HCI Annual Cross-country 2011...

As for this year's cross-country, I regret that I did not do my best. However, I am happy that at least one person gained something. As usual, I would have run with a group of people. However, I did not run with my usual group this time round. Instead, I ran with another person*, who was slower than the rest, who had no company to run with. In order to encourage him, I ran with him, hoping to motivate him to run faster.

At the beginning of the run, I saw him staying at the back of the crowd, looking slightly worried. I approached him, hoping to calm him down at least a little. He saw me, and started talking to me. Only then, I realised that he was one of the slower runners, even though he looks fit and strong. So, I decided to run with him.

During the run, he had to stop many times, and I obviously waited for him. However, after a few times, I started to encourage him to run. I would ask him if he were that tired that he needed to walk. He would reply 'yes' for the first few times. However, after a few times, I started to jog a little. He did not want to left behind as usual, so he tried to catch up. I tried to keep him from walking, but after running into the JC carpark, I knew he could not run further. So I waited for him and passed him a bottle of water. He drank a mouthful, and continued running. After a minute or two more, we reached the track, extremely near to the finishing point. Somehow, I managed to get him to sprint the last fifty meters and he even ended up in front of me!

Finally, we reached the end. We sat on the the grand stairs,talking for a minute or so before proceeding towards the Milo van for a little cup of cold Milo which would replenish our energy lost. In a nutshell, I feel that what I did was right, even though I could have done better, it is still better to finish together with another person, who was in that position because of me.

My term 1 LA test...

As for term 1, I don't think I did very well as I did not really focus on improving the range of vocabulary I used. In stead, I focused more on sticking to the point given in the question. Compromise. I used simple vocabulary and not the beautiful and descriptive phrases I usually do. However, I feel that I did a good job in sticking to the point of compromise and describing it. Overall, I feel that I could have improved my essay if I had more time to read over it and edit some of the simple phrases and words I used.

A book you should really read...

Today, I am going to recommend to you a book, which you should really read. you can borrow this book at the library, to save you the money of buying it. Samuel read this, and he is now on his way to the sixth book, which is actually kind of an achievement for someone who reads Chinese books all day long.

This book is "Cirque Du Freak", written by Darren Shan, who is also the main character in the story. "Cirque Du Freak" means circus of freaks in English. It is about two young boys, Darren and Steve, whose lives will be changed dramatically due to a small mistake. It is actually a book from a whole series, which is actually talking about how an ordinary boy turned into a vampire and all his adventures. This book is really worth reading as it is a half-horror and half-adventure story, and that it has a really good plot. However, the downside of it is that is has a range of bad grammar throughout the whole story. So don't embark on this book unless you know that your grammar is good and that you will not be affected by it's 'perfect' grammar!

So there. I hope that you guys will start reading Cirque Du Freak and know about the adventures Darren will go through and the tribulations he will face on his journey. Remember, it does not have the good English that you would want to write in your compositions!

My views on racism in the world now...

In my opinion, having to eliminate racism in the world completely is practically impossible. This is supported by the evidence that there was racism in the world centuries ago (genocides by the Germans on the Jews), and that there will still be racism further on in the future. Take the current situation for example, if you were given a choice to sit beside a Chinese or a Malay in a bus*, who would you choose to sit next to? Probably the Chinese right? This is an example of racial discrimination and marginalisation. However, as everyone can see, the world is currently progressing towards a less racist society. In the past, a Malay probably would not be able to survive in a Chinese school without being bullied discriminated against for one year. However, it is now possible, as a few have already daringly taken on this 'feat', and succeeded. Also, everyone can see that USA is now not as racist as it was decades ago. In the past, a black man would never be able to get a place in the government. But now, Mr Obama is happily lodging in the white house, taking on the honourable and respectable role of the president of the USA. This all proves that the world is now moving on towards a less racist society.

*This idea was adapted from Shao Xuan.

Anyone is guilty who watches this and does nothing

I feel that this statement is true, that when one sees others being discriminated against, doing nothing to help is wrong, especially when you know the person. Just picture yourself being taunted and teased by some people just because of the fact that you are Chinese and you speak differently from them. Would you like your classmates to watch and laugh, stand aside and do nothing or take your side and comfort you instead of rubbing salt into your wounds? Just last year, we all had a similar experience, one in which our ex-classmate was a victim. Last year, because of his poor results, weird behavour and work attitude, almost all of us marginalised and poked fun at our our poor classmate, Xin Cheng. Few people would talk to him and listen to his explanation, while most just made jokes about him and how people would end up as "Xin Cheng Number Two" if they did not do well for their tests or homework assignments. In the end, people of other classes somehow came to know about it and some even went as far coming into our class to mock at him. I was one of the few, as I mentioned in my earlier blog post, who actually talk to him when I have some time. Even so, he ended up having to remain in Secondary one and repeating the year. I feel that my classmates should not have done this. Instead, they should have also encouraged Xin Cheng to buck up rather than continuing on his computer gaming. These people, who ignored him, are supposedly 'guilty', as mentioned by the quote, for not helping Xin Cheng in his time of need.

Strange Fruit

I feel that the writer of the song intentionally did not include the word 'lynching' in it because he wanted the 'southern gentlemen' to think about the song's true meanings and reflect on their behaviour instead of just dismissing it as another criticising and anti-racist song. Come to think about it. If you want people to take your words seriously, you cannot just stuff your thoughts right into their faces and expect them to follow. They will probably just laugh at you and ignore you, just like how Jia Xin ignores Shao Xuan when the latter(SSX) tries to pull his weight on the former(LJX). That is why I feel that the song without the word 'lynching' inside is more powerful and influential towards the people of the southern states.