Tuesday, February 19, 2008,
GlobalisationGlobalisation, the process by which peple, their ideas and their activities in different parts of the world become interconnected or intergrated. At a first glance, it might see like a good thing, interconnecting or intergrated ideas and activities worldwide. I feel that globalisation cannot be avoided, as the key driving forces are always around in most countries, such as transportation, communications and trasnational corporations. These factors have increased rapidly, due to technology and helps mankind's tasks to be done easier, such as in transportation, people uses carts, small boats and sedans which carry only a few goods or people, but now we use motor vehicles, large cargoships to transport goods and even travel by air-aeroplanes and helicopters.
Due to globalisation, there is a higher standard of living in many countries, but to what extent? The poorer people in all countries are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer, widening the gap between social classes. Globalisation increases the rate of productivity in industrail areas, lessen the time taken for transportation and communications, but this also mean that raw materials such as coal and crude oil will be depleted rapidly and deforestation to make space for industries, would result in many environmental negative impacts such as soil erosion and loss of flora and fauna. Furthermore, globalisation also would cause global warming, and even though people would gain more awareness of foreign culture, they might lose their local culture as more and more forgeign shops such as McDonlad branches worldwide. Weighning both postive and negative impacts, I feel that globalisation would do our planet and us more harm in the future, as global warming have reached a rapid rate now, what would Earth be in the future? Yes, economices worldwide are growing rapidly, but the economies might crash in the future, which can be rebuilt, but our planet's natural resources and the damage caused by us is irreversible.Labels: Thoughts on Globalisation
7:17 PM
Saturday, February 9, 2008,
Dear Mrs. Yeo,
How have you been? It has been awhile since we last met. Do you still remember Class 3E6 from last year? I was a student from that class, and you taught us English for a few months.
It has been over a year now, and I was wondering whether you would like to know how the infamous ‘3E6’ have been coping and the significant events that had happened in our school. Unfortunately, about one third of the members in 3E6 could not be promoted to Secondary Four Express (4E). They were either retained or laterally transferred to Secondary Four Normal Academic (4NA). I have to say that last year, I, myself was struggling with my studies, but eventually, I pulled through. Anyway, we should not be disheartened as majority of us are in 4E now. It would be a much more stressful and challenging year, compared to the other 3 years of my secondary school life, due to the major ‘O’ levels examinations. Now, most of my subject teachers are the Head of Department (HODs) of the school. It’s quite frightening! Even though they are the HODs, rumored to be strict, their teachings are still top notch and I have not encountered much scolding yet.
Recently, we had Shanghai students from the Shanghai-Singapore Student Exchange programme in our school. They had lessons with us for about 2 weeks. On the last day, some of them even performed on stage for us! It was like our Kent Ridge Talent Quest, especially the guy who sang enthusiastically and the girl who played the violin emotionally. We also did our Community Involvement Project (CIP) quite early this year. This year’s CIP, was not like the other two years that we spent cleaning up public parks, or the previous year that we had our entrepreneurship fair. This year, our CIP project was to visit some old folks, interact and befriend them. It was quite difficult at first, as they did not want us to help them to clean their house, or put up decorations for Chinese New Year and were trying to shoo us away. With our teacher’s help, they opened up to us, and even though we were supposed to talk to them, in the end, it was our teacher who interacted with them instead, while I translated Chinese to English, for the benefit of my Indian and Malay friends. To me, this year’s CIP was something similar to a social worker’s job, helping others, which I found to be quite meaningful.
From this year’s CIP, I have realized the importance of having friends and family, and you should cherish every moment with them.Labels: Letter To Mrs Yeo
10:13 PM
Wednesday, February 6, 2008,
I woke earlier than expected, unable to contain both the excitement and nervousness I had inside me. It was the first day of my secondary school life. What do I bring? Who were my new teachers? These questions swan in my mind. I tried ignoring them, but they remained. Soon, I found myself carrying a bulky and heavy bag on the way to school, in my father’s car.
Upon reaching the school’s foyer, I hurriedly climbed the nearby staircase, fearing that I might be late. Standing outside the hall and looking around curiously, I realized there was a commotion. I knew all secondary one students were to assemble in the school hall, but surprisingly, there was a crowd of students ranging from different levels, waiting outside. Inquisitively, I waited with them, feeling awkward. A few moments later, there was a loud bell. Immediately, many students who were gathered outside started moving towards the side of the hall. I followed and soon found myself inside the hall. The hall was like a miniature Olympic stadium, with bright lighting that filled the hall. With signs that helped indicate classes, I soon sat down at my class, with a few confused faces following my lead. After morning assembly, classes of all levels were led by their teachers to their class respectively. We were taken into a classroom on the ground floor. Our teacher introduced herself and after we greeted her, she gave us our timetable schedule. We were told to introduce ourselves, followed by some ice-breaker games. An example was the “Blow wind Blow” game. An individual would have to stand in the middle while the rest of the class would sit down on chairs in a circle formation. When the person in the middle says “Blow to people with their shoes on!” , students with their shoes on, would have to get up, and try to find a seat. Those who do not have a seat would have to be the person who shouts. The ice-breaker games really helped to break the ice and helped us to get to know one another better.
At the end of the day, we were told that there would be a Secondary One orientation camp the next day. Looking years back, I feel that the Secondary One orientation camp made a big difference in getting to know my classmates and other students better.
(This was my homework!)
Labels: My First Day of Secondary One in 2005
11:09 AM
