Hwa Chong's New System

Hi people. In this post I would express my views on the current grading system in HCI that starts from my cohort (Sec 2 2010) onwards.

Basically, in contrast to last year's system, 2 new subjects are added to our already extremely heavy burden. Oral Communications and Independent Studies that is made up of ACE and Project's Work. Oral Communication also consists of CA(Current Affairs) Panel discussion, interview and OP. OP stands 40% and CA 30%.The objective of this change was to supposedly stop us from "artificially inflating" our grades with ACE and OP. Personally, I have objection to this as I also think that using ACE and OP to inflate our score and year end MSG is not right.

However, I strongly disagree with the requirements of staying in IP next year in Sec 3. I feel that it is not fair, considering that we were told on short notice. Yes, we were told of the change in the system but we weren’t told about the requirements at all. I feel that adding in IS and OC as two new subjects is a feasible solution to the problem of artificially inflated scores, however they should not be a burden to us and prevent us from going to Sec 3 IP class. Like what was brought up during the assembly, there are always minorities who can’t speak up, be it because they’re shy or they’re afraid that their friends would laugh at them in case they say something wrong. This is not fair to them at all. Just because they are not as vocal as others does not mean that they deserve to go to an O level class!

Similarly, those who do not have enough ACE, could have their own reasons too. Of course if they’re just lazy, then they should go 3Q as they are not independent enough to stay in IP. However, they are some who are struggling to juggle their studies and various commitments such as Ep3s and the student council. As a result, it’s not surprising that they have neglected ACE simply because they have too much on their hands.

Therefore, my stand is the school should remain as the current system, however, the requirements definitely have to be lowered or there’ll be a sudden increase in 3Q students.

Singlish Our National Language?

"Dis country weather very hot one."
"Dat person there cannot trust."
"He play soccer also very good one leh."

Hi readers, I suppose all of you should know about "Singlish".

Singlish, sometimes known in the academic community as Singapore Colloquial English, is an English-based creole language spoken in Singapore.

As a student, I can say that Singlish is strongly discouraged in schools at a governmental level as it is believed to hinder the proper learning of proper English. For many students, using Singlish is also inevitable when interacting with their peers, siblings, parents and elders as it has becomed a bad habit since young.

Singlish derives its roots from the 1819 of British colonial rule over Singapore. During that period of time, many foreigners came to Singapore for trading purposes. British English was then spoken, but not long after immigrants moved in, the language became influenced by them. Therefore, Singlish now consists of Malay, Hokkien, Mandarin words which then make Singlish not a formal way of communicating.

Frankly speaking, I feel that it is quite impossible to eradicate Singlish as it is just natural that we say a few "la" and "lo" during conversations. Even so, the government has already tried to promote the use of standard English instead of Singlish, but it was to no avail.

As a permenant citizen of Singapore, I feel that Singlish makes Singapore unique in a way that we have somewhat created our own nation's language.

"Ei brudder, come on la. Guo Qing Ri just past le, you dunno meh. Wa, you balik kampung la."

Egypt Gods

As you all know by now, (or not) I am a huge fan of Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series. Well, his new book, The Red Pyramid, came out at around early this year but I haven't had the money to purchase it or time to read it for that matter.

I'm largely influenced by him and have taken an interest to Egyptian gods as well. After doing my own mini research, I found that Egyptian gods have unique names and powers. They are tied in closely with animals too. Their tales are told on the writings that are inscribed on the inside of the Egyptian pyramids. In this post I'll be listing the gods and their features. Also the story of how the gods were born if I have time. :D

The Egyptians believe that some gods and goddesses took part in creation, some brought the flood every year, some offered protection, and some took care of people after they died. Others were either local gods who represented towns, or minor gods who represented plants or animals.

The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to recognise and worship these gods and goddesses so that life continued smoothly.

Here's the list of the Egyptian Gods (In brackets are their features briefly):

God of Sun, Ra (Head of falcon and sun disk)

God of Music, Hathor (Horns of cow and sun disk)

God of Destruction, Sekhmet (Head of lion)

God of Sky, Nut (Blue with golden stars)

God of Earth, Geb (Colour of plants and Nile mud)

God of Dead, Osiris (Dressed in white with crook and flail)

God of Desert, Seth (Animal head with long curved snout)

God of Pharoah, Horus (Head of hawk and crown of Egypt)

God of Magic, Isis (Throne on head or holding baby)

God of Wisdom, Thoth (Head of ibis--A type of bird)

God of Embalming, Anubis (Head of jackal)

God of Justice, Ma'at (Feather in her hair)

God of Creation, Amun (Crowned with feathers)

God of Cats, Bastet (Head of cat)

That's all for the listing of major gods in Egyptian mythology. I posted some of the pictures of the more prominent gods but I would suggest that if you are interested, you could look for the pictures of these gods. Their appearances are certainly bizarre. If you are interested in the story, here's the link:http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/story/main.html

It gives a brief overview of the story of how gods came into existence as time does not allow me post the full story for all of you.

If you are simply interested in the gods, this website can help:http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/egypt/index.htm

Well that's it for now. Look forward to the next post!