When Blogging Is Unhealthy

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

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

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)

New Generation Youths: Online And Unprotected

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.

The Singapore Blogosphere: Screwed Up?

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...

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

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.

Ten Days In Cambodia

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

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.

Dang! Science Students Are More Likely To Remain As Virgins

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.

Now You Can Get Paid For That 'A' Grade

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.

Polish Your Understanding Of Organic Chemistry With TeacherTube

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!

A Good Way For Students To Enrich Their Vocabularies

Sometimes it is just too cumbersome for us students to bring along our paper flash cards wherever we go. We are required to memorize new words and other important definitions in order to enrich our vocabularies and do well in our examinations.

However, the disadvantage of having paper flash cards is that once lost, we will have no choice but to rewrite the entire content on a fresh piece. Furthermore, it can be quite tedious to rearrange them once we (inadvertently) mix them up.






Well, fret no further now that we have Quizlet! Quizlet was created by Andrew Sutherland back in October 2005 (I know...it took me three years to finally find it!) when he was just 15 years old. His mission is to make learning vocabulary not a chore. His start-up was designed so that students can effectively absorb new words into their vocabularies.

So how does Quizlet work?

Members create a new set of words, including their definitions. Then, they will familiarize and learn the words. Next, they can take a short test to make sure they truly understand the meaning of the words. And finally, users can take part in word games such as Scatter and Space Race to test how fast they are able to connect or match the words with their definitions.


















So what are waiting for? Try it out now!
Click HERE.

Relationships In College: A Motivation Or Distraction?

Can being in a relationship actually encourage you to do better in your studies? Or will it backfire and distract you instead? I am not sure about you, but I think it really depends on how you divide your time for studying and spending quality time with your partner. Your level of maturity in dealing with the ups and downs of a relationship plays a significant role too.

I have seen couples who did well in their examinations. Either partner is proficient at a particular subject and tips are exchanged among each other. They motivate each other and improve on their respective weaknesses. Such activity is useful and helpful in producing better results, but we do not need to be in a relationship to do that, do we?

















So what makes engaging in a relationship better than the common hi-talk-bye friendships that we already have? I think it all boils down to love and the commitment that comes with it. Your boyfriend or girlfriend may be more dedicated to spend more time with you studying as compared to your normal friends.

Sometimes, our normal friends may prefer quality studying time on their own. I believe it is different in the case of our soul mates. They tend to grab any opportunity to study with us. It is known as love. And love connects people more than anything else.

Whatever that is written above actually happened in real life, and that is why I am able to share it with you. In other words, the above hypothesis had been proven true. One example I can never forget is the story of a repeat student from my Secondary School. It was as if he fell into a deep hole and was abandoned there for years before finally meeting someone on top working hard to pull him up back to the surface.

That person is none other than his beloved girlfriend and he eventually came out of the hole as one of the top students in school. He shared his story of how his partner sacrificed a lot of her time to coach him in his studies - something rare before he met her. I remembered clearly how he told us he was inspired by the sheer determination of his companion and wanted to do well in the 'O' levels not only for himself and his family, but also to make her proud.
























Nonetheless, it is vital to remind oneself that an overdose of love can 'kill' you and your results. Being in a relationship can definitely be a huge distraction for you, deviating your attention away from lecture notes and tutorial worksheets. Spending too much time holding hands, hugging and kissing replaces the plus and minus signs with breasts, lips, butt, sex and more sex.

And then comes the heartbreaking break-ups. Being able to get over it well and fast requires a high degree of maturity. What I mean is that only a matured person can fully realize that life needs to go on! Letting your mind pick up the shattered pieces of broken heart and attempting to glue them back means a lot of study time burnt. You may lose consistency, a key determinant of success in college.

Just remember that while love can be helpful, an overdose of it will definitely paralyze you. And one more thing, there are true friends out there who are also very committed to help you in your studies in whatever way he or she can.

