Studies

So I was reading the Straits Times this morning when I came across two interesting articles mainly focusing on aspects of studying.

Studying Humanities Will Make The World A Better Place

This is WHY the education system should not scrap humanities. Go read the article, if you can find it, and you'll see what I mean. Humanities are more focused on relationships. Relationships between man and man, man and the environment, man and the world, man and his past. How can you forgo these relations just because science and technology seems more important in today's context?

Furthermore, to elaborate on what this guy (Jim Leach) said, humanities make it easier for people to form national identities and relate to their own cultures. Isn't this what Singapore needs so desperately amidst all the talk about what is a Singaporean identity?

Humanities is so closely interlinked with us. It is the study of OURSELVES. Don't we need humanities to reflect upon ourselves, see our mistakes and improve on it? If no one studied WW1 or WW2, would the world still be as (relatively) peaceful as it is now? We would never understand the gravity of some mistakes our predecessors made.

Besides, aren't students supposed to have a choice of what they want to do? By closing the doors to humanities (or leaving only one door by combining history and geography), are we leaving the students with a choice to do what they want? 

A subject that is deemed unimportant is not necessarily truly unimportant.

How ironic since I am supposed to be studying literature instead of typing this blog post. The point is, don't let temporary perceptions of society affect policy making. THE HUMANITIES WAS INVENTED/STUDIED FOR A GOOD REASON. If we scrap it now, are you saying that all those 50 years of education was crap/useless? Then that must mean we should stop studying the Maria Hertogh riots and why it means so much to maintain the fragile multi-racial social fabric of Singapore as well, no?

Basically, stop diminishing the importance of Humanities.

A Place For Exams As Social Leveller

Scrapping the PSLE is a BAD IDEA as well. (The whole education topic is revolving around scrapping things these days eh?)

Read this article and understand why. Granted, PSLE gives parents and students a lot of stress. However, aren't the parents over-exaggerating things? Aren't they over-thinking the importance of PSLE? I don't even remember being so stressed over PSLE when I was taking it.

Yes, I was nervous, scared, a little stressed out. But definitely not pull-out-my-hair, burn-midnight-oil kind of stress. The whole issue parents need to look at is why do we even have PSLE in the first place?

A very basic reason: it provides a fair platform for every student to score.

Every students, no matter what background/race/intelligence, takes the EXACT SAME PAPER, on the SAME DAY, SAME TIME. The grading process is the same as well - this goes very well with the meritocratic values of Singapore.

During the exam, it will be just the students against the paper. Nothing else.

If we replace the exams with projects and interviews, it might result in an unfair platform (just as the writer of the article says). Students with wealthier backgrounds inevitably have better advantage over the other students where projects are concerned. They have better access to facilities (which will no doubt be provided by parents who are already oh so concerned and worried over PSLE). Besides, won't projects result in more stress on the kids? I mean, for goodness sake, they are PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS. I have never even worked on a proper project until I was in secondary school. Do parents actually think primary school kids have the mental capacity to even plan and execute a proper project???

Furthermore, interviews??? Seriously? What are you going to ask a primary school kid? What is your favourite colour? I would have answered purple. What are you going to be when you grow up? Everyone at at that age would have answered teacher. Also, don't oral examinations already fulfil this aspect?

Parents are placing PSLE at the same level as A-levels, which is a totally wrong way of looking at it. If we scrap the PSLE, what comes next? Scrapping the O-levels, then A-levels? Wow. Singapore would be exam-free!!! Even though I might actually be happy when that day comes, but is the reason of stress really worth the action of scrapping examinations?

True, I am currently having exams and am feeling stressed out (read my previous blog post), but I don't advocate the action of removing PSLE/any other major exams.
In fact, call me sadistic, but I think exams are a great way to build up a student's mental strength. I actually feel excited before every exam. The thrill of getting the paper, the thrill of reading the questions set by teachers all get to me. There will be tests in our lives everyday. Why not prepare the students for it, rather than letting them fail when they come face to face to a truly important test in their lives later on?

