I think why some people support globalisation is because of the hefty sum of money that they will profit, and no doubt this people are the rich. This may be the cause of why the gap between the rich and the poor are widening - rich people owns more property which would give them more profit while the poor labour hard work for just a few dollars which does not go far in today's society ( they work for the rich ). But I also think that the cause of globalisation is due to sheer greed, greedy to be the best which leads to invention and soon after globalisation.
Why should the poor work long hours and get a small pay while the rich are actually having more of the benefit when they already have more than enough money to support themselves and their family?
Supporters of globalisation maybe those who are actually making money out of it. Of course, who would not support something that would bring money to their doorstep? Others may also support globalisation as the world is developing at such a fast rate that any brief cease in trade, invention, etc, would leave them far behind from the developing countries and catching up would prove a tough job to do. Hence, not wanting to fall behind, globalisation is much appreciated. It is like a race that has no finishing point.
But having billions and billions of people in the world, there are bound to have some people that would think otherwise. One of the cons of globalisation would be grave adverse impact on those who lack in trade, invention, etc. Adverse impacts sufferings are much more serious than those who are benefitting handsomely from globalisation. Those who oppose globalisation may feel that globalisation has led them beyond rescue - poverty and later on an epidemic due to the lack of funds globalisation had on them thus not being able to build a country's necessities such as proper sanitations. These people would than think that the extinction of globalisation would benefit all rather than the existance of globalisation that we all thought was good.
I, myself, oppose the issue of the topic to a certain extent. Globalisation has led to me having the lifestyle that I enjoy today and also invention such as a cure for once thought incurable disease. Globalisation has also made everything around us more easier such as aeroplane which made travelling a lot more efficient and faster. But the negative impacts weighs more than the positive impacts. Countries have become poorer which can lead to resentment between countries which gives rise to tension which would lead to war that is unfavourable. People are also starving and having disease just beacause of the lack of funds to have agriculture and proper sanitation. And the root of all this problems is globalisation.
I would rather lose globalisation and have a slight drop in my living standards to help those who are in real need of help, those that have fallen into a trap because of globalisation.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
My favourite food
My friends have always said that their favourite food would be chicken rice, a popular local dish commonly found at coffeeshops. I think it is a form of excuse to avoid thinking what is the one dish they actually like since Singapore offers a kaleidoscope of good food. Unlike my friends, my one favourite dish is called " blood and gut".
Interesting name and dish some of you may find, but never judge a book by its cover! The dish is not at all interesting, but simple I would say. Made with potatoes, cheese and bacon bits, it is sure that you will fall in love with potatoes once you have taken a bite of "blood and gut".
The potatoes ( baked in the oven for one hour ) are taken away from their skin leaving the skin in a bowl-like shape. It is than mixed with cheese, after which the potatoes are put back onto the skin and baked in the oven for another fifteen minutes before adding the bacon bits as toppings.
Once cooked, an alluring smell would fill the air and tasting it would just get better. Once placed in your mouth, the taste of potatoes would slowly give way to the taste of cheese which would taste so creamy in your mouth. Just as the cheese is about to slide down your throat, munch on the brownish-red bacon bits ( which gives a "awakening" crunch ) which would end your first try of "blood and gut" perfectly.
Having no flat base, the potatoes resembles a placed-side-way volcano. With the potatoes lying on its side and having steep sides with cheese oozing from within, it truely resembles a volcano given the exception that it looks heavenly.
Describing to you my favourite dish is no use at all, you will have to try it to believe it ( as for my muslim friends, you could always not add bacon bits which would taste just as good). After than you would understand why this oh-so-fabulous dish is my all time favourite dish!
Interesting name and dish some of you may find, but never judge a book by its cover! The dish is not at all interesting, but simple I would say. Made with potatoes, cheese and bacon bits, it is sure that you will fall in love with potatoes once you have taken a bite of "blood and gut".
The potatoes ( baked in the oven for one hour ) are taken away from their skin leaving the skin in a bowl-like shape. It is than mixed with cheese, after which the potatoes are put back onto the skin and baked in the oven for another fifteen minutes before adding the bacon bits as toppings.
Once cooked, an alluring smell would fill the air and tasting it would just get better. Once placed in your mouth, the taste of potatoes would slowly give way to the taste of cheese which would taste so creamy in your mouth. Just as the cheese is about to slide down your throat, munch on the brownish-red bacon bits ( which gives a "awakening" crunch ) which would end your first try of "blood and gut" perfectly.
Having no flat base, the potatoes resembles a placed-side-way volcano. With the potatoes lying on its side and having steep sides with cheese oozing from within, it truely resembles a volcano given the exception that it looks heavenly.
