Chinese New Year

What comes to you first when you hear of ‘Chinese New Year’?
To the Chinese, it is when you get new shirts, angpows (or red packets) and when you gather with your family with good food. To the Malays and the Indians, it is when you get free holiday and when you see the Chinese walking around in red clothes.
However to me, Chinese New Year is not just any day to me. It is when I can forget about everything, forget what day it is, forget what I need to do, when I truly relax.
Having a hometown in a calm and almost forgotten place, is a great thing to have. Every time when I go back there, I feel a sense of comfort, because it is stress-free there, I do not need to worry about what to do, what I have not finished, it is just that I do not need to worry about anything. Also, it is the only time when I find peace in my mind, when I totally forget about everything here, all the exams, the home works, everything.
Also, it is only during Chinese New Year when I get to meet up with my cousins as they are all spread out around the word having their University degrees. Being the only time when I meet them, I cherishes these times the most, we would normally stay-up throughout the whole night, talking about how we are lately.
Chinese New Year is also the time when I get a taste of my grandmother’s cooking as I have to attend to CCA training during the holidays so it is only during Chinese New Year when I get an exception so I can go back to my parents’ hometown.
Chinese New Year is indeed a very meaningful day to me. However, I wish that our school can have an extra day of holiday so we can spend more time with our family and to recharge ourselves to cope with the everlasting school works.

Creation and destruction

Before I start anything, I hereby swear that this has nothing to do with racism or religion prejudice, that this is purely an opinion, or rather idea.
Every religion has a different version of a story, a story telling you what you are, how you became you and most important of all, how this universe came into place. But what I am about to tell you, is totally different from what you are told since young, what your parents, teachers, elders, peers, friends, anyone had ever told you. Before I start telling you about this, clear your mind, forget everything that you were once told, forget who you are, forget where you came from, forget what’s your religion, the only thing that you need to remember is that you belong in a place having mysteries more than the stars in the night, having secrets more than the hair on your head, having unknowns more than the sands on the beach.
You must be wondering, if no one created this universe, then how did it come about, did it just pop out of nothingness?
This question is one that many had been thinking about since the very start of civilization. How do you think of the come-about of religion? Religions are what people go to when they find questions, questions that only leads to a dead end, questions that have no answer, questions that can’t be answered, yet. And at this time, people go to religions, to have a sense of comfort, thinking that if anything strange happens, it is because the gods are angry, the gods are punishing people, that it is the act of god.
However, is it real that all these ‘strange’ things are the very doings of god?
This question is one of weight and I am in no place to answer this place but I have one thing to say, and that is no matter what happens, there is always a reason, a answer to it because nothing comes from nothing. Just as once people thought that earthquakes are caused by the gods’ angry feet, that above the sky lies heaven, and hell lies below but now we know that it is not so and this very situation is similar to our view on the creation, we do not know about the creation so we use god as a reason, that god created all this but this will no longer be the reason when people start knowing more about the universe as the scholars can no longer say lies, that this universe is created by god.
Have you ever thought about the end of the Dinosaur Age?
Many believe that by knowing more about the end of the Dinosaur Age, will give us a better picture of how will our age end and what will come after us but this is not the main thing here. The main thing is that have you ever even think that we are not the only humans ever lived, that there is humans living somewhere else in this universe, that somehow we are not the first humans to live on Earth, that Humans had already once lived trillion years ago but already died out due to the problems we are facing now, that we are going to die as they did?
We do not know of anything about this but the thing is that after we are to meet the end, who or what will live here? Will the flow start again after million, billions of year later, having dinosaurs living again, then to humans again and to end again? Maybe this flow has already been here trillion years ago or maybe it is going to start now.
So look out to the future, as there is still more coming our way~

A before editing speech

Good morning school, today I stand before you, as a to-retire President of the 26th Student Council. Four years ago, a 13 years old boy came under the shelter of this wonderful school, having dreams of his own. Three years later, that young boy, stood before most of you here, having a dream, no longer of his own, but a dream that I believe everyone here has, and it is to make this school a better place for all. And this boy gave a speech, a speech that gained your support, your acknowledgement and convinced you to vote for him, which made him the President of the Student Council. And since then, one year has passed, and now, he stand before you giving yet again another speech but this time it is not for you to vote for him, but is to ask for you to give your support and belief in those two gentlemen down there, for now is their time, their time to make their dreams yours, to make your dream theirs’ and make it a common dream for all and strife for it together.
Harold R. Mc Alindon once said, ‘Do not follow where the path leads, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail’ and this is what I believe that the person that I am about to introduce to you believe in too. This guy is Tay Wei Bin, one of the candidates running for presidency this year. To give you a brief picture of what kind of guy is Wei Bin, he has been in the student council since Sec 1 and he has excellent academic results. Wei Bin has also represented the school in national competitions and he is a charismatic leader. The only bad thing about Wei Bin, is that he is not a team-player.
Wei Bin has been a student councilor since Sec 1 which shows that he is very clear with how the council works and also he will have experience in leading. Also, by being a charismatic leader, Wei Bin can convince all of his ideas and so it will make his new initiatives more accepted. However, although Wei Bin is not a team-player, I believe that he will overcome this barrier and start working together with others. However, not being a team-player may sometimes be a good trait as if everyone of the EXCO agrees to something that Wei Bin thinks other-wise, he will not just agree to the matter, he will look into the matter first before making judgements and decisions.
And after this short speech, I hope that you will know Wei Bin enough to put your beliefs in him. And once again before I end my speech, I urge you to vote for Wei Bin, vote for a better Hwa Chong and vote for a better tomorrow.
Thank you.