There are some parents (in the article below on the same page of straits times pg 41), who ACTUALLY WANT TO REDUCE THE WEIGHTAGE OF THE SECOND LANGUAGE PAPER, claiming that it will give the students less stress. That is the WORST IDEA EVER. To that parent, have you been reading the newspapers lately? Singapore is facing a crisis where our mother tongue language is taking a back seat to English. No true-blue Singaporean (of my age) can speak Chinese properly and fluently anymore! Which explains why I am typing this blog in English, speaking English 90% of the time and scoring a B for my Chinese language. -.- And the absurd idea of reducing the weightage of mother language paper in PSLE can actually be suggested? *Speechless*

PSLE should not be scrapped. If parents want other areas of talents to be recognised as well, simple. Allow a wider range of talents to be considered for Direct School Admission. It allows for other talents to be taken into account as well, while not overly-diminishing the importance of studies.

To the parents, stop complaining about stress. YOU, by pressurizing your children to study more and sending your kids to tuition, are the actual cause of stress for your kids.

Exam Stress

I think I am actually feeling really stressed, just that I do not show it.

Apparently, I was SCRATCHING THE WOOD PLANK OF MY BED IN MY SLEEP. Witness = my brother who woke up in the middle of the night because of that. I am guessing that is A SIGN OF STRESS. Either that, or I was writing out my LA essay in my dream, which is hardly any better.

My parents have also told me that I used to grind my teeth while sleeping during examination periods. Hmm. It is proven that grinding your teeth while sleeping is either due to the fact that 1) there is something wrong with the alignment of your teeth, or 2) one feels stress or anxiety.

WHAT IF... the scratching sounds were actually the sound of my teeth grinding??? That is scary - the sound that my teeth makes can actually be so LOUD. I worry for my teeth.

Exam stress is such a problematic issue. Thinking too much about it brings more stress too, ironically. I think this problem of stress is much worse in Singapore too. Students in countries such as Norway are less 'competitive' in a sense - everyone is provided with the same opportunities (they do not have streaming), which makes the students less worried about their results, since it would not affect the number of their window of opportunities. On the other hand, marks are everything in Singapore. A C is acceptable in Norway, while an A is the norm in Singapore. Too much emphasis is based on exams, which are mostly based on rote learning as well (I am totally against the idea of rote learning).

I admit that it is hard to suggest an alternative to exams as a fair mean of grading the students. However, this issue will definitely affect the mental health of students (AKA ME.) 

I always prefer this: Concepts over Memorisation.

Understanding the concept is more important than memorising of facts for me, which is why I prefer Physics over Chemistry. Chemistry is, admit it, based mostly on memorisation. Physics is all about the concepts. Understand and apply it - this is also a much easier way to study :D

Anyway, just finished my LA paper 1 today. The questions were obviously out-of-this-world. (Quite excited to get back the papers and see the comments HEE) My plan today is to basically slack and reward myself for all that hard work for LA hahaha. I shall work on History tomorrow :) 

History is another headache for me. And literature. THESE ARE ALL THE HUMANITIES SUBJECTS. How ironic that I am a double-science student! (Anyway, the plan to scrap some humanities subject from the syllabus is silly and SHOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED. HOW CAN YOU SCRAP HISTORY???!! NONSENSE. History is such an essential part of life, much more so than chemistry/biology/physics -.-) 

Already looking forward to the end of EOYs and HCL O-level.

Plans to do after EOYs:

Go to Korea (if possible)

USS with 4K girls

Watch Taken 2 and all the other awesome movies

SLACK

Read books!!!! (MUST-DO)

Read manga

Listen to more music

Blog more (if I actually have stuff to blog about)

Go to cousin's house and bake/cook

:D

Science and technology, and ethics

I am current grappling with the idea of how ethics is important in science and technology. This is A VERY INTERESTING TOPIC. First off, it is controversial - and I love controversial topics because they make me THINK. Next, it is a very relevant topic because we are at an age and generation where science and technology pervades every part of our lives. To have knowledge about such topics is going to be useful and essential in the near future.

A few of the topics I have just read through on the internet:
Genetic testing, Human-animal stem cell research, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis.

Apparently, Singapore is one of the few countries at the forefront of stem cell research!! (WOW) So amazing. And I never knew that O.o
Our government allows embryos to be used in stem cell research, as long as stem cell is not extracted from them after they are 14-days-old. I found their reasoning very logical.

