Tuesday, 25 March 2008
haiyo..
very tiring lately..got so much hw..and studying to do..need to go into overdrive(well sorta)..i will never use 100% of my energy unless last resort..need to meet a lot of demands..can't wait until i start to do the demanding
Monday, 24 March 2008
Monday, 25 February 2008
My Favourite Food
My family is the type that has no qualms about eating, save two. First of all, the food must be good. Second, there must be a lot of food. So, as you would have guessed, I’ve been exposed to all sorts of food since young. To date, these are the types of food that I have eaten - North Indian, South Indian, Chinese, Malay, Korean, Japanese, British, American, Indonesian, Thai, Taiwanese and Arab.
There are wonderful dishes that make my mouth water. There is this shop in Little India that makes one of the most delicious Sri Lankan Crab Curry I’ve ever tasted. There is also a Korean restaurant called ‘Seoul Garden’ that allows us to mix and cook our own food using the marinated ingredients provided.
However, if asked to point my finger at the crème de la crème, I would say that it is my mother’s specialty meal: rice with beef curry and French beans with eggs. As side dishes, ‘dhal’ curry and yoghurt are also served.
Although this meal may seem ordinary and insignificant at first glance, I can assure you that it will be a savoury experience you will never forget. Just looking at the juicy pieces of beef and potato that have been sliced, diced and cooked into hunger-inducing pieces makes me slobber.
Finely chopped garlic and ginger, coarsely chopped small onions, diced tomatoes, quartered potatoes and diced beef that has been marinated with chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder are the ingredients used to make this delicacy. Garam masala and pepper is sprinkled on top before serving for the aroma.
The French beans with eggs is made by adding together coarsely chopped onions and French beans, finely chopped garlic and eggs beaten with salt and pepper.
The ‘dhal’ curry, although easiest to make, is what makes the meal complete. It consists of split green beans with skin, finely chopped garlic, coarsely chopped onions, milk, turmeric powder, cumin powder and salt.
For those who may not be able to take the spiciness of the meal, I suggest adding yogurt. It complements the ‘dhal’ curry and mixes the beef curry. The unique combination of this meal is also very filling. I can confidently say that anyone will affirm a fourth, fifth or even a sixth helping.
There are wonderful dishes that make my mouth water. There is this shop in Little India that makes one of the most delicious Sri Lankan Crab Curry I’ve ever tasted. There is also a Korean restaurant called ‘Seoul Garden’ that allows us to mix and cook our own food using the marinated ingredients provided.
However, if asked to point my finger at the crème de la crème, I would say that it is my mother’s specialty meal: rice with beef curry and French beans with eggs. As side dishes, ‘dhal’ curry and yoghurt are also served.
Although this meal may seem ordinary and insignificant at first glance, I can assure you that it will be a savoury experience you will never forget. Just looking at the juicy pieces of beef and potato that have been sliced, diced and cooked into hunger-inducing pieces makes me slobber.
Finely chopped garlic and ginger, coarsely chopped small onions, diced tomatoes, quartered potatoes and diced beef that has been marinated with chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder are the ingredients used to make this delicacy. Garam masala and pepper is sprinkled on top before serving for the aroma.
The French beans with eggs is made by adding together coarsely chopped onions and French beans, finely chopped garlic and eggs beaten with salt and pepper.
The ‘dhal’ curry, although easiest to make, is what makes the meal complete. It consists of split green beans with skin, finely chopped garlic, coarsely chopped onions, milk, turmeric powder, cumin powder and salt.
For those who may not be able to take the spiciness of the meal, I suggest adding yogurt. It complements the ‘dhal’ curry and mixes the beef curry. The unique combination of this meal is also very filling. I can confidently say that anyone will affirm a fourth, fifth or even a sixth helping.
Sunday, 24 February 2008
Essay on Globalisation
Globalisation. Globalisation. Globalisation. A buzzword. It’s what everyone is talking about. Some understand it. Some are ignorant. Some are for it. Some are against it. Why make a fuss about some old thirteen-lettered, five syllable word? I think I better start with the definition.