Brief Biography of Harper Lee

Harper Lee was born on the 28th of April in the year 1926. Born as the youngest daughter of a lawyer who is one of the members of the Alabama state legislature Harper Lee grew up as a tomboy. Lee’s mother was down with a mental illness which made her days mostly in the house, it is also believed that Lee’s mother was with bipolar disorder.

Lee also had a best friend by the name of Truman Capote. Being tougher than most boys, Lee stood up as Truman’s protector. Although this two of friends have very different interests, they both shared a commonality where they both have difficult house lives.

In 1944, Lee enrolled in an all-girl school, Huntingdon College in Montgomery. Lee stood out from most of her schoolmates as she was not into the makeup fever. She fully focused on her studies and was also a member of the literary honor society and the glee club. Lee then had her law degree in the University of Alabama from 1945 to 1949.

After one year of law study, Lee began expressing to her family that her interests were not in law but was for writing. That summer, Lee went as an exchange student to the Oxford University in England. That fall, after returning from the exchange program, Lee dropped out of school after the first semester. She then moved to New York City to follow her dreams as a writer.

In 1949, the 23 years old Lee struggled for a few years and worked as a ticket collector for the Eastern Airlines and for the British Overseas Air Corp (BOAC). During her times in the city, Lee reunited with her old friend Truman, a literary rising star then, there. Lee also befriended Broadway composer and lyricist Michael Martin Brown and his wife Joy.

That Christmas, the Browns gave Lee an unforgettable present – a support to her for a year so that she can write full time. The Browns also introduced an agent by the name of Maurice Crain to her. Maurice got a publishing firm interested in Lee’s first novel Go Set a Watchman, which was then changed to Atticus, and at the end, To Kill a Mockingbird. Woking hand in hand with the editor, Tay Hohoff, Lee finished the manuscript in 1959.

After she finished her book, Lee started to help her friend, Truman with his books where they went to Kansas. After the return, Lee was thrilled when she knew that her book picked up by the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Literary Guild. A small condensed version of the story also appeared on the ‘Reader’s Digest’. Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird also won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize and several other literary awards.

Horton Foote also wrote a screenplay based on the story and the play was received extraordinarily well by the audience and earned eight Academy Award nominations. The book was also made into a film which won four awards.

During the mid-1960s, Lee was reportedly writing on a second novel which was never published. Lee helped Truman with his book, Cold Blood that was published in 1966. A rift was developed between the two friends Truman dedicated the book to Truman and his long time lover, Jack Dunphy but he failed to acknowledge Lee’s contributions to the book. Although Lee was hurt and very angry with what Truman did, they still remained for the rest of their lives.

That same year, Lee underwent a operation on her hand to repair a damage done on her hand by a bad burn. And from then on, Lee led a quite, private life in New York City and Monroeville. She usually avoids anything to do with her still popular novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.

The Secret

Before we start everything, empty your mind, empty your thoughts, forget everything you have ever been taught. Forget what your teachers, elders, parents, peers, friends, everyone had ever told you because now, I am going to tell you something completely different from everything everyone had ever taught you. Because what I am about to tell you, is completely different from what you have been taught ever since you are born.

What I am about to tell you is so different from what you have been thought that no one will ever believe it but it is the truth and it is this truth that should be remembered through time not the lies about outer space life which uses up much of the American tax payers to send satellites into outer space to find what that does not exist.

The money was used at the wrong place for it is inside our Earth core where lies other beings. Other beings that was thought to be just pure fiction, pure imaginary but not really.

What I am about to uncover to you, is a secret, a secret that should have been kept a secret and had been kept a secret until now but not anymore. For now, I am going to uncover the mystery of that we are NOT alone.

Have you ever imagined why nobody ever found traces of life in the outer space?

The answer is very simple, because the things that you are looking for is not outside our Earth, but inside. Deep inside the Earth’s core, are things that you would have never ever imagined before, things that are far more extraordinary than anything you can ever imagine.

Things that was so unbelievable that those that found out about it never dared to let the world know about it but kept to themselves. However, now I am going to uncover a secret that has been longed to be uncovered and that would affect the future so greatly, that everything will change. A secret so big, that the Earth will cry for its loss.

