Online Magazine By TPJCians

Wednesday, 8.45am: My View

2009-05-02T12:19:00.002+08:00

I just realized about an hour ago that TPJC has implemented a new rule which allows students to report to school by 8.45am on Wednesdays. This means that school will begin about an hour late on that day. I came across a forum thread entitled "Wednesday 8:45am. whats your view?" which discusses on the pros and cons of the new rule.

A lot of TPJCians lamented that starting the school late on Wednesdays will not have much of a positive impact on them. Most of them complaint that they may have trouble boarding the bus due to the morning peak hours. Others grumbled that the new system may affect their CCA practice schedules.

Nonetheless, a few TPJCians are delighted by the new rule as they are given more time to sleep and rest. Some decided to give the new system a try before throwing a knife at it while the rest thought that it can never please everyone in the first place.

In my opinion, I think TPJCians should let the new system go through a trial period first. I believe students should still come to school early and use the extra time to take a quick nap before morning assembly begins. The buses and trains are often crowded with working adults during the morning peak hours, especially after 7.30am.

That said, if the new rule proves to be a failure after going through the trial period (of about a month), I have a suggestion that may benefit the students. Why not start school even later on Wednesdays? Some schools start at around 11am every Wednesday. CCAs are shifted and held in the morning on that day. I believe this is a more long-term approach to help students study and rest better. During test or examination periods, CCAs are often stopped and students step up their revision and will usually study till late at night. They can have more time to rest and not suffer from fatigue during lessons the next day. Furthermore, they can also easily avoid the early morning peak hour and take the 10am bus to school.

So Who Is The Real TPJC Hater?

2009-04-25T20:37:00.000+08:00

An anonymous netizen is on the loose planting his hate messages against the college on our blog. The hater is allegedly impersonating other students to cover his malicious act. One of the most prominent victims is Felicia, a JC1 student from Meridian Junior College. She had written a post to deny that the comments made in our blog was published by her. The culprit may be using the opportunity to further fire up the rivalry between the two junior colleges.

Below is a blog post written by Felicia:

This blog post is for those who are interested in the TPJC scandal,
here is what I have to say.
firstly it was Temasek Poly then now Tampines Junior Collage.
Honestly, I have no grudges against either
Temasek Polytechnic or Tampines Junior College.
Like, why would I go and offend them,
and openly put my name and bloglink and everything there?
to make sure people see my malicious comment,
and come to my blog and flame me?
how absurd.

I'm really quite put off by the fact that
someone impersonated me.
And I really don't know who the person is.
I'm really sorry to the people who were offended by
"Felicia''s comment and I feel as indignant
as you all would to the impersonator .

I don't take such events lightly because
I hate it when I get accused of things that I did not do.

To whoever who impersonated me, I really hope that you will stop it, really.
If you don't like me you can come find me
and we can talk it all out.

your immature act is really getting on my nerves
and I would also like to really find out why you don't like me D:

Source

The original comments made by the alleged TPJC hater and impersonator can be found HERE.

24th Student Council Elections

2009-04-12T20:23:00.002+08:00

Apologies for the late post. I had trouble getting into the TPJCian blogging account.

On Thursday, during Civics and Moral Education Assembly for the J1s, we were treated to speeches by the J1 students who are running for Student Council Elections as an Independent Candidate. Ready with a camera and a notepad, I expected speeches that would inspire and instil confidence in us, as regular TPJCians, that these people were capable potential leaders of the college.

All of them had past experience in leading. Ko Ming Jun served in the Boys Brigade and Stephanie Goh has experience in organizing Talentime as she was an assistant head prefect and a CCA president. I have no doubt that these people have the capability and the capacity to join the Council. But when they presented themselves up for voting, many of them fell short.

Most, if not all, of the independent candidates drew inspiration from Mr Barack Obama and talked about this new buzzword “Change.” They stood up there at the microphone onstage and promised each and every J1 TPJCian change in the college. I was left scratching my head. What’s wrong with this college? Why do we need to change it? The candidates mention change, yes. But they did not specify WHAT kind of changes they were going to make.

Some did. One example that sticks out in my mind is Poh Ju Zhong and his want to change the relationship between the school and its non-teaching staff. He stated that he wanted to have social cohesion between the two, because having an grateful student cohort will make the staff feel appreciated and hence will work harder to keep the school in tip-top shape. Koe Sin Ying wanted to promote a conducive environment for academic excellence by installing fans near study areas and encourage cleanliness. All the changes put forward were sensible, and more importantly, feasible.

Some changes proposed, however, just didn’t make sense. Payal had jaws on the floor when she proposed a J1 Prom night. She believes that the role of council is to make things more fun around the school. Voting for her, apparently, was a vote for a new level of fun. Roodra also promised change, saying that it is her “responsibility to make sure what we want in TPJC would be there.” She was a prime example of someone who promised us change, but didn’t specify exactly what kind of change it was.

There were two people who made me sit up and go, hey! I’m giving my vote to this candidate. These candidates were none other than Gabriel Koh and Joseph Lim. Gabriel Koh delivered a very well-planned, well thought out speech that didn’t just try to sell to us who he was. Rather, he stared off with saying that he was “humbled as a candidate” to be standing before us. That single sentence captured my vote, because it really portrayed him as someone who can stand alongside us and lead, rather than someone who just takes it by the leash and runs. His speech included references to Gotham’s vigilante and Barack Obama, which was very different from all of the “I want to serve and change” speeches that followed. He did mention change, but as a process that is long and ardous, which needed a combination of conviction, determination and a healthy dose of college values.

He even had a slogan! Vote Courage. He came off as someone who thought through his speech and selected the proper arguments to win votes, which probably reflected his character as well. He seemed like someone, if he becomes a student leader, who would think through everything that he does before actually acting on it, a trait desired in every leader. Gabriel, I’m voting Courage this year.

Secondly, Joseph Lim had me enthralled from the beginning. He had a pleasant, charismatic voice that was gently persuasive. He also managed to inject some humour, drawing analogies between his characteristics, and schoolwork. My favourite line was the one where he said that he could balance his work and his co-curricular activities because his “clockwise moments equal to his anti-clockwise moments,” and therefore, was in a state of equilibrium. Joseph Lim’s speech was informative and interesting, which made him stand out from all the “I WANT TO BRING CHANGE!!!! \(^O^)/ “ speeches. He was outstanding.

There were some that didn’t really have me convinced. Stephanie gave commendable effort by writing a poem, but it didn’t really tell me anything other than “Change is Stephanie,” and that she liked baked potato and iced tea. Wong Cyndia wanted to run for Council to understand her fears. Not very convincing as well.

Hence, these are my picks for Council Elections.

Joseph Lim
Gabriel Koh
Shermaine Tan
Poh Ju Zhong
Koe Sin Ying
Ko Ming Jun
Alina Choong

Please vote on TPJC.net anytime from NOW till MONDAY 13TH APRIL!

Interview With TPJC's TOP A-Level Science Student

2009-04-12T13:05:00.000+08:00

Written by Sheryl (09S03).
Edited by Hamid (09A06).

Leonard was previously from Dunman Secondary School and he moved on to TPJC after his O-levels. He shares with Sheryl of 09S03 his path leading to his success at the A-levels, where he emerged as TPJC’s top science student for 2008.

Sheryl: Let’s start with some background info. What subjects did you do in TPJC, and which CCA are you in?

Leonard: The standard GP, PW, Chinese, H1 Economics, H2 Computing, H2 Physics, H2 Math and H3 Math (NTU numbers and matrices).

My CCA was Film and Photography society but since it merged with AV last year I guess my CCA is now the Infocomm Club.

Sheryl: What an interesting combination. Was it hard to cope with all those subjects and commitments?

Leonard: An NTU professor conducted the lectures, so it was pretty manageable for me. I totally neglected the H3 for a period of time though, and did last minute studying for the final exam.

Sheryl: Hmm so what were your results like?

Leonard: Oh well, Merit for H3 Math. They classify the grades under Distinction, Merit, Pass and Ungraded.

Sheryl: So I assume Merit is a rather satisfactory grade? How about the other subjects then?

Leonard: Well I aced the rest of the subjects, except for Chinese because the minimum grade for university admission is an S.

Sheryl: That’s a total of six A’s right?

Leonard: Yes. Actually, I didn’t really expect to get A’s for my Economics and General Paper. It was really surprising for me because throughout my JC life I’ve been getting Bs and Cs for both subjects.

Sheryl: I see. So what was your motivation to do well then? Were you guided by a dream?

Leonard: Motivation? Lots of things I would say; my teachers, my friends. All of them were working really hard, and so I decided that I should work hard too. I’m also motivated by personal reasons as well.

Sheryl: Are you comfortable with sharing some of them?

Leonard: I’ll share one – my grandma. She passed away when I was Sec 3. She was a really nice person; always rewarding me whenever I did well for exams. After she passed away, I decided that I should do well for her sake. That was my motivation for both my 'O' and 'A' levels.

Sheryl: I see. I’m sure if she’s still alive she’d be happy to see that you’ve been working hard for your exams and feel so proud of you for being the top student of TPJC.

Leonard: Haha I would guess so.

Sheryl: Tell me about life in TPJC. Did you experience any set backs, and if so how did you overcome them?

Leonard: Setbacks?

Sheryl: Man is no stranger to setbacks! I’m sure you’ve had some.

Leonard: Well, I did take combined physics when I was in secondary school. When I went to JC, I took H2 Physics. That was a really huge jump in terms of content and depth.

Sheryl: It must have been tough.

Leonard: Yes definitely. I remember failing my physics continuously when I was in J1. Then after a period of time, I realized that the only way to do well is to practice, practice, and practice. So 1 month before Promos, I was doing TYS (Ten Year Series) every single day.

Sheryl: The Ten-Year Series is certainly our best friend. How about sharing your studying style? Did you ask your tutors loads of questions? Am I right to say that for your subject combination, your main studying technique would be to practice?

Leonard: Yup that is very true. In addition to practice, I always try to make sure that I understand anything that I learn and relate it to real life. If I can’t, then I use my imagination. My imagination can get rather extreme.

Sheryl: But I’m sure it helped in your studying!

Leonard: Definitely.

Sheryl: A lot of people say that going to JC equates to having no life. Do you agree with that?

Leonard: Definitely not. My class had a lot of class activities together, and most of that happened when we were supposed to be studying for our exams. You know, I believe the most important thing in JC life is to have fun. Working hard is important, but if you don’t have fun, sooner or later you’ll definitely lose all motivation to study.

Sheryl: Right. Do you have any comments about the TPJC culture?

Leonard: There are hardworking students and teachers, but of course there’s room for improvement.

Sheryl: What are the improvements that you feel should be made?

Leonard: TPJC should improve on its study environment. I think you already know, we’re known for our slack culture. For starters, I think upgrades to the school library are needed. I’ve visited many other colleges before, and I realize that our library is the smallest. And the libraries in other colleges are cosier than the rest; I guess this is more conducive for studying.

Sheryl: I see. Do you have any ‘secret success formula’ to share with our fellow TPJCians?

Leonard: Study smart, keep fit, stay happy, stay motivated and have loads of rest everyday.

It’s not enough to work hard, really. If you do a thousand tutorials but don’t understand what you’re doing, then in the end, you don’t benefit at all. Studying smart is the best way. How do you do that? There are many ways.

Like what I said, you have to relate what you learnt to real life or your imagination. Or you could do mind maps. It all depends on the individual’s creativity.

But before we can utilize your creativity to such an extent, you should understand yourself first.

For example, for myself, I love anime and cartoons. And so I relate my learning to these things. I’m also a very visual person, so I make use of diagrams to understand stuff.

Sheryl: How about the rest of the things you mentioned?

Leonard: Well, staying happy? Those who know me will know that I’m a happy-go-lucky person. And that really helps. JC life is already so stressful; why make it worse by putting on a sad or stressed up look?

Bottom line is, in tough times, always stay happy and positive.

Next up is keeping fit. It’s scientifically proven that exercise helps your mind function a lot better. So those who hate PE lessons, start liking them now because they have a direct impact on your studies.

The PE department is so going to like me for that statement!

Sheryl: I have a love-hate relationship with PE lessons. What do you consider to be healthy sleeping hours?

Leonard: Sleeping at 10pm, and then waking up at 6am. For those who can only study at night, this wouldn’t apply to you.

Sheryl: Tell me 3 things you miss about TPJC.

Leonard: My friends, the stress and…

Sheryl: Wait, the stress?! I’m about to die from the stress and you’re telling me you miss it?

Leonard: Trust me, after you’ve had you’re A-Levels you will slack so much that you’ll miss working hard. Oh and third thing, my hardworking teachers.

Sheryl: Any encouraging words for your juniors?

Leonard: Jiayou! Work hard, study smart. Believe that you will do well and you will definitely do well.

Sheryl: Alright. What are your future plans then?

Leonard: After my National Service, I plan to study psychology in University. Depending on the scholarship I get, I’ll either be studying overseas or in a local university.

Sheryl: I see. Finally, do you want to thank anyone especially for helping you attain such good results?

Leonard: Ah, lots of people such as my class 07S28, my other friends who were there for me and my hardworking teachers. Especially Ms Lim Yih, my civics tutor who has done so much for me for the past 2 years. Lastly, my Info comm juniors! I wish them all the best for their A levels.

Interview With TPJC's TOP A-Level Arts Student

2009-04-11T20:56:00.004+08:00

Written by Sheryl (09S03).

Some background information: Choy Wai Wan from 07A06 emerged as the top ‘A’ Level Arts student from TPJC this year. Despite having a challenging subject combination and three CCAs, he had good time management and did commendably well. The following is an interview done by Sheryl of TPJCian magazine on 17th March 2009. The interview had been slightly edited for brevity and clarity. Some extraneous material had been omitted.

Sheryl: Let's start with some background info… What subjects did you do in TPJC, and which CCA were you in?

Wai Wan: I was in the school's Drama Club, the 22nd Student Council, and also the school Volleyball team. My H2s were Theatre Studies and Drama, Knowledge and Inquiry, Economics and English Literature. My H1s were Mathematics, Project Work and Chinese....

Sheryl: Okay, that's quite an insane combination of subjects and CCAs. Was it tough to cope?

Wai Wan: I would be lying if I said it wasn't. Personally, I felt it was hardest to deal with both KI and TSD as they required a large amount of individual work, since both of them have an individual component that is assessed. CCAs are, well, CCAs, so they only happened on, at worst, three days a week.

Sheryl: Doesn't Student Council involve much commitment?

Wai Wan: Yes, it does. Especially during periods in which the Student Council is planning school events such as Teachers' Day, Promenade Night, etc.

Sheryl: If my memory doesn't fail me, you scored six distinctions despite your high levels of commitment in various areas and emerged as TPJC's top Arts student. That is really commendable! What was your motivation to do well?

Wai Wan: It was five, actually. Well I've always dreamed of doing Theatre after I'm done with my studies. It kind of started in my Secondary School days after quite a few school performances and also after taking part in an SYF competition for Drama. I guess that was what propelled me forward in my JC life, and was the main reason I took up TSD as a subject in the first place. I guess I was lucky in the sense that I already knew where I wanted to go, and everything I tried to do, or did, from that point on stemmed from that one reason, and so I never allowed any issue, or problem I have get in my way for too long.

Sheryl: Oops, sorry for the error. My memory DID fail me then, haha! Anyway, it sounds like much motivation comes from yourself and you were clear-headed about what you want to do. Tell me about your life in TPJC; be it set backs or victories. How did you overcome your set-backs?

Wai Wan: To be totally honest, I don't really know. I mean, I have had quite a few set-backs - though I won't say that I've had the worst of them all, but the thing about set-backs, for me, is that I never really forget them. And so they constantly form this nagging feeling of failure, or depression, at the back of my head. What I tried to do, of course, was to ignore them, completely shut them aside, but they just won't go away. So I kind of told myself that it wouldn't work out. I couldn't possibly (I'm speaking figuratively here) study with multiple emotions and feelings all jumbled up in my head.

What I did, then, was to put things into perspective. I wrote down every single negative thought that flashed by my head, word-for-word, on a piece of paper, a blog, whatever-have-you. And then, I would look at those things I written, think for a few seconds about what is making me feel that bad, and then think about how I can make it better. Sometimes, just writing it out helps already, because you look back at those statements and wonder how silly you were at thinking so negatively in the first place.

Of course, all this is personal, so I don't know if it would work for everyone.

Sheryl: That works for me too, to a certain extent… How about any memorable personal victories, whether big or small scale?

Wai Wan: Personal victories... For me, I've always really enjoyed the whole group spirit kind of thing, so I guess I would rank Orientations up there. There was a particular moment during Orientation which really moved me. I was Family Head of one of the Families, and I was desperately trying to get a group of people to learn the cheers. I could understand that they weren't really in the mood, especially since they were treated to a marathon of subject talks and lectures prior to that. What really touched me was when one of the group members requested her peers to start cheering and not keep quiet, especially when all the OGLs were losing their voices. At that moment, I realized that all it takes, sometimes, is a little bit of courage and guts to get things going.

I will never forget that moment; because our Family went on to win the "Fiercest" family award - which literally meant our cheers were the loudest. And the credit wasn't mine; it was those who got the ball rolling.

Sheryl: Hmm.... and which house would that be?

Wai Wan: Zeus! Haha... Back then our Orientation was not split up into Houses like it is right now.

Sheryl: I see. Alright... moving on… A commonly held notion by Singaporean JC students is that being in a Junior College (JC) equates to having 'no life'. What is your opinion on that?

Wai Wan: There's such a notion? Haha... I never knew... But, as far as I know, it's not true. I mean, in your JC life, you do all sorts of enjoyable things like have CCAs, hang out with your CCA friends, play sports, etc. But, moving beyond just normal school life, there is definitely room for some fun and games beyond curriculum. I mean, for one, we have Orientation. We have Friendship weeks as well as Songfest, Dancefest, Runway.

All these school events are there simply because JC students are not just mere students who study all day long. I mean, I shared my schedule not too long ago to many students, but I did mention that though it did seem tight, it was also flexible. That means, if I manage to finish the day, or week's, tasks early, I can CHOOSE to take the extra time off for, say, a movie.

I think another thing people fail to realize as well is that interacting with your friends in school also constitutes a form of social life - unless someone claims everyone around him in his JC is a zombie and doesn't offer much interaction. So, obviously, I don't agree with the statement that we have no "life". It's a groundless statement.

Sheryl: JC life has definitely been made more fun with the events mentioned above! Orientation was truly enjoyable for me. You never knew [about the notion]? Before I came to JC I was bombarded with warnings such as 'YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE NO LIFE FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS'. Haha!

Wai Wan: It really depends on the definition of what they mean by having "a life". I mean, if they mean that you have to be going out everyday, watch a movie literally every week, then it obviously won't work that way for JC students.

But I don't think the "life" of a person is defined by the amount of outings he has, or the amount of time he spends outside of school. If you compared a person bumming around everyday, and a JC student who studies till 4pm and then goes out for a dinner date and maybe an hour of shopping before heading back home, I doubt you can say that the JC kid has "lesser life". It's about the quality of the time spent outside of school, really.

Sheryl: Yup! How about sharing with our fellow TPJCians your studying style? Did you ask your tutors loads of questions?

Wai Wan: Oh, yeah, I did. Particularly in my second year of JC life, after all that foundational things have been built, so-to-speak. Because most of the subjects I took at the "A"-levels weren't examinable at the "O"s, they were pretty new to me as well. For me, I learn best during discussion, and it was something I realized while studying for my "O"s as well, because I realized I managed to retain most of the knowledge of so-called content-heavy subjects such as Geography and History after discussions with my peers. Because of that, I found myself constantly asking teachers questions, clarifying doubts, making sure that what I've been writing, or have been thinking, is clear and accurate.

When I discuss, I try to take note of my phrasing and not fall under the classic workarounds such as "yeah... you know what I mean". What I felt I needed to do while studying was to make sure I was very clear of what I'm learning about, how to phrase it when I talk or write about it, because in an examination, you can never write "Yeah… you know what I mean" and expect the examiner to understand.

So, for me, my studying style is centered upon inquiry. Whenever I get a piece of work, I like to ask what I can do with it, what I should try to do with it. For example, if I realized that in my previous essay a teacher wrote "good!" at a particular paragraph; I would try to see how I can apply that "good paragraph" to this new assignment. It was all about asking questions. How can I do this better, what can be adapted, why didn't I get this right, when should I use a particular phrasing, etc.

Sheryl: If we could write 'Yeah you know what I mean' for exams, I'm sure my paper will be full of them!

Wai Wan: Everyone's would be. Then again, that would make Cambridge want to slaughter Singaporean students; they'll write letters to us saying "NO, we don't know what you mean!"

Sheryl: Heh heh. Just for curiosity sake, which secondary school were you from?

Wai Wan: Hmm... To quote the school song, "Victoria... the school that watch'd us grow"… Haha!

Sheryl: Haha! So you're from Victoria School.

Wai Wan: Yeps...

Sheryl: Do you have any 'Secret Success Formula' to share with TPJCians?

Wai Wan: Secret Success Formula...If I had one I would have shared it already. But to be honest, sometimes this "secret" formula is right in front of us, but we just don't notice it. Going back to studying style, different people work better in different conditions. I guess the right formula is knowing the ratio in which you need to discuss, study quietly, and go for consultations. You need a balance or ratio that suits your mind and body the best. If you don't tire out your body and mind, but yet maximize your learning and training of critical skills, that would be the best case scenario.

Oh. My secret formula was lots of coffee! But that's because I study well with the smell of coffee.. I guess you can say it triggers a "studying state of mind" since I studied for all my major examinations since Secondary 2 with coffee, or near people who drink coffee.

Sheryl: Ooh, fellow caffeine addict!

Wai Wan: Yeah, but that doesn't mean we should like come up with silly excuses like "Oh, I study well with an hour of computer gaming after every hour of studying"... It doesn't work that way. Haha!

Sheryl: Hahaha. Of course it doesn't. For the J1s, an avalanche of tests is coming up and for J2s, the SA1. Any encouraging words for them?

Wai Wan: Nah, not really. I'm sure you'll do fine. The most important thing is not to worry to the point where you can't think straight, and not to be so relaxed to the point you're not even thinking. Other than that, Gambatte! Jiayou! Work hard! And... I've exhausted my repertoire of languages.

Sheryl: Thank you (: Comment about our TPJC culture?

Wai Wan: I think it’s not fair to say that TPJC has an undesirable culture. We've only been around for, what, around 20 plus years? With that said, culture and tradition doesn't occur without any reason. It is up to the students to create a culture of understanding, a tradition of excellence, and also a respect for both within themselves and the school. "We must be the change we wish to see in the world".

However, I do feel that TPJC has a certain vibrancy to it, if one bothers to take a look instead of glossing over. I mean, if you were at Dancefest, you'd realize that some students dance really well. And I've been wowed at all the TPJC choir concerts I've been to so far. Definitely, our students are interesting, and some of the things done can be pushed further to create an even greater sense of identity and unity within the college.

Sheryl: Thank you for the compliment about TPJC choir!

Wai Wan: Haha…I take it you're from the choir.

Sheryl: Yup! I feel that 'It is up to the students to create a culture of understanding, a tradition of excellence, and also a respect for both within themselves and the school' is very applicable. I realise that we as TPJCians sometimes think of ourselves as second class students compared to those from other better JCs.

Wai Wan: Yes! We should never think like that, we're just letting the other JCs have their way!

Sheryl: Tell me 3 things you miss about TPJC?

Wai Wan: Hmm…the people, teachers, the campus.

Sheryl: Hmm... Where do you intend to continue your studies then?

Wai Wan: Either NUS or overseas.

Sheryl: I see. Would it be a course to do with Drama?

Wai Wan: Yeap, definitely!

Sheryl: Okay final question; do you have any special thank-yous you want to say to anyone in relation to your success at the A levels?

Wai Wan: Hmm... Too many to thank, really... I mean, I would really love to thank all my tutors, classmates, friends, CCA friends from drama, council, volleyball boys and girls team...All of them gave me an once-in-a-lifetime JC experience and life that I will carry with me wherever I go.

Sheryl: All right. That concludes our interview! Thank you so much for you time; I'm sure TPJCians reading this will be inspired and motivated!

Stay tuned for the second interview with TPJC's Top 'A' Level Science student :)

[LATEST] TPJC Lost 1-0 To SAJC

2009-04-10T21:13:00.000+08:00

Latest news report from the Junior College blogosphere.

