Downtown Line Longer, coslier

This is an article written by Christopher Tan, senior correspondent of the Straits Times. It can be found here:
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_568762.html

This article tells us that the Singapore Downtown line, revealed on Friday, will be longer than expected. It is stated that the Downtown Line Stage 3, which connects eastern suburbs such as Tampines and Bedok to the Marina Bay downtown, will be 2km longer at 21km. There will be one more additional station added, which will be Jalan Beser MRT Station. But, because of this, we Singaporeans have to wait till 2017 for this line to be completed, though it is earlier than expected when visioned in 2007. This line will pass through one of the busiest parts of the city, including Sungei Road, Bencoolen and River Valley.

In my opinion I feel that this is good both economically and environmentally to Singapore. With this line, public transport would be encouraged even more, reducing the number of private cars usages and increasing the usage of public transport that is environmentally friendly. This also generates income for the Singapore government, therefore making it a win-win situation. In 2017, the citizens living in Bedok would have a faster and more efficient mode of transport to get to the busier parts of Singapore, namely Sungei Road, Bencoolen and River Valley.

It also benefits the Singapore environmentally as the MRT uses electricity as a source of power. This does not need to have fuel combustion, unlike cars, causing carbon dioxide to be produced and fasten the rate of global warming. Being underground, the trains can reach their destination much faster and it is also a cheap method of transportation.

Sustainable City, endearing home

This article is written by Carmen Woo from The Straits Times. The article can be found here :
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_568334.html

This article tells us about the Concept Plans of 2011 to make Singapore a sustainable city. This is done mainly by reducing the costs of public transport, and increasing the costs of private transport, thus making Singapore a greener city by using public transport. This Concept Plan is crucial to Singapore as it will be carried out for around 40-50 years.
Some examples of encouraging citizens to make use of public transport is by reducing the costs of buses and train tickets. Also, another new proposal is the use of multi-modal season passes. This is to enable the citizens to travel freely during a designated time, and at a designated area. Cheap shuttle buses to train stations and light rail transit stations is another proposal.
To discourage citizens from using private transport such as cars, a proposal to reduce parking spaces and bringing up the price of parking a car is being brought up.

I feel that this is a good way to help Singapore live up to its name as a "Green City". Being green, a country has to try all means to help the country, not wasting resources as be as conservative as possible. The proposal of making public transport run on electricity instead of fuel is also another way to keep green. Promoting the use of public transport not only helps Singapore live up to its name, it also helps the world to cope with global warming. Right now, not many countries in the world have an abundance of plants and trees throughout the country. If Singapore continues pursuing to modernize the country, and leaving nature lagging behind, we will be like the other countries that are full of industrialization and urbanization. Therefore, I feel that keeping Singapore green is good and we should cherish what we have

Emily Of Emerald Hill

Review of Emily of Emerald Hill

This book discusses about Emily, from a Peranakan family. The writer, Stella Kon, uses a one person style to write this play. In it, Emily is the main character. She rules over people and dominates them. She is the matriarch of the family. Yet actually, behind all those fronts, she is not what she seems to be. She wants love and respect, but she did not get it from her children nor her husband. They fear her, submit to her, yet they do not love her. She wants status, both in her family, which includes all the brothers and sisters -in -law, parents -in -law and nephews and nieces and gets it by ingratiating her parents-in-law. However, behind all that she is scared. Most of all, she is lonely. This book is rather realistic. It portrays real people, who is complex and have more that 1 side to their nature. I like it because there are many things to be read between the lines. It goes back and forward in time and tells us of different times of Emily's life, not like the usual style of books. Overall, I rather liked the book as it tells us of time past, when Singapore is still at its construction age.

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman was born on May 31,1819 and died on March 26 1892. He was an amercian poet, but also specialized in other aspects, such as humanities, writing essays and also a journalist. Walt Whitman is usually labeled as homosexual or bisexual by biographers, as his sexuality is often discussed alongside his poetry.

Walt Whitman was born on Long Island. He is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. In addition to his poetry, he also worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government clerk, and a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War.

Three poems by him:

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/walt_whitman/poems/17463

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/walt_whitman/poems/17465

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/walt_whitman/poems/17466

E-Learning Task 1

Children in the Darkness

Henry M Bechtold was in Vietnam from 1967 - 1968, during the Vietnam war. He witnessed the entire war and wrote this poem to show readers that war is not like the stereotypes, in which it is glorious, but it only causes many deaths and casualties. This poem was written during a visit to Vietnam in 2009. After the Vietnam war, he could never forgot the grueling scenes during the war, and thus travels to Vietnam every now and then. This poem was brought about when he saw a picture of a young boy in a war suit, carrying a rifle and waring a helmet when watching television in a hotel room in Vietnam. This resulted in him sympathising with these children and thus dedicated this poem to the young boys taking part in the war.

E-Learning Task 2

Children in the Darkness

Point of view
This poem is written from the view of an individual that has witnessed war, and is very pessimistic about it.

Evidence
He uses gloomy words such as "darkness" and "have not seen the light"

Elaboration
There is no stanza in the poem that states that war is good and has hope. All the stanza either gives a gloomy feeling or that the children are "kept in the darkness" and learns how to fight in wars.

Situation & setting
It is during a war.
Evidence
This can be seen from "Who someone will teach to fight" and "chalk and blackboard will not be"
Elaboration
These two short phrases states that children are "blind" as they do not have any education. Orphans and young boys with no education were sent to fight wars, instead of studying.
Language & Diction
The writer has successfully brought his message across, that war is bad. The gloomy and somber mood that the writer portrays has caused us to not believe that war is glorious.

Evidence
He uses words such as "darkness" and "no light". These words instill a gloomy mood in readers

Elaboration
As light, not in its literal meaning, usually portrays a scene that has hope, this poem does not show any hope, thus giving a gloomy mood. "Darkness" and "no light" tells us that war "has no hope" and thus portrays a gloomy and somber mood.

Personal response
I am also pessimistic about war. As humans, we should not kill one another as this is a very barbaric behaviour. War only brings about many deaths of the human race. These children's parents are very worried about their safety, and forcing uneducated children to go to war would bring tears to their parents. Thus I feel that war is terrible as it brings about many deaths and injuries.

'Soft skills' for students

This article was taken from The Straits Times.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_500223.html

This article mentions that Singaporean students 'are known the world over for excelling in subjects such as mathematics and science.' But, Singaporean students are not able to do well in the 21st century with these skills alone. As mentioned in the article, Singaporean students should be all-rounded holistic students who excel in various ways. With these 'soft skills' such as teamwork, creativity and communicating as in solving examination questions, I believe the students would do well in the future.

This relates to my school, Hwa Chong Institution, as it emphasizes a lot on holistic development of the student, such as physical education, art and music. For example, we have an art gallery of our own, and students are allowed to go in and out freely. The school also intends to bring the secondary two cohort to the Singapore Art Museum. Physical education is also emphasized a lot, as can be shown be the rigorous trainings of the various sports.

In conclusion, I am grateful to my school that it provides me with the resources to become a holistic student, so as to enable us to do well in the 21st century and become future leaders of Singapore.