'A' Levels

A few more days and it is all over. Taking 'A' levels is like taking a roller coaster ride with Ms Helen Choo beside you (what kind of an analogy is that?). It is like having to feel depressed for the difficult papers, but at the same time being motivated by your friends to look forward and do better for the upcoming papers (confused? try reading again).

I have learnt a lot from 'A' levels. The number one most important lesson I can extract from the examinations is to find a purpose of taking the examinations. I think there is a difference between taking the 'A' levels for the sake of enjoying the freedom soon after it ends and taking it to achieve our dreams in the future.






















Even so, different dreams have different impacts to the person who is taking the examinations. If you dream only to be a rich person with a high-paying job and nothing else, then you will only gain the technical information from the papers you sit for. You are going to be the next contestant in the rat race.
























However, if you dream to become a happy man with a happy family living in a happy world full of happy friends, then what you profit from the examinations are the life skills and knowledge. You are going to be the audience for the rat race.

Your intentions are important. Obama wants to be the next President of the United States Of America as he intends to unite the whole country. George Bush wants to start a war in Iraq (and decided to leave other more troubled countries in Africa such as Rwanda) as he intends to grab the black gold.

As for me, I intend to take the 'A' levels to create a better life for my family and the people around me.

JC1 Promotional Results

I received this update from a blogger:

Assembly today was somewhat like a wake up call for some of us. About 40% of the J1 batch in TPJC did not meet the promotional criteria. My class’ average grade is between D and E. It seems pretty bad.

This is pretty poor. I am not sure what happened. Perhaps, some of the JC1 students could share with us the reasons which led to the less-than-average results. Nevertheless, I believe there is a silver lining to this - our juniors have realized their mistakes. Feeling regretful to what you have done for the past ten months or so shows that you have matured and want to take your studies more seriously.

I wonder some of us like to slack, even though we’re in JC. I think we all find it hard to let go of the care-free secondary school life, when we could play soccer everyday after school.

I have to agree with the blogger. We all tend to have this false belief that JC1 is a slack year. I am one of the culprits. Studying seems peripheral to our JC life in year one; socializing and slacking somehow takes priority. Unfortunately, it is all ephemeral pleasure as we often receive our results with disappointment at the end of the year.

As a responsible senior, I strongly encourage you (my juniors) to strive hard starting from today and dismiss any rumours that your first year is not important. Taking the 'A' levels is different from taking the 'O' levels. And that is what I have learnt. We may be able to study three weeks before the 'O' levels and still do well in it, but the same theory does not work for the 'A' levels at all.

Building a solid foundation is key. Failing to do so may cause you to play catching up for the rest of your J2 year.

ZAHADA - A Compilation of Hints And Tips

Written by Lim Cheng Chong (08S15) and Seah Wee Lun Alan (08S27).
The blogger is also the owner of Digital Ramblings. Click HERE to visit his blog!

Zahada Riddles!
Our hints and tips are structured in the following order:
1. Vague hint
2. More obvious hint
3. Give-away hint

Question 01
1. The answer is there.
2. Look! It's in the page.
3. Words in bold mean something.

Question 02
1. It sounds like one letter, but is spelt with three - Consider all letters of the alphabet.
2. What can be blue, black or grey?
3. It's part of the anatomy.

Question 03
1. Red herring refers to misleading 'clues' that lead to nowhere
2. Look everywhere. Don't limit yourself to just the web page.
3. Look at the extreme ends of the page.

Question 04
1. Why is 'anything' shorter than 'string'?
2. The answer has nothing to do with "quack".
3. Think about rhyming.

Question 05
1. Look at the title of the page.
2. What word sounds like it's one letter, but is actually spelt with five?
3. Read out the dialogue, and listen to that sound you keep making. If you get it, the last line will make sense.

Question 06
1. Hints can be hidden anywhere. Make sure things that have the same color as the background show up.
2. The answer is two letters - What are the two letters you get out of "Empty"?
3. Read out the word. Do you hear yourself saying the answer?