"TPJC was really invaded by Saints. XD Sat and watched the match which IMO was really exciting! There were moments where you really held your breath and wondered if the opponent or SA will score. It poured halfway and we had to go back to the shelter to watch which wasn't half as exciting cause we couldnt see the other side of the field. >=(

And then, SA scored! Super nice shot! Hehehe. And I still remember hearing the guy say ' Wah I watch EPL got instant replay one leh!' ROFL. XD

Hahaha, so the match ended 1-nil and we just slacked around waiting for Guangfu who was taking like a thousand or a million years to be done." - SOURCE

"tpjc vs sajc
saw cheryl n jake
n shawn lim who was in mjc but came to tpjc dunno for wad
sadly tpjc lost 1-0 to sajc.... =(
but its ok!
TPJC go go go for the next match!
the rain also kinda affected the mood" - SOURCE

TPJCian Magazine Welcomes New Writers

2009-04-04T15:58:00.001+08:00

Written by azhar.

I am proud to announce the new set of writers for TPJCian Magazine. They will run this blog while I am away for about two weeks in camp.

Introducing...

Nurliyana Omar 09S03
She will be covering on this year's Sports Day.

Siti Sarah Bte Daud 09A02
Her task is to blog about the 24th Student Council election process.

Abdul Hamid B Roslan 09A06
He will take over as the temporary editor.

Sheryl Yeo Hui Cheng 09S03
She had two online interviews with TPJC's top students this year. Her posts are scheduled to be published real soon.

I hope all of you continue to give them your support. Thank you. =)

TPJCian Magazine Appears On International Newspaper

2009-04-01T20:23:00.002+08:00

We did a blog search today and were pleasantly shocked that we were mentioned in an international newspaper 'The Republic' for our cyber-bullying articles. Check it out here:

[Click image to enlarge]

Hundreds Of Bloggers Protest Outside Ping.sg Headquarters

2009-04-01T19:15:00.001+08:00

Our local bloggers are getting impatient with the administrators of Ping.sg, a website which aggregates their blog posts. About two hundred of them congregated outside the Ping.sg headquarters, located in Kallang. Many raised their disappointment over the lack of improvements made to counter the problem of sex-related posts dominating the 'most popular' list. Some when further and demanded the termination of cheat profiles. This is the latest and so far the most extreme call by Singapore bloggers to clean up their online reputations.

Bloggers protesting outside the Ping.sg headquarters.

A group of bloggers holding their banner.

Chaos erupts when a blogger demands for more freedom to express his criticisms against the website online.

Even the children decided to take part in the protest to show how they were affected by the content shown on the website.

PS: This is just an April Fools' Day joke. The speech bubbles were inspired by the blog posts written by several Pingsters. Of course, the protest never took place (duh). Please do not take this post seriously, yeah? =)

When Blogging Is Unhealthy

2009-03-28T17:02:00.010+08:00

Written by azhar.

Sometimes, I do consider blogging as a form of therapy to help relax my mind. Have you ever noticed that whenever you finished blogging, you just felt a lot lighter? It could have been because you finally threw the heavy guilt away by confessing in your blog or it could have been because you have managed to release your strong feelings and opinions that used to bother your mind for quite some time.

Blogging also provides a space for us to develop our personalities. When we blog to share our thoughts, feelings and experiences, whatever we write becomes a subject of our readers' perspectives. People comment on what we blog about and present feedback to us. This process helps us understand, evaluate and improve our personalities.

Another positive impact that blogging offers is that it can help prolong our friendships. It acts as a medium for us to stay in touch with our friends as we keep our friends updated on our lives through our blog posts. Sometimes, it allows us to relive the sentimental (or funny) moments we had together as friends in the past. All these play a role in prolonging and perhaps strengthening our friendships.

Nonetheless, blogging can be unhealthy when we are addicted to it. Addiction comes when we rely too much on something for our normal functioning. In the case for blogging, the addiction sets in when we start to compulsively blog in order to satisfy ourselves. Where the satisfaction comes varies - it can be from earning huge advertisement revenues, attracting a consistently high traffic of readers or even a steady inflow of comments.

There are three reasons why addiction to blogging is unhealthy for us. First and foremost, it isolates us from the real life. It draws us further and further away from our family and friends. We are too engrossed in finding new materials to blog about and are too excited to figure out how our blog readers will react to it. We tend to spend too much time perfecting our upcoming blog posts so that standard of the blog remains at its peak. We check on our blog once every hour in anticipation of any sympathy or congratulatory comments by our online peers. We begin to lose our attachment to the real life.

Secondly, it can cause a withdrawal to us. A withdrawal is a symptom that occurs when we decide to reduce or discontinue our addiction. Anxiety can emerge once we make an abrupt decision to stop blogging. For example, when we are forced to go on an overseas trip, we may become anxious to know how the blog will progress. We worry that the traffic will plunge significantly when we stop blogging temporarily. In some cases, we may even be anxious to search for things to blog about regarding the overseas trip when we return home. Thus, we are unable to fully enjoy our lives, or in this case the trip.

Finally, the addiction may turn us into greedy individuals. And when greed begins to whisper in our minds, we tend to leave our character behind and blog recklessly. For example, we are not satisfied with the present volume of traffic and want to attract more readers. The fastest way to do so is to post controversial remarks or insensitive articles so as create a tidal wave (which carries our names with it) in the blogosphere.

Blogging can be recreational or therapeutic or both. It is an epicurean activity whereby we share our daily experiences and life journeys with our friends. It is also a quick-fix remedy for stress and depression. Nonetheless, excessive blogging can be unhealthy when we depend too much on it. When blogging becomes an addiction, it drags us away from reality and may poison our minds with greed.

Contact us: tpjcian@gmail.com

Sexting And The Accidental Porn Stars

2009-03-26T14:21:00.006+08:00

Written by azhar.

I first learned about sexting while reading an article about a tragic incident that happened to an eighteen-year-old girl known as Jesse Logan. She used to sent nude pictures of herself to her boyfriend using her mobile phone. When the couple broke up, her boyfriend forward her naked photos to his friends (what an irresponsible person he is) who in turn shared them with the others. Jesse's private communication with her boyfriend turned public as her sexually explicit photos quickly spread around her school and beyond. That was the beginning of a period of public humiliation and embarrassment for her; one that eventually ended her life.

She became an accidental porn star and was continuously harassed by the students via virtual social networks such as MySpace and Facebook where abusive remarks were dropped on her profile page. The relentless online torment became known to her family when she finally decided to confide in her mother, Cynthia Logan. Like any other victims of cyber-bullying, Jesse only revealed a small piece of the ordeal she was going through. Her self-esteem had already plummeted and she had lost the trust with the people around her.

Jesse's cheerful life ended gloomily as her mother found her body hanging by the neck from the clothing rod in her closet. The tragic incident has shone light to the dangers and consequences of sexting and the cyber-bullying that comes with it. It further raises questions on how we can prevent the same experience from happening to other teenage girls out there.

Sexting is often described when girls voluntarily snap nude pictures of themselves while performing real or simulated sexual acts and sharing them with the others (usually their boyfriends). I believe sexting is now commonly used as a way for girls to prove their loyalty and trust to their partners. Unfortunately, their private photos are usually exposed by their boyfriends when the relationship fails to last.

This could inevitably lead to the girls becoming accidental porn stars and thus possibly destroying their future. In this new era whereby employers and principals use the Internet to research on the backgrounds of their potential workers and students, one can imagine how the victims will find it difficult to get a job or enrol in a college. Worse, since the photos will most probably remain in the Internet forever, the girls may have to live with their dark reputations for the rest of their lives.

Nonetheless in the short term, what comes directly when the sexting is exposed (to the world beyond the supposedly private communication) is none other than cyber-bullying. The victims will have to face public humiliation as other students start to associate them with the sluttish behaviour and even prostitutes. Since sex sells (and mind you, it sells fast), the victims may even attract unwanted attention from online predators seeking for any form of sexual services from them. All these will eventually kill the victim's self-esteem and they may consider suicide to escape the online harassment. When sexting meets cyber-bullying, the consequences are often deadly.

According to cyberlawyer Parry Aftab, about 20% of the teenage girls polled by Wiredsafety.org said they had taken a nude or sexually explicit cell phone picture or web cam shot of themselves and shared it with others (who are mostly their boyfriends). 14% of the boys share these 'private' images with others when they break up with their girlfriends. And 44% of the boys polled admitted to have seen at least one of these sexual images of a classmate.

The numbers are alarming and most importantly it clearly shows the pervasiveness of the sexting phenomenon among our teenagers. Although there are laws to protect them, once the damage is done, it could leave a black mark in the victims lives forever.

That said, I believe the best way to handle sexting and prevent innocent young girls from becoming accidental porn stars is to effectively educate teenagers regarding the risks and dangers that comes with it. I am suggesting we set up a Facebook and MySpace group whereby users can be informed of the issue. Instead of blaming those online social networking websites, why not we fully utilize them to fight for our causes.

What do you think?

Contact us: tpjcian@gmail.com

Secret Revealed: How To Edit A Post In TPJC.net

2009-03-25T19:15:00.000+08:00

Written by azhar.

All right, I have to confess: I kind of intentionally sensationalized this post (a bit) with a catchy title. It is not really a secret.

Anyway, it has come to my attention that some of the JC1 forum regulars are complaining that they are unable to edit or delete their posts.

One particular incident is regarding Nurshahiylia Erdina Bte Sidin from 09A02 who wrote 'Also, you may also be thinking: Why this girl ah, just never edit her first post instead of posting in her own thread all the time?And that's because there is no edit button. So this is the only way I can tell people about which books are taken and whatnot...' in her forum thread which she used to sell her romance novels.

And just recently, Jonathan Wong Weng Keat from 09S29 wrote 'I think that the forum, no matter is school or class forum. We should have a edit and delete functions. There are some threads in my class that has been dead for ages and it kinda waste space and confuse people, so it would be better to have the edit and delete functions for all fourms in tpjc.net...' in another forum thread known as 'How can the college improve itself? Your views.'.

After reading the posts above, I feel that it is my responsibility (chey...like real) to share with you guys how to edit and delete your forum posts.

So what is the secret?

CHANGE THE SKIN!

(ok yeah, so how in the world do I change my skin, azhar?)

On the top right corner of the screen, select the function 'ChangeSkin'.

(uh uh, then?)

Then you are done. Now you can edit and delete your posts any time!

(hmmm...can I see how it looks like?)

There you go!

Student Suspended For Farting In Class

2009-03-21T12:51:00.000+08:00

Yes yes, you read the title correctly.

A 15-year-old student, Jonathon Locked Jr., has been suspended from school as he was believed to be expelling gas intentionally in class. School officials explained that the student's actions were violating the school district rule against disruptive behaviour. They added that the student repeatedly passed gas to cause the other children to laugh. They also claimed that the smell made breathing difficult.

Most of you should be laughing and shouting 'WHAT A JOKE!' silently in your minds right now. Some of you may start to question the severity of the punishment with respect to the offence made. Being suspended from school just because you farted in class seems absurd. It is a universal belief that expelling gas from our body is natural. Although we usually control the process so as not to expose it most of the times, it is inevitable that others around us may still notice it. That may be the case for the poor student.

Nonetheless, if the student had repeatedly farted intentionally, then he totally deserved the penalty. For all we know perhaps he was previously reprimanded a couple of times before and that the suspension was the final resort to teach him a lesson. The fact is that passing gas repeatedly and loudly is disrupting the class (unless of course he has a medical condition). Some will laugh and the others will be forced to pinch their noses instead of paying attention to whatever that is shown on the screen.

What do you think?

Video Of The Month (March)

2009-03-18T17:13:00.002+08:00

A truly touching video reflecting the powerful connection between a father and his disabled son.

For more information regarding Team Hoyt, please click HERE and HERE.

How TPJC.net Can Help The College Save Costs

2009-03-17T14:12:00.000+08:00

Written by azhar.

I have read a lot of students lamenting about the lack of funds that the college has. Most of them cited the problem as the answer to why more CCAs here are closing down. I believe the college administration is trying all it can to preserve the CCAs longer but the high costs of maintaining them is forcing them to act otherwise.

The most practical way to help boost up the CCA funds is to reduce the operating costs of the college. I am referring to the electricity and water bills. Every student plays a part in trimming the costs. However, they need to be aware of the problem before volunteering in it. TPJCians should be informed of the monthly electricity and water consumption. This is the first step to a collective effort to reduce the operating costs of their school.

This is where TPJC.net can come in handy. I suggest that it display monthly statistics of the college's electricity and water bills. When students finally realize that the number is too high or shooting up, they will begin to understand where all the funds are going too. From there, students may start changing their poor wasteful habits in college, thus saving costs in the long run. The statistics can also be used to educate students on the environmental disasters associated with, lets say, the over-consumption of electricity.

Since TPJC.net is the official student portal visited by hundreds of TPJCians each day, the suggestion may just be the answer to help the college retain its CCAs in the long run, at the same time being green.

What do you think of it?

Real Life, Hands On Economics

2009-03-15T13:38:00.000+08:00

Written by azhar.

For those of you taking Economics, this post may be an insightful one for you. It has been three months since I took up the job as a cashier in the oldest supermarket chain in Singapore, Cold Storage. I have gained a lot of knowledge there, up to the point that I wished I had known all that I learnt before taking up Economics two years ago. The hands on approach to learning Economics helps me to understand the concepts better. Most importantly, it provides me with an opportunity to witness first-hand, in real life, how huge companies utilize the strategies and policies taught in college to maximize their profits and stay competitive.

I have decided to make this post more interesting with real examples and hope it can aid your understanding in some Economic theories. The topic for this post will be on non-price competition.

Non-price competition
In college, I remembered how my tutor would explain the idea of non-price competition. Advertising, excellent service and sales promotions were the three things that she would usually touch on. Well, I am here to share with you how supermarket giants use non-price competition to compete with each other... out of the textbook!

The Self-Pack Rule
This is a relatively new rule introduced by NTUC Fairprice. Customers will have to pack the goods they bought themselves after making payment. My mother, who is a regular NTUC Fairprice customer, had tried it before and told me that the rule actually helped clean up the queue faster. I believe this innovative rule can help improve the quality of service of the supermarket giant.

Full Refund Given
This is what Cold Storage is known for. The supermarket chain emphasizes a lot on quality and freshness of its goods and items. As a cashier, I have witnessed how strict the conditions that the vegetables and fruits have to meet before being displayed on the shelves. Apples which are not yet rotten but are about to, are thrown away or sold to staff members at a discounted price. The company incurs extra costs of training its staff of the latest food safety techniques. Expiry checks are conducted occasionally. The expiry date of the items, especially for canned goods, must be at least two months ahead of the expiry check. We are human beings and sometimes slightly rotten fruits or expired products are overlooked. If customers happen to purchase and discover them after payment, a full refund will be given.

This is how Cold Storage compete with NTUC Fairprice. Although the items sold by the former hold more expensive price tags, there are customers who still buy them. The reason being is because of the quality ensured of the (mostly) imported products. Step inside a Cold Storage store and you should be able to view banners here and there guaranteeing customers of the finest quality in its items and showcasing the full refund policy.

Spend $30 And Receive One Stamp
This is a very popular non-price competition strategy used by supermarket giants such as NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage. The idea is that for every $30 spent in a single transaction, customers will be given a stamp. They need to collect a minimum amount of stamps to redeem a free frying pan (or any other gifts). Cold Storage is currently holding this promotion whereby customers can redeem a free Wedgwood kitchenware.

Product Differentiation
As a cashier, I have scanned thousands of products from hundreds of brands every single day. It is really interesting how companies within the same industry are competing with each other to claim a bigger market share. A very good example is the toothpaste/toothbrush oligopoly industry, dominated by Darlie, Colgate and Kodomo Lion. Colgate designs toothbrushes with pictures of popular cartoon figures such as Spongebob Squarepants. Kodomo Lion, on the other hand, competes by mass producing toothpastes with fruity flavours!

Outlet Design
A few months, the Cold Storage outlet I was working for underwent a renovation. Guess what was the renovation all about? The management had decided to reserve a portion of the outlet for Singapore Pools despite the extra costs for hiring and training of new staff! This is their plan:

1) We all know how popular Singapore Pools is, right?

2) So why not obtain a license and open one in the store...

3) Customers can then drop by and purchase items from Cold Storage...

4) More sales!

Wa-la! It worked like a charm. And believe it or not, a NTUC Fairprice outlet located just opposite my house had just included a small Singapore Pools booth in its store recently.

That's about it for today. =)

New Rule For Comments

2009-03-12T14:21:00.003+08:00

With effect from today (12th March 2009), comments posted below every new update in our official TPJCian Magazine (2009) forum thread will be copy pasted in the blog. Your name and class will also be published alongside the comments.

The objective of the new rule is not only to make sure that this blog does not look abandoned, but to also ensure that readers write comments responsibly. Please let us know what you think of it.

TPJC A-Level '08 Results: The Outcome

2009-03-10T20:08:00.002+08:00

Written by azhar.

By now, most of you should have received the news that our college did significantly better this year than before for the A-Level examinations. Our Principal, Ms Helen Choo, was clearly elated by the outcome, adding that the 2007 batch was the turning point in the college's A-Level results record. Teachers lauded the amazing achievements as they highlighted students who performed extremely well and those who overcame all odds to attain their truly deserved As.

The top Science student this year was Lim Jun Yang Leonard from 07S28. Meanwhile, Choy Wai Wan from 07A06 emerged as the top Arts student this year. Despite his heavy workload as a Student Councillor and Theatre Studies student, he still managed to impress his teachers and schoolmates around him with the wonderful feat. Miss Norzian, Wai Wan's civics tutor, even mentioned that she was very proud to have such a brilliant student in her class.

In her speech, Ms Choo also highlighted the subjects which did very well for the college in last year's A-Level examinations, particularly English Literature. She explained how the subject committee was short of staff when two teachers resigned to pursue their other dreams. The college then had to recruit new teachers who had minimal teaching experience. Nonetheless, the teachers' hard work and dedication, coupled with the cooperation given by the English Literature students, managed to produce fantastic results.

Finally, after about an hour of talking and clapping and talking and clapping, our beloved civics tutors were finally authorized to hand out the result slips to us individually. Some of us screamed with joy while others only had tears rolling down their cheeks. I saw students hugging their teachers and thanking them for their guidance. It was a pleasant sight and I hope the next batch will get to experience the same thing, except perhaps even better.

The Most Outrageous Joke In TPJC.net

2009-03-06T21:58:00.004+08:00

Written by azhar.

I wonder what was on Joshua's mind when he decided to submit this joke:

"What is the difference between lectures and tutorials?

During lectures, the teachers lecture (scold) you.

During tutorials, the teachers tutor you.

So feel free to skip lectures, but attend all tutorials."

He literally - yes LITERALLY - suggested students to skip lectures. Thirty students (and counting) have given the so-called joke a thumb down. I hope Bangar Rachit will not defend him and reply by informing us to respect his opinions this time. What do you think? Do you consider whatever that is written above a joke?

[SHOWCASE] The Greatest Mum

2009-03-05T21:14:00.001+08:00

Written by azhar.

I just received this video from a close relative of mine via email. It is a touching story about a mother who takes care of her disabled child. I hope the video teaches you the important lesson that we must never give up no matter how difficult or complicated the obstacles in life are.

TPJC Mass Dance '09: Poll Results

2009-03-05T19:04:00.006+08:00

Below are the results of the web poll we had a few weeks ago. You can read the original article HERE. A total of 86 readers voted in the online poll and we would like to thank them for participating in it.

(Click to enlarge)

TPJC Road Run '09: My Journal

2009-03-04T13:45:00.003+08:00

Written by Nurliyana Omar (09S03).

I did not start off the day with the most brilliant of moods. I had this fear of losing my life that day. I was not being melodramatic. There had been recent news about healthy young youths dropping dead during and after completing a run or a vigorous activity. Blame my paranoia...

Fortunately for me, the day began well despite the silent fear in my heart. I was not late. It did not rain. I did not have a morning stomach-ache. Everything was going pretty smoothly. Even the traffic to East Coast Park was smooth! My friend, Tanya, and I emerged groggily from my Dad's car and proceeded to the beach. I found that a bit off-putting as in my previous school, everyone would gather at the field for Cross Country. It did not make sense to me that everyone was supposed to gather in a small compound when there was a huge and vast place nearby. Despite the early hour, there were already many TPJCians gathered at the beach. There were also a few unhappy park users who seemed peeved at the obstacles they had to overcome as they weaved and dodged the TPJCians that were obliviously standing in the middle of the pathway. Honestly, some people can be very self-absorbed.

The buzz of activity started to escalate as more TPJCians continue to pour into the beach. Suddenly, I felt claustrophobic and so Tanya and I went to the toilet to freshen up. Although it is nothing new that a toilet at a beach smells funky, I still could not help scrunching up my face as the foul smell accosted my senses. What a way to wake up! I stifled a yawn. At the same time, I did not want to breathe in toxic fumes of urine.

I was momentarily confused when I stepped out of the toilet. There were some TPJCians with bicycles and skateboards all around me and that got me doubting about what exactly TPJC College Road Run was actually all about. I felt a tiny rumbling sensation in my stomach as I realized I actually had to run 3km with my own two feet. I should have inconspicuously "borrowed" one of those skateboards and hightail my way out of there. I did made a futile attempt to escape by nonchalantly walking backwards as I talked with another friend of mine. My ingenious plan was foiled since we were kept being pushed forward by oncoming TPJCians. Darn!

Now, before the respected reader starts branding me as a spoil sport, I would just like to say that I am not a morning person. So a thousand apologies if I do sound like an unenthusiastic brat. Do not worry. It gets better!

Anyway, soon everyone was told to gather in their Civics Group. There was a lot of commotion as people craned their necks above the crowd to view the placards which identify the rows for the respective classes to congregate at. It was actually very frustrating to see the classes being mixed up and not in order. I felt like a lost child who could not understand why people just love to walk and suddenly stop in the middle of the pathway thereby obstructing other people's way. I guess the Courtesy Campaign did not work after all...

Then, like a light at the end of the tunnel, I saw my class placard in all its orange and laminated glory. I was already perspiring. More waiting had to be done for reasons I did not know.

My classmate, Syab, was stretching enthusiastically. She was out to win it. I could have sworn I heard the Rocky theme song "Eye Of The Tiger" playing in the background. Anyway, Syab's enthusiasm soon rubbed off on me as I whooped with joy when it was announced that the JC2 Boys event was commencing soon. Or it could be the relief of not having to wait any longer.

I eagerly moved to an area near the finish line. One short stretch of pathway was cordoned off to allow the runners to finish the race unobstructed. I placed myself somewhere I could have a good view of the runners. Suddenly, someone announced that the first guy was approaching. My group of friends and I were totally shocked. Didn't the siren go off just a minute ago? Right then, my heart started thumping faster in anticipation.

There was an incident that happened that totally had me stupefied:

There was a guy who had just entered the little pathway. He thought that the pathway was the finish line and started to slow down. However, to his horror, and to the glee of the dude behind him, he still had the last short stretch to go. He was too late as the dude behind him grabbed the golden opportunity to give one more burst of speed to reach the finish line. The two guys battled along that stretch and it was pretty vicious. The poor soul was knocked down and practically did a forward roll on the hard cemented ground. I stood stunned after witnessing such raw action. I mean, it was not as if it was a national competition. Yet, I saw how competitive the runners were. I guess it could be the fact that it was their last Road Run and they wanted to have an awesome memory of the event.

Luckily, the good mood did not subside as everyone continued cheering for the oncoming runners. I felt happy in a sadistic way, watching all those guys huffing and puffing towards the finish line. I cheered pretty loudly.

Soon, it was time for me to get ready for the J1 Girls run that was about to begin. I positioned myself near the starting line but later on, moved to the back. It seemed like a good idea at first. I thought I was a genius for wanting to avoid the eventual stampede. But regrettably enough, I probably wasted more energy overtaking people as I made my way to the front of the stampede.

The run, for me, consisted of many short-term goals.
"Ok, my goal is to overtake her"
"Now, her"
"Then, her"
"Another one"
"Jeez. Even there weren't these many girls in TKG"
"(panting)"

I was gaining speed at an alarming rate. I knew I was going to reach my maximum velocity soon and prayed I would not have an attack of cramps. Along the way, I still managed to sacrifice some of the precious air in my lungs to wheeze out a few words of encouragement to my fellow TPJCians. Everyone was giving it their best shot- it did not matter if they were walking just as long as they completed the run.

Road Run taught me that there will always be more goals to aim for and achieve (Ms Helen Choo should see me now!). When there are goals, there will be progress. With progress, comes self-satisfaction which leads to a very, very good spirit indeed. In fact, funnily enough I felt energized after completing the run. Oh and by the way, the Milo from the Milo van was superb!