Describing to you my favourite dish is no use at all, you will have to try it to believe it ( as for my muslim friends, you could always not add bacon bits which would taste just as good). After than you would understand why this oh-so-fabulous dish is my all time favourite dish!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Letter to Mrs Sim
Dear Mrs Sim,
How have you been? Ever since you left the school, literature lessons were never the same again. I still greatly miss the interactive and enjoyable lessons we, had as a class.
Starting fomr this year, the dance club had a change in choreographers. Though it may seem like catastrophe to the club, I feel that it was a blessing in disguise. Firstly, I need not face the infamous ferocious Mr Benedict Soh and secondly, we have now three choreographers! One of them was the mentor of our ex-choreographer! The first item that we put up for the year was for the Chinese New Year celebrations held on the 29th January 2008. We were only informed of this, three weeks before the actual day and the next few dance lessons were a rush: A race to complete choreographing the dance. The dance itself was not the usual ballet dance which the school had gotten bored of, given the high standard that dance holds. It is one dance that is youthful, light-hearted and a contemporary dance. A dance that the dancers prefered dancing to. The costume itself was supposed to be casual whoch was a far cry from what we wore on the actual day. If I were to tell you how the girls got to wear those hideous costume on the actual day, I would probably take up two pages hance I'd rather not tell. But I can tell you that what I wore, stood out like sore thumb as it was a total contrast from what the girls wore. What I wore was a polo T-shirt with a vest over it, together with a chequered white three quarter shorts. The performance I guess was quite a hit as we received a roar of applause and Fatimah was doing the Hitler salute!
The next and final thing I am going to talk to you about is something I have never ever expected to hear from an elderly person as I would never hear such things during my visit to my grandmoher who is living with my third uncle.
The school held the youth hands-on day on the 1st February 2008 where students would do their part to help the community and the environment. For the seondary four students, we were to go to the elderly's home to clean their houses and to befriend them. My team was assigned to go to Geylang Barhu where most flats were one room flats. The first flat I went to was small, cramped and dusty. I have to admit that we did not do much there other than wishing them a prosperous new year and asking them about their family background as they did not want to trouble us by cleaniong their house as the touch community would do so every monday. The first flat we went to was owned by an elderly couple who have great-grandchildren and since they had two rooms, they rented out one of the room to a man with a belly! We felt that other teams would need help and hence, went to their aid. The house that I went to was something that has made me more appreciative of those around me.
The house was a one-room flat with ceramic tiles and had adequate amount of sunlight coming through the window to light up theneat and clean house. It has occupied by a 78-year old widow who had gone through several emotional and physical pain and has no children as she has given her son up for adoption due to her health. As she slowly unveiled her story, salt water started to well in her eyes. The physical pain she has to endure for the rest of her life is the back pain. It started when she accidentally slipped and fell, breaking her spine. She underwent surgery and doctors placed a metallic disc at the spine causing her to sleep in a seated position which was why there was no bed in the house. The next is the emotional pain that she has to go through starting with the heart disease that took away her husband six years ago and the hospitalisation of her sister due to her being senile. She said that when she visited her sister, it was so painful for her for her sister not being able to recognise her. She continued that it started when her sister's grandchildren was taken away by the current while fishing at Sentosa's jetty and it had taken a toll on her that she wept for days. The elderly lady mentioned taht soemtimes themideicine prescribed to her for her back was so costly that the thousand dollars the government gave her was used up quickly. So much so that she tried refusing to purchase the four tablets for seventy dollars. Given her age, she said she feels so useless in the world that she cannot do anything for herself that shje tried committing suicide at the window. At that time, Mr Chong was there and together Mdm Anita, Shen Faye, Aaron and Li Xian, we consoled her and comforted her.
The trip had made me understand why the elderly would rather want companionship to luxury. They have contributed so much to society that is why we are able to live the lifestlye we take for granted today. Why are some of us living in luxury " dumping " the elderly in a tiny flat thinking that the governmentwould look after them? After all, they raised some of us up and i feel that it is unfair to treat some of the elderly like garbage, like a chore to look after them. I now know why my uncles and aunties are spending time with my grandmother. When will the youths and young adults wake up and appreciate elderly. All they ever want is a listening ear! ( Is that too much to ask)?
I hope that this letter would be able to tell you what the school is doing to inculcate the value of heart of a saint in us. Do reply to tell me your opnion.
Yours truly,
Ernest
How have you been? Ever since you left the school, literature lessons were never the same again. I still greatly miss the interactive and enjoyable lessons we, had as a class.