Well, according to our revered social studies textbook, globalisation is defined “as the process by which people, their ideas and their activities in different parts of the world become interconnected or integrated.” As anyone could have guessed through common intuition, none of you grasped anything from that sentence. This demands a careful and detailed explanation. I know you readers are not entirely stupid, so I humbly request you to reread the definition of globalisation, but this time more carefully. Consider the keyword ‘interconnected’. From it, we can already decipher that there are two or more locales that are linked in some way. They could be linked through transport, communication or transnational corporations (TNCs).
Transport and communication are the oldest of the three links. Ever since the ancient and medieval adventurers and conquerors set out from their native countries or kingdoms to explore, discover and conquer lands that were not their own, globalisation had begun. These people introduced their religions, habits and cultures to the local people. This is the ‘integration’ of foreign culture in local societies. This fact contradicts the conventional idea that the invention of the steamboat was what sparked the ‘flame of globalisation’.
Communication is the transfer of ideas or information from one point or place to another. This can take the form of speech, letters, telephone, fax, SMS, MMS, video calls, video conferences, the internet, online instant messaging, services, e-mails, online portals and forums and so on and so forth. Also not forgetting the mega social networks like ‘Friendster’, Facebook’, Orkut’ and ‘blogger.com’. These are the factors that are spearheading the accelerated growth of globalisation in this day. At the rate at which they are going, it is totally unsure how far the entwining creeper of globalisation will reach.
Then, there are those new chaps down the street. The TNCs. And they make a huge splash. They are companies or organizations that operate globally. For all their operations or projects, they set up bases in a number of regions worldwide. Their motives in doing so may vary. Large quantities of skilled labour, abundance of necessary resources, exploration of new markets that could potentially reap profits, low production costs, special economic benefits, etc., are but a few of the many factors that influence their actions. In the process of these developments, the economies of various countries may become integrated as a result of transactions conducted between those countries.
I had earlier mentioned about the ‘flame of globalisation’. Much can be gathered from this phrase. Fire, at a distance, provides warmth and light. Go too near and you will get burnt. This signifies the fact that globalisation has its pros and cons. Many countries, mostly developed or the upper quartile of the developing ones, greatly enjoy the plus points of globalisation. Their economies prosper. Their trade and foreign investments flourish. This in turn generates large amounts of revenue that is used to improve the already high-class life of people living in these nations. Not content with their success, these countries try to attract TNCs in the hope of further growth. Thus, increased competition is formed as a result of unnecessary competitiveness.
While the more competitive ones may advance in leaps and bounds, this competitiveness literally forces the less competitive ones to degenerate in leaps and bounds. So, naturally, these unfortunate persons or countries will be left worse off than when they originally began. The rich become richer. The poor become poorer.
A shift in attitude towards culture is also part and parcel of the phenomenon known as globalisation. A growing number of people know more about external culture than their own. So focused are they on mordernisation that they forget their own identities.
To start talking about the environmental impacts of globalisation would mean not stopping. Deforestation; pollution; extinction of species; accelerated global warming; in general, environmental degradation. All of these are by-products of globalisation. While all of them can be linked to each other, they also have their own different causes. How do you undo this unfixed, mutating threat? By using globalisation itself. No one person, organization or country can singlehandedly stop this disaster. Only a combined effort by humanity as a whole can put a halt to this. Only with globalisation can this happen. The world is smaller than that it has ever been. Its six billion citizens are closer than ever before in history. Only if this advantage is utilized fully, can an attempt to set right what has been done, is successful.
If and only if the solution is implemented can the problem be solved? At present, this is not the case. The ‘crème de la crème’ of the world’s nations, prefer to work towards what they think is the ‘greater good’. Who cares if millions of people die of starvation? Who cares if countries collapse? Who cares if traditions are lost?
The metropolitan become futuristic.
The rural become prehistoric.
This is the height of ‘survival of the fittest’.
I have nothing to complain about. I do my homework using a Japanese pen; bathe with water from Malaysia; carry American bags; wear French perfume; study on Swedish tables and chairs; upload this essay onto my blog using an American site. I live in Singapore. It is the epitome of globalisation.
There is nothing that I can complain about.
Well, according to our revered social studies textbook, globalisation is defined “as the process by which people, their ideas and their activities in different parts of the world become interconnected or integrated.” As anyone could have guessed through common intuition, none of you grasped anything from that sentence. This demands a careful and detailed explanation. I know you readers are not entirely stupid, so I humbly request you to reread the definition of globalisation, but this time more carefully. Consider the keyword ‘interconnected’. From it, we can already decipher that there are two or more locales that are linked in some way. They could be linked through transport, communication or transnational corporations (TNCs).