The prize-giving ceremony, later on, ended with much gusto, especially for Falcon house who was overall house champion. Credit was given to where credit was due and the top runners were given their moments of glory. There weren't any sore feelings at all I guess since everyone cheered heartily for one another. Endorphins are amazing!

All in all, I thought the Wednesday was definitely well-spent. You can't go wrong with music, cheers, a run and of course Milo!

'A' Level Results: Nervous Yet?

2009-03-02T15:32:00.005+08:00

Written by azhar.

The Ministry Of Education had just made a press release on the date of issue for the 2008 GCE A-Level Examination Results. It is now confirmed that the judgement day will fall on 6th March 2009, which is this coming Friday. We can obtain our results from college starting from 2.30pm onwards.

I believe these coming five days will be a nerve-racking experience for us. Some of us may be experiencing sleepless nights, while others like me may undergo lapses of concentration now and then as we are left counting the number of days left before the moment of truth arrives.

This reminds me of the day when our O-Level results were released three years ago, except in this case it is much more daunting. We all know the importance of getting a good A-Level certificate. Most importantly, we all understand the consequences of getting a poor A-Level results slip. I, of course, hope that we can all achieve great results but at the same time pray that the rest who did not do as well will have the courage and strength to accept the bitter truth, move on and possibly try again this year.

Till then, see you there!

[EXCLUSIVE] Singapore's Top 10 Worst Consumer Behaviour

2009-02-25T21:53:00.003+08:00

Written by azhar.

Working as a cashier in a huge supermarket for the past two months has opened my eyes to the various silly antics of Singapore customers. Most of the behaviour mentioned here may seem shameless and risible but they explicitly mirror the greedy, arrogant and thoughtless characteristics that some local customers possess. The list includes foolish manners by consumers which you may not have known before.

The tabulation below compiles the behaviour of middle-aged to old Singapore customers only. It covers both the antics portrayed by Singaporean citizens as well as the foreign expatriates living and working in the island too. In this blog post, I intend to highlight the dirty habits of local consumers in the hope that the rest of the society will not follow them.

(in random order)

1) Huh? Err? Hmm? *gone*
I do not have a problem with the influx of foreign talents into Singapore, but I definitely have a problem with foreign workers who expect us to communicate in a language that they use widely in their homeland. I have encountered many situations whereby customers showed poor attitude and rushed off when I could not understand the language they are using.

One of the similar experiences that is still vivid in my mind is when a young Chinese-speaking female customer (most probably from China) snatched her goods away from me and stormed off the store grumpily after failing to converse with me properly. It is as if I was expected to know and learn the language that she uses in her homeland. Can't she just be patient and wait while I get a colleague to translate what she was trying to say? What a bummer....

2) The Newspaper Browser
There is a rule stated clearly above the magazine and newspaper shelf that customers are not allowed to browse through the reading materials available. Well, apparently some customers have found a way to circumvent the rule. This is what they do:

First, they choose the newspaper that they wish to read. Next, they join a long queue and start browsing through the articles in the newspaper. They probably use the first few minutes to finish reading on the cover story. Finally, once they reach the counter, they look at the cashier and say, "Oh, I don't want the newspaper."

Amazing isn't it? (lots of sarcasm here)

3) Greedy Liars
The retail company that I am working for upholds the policy that if buyers are unhappy with the goods that they bought from its stores, a full refund will be given to them. As expected, a few greedy customers are trying to exploit the policy by attempting to lie all the way till they get their moolah back. Let me share with you two stories as told by one of my female colleagues who works under the Delicatessen section:

A few weeks ago, a customer came into the outlet, strolled to the Delicatessen section and before you knew it, began throwing insulting remarks at her. The customer bought cooked chicken prepared by her two days ago. Now, he was claiming that the chicken was uncooked. When asked to hand over the chicken for investigation, the customer refused to cooperate and instead gave a loud rude reply, "I gave the uncooked chicken to my dog!" She could not give the refund as there was no proof that the chicken was not well-cooked. The customer could be cooking up a story to earn the cash he did not deserve to get. In the end, the customer went straight to one of my duty managers who decided to give a full refund after checking the receipt. Till now, my colleague believes that decision was a poor one.

Nonetheless, the customer in the story below was not as lucky as the one above.

The customer in this story used the very same tactic as the one above, except for one key difference - the anomaly on the receipt. He was aggressive and hurled insults at my colleague. He then tried to fool my Store Manager while appealing for the refund. The outlet I am working for is located in Sengkang. However, the receipt showed that the chicken was brought from an outlet in Hougang! It was a completely failed attempt to get a cash refund and the abashed customer went home empty-handed, leaving behind his ego.

4) The Money Changers
This particular behaviour is actually quite funny when I look at it in retrospect but nevertheless, it sure annoys the other customers in the queue. I, for one, have a personal experience with people who love to change their big notes. I love to call them the 'money changers' and I enjoy sharing their antics with my friends, such as this one:

A female customer handed over the good she wanted to buy to me so that I could scan it. My screen revealed that it was a small sanitary pad which costs around $4 (can't remember the exact amount). She whips out her wallet, took out a note and passed it over to me. Guess what? It was a $1000 note!

I had no choice but to rush to the Cashiers' Room and change the $1000 note into smaller denominations. This usually takes quite some time, especially when the Chief Cashier is out at the washroom! OHGAWD! Next time if you want to change big notes into smaller ones, please do so in a place called a BANK!

5) Anti- Bring Your Own Bag Day
If you think that all Singapore consumers are in favour of the weekly 'Bring Your Own Bag Day' campaign, then you are wrong. There were buyers who questioned me where the money collected by the weekly donations are heading to. When I gave the reply that the donations will be channeled to the Singapore Environment Council, they were unimpressed. One of them even said, "Money go straight to gahmen! What's the point?!"

Other more experienced colleagues also shared their pitiful experiences with me. Most of them agree that the campaign is still relatively unpopular and unknown among local consumers. My colleagues added that at times, they were scolded after informing their customers that they were supposed to bring their own bags. Somehow, the buyers felt that the campaign was just causing too much trouble for them.

It takes time for local consumers to get used to the weekly campaign I guess...

6) Plastic Notes Only
I have customers who after receiving their changes, request for the paper notes to be swapped with plastic ones. This habit is especially prevalent among senior citizens. So what makes this particular habit bad, you ask?

Well, it turns bad when they insist on having the plastic notes at ALL COSTS. There are times whereby we cashiers have run out of plastic notes in our cash box. This leaves us with no choice but to act like beggars and visit the other counters searching for available plastic notes. Mind you, the other cashiers are also serving a line of customers. Lots of time is lost just to meet the strict requirements of the old lady.

Till now, I still don't get why senior citizens (not all of course) only accept plastic notes because sooner or later, the notes will be used! (for goodness sake)

7) The (Queue) Jumper
"Aiyah...I have only one item to purchase...let me go first lah," said the old woman as she forced her way to the front end of the queue.

This is one of the most common bad behaviour that I have witnessed so far. Queue jumpers are very annoying. I mean seriously, they are really really annoying. They may get away with it the first time, but one day someone may just teach them the lesson.

One of my colleagues once shared with me a story whereby she nearly quit her job because of a queue jumper. So what happened? The annoying human being jumped queue and when my colleague tried to stop her and refused to scan her items first, she retaliated and criticized her loudly. My colleague was so embarrassed by the incident that she ran straight to our Section Leader and wanted to resign. I told you they are annoying...

8) I Want That Free Gift!!!
Promotions are available all year round in participating supermarkets. One of the most popular promotions is the free gift. A very good example is the Sunshine Bakeries' free gift marketing campaign. Some of you may know by now that Sunshine Bakeries is running a promotion whereby a free packet of Hot dog Buns are given upon purchase of their selected types of breads. The thing is that the free gift are only available while stocks lasts.

Some customers just don't get it. They would request for a full refund if the free packet of Hot dog Buns were not given. Some would even accuse us for being misleading. There is no way we can remove the advertising brochure from the bread shelf the moment we run out of the free gifts. Oh and by the way, the brochure also clearly indicates that the free gifts are available while stocks last. I rest my case...

9) Where Did The Herbs Go To?
Thieves are everywhere and one of their favourite spots is the supermarket. Of course, they are not stupid enough to smuggle the whole unpaid product out of the store; so what did they do? Here you go, using a bottle of herbs as an example:

First, he chooses the bottle of herbs that he wants. Next, he opens the lid, pours all the content into the pocket before inserting shreds of paper into the now-empty bottle. Finally, he walked out the store a free man.

Not convinced that the strategy worked? Well, it happened last month! One of the Sales Assistants found the bottle filled with shreds of paper. And herbs are not the only favourite goods stolen; batteries are another easy target. Their small size makes it easy for the thieves to smuggle them out unnoticed.

10) Littering!
What do you do after you have checked your receipt?
a) Keep it in the plastic bag and dispose of it at home
b) Heck. Just leave it in the basket!

Rubbish bins are available at all counters. Customers usually check their receipts near the entrance. And once done, believe it or not, some of them chose to throw them in the baskets stacked up there. How do I know? I was given the duty to clear the baskets collected at the cashiers and re-stack them up at the entrance once. Well, you guessed it, I had to spend quite some time to clear all the receipts and rubbish left behind in the baskets. Sometimes there is liquid spilled all over the baskets. Ewww...

There you go, Singapore's top ten worst consumer behaviour! Do share with me what you think of the antics mentioned above!

What I Really Think Of TPJC...

2009-02-24T23:12:00.001+08:00

Written by Siti Sarah Bte Daud (09A02).

Tampines Junior College was my dream destination after the 'O' Levels ended, ever since I have made up my mind over the age-old debate of Poly vs JC. Why? I don't really know. I'm not a stellar student. My grades are perfectly average. I'm not good enough for the higher end JCs but not that bad either. Besides, TPJC has a pretty good Arts Course, and the Theatre Studies and Drama subject were a part of the attraction.

As of now, I have been in the school for a good two weeks or so and there are a couple of things that have already made an impression on me.

Firstly, what is up with the school's perfect symmetry? Block B and Block E are both painted yellow. They have the exact same architecture. They both have patches of grass right in the centre of the building, surrounded by brown benches. There is nothing to tell them apart from each other.

I felt like a headless chicken half the time I spent in school in the first week. I remembered once, when I had to leave halfway due to a TSD audition during a History lecture in LT2. I ran across the school campus to get to the Black Box, got completely lost, and ended up back outside LT2. When I finally found the Black Box, heavily panting and disoriented, the TSD teacher asked if I was this flustered all the time. I told her that it was due to the school having completely identical blocks and that I couldn't find my way around all the time. The resounding chorus of agreement from the TSD J2s was, if anything, comforting. At least I wasn't the only one losing my head over the layout of the $18.2 million* school.

However, this becomes a minor blip in my existence as a TPJCian because there are a lot of other things about TPJC that I really love. One example is none other than the college song. After a disastrous attempt to teach a less than enthusiastic cohort of J1s the TPJC school song, I went online and Youtube-d the College Video to learn the song by myself. Before long, I found myself suffering from major earworms for the next week or so. I don't know – there is something about the melody and the lyrics that made the song stuck in my head for a really long time. Ask my friends; they heard nothing from me except the school song for quite some time.

Plus, the first eleven words (which is only what most TPJCians can remember of the school song), 'Proud are we to be a part of Tampines Junior College...' struck a chord in me because that particular moment really reminded me that I was actually here, as a part of TPJC.

However, the thing I love the most about the school is the people. From what I've noticed, the regular TPJCian is heady, lively and a little offbeat. A lot of the TPJCians that I have met are very friendly. One good instance is the first two people I met when I stepped into TPJC. In the first week of our orientation, I recalled with fondness my OGLs, Jie Ying and Shahrin (OGLs for OG 18), and their lively antics in attempts to make us feel more comfortable in and familiar with TPJC. They brought us around the school, shared inside secrets and dished the dirt on canteen food. Furthermore, they weren't friendly only during the orientation period. I still do encounter them in the hallways and they always have a smile, a wave, or a piece of friendly advice to share.

But why do I say TPJCians are a little offbeat, you ask? Well, check out this video:

All in all, I feel really blessed to be here and be part of the TPJC family and I'm looking forward to my two years here! (:

Now if only, they printed pocket maps for all new J1s..

*according to Wikipedia

TPJC Orientation Camp '09: The Review

2009-02-23T11:48:00.002+08:00

Written by Abdul Hamid B Roslan (09A06).

I’ll be upfront about the whole event and start by saying that Tampines Junior College was not my first choice. Walking into the school everyday, by lunchtime I’d find myself feeling really left out and disoriented because everyone seemed to be settling in quite easily. Secretly, I’d hoped to be able to adapt as quickly as they could, and from there I started to look at this year’s orientation camp as something to look forward to; it presented a chance for me to bond with my classmates and find a sense of belonging with the school.

Lets skip back to a few days before, when camp was in full swing. It was Day One. We were told to create our Civics Group flag – symbolizing whatever it was that we wanted to embody. I got a chance to see how my class worked together for the first time. Everything went along fine and slowly, we got to know what each person could contribute to the entire group as a single unit.

The games organized by the councillors was stellar. I think it was the games and the whole “Early Bird Contest” (whoever was at the venues first was awarded bonus house points) that really pushed everyone to work together. The games helped us let loose a little and it gave us a chance to have fun together as a class while at the same time working under pressure. From becoming the figures of a game of football to vigorously scrubbing our hair at another station to get suds to fill a bucket, or using any means necessary to transfer water from a bucket to bottles of different sizes, we all learnt something new about one another (e.g. In times of distress, the mighty shoe can act as a bucket to fill things with), and that subsequently brought us closer.

Another thing that really stood out for me was the fact that we were always encouraged to cheer. This, I think, helped to create a sense of familiarity that we can associate with the school. Cheering was fun; being able to scream your hearts out and proudly proclaim yourself as a member of one of the six houses forged a sense of identity with the school as well as with your class.

Anyone who has kept up with this blog would have read about the issues surrounding the way the dance was choreographed. Some commented that it was not suitable for guys while others thought that it was too hard to learn all three dance items at the same time.

I will have to agree with them, but only to an extent. Learning the mass dance was not easy, especially when being taught by someone who cannot possibly check and see if everyone’s following the moves to the letter. At the beginning it was frustrating to see that repetition doesn’t count for perfection when you just can’t land the moves right. Furthermore, we were not given much time to really practise hard. It was like a mass dance crash course, though with great enthusiasm and the want to learn.

For me, I think the two main things about the camp that really helped everyone become closer to one another were the games and the cheering. Everyone was really enthusiastic about cheering for his or her own respective houses.

Another good thing to mention was the morning exercise on the second day. We were told to run around the school field while singing the school song. This was particularly hilarious because it seemed like as if most of the J1s then did not know the second verse of the song. So whenever we came to that bit of the song, all of us would just ad-lib with either “la la la” or some other inaudible sound. Eventually we managed to pick up the rest of the song, and by the time we were running around the track one last time, everyone was singing so loudly that it caught the attention of a few of the J2s who rushed to the railings at the study café to look at us.

That aside, I’m not the type of person who’d like to sugarcoat things and tell you that the camp went off without any hitches. Sometimes I felt like the reflections after each event was a little rushed and halfhearted. I don’t really think it’s feasible for people to set a certain time frame of which at the end of the whole thing, you’re supposed to learn something new. Let’s be honest here – no one is going to receive an epiphany if you time him or her and apply some good ole peer pressure. Everyone is going to need his or her own time to come to conclusions about the things they have done. Own time, own target right?

In preparation for Soul Night, each house was instructed to come up with a skit to advertise a product or thing. Being adolescents, you can guess as to the silly things we were told to pitch for. In spite of the odd product placements (come on, advertising hair?), all the houses still did their best to come up with something original. I think this helped us in terms of learning about teamwork, and being able to accept other people’s ideas and slowly come to something that everyone can agree on. I think I’ll count myself thankful when I say there wasn’t any creative friction whenever our Civics Group or the House was called upon to work together and brainstorm.

On the final day, everyone was really tired but some of us didn’t really want the whole thing to end. It had been such an amazing and memorable experience – we had learned so much and had so much fun at the same time – and the thought that all good things must come to an end began to emerge as the last day of camp arrived. We took part in a few more cheer-offs, watched a compilation of videos and pictures of what we had done for the past three days, and the next thing I knew I was already on the bus back home.

It is strange how the things you started out hating always turn into something you can truly be proud to be a part of. This year’s orientation camp, like any other, was organized with the intention to foster stronger bonds between classmates and with the college as a whole.

Well, I think it worked like a charm.

Parents Or Friends First?

2009-02-21T08:14:00.005+08:00

Log into Facebook and you see a screen inundated with status updates from your friends. They share their daily experiences with you and the rest of their buddies. Facebook has become a comfortable venue for us to air our grievances or lightheartedness among our peers. We know that someone is there when we are down and that he or she may drop an uplifting message to keep our spirits high. Moreover, we also know that someone is there when we are joyful and that he or she may join in and celebrate the happiness with a joke or two.

As the process of 'emotional amalgamation' continue to grow among our friends online, I believe that we may be less attached to our parents in the future. When we share our miseries with our peers online, we know and expect that they will be there to support us in overcoming the difficult period of our lives (such as relationship breakups and failures in examinations). After all, they are of the same age as us and are most likely to have the same set of thinking as us. This cannot be said in the case of our parents who may decide to hold a tongue-lashing exercise with us instead.

Let me provide you with a simple example - the dreaded relationship breakup. We usually share our relationship problems with our closest friends. In Facebook for example, the shattered love is even made evident when friends change their relationship status from being 'engaged' to 'single'. What follows next are usually consoling comments by concerned peers. By contrast, in most cases, we do not usually inform our parents when love cracks start to emerge. Somehow we feel awkward or nervous when we try to do so.

I am not sure if we teenagers are not drifting away from our parents. However, I am pretty confident that we are developing 'new families' with our friends. We are spending more time with them than our parents. We reveal the ups and downs of our lives to our buddies more often than we do to our parents. Our friends have metaphorically become like another family for us.

Technology plays a crucial role in the structuring of the 'new families'. In fact, it accelerates the whole process. Technology is evolving so fast that our parents are struggling to keep up with it. Mobile phones are turning obsolete and new communication gadgets and utilities are entering the market such as iPhones, social networking websites and many more. The digital divide between teenagers and their parents is the essential component that helps sew a stronger bond among their peers while having an opposite impact on the connection with their parents.

When teenagers start believing that their friends are taking over the roles as their parents, society will change. In the future, teenagers may no longer learn about the birds and the bees from their parents. Instead, they seek for knowledge from their friends. Teenagers may no longer share their problems with their parents. Instead, they rest their shoulders on their friends. Teenagers no longer spend their leisure time with their parents. Instead, they prefer organizing outings with their buddies.

I always believe that our parents are the ones that keep us back on the right track when we are lost in life. When we are drowning with all the hardships in life, they are the first ones to rescue us and bring us back ashore. If the connection between teenagers and their parents is weakened, then we teenagers will be left alone when trouble arises. We are now left to make our own decisions alone. Join the wrong group, and our future may be in jeopardy.

This may be the cause of all the social problems teenagers are facing now. Abortions rates and teenage pregnancies have doubled over the years. Sometimes we wonder if our friends really know what they are talking about when they offer us advice or if they are merely pretending to know everything. When teenagers hide the truth from their parents, they are sending a wrong message to them. Parents may be misled to believe that their children are enjoying their lives and as a result be more willing to pay more attention to other areas of their lives, such as work.

Can you see the whole picture now?

In conclusion, the reality now is that teenagers are sharing their roller-coaster lives with their friends more often and readily as compared to with their parents. They are more easily influenced by their peers now than ever. Moreover, parents are also granting too much freedom to their children as they are given a false impression of the real state of the children's lives. In short, the connection between both parties is waning and this may be why there is a rise in the number of social problems among teenagers.

In a family, arguments may strain the thread that holds us together but it will never break it. However, in a friendship, a simple misunderstanding can snap the thread that has kept us together for many years, in just a split second.

TPJC Mass Dance '09: The Informal Review

2009-02-13T20:40:00.001+08:00

Written by azhar.

The 23rd Student Council had just released three mass dance instructional videos for the upcoming orientation camp. The videos have invited mixed reactions from the new JC1 batch. Some of them love the three dance items while the others think the choreography is either too hard or too err... weird.

The team in charge of the college mass dance this year has chosen bold songs to accompany their choreography. Who would have expected them to choose an old pop song such as Wannabe, made famous by the Spice Girls? The other ~~two~~ three songs chosen fall under the hip-hop genre - Low (by Flo Rida), Run the show (by Kat Deluna) and Temperature (by who else but the one and only Sean Paul). As a whole, I would say interesting choice of songs. Although one of them seems to be out of place, but it is good (perhaps) to have something different to be part of the whole mass dance package.

All right, here comes the most crucial part - the CHOREOGRAPHY. Overall, I believe the steps are not too difficult or complicated. One thing I noticed is how they repeated certain steps (especially for the first song) over and over again. Although some may argue doing so eats up the creativity of the dance items, it can actually help the JC1s memorize the steps faster and better.

Ok, enough of the good stuff; here comes the criticisms.

Firstly, I do not seem to get some of the steps that are incorporated into the dance items. I did some research beforehand and found out that there are quite a number of bloggers (mostly guys) out there who ~~hate~~ dislike the male dancer. Apparently, the poor impression they have on him is due to the feminine steps he choreographed for the guys in the COUPLE DANCE. Hmmm...I am not siding any particular party here but I sure have one question in mind.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HE DOING HERE???

Perhaps you guys can help answer the question. I doubt that most of the guys will do this move....

Next, I know, you know, and we all know that the dancers made quite a number of mistakes in the three videos. It is completely fine if they made one or two errors here and there while recording the video, but more than that is as good as saying the supposedly instructional videos are corrupt. The dancers should have requested for more takes and as far as possible strive for perfection in the videos. Why? The last thing you want is a bunch of confused human beings dancing in the hall. Oh boy...

And finally, this goes out to all JC1s out there who may not like the mass dance items as much as the rest. I have heard and read some of your comments regarding them and am appalled by some of the insensitive remarks. Please do not spread untrue rumours that one of the dancers is gay and many more. Instead, show some appreciation for the dancers involved who have spent hours trying to figure out a simple yet fun choreography for you guys.

Till then, have fun!

The Student Council - Leaders For The Student Body

2009-02-13T20:32:00.000+08:00

Written by Wee Yong Choon Eugin (08S02).

The TPJC Student Council started in 1986, and has a long history of serving the student body and upholding college values. The new addition to our TPJC family – the J1s, may be curious as to what exactly is the Student Council all about. It is not just another co-curricular activity, but in fact, it is the highest form of student representation and leadership a student can obtain at the junior college level.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” This is indeed true as being a councilor is not as easy as what others think. The Student Council takes charge in planning the majority of the school events such as the Teachers’ Day, Council Investiture, National Day, Prom Night, Friendship Week and also the upcoming JC1 Orientation Camp!

The 23rd Student Council.

Not only that, being a councilor also means that we must uphold the school values at all times, such as integrity, perseverance and teamwork to name a few. We are also responsible for initiating new proposals and ideas that we deem will be beneficial to the school population as a whole. A good example would be the launching of the Good News Café in year 2007, thanks to the intense campaigning by the 21st Student Council.

With all these responsibilities and heavy duties tagged to the title of being a councilor, what exactly are the perks and benefits of being a member of the prestigious Student Council? Well, I would say there are mainly two things, which will affect your life in one way or another.

Firstly, it would be experience. Being a student councilor really gives you a lot of opportunities to excel in different areas, especially leadership. You get the chance to do tasks you have never attempted before – like writing detailed proposals, where you acquire skills you need in the workforce. Or perhaps more relevant to me, doing videos for the respective events and the compliments and praises that comes after the student body watches it, really makes you feel your effort is all worthwhile. Furthermore, you will learn the different skills and values throughout the council term like the importance of time management, the rare chance to interact with the other students, and also develop critical thinking skills.

Secondly, it would be working with the wonderful friends in Council. The friendship forged between each councilor is strong and I believe, will stay for eternity. We come together as individuals, but during the nine months of being a leader, we learnt from each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We are not selfish when it comes to giving each other learning points. And finally, we leave, not as individuals, but as the entire 23rd Student Council.

Now if you’re still wondering whether you’re suitable for Council, fret no more. Think about what exactly you want to achieve in your life. Do you want to make your days in the college memorable? Do you want to look back your JC days, ten years down the road, and realize you haven’t contribute much to the school? Hesitate no more, show your courage and be a part of the 24th Student Council now!

