News Story

An article that I had read was bout the radiation disaster in Japan. I had read about it in Newsweek magazine. It described about the various types of radiations and how it affected humans. It also describe the names and how you might be affected by these radiation. I felt that this article was very informative and I was more knowledgable on these radiation. However, in my opinion, the article could have added in more details like how you can prevent yourself from contracting these radiation. Also, it could have also described the ways to cure yourself from radiation.

Letter to The Straits Times Editor

Dear editor,

I have read about the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on the 11th of March. I totally emphatise with the victims of the quake. This disastrous quake also sparked a horrific tsunami causing even more drastic damage, adding more salt to the wound. To support the Japanese through this disaster, I had donated some money to the Red Cross Society. Though it was not a big sum, I believe it would help the Japanese. As the saying goes, a chopstick breaks easily but ten chopsticks put together cannot break easily. If everyone plays a part, a significant difference could be seen.

I had also thought what if a similar incident happens to our society. Would we be able to survive, or just go down crashing like a bowling pin? This incident made recall the recent article in the Straits Times, commemorating the 20th anniversary of SQ 117, the flight that was hijacked by 4 Pakistanis. In that incident, there were no loss of lives and the 119 passengers made out of the incident unscathed. The four hijackers were taken down by 4 master-marksman would took just 30 seconds to identify the hijackers and take them down. As Senior Minister S.Jayakumar said 'They made Singapore proud".

This incident shows that though we may be a small country with a small population, we have sturdy people who can pull through hard times. I believe if these earthquakes and tsunamis happen to us, we would be able pull through, as well as Japan did.

Yours Sincerely,
Ren Kai

Literature

Literature, is the art of words, where writers use words to express their feelings and thoughts. I feel that literature is not just words, but deeper, where writers hide their true opinions and readers have to infer to find them out. We see usage of literature everyday and everywhere, from the newspapers to story books, poems to letters. There are also several literature writings by famous writers such as William Shakespeare. These literature pieces are engaging as the writers use beautiful and elegant phrases to write stories, thus greatly captivating the attention of read. In conclusion, literature, to me, is the skill that writers use to create beautiful writings made up of words intelligently used.

Racism

Racism is discrimination of people due to their race. Racism can be very serious, and can result in fights, quarrels and disputes. In Singapore, several actions have been taken by the Government to combat racism. An example is the introduction of Racial Harmony Day, celebrated on 21st July every year. This promotes racial harmony in Singapore and prevents conflicts that arise from racism.

Another method Singapore has done is to ensure an equal proportion of different races living in a HDB estate. This ensures that not too many residents of one race stay in a block. This also allows different races to bond together, and also promotes harmony between different races. In my opinion, racial harmony and can be extended to other aspects. For example, football teams in Singapore can have a limit of a certain race. There should be a fair number of Chinese, Malays, and Indians. In conclusion, I feel that Singapore has done enough to combat racism but more can be done to curb racism even more.

CIP experience

On the 21st of March, Class 2O4 went on a CIP journey to St Andrew's Cathedral, Home for the Aged, to bring cheer and happiness to the residents there. We were prepared with cleaning equipment to clean up the Home. We also prepared a performance of 5 songs to perform to the elderly. When we first reached, all of us were clueless of what to do, and we stared at the elderly while they stared back blankly at us. However, after some advice from our teachers, we started engaging in meaningful conversations with the elderly. I found this a very great opportunity to understand their life at the Home. We also learnt about some about their life, from what languages they spoke to what Secondary School they came from. The biggest thing that I learnt from this experience was that I understood the way the elderly behave. Though they may look quite grouchy and unfriendly, they are actually jovial people who were very keen in sharing their life experiences to us. This is very useful as it changes my stereotype impression of elderly as being cold people. In conclusion, I felt that this CIP experience was very meaningful and enriching and I hope to have such experience again in the future.

What I learnt from Mississippi

From the movie Mississippi Burning, I have learnt a lot about racism in the past. In the past, the Blacks were severely discriminated by the Whites. The Whites were very abusive and violent towards the Blacks, and in some causes, beaten them up and hanged those who were innocent, and burnt their houses.

I feel that this is very wrong. The Whites should not discriminate people just because of their different skin colour. As the saying goes, 'Don't judge a book by its cover', we should not treat people differently just people of how they look, but rather, their behaviour and personality.

IN-CLASS ONLINE LESSON #4

2) My favourite photo is this photo of my condominium.
1st : This was taken on a late Sunday afternoon, when families were relaxing at the swimming pool.
2nd : The atmosphere was great and frequent laughter could be heard.
3rd : Although it was quite hot, many people were having a whale of time spending time with friends and relatives.
4th : The water was a clear blue, and it was so cooling, the perfect place to relax in.

3) "opened onto a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel, a very comfortable tunnel without smoke'
This sentence uses the technique repetition to emphasise on the type of tunnel.
"The tunnel wound on and on"
This sentence uses repetition