a language laboratory? hahaha. There isn't any that I know of. Unless you learn from somebody then. Actually, I learn Japanese.
An encyclopedia I once read wrote that Japanese is apparently unrelated to any other language. I disagree. Yes, it may be that spoken Japanese words are quite unrelated to other languages, but the written script is very similar, the traditional Japanese script that is. Chinese can read some Japanese words because they are written in Chinese-invented script, just that it is pronounced in a different way in both languages. In fact, when the Japanese invaded Singapore in 1942, the soldiers could communicate with the Chinese locals by writing down what they wanted. If they wanted to talk to Malays or Indians, they would just ask the Chinese to tell them what they wanted.
This has a historical origin. During the rule of the Chinese emperor Qin Shihuang, people were ordered to look for a herb or any type of medicine that would enable someone to live forever. Since everyone wanted to get rich, many people tried to make the 'Elixir of Life' but ended up inventing gunpowder instead. I am sidetracking, if you didn't notice. Okay. So people either wanted to get into the emperor's good books(and just see what happened to the people who tried to do that) or get as far away from the Chinese empire as possible.
A certain old man went to the emperor and told him that he would be able to find the herb guaranteeing immortality, but the conditions were that he would have to sail to a far island to brew this concoction, and at the same time, he needed 50 virgin boys and 50 virgin girls. So the old man and the 50 boys and 50 girls(the ship must have had been very crowded. I wonder if they got seasick?) sailed for a long way east. At last, they reached a land which is today known as Japan. As Japanese originally descended from Chinese, it is hardly surprising that some of the olden script used in China at the time is present in the Japanese written language. To be fair though, they have been different from the Chinese for 2000 years now and the invention of their language is just as remarkable as any other.
haiyah. Look how far I went just talking about languages. Oh well, going to prepare for English mid-yr tomorrow!
Monday, April 24, 2006
Complaints, complaints and more complaints
Sorry about the previous fury-filled post. I think I'm going to complain again today... hahaha, so if you don't want to read, then don't.
While I am writing this, my friend is taking the New South Wales competition. This is not because she signed up of her own will, but because all triple science classes in the school have to participate. This is completely unreasonable. Why not allow those who would like to compete sign up and those who don't, don't? It certainly isn't that triple science classes are those who are the best classes in the entire school! Why, I was once the highest scorer in school, and another time, I arrived 20 minutes late, but I still managed to get into the national top 2%! Now, simply because I am NOT in a triple science class, I have to sit down here waiting for others to finish!
In fact, some pupils in the triple science class are not all that intelligent as we think. The reason they do well is because they are extremely hardworking. I do respect them for that, but doing things in the way mentioned in the above paragraph is really a bad case of generalisation.
Anyway, there is generally a great stress on the Secondary 4 students because the mid-year examinations start two days from now for most of them. For the music students(including me), we start our exam tomorrow! What a nightmare! My parents are just pressurising me by saying that I better do well in my mid-year. The usually bad point about having siblings is that there is always someone better for you to compare to, unless you are really the 'pride' of the family, one who gets all the scholarships, prizes etc. etc.
In MY case, I am in big trouble because our family intelligence is so that the younger we are in the family, the dumber we get. I am not talking about standard wise, but in result wise. My father was always the top-scorers of exams and such, my mother was a headgirl who was top 10 in her O-levels. Then it comes to me and my brothers. My brother just got back his A-level results not too long ago and he had 3As and 1B... I gotta be crazy if I can match that. In his O-levels, he had 7 points. I also gotta be crazy if I can match that. I suppose that is one of the reasons why I choose to go into music. There, at least, I won't be compared to my siblings!
I suppose in many cases, the prospect of being able to enjoy the good life with ample money and without needing to work is very appealing. So some people want to become a rich tai-tai(woman who marries a husband with lots of $$$). Now, isn't this being completely dependent on someone else? It amazes me sometimes at how some people can really compromise their pride just for the money.
In any case, I find those aspiring tai-tais have nothing that is so fantastic about them. I wonder how are they going to be a rich tai-tai like that. It gets me rather angry at times when they start saying everything about what they're going to do when they become a rich tai-tai. It's like counting your eggs before they're hatched. Now, if I were to become a rich tai-tai... no. I'm NOT going to be a rich tai-tai. Even if I do marry someone who's rich, I refuse to be dependent! I do suppose that I am rather proud in that way... but that's the way I'm made.
While I am writing this, my friend is taking the New South Wales competition. This is not because she signed up of her own will, but because all triple science classes in the school have to participate. This is completely unreasonable. Why not allow those who would like to compete sign up and those who don't, don't? It certainly isn't that triple science classes are those who are the best classes in the entire school! Why, I was once the highest scorer in school, and another time, I arrived 20 minutes late, but I still managed to get into the national top 2%! Now, simply because I am NOT in a triple science class, I have to sit down here waiting for others to finish!
In fact, some pupils in the triple science class are not all that intelligent as we think. The reason they do well is because they are extremely hardworking. I do respect them for that, but doing things in the way mentioned in the above paragraph is really a bad case of generalisation.
Anyway, there is generally a great stress on the Secondary 4 students because the mid-year examinations start two days from now for most of them. For the music students(including me), we start our exam tomorrow! What a nightmare! My parents are just pressurising me by saying that I better do well in my mid-year. The usually bad point about having siblings is that there is always someone better for you to compare to, unless you are really the 'pride' of the family, one who gets all the scholarships, prizes etc. etc.
In MY case, I am in big trouble because our family intelligence is so that the younger we are in the family, the dumber we get. I am not talking about standard wise, but in result wise. My father was always the top-scorers of exams and such, my mother was a headgirl who was top 10 in her O-levels. Then it comes to me and my brothers. My brother just got back his A-level results not too long ago and he had 3As and 1B... I gotta be crazy if I can match that. In his O-levels, he had 7 points. I also gotta be crazy if I can match that. I suppose that is one of the reasons why I choose to go into music. There, at least, I won't be compared to my siblings!
I suppose in many cases, the prospect of being able to enjoy the good life with ample money and without needing to work is very appealing. So some people want to become a rich tai-tai(woman who marries a husband with lots of $$$). Now, isn't this being completely dependent on someone else? It amazes me sometimes at how some people can really compromise their pride just for the money.
In any case, I find those aspiring tai-tais have nothing that is so fantastic about them. I wonder how are they going to be a rich tai-tai like that. It gets me rather angry at times when they start saying everything about what they're going to do when they become a rich tai-tai. It's like counting your eggs before they're hatched. Now, if I were to become a rich tai-tai... no. I'm NOT going to be a rich tai-tai. Even if I do marry someone who's rich, I refuse to be dependent! I do suppose that I am rather proud in that way... but that's the way I'm made.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
For the record, I am neither cute nor fidgety. Fidget is my dog, and it is cute. Don't quite understand why people think I'm cute, or I'm fidgety, or worse, I'm cute when I'm fidgety!!! Pretty ridiculous... This is a result of separating my F1 blog and my personal life one, because I realised that I shouldn't just lump the two together. In any case, if you'd like to see the F1 blog, it's at http://thunder-nemesis-of-the-south.blogspot.com/. My previous posts are there, together with my F1 posts. For now though, I think I'll just sign off.
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