Transport and communication are the oldest of the three links. Ever since the ancient and medieval adventurers and conquerors set out from their native countries or kingdoms to explore, discover and conquer lands that were not their own, globalisation had begun. These people introduced their religions, habits and cultures to the local people. This is the ‘integration’ of foreign culture in local societies. This fact contradicts the conventional idea that the invention of the steamboat was what sparked the ‘flame of globalisation’.
Communication is the transfer of ideas or information from one point or place to another. This can take the form of speech, letters, telephone, fax, SMS, MMS, video calls, video conferences, the internet, online instant messaging, services, e-mails, online portals and forums and so on and so forth. Also not forgetting the mega social networks like ‘Friendster’, Facebook’, Orkut’ and ‘blogger.com’. These are the factors that are spearheading the accelerated growth of globalisation in this day. At the rate at which they are going, it is totally unsure how far the entwining creeper of globalisation will reach.
Then, there are those new chaps down the street. The TNCs. And they make a huge splash. They are companies or organizations that operate globally. For all their operations or projects, they set up bases in a number of regions worldwide. Their motives in doing so may vary. Large quantities of skilled labour, abundance of necessary resources, exploration of new markets that could potentially reap profits, low production costs, special economic benefits, etc., are but a few of the many factors that influence their actions. In the process of these developments, the economies of various countries may become integrated as a result of transactions conducted between those countries.
I had earlier mentioned about the ‘flame of globalisation’. Much can be gathered from this phrase. Fire, at a distance, provides warmth and light. Go too near and you will get burnt. This signifies the fact that globalisation has its pros and cons. Many countries, mostly developed or the upper quartile of the developing ones, greatly enjoy the plus points of globalisation. Their economies prosper. Their trade and foreign investments flourish. This in turn generates large amounts of revenue that is used to improve the already high-class life of people living in these nations. Not content with their success, these countries try to attract TNCs in the hope of further growth. Thus, increased competition is formed as a result of unnecessary competitiveness.
While the more competitive ones may advance in leaps and bounds, this competitiveness literally forces the less competitive ones to degenerate in leaps and bounds. So, naturally, these unfortunate persons or countries will be left worse off than when they originally began. The rich become richer. The poor become poorer.
A shift in attitude towards culture is also part and parcel of the phenomenon known as globalisation. A growing number of people know more about external culture than their own. So focused are they on mordernisation that they forget their own identities.
To start talking about the environmental impacts of globalisation would mean not stopping. Deforestation; pollution; extinction of species; accelerated global warming; in general, environmental degradation. All of these are by-products of globalisation. While all of them can be linked to each other, they also have their own different causes. How do you undo this unfixed, mutating threat? By using globalisation itself. No one person, organization or country can singlehandedly stop this disaster. Only a combined effort by humanity as a whole can put a halt to this. Only with globalisation can this happen. The world is smaller than that it has ever been. Its six billion citizens are closer than ever before in history. Only if this advantage is utilized fully, can an attempt to set right what has been done, is successful.
If and only if the solution is implemented can the problem be solved? At present, this is not the case. The ‘crème de la crème’ of the world’s nations, prefer to work towards what they think is the ‘greater good’. Who cares if millions of people die of starvation? Who cares if countries collapse? Who cares if traditions are lost?
The metropolitan become futuristic.
The rural become prehistoric.
This is the height of ‘survival of the fittest’.
I have nothing to complain about. I do my homework using a Japanese pen; bathe with water from Malaysia; carry American bags; wear French perfume; study on Swedish tables and chairs; upload this essay onto my blog using an American site. I live in Singapore. It is the epitome of globalisation.
There is nothing that I can complain about.
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Ms. Heng's Compo...pretty good considering that she was about our age when she wrote this
An Emergency Operation
The wailing siren stopped abruptly as the familiar white vehicle with its stark red cross pulled into the Accident and Emergency unit of the Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The doors of the ambulance were flung open and orderlies and nurses rushed to assist the ambulance driver and crew with the accident victim.
The unconscious man was given an intravenous drip and was immediately rushed to the operation theatre.
