My Reflection

Out of the activities being done during this two days of orientation program,I felt that I had fun and got to bond better with my classmates.I also know myself better and realised that every activities I had done,there's a rationale and meaning behind it.
I especially like the random walking motion activity.I think the activity is meaningful as I got to know what I said to people also reflect upon myself and I actually wanted to have some good qualities that my classmates had which I didn't have.At first,I purposely walk slowly to people that I am close with and wait for the teacher to stop us.I was scared that when I stopped beside someone that I don't really know,I would feel embarrassed.However,as the activity carried on,I started to walk toward to different people and separated with my close friends.I got to talk to people that I seldom talk with last year and get to know what they think about me.It is quite a fun activity.
I think we should have this kind of activities more often as we progresses through the year so we can relieve our stress through these activities.

MeiYu.

Book Review 02

Title:Evil Under The Sun
Genre:Mystery
Author:Agatha Christie

Review:

This book is about a murder case happening in Leathercombe Bay.The victim was Arlena Stuart.She was found strangled to death in Pixy's Cove.This case was not a simple one and Hercule Poirot,together with Inspector Colgate and Colonel Weston had managed to solve the case eventually at the end of the story.
This story is pretty interesting and entertaining.However,I found it a little boring at the beginning of the story and skipped to the part where the police started investigating for the murder case. I liked how the way the writer left some hints and let us have a part in guessing who were the actual killers.It is surprising when Hercule Poirot revealed the whole process of how the killers planned the murder so well and the motive for doing it.It happened to be that Arlena Stuart was not a bad woman as she appeared to be in front of the others.She was actually being fooled by the killers and cheated for her money,not the other way round like others might have thought.
This murder case is also a special one as it had a certain similarity to a case happened before.In each case the husband has got a cast-iron alibi.Later in the story,it found out that both the case was done by same killers.The killers are meant to cheat money and insurances from women who desperately need love.
The writer had also put in several suspects which made you believed they were the real killers.There was a part where one of the suspect attempted to kill herself as she thought she was the one who caused the death of her stepmother,Arlena Stuart.She did witch craft on her and cursed her on the day when she died,making her believe that it was the her attempt on witch craft that killed her stepmother.(which she did not,in actual fact)This part is quite exciting to read as the story took another twist.There was also a part where the detective noted that all the bodies under the sun looked the same,suggesting that somebody might have faked Arlena Stuart before she was actually being killed.For that,I really applaud for the cleverness of the killers who thought of this point,faking a dead corpse first.
In my opinion,I think this book is good for leisure reading.I do not highly recommend it if someone crave for a more exciting and adventurous mystery case.

Meiyu

Book Review 01

Title:Nineteen Minutes
Author:Jodi Picoult
Review:
The story began on March 6, 2007.It’s talked about the beginning of the tragedy which lasted for the whole nineteen minutes. It took away ten innocent lives and many wounded. In these nineteen minutes, the life of Sterling High students changed forever. March 6, 2007 became the day of terror for New Hampshire.
Peter, seventeen years old---the person who had made this tragedy happened. He was the one who shot ten people dead. This is a school tragedy. A school shooting that nobody had expected.
As I read on, I found myself engrossed into the story. it is quite a heart wrenching story. After reading this story, I actually felt pity for Peter. Had he not been abused continuously in his twelve years of school life, he would not have end up being a killer. His family had always compare him o his elder brother and everyone had high hopes on Peter, thinking he would be like his brother, smart, athletic and popular. Peter had been teased verbally since kindergarten. For example, his lunchbox was being thrown outside the school bus many times. When he started going high school, students put him in the lockers or embarrassed him in front of the high school. He was not popular like his brother, in fact his brother was also one of those who enjoyed teasing him in school. He didn't even acknowledge that Peter is his brother in school.
I think that the society and the school had a fault in making Peter become a bad person. The story had a twist in the end as it happened Peter was the sole killer. Josie, Peter's childhood friend was found shooting her own boyfriend. She was actually the Judge daughter and nobody ha suspected that she would shot somebody.
I loved how he story flows through as it revealed Peter's past and his parents. The story told us that somebody actually loved the killer too. This story had moved me. It also told the readers about how teenagers yearned for popularity in school and being accepted by the “popular" crowd. It warned us the consequence of bullying and condoning bullies. This story relates to my life as a teenager and made me rethink some things that had happened before. I realized Peter is not a killer but a victim to me. Even though this is just a untrue story, it may happen one day too, if we let our guards off and condone actions like what Peter's schoolmates did.
I learnt something from this book and recommend to anyone who has interest in this book.

