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Tuesday, December 11, 2007
9:57 PM
The Solitude of Emperors
A boy called Vijay had a chance to work in an adealistic publication called the Indian Secularist. It was because of its office in Mumbai than because of a strong interest in politics. The newspaper's founding belief that various religious can flourish together successfully in India is dealt a blow when riots break out between Muslims and Hindus in the city. When Vijay was sent away by his boss on a work holiday in the mountains, he saw the country's unrest writ small in the drama surrounding a multifaith shrine that became the target of Hindu fundamentalists.
About the great and undifying Indian leaders Ashoka,Akbar and Gandhi, it were these that gives this storybook its title...
Book Review(1)
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Sunday, November 4, 2007
11:24 PM
Adeline Yen Mah’s childhood is a relatively sad one even though her father was a millionaire. She was seen as bad luck to the family as her mother died after giving birth to her. She is always frowned upon by her older and younger siblings, neglected by her father and scolded by her stepmother. She has to learn to depend on herself as there was often no one to help her. The story reveals the two sides of her family: on the surface it is friendly and caring, while inside one can realize how the children are really treated by their stepmother Niang. As the youngest of five children from her father’s first marriage, Adeline has to suffer many blows because every one looks down on her especially when she receives her father’s praise.
Adeline’s main reason for her love of school was to be away from her stepmother so that she could become a different person that was admired by her peers as she topped her class regularly. Her whole personality changed when she was away from her stepmother and with someone that knew her from the heart; her friend Wu Chun-Mei, her Ye Ye and Aunt Baba. At age eight, Adeline was given a duckling, the only one left after all her siblings had picked their choice. Although it was not the best duckling, she still loved it dearly and treasure the very opportunity that she could get with it. She named it PLT. Also, she was pleased that her siblings had left her one.
Since she was the youngest and the least likely to make a fuss, her big brother took her duckling when her father ordered him to test the obedience training of his dog, Jackie. Adeline immediately sensed her duckling’s fate; she knew that PLT was going to die. When Jackie’s demonstration of obedience was over, PLT was bleeding and passed away next morning. Adeline and her third brother buried PLT under a magnolia tree. Adeline was saddened by the above incidence and recalled every time when she sensed the presence of a magnolia, she would remember PLT. There was a democratic election in their class to see who would be their class president and head girl of the whole school. She teamed up with her friend Wu Chun-Mei who won the election for her.
On her triumphant day, many of her supporters went to her house to give her presents. Her father and stepmother were very upset and annoyed at the fact that Adeline’s friends were at their house, disturbing them. When she was called to her father’s room for the cause for all her friends to be there, Adeline did not know. stepmother did not believe her and slapped her making her nose bleed. In front of all her friends with blood still dripping down her face, she told them to go away because her father was sleeping. Then she was told to open all her presents in front of her parents and throw them all in the rubbish bin. I experience the sadness she has felt when she was humiliated by her stepmother. Adeline must have had a determination not to show her weakness by crying. After this incident, stepmother ordered her to pack all her things as Adeline, stepmother and her father were going to Tianjin on an airplane. As she was on the plane, they had to fill out landing cards. Adeline’s father forgot Adeline’s Chinese name and her date of birth. Since her father had forgotten her Chinese name, Adeline felt deeply hurt as her father confused her name with her little sister’s. This meant that her father had forgotten all about her and had only remembered her little sister.
Even though she was his real daughter. Her date of birth became her father’s; November 30 because her date of birth was unknown. When her stepmother met other people, she wanted them to know that the family only had her two children. She kept the five children from her husband’s first marriage in the dark, thus swerving Adeline’s father into forgetting his former wife’s younger children including Adeline. Her father and stepmother went with Adeline to Tianjin and left her as a border in St Joseph’s School. At first, there were many people attending the school but soon Adeline was the only student left in the whole school. All of them fled from the communist army. Her life had many hopeful and downhearted moments she had and only determination helped her live through this dark period. Encouragement from her Aunt Baba and her grandfather was the only source to give her the strength to be a good scholar and prove her stepmother wrong. In the end, she achieved a medical scholarship in Europe and proved her family wrong.