The hours of waiting were long and filled with fear and uncertainty. Mrs. Leong had been informed of her husband’s mishap at 12:30 p.m. while at work. She had rushed home to collect her two children, Daniel and Aileen and had proceeded immediately to the hospital. Upon her arrival at the accident and Emergency unit, she had been informed of her husband’s critical condition. Her husband had been involved in a head-on collision with a car whilst riding his scooter. Mr. Leong had been flung fifty metres by the impact and had sustained head injuries.
It was one o’clock in the afternoon and the red light over the operation theatre doors still shone brightly. Mrs. Leong clutched her son tightly as she bowed her head in earnest prayer for the second time since she had arrived. Aileen just stared at the bright red light over the operation theatre’s doors, unable to fully comprehend the seriousness of the situation.
At last, the doors of the operating theatre were flung open and the red light ceased to radiate its brilliance. Mr. Leong was wheeled out accompanied by a nurse who was pushing the stand which supported his intraveneous drip and an orderly. Mr. Leong’s head was thickly wrapped with bandages.
Hearing sighs of relief and rumbling prayers of thanks, the Leong family and a few of his close friends approached Mr. Leong on his trolley. Mr. Cheong, Mr. Leong’s best friend, clasped the outstretched hand of Mr. Leong who was still suffering from the after effects of anesthesia. Mr. Leong smiled feebly as he was wheeled to his room.
A few hours later, a smiling Mr. Leong was sitting upright on his hospital bed relating the accident to his family and friends. The surgeons had operated on his head and found a brain hemorrhage. They had stopped the bleeding and it would take a few weeks for Mr. Leong’s stitches to heal before they could be removed. Mr. Leong was very thankful to be alive.
The wailing siren stopped abruptly as the familiar white vehicle with its stark red cross pulled into the Accident and Emergency unit of the Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The doors of the ambulance were flung open and orderlies and nurses rushed to assist the ambulance driver and crew with the accident victim.
The unconscious man was given an intravenous drip and was immediately rushed to the operation theatre.
The hours of waiting were long and filled with fear and uncertainty. Mrs. Leong had been informed of her husband’s mishap at 12:30 p.m. while at work. She had rushed home to collect her two children, Daniel and Aileen and had proceeded immediately to the hospital. Upon her arrival at the accident and Emergency unit, she had been informed of her husband’s critical condition. Her husband had been involved in a head-on collision with a car whilst riding his scooter. Mr. Leong had been flung fifty metres by the impact and had sustained head injuries.
It was one o’clock in the afternoon and the red light over the operation theatre doors still shone brightly. Mrs. Leong clutched her son tightly as she bowed her head in earnest prayer for the second time since she had arrived. Aileen just stared at the bright red light over the operation theatre’s doors, unable to fully comprehend the seriousness of the situation.
At last, the doors of the operating theatre were flung open and the red light ceased to radiate its brilliance. Mr. Leong was wheeled out accompanied by a nurse who was pushing the stand which supported his intraveneous drip and an orderly. Mr. Leong’s head was thickly wrapped with bandages.
Hearing sighs of relief and rumbling prayers of thanks, the Leong family and a few of his close friends approached Mr. Leong on his trolley. Mr. Cheong, Mr. Leong’s best friend, clasped the outstretched hand of Mr. Leong who was still suffering from the after effects of anesthesia. Mr. Leong smiled feebly as he was wheeled to his room.
A few hours later, a smiling Mr. Leong was sitting upright on his hospital bed relating the accident to his family and friends. The surgeons had operated on his head and found a brain hemorrhage. They had stopped the bleeding and it would take a few weeks for Mr. Leong’s stitches to heal before they could be removed. Mr. Leong was very thankful to be alive.
My Letter To Mrs. Yeo.....also dun think that this is good enough
Dear Mrs. Yeo,
It has been a long time since we last saw you and hope that you are recovering from your illness. Most of our class have passed through and are now in 4E6. So far, our year has been pretty eventful. We have had to push ourselves harder as the teachers are trying to complete the syllabus as fast as possible. Our new chemistry teacher is Mrs. Tan May Teng. Her lessons are fun even though she is very demanding. We have to understand everything as she tries to go as fast as possible while not compromising our understanding of the topic. We can’t blame her as she has a lot of ground to cover including the revision. However, I think that we have been making much better progress than last time.