And now, I am going to uncover the Secret to you, a discovery of the time!

Have you ever wondered what lies in our Earth?

Well, our Earth is like a building. It has a structure and inside the structure are elevators, elevators that allow things to travel by.

In our Earth, are levels. In every level, lives a unique kind of being. On the highest point of the building, is the Point. The Point is a place where all the leaders of each level have their General Meetings. Below the Point, is the level where we, the Homo sapiens live in.

Below our level, are levels where other being live in, they are, Elves, Dwarves, Fairies, Dragons and any other beings that you can ever think of.

All the beings in the levels lived in peace and harmony until one day, when evil came in. Together with it, it brought in treachery, theft, betrayal and things that are unspeakable. As the human level was at the top most, after the Point, it was the first to get affected by evil. The leaders immediately had a meeting. The human leader made a very heart aching decision. He decided to seal up the door towards the elevator forever!

With that, he hoped to protect the others from evil. By that, he sealed evil in the level but the human level will have to fight evil alone and also be alone forever.

The leader then sealed every door that will lead out to the elevator except one single door, the door of dreams. Dream was so complicated that nobody ever entered and got out of the room, not even a dead man. Through time, people slowly forgot about dream door. However during sleep, the dream door attracts the souls of all to it. And only through sleep, when our souls can roam freely, it can pass through the dream door and revisit the past, visit the other levels.

And it is through dreams when one can really see the world, where one can really listen to the world and when one can really understand the world.

Everything has an opposite and so does the building. Right opposite our building, lays another building. Our building is the past and present and so the other building on the opposite side is the future, our future.

Once we can see the future but now, the door to future is locked so we can only wait for future to come to us.

Death

Let's talk about death. Many people are afraid of death but the truth is, no one should be afraid of death because death is part of nature. Death is how this nature keeps going round.

Everything dies because it is part of the deal when we are born. It is just like taking a loan. When the time is up, you will have to pay up.

The same thing goes with our life. Our life is loaned. When the time comes, we are to give it back to who we loaned it from. We can't hide from death, death comes when the time comes. The only thing that matters is when it will come and how it will come.

Death comes in many ways:

1) You die a fast death, the most common of fast death is when you are knocked down by a car. When you die a fast death, there is no chance to say goodbye to your loved ones.
2) You die a slow death, the most common of slow death is when one is contracted with a cancer that is incurable. But when you know you are contracted with cancer, there will still be time for you to say goodbye to your loved ones and you will have the time to be prepared for that day when death comes to collect your debt. However, when that moment comes, it will be a painful death.

So, when one is contracted with cancer, one should be optimistic, one should be thinking on the bright side. Being contracted with cancer would also be a blessing in disguise. Only because when you are contracted with cancer, you know that death is already knocking on the door and so you will have the chance and time to say goodbye to your loved ones and to forgive.

Before one dies, one should forgive, not others but himself. Forgive yourself for making wrong decisions throughout your whole life. Most important of all, forgive yourself for not forgiving others.

One should never be afraid of death but should be prepared for it as it will come in the end. There is one saying that, 'Everything that begins will eventually come to an end' and the same goes with life.

Many in the past wanted to understand life and tried everything they could but eventually when one dies, one will truly understand life. Life is like a lit candle, you can't expect it to burn forever. There will eventually be a day when it burns till its very end and becomes history and life is just like that. You can't expect yourself to live on forever, be with the ones you want to be with forever, there will eventually be a day when you have to part with your loved ones and everything here.

So why not save the time when you think of ways to live on longer, to do things that is good to this society, care for others, care for those in need. When we die, it is not that we will leave here completely. To those whom we helped, we cared, we loved, we will always be there for them, deep inside their heart, where love is kept, as it is not our soul that will be left behind, but our love, that will always be in their heart.

Condemn the construction of casinos in Singapore

About the constructions of casinos in Singapore, I condemn its construction as it will create chaos in Singapore. As one can see, even now, with no existence of any casinos in Singapore, there is already a lot of cases of people loaning money from loan sharks after they lose money when they are betting in illegal betting dent.

As from the video that I watched, the gambling addict said to his child that "My luck is changing, I will strike a big one".

The quote above is what gambling addicts will normally say and under such circumstances when their family members will not give them money, they will approach the loan sharks and normally when they can't pay up, they will be forced to commit suicide to escape the harassment of the loan sharks.

As you can see, even for now, without the existence of casinos that there is already such cases, then think about the consequences when the casinos are built, won't there be more such cases.

One may argue that the construction of the casino and the operation of it will create many job opportunities but even so, had any one ever thought about the consequences when many people in Singapore turn to loan sharks for loan and many who can't pay commit suicide.

How will the people out there then regard Singapore as, City of Suicide?

This will not only hurt Singapore's reputation but will also create tremendous influence to the tourism.

So to me, I believe that it will not be suitable for a casino to be built in Singapore and I condemn to the construction of casinos in Singapore.