Question 07
1. Save the picture and zoom right in
2. Don't keep staring at one spot. Move around. If you're zoomed in enough, the answer jumps right out at you.
3. The answer has nothing to do with fish. But look closely at them, and you'll see the answer staring at you.

Question 08
1. Sharp jaws don't necessarily have teeth.
2. What doesn't need claws to cut?
3. I have one of those in my pencil case.

Question 09
1. Don't just look at 'it'. Try to find out more about 'it'.
2. Did you realise that the last line isn't text? It's a graphic.
3. Everything has its *properties*.

Question 10
1. There are five hints available for you. Have you found them all?
2. You need to look at the source of things.
3. "View -> Page Source" in Firefox, or "View -> Source" in Internet Explorer.

Question 11
1. Look at the fish in a different way. The same way you used to last time.
2. You're dealing with binary here. Your windows calculator (in scientific mode!) will help you.
3. Make sure you are in "BIN" mode throughout!

Question 12
1. Remember, text color and background color need not be different.
2. Look in the same old place where they've been hiding things all along.
3. Look in the source.

Question 13
1. You have to look for what you're supposed to find out.
2. See the Google logo? Go on.
3. The answer is NOT Everest. Go look it up.

Question 14
1. Not a day of the week, but closely related.
2. If you need to, retype the hint without the spaces. The spaces will distract you.
3. Unscrambling refers to rearrangement.

Question 15
1. What a searching question!
2. Make sure you're copying the WHOLE quote.
3. The question is WHO.

Question 16
1. See the description? Aren't there some things that we describe in a similar manner at school?
2. Use Google. Nobody is stopping you. (The starfish is a red herring)
3. Bolded letters mean something. Put them together, and see what you get.

_____________________________________________
This post is brought to you by:







_________________________________________

Question 17
1. The letters in a foreign language tell you something
2. Read the title of the page very quickly
3. The name of the country starts with "T", and the answer starts with "B"

Question 18
1. Not using firefox? Skip straight to hint 3. Otherwise, look around the page.
2. Something on the page, which remains the same for past questions, has changed in this question.
3. Identify this flag: http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/illus/flg/T049066A.jpg

Question 19
1. See how each line relates to the previous line
2. See how each line describes the previous line
3. "There is 'x' number of 'y's on the previous line"

Question 20
1. If you can get an answer but it doesn't seem right, remember that your answer should be in LOWERCASE =D
2. Doesn't the guy in the picture look ancient? How do these ancient people count?
3. I get the feeling that the ancient guy is Roman.
Need more help?
(Think of roman numerals)

If FOUR is half of FIVE

and two thirds of SIX is NINE.

What is THIRTY-TWO?

Question 21
1. "2=O" should mean there are two of them.
2. What does G and Y have anything to do with searching?
3. They are just names. The answer is the name of Y.

Question 22
1. What is it that you cannot see?
2. Add up what you cannot see.
3. What you cannot see = Total - What you can see.

Question 23
1. Don't forget what you've been doing so far.
2. There are three words in the final answer, written as one word.
3. The numbers refer to the question numbers that you've done so far.
Need more help?
Recall previous answers and take the first letter of each answers.

Replace all the numbers by a letter, so as to form 3 words. Then put the 3 words tgt to form the answer.

Question 24
1. Just one letter from each.
2. If you see more than one letter, pick the first one.
3. Getting a series of garbled rubbish? I'm guessing you don't take Physics. Go look it up on Google.

Question 25
1. There isn't much english or mathematical formula behind this - It's merely mechanical.
2. Seriously, watch where your fingers are going.
3. Look at your keyboard. Look at the letters.

Question 26
1. Ignore the graphic
2. Google up every character. Which English letter do they look like?
3. If you're getting loads of funny stuff, it may simplify your life by ignoring the first character, and the last five.

Question 27
1. Similarly to the previous one, only the first letter counts.
2. The letters form a sequence we used in primary school to remember some stuff...
3. This sequence has something to do with the stars...