After reading this book, I felt that Adeline’s book is a well-written book because it has a lot of emotive words that describe her unfortunate life. She suffers so much just to prove her worth to her family but they don't appreciate her. Even if she tries as hard as she could, she can never get their respect. Her story made me appreciate the things I have in life and that I shouldn't take for granted. It made me realise how lucky I am to have a caring family, Adeline showed courage and determination in her difficult life, and that is what is so special about this story. I strongly recommend this book to young or older readers to witness this touching story about a young girl called, Adeline Yen Mah.
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Friday, July 13, 2007
2:00 PM
Today is E-learning day. I started work at 8 and did my chinese homework with my friends first. It was quite difficult but we managed to finish it. There were many people online and it was fun talking and doing our work at the same time.
There are no such events in my primary school and this is my first time experiencing such a great learning day. We get to stay at home to do our homework.
However, there were some errors when i did the survey, I consulted the online messenger's help and they helped me with it. They said that they had received all the surveys that I did. Phew! I am glad that I finish my work and I can enjoy myself during the weekends.
I think that the school should organise more of these events as I think that it will benefit the students. It was also quite fun doing homework at home as I was free to do whatever we wanted while doing our homework online.
Holiday Experience
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Sunday, June 10, 2007
7:23 PM
During the June holidays, some of us went to Downtown East. Firstly, all of us went to Escape Theme Park. The games I enjoyed most were the 'Wet and Wild' and the 'Go-Kart'. Jeraldyn, Jetamie, Qi Jun and I took the'Wet and Wild' three times in a row. As I took the seat behind, I was drenched from head to toe. Next, we went to the 'Go-Kart' section. At first, I was unsure of what to do. However, after the staff had finish the explanation, I was ready and in the end, I came in first!:) After having our lunch, the four of us went to Wild Wild Wet while the others went to watch a movie. We sat the 'Ularlar' ride six times because it was extremely thrilling. We also went to the 'Shiok River' quite a number of times as it was really relaxing lying on the float and letting the waves push you. We played until the evening and we headed for home. On the whole, I enjoyed myself and that was the most unforgettable class gathering I ever had.
I went to the Night Sarari on Wednesday 20 June with my family. We watched the "Creatures of the Night Show" and it was really hilarious because the animals kept playing all types of jokes on the trainers. The animals were majestic and I salute to the trainers because training the animals is a really hard thing to do. After watching the show, we for the tram ride. We saw many different types of nocturnal animals and what fascinated me was the big cats. I enjoyed myself very much and I hope to go there again.
I think that this was the worst holiday I ever had as I did not went overseas. Morever, as my oldest brother is in the army and is involved in the national parade, he was busy with the rehersals. My father was also quite busy as he has many meetings going on. However, my parents promised us that they will bring us to somewhere further during the December holidays.
My Targets for English
♥ 6:56 PM
I scored a B4 for my english mid-year exam and hope to achieve a B3 for my next exam. If I reach my target, I will continue setting higher targets for myself. I learnt that the common tests are equally important too.To improve, I will do more assesments, read more storybooks, and will try to read the newspapers daily to keep in touch with the current affairs.
Book Review
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Saturday, June 9, 2007
12:03 AM
Curse of Jeju Island
Back in 1948, a rebellion against the American military government broke out on South Korea's Jeju Island. Thousands on both sides died, and their remains were interred in a cave on Mount Halla.
In this fast-paced and often humourous fantasy, some of them live on as vampires, continuing the war between the army and the rebels. As intrepid Singaporean vampire slayer by the name of jackie chang must hunt down the bloodsuckers before they take more lives-and harm Mirae, the object of hie affection, in the process.