Guitar Ensemble- Where Friendship Takes On A New Meaning.

2009-02-13T20:30:00.014+08:00

Written by Loh Pei Ying (08A05).

When I think about Guitar Ensemble, I tend to smile to myself. I know it sounds a little crazy, but it’s the truth. The thought of Guitar Ensemble brings back great memories to my mind. In 2008, I joined Guitar Ensemble because I had a great love for music. I thought the CCA would have been a great choice for me because the guitar is an extremely versatile instrument. Moreover, I already had prior guitar playing experience. So I thought “Why not?”

My decision to join Guitar Ensemble has changed my perspective on many things. At first, practices were boring. I knew no one else and was on my own. To make matters worse, ice-breaking games made me feel awkward. However, I made a new friend. Her name is Heather. She is currently the President of the Guitar Ensemble. We stuck together and became CCA buddies. From there, I made more friends. Soon, I became increasingly attached to the CCA.

During our June Camp, we had the usual round of interview to select the new executive committee for the CCA. I did not have any real intention of being part of it. To me, it did not matter. I had fun in the CCA, and that was most important at that point of time. In my interview, I had said, “I would do anything that the CCA require of me.” My instructor questioned me as to exactly how much I would actually contribute to the CCA. I only remembered giving a vague answer.

When the results came out, I was pretty surprised by the leadership position that I was assigned to. I was chosen to be the “Publicity Officer”. Later on I thought, “This shouldn't be too bad. Doesn’t seem like a tough job.”

I was wrong.

My leadership is now an inside joke in Guitar Ensemble. I had one of the most tedious jobs in the team. My job covered handling CCA shirts, to CCA files, to drafting proposals, to creating logos, posters, getting a tailor for our costumes, creating a newsletter and so on. As long as it did not involve music or admin matters, I had to do it.

It was tiring. There are days when I stayed up till unearthly hours to complete my work. I used to joke about how I’ve become the “ambassador for Guitar Ensemble” because I have to pick up calls and reply emails to external organizations for the CCA pretty often.

Nonetheless, the experience has been fulfilling. And it is so because I have my team members supporting me. When I need help, my executive committee is there to pick me up and put me back in place. We do camp-material shopping together. I drag them to Jurong East and Chinese Garden with me just to find a tailor.

We are a group, an ensemble. We stick together through thick and thin. It is not the outcome that matters, but the process of working together and learning something. Although my work is tough, I have now developed life skills that many others may have missed out on. “One Band, One Sound.” That was the motto of the Military Band in the movie Drumline. We have adopted our own version of “One Ensemble, One Sound.” It does not sound as nice, but it does not matter because it is the meaning that counts.

Commitment is important, but friendship is far more crucial than that. In Guitar, we do crazy things together; we can have fun that is completely out of this world. We are like a family and this is what Guitar Ensemble offers to all the new JC1s coming in to TPJC.

This CCA has a long history in TPJC. We have an internal rock band and our ensemble has held its own concert last December. We achieved Gold with Honours for SYF in 2007. Plus, we practice music from almost all genres.

Guitar practices are on Wednesdays and Fridays. We start at 2.30pm and practice should end around 4.30pm for the JC1s. You don’t need to have any music experience to join as Guitar Ensemble is open to everyone. Music is only one of the major things we do. As long as you have the heart and the interest, we will accept you.

For more information you can contact me, Loh Pei Ying (08A05) on tpjc.net. More information is also available at http://tpjcguitarensemble.blogspot.com. Have a great orientation and see you around ; )

TPJC Symphonic Winds- We ARE the Music Makers

2009-02-13T20:30:00.013+08:00

Written by Tng Loong Hua Aaron (08S09).

The Band is one of the pioneer CCAs when TPJC first started in 1986. Under the baton of many prestigious conductors, TPJC band has grown significantly into what it is today. Now renamed ‘TPJC Symphonic Winds’ and under the guidance of the current resident conductor, Mr. Adrian Chiang, the band is set to excel in the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) this year. Last year, the band had actively participated in numerous college events such as the Speech Day, Watercolours Open House and National Day.

The band had also staged two sold-out concerts - one called ‘Le Musique 2008’, a combined concert with the college Guitar Club in April, and the other in conjunction with our ‘Band Festival’ (12th – 18th Dec) during the December Holidays. The concert involved the participation of three other Secondary Schools- Marist Stella High School (MSHS), Saint Anthony Canoissan (SAC) and Chong Boon Secondary (CBSS) and it served as a grand finale to our week long ‘Band Festival’, the first to be organized by the band itself. The festival comprises of master classes by professional musicians and also band clinics conducted by Mr. Surapol Thanyawibool, Music Director form Kasetsart University, Thailand.

To add on, the band was also privileged to be able to go for a five-days-and-four-nights band exchange and performance in Hong Kong (19th -23rd November). Band members were given a once in a lifetime opportunity to perform at Hong Kong Disneyland together with Chong Boon Secondary. Hence, TPJCSW is not just your average band; it is a band that will assure a very musical yet enriching experience for many aspiring musicians.

Visit us at or official CCA website @ http://cca.tpjcian.net/band/achievements.htm
-TPJCSW- PASSION. COHERENCE. DISCIPLINE.

Wushu - Why We Stand Out From The Rest

2009-02-13T20:30:00.009+08:00

Written by Seah Ching Chong Jake (08S21).

A good friend of mine once posed me this question during a normal conversation. He asked, “What makes Wushu stand out from the rest of the CCAs?” Immediately, I thought of two good answers.

TPJC Wushu has one vision, which is to accept all members regardless of race or experience. In Wushu, everyone is treated equally and given equal chances. Last year, the new JC1s were given a chance to take part in the National Inter-School Wushu Competition although most of them just tried the sport. Despite not knowing the basics, the whole team persevered and clinched third prize in the Group Quanshu – Boys Category. This itself has separated Wushu from the rest of the sports CCAs.

The second reason is the family bond that all the members has for one another. We organize group outings and reunion dinners at coffee shops frequently. Moreover, we support each other academically - doing homework together and tutoring one another. CCA isn’t just CCA anymore; it becomes something more than that.

A wise teacher once told me, “Only those who persevered will be able to see the gem in things.” In the beginning, I was uncertain on my choice to take up Wushu. However, after I joined the team, I began to realize that I have stumbled upon many fortunes and treasures. And this motivated me to do my best for this CCA of mine, Wushu.

A member of Wushu

Chess Club - Sports For Your Mind

2009-02-13T20:30:00.008+08:00

Written by Lim Yu Shaun (08S09).

This is Chess Club. Lets go into the introduction first. We play five main mind sports namely Weiqi/Go, Chinese Chess, Contract Bridge, Othello/Reversi and lastly International Chess. Our training dates are Wednesdays from 2.30 – 5.30pm and Fridays from 1.30 – 4.00pm. We play both competitively and casually. This year we are in need of players especially in Weiqi, Othello and International Chess.

Our Club shirt with the five games we play.

Check out our video here:

We also organize other activities such as Service Learning trips, a camp and also a chalet.

Enough of the nerdy stuff; I’ll now share my experience as a Chess Club member. I’m obsessed with Weiqi/Go (ever since I watched anime). Sadly, it’s not very popular in Singapore. In fact when I entered the Chess Club, only one other person knew how to play the game. Being a Chess Club member is not all about playing games but also having fun. Somehow we managed to form a team after months of casual practice. The experience gained from the tournaments is priceless. I believe that we should be playing not just to win, but also to make new friends and teaching others in the process. I never regretted joining the Chess Club and I am proud to be a member of the team.

That said, we welcome everyone - beginners, experts and enthusiasts. Feel free to come down to play with us at D203 (our club room) anytime. We are looking forward to see you all.
Lim Yu Shaun (Izumi), Captain (Weiqi & Othello), TPJC Chess Club

Students In School Uniform Banned From Entering Shopping Malls - Good Idea?

2009-02-11T20:33:00.005+08:00

We have had enough of the hairstyle rule already. No spikes, no sideburns, and no fringe touching the eyebrows- that is the disciplinary slogan our teachers carry whenever the hair check date draws nearer. Students protest but to no avail. You are not in school to make a fashion statement, the discipline mister or mistress would always rebut.

Now, schools are looking forward to implement a new rule. Students may not be allowed to enter shopping malls or even stroll around the housing estates in their school uniforms anymore. It is a deliberate move to protect the reputation of the school. The new rule has received strong support by parents but faces widespread condemnation by students.

Students feel that the new rule is clipping their wings. Nonetheless, parents believe that the regulation can help prevent their children from mixing with the wrong group and loitering aimlessly outside school. They cited examples of students seen smoking and behaving intimately with their partners in public to back up their opinions.

We decided to start a forum thread in our online school portal requesting for opinions from TPJCians about this issue. Below are four of the best responses that we receive:

'I guess it is time for a former Coral Sec student to answer to this. First of all, the reasons why the school disallows students from going to White Sands. Apparently there are complaints from security guards, mall visitors, store keepers and others that the students are smoking outside the mall and running and fooling around in the shopping mall. Moreover, apparently the complaints come a few times every week, as a lot of our morning assemblies include lectures on our behaviour outside school.

Well personally, as both a student at that time and an alumnus now, I still do not see any of the students doing the things that they are being accused of. What I saw were normal students having lunch at McDonald's or other food outlets although occasionally they might have talked very loudly or just plainly hanging out. The only misbehaviour I have noticed is the inappropriate attire (shirt tucked out) they displayed in public.

Maybe the reason why I did not see any of the students committing the "crimes" that the public have accused us of is because of the ban. However, the rules the school has enforced on us after receiving are really just too extreme.

First, at the beginning, the ban does not just include White Sands Shopping Mall; it is a ban that disallows students to loiter under void decks for a 500m-1km radius around the school. Teachers, mostly almost all from the discipline committee, are sent out right after school ends to catch students loitering. Daily, around three to five would go to White Sands while others would go around neighbourhood search for students loitering in their school uniforms. I even spot teachers twice at Downtown East as well.

Next, the only place in White Sands students are allowed to go to is the library. What's more, they have to find the discipline mistress in school, give her their names and class to inform her that after school, the are heading to the library. And according to the school, "go straight up to the library and do not even stay at a shop for even a second".

Even more absurd, if you all have been to White Sands before, you will know that you can cut through White Sands to the MRT station for a short-cut from the back entrance to the main entrance. The school forbids student from taking that route. Sometimes, a teacher would stay at the second storey, looking down, and if anyone tries cutting through White Sands, the teacher would immediately take action. No excuses will be accepted from the student as the rules strictly says "students are not allowed to go to White Sands Shopping Mall in uniform" (its even in our handbook). And there is no running away if you are being spotted. Teachers who failed to catch up with the students to confront them on time will remember their appearance and on the following school day, will go through every class searching for him or her.

Moreover, security guards are asked to help turn in the students that loiter in White Sands.'
- Wong Wen Bin Stanford (08S20)

'Ultimately, I feel that this rule of not allowing students in uniform at shopping centres or around housing estates is void because the students will still spend their time in those places, with or without uniform. The only difference is that the public may not know which school these students come from and hence prevents the school from having a notorious reputation for students hanging out at the mall or nearby housing estates.

However, the root of the problem is still not solved, as students will still be hanging out at the places as mentioned and doing the things that they used to without their school uniforms. Eventually, the school's reputation will still be tarnished overtime. Instead, I feel that the school should carry out active measures to convince students that there are better ways to spend their time such as by doing revision, participating more actively in their CCAs and more.'
-Foo Chuan Sing Georgina (09S03)

'Seriously, how much 'face' can the school save when they impose such a rule. Not much. I didn't read the article. However, I do not accept any reason they suggested.

If the main assumption here is that all, if not most, of the trouble caused by the students happen at the malls or in the void decks, then that is not true. They can happen in food centres which are outside or far away from the malls. They can happen in public transport. They can also happen within the school, visible to the people living in that area. So are they actually being a bit hypocritical. You can go home in school uniform but not anywhere else in them. So why not ban students from wearing school uniform outside school?

If they wanted them to spend more time studying, then the ban will not help. It will probably stop the students from directly going to the places after school, but it won't hinder them from doing what they want. Perhaps if they go home earlier, they will sleep all the way.

The greater solution to this (not best though) is to change the public notion. They need to change their mindset when looking at things. We can't say that if one person does this, then all the other people belonging to the same group does it too.'
- Seng Leng Kiat (08S11)

'Well, certainly Coral Secondary School does not want students to spend their time aimlessly around the malls and HDB estates (or just anywhere out of school). The intended action is supposed to deal with those who "hangs out anywhere out of school", and trying to make sure that students do not make any trouble outside school. Or at least, that was the only brief answer given to The New Paper.

It is true that many students do stay out of school aimlessly with their friends (sometimes attracting a lot of attention, and sometimes disgracing the school), but it does not serve as a good reason why students should be banned from staying out of school in their school uniforms. We are given the choice to choose to spend our free time on whatever we wished to, and the intervention of schools can very much affect our private lives. Somehow, the schools will be intruding our private time and space that we have and deserve.

Yes, none of the teachers, parents or Principals (and me as a student) will approve youngsters to behave like hooligans in public. However, banning the students from entering recreational and public sites seems to say that we, the students, are potential trouble makers.

If the school decides to lift the ban and trust the students instead, I think it will be a far better solution to the problem. The best way to remedy the complication (in my own opinion), is to impart positive moral values into the students and coach them to apply them in real life. Even after they had done something wrong, it is best to do a follow up. By banning them, they will not learn anything at all. However if the school lifts the ban, it may be a chance for them to learn from their mistakes.

Furthermore, rules should be grounded on a common sense, and because of that, it encourages compliance and respect. Impractical rules invites mockery from the public's eye and is largely likely to spark defiance in students. Trust and mutual respect are important in communication between everyone, and it could serve as a base for conduct. If Coral Secondary School were to trust and respect their students, it is also likely that the students would respect their own school and not make trouble outside the school compound.'
- Fong Guo Wei (09A07)

Yet Another Anti-STOMP Blog Opened

2009-02-08T21:04:00.005+08:00

Even though attempts by local netizens to close down STOMP in the past were of no avail, they remain adamant and decided to launch yet another anti-STOMP blog. The only difference this time is that it comes together with a Facebook cause known as 'Stomp out STOMP for good!' to act as a tool to garner as much online support as possible.

Do visit the blog HERE.

One of the blog posts published suggested members to send a letter of appeal for the discontinuation of STOMP. A paragraph was inserted to inform supporters that they are not committing a crime but instead just performing their duty as a concerned citizen. The letter specifically mentioned how STOMP encourages the culture of voyeurism in our society, unnecessarily intrudes into the private lives of Singaporeans and destroys the lives of Singaporeans affected by the stories featured in the website.

You can join the cause HERE.

Meanwhile, the Facebook cause has attracted more than 450 members and is still growing. The cause hopes to raise awareness of the shortcomings of STOMP through the use of the new media. There is currently an active discussion going on in the group whereby members examine the negative impacts of STOMP and raise suggestions to improve it.

Sceptics are already questioning the effectiveness of such a cause. As mentioned earlier, many anti-stomp websites had been closed down in the past. Furthermore, online petitions rarely work in Singapore. Nonetheless, I applaud the effort of the creator and administrators of the cause for highlighting an important issue on responsible citizen journalism. I hope they continue fighting for the cause or else we will be left counting the number of days left before it closes down.

5 Must-Watch Videos This Weekend!

2009-02-08T14:57:00.001+08:00

Sometimes, a little entertainment can help make your day. Enjoy!

1)

"This is my 7 year old son who had an extra tooth removed last summer, 2008. I had the camera because he was so nervous before and I wanted him to see the before and after. He was so out of it after, I had to carry him out of the office. The staff was trying to keep from laughing. I had tears from laughing so hard.He is doing fine now and the teeth are great.Best of all he is the best kid as is his brother William. I couldnt have asked for two better sons!"

2)

"I love Jesus but I drink a little"

3)

"Watch the moment Liverpool Street Station danced to create this special T-Mobile Advert. Life's for sharing."

4)

"Japanese Game Show: Running Backwards"

5)

"The Evil Look"

More CCA Blogs Launched But...

2009-02-07T19:01:00.002+08:00

More CCAs are opting to set up official blogs to disseminate news for future activities, enable members to post reflections of events and engage with the growing online audience. The softball team had just launched its very own blog a few days ago (you can view it HERE) and one of my sources told me that the badminton squad is looking forward to open its blog soon. There are currently about five active CCA blogs in our college blogosphere so far.

Our softball team's newly launched blog.

I believe there are three reasons why more CCAs are choosing to run official blogs instead of maintaining their web pages. Firstly, it is easier to update posts and announcements by using blogs as a medium to transmit them. CCAs are facing a huge difficulty in finding the best people with the right skills to revise their web pages. You need to at least have knowledge of basic HTML in order to update the web page (properly). By contrast, team members can easily insert slide shows, videos and music onto their blogs without much trouble.

Another reason is probably because our CCAs are realizing the benefits of allowing any member to update the blogs. Instead of relying on one web master to maintain the website, why not extend the authorship to all members so that information can be shared faster. Besides, members are also free to write reflection posts of past events that they were in. They can exchange tags and comments with each other. This can help strengthen the bond between team members.

The official blog for members of TPJC Interact Club.

Finally, another advantage that blogs carry is anonymity for their readers. Sometimes, students are interested in a particular CCA but are just too shy to ask information about it. Chat boxes embedded onto blogs help solve this problem as anyone can request information while retaining their anonymity. Yes, although the chat boxes can be installed onto web pages, the process may not be as simple as that by using blogs.

Nonetheless, how do our CCAs fully utilize their blogs? Well, the RSS feed tool available for blogs allows readers to subscribe to the blog's feed content and receive the latest updates through the web browser. The service is free and is updated automatically. This means that members will receive post updates from their CCA blog instantly whenever they open their web browsers. This is just one way CCAs can fully utilize their blogs and skip the SMS route.

A blog owned by the TPJC Indian Cultural Society members.

Another fact about CCA blogs is that it can die very easily. The reason is because we do not have CCA-related events or outings every week or so and members usually post their reflections only after an event has ended. Therefore, do not be surprised to view 'What to blog about?! I have nothing to post!!' tags all over some CCA blogs. Another possible outcome is that members may resort to spamming in a desperate attempt to revive the blog.

A guide to fully utilize your CCA blogs will be published soon. =)

Finally, A Toy For Kids To Play, Lose Weight And Conserve Energy

2009-02-06T22:29:00.001+08:00

Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in the world. Mary Bellizzi, an expert with the International Obesity Task Force once said, "We estimate that 22 million of the world's children under 5 are overweight or obese." The figure is alarming as it sheds light to the health problem facing our children today.

In the macro level, the world is battling a much more serious problem - environmental degradation. Global warming is affecting millions of people around the world. Recently, Australia faced one of its worse heat waves this year which led to a record-breaking prolonged high temperatures in the Southeast region of the country. The meteorological phenomenon affected the lives of thousands of citizens there. The threat that environmental disaster pose is real and monumental.

The key to solve the two problems is education. And it is our responsibility to teach the younger generation about proper eating diets and energy conservation. Good eating habits help prevent childhood obesity while energy conservation reduces the amount of pollutants that damage the environment, slows down the global warming process and so on. Early education creates a better tomorrow for our children.

So how do we solve the two problems at the same time using the principles of education? Well, an environmental entrepreneur has the answer to the question. Introducing Fastronauts, eco-friendly toys that are powered by play. Each Fastronaut comes with a rechargeable battery. The children will need to pedal in order to generate the energy required to power the lights and sound.

That is not all - each Fastronaut is equipped with a power indicator that can be pressed to make the gadget talk. Children receive instant feedback as they create energy, thus providing motivation and encouragement for them to cycle more. (Plus, imagine the cut in the amount of disposable batteries scattered all around our landfills.) When the children pedal more, this in turn helps to burn the fats in their bodies.

In short, Fastronauts not only educate our children about energy conservation and generation, but at the same time making exercising a fun activity for the kids. It is an innovative gadget that can change how our kids live in the future.

New Generation Youths: Online And Unprotected

2009-02-05T21:12:00.002+08:00

The risks that the new generation youths face online today are high. Social networking websites are fishing in more teenagers to expand their membership database. They are actively promoting themselves as a great place to meet new friends. Nonetheless, being young and naive have caused the children to make precarious decisions such as meeting the virtual friends in real life. What they do not realize is that those friends are actually strangers, some with their harmful hidden agendas concealed by a nice and friendly profile layout.

The number of sexual offences committed online has risen. Sexual predators utilize the Internet to seduce and lure innocent children to satisfy their lust and sexual desires. Most of them gained the trusts of their victims before exploiting them. Social networking websites are working hard to prevent sexual offenders from preying on their younger members. For instance, MySpace had made site-design and policy changes that included acknowledging consumer reports of abuse within twenty-four hours, allowing parents to submit children's email addresses to the site for blocking and automatically making a greater number of profiles private. MySpace also employs technology from Sentinel Tech Holding to eliminate child predators who set up profiles in their own names.

However, despite all the efforts by the social networking websites to protect youths online, they are still exposed to an array of dangers online such as bullying and sexual predation. The reason being is simple: it is getting harder for parents to monitor their children's online activities. Parents play an integral role in making sure their children are safe while surfing the Internet. Constant monitoring is crucial to ensure that their children do not fall in the traps of online dangers such as by preventing them from sharing their personal contact information.

As technology advances, things are getting more complicated for parents to fulfill their duties online. For example, in the case of Facebook, sexual predators can befriend the children online, gain their trust and ask for their contact information via Facebook Chat. They can easily avoid all the privacy tools set by the children's parents. Besides that, social networking websites are also going mobile making it even much more difficult for parents to consistently monitor their children's online activities.

For the record, below are links of stories regarding sexual offences committed by criminals who utilized social networking websites such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo:

Police: Man Used MySpace To Lure Child For Sex

MySpace tryst leads to charges for Catawba man

Social websites lure youngsters into gangs

La Crosse Teen Pleads Guilty in MySpace Nude Pictures Case

Police: Man Met, Assaulted Girl On Facebook

As you can see, the danger is real and teenagers are vulnerable online. So is there a solution to the problem? Yes, in my opinion, education combined with parental intervention is the best solution. Parents need to be taught the new systems and policies that social networking websites adopt. I believe some parents are still unaware of the new rules implemented by social networking websites to protect their kids. Parents should also be educated to effectively monitor the online activities of their children. They may need to extend their surveillance over mobile phones with Internet access, beyond the computers at home.

The only people that stand between our youths and online sex predators or bullies are their parents. They can easily recognize a fishy situation and avoid trouble. The new generation youths are exposed to many online social networking outlets as the Internet is introduced in the early stages of their lives and their naivety is often taken advantage of by irresponsible netizens. Parental intervention is therefore fundamental in order to make sure the kids remain protected online. Teenagers are still children.

TPJC Friendship Week '09

2009-02-05T16:56:00.000+08:00

For more information regarding the event, do drop by its official blog HERE.

Citizen Journalism In Singapore

2009-02-04T17:15:00.000+08:00

Written by Guest Blogger.
(With commentary by the Editor.)

As our material world integrates into our online space, it is often no surprise to see reports of real-life events on the Internet. Credible news sources such as BBC, Channel News Asia and even The Straits Times all have online “e-versions” of their articles. On a technical basis, such reports are meant to cater to the internet-savvy generation and have an extremely potent reach in allowing World Citizens to know about what is happening, and has happened, in their world. However, the most important consideration when posting up any piece of news, and taking any piece of news seriously, is how credible a particular article is.

For many Singaporeans, such a skill is one of the most important things they learn at the Secondary School level, regardless of which stream they are in. Quite simply put, it is the skill of critical analysis and the ability to discern whether a source, or an article, is credible. Yet, somehow, it seems that we do not apply such key concepts in our everyday lives. Or, at least, that’s what I infer from the Straits Times’ very own online newsprint. Personally, there are two essential problems with online citizen journalist newsprint such as STOMP.

azhar: Citizen journalism is prevalent in the Internet now. The web is scattered with many websites which allows its members to share their photos, videos and commentary to the world. Among those in the list include CNN's iReport portal and Yahoo!'s You Witness News initiative. Besides the notorious STOMP, Singapore also has another website which promotes citizen journalism. It is none other than Omy's I Witness section.