   "Within the 14th Day Limit: Research may be conducted on an embryo before it reached the 14th day from the day the gametes were fused. However, all such research is to be subject to strict regulation and undertaken only if there is very strong scientific merit in, and potential medical benefit to be derived from, such research. The BAC did not agree with the extreme view that an embryo is merely a collection of cells. While the BAC was prepared to recognise the special status of an embryo before it reached the 14 days limit, it did not consider this special status to be equivalent to the status that a living person would have.  Accordingly, the BAC considered it ethical to conduct research on such an embryo on a strictly regulated basis and subject to the conditions stipulated; and
  Beyond the 14th Day Limit: The BAC considered it unethical for research to be conducted on an embryo that has reached the 14th day limit and that such an embryo would be accorded full status as a person."

The 14-day agreement was because the embryo starts to show a primitive streak after 14 days. I think that this is a rather acceptable stand of the government. It is not too extreme or mild; it is rather moderate. Besides, it is my personal belief that an embryo (at least before the primitive streak) does not have consciousness or sentience, and therefore, cannot be truly considered as a 'human' or 'person' like the rest of the living humans. Regardless, I think that in the face of the various religious groups in Singapore, BAC managed to come up with a 'solution' that seems appropriate in Singapore's context.

Some scientists (not in SG) have also been producing headless mice and frogs. YES. You read that correctly. Guess what their ultimate aim is? TO PRODUCE A HEADLESS HUMAN CLONE.

That is just crazy, weird and obviously unethical. True, a headless human clone of yourself will give you the organs you need for organ transplant. Furthermore, it effectively wins the argument against opposers of cloning that the clone will have consciousness, and would be deemed as a 'person'. The scientists' argument is that by producing a headless clone, there is no brain, no mind, no consciousness. So, you are not really killing a 'human' in that sense. WELL, GREAT LOGIC HERE (sense the sarcasm please).

If you want clone infant to grow into that of an adult, even if it is headless, it is still growing. Growing = living thing. Even though it does not have consciousness or sentience, it is still considered a living thing. I mean, a patient in coma is also a person - here's the catch, but since he is in a state of coma, technically speaking, he has no consciousness. Does that mean that he can be treated as how your clone is going to be treated - killed for their organs? The absurdity of this situation makes me wonder how the scientists managed to convince themselves about the justifiability of their actions.

Are we really going to purposely create deformed human beings for the sake of saving the life of another? You have just officially created a life, and killed that very same life. All for the sake of another.

THIS is why this topic is so interesting. It gets us thinking about stuff like humanity and our understanding of technology and its appropriate uses.

Also, I think that people should get more involved in these kinds of debates! Basically, be more aware.

All in all, an interesting topic that is just as hard to score.

EOYs D:

really really dreading EOYs...

and I was only recently blogging about CTs being over (ironic).

I stayed at my cousin's house during the past few days. Watching many Super Junior-related stuff haha, and watched a few of To the beautiful you.

I went out on a few study dates with Shermaine and Dion too, which have actually gone quite successful. Greenwich is a great place to study :)

Oh, and yeah, my team got kicked out from the top 100. We did not get into the top 40. It was really a waste because we all felt that we did not give our best. The teacher ic did not tell us which of our three stories got selected, so we did not do any preparation AT ALL. We only knew about it 30 min before our story pitching, which screwed our confidence up. WE HAD ONLY 20 MINUTES TO PREPARE.
I am mainly upset because we got kicked out even before we had a chance to do our best. If we had been given the chance to show our best, and then got kicked out, I wouldn't have been so angry about it.

Anyway, I have so many things running around in my head... Eoys especially. How can anyone even create such a thing that tortures us so much?!

3 weeks more...

I wanna go Korea!!! FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

Princess's Man

I have finished watching Secret Garden and am now proceeding to fall in love with The Princess's Man! :) Frankly, I was kind of upset when I bought the drama and it had chinese subs, but I got over it now and am enjoying every bit of the drama! The drama is EPIC AND REALLY GOOD. It's very moving, with every moment put in its correct place. The characters are very real as well; you don't really hate all the bad guys because you see that they have their own reasons for doing so and essentially, we know that they have a human side to them as well.