Starting fomr this year, the dance club had a change in choreographers. Though it may seem like catastrophe to the club, I feel that it was a blessing in disguise. Firstly, I need not face the infamous ferocious Mr Benedict Soh and secondly, we have now three choreographers! One of them was the mentor of our ex-choreographer! The first item that we put up for the year was for the Chinese New Year celebrations held on the 29th January 2008. We were only informed of this, three weeks before the actual day and the next few dance lessons were a rush: A race to complete choreographing the dance. The dance itself was not the usual ballet dance which the school had gotten bored of, given the high standard that dance holds. It is one dance that is youthful, light-hearted and a contemporary dance. A dance that the dancers prefered dancing to. The costume itself was supposed to be casual whoch was a far cry from what we wore on the actual day. If I were to tell you how the girls got to wear those hideous costume on the actual day, I would probably take up two pages hance I'd rather not tell. But I can tell you that what I wore, stood out like sore thumb as it was a total contrast from what the girls wore. What I wore was a polo T-shirt with a vest over it, together with a chequered white three quarter shorts. The performance I guess was quite a hit as we received a roar of applause and Fatimah was doing the Hitler salute!
The next and final thing I am going to talk to you about is something I have never ever expected to hear from an elderly person as I would never hear such things during my visit to my grandmoher who is living with my third uncle.
The school held the youth hands-on day on the 1st February 2008 where students would do their part to help the community and the environment. For the seondary four students, we were to go to the elderly's home to clean their houses and to befriend them. My team was assigned to go to Geylang Barhu where most flats were one room flats. The first flat I went to was small, cramped and dusty. I have to admit that we did not do much there other than wishing them a prosperous new year and asking them about their family background as they did not want to trouble us by cleaniong their house as the touch community would do so every monday. The first flat we went to was owned by an elderly couple who have great-grandchildren and since they had two rooms, they rented out one of the room to a man with a belly! We felt that other teams would need help and hence, went to their aid. The house that I went to was something that has made me more appreciative of those around me.
The house was a one-room flat with ceramic tiles and had adequate amount of sunlight coming through the window to light up theneat and clean house. It has occupied by a 78-year old widow who had gone through several emotional and physical pain and has no children as she has given her son up for adoption due to her health. As she slowly unveiled her story, salt water started to well in her eyes. The physical pain she has to endure for the rest of her life is the back pain. It started when she accidentally slipped and fell, breaking her spine. She underwent surgery and doctors placed a metallic disc at the spine causing her to sleep in a seated position which was why there was no bed in the house. The next is the emotional pain that she has to go through starting with the heart disease that took away her husband six years ago and the hospitalisation of her sister due to her being senile. She said that when she visited her sister, it was so painful for her for her sister not being able to recognise her. She continued that it started when her sister's grandchildren was taken away by the current while fishing at Sentosa's jetty and it had taken a toll on her that she wept for days. The elderly lady mentioned taht soemtimes themideicine prescribed to her for her back was so costly that the thousand dollars the government gave her was used up quickly. So much so that she tried refusing to purchase the four tablets for seventy dollars. Given her age, she said she feels so useless in the world that she cannot do anything for herself that shje tried committing suicide at the window. At that time, Mr Chong was there and together Mdm Anita, Shen Faye, Aaron and Li Xian, we consoled her and comforted her.
The trip had made me understand why the elderly would rather want companionship to luxury. They have contributed so much to society that is why we are able to live the lifestlye we take for granted today. Why are some of us living in luxury " dumping " the elderly in a tiny flat thinking that the governmentwould look after them? After all, they raised some of us up and i feel that it is unfair to treat some of the elderly like garbage, like a chore to look after them. I now know why my uncles and aunties are spending time with my grandmother. When will the youths and young adults wake up and appreciate elderly. All they ever want is a listening ear! ( Is that too much to ask)?
I hope that this letter would be able to tell you what the school is doing to inculcate the value of heart of a saint in us. Do reply to tell me your opnion.
Yours truly,
Ernest
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
My first day in school as a Secondary one student
" Walking into the school foyer with him was no use at all!" I thought as Benjamin and I walked into the foyer with great anxiety. Benjamin and I had been friends in primary school, neighbours and more importantly, we were vertically challenged which was one of the main reasons why anxiety arose in us. We felt like dwarves in the midst of giants!
Another reason that caused my fear was the different types of people I saw. it ranged from those whom i thought, secured an occupation for themselve as a gangster to those bookworm who immersed themselves in thick books. The gangster-to-be had a mix of both males and females. The males had their hair spiked which I thought look like a chicken's butt andwore their pants way below their hip bone. So much so thatbthey sem to be "buttless". They spoke in a way that i would never forget. In each sentence they said, there was a generous amount of vulgarities or words like "lor" or "lah". As for the females who had fringe that hid their eyes, had their blouse folded in such that it would deceive others that it was tucked in. They also wore skirts so short that I personally would describe it as obscene. They would also be the last group of females i would describe as demure as they spoke the same way the gangster boys did. If I were to ask you to picture a bookworm, you would picture it either a worm with thick spectacles, a book and a scholar's hat or a person with thick glasses, wearing a pair of pants seated right beneath tehir chest> But the bookworms of Kent Ridge were complete different! far cry fom what you would have imagined. With the exception of tucked in shirts and blouses, they had their bottoms rested a little above their hip bone and had socks that were of height a little above the ankle. they looked so much better than those gangster-to-be who made themselve look "good. The bookworm, I guessed, were academic-elite students as they spoke fluently, occasionally using a few bombastic words.