Firstly, it is simply immoral. Whilst I applaud the vigilance with which Singaporeans have in attempting to maintain public order and peace, the vigour with which they do so borders upon voyeurism, obsession, and denigration. We seem to have thrown out all semblances of the basic values we criticize others of not having. When we snap photos of a stranger on the MRT supposedly “pretending to be asleep” and hence “not giving up his seat to a pregnant woman”, we accuse such people of being rude, uncivilized, and barbaric. It seems we have forgotten that the very fact that we took out a camera to snap a picture of this person, without him/her knowing, is a very rude act.

azhar: The issue regarding taking photos of people in public is a (very) complicated one. For instance, tourists are free to take photos of people in public areas of the countries they visit. In Singapore alone, we can view many tourists capturing photos of local citizens in action without them knowing. Professional photographers working for the traditional media have the rights to take photos in the location of a breaking news (and ironically, we usually react ecstatically when we find our pictures published in the newspaper). Furthermore, it is especially difficult to avoid taking photos of people in crowded places. So why should normal citizens equipped with camera phones be denied rights to do the same? And why are their actions considered rude as compared to -in this case- tourists and the professional photographers? At the end of the day, we all have to admit one thing: we can no longer expect privacy in any public area.

It also seems that, despite having the benefit of seeing our dear courtesy lion, Singa, in action, many of the more matured and senior members of the Singaporean society only preach, but never practice. Firstly, the accusation that someone is “pretending to be asleep” on the bus/MRT is pure speculation and defamation – the person may really be asleep, and it may have been since he boarded the train at say, Pasir Ris, he would have gotten the seat in the first place. Secondly, it seems that some have forgotten the concept of compromise and have begun to believe that they have the right to all sorts of things – such as a priority seat.

Yes, I believe that the younger generation should, if possible, give up their seat for the elderly and those who need it more than they do. After all, we are supposed to be livelier, youthful, and do not (generally) have issues with standing up for half an hour. However, this does not mean that those who need such a seat have the right to claim it as their own. Moreover, it does not give that person any right at all to take a picture of a supposed “culprit” and post it on the Internet, while including slander and libel along as captions.

azhar: This is the precise problem with our local citizen journalism. It is trying too hard to correct the society. I believe some citizen journalists have good intentions when they submit photos of Singaporeans in their poorest behaviours. They hope the same thing will not be repeated again. Unfortunately, the very same noble reason is the cause of the whole mess in our local citizen journalism. Our citizen journalists are too obsessed with the search for people who portray an indecent behaviour in public. They are waiting for people to make mistakes and hope that the same mistakes can be used as a form of campaign to educate netizens of proper public manners. The problem now is the people caught in action may turn out to be completely innocent. For all we know, we have just painted horns on their heads. Citizen journalism should not instill fear in our society; the last thing we want is to be living with a group of 'secret police officers'.

Secondly, and most importantly, is the credibility of such a source. How decisive can a source, that often allows defamatory and fictitious reports and accounts, be when it comes to deciding or judging a situation or person? A court of law will never admit such photographs and exaggerated witness accounts as evidence, so why should our schools, society, and people do so? A photograph that shows action A, which COULD lead to action B, C or D, does not provide any evidence or proof that the latter actions did indeed happen.

To explain the analogy, for the benefit of some who tend to misconstrue what might had happened with what really did, a photograph only shows a frame or snapshot of what had happened – and does not offer any conclusive evidence of what really did happen. It is thus fallacious to make our decisions or judgments upon such shaky ground. The only thing we can say for sure (going back to the “sleeping on the bus/MRT example) is that a student seemed to be sleeping at the moment, and that a pregnant woman did not have a seat. For all we know, that lady was offered the seat when that student awoke from his slumber, without having known that his picture was taken, and that he could very soon be on national news for something he was never guilty of.

azhar: Not to forget, the readers are also guilty of making harsh comments even though the source is not proven genuine. In fact, the actions of some of the readers who repeatedly make nasty comments regarding the victims can be deemed as bullying as it may cause emotional harm to the victims by the constant online harassment. Apart from that, in conclusion, we need more responsible citizen journalists who ensure the accuracy of the articles he or she submits. Failure to do so may hinder the progress of our local citizen journalism. Put one rotten egg in a basket of fresh eggs and the whole thing will stink. Citizen journalism can definitely help society, if used properly. It can also provide valuable feedback to the institutions and companies featured.

[Related post: http://tpjcian.blogspot.com/2009/01/stomp-and-citizen-journalism-in.html]

Woohoo! It's My First Day In TPJC!

2009-02-03T19:20:00.001+08:00

Yesterday marked the first day of school for our new JC1 students and bloggers had already shared their thoughts on the orientation. Most of them gave good reviews about college but some remained unimpressed. In this blog post, discover what our new schoolmates think of Tpjcians and the college itself.

Several similarities can be found between the blog posts such as regarding the compulsory choir auditions and the canteen. Some of the observations made by the bloggers are (absolutely) hilarious such as the one on our Principal. So sit back, relax and enjoy reading...

[1st Day of School](Blogging Day 254)

It was great...I made 3 GREAT DISCOVERIES!...

1.JC can dye hair(but not too striking colour)
2.The girls in TPJC wear skirts that are shorter than miniskirt...WTH
3.There are 2 child actresses in my school...1 is Kim Wakerman(last year just completed A lvl) and the other is in JC 2 this year...but I don't know whats her name(should be Beverly i think)

[Choir Audition]
Everyone was forced to attend this stupid audition la,so bo bian...Teck GUan and I were in the same group,so we went audition together lo...and we just purposely screw the whole thing up until the conductor gave us the "WTF" face...HAHAHA!!!

http://minidodo.blogspot.com/2009/02/1st-day-of-schoolblogging-day-254.html

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL AT TPJC!
Well, the first day of school at TPJC wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. Really thought i would like detest it alot. Met many hai sing people (mostly from e4 and e3) at the side gate entrance before entering to check which group we were in. And once again, i'm in OG1. Forever also gotta do with 1. Anyway, made many new friends within the group. :D There were 23 of us in total, majority girls. Kinda like our group, not that many dao people and they're mostly funny too. One funny part was our OCL (Wilson) said i look like Philipino, same as what Joey used to say about me. Guess it really couldnt end at secondary school. hahaha. :D

http://elinostalgia.livejournal.com/5324.html

Let me start from my first day in TPJC.
I think i din mention in the previous post that i was posted to TPJC.
Should i be happy or sad, i don't know.
Nevertheless, i have analyzed the bad and good side of studying there.

Firstly, the school is just beside my house! Which means i can sleep till 7am in future :D
Secondly, my L1R5 is only 12, and 11 after subtracting my CCA, so even if i try MJ, i think i will not be able to cope mentally ? Because the standard of the school is like super damn high.
So what do you people think ? Haha. Im like so random now. LOL

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL :D

Met serene, rachel and shayne at bus-stop & we went into school together.
I'm very very nervous at first, but luckily i met them . So was kinda relax after that(:
We were all seperated in our respective groups randomly once we reached school.
So we started to mingle with the crowds & get to know our OG members.

http://shir-leneee.blogspot.com/2009/02/im-tp-ing.html

Anyways i decided i will not enter Catholic Junior College because it sucks to the max..

Here are the reasons:

1) Too many Marists

2) Canteen cannot compare to TPJC

3) Students cannot compare to TPJC

4) Everything cannot compare with TPJC

```````````````````````

Oh and thanks Dean and Tiong Kiat for supporting me today =)

```````````````````````

Tomorrow going to TPJC again!

I cant wait!!

Woohoo!!

Super fun!!

I prefer neighbourhood JC than independent JC like SAJC.

YAY~~

http://andrewtwf.blogspot.com/2009/02/hello-im-back-from-rugby-st-andrews.html

Okay, today was the first day of JC for me.
I guess some things have to be given a second chance.
Because when I decided to throw away all my blah feelings towards TPJC, I realised that it was actually a nice place.
And I think maybe the appeal into MJ doesn't matter anymore.

http://querulous-kid.blogspot.com/2009/02/165-first-day.html

TPJC!
OK. it wasn't what I really wanted but I'm giving it a shot! Cos I'm prepared to not get MJ. Everyone's appealing ah! Why's it suddenly so popular?...
I'm not a fan of TPJ cos it's kinda dull. Who paints the whole school grey?! It's so depressing ah. MJ's much more vibrant and brighter and it just makes u want to study. I'm so grumpy right now. Gonna go collect my testimonial from Mdm Rozy's house. Appealing tomorrow! And more TPJ tomorrow! Chiao
http://-darkhorse.blogspot.com/2009/02/tpjc-ok.html

Tpjc ain't that bad as i thought. Went to school in the morning about 20mins late because i forgot to estimate in the morning traffic. Kinda freaked out abit. But then i saw a familiar face. POOJA PANDEY! I'm so glad she's in the same school as i am. Sec 2 buddy. Tried my best to settle into the new environment. Made a couple of friends in the OG group. Group 35. I like Tpjc canteen. So much variety to choose from. The people there are quite friendly too. I realised that no one had put there as their first choice. Had talks the whole day. It's gonna be the same for the next few days, till wed where we have to choose our subject combos. Orientation camps are about the week after the next. Well. Techincally, It's not that bad.. I might kinda like it here.

http://hottpancakes.blogspot.com/2009/02/first-day-of-school.html

My OG people are nice :D
out of 20 ppl, only 8of us are girls
but lucky most of the girls are those who gets high easily.
hahahahha
so we can crap around together .

so first day of school was not bad, quite fun actually.
hope tmrw would be even better !

orientation camp is held next week
3 days 2 nights
hope it will be fun

http://suryin.blogspot.com/2009/02/first-day-in-tpjc.html

TPJC orientation jus now.
I love the school man.
Great friends there.
The laidback atmosphere...the happy-go-lucky people...
Suits me just fine baby.

Got selected...for CHOIR.
Haha.
Everyone had to try out.
Group by group.
Then in the end me and Jackson from Yishun Sec were the last ones standing.
From our group ah.
But I was the only one selected.
Haha.
The attractive choir instructor lady kept askin me if I have a musical background.
So I kept saying no.

But hmmm because I can't play sports for months,
most probably I'll just join Malay Cultural Society.
Haha.
Buy maybe only la.

http://wwwdotblogdotblogspot.blogspot.com/2009/02/tpjc-orientation-jus-now.html

hey people!!!

today is the beginning of a new chapter of my life!!
first day in tpjc --
everything went quite well today, thus it a good start!

after we went into tpjc, we were seperated :(
as in we were grouped to different orientation groups.
there were talks in the hall, the principal seems to be too lively.
the way she express herself...
hmm, i dono how to explain her lively-ness.

umm, the people in tpjc are friendly :)
but.. there are more than 5 'rachel' in J1 :(
compared to damai, there are only 2 rachels and we have different surnames.
thus it's more easy to identify us.
but in tpjc, this year there are 2 rachel lim O.O
so, you see it's so difficult to identify all the rachels...

http://rachellimky.blogspot.com/2009/02/hey-people-today-is-beginning-of-new.html

The Epileptic Boy

2009-02-02T15:46:00.004+08:00

Based on a true story written exclusively for TPJCian Magazine. The names in this post are fictitious as requested to protect the identity of the family.

Ahmad sat on the couch alone. He just woke up from his slumber. He stared at the headline news printed on the front page of Berita Harian. It was a calm and serene morning. The sound of the rustling leaves from the nearby trees could be heard as the morning breeze swept by. But everything soon changed with a blink of an eye...

Ahmad's body began to shake uncontrollably. His teeth abraded each other viciously like an old malfunctioned grinding machine. It let off a screeching sound that pervaded the living room. The silence was broken and everything suddenly turned chaotic. Goosebumps began to mushroom all over Ahmad's body. Green thick mucus took advantage and escaped from the blocked nose. His distorted face now looked messy. Ahmad seemed to have been possessed by a ruthless demon. He began to hit his head profusely, as if trying get rid of the culprit. It somehow worked and he regained control of his body almost thirty seconds later.

Ahmad was exhausted after the ordeal ended. His already emaciated body turned completely helpless. His mother helped him up and leaded him to his bedroom. His overworked muscles needed to rest. His face was cleaned from all the thick green mucus. Goosebumps soon faded away. A moment of calmness finally invaded the room.

The agony Ahmad just went through is not a form of demonic possession. He had epileptic seizures. Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder that causes its victims to experience recurrent convulsions. He is one of the about fifty million people worldwide who lives with the disorder everyday.

Ahmad began suffering from the disorder since childhood. He had his first seizures after having a very high fever. Coming from a religious and conservative background, his family decided to consult a witch doctor. In the past, epileptic attacks are widely believed as demonic possessions. The prescriptions given worsened the situation and the fever never subsided. His parents rushed him to the hospital but it was too late by then. Ahmad's brain was badly affected. Doctors said that he had become retarded. It would be his permanent mental challenge; one known as cerebral palsy.

Ahmad now stays at home with his family. He is not able to work or study due to his mental condition. His parents still carry high hopes for his recovery. Taking care of Ahmad is a huge obstacle in their lives - although Ahmad is twenty nine years old now, he still behaves like a two-year-old boy. He has to wear diapers daily as he is not able to clear his bowels himself. His speech difficulties also made it hard for him to voice his needs to go into the washroom.

Ahmad is not able to feed himself. His mother usually takes the duty of nourishing her son. This is a laborious task as Ahmad may suddenly suffer a seizure while eating. As a result, all the food is thrown out back at her. Hence, she has to occasionally do clean-ups. Ahmad's mother has persevered for more than twenty years and she takes the challenges as a test from God of her strength and determination.

Ahmad has weak jaw muscles. He is not able to close his mouth and this resulted in an unintentional loss of saliva from the mouth. The condition affects his social life as well as his parents'. His parents need to consistently wipe the saliva so that it will not soil his clothes. This sometimes take a lot of time and prevents the family from going out of home.

It is unfortunate that epileptic patients usually affect the social interactions of their caregivers. Ahmad has an eighteen-year-old brother, Shaiful, who is currently studying in college. Shaiful often withdraws from mixing with his friends whenever they discuss about their families. He is not shy of his brother, but just worried at how they may react to his brother's condition. After all, his brother is special. He fears that his friends will not accept him after exposing the truth. Sometimes, he has to skip class outings due to his commitment in taking care of his brother while his parents are away. All these have affected Shaiful's social interactions.

As Ahmad grows older, his legs have become thinner and weaker. Ahmad had experienced a traumatic fall before. He fell head first on the kitchen cupboard due to a sudden seizure attack. He now spends less time walking and more time sitting. He has developed a phobia of standing up due to the painful experience. The good news is that his condition has improved. His mother never fail to give him the doctor's prescribed medicine on time and she occasionally massages his legs to relieve the after-seizure pains.

The Singapore Epilepsy Foundation (SEP) has been active in promoting awareness and conducting study and research to improve the lives of people with epilepsy in this country. The non-profit organization holds public forums to educate the society regarding epilepsy. Another non-profit and volunteer-based organization that addresses the needs of epileptic patients and their caregivers is the Epilepsy Care Group (ECG).

Ahmad hopes that Singaporeans will accept people like him in the community. He is sick and tired of citizens who stare at him in public as if he is an alien from outer space. His parents want more space for Ahmad to spend his time out in public areas such as the neighbourhood parks. His brother hopes Singaporeans will be more understanding of mental patients and their needs. It is slow process but they believe society will change for the better soon.

What?! I Am Posted To TPJC?!

2009-01-30T20:34:00.002+08:00

Posting results are out and the local blogosphere is bustling with comments and reactions by fellow bloggers. Some are ecstatic with the result while the others seem dispirited by the news. We manage to get a scoop of the reaction by bloggers who are posted to Tampines Junior College. Take a look at some of the funny, hysterical and yet depressing moments here...

When i checked my inbox i've got like 4 messages.
I opened the weird numbers, 74688, first.
It's kinda expected that i'll end up in TPJC.
[I always ended up in my 3rd choice..]
So i didnt feel happy or sad when i read it.
I just didnt quite like the last part.
Pl report to JC/MI on 2 Feb 09 at 7.30am.
:E
So fast so fast.
And whats up with the caps for the name man.
Makes it so scary.
BUT STILL.
Thank God i didnt receive something like this...
MOE: TAN QIAN NING, you have nowhere to go to. Pls continue sleeping.
Omg, i think i will faint.
Haha.

http://janning.livejournal.com/25262.html

I did not sleep for the whole night not because I emo but because i can't sleep. And today, after getting the result, i slept for a good 9 hours. Fine, so be it. Tpjc isn't bad either. I was considering the idea of appealing. But ya, what Gillian said make sense. "If they didn't accept you at the first place, what makes you think they will aceept you this time round?"
Well, what's done cannot be undone. I only hope that I don't have to go into the same class as people I dislike. I am now trying very hard to like my future school and I believe that I'm coping well. Let me think of some good points.... At least now I do not have to worry about myself failing GP and get retained by the school and I think my converse shoe match with the tpjc school U better. OH YEA, then I don't have to dye my hair black. HEHHEHHEHEEE. Actually tpjc also not bad la:,> small and cozy!!
Congratulations to Joel Toh and CK && Marissa {Meridian}
and Shien{TPJC.YAY YOU CAN WALK TO SCHOOL.-.-? but you have to meet me at jc busstop still, as usual ;>}

http://milolilopop.blogspot.com/2009/01/decisions.html

ok..
got my posting and stuffs..
got into TPJC..
was sort of expected..
but still dun quite like the idea of going to TPJC..

haiz..
wad to do..?
was kind of upset coz i need to wear a green uniform..
haiz..

looks like i m going to wear a green uniform..
but it is not tt bad lar..
it is just tt..
all my friends going there is taking science..
instead of arts..
so sianz lor..
haiz..

http://iloves-angels.blogspot.com/2009/01/ok.html

AAAHHHHH! I put my first choice as TPJC Arts and 2nd choice as TPJC Science.

In the end I got the Science stream!!!!! Like What the????

Then i went to the website and found out the cut-off for Arts this year is 12 and Science 13…. Actually quite happy that even though I put Science as 2nd choice I still could get into TPJC. But like wth??? Arts stream cut-off lower then Science? Biggest joke of the century man! Plus my chem like got C6 and BIO got B3 -.-

http://love1repository.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/_-_/

I got into.....tpjc

Goddddddd;(
Now, i have to make stressful decisions again
.
.
.
.
.
Should i appeal?
If I do, will i be able to handle it?
People have been telling me, "Its not about the sch, its about yourself..."
It's true, cause east spring sec also produced brilliant students right?
But.. then again a lot people say tpjc damn slack
MJ is stressful bt quite confirm all will pass their Alvls.
If tpjc slack, then project work how?

So....frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SHOULD I APPEAL????????????????

http://inhershoebox.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-got-into.html

i grab my towel, got up to go to the toilet.
and then.......
i ran back to my bed where my phone is,re-read one message.
''OMG. TPJC!!!!''
i literally did jump up and down at that time.
and then big momma got all excited because, the usual 5 awesome pple alsp got into TPJC!!
grrrraaaaah!!
im sooooo happy.
because hanan,husni,BM and my dear boyfriend also got into the same school.
cool laaaa.
and then hanan and husni called me to tell that they're on their way to go buy the uniform.
at serangoon or something.
hahahhahahaa.
funny sia. so semangat for what.
we're supposed to report with old sch uniform.
and despite being on the phone, hanan still can't stop irritating me.
well i guess, now we'll have more opportunity to kill one another okay hanan.
haha.

http://readingmysilence.blogspot.com/2009/01/8-am-in-morning.html

Foreign Talents In Singapore

2009-01-30T16:41:00.003+08:00

While in hospital for five days, I realized the existence of a huge pool of foreign talents present in our health industry. Our local press have not been kind towards foreign workers raising an income in Singapore. Many alternative local blogs have mercilessly criticized their overwhelming presence here. Most of the naysayers accused them of creating a huge opportunity cost for Singaporean workers - our jobs are snatched away by them due to lower labour costs. Others blame that they may erode our social fabric - use of the English language (which is important in a multi-racial community) seems to be undermined, etc.

Singaporeans need to wake up and start recognizing the efforts and hard work of our foreign workers. I was admitted in Changi General Hospital on Chinese New Year eve. As expected and true enough, they were not many local nurses on duty. They were all replaced by Philippines nurses. Believe it or not, I was taken care of by almost five different Philippines nurses on duty during their various shifts. They were really nice and soft-spoken. Although they have a slightly odd accent (they pronounced 'back' as 'bark'), they were really efficient and caring.

I do comprehend that in the construction industry, almost 80% of the workers are non-Singaporeans. Most of them come from Thailand, China and Bangladesh. In fact, fifty thousand new foreign workers are expected over the next few years to join the local job market as new major construction projects are initiated. The importation of the huge amount of foreign labour is crucial so as to keep costs low and stay competitive. In short, they help keep the industry and economy going.

So should we be worried that they are 'stealing' our jobs? No, not at all. I believe the government is trying to do its best to promote a business-friendly reputation for the country. And to do so the government needs to consistently keep costs low so as to attract foreign direct investments (a bit of Economics here). Singapore is an small yet open economy which needs to step up its level of competitiveness in order to survive in the global market.

One of variable costs that companies look forward to cut during a bad turn in the economy is none other than labour costs. Companies here often seek an easy way out to the problem by employing foreign workers. For example, China workers are definitely way cheaper than Singaporean workers. Therefore, instead of wasting our time lamenting about the influx of foreign workers in Singapore, why not enroll yourself in a skill development workshop to double your productivity level?

I am not going to dwell on the skills development part. Instead, lets move on to another common issue raised by many Singaporeans, that is if foreign talents are disintegrating our social fabric. The first problem highlighted is regarding the language issue. Foreign workers from China are often put into the spotlight when it comes to this issue. And I have to agree with the critics. I am rather amazed that the service industry actually has the guts to employ them despite the fact that they know most of them are not proficient in their use of English language. There should be a English literacy test for foreign workers hoping for a place in the service industry. For goodness sake, you are dealing with Malay, Indian, Eurasian and possibly English-speaking Chinese Singaporean customers here!

Foreign Artistic Talent Scheme
This Scheme is jointly administered by the Singapore Immigration and the National Arts Council (NAC). This scheme aims to assist foreign artistic talents in art, photography, dance, music, theatre, literature and film to apply for Singapore Permanent Resident Status.

The next more worrying problem is the xenophobic mindset that some Singaporeans carry. The best example to explain the trend is the recent outburst by more than six hundred residents of Serangoon Gardens over a construction of a dormitory for foreign workers in their neighbourhood. The complaints fell to deaf ears and the proposal was granted at the end of the day. Singaporeans need to learn to live with foreign workers or risk living under constant distrust and discomfort with them. Quit imagining that foreign workers here are from a lower strata in the society and start thinking of the wonders we get to enjoy if we start acknowledging each other.

Singapore as an emerging economy combating with a dwindling population dilemma needs foreign workers for the country's future progress. In the health industry, the country is still struggling to meet the demands of the increasingly ageing population. It is no wonder I see Philippines nurses taking care of the patients most of the time. I had a pleasant stay there.

STOMP And Citizen Journalism In Singapore

2009-01-29T21:26:00.004+08:00

Written by Wee Xue Wen Shawn (07S28).

'The question is no longer about the article. It is about the credibility of STOMP in the future. It is about the future citizen journalism here in Singapore.'

I would like to comment on the quality of the articles on the citizen journalism outlet, STOMP. Though I am not a regular STOMPER, I do read articles recommended by friends. Recently, I learnt from my Alma Mater's intranet about the article about two of our students from TPJC acting intimately at the back of a bus in their school uniform. This article and certain subsequent articles I read have brought to my attention the poor credibility and immaturity shown by some citizen journalists.

Without going into a discussion about whether the students' actions should be condoned, I would like to highlight that STOMP is on its way to become an entertainment outlet than one for citizen journalism. While there are proper articles regarding issues we would like to highlight of our society with the aim of trying to improve it, there are quite a number of articles submitted for the sake of attention itself and they show no significant relation to any issue. We see many 'caught in the act' articles, more often than not of couples in public, in or out of uniform. There are quite a handful of flame articles, meant to shame a certain person or a group of people for acting in an undesirable way. Some recent articles include: 'This rude bus driver cut my lane, confronted me and took my picture' and ‘Girl comes from good school, but what foul language she uses’.

Firstly, the credibility of certain articles, such as the one regarding TPJCians, can be highly questionable. It is amazing how a person can snap a picture of a situation and turn it into something else with the right captions and descriptions. To use this article as an example, the picture merely showed two students in close physical contact. However, the picture was exaggerated by the title "TPJC couple petting in bus back seat: 'Girl moaned and screamed at times'" and statements such as "The girl was even lying down at times" and "the guy looked like he was really enjoying it". It is appalling how STOMPERS spin stories just to sensationalize the story to higher the chances of an article being published. The title which was used: "TPJC couple petting in bus back seat: 'Girl moaned and screamed at times'" is bound to capture more attention than "Girl and boy sitting very close together at the back of the bus". For all we know, the boy could have been simply consoling the girl with a hug and what not, which is completely different and definitely a lot less serious than the description used for the picture. Many agreed that better evidence of this would come in a video, and not an uninformative picture.

