The IOC President has praised Singapore's hosting of the YOG games. I feel that this act is a sign of acknowledgement that Singapore, a small fishing village, has grown to be a bustling metropolis and has proven itself of hosting and making a large-scale event, like the YOG, a success.

All of you must be thinking : "How has the YOG have anything to do with Language Arts?"
Well, for once, I feel that the success of Singapore can be indirectly tied to Hwa Chong's school values of J-TIGERR.

J - Joy
T - Teamwork
I - Integrity
G - Global Perspective (Especially this value)
E - Excellence
R - Resilience
R - Respect

And I also believe that school lessons play a certain role in inculcating these important values in us, future pillars of success.

1A109 left the world of darkness on 1:07 AM

HI GUYS!! I will be posting for the second time today as I desperately need some ACE points ...
I will be talking about the Youth Olympic Flame! Although I don't really understand what link it has to language arts, but still, I find it an interesting topic and would like to share with you guys!!

I find it really amazing that Singapore, a small island, can create history by hosting the FIRST Youth Olympic Games! From a mere fishing village to a crowded metropolis, we have progressed pretty far in the short 40 Years.

I have witnessed the Youth Olympic Flame for the first time LIVE as it passed by my school, along with other Youth Olympians running with it. I can imagine how glorious it must be to just be running along with the torch! Speaking of which, a local Singaporean boy, aged 12, actually RAN with the torch for 15 km, or rather, 2.5 Hours WITHOUT STOPPING!!!!! Don't forget to include the fact that he ran in FLIP-FLOPS and got DRENCHED in rain in the process.

I am impressed by the boy's dogged determination, and hope that I can use him as a benchmark HAHAHA.

1A109 left the world of darkness on 7:22 AM

Hi all.
Today I will be blogging about a book that I have analysed and went through in school, called Emily of Emerald Hill.
All in all, I feel that the book is rather dry, as the book mainly touched on events that were happening in the past. To be frank, I am not quite a fan of History :). However, there were various scenes in the book that was touching and they were able to evoke sympathy from me, to the main character of the book, Emily, and yes, the book revolves around the life of Emily.
Hearing a woman tell her tale isn't exactly what I would like to reminisce about, but I have inevitably experienced how lucky I am to be born in this generation, in this modern age. In the past, people often had to go hungry and their only worry was of staying alive. Now, money is dished out by my parents.
The book has taught me not to take things for granted, and to cherish what I have.

1A109 left the world of darkness on 5:38 AM

Hi everyone.

I will be posting on my revision tactics for my upcoming tests!!!! :D

Firstly, I will try to create more time to revise for my subjects. Some ways of doing this are: Not staying back after school to slack , play less computer games and ISOLATE oneself from the outside world to minimize distractions. Of course, I was kidding about the isolationist part.

Sometimes when I reach home early with the plan of revising my homework and hopefully complete some ACE, I have a sudden urge to play games. I don't know if it works for you guys, but a way that I utilize to control this sudden urge is to plug in my earphones immediately and listen to KOREAN POP SONGS ..... or any other songs that appeal to me :). This will temporarily take my mind off games and focus on studying.

Also, I always try to tell myself that I will always have time to play games AFTER exam period. I take this as a kind of motivation for me to continue putting in effort and hard work into my studies and hopefully get into a good class next year. (NO 3Q PLEASE.)

For the first two terms, I have regretfully been slacking. Yes, slacking. This caused my grades to be HORRIBLE.. and my ACE points are, sad to say, disappointing. The criteria for promotion to Secondary 3 IP stream is of IS being B4. IS is a topic consisting of project work and ACE. Unfortunately, I didn't do too well for ACE for the last two terms AND NOW my project grades are suckish, to say the least. What I can really hope for now is to buck up, do all my ACE and study hard, and hope that I will make it to Secondary 3 IP stream.

Time to revise! BYE :D

1A109 left the world of darkness on 3:04 AM

Children In The Darkness:

1) Point of View:

This poem is recited in the narrative form.

2) Situation and Setting:

The background for the poem is set during the period of war, or rather, the period BEFORE an imminent war. It also sets a certain gloomy atmosphere over the whole poem by emphasizing the consequences of war, even affecting children.

3) Language/Diction:

In the poem, the author includes imagery of war, such as "war consume them", and the use of diction in "consume" and "body and soul", further emphasizing the tragedy and destruction of war itself.

4) Personal Response:

Personally, I feel that war should not be advocated due to the extensive destruction it can cause to both parties participating in the war. In this poem, I feel that the author expressed his concern for children and the riskiness of war adequately.

1A109 left the world of darkness on 4:47 PM

Today I will be analysing a poem entitled "Children in the Darkness".

This poem summarises the tragedy and despair of war itself. In the first stanza of the poem, the line "There are children in the darkness who someone will teach to fight" emphasizes the extensive influence of war, spreading to even young and innocent children.

In the second stanza of the poem, the lines "And these children are not free" and "To this door there is no key" further emphasizes the lack of freedom accompanied by war, and the consequences war might bring towards the children's future, in terms of education etc.

In the third stanza of the poem, the author reflects on how someone could at least sympathize with these children by "simply lighting a candle","give them half a chance","teach them how to read" and "teach them how to dance".

However, in the fourth stanza of the poem, the author contemplates about the survival of these children, whether they would be "consumed" by the war, their "blood poured down some endless and thirsty hole".

In the last stanza, the poem goes full circle by reiterating the word "darkness". As such, it gives the reader a feeling of certain injustice and sympathy toward the children, as they had died before they had even started to experience life.

Overall, in this poem there are several cases of conflict.

The first conflict is between sympathizing with the children in contrast to letting the war "consume" them.

1A109 left the world of darkness on 4:23 PM

Hello. I am posting for the second time today. I wouldn't have chose to post twice in a day but alas, TIME DOES NOT PERMIT! HAHA. So, the second topic that I would like to discuss about is my upcoming Basketball Tournament.

As all of you know, Basketball is a physically and mentally demanding sport that requires various aspects of coordination such as teamwork in order to win the game. Nonetheless, our personal fitness and basketball skills must also fit the bill. Actually, Basketball can be a fun and relaxing sport if played correctly.

Watching a set play go smoothly will cause you to feel immense pleasure!

For those that do not have a basic understanding of basketball yet, a set play defines a plan of actions in particular pre-determined situations, such as basketball formations.

Haha, I guess most of you are getting bored already, considering my constant rambling about basketball. But hey, there's always a plus point to being a sportsperson! Keeping fit and presentable is one of them, but the other one is: Girls are attracted to sportspeople.!! HAHHA.

I hope the teacher wouldn't penalize me on that :( I was stating a fact.

1A109 left the world of darkness on 3:51 AM