Question 28
1. Every picture represents a letter.
2. The letter is the name of whatever is in the picture. Put the letters together to get numbers, which represent one member in a series of 26 we use frequently.
3. More hints? The drink is called Tango. DiCaprio acted as Romeo before. Lopez acted as Echo. The album is called foxtrot. There are probably some you haven't seen before. Fill them in.

Question 29
1. Homophones sound about the same.
2. The answer is the one in red.
3. In this case, both words are even spelt alike... They both start with "P".

Question 30
1. The third line is very difficult. Figure out the rest, and fill that in.
2. In #4, a falling cloud refers to what falls from them. In #5, what do you call yourself?
3. In #1, being stung by a bee creates a painful swelling. In #2, just find out the second cubic number.

Question 31
1. Go ahead. Add them up. Identify the shape, and find the brightest one.
2. Can't identify the shape? We usually draw it with five 'legs'.
3. The brightest one. No, not the one that shines on us - The second brightest one, then.
Need more help?
Do some research on the brightest star.

Question 32
1. Directions can be misleading. If you hit the wall, be defiant to the instructions.
2. When you move, pick up EVERYTHING along the way.
3. Don't just put in whatever you get. Google it up, and put in the 'broad category' of that thing instead.

Question 33
1. Follow the instructions first.
2. Use a real calculator.
3. You don't always have to look at your display from the same side.

WikiTP Relaunched, But Will It Be Successful?

I hope so. The GP Department has moved WikiTP to a new free host - from blogger to the brand new pbwiki. This is a good move since the project requires massive participation from TPJCians. A wiki is an effective collaboration tool that allows students to contribute their ideas easily. Furthermore, the supervising tutors are also able to edit the document and ensure that only relevant content is published.

Nevertheless, the success of this project lies largely on the degree of involvement by TPJCians themselves. Consistent updates is vital for WikiTP to stay germane to the students' research and development in General Paper. Hard copy study materials are still useful and more reliable. Moreover, tutors love to refer to notes provided by the department.







I believe the objective or purpose of setting up WikiTP is to construct a library of study materials useful for General Paper. It will be challenging to direct students to the website in the long run as they may prefer hard copy notes prepared by the college GP department. What WikiTP has to do is to be different from what is already available for students.

I strongly suggest the write-ups contributed by students to be short and sweet. Enough of all the long paragraphs printed on our notes; it's about time the college offer bite-sized and quality pieces of information related to GP. Some describe it as 'Teach Less, Learn More'. Transfer all the podcasts or videos produced by TPJCians themselves relating to the GP topics. And if possible, encourage interaction among users. This can broaden their perspective.

All the best to WikiTP.

Pay Singaporean Students To Do Well In Examinations?

US schools are experimenting a new system which provides cash incentives to students who do well in their examinations. The method is developed to motivate students and encourage them to complete their assignments and behave well in school. It has been well-received by students so far. The rewards program is currently limited for use in school - the money earned can only be used to purchase stationery or any other study materials from the school store.

In New York, about 5,500 students can earn money for getting good test scores. The program is open to fourth-graders, who can earn up to $250 a year, and seventh-graders, who can end the year with $500 in the bank.

Nevertheless, many experts question the effectiveness of the incentive program. They believe that the effect of such programs are only short-lived. Students will be less motivated to study when the funds for the rewards scheme begin to ebb away. Once private donations fail to match the rising demand for the monetary rewards given out to students, they will eventually lose the motivation to study hard.

He also said there is evidence that once a reward is taken away, people become even less motivated than they were before the experiment began. He said that is true regardless of the reward's value.

Schools in Singapore are also battling against each other in our competitive environment to produce excellent academic results. Every educational institution in this island wants to grab the best and brightest students into their schools. Schools are under pressure to boost students' achievements, laying out plans to help their students do well in national examinations. A school's reputation is always at stake when the results are announced.

Will paying Singaporean students to do well in examinations be a good idea for schools here to boost their academic achievements? Will it work in Singapore? What do you think?