Secondly, I would like to comment that many Singaporeans view public shaming as the best solution to a problem. This attitude has translated itself into “flame-fests” on STOMP, whereby a person is judged in an unjust manner and the article is basically a rant from the STOMPER because he or she did not find himself or herself in a favourable situation. While I recognize that there is a thin line between a personal bluster and highlighting certain issues within our society, I believe that the line is clear. While it is of utmost importance to highlight to our society to learn proper manners and social grace, we should refrain from making submissions that are too personal and using portals like STOMP to vent our very biased frustrations.

While I do believe portals like STOMP do help in the introduction of freedom of speech, I do hope it does not become a portal made for the middle-class paparazzi, where people go to simply for juicy news involving non-celebrity Singaporeans. In order to achieve this, STOMP should introduce or improve the quality control on articles submitted.

Tattoo: An Art Form?

2009-01-18T23:33:00.000+08:00

The 1st Singapore Tattoo Show at the Singapore Expo has inevitably raised a few eyebrows, most notably resulting in an editorial in The Sunday Times questioning tattoo. Tattoo enthusiasts sometimes refer to tattooists as 'artists'. But are these people truly creating art, or merely scarring the human body in a permanent way?

Tattoos have many different connotations and uses in different traditions around the world. In places like Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, the yantra tattoo is used for protection against evil and to increase luck. Most traditional tattooing in the Philippines is related to the wearer's accomplishments in life or their rank in the tribe. Henna, a temporary form of tattooing, is among the many rituals in most Indian weddings.

On the other hand, tattoos for non-traditional purposes have become more prevalent throughout the world, in North America in particular. Pop culture portrays tattooing as an art form through popular television shows like LA Ink and Miami Ink. Well-known celebrities with tattoos include Angelina Jolie, Colin Farrell, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, 50 Cent and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. The 1st Singapore Tattoo Show in particular shows that tattoos are gaining a slow acceptance into our society.

Colin Farrell and his tattoos

Or does it?

An earlier blog post mentioned how when we think about the bad in our society, one of the things we think of are tattoos. Tattoos have an almost unavoidable association with criminals. This probably stems from gang and criminal practices of using distinctive tattoos to identify themselves. In Japan, for instance, full body tattoos done the traditional Japanese way are associated with the yakuza, Japanese organized crime groups. As such, certain public bathhouses and gymnasiums even go as far as to openly ban people sporting such tattoos, in attempts to prevent the yakuza from entering.

a Japanese Yakuza tattoo

In my opinion, these negative criminal associations with tattoos play a significant role in preventing the complete acceptance of tattoos into society. In fact, those sporting tattoos do face some degree of discrimination and find it harder to find jobs.

Yes, tattoo artists now have training in technical and fine arts. Yes, advancements in tattoo pigments and the ongoing refinement of tattooing equipment has made significant improvements in the quality of tattooing. Yes, tattoos are slowly growing more popular in pop culture.

But the fact remains that these tattoos are permanent, and do carry negative connotations. Just like how racial prejudice is hard to get rid of, the prejudices that people hold about tattoos and those sporting them will be hard to eradicate. Complete acceptance of tattoos in our society is hard, but perhaps not impossible.

But if you ask me, tattoos are indeed an art form on their own.

TPJC In STOMP: The Review

2009-01-16T18:01:00.010+08:00

Two days ago, STOMP decided to post a story. It was submitted by one of its members, STOMPer EnG, which somehow made it through its editorial board. The story claimed many things. Of course, to attract as much attention as it possibly can, the story had to carry a scandalous title. And so they went with "TPJC couple petting in bus back seat: 'Girl moaned and screamed at times'", as expected with inverted commas accompanying it (an easy way out).

Oh, and that is not all. Having an interesting title is just not enough, isn't it? We need the oomph! factor. So why not post a photo or video of them in action and then go on to elaborate on the story? It is all right, you do not have to actually take a video or series of photo of them petting in the bus back seat. All you need to do is to take a single photo of them together to prove that they are indeed there, seating in the bus back seat. The rest is up to you and your creativity (which sometimes backfires, terribly). Yeah, it is all right to tell a story solely based on a picture. I mean, we are taught to do it in Primary School.

After all that is done, do remember to check your work for mistakes. (Don't let Ms Tan spot any errors...) Failure to do so may send a torpedo right at all your hard work and possibly a smack right at the centre of your self-esteem (when you receive the paper back with remarks).

We all know a story out of point is just worthy of a F grade. To start with one thing and then end with another is the greatest mistake any author would want to end up with. To say 'I don't know what were they doing...' and then going on to speculate that they were petting is the most outrageous thing to do.

The STOMPer who submitted the photo is trying too hard to make a sensationalized story come to life. Oops, the SHOCKED STOMPer I mean (that bold word is important). There is just no evidence to support the claims as mentioned by the SHOCKED STOMPer.

The article posted in STOMP is just not conclusive ~~enough~~ at all. We are now questioning the reliability of the user-generated news website. There seems to be a huge flaw. It is too easy for anyone to bring down the reputation of a person or institution or company he or she doesn't like. All you need to do is to wait for them to make a 'mistake'.

Two friends sitting in a park. They were sharing their problems with one another. And then, the girl burst into tears. The boy decided to console the girl and whispered to her ears.

BOOM!

Front page photo with a title 'Romeo and Juliet caught kissing in public!'. It is that easy.

The Bad In Our Society: Why And How?

2009-01-13T19:17:00.001+08:00

When someone wants you to name the bad in your society, the people that automatically comes into your mind are the mats, minahs, ah lians and ah bengs. When the same person then asks you to describe how they look like, the pictures that flash in your mind are tattoos, smoking, sex with multiple partners, theft, truancy and the many other things associated with crime. However, when a final question is thrown at you seeking an answer to why the group of people you first mentioned are bad, you hesitate.

You hold back your words not because you do not the answer. The truth is you do know the answer - mixing with the wrong company, a broken family and negative influence from the mass media. Nonetheless, you are still stuck. And you are in that condition because you realize that the answers do not make sense.

Why would they harm themselves by smoking profusely throughout their lives when they know it would harm them and probably their families? Why would they continue to lead a highly sexually active lifestyle when they know it would do nothing to fix a broken marriage? Why are they committing crimes when they know their lives can be chained up with a prison sentence?

In my opinion, they are lost.

I remembered having a friend in Secondary School who used to share with me her first sex experience with her boyfriend. She was only twelve back then and the intercourse took place on a staircase. My friends and I would constantly advise her to stop practising the unhealthy lifestyle and teach her about the possible effects of pre-marital sex (such as an unplanned pregnancy). She remained adamant and would always hit back at us with the usual reply, "Yeah, I knew that!".

Anyone who receives such replies would think that they all do not make sense. I mean, using an analogy, why will anyone step on a pile shit when they know it stinks and would dirty their shoes?! No one will do that. No one unless the whole scenario happens amid darkness and you are lost and you can't see anything around you.

Starting to get the picture? Now lets move on...

In life, we must always be attached to something. It can be your religion, racial traditions or even the values taught in your school and family. In my opinion, these are the things that we depend on before making a decision. For example, the reason why some of us do not lie is because we are taught by our parents and during religious classes that lying is morally wrong and can taint your level of integrity. In short, the things mentioned above shine the light in our lives.

However, not all of us are privileged or lucky enough to be living under the light; some of us are lost in total darkness. Yes, they were taught in school about the negative consequences of pre-marital sex. Yes, they were warned by their parents about the importance of good education. Yes, they were reminded by the mass media about the dangers of smoking.

Nonetheless, at the same time, they are living under the same roof with a father who smokes heavily. At the same time, the mass media proudly showcases how cool and fun a sexually active life is. And at the same time, they witnessed first-hand how their less attentive friends in class achieve top grades in their examinations.

And so they are confused. As the confusion grows, so does the level of distress. In the end, the mind blanks out. They are now lost. They left behind rationality and do things randomly, fuelled by curiosity. In total darkness, most of the times they trip. This is when they contract a sexually-transmitted diseases, suffer lung cancer, get an unplanned pregnancy and so on.

Every decision is made without much thought. They have nothing to rely on when they switched their minds off - no values or whatever. Furthermore, at times they do bump into people in the total darkness. People who are like them. And so the blind leads the blind. This is how a ~~bad~~ dark company is formed.

The mats, minahs, ah bengs, ah lians or anyone related to the bad in society are not really that bad. They are just very lost. Broken families, negative influence from the mass media and joining the wrong company are just mere excuses. It is fundamental to understand and take note that all the social problems do happen in close families, amidst strong censorship of the mass media by the government and by befriending capable and honest individuals.

In various religious teachings, one concept that is constantly and consistently taught is about leading people in the correct path. We all know that when there is a correct path, there must also be an incorrect one. Most of us will choose the correct path as it is straight and safe. We naturally avoid the incorrect one as it is long-winded and treacherous. However, why would anyone in this world still choose the incorrect path? It is because they are not able to differentiate them both. They are just lost in total darkness. The paths look similar.

So how do we help our lost teenagers? How do we lead them back to the correct path?

We must reach out towards them, and not them reaching out to us. If we really want to solve our social mess, then it is vital for us to put in more effort going out and helping them. Concerts or (dance) competitions to promote awareness for specific anti- campaigns are too old-fashioned. Teenagers are most likely to skip the message of the campaign and instead focus on the entertainment value.

The lost souls needs hands to grab them and guide them to the light at the end of the dark space. They do not give much attention to campaigns no more. They have this thing called the Internet whereby more interesting materials are available.

It is about time we reach out to the 'bad' in our society with direct education.

The Singapore Blogosphere: Screwed Up?

2009-01-07T00:02:00.005+08:00

Perhaps, and all thanks to its readers. Ever since advertising companies started to arrive in the shores of our local blogosphere, everything has changed. Some bloggers were intrigued by the idea of earning money just by sharing their thoughts online. Then, they began to learn how everything works and before you knew it, began posting articles about -you guessed it- sex, scandals and controversies.

No, it is unfair to put the blame on advertising companies. They will most willingly want to clinch a deal with top sponsors for high quality blogs discussing on topics such as technology, science and even politics. However, things work differently here in Singapore. The majority of the readers are hungry for more sexually explicit content, highly controversial articles and exaggerated artiste scandals.

The commercialization of the blogosphere has made bloggers themselves slaves to their readers. Readers are like consumers and bloggers are compelled to feed them with almost-junk content. The money-making equation is simple: the more readers or subscribers you have, the more moolah you are likely to bank in.

If there is one evidence needed to prove this problem, then it will be none other than our very own community meta blog for Singapore bloggers, known as Ping.sg. On average, almost half of the top ten most popular entries contain sex-related content with striking blog titles everyday. Again, you can't really blame Ping.sg for the overflow of sex-related blog posts. Ultimately, the people who decides which blogs get to the top ten spots are its readers.

I remembered asking a few of my not-so-Internet-savvy friends about the local blogosphere. And ~~surprisingly,~~ all of them uttered the same name, XiaXue. They went further and commented on how she represented our 'complain culture' pretty well. Somehow, XiaXue seems to be a representative of the entire local blogosphere. Unfortunately, all her constant ramblings and vulgarities that inundated her blog makes her bad one. Nonetheless, local readers still flock to read her blog as if it provides a new learning experience for them each day.

Now comes the difficult question: why are our readers more interested with sex, scandals and controversies?

Before answering the question, we must first acknowledge that sex, scandals and controversies sell everywhere and not just in Singapore. However, in other countries such as America, they are many highly reputable blogs writing articles on topics such as the science and technology. TechCrunch, Telegraph and Wired Science are some examples to name a few. The reason why these blogs are so successful is because they manage to garner a huge readership base.

By contrast, in Singapore, I believe most of our (intellectual) citizens are not connected to our local blogosphere well enough. Our small online market makes it even difficult for our local niche blogs to survive. In school, students are constantly reminded to be wary about information available in the Internet. They are encouraged to read print media, especially our very own The Straits Times. Reliability is often emphasized and in favour of print media.

The other root cause of the problem is none other than the nature of our education system itself. I don't think I need to elaborate further on how it works (basically its all about grades) but it definitely has a part to play to how and why most of our local netizens behave in a way they are now. Everything is provided for us and there is little need for us to research on the subjects tested. Little did they know that there are really good local niche blogs here in Singapore such as The Online Citizen and The Wise Curve. These local blogs need more support from netizens. They reflect well of how much our blogosphere has matured.

Hence, this has left our netizens with only two reasons to visit the Internet: to read on the latest sex news, scandals and controversies and to socialize with friends via games or social networking websites. It is as if they are habituated to the reasons stated above.

Nah, the Singapore blogosphere isn't exactly screwed up; its readers are...

JC Rankings (Facebook Groups)

2009-01-01T13:09:00.002+08:00

How the rankings are calculated

(i) We take into account the total number of members of each Junior College Facebook group.

(ii) In the case whereby multiple Junior College Facebook groups are present, only the one with the most number of members is included.

(iii) The list follows the assumption that the number of spam members is negligible.

(iv) The current rankings is updated as of 1st January 2009.

(v) The list is not an official release by Facebook. It is collated by TPJCian magazine.

___________________________________________

2009 Junior College(JC) Facebook Group Rankings

(1) Raffles Junior College [5,350 members]

(2) Anglo-Chinese Junior College [4,320 members]

(3) Victoria Junior College [4,122 members]

(4) National Junior College [3,276 members]

(5) Temasek Junior College [3,099 members]

(6) Hwa Chong Junior College [3,037 members]

(7) Catholic Junior College [2,946 members]

(8) Anderson Junior College [2,462 members]

(9) St. Andrew's Junior College [2,249 members]

(10) Tampines Junior College [2,020 members]

(11) Nanyang Junior College [1,636 members]

(12) Yishun Junior College [1,203 members]

(13) Pioneer Junior College [984 members]

(14) Meridian Junior College [977members]

(15) Jurong Junior College [320 members]

(16) Innova Junior College [252 members]

(17) Serangoon Junior College [195 members]

You can view the 'JC Rankings (Friendster Groups)' post HERE.

Ma-ku-do-na-ru-do! That's How McDonald's Is Pronounced In Japan!

2008-12-30T23:19:00.003+08:00

Written by Sean Foo Yong Don (08S26).

Excitement and joy were clearly visible as I hung up the phone call from Ms Angela Quek (of the GP department) that day. A trip organized to Japan had sprung out of the blue and had given the applicants very little time to consider about it. It was a tough decision to make since there weren’t any familiar faces signing up but I still went ahead with the trip.

Meetings and briefings were plentiful before the trip began. Our group, which was made up of 26 students, were divided into a presentation team and five other research paper teams. Most of us still did not know each other well even at the final stages of the briefings itself. A sense of awkwardness still lingered as students sat silently in their seats and were very quiet. However, this changed rapidly during the course of the trip.

We went on with what seemed to be an activity-packed journey complete with a very detailed itinerary that ranged from museum visits, cultural experiences and even a bit of shopping. We covered places such as Nagoya, Takayama, Hamamatsu, Hakone and of course the capital of Nippon itself, Tokyo. Being in the land of the rising sun during winter was simply beautiful as it was the time when the leaves were falling and the temperature turned nippy. Imagine how fast the temperature dropped from 15 degrees Celsius to a negative 10 degrees in just a matter of days? We were blessed to be able to enjoy the snowfall as well as a nice cold sunny day.

Being in Japan, naturally the culture there and Singapore would be very different. For example, Mcdonalds is not pronounced as how we would in Singapore; instead it is pronounced as Ma-ku-do-na-ru-do! They wouldn’t know what are you referring to if you pronounced the restaurant as it is in English. It was instances like this that made us discover the unique yet intriguing Japanese culture. The meals we had in Japan were fantastic. Over the course of the whole trip, we had probably tried almost every type of Japanese cuisine that you could name, from shabu shabu to chicken sashimi to Japanese soft serve ice cream and many more. It was indeed an eye opener to how wondrous Japanese cuisine can truly be beyond the well-known sashimi and sushi.

Accommodation was quite fun as there were times when we bunked in rooms of four, rooms of two and there were even a couple of nights when each of us had our own hotel room and bathroom! We were able to experience both western and Japanese accommodation as well throughout the entire trip. Onsens are also an essential part of any ryokan (Japanese inn). They are hot springs that simply relaxes the body and remove any tension that builds up in it. And oh, we had to go in naked - that was why it was divided into different gender baths.

Twenty-six students came together for a nine-day trip and we have all become good friends with one another as we shared our inside jokes and had great fun together. Even though we were strangers to one another at first, we managed to undergo a truly enriching experience both culturally and in terms of friendships as a team. The late nights and snow fights might be great, but the greatest things that we took away from the trip were the photos, souvenirs, fond memories and of course friendships. The latter two made the whole experience priceless.

Making The Most Out Of TPJC.NET

2008-12-30T23:19:00.002+08:00

Written by Koh Han Jie (07S22).

TPJC.NET is the most visited website in my browser, 2nd only to google.com which happens to be my homepage.

Features
TPJC.NET is the best online school's portal I have ever seen. There, you can share your pictures by uploading them in PhotoShare. You can try all means to push your picture into the Hottest list, consisting of the top 20 most viewed pictures ranked by the number of views in the past 7 days. Who knows if you are lucky, your pictures may end up in the All-time Popular list!

There is an online messaging system where you can send online messages (in a similar fashion to e-mails) to other students, ex-students or tutors from the college. Students can also attach files in their online messages. For convenience, you can also create groups (such as one for your CCA) so that you can skip all the hard work trying to select your intended recipients from all the classes listed.

And then you have the Forum. You can air your views on any topic by simply creating a thread. It's classified according to various categories such as Leisure, Academic and Co-Curricular (one warning I can give to you is that, please post relevantly as sometimes your post may get 'reported' if it is deemed irrelevant by other forum users. As a consequence, the post may not be shown.). The Forum also allows the various clubs and societies to share news and updates as well as passing down important information to its members via their threads. There is also private class forums where only users from the civics group can access.

There is a section called Ask a Question where you can post your queries on any subject and the relevant tutors (or sometimes even students) will take the time to answer your queries, be it academic or non-academic. The service is similar to Yahoo! Answers, except that it is only open to TPJCians.

There are also selected articles posted to encourage the students to read up on the current affairs. These articles end up in the Recommended Story section. The articles are usually taken from useful sources such as TIME and BBC. Each article is cleverly selected so that students can use them in their assignments, particularly when it comes to General Paper.

There is of course the Announcement section where you can see all the announcements for the various areas such as subjects and CCAs. Nevertheless, you can choose to block announcements from the various areas by using the filter function available. With this nifty function, only the announcements that are relevant to you are made visible once you sign in.

There are also various study resources like the popular Physics' Keep In Touch. A Hall of Fame application is even installed to rank the students by the scores they accumulated from completing the questions, which are divided into 3 levels of difficulties for students targeting different grades.

Boring? Don't fret. There is a Premier League Challenge game where users are each given 100 points to bet on the matches. No money involved as the total points earned or lost is recorded as your score. It is described as a game of mathematics and judgment, risk vs reward, learning and fun.

Controversy
Tutors also used to upload past lecture slides and tutorial answers as well as past preliminary examination papers from schools all over Singapore with an aim to provide the JC2 students with ample practice papers before their 'A' level examinations. Nonetheless, all of them had been moved to another recognized yet user-unfriendly learning portal, known as AskNLearn. The move caused a huge outburst in the student body as most of us still preferred TPJC.NET as it is more user-friendly and has a better interface. It was widely debated in the forums with many students expressing their anger and disappointment on the school administration about the move. To many the incident is still fresh in their minds(including myself).

Tips And Tricks
Here are some really fun tips and tricks that you can try with TPJC.NET:

1) I like to move it, move it! We like to...MOVE IT!
Select the entire URL and replace it with this code:

javascript:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI=document.getElementsByTagName('img'); DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0; i-DIL; i++){DIS=DI[ i ].style; DIS.position='absolute'; DIS.left=(Math.sin(R*x1+i*x2+x3)*x4+x5)+'px'; DIS.top=(Math.cos(R*y1+i*y2+y3)*y4+y5)+'px'}R++}setInterval('A()',5); void(0);

After pasting the entire code, press ENTER. All the images uploaded in or hosted by our student portal will start to move! Try it with PhotoShare if you wish to. Below is a screenshot of what it looks like:

2) Make it work in FireFox!
One of the critical problems with our student portal is its inability to work with a a FireFox browser. Some of the features such as the Ask A Question service is compatible only with Internet Explorer. This has left some users unhappy, especially those who have installed the cool features that FireFox has to offer.

Well, good news for you! There is a add-on which embeds Internet Explorer in tabs of FireFox. You may click HERE for more details. Now we can maximize our usage of TPJC.NET while enjoying the other features installed in our FireFox browser!

Conclusion
Last but not least, the great thing about TPJC.NET is that ex-students, like myself, are still allowed and able to access all areas of the portal. For example the Forum, PhotoShare and the online messaging system, enable us to keep updated with the happenings of our Alma Mater and keep in touch with our old classmates, years or even decades after our graduation.

TPJC.NET FTW!

Our Bintan Trip, Blogged!

2008-12-30T23:14:00.004+08:00

Written by Muhamad Shahrin Izhar (08S12).

The whole entry is taken from HERE. Nah, we decided not to edit 90% of the original blog post.

Hey guys, it’s been quite a while. I’ve been in Bintan for 4 days, and it was a truly awesome experience. All you suckers who thought that it was gonna be a bullshit trip, you were wrong. The instructors were awesome, the teachers were awesome, Mr & Mrs Law were awesome, and the TPJC peeps who went were awesome.

I’m gonna break the entry about the trip into 4 parts - each part covering one day that I spent in Bintan. That way, I won’t be cramming shitloads of pictures and words into one entry which could cause catastrophic damage to your poor computer (and mine too).

Right, let’s get things going.

Day one: The departure, the happy faces, and the mosquitoes.

Finally, the day which I had been looking forward to arrived. I thought that I would have had a hard time falling asleep the day before but surprisingly, I fell asleep pretty fast. I woke up early, made sure that I had everything in my bag, got ready to leave, and I left home feeling excited.

I guess I’ll skip the bus ride and what I did when I got to school. I’m sure you guys wouldn’t wanna know all that. Haha.

Right, just before we left, Ms Tay confirmed our groupings and who we were going to sleep with for the three nights. There were five groups:

Kingfisher (my group) a.k.a The Kinkies.

Archerfish.

Mangrove a.k.a Man-garok. (according to Hanis)

Mudskipper a.k.a The Mats.

Horseshoe Crab a.k.a Horse-hoe Crabs.

After settling some stuff, we boarded the bus, and embarked on an amazing journey - to the ferry terminal. Haha.

There, we settled more admin stuff, and when it was time to board the ferry, all of us were excited like little kids in the circus. Whooopeeee. But the bastard passport-scanning-machine didn’t accept my passport. Damnnnnnn youuu machineeeee!

Well, nothing much happened on the ferry cause I was asleep with Zach next to me and Tzehaw in front. We slept. And slept. And slept. Then we reached Bintan. This is where the adventure starts. Yeah man!

Oh yeah, one funny thing was, I was enjoying myself in the Bintan toilet at the ferry terminal when suddenly Zach barged in and he was like, “Shah, where’s the box?!” And there I was, with the most amazing “OMG” face ever.

You see, I was carrying this box filled with toys and shizz which will be given to the kids at the local schools. We spent hours planning, and painting, and playing with those things, and if we lost it, well.. we’d be screwed. So Zach and I ran to the ferry and the box was gone. I was like “Oh man I’m so dead, I’m so dead” but we found out later that the ferry crew had already brought it down for us. Whew, those dudes saved my ass.

We met our instructors for the trip: Afiq and Bhai. They were funny, and cool. I’ll describe them more in Part 4. I’m gonna describe everyone in Part 4.

We then headed to the first school which we will be visiting during the trip. Pretty long drive, but Afiq made it fun cause we were all singing songs and all on the bus. Not those lame-ass campfire songs, we sang our favourite songs. I found out that Afiq listens to Chinese songs. Whoa.

We reached the school in about an hour. It was at some rural village and it was really cool cause the people at the village can just ride motorbikes without a license. So we saw like 8 year old kids riding motorbikes to school and all. Pretty darn cool, I must say.