And after watching this drama, I am actually starting to like Park Shi Hoo (the guy). YEP. I used to hate him because he was like this extra guy in Iljimae HAHAHAH. But I just realised how good his acting chops are! After watching this drama, you will definitely fall in love with him!! My perception of him is totally changed!

I also started taking notice of this girl: Moon Chae Rin <3 p="p">

She acts really well in this show. And when she's weeping, it really comes naturally to her; it's not like those shows where I shout out at the girl and tell her to stop crying and start doing something. I love that her character is very strong-willed as well. She actually DOES something in the drama that contributes to the plot, which usually does not happen because 'girls are weak yadah yadah'. So this drama did a really good job of writing her character.

Oh, she's going to act in Nice Guy with Song Joong Ki too!! Goodie!! :DD I shall keep an eye out for her :D

Haha, fan girling here~!

Oh and I LOVE THE OST OF PRINCESS'S MAN. Baek Ji Young sang the ost of Princess's man too!!!! (Same person who sang ost of Secret Garden) I ACTUALLY GUESSED THAT SHE SANG IT. Because it's so her style and the voice sounds the same. She's a really good singer!

Meanwhile, I finally finished my analysis of the Long Telegram.

George Kennan should learn to summarize. Why waste that much time and ink and make students' lives difficult?!!! D: 

And my group got into NEmation top 100!! :D

After CTs!

Common tests are finally over!! Yippee! :D

I swear that the CTs have actually had some kind of stress effect on me. Because I am currently having this annoying pimple breakout. And by breakout, I really mean breakout! GAH. It's very painful :(

I think that my whole life is just revolving around studies, tests and formulas.
CTs
After CTs
EOYS (in about 6 weeks =.= seriously?!)
After EOYs
O-level HCL

Only after O-level HCL can I truly be free...
Haiz.

Anyway, I had a 4K class lunch today to celebrate the end of CTs! An amazing amount of people turned up = 18! That is more than half the class, which is a miracle already. We ate at Astons (did not order the spaghetti this time!). I was stuck at the end, again. Haha. Elaine, Dion, Zixin and Clarissa made it interesting for me though :)
Afterwards, we kind of camped at a staircase nearby because we could not decide where to go. All of us took turns buying Goong Cha, which was funny because the longer we took to discuss, the more people went to buy goong cha. Me too haha.
A few of them eventually decided to go Jaime's house. I was hesitating but decided not to go since it would be quite inconvenient for me to go home later. I then window shopped with Elaine, Beatriz, Huiyi and Dion for a while. It was quite interesting actually going around to see all the high-heel shoes. Yeah, THAT WAS BASICALLY ALL WE WERE DOING AHAHAHAHA. But I got bored after a while. I then left while they continued to shop.

So I thought I would have plenty of time when I went home, but I don't know what happened. After I got out of my shower, it was ALREADY 6. My eyes just went O_O. And I actually checked the clock at my dining hall against the one in my bedroom to make sure it was working properly. That was how surprised I was. Time slip haha.

I read a little of Wuthering Heights - aiming to finish it this week if possible, seeing that CTs are over.
I have just been reading the synopsis about A LOT of korean dramas. I wanna watch The King 2 Hearts. It looks awesome :) So I started the 'research' because there is a sale of korean dramas at compasspoint and I wanna know which dramas are good so that I can buy them. Yep, I know, totally not the right reason to 'research'. hahah.

Hmm... tomorrow will be a long school day - ends at 4.15pm.
Dreading it. Yep. Totally dreading it. The day after CTs should be a holiday. (being self-delusional here)
Gonna watch Secret Garden now <3 p="p">

Hyun Bin

As seen from the title, this blog post is going to be about me spazzing over Hyun Bin. If you don't know who he is, he acts in the korean drama Secret Garden.

And.... official spamming of his pictures begin!

 

So, anyway, he's not bad looking right??? :D

When I first watched Secret Garden, frankly, I thought his character was being really annoying. His character is Joo-won, a rich guy who unexpectedly falls for a poor girl who's a stunt woman. They are at opposite ends of the social spectrum. He's the CEO of a big shopping mall!