We had a fresh start this year welcoming the new secondary ones. Soon after, all the different CCAs had their hands full for the CCA trial. This year’s batch was huge and coordinating them was a very hectic job. On top of that, we had to persuade them to join our CCAs. This year, we had a huge turnout with about forty-something people applying for the interview for Media Club. On the whole, I thought that the program was a success.
As we were graduating this year, our school decided to bring us for the ‘Open House’ at Singapore Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. We were allowed to explore the entire campus and check-out the different courses available. We compared the number of admissions allowed, the subjects required and the cut-off points for the various courses of each polytechnic. We also had a lot of fun partly due to the fact that we were given gift hampers at both polytechnics.
I wonder if you remember our guests last year Mrs. Yeo? Do you remember the Japanese students? Well, this year, we had visitors from Shanghai. They came as part of an exchange program. During the Christmas holidays, Charles, Wen Hao and Benjamin and some other students from Kent Ridge, along with a handful of teachers went to Shanghai. There, they had a glimpse of life as a teenager in Shanghai. They even stayed in their assigned buddy’s house! Although I was absent on the day they came, we still had a blast. Their English wasn’t very good, so their buddies had to translate a lot of the stuff for them. To say the truth, I was pretty impressed with how Charles overcame the situation, because it was no secret that his Chinese wasn’t as good as Wei Siong’s.
We later found out to our cost that they were no novices when it came to playing basketball. However, we had ’NBA worthy’ John Cheng and Roy Chua on our side, so we weren’t that shaken. I shall keep your curiosity piqued by telling you that Benjamin’s buddy was seen doing ‘something’ during Physics. I think it won’t be that hard to rack your old wizened brain to figure out what that ‘something’ was. Ha ha ha ha he he!! Well, from all that I’ve said, you should have gathered by now that life is going great for us and I sure hope that it is going well for you too! We all hope to see you sometime soon!
Yours Truly,
Arun
It has been a long time since we last saw you and hope that you are recovering from your illness. Most of our class have passed through and are now in 4E6. So far, our year has been pretty eventful. We have had to push ourselves harder as the teachers are trying to complete the syllabus as fast as possible. Our new chemistry teacher is Mrs. Tan May Teng. Her lessons are fun even though she is very demanding. We have to understand everything as she tries to go as fast as possible while not compromising our understanding of the topic. We can’t blame her as she has a lot of ground to cover including the revision. However, I think that we have been making much better progress than last time.
We had a fresh start this year welcoming the new secondary ones. Soon after, all the different CCAs had their hands full for the CCA trial. This year’s batch was huge and coordinating them was a very hectic job. On top of that, we had to persuade them to join our CCAs. This year, we had a huge turnout with about forty-something people applying for the interview for Media Club. On the whole, I thought that the program was a success.
As we were graduating this year, our school decided to bring us for the ‘Open House’ at Singapore Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. We were allowed to explore the entire campus and check-out the different courses available. We compared the number of admissions allowed, the subjects required and the cut-off points for the various courses of each polytechnic. We also had a lot of fun partly due to the fact that we were given gift hampers at both polytechnics.
I wonder if you remember our guests last year Mrs. Yeo? Do you remember the Japanese students? Well, this year, we had visitors from Shanghai. They came as part of an exchange program. During the Christmas holidays, Charles, Wen Hao and Benjamin and some other students from Kent Ridge, along with a handful of teachers went to Shanghai. There, they had a glimpse of life as a teenager in Shanghai. They even stayed in their assigned buddy’s house! Although I was absent on the day they came, we still had a blast. Their English wasn’t very good, so their buddies had to translate a lot of the stuff for them. To say the truth, I was pretty impressed with how Charles overcame the situation, because it was no secret that his Chinese wasn’t as good as Wei Siong’s.
We later found out to our cost that they were no novices when it came to playing basketball. However, we had ’NBA worthy’ John Cheng and Roy Chua on our side, so we weren’t that shaken. I shall keep your curiosity piqued by telling you that Benjamin’s buddy was seen doing ‘something’ during Physics. I think it won’t be that hard to rack your old wizened brain to figure out what that ‘something’ was. Ha ha ha ha he he!! Well, from all that I’ve said, you should have gathered by now that life is going great for us and I sure hope that it is going well for you too! We all hope to see you sometime soon!
Yours Truly,
Arun
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