I was pretty nervous cause I was doubting my capabilities to communicate with the kids. The thing is, the kids don’t really speak English so each group had one Malay TPJCian who had to take up the role as the translator. I was the one who had to do the talking for my group. Hell, I might have gotten an A for Malay for the promos, but I still think that I speak Malay pretty weird-ly. Blame the Cheena secondary school.

We received a warm welcome by the Principal, the teachers and the kids. Especially the kids. They all seemed so excited to see us. Some were already waiting at the corridors. Some were peeking through the windows. I guess they don’t really get visitors.

The Principal of the school.

One thought I had when I was the school was, “This place seriously reminds me of a Military School.” Why? Cause of the way the teachers dressed. They all wore the same uniform as the principal, and I think that it looks pretty Military-style. The way the teachers controlled the students were also very military. The kids stood in neatly-aligned groups. They carried out basic drills and I was pretty surprised by that.

After an opening speech, we got started. It was time to play! Yay.

My group initially planned to just let the kids play soccer, but due to lack of space, we had to split up and help the other groups with their own respective games. I helped out in Hanis’ group and boy, it was a very tiring job.

The objective of the game was somewhat similar to bowling. They had to knock down bottles. But the twist was that each bottle had a certain number, and that number represents the points the group will get when they knock it down. Simple enough right? That was cause it was in English! I found it hard to explain the game in Malay so I dumped all the explanatory work onto Hanis. :D

I was standing behind the bottles, picking them up whenever they fall. I was also there stopping the ball from going into the drain behind me. I was constantly moving, and before long, I was sweating pretty badly. But it was fun, cause the kids had fun. That’s all that matters. Poor Steffi had to count the number of points. Honestly, I think it’s harder to keep score than to pick up the bottles.

When it was time to leave, Hanis had to give the closing speech, and also to hand over the game-stuff to the principal. I was laughing at her about it, but I guess what goes around comes around, you’ll find out why in Part 2 or 3. She did a good job, I was pretty impressed by her Malay.

Finally it was time to leave, but before that. We gave some biscuits and stuff to the kids. When the kids saw them, they all rushed forward to grab some. It was something that made me think a little bit. I mean, those kids, rarely get to eat stuff like that. So when they get some biscuits, they really cherish them. Compare that, to our lives here in Singapore. When we get biscuits to eat, some of us might go, “What?! Biscuits only? Wahlao…” Some of us might just chuck them aside. I think that we don’t realise exactly how lucky we are, until we witness first-hand the lives of those who are less fortunate.

The kids also prepared a performance for us. They played the Kompangs, which are like traditional percussion instruments. It seemed pretty unrehearsed, but I appreciated it a lot. I just didn’t know when they would stop, so I was like clapping pretty much at the wrong times. Haha.

Group shot!

Adorable.

When we were about to board the bus, Bhai was telling us to collect coconut husks behind the school. We were all like “What? Okay….” but after a while we found out that when we burn the coconut husks, it drives away sandflies and mosquitoes and other flying-biting-annoying insects. So we grabbed more and more.

We had our packed lunch in some sheltered place which had chairs, and rooms. Shuhua thought that it was the “chalet” which we would be sleeping in for the 2nd and 3rd night. She was really bummed out about it. It was funny. Turns out, it was just a place where we could rest. Haha.

Food in my mouth.

Some of us couldn’t finish our lunch so Ms Tay fed them to the stray dogs which were roaming the area. At least we didn’t waste any food. Those dogs were really skinny too. They seemed like they needed the food more than us.

We then moved on to play team-building games. My group was called “Imba”. Basically because we were awesome. Yes. Awesome.

This game hurt like hell. My shoulders were about to be ripped off my body. Haha. Fuad suffered more though.

This, was the Bhai clap. Why? Afiq told us it was cause at night, we can’t see Bhai. We can only see his teeth. Super racist, but it was all for fun.

After all that, we packed our daypacks, and put on the life-vests in preparation for our long walk to Pulau Sumpat.

On the way there, we came across some Mangrove saplings which had fallen, so we all had to re-plant them so that they will stand upright!

End of the day! We went to our tents to sleep. I had a hard time sleeping cause it was bumpy, and I kept rolling around. Wenwei started sleep-talking. It started raining. Mosquitoes started biting. I got cold. But it was an experience that I would gladly re-live.

Oh, you guys wanna see the “toilet” at the campsite? Here it is:

Awesome! Hahahaha. Seriously, it was fun! Hahaha. Well unless you had to take a crap (or if you’re a girl), then it would be pretty uncomfortable. Haha. The campsite also had a nearby well where we washed our utensils and stuff. It got pretty dark at night, at the well, so it was pretty creepy.

Okay, I’ve been here writing for over an hour. Time for me to get some rest. I knew it was a good decision to break up the entry into 4 parts. Look how long this part was. Hahaha. If I were to write it all into one entry… wow. Good luck to all of us. Haha. :D

Interesting facts that happened in Day 1:

* I lost my spoon at night.
* Fuad pronounced “mosquitoes” as “moss-kiss-toes”.
* I ate dragon fruit for the first time in my life.

You can read Part 2 HERE and Part 3 HERE.

Ten Days In Cambodia

2008-12-30T23:14:00.002+08:00

Written by Nur Nadiah Bte Zailani (08S08).

This year’s OCIP trip had definitely been an eye-opening experience for me. Most of my fellow teammates would agree that we had gained more than we gave. Besides learning new life skills such as carpentry and wall-painting, there was also a list of life learning lessons that we obtained, such as understanding how to be more appreciative, initiative and patient.

The children there are one of the strongest and toughest group of people we had ever seen or known, both mentally and physically. We were awed to witness both the boys and girls pulling hairs and pushing each other to the ground as if it was a form of a game before bouncing back up and laugh instead of crying. At one moment, a boy even pulled and stretched a dead bat, of which I assumed was treated like his toy!

They were not only enthusiastic about learning; they provided help as we did our arduous tasks of digging the soil without us asking for it. Despite the language barrier, they were patient with us as we struggle to make them comprehend the daily lessons prepared for them. I could not help but feel envious on how such small children could be so well behaved when the time demanded for it. I dare to say that some of them acted more matured than some of us. Furthermore, we could also witness some of the elder children taking care of their younger siblings with full responsibility in school.

One stark contrast between their school and ours' is that they have a small class consisting of 40 to 50 students at any one time. Three to four students will share a row of table and a bench that was built in a jointed manner, and there was not even a single fan in any of the classes. Imagine class during a hot day! Most of them had little or no stationery available during classes for them to take down notes, and some who were more worse off did not have extra clothes. Hence, they had no choice but to keep using the same clothes for the whole of the ten days with us. Despite the huge amount of students that we had to teach in one class, there were little difficulties faced as cooperation was given most of the time.

As we donated the items during our home-visits, we realized that some of the houses they live in were built in a very simple manner - some are even standing for 45 years and now function as a shelter to more than ten people. Most of the houses there do not have toilets as they clear their bowels in the wild. Their parents, of whom are mostly farmers harvesting rice, only earn their income when their fields are ready for harvesting (equivalent to only earning income of one term per year). Despite all the difficulties that they faced, they were still happy with what they have. They rarely complained or sighed at the state that they were in. Instead, they faced every adversity with a smile on their faces, full of determination thus erasing any signs of frustration or anger.

Although at certain times I felt confused and hopeless as I could not help them live a comfortable life like the one I have in Singapore, more importantly it had made me realize how appreciative and happy they were at the state they were in. It had opened my eyes into discovering that they are different interpretations of living in comfort. Nonetheless, as a team, we had opened a window of opportunity for them to access some information that we know of about the world. These information never reached the Cambodia citizens in the past due to the wars that they had to constantly face, such as the Khmer Rouge and Pot Pol.

What we had left there were a newly painted school, a nicely evened out compound for the children to run around, donations such as toys and books and a new library for them. During our final days there, I felt delighted to see them and even some of their parents eagerly opening up the pages of the new books and playing with the toys standing on the newly-constructed shelves against the brightly painted walls.

Even though most of my teammates would agree that we could have done so much more given the ample time that we we had, we were glad to have provided them with the tools that could possibly improve their lives in the future. In addition to that, I think complaining would not make a difference, as we have left the place with cherished memories and we learn to appreciate life and its wonders. Moreover, it opened our hearts towards helping others more in the future. How I wish we could stay longer!

Living In India

2008-12-30T23:14:00.000+08:00

Written by Lee Xinyu (08S07).

I learnt to appreciate what I have from my trip to India. People, and even babies could be found sleeping on the streets. In fact, it was so common that I would be surprised not to see any homeless people within a 5 metres distance.

The children of India. [Source]

We went to a 'Feed the Poor' project organized by interact members there. I noticed that the kids there were contented with just having a small serving of curry and naan. I believe that if we were in their shoes, we would definitely be complaining and demanding for more. I was amazed that the children there were still happy even though they were penniless. They have proven that money does not bring us happiness.

Besides that, we also helped out at Shanti Dan, a home for the mentally challenged women. The women were basically adults having the mentality of a young child. I was very touched by the way they greeted us; they were smiling and hugging. They were ecstatic when we visited them. We helped tidy their beds, wash their clothes, shave their hair, paint their nails and even sang and dance with them.

The mentally challenged women. [Source]

The patients there were all very disciplined and obedient. Each of them had their own chores to do - some had to fold clothes while others had to hold the door open for us and they did their jobs very well. Despite being mentally challenged, they could sing quite well and were very caring. There was this particular patient who chased away a cat because she knew my friend has a phobia about cats. In the past, I tended to avoid mental patients. However, after this trip, I learnt that they are actually no different from the normal people and we should not evade them (except for those who are aggressive).

After that, we visited a home for the destitute and dying. A funereal atmosphere greeted us the moment we stepped into the building. Most of the patients were just sitting on their beds and seemed preoccupied all the time. It was as if they were waiting for their souls to be forced out of the body. It was really scary to see them in that state. Then, one of the patients opened out her hands to us. I approached her and held her wrinkled hands. When she gripped my hands tightly and looked into my eyes, I could really feel her sorrow and helplessness. I felt as if she was trying to say "I am going to die soon. I am going to die soon. But I don't want to die."

As I await death. [Source]

As the surreal experience evaporated, I learnt that some of the patients had Tuberculosis . I trust God will protect all of us who entered the home. From this visit, I understood that we have no control over our lives, such as when or how we are going to die. However, I was also saddened by the fact that there was almost nothing that we could do for the patients who are resting on their deathbeds. We must appreciate our ability to be able to wake up every morning and live life to the fullest.

Money can buy us a house, but not a family.

Money can buy us a watch, but not time.

Money can buy us medical care, but not health.

Money can buy us the fashion and status, but not happiness.

Blogger Praises TPJC Friends

2008-12-27T20:57:00.004+08:00

During my OBS (Outward Bound Singapore) camp trip in Pulau Ubin late last year, I was assigned to a group made up of students from various Junior Colleges all over Singapore. I could still vividly remember how my teammates were impressed by our college culture. Most of them claimed that in their respective colleges, the students preferred to keep the knowledge to themselves. In other words, they are selfish when it comes to sharing information with their peers.

Things are different here in TPJC. Our library tables are arranged in pairs so that students can revise their work in groups of four. Posters are placed everywhere along the corridors encouraging students to share their knowledge with their friends. In fact, there is even an initiative which appoints students to coach their weaker schoolmates for free. Our TPJC culture is friendly, open and definitely vibrant. We breed leaders who not only cares for themselves, but also for the others around them.

Thus when I came across this blog post, I was really amazed at how much our culture has shaped the people who had experienced it before - our graduates - and how it stayed with them for years after they left college. You may read about it below:

Attended a really really old friend’s wedding last week. I classify this friend as my "TPJC friend" though that’s not really accurate. I was in TPJC during the first 3 months of my JC 1st year. This friend, NSG, was in TJC during the first 3 months. After the ‘O’ level results were out, I transferred to TJC while NSG transferred to TPJC. Coincidentally, NSG was placed in the same class as my ex-TPJC classmates and I also got to know his TJC classmates after I went to TJC. So through these common friends, we became friends too.

I haven’t spoken much to NSG in recent years but I regard him as a very special, old friend. During our JC years, I used to borrow his scanner to scan photos for my personal homepage. Years later, when I was in real estate, he also introduced me to his uncle’s company, of which I closed 1 (or 2) deals with the company. I was touched that he helped made that introduction ‘cos we drifted apart when he was doing his national service and I was in NTU.

In that sense, I really treasure the people I got to know in TPJC. I feel that they are less selfish than some of my classmates in TJC and their sincerity makes me trust them completely. There’s another friend I made during the 3 months in TPJC… though we never met again after we both left TPJC, he knew I was in real estate when I spammed my handphone address book to market my services. 3 years later, though I had left real estate by then, this friend nonetheless contacted me and wanted to buy a flat through me. I was truly touched.

Anyway, I saw 4 TPJC friends I knew during NSG’s wedding last week and we promptly exchanged handphone numbers and facebook contacts. Though I haven’t seen them in the last decade, conversation flowed easily and I was totally at ease with them. It was like I could laugh with all my heart and not have to guard against anything or anyone. It was great.
Source

There you go...=)

A Year In Review: TPJC

2008-12-26T11:54:00.002+08:00

2008 was a year of changes for TPJC. Staff and students saw quite a number of new additions to the school: the turnstiles, the plasma TVs, the new security guards...As a student taking her A Levels this year, here are my thoughts on the changes we witnessed.

1. The turnstiles
The turnstiles caused quite a bit of commotion in the early stages of its implementation. Forum threads, in particular the one created by Zizie Zuzantie of 07A07, were rife with complaints, suggestions and even pleas to do away with the turnstiles. Photoshare was, for a while, dominated by photos of the long queues caused by the turnstiles after remedials in the late afternoon. Apart from the turnstiles accomodating only one person at a time, another problem with the turnstile was that once you went out, you had to walk all the way to the main gate to come inside again. Yes, the turnstiles seemed like the worst possible thing.

On the other side, I feel like the turnstiles were a blessing for students who stayed back late to study. Before their arrival, students were chased out of school as early as 7 or 8 pm, and could not study later than that. As the turnstiles were open until 9 pm, students were given another hour to study. After a while, students either became accustomed to the turnstiles, or became more concerned with their studying.

2. Plasma TV sets in time for the Beijing Olympics
The plasma TV sets caused another round of unhappiness: students complained about how "The school [has] the money to install plasma TV and turnstiles but no money to replace the mirror in the [boy]'s toliet next to LT1 or change batteries in clocks". Nonetheless, the Beijing Olympics saw clusters of students (and even teachers!) gathered around the TVs, in the student cafe or the foyer, necks craned to catch the action on screen. Admit it: we all love the plasma TVs.

3. Security guards
A forum thread on students' experiences with the security guards revealed that many students found them unnecessarily unreasonable and sometimes even rude. In a case of students' voices being heard, however, there was a change in their behaviour: they were kinder and friendlier to students. This, I believe, improved the students' mood, because with friendlier security guards one has no reason to be annoyed. My own experiences with them reinforced again how even security guards are people too. A simple 'good morning, uncle' brought a smile on their faces, and a smile on mine as well as they returned the greeting.

So these are some of the changes that TPJCians saw in 2008. Whatever changes 2009 will bring, I have to admit that I wish I could be there for it. All the best for the coming year!

I Am Fat But It's OK, Says Local Plus Size Blogger

2008-12-22T20:49:00.002+08:00

As a casual blogger, Yong Wei was never shy or embarrassed to post his photos in his online personal diary. Being sixteen years old does not hinder him from expressing his critical views about his daily eccentricities and life experiences, such as regarding his visits to restaurants or food courts (check out his review on Botak Jones here).

Yong Wei now weighs 125 kilograms and he claims to be contented with it. He describes his favourite food as anything that is eatable but is repelled by processed food. Music provides him the serenity in life; it is used to express his emotions and feelings. He occasionally uploads his very own composed songs in his blog and dreams to be a famous musician one day. His readers are his fans.

Yong Wei has proven that being overweight does not mean that one has to hide under a shell in fear of discrimination by the society. He has showed that what is more important is our passion and commitment to do what we love most (in his case are blogging and music). He hopes to use his growing online popularity to inspire fat people like him by posting articles and reviews of his diet plans.

Yong Wei has definitely defied a popular belief that to be a successful blogger, one needs to possess an attractive and slim figure. His finalist position in the Singapore Blog Awards, organized by Omy.sg, was definitely the breakthrough in his blogging 'career'. In this interview, he reveals to us about his weight issues, blogging and how our society responds to people like him.
__________________________________

The following are details of an interview by TPJCian magazine, conducted via e-mail. Some of the questions have been edited for brevity and clarity, and extraneous material omitted.
__________________________________

1) How long have you been blogging? Why did you start blogging?
13 months ago, I was thinking of blogging about how much I've cycled around Singapore but end up doing more than that. And blogging about cycling is pretty lame I guess. I have to stop every once in a while just to snap some photos of my surroundings. You know, I'm kinda a photo guy, I'd rather blog with pictures mostly.

2) Do you blog for fun or do you consider yourself as a professional blogger, writing to earn money?
I think I'm a wannabe.

3) What do you think of the notion that to be a successful blogger, one needs to be good-looking?
Of course, I'm pretty good looking:

I find myself pretty cute and attractive.

4) Have you ever felt embarrassed to post your pictures in your blog?
You mean this?

If it entertains, I would post it I guess; not really sure what people think of me.

5) Have you ever come across nasty comments by your readers taunting your weight issue?
Hmmmmmm, are you one of them?

6) Have you ever experienced weight discrimination in our society, let it be in school or any other public places in Singapore?
I remember once or rather....many times, people called me this in class "Eh you know ah, when Yong Wei takes a shower, his leg is dry one". And I would shout it out across the classroom "Oi, talk bad things about me ah! You watch out! Later I call TAF club people chase you". And there goes the bursts of laughter. Yeah, I do, not sure how other fat people think of themselves, but I think I'm great the way I am. Of course, I would want to slim down.

7) I am not fat, I am big boned...Is that the true or are you trying to conceal the truth?
Dude, you should totally find out who Eric Cartman is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Cartman). It's actually joke. Of course, I'm fat, but I like to keep it that way, makes me look humorous, and people say I'm living in denial.

8) Do you feel a need to lose your weight now so as to inspire your readers who may be suffering the same problem as you too?
Geez, people can be fat all they want, but I'm of course trying to lose some weight, Fruits, Oldenlandia water, more meat less rice. Trust me, I cycle a lot sometimes, I play basketball, and jog sometimes before I had a ankle injury. Yeah but I still cycle like, probably once every week at least?

9) You mentioned that people can be fat all they want. Don’t you think that mentality can be harmful to their health?
Wow, this is a hard question to answer. Mentally, if you don't decide to do anything about your weight, you won't. Scare tatics and all have been used, what else can we do for them? It's really up to oneself to get oneself up.

10) I understand you are really passionate about music. Do you intend to start a career in the music industry or is it just for fun? If not, what do you dream to be in the future?
I enjoy music, so that's fun. And of course, I try to be as professional as I can be, maybe soon I'll release a album next year and hold a gig, who knows? I would rather live my dreams, than to had never even tried.

11) Have your schoolmates or any members of the public ever criticized you for widely exposing yourself in our local community as attention-seeker? If so, how do you react?
I have read many forums and all talking about me - some love me, some hate me. Come on, Edison also a lot people like and hate him right? I'm kinda like him, just without those nude photos...

12) Are you happy with who you are and have now? (As in your weight now and your achievements as a blogger)
I'm kinda like 125kg right now, and of course I should be happy, like what Robbin William said, " Laughter is the best medicine". And I am happy, but I'll be happier to be slimmer
and I have friends who like me, and I like them too. I'm not that douchebag who goes around changing friends all the time.

13) What cultivates your compulsive eating habit? Is it stress or were you pampered with food since young?
Hmmmmm, I guess I'm greedy sometimes, but I've been changing my habit for the past few months; seems to look better in photos. In fact, I have been doing a photo-a-day project for the past 200 days, and believe me, my chin looks smaller than the first few days of my photos.

14) Are you embarrassed to approach a girl because of your size?
If it's a girl I've never met before, I would be shy till someone introduces her to me. I do have girl-friends.

15) Does your parents know about your famous blog? If yes, what did they think about it?
I'm famous? You might wanna ask my parents. I keep everything secret you see; not sure if they do know.

16) Do you think Singapore lacks bloggers who serve as good role models for the youngsters?
Nah, with me around there's no lacking. Everyone should follow me as a role model.

17) If you are given a chance to meet someone now, who would it be and why?
SR Nathan! Because I've never met him in real life!

TPJC Band Festival '08: The Bloggers' Review

2008-12-20T00:08:00.004+08:00

Our very own band team, together with our friends from Chong Boon Secondary School, Maris Stella High School and St Anthony Canossians School, staged a concert on 18th December. The event was held in our college auditorium at 7.30pm. Quite a number of bloggers (from TPJC and beyond) had written positive reviews of the festival. We are delighted and would like to congratulate them for the amazing night. Well done guys!

In fact, we actually decided to want to go to Orchard to look for a bag but change of plans since I wanted to go for the TPJC concert held yesterday. Surprisingly, TPJC band wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. They played rather well. The timpani player had attitude when playing it. You could see how professional she was. Other than the host performing, there were 3 other bands performing too. If i am not mistaken, they were SAC,MSH and HB. It was okay. NCO people were nice. Especially Kelly. Hehe. Her high pitch laugh. Haha.
Source

YippEE! I went for the Band fest of TPJC. It was a collaboration of Maris Stella, St Anthony and Chong Boon. Wow I was impressed by the performance. I felt that the cheesy style of playng like how my school band used to play doesn't buy me over anymore...It was a feeling full of admiration for the professionalism. Well, I guess I just couldn't stand the new conductor whose standard of playing wasn't even considered good. AHAHA =P

It was only TPJC's conductor that made me feel like that :)
Source

Everyone clap!
Tpjc band fest was a BLAST!
Super high can, when the tpjc performed, clap screamed shouted like some insane person sia.
Source

hmm..went to meet sherie they all at TM around 5 plus for dinner before we all headed to TPJC for the band performance.

didnt noe that there were actually oso 3 other secondary school bands performing there sia..omg?..and i think 5 dollars for 4 schools performing is damn cheap la..they shld have raised the ticket price..lol..kk..understand that they dont performing just to earn the money la huh..hah..sry sry..

the 3 secondary schools were Chong Boon,Maris Stella and St Anthony's Canossian Secondary School.

TPJC band performing their last encore piece!..a list of christmas medley!hah..if u noticed,they were actually wearing the christmas hats!..and there were even bubbles!..lol..

the performances by the different schools were great man..my fave schools are TPJC and Maris Stella..and i like the piece named 'sea of wisdom' performed by TPJC..hah..
Source

Went for TPJC concert yesterday. Was great. I liked 'Sea of wisdom' best, for some reason. Had to return home by myself cause I didn't want to longbang Lina's friend's dad's car. Also realised how close TPJC is to Kaki Bukit... Didn't even know that before-..-
Source

Mr Chiang: You guys were simply great yesterday! :) Big thanks to the exco, especially Ikhsan and Idy. WELL DONE everyone!
Source

Dang! Science Students Are More Likely To Remain As Virgins

2008-12-18T20:15:00.005+08:00

The Arts students have finally got their revenge. A most recent study published by Sexual Health noted that Science students were more likely to be virgins than Arts students. Researches in Australia conducted a survey with 185 men and women, aged between 16 to 25, at the University of Sydney on their sexual history and STD knowledge. The result showed that Arts students were younger and more likely to be sexually active.

Assuming the above-mentioned survey has a 99% probability of being true (a 'brave' assumption I must say), then what could be the most likely reason for Science students to be more likely to remain as virgins as compared to their Arts counterparts? I often hear rumours that Science students do not go out as frequent as the Arts students as they are often consumed in their piles of homework. The rumours often claim that Science subjects (such as Chemistry, Biology and Physics) are more time-consuming than Arts subjects (such as Geography, History and Literature) as the former requires students to take more time practising their application skills as compared to the latter (which are believed to be only about memorizing, memorizing and more memorizing).

I don't think that is the reason though; Arts subjects can also be as time-consuming as the Science subjects. I believe Science students are more likely to end up as virgins due to the fact that they know too much about (in this case) procreation. This is especially true for Biology students I supposed. They may be very cautious about engaging in a sexual intercourse in fear of the possible viruses (taught during Biology lessons) that they may contract from their partners. On the other hand, this may seem contradictory but I also do believe that Biology students should be curious about how our sexual reproductive organs work in real life (reminds me of the practical lessons joke).