Basically, Joo-won chases after Ra-im (the girl, acted by Ha Ji Won)! He WOOS her, to put it more accurately. However, he does it in the way which seems as if he is not wooing her. Okay, this sounds confusing. To put it simply, he is wooing her, but denies doing it. 

Some parts of the drama are really sweet. Actually, I find his character rather pitiful because he is always misunderstood by Ra-im.

Their feelings are mutual though, that much I can ascertain heehee.

As the drama goes on, I am liking him more and more!! <3 p="p">

There is this part in episode 9, where Ra-im told him that she cannot be his little mermaid (apparently that's Joo-won's favourite story) because the mermaid loved the prince dearly AKA she does not love him. Hyun Bin managed to act VERY well at this part because he looked genuinely hurt and heartbroken!! My heart went out to him at that very moment because he JUST SAID THAT THEY WOULD STILL BE TOGETHER. D': Ra-im, how can you do this?!
Ra-im then left. The lift door was about to close, but (as always in dramas) Joo-won stops the lift doors. He wants to go in, but stops, because HE IS CLAUSTROPHOBIC!! WHYYYYY. But Ra-im doesn't know! So when Joo-won tells her to come out instead (when you chase after a girl, you are supposed to go into the elevator WITH her), she takes this as a sign that he still does not respect her/is not serious about her. So, she just presses the close button. THE LIFT DOORS CLOSE IN JOO-WON'S FACE.
Omg, his face was just HURT. I don't know if he was tearing, but it seemed like he did.

This was his expression as the doors closed:

Sequence of what happened;

And when he ran down the stairs to find her, she was gone.

MY HEART JUST WENT OUT TO HIM. IF ONLY SHE KNEW WHY HE COULD NOT COME INTO THE LIFT!

It is not often that I get that fuzzy feeling from watching a drama, but this drama nailed it.

So yeap, Hyun Bin is just this sweet awkward guy in this show. The quotes of the drama are very meaningful too!!
You can view them here: http://asiandramaquotes.wordpress.com/index/secret-garden-quotes/

If the drama proves to be really really good (which it is now), I might buy the whole episode after my exams :))
Anyway, Hyun Bin is in the army now D: He is going to be released at the end of this year, haha :)

Okay, common tests are next week (and here I am) so jiayous to myself and everyone else!!

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises

So I went to watch The Dark Knight Rises with my family on Sunday. There is only one word to describe this: AWESOME. 

The cast was stellar - I personally liked all of them, especially after watching a few in Inception :D

The first part of the movie would be a bit draggy I guess because not much action happens. It is this time that audiences get confused as well because there are just some unexplained characters, which would be explained later in the movie. 

Personally, I found this Batman series one of the best. It highlighted just what it meant to be human, which is the crucial part because then the audience gets to realise that 'Hey, Batman is a human too. He is not just a superhero, but a human as well'. There is a lot of underlying messages about humanity, fear, forgiveness and love. It did not just focus on Batman and his stunts, but his feelings and actions and consequences. The whole Batman series of this was one of its kind. 

It created a lot of situations where people were forced to make 'ethical' decisions based on unethical means. The film does a lot to test the truth about humanity. Also, what I liked about the movie was that it allowed itself to delve deep into the dark parts, which most superhero movies are afraid to do so. They did not bother to glamorize Batman, which allowed us to see the 'real him'. That's crucial.

Even though I am a big fan of the Avengers as well, I have to say that Dark Knight was better than the Avengers. 

It brought Dark Knight to its climax. At a certain point (not gonna spoil for those who have not watched), you finally get a sense of the attachment you feel with Batman. A sense of loss overwhelmed me at that point of time as I realised that this was the final instalment of the Dark Knight, and that this might be the end. (It's already a massive clue as to what might happen)

Dark Knight definitely has formed a bond with its viewers because we are taken on the emotional roller coaster ride of Bruce Wayne. We feel and understand him, and eventually, we ALL wish to see him gain happiness. 

Ultimately, I am very satisfied with the ending :) I could not have asked for more :D

Score: 5/5

And yes, Christian Bale, you have gained yourself a fan :)

Yes, I know. He looks infinitely hot. HAHAHA :))

Looking forward to any other movie he makes in the future!

Books

I shall dedicate this post to a list of books that I have recently read!