Meiyu

Movie Review 04

Title of Movie: TWILIGHT :D (the movie,not the book)
Genre: Fantasy/Thriller/Romance
Starring:Edward Pattinson( :D:D:D ),Kristen Stewart

Thoughts:
This movie is really great! Even though I have not read the book of the same title yet,I somehow already figured out the whole content of it by now.There is some jokes and slang in between the movie which made me laugh.It is a romantic story overall.The movie ended when Victoria,one of the bad vampire,wanting to get revenge for James.It made the audience wondered what would happen to Bella,whether Edward will get to save her again from the evil.
One reason I think this movie will be a big hit is because the plot of the story and the beautiful romance of Edward and Bella just seems so attractive and appealing to teenagers,especially girls.I admit I was one of them.However,while watching the movie,I found it quite unbelievable that Bella love Edward so much that she didn't mind risking to be killed by a vampire.She even urges Edward to turn her to become a vampire too. It is quite unrealistic that a human can actually have no fear of something like a fearful and dangerous blood-sucking vampire.Maybe it is the power of real love for her?
This is a action-packed movie as there are quite a number of scenes where I saw the vampires showed their powerful ability of their speed and incredible movements.This movie is entertaining and after watching it, I still crave for more.
There is one part I like whereby Bella thought her mother was being captured by the evil vampire,James and went to rescue her.It ended up that it was a plot planned by James to make his prey come to him.It is quite a nice twist there and Bella eventually got saved by the Cullen's, just in time after a bite from James.Edward helped her cleaned the blood and sent her to the hospital.
This movie also made me have the urge to buy the original book series.Therefore,I highly recommend it.
Photo credit: http://www.gv.com.sg/

Meiyu.

Newspaper Review 03

Date: 17 December 2008
Title: Bus driver jailed for road rage
The Straits Times: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_315504.html?vgnmr=1

Thoughts about it:

A bus driver was being jailed for losing his cool when another bus cut into his lane along Farrer Road last May.It isn't the best part yet until it was known that he was actually ferrying teachers and students when the incident happened.After reading this,I couldn't imagine what were the reactions of the teachers and students when the driver suddenly stopped the coach at the bus stop and came out to have a heated dispute with another driver.I don't think it was a very nice scenario there.Furthermore,when he was jailed for five weeks in a district court for voluntarily hurting the other driver,he showed no expression at all.I was quite shocked about it as he showed no signs of regret for what he had done.It made me think whether the driver actually know what he had done wrong.

Publicly hitting a man and stopping his coach so abruptly,leaving his passengers wait for him to vent on his frustration on another man,I think that was going overboard.He should have managed his emotions better and jolly well reminded himself to behave himself when he was actually still working.His actions might have misled the students present that what he did was acceptable.They might start to think violence is another way to vent their anger or as a sort of punishment for those who had made them angry when they were unhappy.The reason for the rise of this dispute was also very minor---an unlucky driver whose bus blocked the driver and eventually got punched as a consequence. I do think the reason for this dispute to happened is quite silly.I agreed that it was partly the bus driver's fault to have cut his lane but doesn't he know how to just let this small matter off?

I hope that the driver knows what went wrong and reflect upon himself.After all,a moment of foolish act had landed him to jail.It isn't a very nice payback,is it?

Meiyu

Newspaper Review 01

Date of Article: Dec 1 2008
Title: HIV numbers likely to hit record high
The Straits Times Section: Home. B1.

Thoughts about the article:

As reported in the article,the number of people found infected with HIV has been increasing over the year.It seems that the reason for the rise in the numbers is the uptake of HIV testing and increased awareness of people.However,higher testing rates doesn't mean there is high social acceptance of people with HIV.

I felt disappointed after reading this article.In such a modern country we are living in,there is still some conservative mindset in us,creating a wall between the HIV-infected and us.People still regard these infected people as aliens,avoiding them and worried that they will transmit the virus to them.I think one of the reasons of Singaporeans not accepting the infected HIV people into our society may be because they have a very deep misunderstandings over the infected HIV patients.They may have thought HIV disease can be transmitted easily to another person just by having physical contact with them(like shaking hands) or that the food they cook or bake has virus and AIDS in it.Even worse, some Singaporeans think that by being near them,they will die like them.It's no wonder why Singaporeans are still being called "kiasi" .

In my opinion,the way to make the society to accept the infected is to educate them more about the virus and make them understand that these people are just like normal living person.Government,schools and parents also have a part to play in.These parties have to educate the young and prevent them having a misconception about the HIV-infected people.Parents should not just keep the children away from them without explaining to the children about the disease.The high level of rejections by the society do no justice to the people being infected.

I think that the HIV-infected people should not suffer discrimination among the society anymore.Even though some may say that this disease is the consequence of the infected living a high-risk lifestyle and that they deserve it,it is still unfair for them as they already have their punishment,being infected with this deadly virus.Moreover,some infected people are innocent as their partners did not tell them they got the disease.Therefore,what they need right now is the support from their families and care from the society.

Now more and more clinics have also offer anonymous testing for people who suspect
themselves being infected by HIV.It is good sign.As of an analysis in the article,it found out that 17 per cent of the HIV-positive people were diagnosed through voluntary screening.An early detection will also prevent developing full-blown Aids so soon.Also, these people who know their HIV status will stop having sex ,preventing a cycle that will lead to more victims being infected.
I do hope that people understand that HIV is a no-cure disease.Till now,they are still many who are infected but undetected as they do not go for HIV testing.
Singaporeans! It's time to open your heart and accept them!


Meiyu