A Red, Red Rose
Robert Burns. 1759–1796

O MY Luve 's like a red, red rose

That 's newly sprung in June:

O my Luve 's like the melodie

That's sweetly play'd in tune!

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, 5

So deep in luve am I:

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry:

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi' the sun; 10

I will luve thee still, my dear,

While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve,

And fare thee weel a while!

And I will come again, my Luve, 15

Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

Another reason I believe could support the survey findings is the dose of emotions injected in Arts subjects (especially Literature). Perhaps Arts students are more matured when it comes to understanding about love and romance. Of course, Literature is not all about sex but the constant immersion in the feelings and emotions as written by poets may have helped developed the level of maturity in them. As a result, they are able to connect well with the opposite sex and the rest jut happens naturally.

In Singapore, whenever a new story is published in STOMP showing a teenage couple from a prestigious school fondling with each other in public, the first thing that often comes to our minds is that they are too stressed and had to resort to that to relieve the pressure. If our theory is proven true, then if a similar study is conducted in Singapore, the findings will definitely be the direct opposite.

How To Make The Most Of Your Holidays

2008-12-18T09:48:00.000+08:00

After the torment known to us as the A Levels, we are faced with another form of torture: the agonizing wait till Results Day, and then another agonizing wait to be accepted into a university. That leaves us with roughly 6 months to do...nothing. So here are 5 ways to make the most of your holidays, and spend your days doing something other than wandering around the house!

1. Meet up with friends.
Organize outings with your friends: reunions, class/CCA gatherings, and so on. Watch movies, rent a chalet, have a potluck picnic at the beach, shop, play games or WHATEVER! Crash at someone's house. It's funner when you don't have to spend much, so get your friends to bring their own games/movies/food!

2. Catch up on movies/TV shows.
Rent movies or TV shows that you've always wanted to watch but never had the time to. Now that there's no school, you've got all the time in the world! Some of my personal favourites include: The Outsiders, The Queen of the Damned, The Phantom of the Opera, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Juno, and 50 First Dates. (But please, try and steer away from Twilight.)

3. Get a job.
Not only do you get more spending cash, but if your job is related to the course you want to do in university, it bumps up your application, giving you an edge over the other 100+ students clamouring for the same course as you. Start off by looking in the Classifieds, or find jobs online. Websites like st701.com or jobsdb.com are good, but they may appear daunting to first-time job applicants, as 'Employment History' is one of the compulsory fields to fill in. And if all else fails, convince your working parent that every day for the next few months is Take-Your-Kid-To-Work Day!

4. Start your own blogshop.
Blogshops are fairly easy to create. If you've got a hobby like knitting, sewing, baking or anything at all, then why not put it to use: sell these items! Have fun making them and have fun selling them! Better yet, grab a few friends and pool your resources and your contacts together and start up the best blogshop ever!

5. Learn a new skill, or brush up an old one.
Community centres offer plenty of courses in a range of fields: music, dance, yoga, pilates, cooking...If your wallet doesn't allow for that, ransack your nearest library for every book they have on a new thing you're interested in. Now is an especially good time to do so, as regular library card holders can borrow up to 8 books, and premium card holders, 16.

There are plenty of things that you can do in the holidays. So get off the computer and start enjoying your holidays!

The writer is not paid for endorsing any of the above-mentioned companies. The writer is merely sharing information, and wishes she would get paid for mentioning them.

Microblogging Has Reached TPJC.net

2008-12-15T20:40:00.006+08:00

Microblogging is not something new to our college bloggers, especially those who have been utilizing Twitter or Plurk for a long period of time. For those who are unfamiliar with the thirteen-word term, it is simply a form of blogging that allows users to send short text updates.

TPJC.net's microblogging service is known as 'Say What You Want'. Yes, you read it right...you can say whatever you want (at least for now). Students are also able subscribe to the feeds of other users by clicking on their avatars. It follows a similar format with that of Twitter, which -in this case- enables users to follow other members. Students can also view their subscriptions and subscribers (who are either their friends or stalkers) on the right hand panel of its main page.

I have yet to use the service but I was definitely entertained by some of the messages published. Initially, students were confused by the whole thing. Nonetheless, they soon figured everything out and can now be seen using the service expertly. In fact, I think the service has managed to earn its first few regular users already.

Although the idea is great, I am still struggling to figure out the objective behind it. TPJC.net already has an active online forum and a useful 'Ask A Question' platform (which is similar to Yahoo! answers). Somehow it seems like our student portal is becoming more like a venue for students to socialize. Perhaps that is the whole purpose of TPJC.net since we also have the AsknLearn platform (the not-so-popular educational workspace for students).

It is good to innovate new features but I fear our beloved student portal may look terribly messy at the end of the day.

Ahhh...Edison Chen Emerged As The Fastest Rising Search Item In Singapore This Year

2008-12-12T15:54:00.002+08:00

The Singapore Google Zeitgeist 2008 page had been released, highlighting the most searched items (via Google of course) in Singapore. The name 'Edison Chen' came on top as the fastest rising searched item in this island. This means it experienced the biggest rise in searches in 2008 compared the previous year. The Edison Chen scandal exploded in the local virtual space after photos of his sex photos were leaked online. This eventually led to the 'pornification' of our online community - in our blogosphere and beyond.

Lets put that aside and turn our attention to the top three Google News local searches. The keywords 'singapore olympics' and 'singapore table tennis' topped the table in this category. This proves two things. Firstly, Singaporeans are indeed supportive of their athletes. This is evident since a lot of citizens follow the progress of their athletes online. Secondly, it can also mean that more Singaporeans are utilizing the Internet to get the latest in sports news. Of course, the controversies might have helped...

Now lets proceed to the next category, and that is the Most Popular search items of the year. Out of all the ten items listed in the table, four of them have roots with the soft social media. We are talking about Youtube, Wiki, Facebook and of course blogging. This proves that more Singaporeans are seeking entertainment, gathering information and staying connected with family and friends by using the Internet.

Globally, Sarah Palin became the most searched person in Google. She beat the likes of Heath Ledger, whose death was widely publicized, and President-elect Barack Obama. Social networking websites dominate the table with four finalists including Facebook (English), Wer Kennt Wen (German), Tuenti (Spanish) and Nasza Klasa (Polish).

Spring Cleaning!

2008-12-10T20:49:00.003+08:00

We are making a few changes. Some of our series will be taken down. We have 'lost interest' in publishing them.

Series to be excluded from the online magazine with effect from today:
1) New Blogger
2) Dear Diary

Thank you.

A Year In Review: Tpjcbitchh07? What? Who?

2008-12-08T17:56:00.002+08:00

Tpjcbitchh07 was a short-lived blog that became famous by -you guessed it- bitching about other students in college. The blog specifically targetted a group of Tpjcians who -you guessed it again- fired it back every time a new issue was published.

I received news about the existence of the online tabloid magazine through my sources. They also gave me information about the victims who were criticized heavily in the blog, notably Alicia and Xiao Tian. Tpjcbitchh07 did not catch my attention at first as all the matters raised by its anonymous writer were none of my business.

However, when news broke out that the blog closed down abruptly, I began to wonder what happened to it and who was the person behind it. I received many rumours from various sources on what really happened to the author of the blog that forced him or her to close it.

One source alerted me that the writer was finally discovered and subsequently coerced to shut the blog down. The source also notified me that the author was actually a friend of the victims since he knew a lot about them. Another source told me that the writer decided to close the blog when he realized that the blog was gaining too much popularity. The source added that in one of the blog posts, the writer did mention that his blog was experiencing a surge in traffic.

Which version is true, I do not know. Whatever it is, Tpjcbitchh07 definitely created chaos among its targetted victims. Most importantly, it showed how fast gossips can travel around now, thanks to the birth of the Internet. Blogs are easily accessible - anyone can read it anywhere and anytime he wants.

As for Tpjcbitchh07, everything about it still remains a mystery...

Now You Can Get Paid For That 'A' Grade

2008-12-07T21:51:00.000+08:00

Many college students in the United States are incurring huge debts as a result of their hefty student loans. The debts when added up could prevent the student from continuing his or her higher education in college. Realizing this problem, student entrepreneur Michael Kopko decided to establish a new website dedicated to help needy students secure sponsorships so as to alleviate their debts.

Known as GradeFund, the community-based system promises a platform whereby families, friends, philanthropists, corporations and other organizations can come together with the mission to reward top-performing students in college. Students will have to set up an account first before being able to send out invitations asking for sponsors to pledge any amount they are willing to give for each 'A' grade that the student obtains.

GradeFund has a total of around 5,042 members currently. Checks are issued to the respective students once a total of $100 is raised. A transaction fee will be deducted from the total amount of money raised. GradeFund will donate money for every sponsored 'A' grade a student receives to the 'One Laptop Per Child' cause.

ZooToo, a website catering to pet enthusiasts, is GradeFund's first corporate sponsor, pledging $15 to the first 100 students each semester who submit proof that they have earned an 'A' grade in veterinary medicine.

I really like the idea. However, I think there are disadvantages linked to the system. Firstly, students may rely too heavily on it. They may totally lose the motivation to study once the number of pledged sponsors dries up. Secondly, it may also increase the incentive to cheat. The system will be directly rewarding students who obtained an 'A' grade by cheating, thus sending a wrong message to them.

A Year In Review: The Turnstiles Saga

2008-12-06T14:33:00.001+08:00

Who would ever thought that the construction of two turnstiles in our campus would stir such a huge debate?! The turnstile saga remains in my college diary as the most controversial-yet-funny experience I had to go through during my stay in TPJC. It was crazy!

It all started when one of the students, Zizie Zuzantie, decided to set up a fresh forum thread for Tpjcians to share their views on the new turnstiles and suggestions to improve them. What started out to be a noble cause turned awry when students began to (mercilessly) attack the college administration for implementing the new security system. Our student councillors were not spared at all - a few students questioned if the student councillors are taking their suggestions seriously. Most of them lamented about the inconvenience caused by the turnstiles. One teacher even joined the discussion to evaluate the suggestions provided by the students.

Well, that was not the worst that was yet to happen. On 15th July 2008 at exactly 10.09pm, a young man by the name of Ong Ding Yi suddenly threw a grenade in the Photoshare claiming the lives of more than eight students (virtually). Like a ~~hero~~ villain who emerged from nowhere, he began firing at the college administration and attendants for errr...everything related to the turnstiles. Several students such as Visakan, Mohamad Rizwan, Chua Wei Qing and Muhammad Khairy tried to save our dear aunties but Ding Yi's sharp and fiery words murdered them instantly. Of course, the man with the biggest ego 'won'.

Below is one of the missiles that hit Visakan:

Ong Ding Yi (07S32) Fri 18 Jul 2008 4:47 pm
"This was taken after GP remedial. Wonder where are the "responsible" (as usual) aunties to help us open e gates"

notice that this was the original comment made. so where have ill-treated and disrespected come into the picture? hello?
Yes i may hav used "responsible", but i did not direct it to ALL and said that at ALL times they are. But its a fact that usually they are.

Two simple questions. WHERE are they. and WHAT can they do to alleviate this situation. I din say stuff like. WTF aunties are #$^!#@% jus bcos they nv open the gate for us. And if u even bother to notice properly. When i mentioned problem abt the artificial field, i am not targetting them FYI. I jus meant maybe they had to go help the cleaners. Which comes to another problem of the pros and cons of the artificial field, where does the benefits rly outweigh the losses, or the future cost and side effects. But again, thats another issue.

Secondly, it is an UNDISPUTED FACT, that there are ppl like these amongst our attendants. So you mean by EARNING LOW WAGES, you can show attitude? cmon. live with it.

So you do acknowledge the fact that they treat us badly. This picture is posted so that the school admin or to whom it may concern can actually do something about this. No policy or implementation is perfect, there are definitely weak links, and by installing the turnstile, this is one of them. Also, if there is a need to treat them badly in return, do u even think i need to post on photoshare?
cmon la, there are like 10000001 ways to treat them badly through everyday life. So whats the point of "treating them badly" here (if it is to u) when it doesn even have any impact.

notice, I repeat again. This picture is posted so that the school admin or to whom it may concern can actually do something about this. and that NO policy or implementation is perfect.

Lastly, if u noticed. I only stated MM Lee as an example to show that it DOESNT mean that if u think u can do a job better than ppl, u shld take over the job, and not as a way to show that i forgive him, or i do not forgive our attendants, or wadsoever. And that it is nonsensical to actually link MM Lee to forgiving. cuz you're totally missing the point.

As months went by, the intensity of the debate began to subside. It was clearly just a case of how long we would get used to the new system. The turnstiles saga was so widely debated - in TPJC.net as well as personal blogs by Tpjcians - that our vice-Principal, Mr Tan, decided to clarify the matter to the whole student population during one of the morning assemblies.

What a saga...

Piglet Born With A Human-Like Head

2008-12-04T18:35:00.005+08:00

Residents of Southeast Minahasa (Indonesia), especially in Desa Watuliney, Kecamatan Belang, were alerted on the birth of a pig which owns a human-like face. The abnormal pig was born early this year and weighed around 1.5kg. According to Harian Komentar, the newborn piglet possessed the voice of a monkey.

The animal was removed from its pigsty and transferred into its owner's house so that visitors could view it more easily. Several local citizens commented that the birth of the piglet was a sign that the doomsday was approaching real soon.

I believe the pig is suffering from a rare form of birth defect. I am not sure if it can be classified as cyclopia though as the newborn has two eyes, not one. After reviewing the pictures below, I think the nose and mouth of the piglet failed to form normally resulting in the distorted facial features. It is most probably just a mild form of developmental disorder.

You can read more about cyclopia HERE.

Oh No! Watching TV Is Proven To Make Our Children FAT!

2008-12-03T17:02:00.000+08:00

A recent report published by Common Sense Media entitled Media and Child and Adolescent Health: A Systematic Review revealed that there is strong correlation between media exposure and long-term harmful effects to children. The report reviewed 173 of the best studies from the last thirty years which examined the connection between the two variables.

[Photo taken from SOURCE.]

The strongest connection was found between the amount of time spent watching the television and childhood obesity. 86% of these studies found a statistically significant relationship between increased media exposure and a rise in childhood obesity. 82% of studies concluded that longer hours of media predicted increased weight over time. A longitudinal study involving 5,493 children revealed that those who spent more than eight hours watching the television per week at age three were significantly more likely to be obese at age seven.

“Media is increasingly pervasive in the lives of children and adolescents. Parents and educators must consider the effects of media when they’re trying to address issues with their child’s health. This report makes it clear that we need a bold new agenda on media and technology use. We hope this report will create a new sense of urgency in that regard.”- James P. Steyer, CEO and founder of Common Sense Media

The report also showed that the average modern child spends almost 45 hours a week totally immersed in the television, movies, magazines, music, the Internet, cellphones and video games. According to the study, this is well above the amount of time spent by children with their parents (17 hours a week) as well as in school (30 hours a week).

Prom Night '08: The Review

2008-12-02T22:11:00.003+08:00

The ladies strutted in their ravishing gowns embellished with captivating accessories as they entered the grand ballroom. Some opted for a scanty outfit, a clear sign of the effects of the economic downturn. The men encapsulated the formality of the event with their coats, ties and leather shoes. It was a resplendent masquerade night to be remembered for the rest of their lives.

TPJC 22nd Student Council. (Picture courtesy of Nazurah Atiqah)

The Prom Night was a culmination of the hard work and determination of the 23rd Student Council. The students, including me, had high expectations for the event. In this review, I will sum up the thoughts and feelings by members of the audience. Therefore, be prepared for the criticisms too.

The emcee for the night was Mr Richardo from Adrenalin Events. On a scale of one to ten, I think he deserved a six. Firstly, he managed to host the event smoothly with only one or two slips of the tongue. Secondly, he was very enthusiastic. He passed the energy to the audience with his humourous lines and consistently tried to maintain the level of enthusiasm by encouraging us to scream and support our team members during the games.

However, as the night turned colder, the energy started to wane. Our short attention spans got the better of us and we soon began to ignore the games and took pictures with our friends instead. The emcee's jokes started to turn lame as he blathered on and started to create name jokes. In short, although he did try to keep the zealous crowd alive, in the end it was just an ephemeral fervour.

If I could pick the most entertaining performer for the night, I would definitely choose Ami Yousoff as the winner hands down. In fact, most if not all of my friends agreed that he was the star of the night. No one expected him to krump vociferously on stage during one of the games. It was hilarious and he was deservedly rewarded with a standing ovation. And oh, his awkward gait while imitating Indiana Jones was amusing too. This funnyman sure has guts, I told myself.

I think the food and beverages served were all right. Overall, I would rate a B+ for them. My personal favourite was the fish dish (I can't remember the exact name of the dish). The jellyfish dish was unexpected and we were thrilled to taste it for the very first time (Haha). However, I have to agree with some of my friends that knives should have been provided so that we could cut the meat with ease and avoid a situation whereby the meat might jump off the plate suddenly!

TPJC Canoeing Team. (Photo courtesy of Koh Han Jie)

I thought the door gifts were reasonable. I received many complains that they were inadequate and unattractive. To me, the greatest souvenir that I brought home from the night was the set of photos that I took together with my gorgeous best friends. Door gifts do not really matter to us.

Now here comes the (nasty) criticisms...

Firstly, there should have been more transparency on how the nominees for the Prom king and queen were selected. I received two versions of the voting process - one told me that a team of councillors chose them but the other informed me that only one councillor had the power to choose the nominees. Which is true I do not know, but whatever it is, it sure made some attendees slightly unhappy. I am not disputing the winners of the Prom king and queen because I believe they looked amazing and truly deserved it. In fact, my whole table voted for them. However, there is another huge group of people who felt that they should have been given the right to nominate the Prom king and queen. Anyway, congratulations to Hafiz and Mae for winning the Prom king and queen contest respectively that night!

Secondly, the event was not filled with heart-pumping or spellbinding performances. Most of the musicians who took the stage were accompanied by acoustic guitars and a soothing voice. The pace of the event was a bit too relaxed. Perhaps, the event organizers were trying too hard to retain the serenity of the masquerade night. Nevertheless, it would definitely be a lot better if a powerful voice or the sharp sounds from a violin would suddenly overwhelm the entire ballroom. A lucky draw segment would help too. Overall, the entertainment value was low.

Thirdly, several members of the audience were displeased that some students (the minority) actually walked around and took pictures in the middle of the ballroom, therefore blocking the view of the rest of the attendees seated at the back. I believe they were too eager to take a group photo together, so much so that they forgot that there are people seated at the back who wanted to view the performances on stage (especially during the Prom king and queen segment! Oh boy...). Not too much of a problem I agree, but still a little courtesy would make a huge difference.

Next, I think masquerade masks should have been provided during the event. This suggestion was actually brought forward by my classmate as well as one of the readers in this blog who mentioned how masks were provided during his graduation night which coincidentally used the same theme as ours. In my opinion, we have to be realistic when it came to this. I am pretty confident that the councillors intended to do so, but the lack of funds did not permit them to provide the masks. Nonetheless, a special counter to loan a few masks for photo shoots could have been set up.

Finally, some of the attendees commented that the the dance floor should have been opened for a longer period of time. They argued that the time allocated for the final segment was too short and therefore unsatisfactory. I believe the event organizers had no choice but to end the dance segment early because the ballroom was booked for a specified duration of time and they could not exceed it.

It was definitely a fantastic night, but to describe it as magical seems superfluous. Nevertheless, (most importantly) thank you to the 23rd Student Council for making the event happen.

Polish Your Understanding Of Organic Chemistry With TeacherTube

2008-12-01T13:59:00.001+08:00

As a visual learner, I often rely on visual aids such as diagrams, pictures and videos in order to refine my understanding of a particular subject, especially Chemistry. For example, I memorized my Organic Chemistry concepts by viewing recorded lectures available in Youtube. It is definitely more interesting and engaging then merely reading handouts provided by my tutor.

I have found a very good website that can help you polish your understanding of Organic Chemistry. It is known as TeacherTube and it strives to lay out a safe platform for educators to share their instructional videos with students anywhere and anytime. The website is reliable as every video is reviewed intensively by the staff to ensure that they are of high quality. And most importantly, the service is absolutely free.

I strongly suggest you watch the video below if you are still struggling with Organic Chemistry. It is as if your lecturer is teaching you using a tablet PC, but the only difference is that it all happens at the comfort of your home!

New Blogger: POCKET MANILA

2008-11-30T20:42:00.005+08:00

Starting from today, we will review one new blog hosting service for the next four weeks. We hope our posts will help broaden your choices when considering which blogging platform to use for your next virtual diary.

Pocket Manila (previously known as moeskine.com) is a service which enables its users to share their thoughts online through virtual notebooks . It allows users to customize their notebooks by choosing the right colours to match their personalities. They can change the top, middle and bottom colours of the notebook with just a few clicks. It is all about mixing and matching the colours until the perfect combination is produced.

One innovative feature that Pocket Manila possess is the the Quick-Flip. Unlike most Blogger and Wordpress websites whereby we are forced to scroll the page down to read the full posts, Pocket Manila's Quick-Flip allows readers to flip pages just by dragging your mouse either from left to right (forward) or otherwise. Long posts are automatically divided into several pages.

Pocket Manila was also set up to promote less use of paper. The name was inspired by the recycled manila paper journal. The online application aims to be a useful tool that can be used to store useful information and notes in our everyday lives, just like what a real notebook can do.

The service is still under beta mode and users may encounter problems updating their notebooks once in a while. I tried to sign up and create my first virtual notebook with Pocket Manila but was greeted with this message instead:

Can A FAT Person Be Happy?

2008-11-30T00:21:00.001+08:00

I am not a fan of the Tyra Banks Show, but one particular episode captured my attention. Tyra Banks, who is also widely known as a supermodel, invited around six overweight guests to her show. They were discussing if it is possible for a fat person to be happy at the same time. The topic sparked a huge and intense debate between the guests and some members of the audience.

Most of the people who attended the show that day agreed that being obese eats your freedom to move and do whatever you like away due to health concerns. I remembered one of them, who was once suffering from obesity, suggested that there is just no way that a fat woman can lead a happy lifestyle as she has to incur great medical expenses and possibly a high volume of stress due to discrimination. She cited her own experience as an example and nearly teared in front of the cameras. She then criticized the guests as 'disgusting' and begged them to change their unhealthy lifestyles.

Nevertheless, the guests refuted her every word and fired back at the spectator for her insensitive use of the word 'disgusting'. One of the guests, a plus-size freelance model who posts pictures of herself posing in sexy outfits as well as uploading videos of herself dancing seductively in her website, even stood up and puts her head high up in the air before putting forward a speech that electrified the crowd.

I could not remember exactly the words that came out of her mouth but it was something like this:

'Do you know that there are thousands of young girls out there who are contemplating suicide because they are unhappy with how they look like? Well, I am happy for what I am right now. When I go out there, I approach these girls and tell them two things. Number one, if you look into the mirror and you are not happy with what you see, then DO SOMETHING. Number two, but if you look into the mirror and am happy with the reflection, then just ACCEPT IT. The most important thing is that you are happy.'

Her words were very strong and deep. It definitely taught me a lesson. Like many other men out there, I also do wish I look better. Who does not want a hot body or a handsome look? Sometimes, I do fall into the deep semiconscious world known as 'emo-land'. But hey, after hearing the inspiring speech, I learnt that I am worrying unnecessarily. I used to be always concerned about what people think of my physical features. That is no longer important; the most important thing is that I am happy with how I look like presently.

How Twitter Helped Build A New Classroom In Tanzania

2008-11-29T19:37:00.005+08:00

For those of you who have yet heard of Twitter, it is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables users (or twitters as they name themselves) to post and read other users' updates (also known as tweets). The tweets are shown on the user's profile and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them.

Tweetsgiving, an online project set up to help build a new classroom for a school in Tanzania, had managed to raise over $10,000 in just 48 hours just by utilizing Twitter. It was an extraordinary example of altruism all made possible thanks to the hard work and generosity of hundreds of Twitters. The ambitious project was initiated by Epic Change, a non-profit organization based in the USA.

The success of this project clearly demonstrated the power and influence of the social web. In this case, not only do Twitters provide a $10 donation to help by the bricks needed for the construction of the new classroom; they were also encouraged to follow at tweetsgiving to receive latest updates of the project and help spread the cause through other social media platforms such as Facebook. Those who donated $100 would become a 'Top Turkey'.

Social networking and blogging platforms can be useful in making this world a better place for people to live in. Who would ever taught Twitter could actually help build a new classroom in less than 48 hours?!