Books I have read (and still remember that I've read):

1. One Day by David Nichols (one of the few books that I do not regret buying)
2. Delirium by Lauren Oliver (quite a nice book to own)
3. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (sequel to Delirium)
4. This is a Love Story by Jessica Thompson
5. The Perks of being a Wallflower (thought I might add this in because it is going to be a movie, and it actually a pretty good coming-of-age book)
6. Thirteen Reasons Why (LOVE THIS BOOK)
7. The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier (Pretty touching and sad. It might get irritating when some people's story ends and the story moves on to another)
8. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (I already own three of her books LOL. This one is quite touching as well)
9. Toby Alone (Courtesy of Siyun who lent me the book)
10. The Sealed Letter by Emma Donogue
11. Room by the same author above
12. Something Borrowed
13. Before I Go to Sleep (I had too high expectations that it did not quite meet)
14. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (Wonderful book)
15. The Last Letter from Your Lover (Superbly touching book, YOU SHOULD READ IT)
16. and many more...

Books I have read halfway (and kind of gave up reading):

1. Rupture by Simon Lelic (This is actually a pretty good book. It's just that it gets irritatingly slow after a while. It does give some insight into human behaviour and nature though)
2. Anna Frank's Diary (worst mistake I made - buying this. Everyone says it's good and provides knowledge into the lives of Jews during WW2, but you cannot help but admit, it's very boring)
3. A Million Little Pieces (interesting in the beginning, but gets boring later on because the author goes into a repetition of vomit, eat, vomit, eat - it's a true story though)

Books I am currently reading;

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (proving to be difficult to read)

Books I am planning to read:

1. Jane Eyre (the original version btw)
2. The Red Queen by Philippa Greggory
3. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Greggory
4. Art Geek and Prom Queen
5. Night Circus (I wanted to buy this and no. 4 at popular since there is a sale, but am trying to control by book-buying fetish!)
6. A dangerous method by John Kerr (I have a feeling this is going to be boring though)
7. Howl's Moving Castle (yep, the book!)
8. I might re-read Thirteen Reasons Why HEH.

There! So far, these are the few books that I can actually remember. If anyone who knows me is interested in reading any book, and I own it, feel free to borrow them from me :)

Anyway, just fell in love with this Chinese song (unexpected right?!) called 爱你 by Kimberley. 

The song is very addictive and surprisingly nice for a Chinese song :)))

就这样 爱你 爱你 爱你 随时都要一起
我喜欢 爱你 外套 味道 还有你的怀里
把我们衣服钮扣互扣 那就不用分离
美好爱情 我就爱这样贴近 因为你

~

Completed!

YES! I am finally done with my PW product!
My group finished it up today :) Although there were still some irritating moments when I really felt like yelling at a particular person, the fact that the product is completed fills me with happiness and satisfaction that I don't really care anymore!! :D
I am really proud of our product! Okay, I shouldn't really be gushing about my own work, but it seriously looks very professional hee :)
We spent a long time on it, but I think that it is definitely worth it!!! AHHH~ WE SHOULD MASS PRODUCE OUR PRODUCT AND DISTRIBUTE IT TO THE WORLD! Haha, I shall reveal more about our product next time.

Recently, I am really interested in the show "Big" :D It is a korean drama that mainly centres around the body switch between a 30-year-old and 18-year-old boy. The fiance of the 30-year-old guy is put in a spot because the boy whom her fiancee switches soul with is her student! So, evidently, a love triangle is going to form. I want the teacher to end up with the student, though it is 'morally' wrong of course.
BUT THIS IS A DRAMA - ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN :)

I am also currently (literally sitting in front of the TV) watching Secret Garden that's showing on channel u. I find the CEO so funny! He's so funny in the way her thinks because he himself seems clueless about how he feels hahahaha.

Looking forward to the Dark Knight Rises :DD
It will definitely be one of the highlights of this year! <3

For the first time of this year, I am actually feeling accomplished! I think it is because most of the projects are almost done, and the year is almost ending :) Things always seem better when the end is near.

I will probably be joining NEmation with Grace, Jingwen and Yuping this year too. Although I personally found it to be quite 'lame', I thought I might as well do something this year :)

Gonna go to sleep now!