The day continued on as we attended series of monotonous presentations of school rules, played ice-breakers organised and hosted by the student councillors and completing adminstrative work. It was than time for a school tour.
I would be lying if I said taht the school was conventional.Why? Firstly, the school had a school gym,one i know i would not use in my secondary school life. Secondly, a canteen, half the size of my primary school's canteen, located at the third floor of the school. Thirdly, a library that has a glass atrium. And fourthly, a gallery at the hall, which was meant for the seniors of the school ( now i longed to be in Secondary 4 ). But that was not something that was the "highlight" of my day. It was a comment made by an upper secondary malay female student. She said, " I hate secondary one students", as she strutted by my clas when we were outside the gym. I could still remember vividly her expression she had painted on her face. Her eyes were darted with fire that could pierce through me. But I took it as a form of jealousy toward us.It was liek a scenerio parents would see in sibling rivalry where the older sibling would resent the younger sibling just beacause they are being treated better.
As you can see, my first day of school as a secondary one student was filled with a mixture of emotion that from anxiety to intrigue. It was one that i would remember and one that I found unique as I saw the true colours of Kent Ridge that had been hidden in the facade of their open house. Even though, the events I had mentioned were not exactly positive, it still warms me to find myself experiencing a different life.
Another reason that caused my fear was the different types of people I saw. it ranged from those whom i thought, secured an occupation for themselve as a gangster to those bookworm who immersed themselves in thick books. The gangster-to-be had a mix of both males and females. The males had their hair spiked which I thought look like a chicken's butt andwore their pants way below their hip bone. So much so thatbthey sem to be "buttless". They spoke in a way that i would never forget. In each sentence they said, there was a generous amount of vulgarities or words like "lor" or "lah". As for the females who had fringe that hid their eyes, had their blouse folded in such that it would deceive others that it was tucked in. They also wore skirts so short that I personally would describe it as obscene. They would also be the last group of females i would describe as demure as they spoke the same way the gangster boys did. If I were to ask you to picture a bookworm, you would picture it either a worm with thick spectacles, a book and a scholar's hat or a person with thick glasses, wearing a pair of pants seated right beneath tehir chest> But the bookworms of Kent Ridge were complete different! far cry fom what you would have imagined. With the exception of tucked in shirts and blouses, they had their bottoms rested a little above their hip bone and had socks that were of height a little above the ankle. they looked so much better than those gangster-to-be who made themselve look "good. The bookworm, I guessed, were academic-elite students as they spoke fluently, occasionally using a few bombastic words.
The day continued on as we attended series of monotonous presentations of school rules, played ice-breakers organised and hosted by the student councillors and completing adminstrative work. It was than time for a school tour.
I would be lying if I said taht the school was conventional.Why? Firstly, the school had a school gym,one i know i would not use in my secondary school life. Secondly, a canteen, half the size of my primary school's canteen, located at the third floor of the school. Thirdly, a library that has a glass atrium. And fourthly, a gallery at the hall, which was meant for the seniors of the school ( now i longed to be in Secondary 4 ). But that was not something that was the "highlight" of my day. It was a comment made by an upper secondary malay female student. She said, " I hate secondary one students", as she strutted by my clas when we were outside the gym. I could still remember vividly her expression she had painted on her face. Her eyes were darted with fire that could pierce through me. But I took it as a form of jealousy toward us.It was liek a scenerio parents would see in sibling rivalry where the older sibling would resent the younger sibling just beacause they are being treated better.
As you can see, my first day of school as a secondary one student was filled with a mixture of emotion that from anxiety to intrigue. It was one that i would remember and one that I found unique as I saw the true colours of Kent Ridge that had been hidden in the facade of their open house. Even though, the events I had mentioned were not exactly positive, it still warms me to find myself experiencing a different life.
My first entry
This is my first entry for the Peanut butter and Jelly blog. And no, the blog was not my idea. Apparently, my whole class is suppose to do so as my english cum humanities cum form teacher instructed us to do so. This is a little unusual for us in Secondary 4 to do this but i think it would help improve our english which i think i desperately need! Oh. Before i go this blog is for my compositions, yes, my homework. So i would perfectly understand if you ever get bored of reading this blog.
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