What Happens after the slick Is Cleared Up

Not too long ago, BP, an oil magnate of US, made the whole world shocked. Millions of gallons of oil spilt over from the offshore drilling. The catastrophe caused big disasters to the sea as well as the economy. It caused big fires and the layer of oil is up to 4cm. The local sea ecological system is facing great challenges and fatal damages.
With the slogan “Beyond Petroleum” and its sunflower logo, BP always claims to try their best to protect the environment. Nevertheless, BP had already led to two accidents since 2005. BP received a big penalty of $10 billion, while it is unlikely to sink such an enormous company for these little numbers of money. People need oil and US relies on it. They will make a comeback very soon. BP will recover in a very short moment whereas it needs years for the ecological system to cure its pain. Some damages even cannot be cured forever. In people’s eyes, there is only money. For earning more money they are regardless about anything. They do not care how the animals feel, how many endangered species will die out due to their pollution. Nowadays, human beings have already become the recognized most dangerous creature in the world. Their greedy hands seem to be never satisfied. They just get whatever they want from the nature and take it for granted. Actually these kinds of behaviors have no difference to theft which are even more serious then theft.
There are plenty of these kinds of examples. Japanese killed the whales and dolphins. Poachers shot the elephant just for two tusks and so on. Recently the weather in the world varies unpredictably. This is the warning alert of the nature. If human continue to destroy the environment, the nature will revenge people. It will be too late to regret when that day comes. I hope all the people can wake up and take some measures and make some contributions to protect our environment.

Thank you!

As June 10th coming closer and closer, our time together

becomes tiny. After all, 6 months' time no matter what is not

short.What's more important, it's during the turning period of

our young boys' and girls' life.
It is a special place for me in a special bridging course of

my school life when I actually meet my teachers who are

significantly special to me. Not only for they are my first

foreign teachers, but also for their efforts in helping me adapt

to this country, this culture. I dare to say, each of my dear

tutor has paid much attention to teach Group 08 how to become a

good student of teachers,how become a qualified person in NUS

and how to be adaptable in Singapore, which already beyond the

basic requirements of MOE. So many thanks .
Although each time thinking about that, I feel a little bit

of ashamed for I haven't done enough well in my course, which in

return also bothers me. Luckily, I get the important things from

this course which for sure will benefit me in my NUS life. Introverted as I am, I also make some friends.Hoping that will be a good start of my days in Singapore.
At last, thanks for those days each one of Group 08's tutors spent with us. Other classmates and me, I believe, will take what you have said into heart. All feelings come into two words:" Thank you!"

Rain Man

The last blog
Just now I finished my journal about the review of Rain Man, now I will write my blog also on it but from a different angle.
Charlie and Raymond are the two heroes of this movie, while they are two totally different persons.
Charlie, one of the countless ordinary people in the world, who knew that money was the most vital media for people to communicate with others! He focused on money all his life. When the client was reading his the will, he cared nothing but whether he could inherit some money from his estranged father. The result was rather uncomprehending, he just got minor portion of his ceased father’s fortune and even didn’t know who got that 300 million.
Raymond was an autistic person. His sensitivity to figures is undoubtedly beyond every ordinary people’s. He could name the details of every airline’s accident without making any mistake. He could do mathematical functions as fast and accurate as a calculator. Notwithstanding, he had no concept of money! He inherited 300 million from his father which his brother eager to get but cannot get, but he didn’t understand what that amount money means at all.
Charlie kidnapped Raymond on the purpose of getting half of the 300 million back. Then they started their journey. The journey started from money, while ended at building a love between the two brothers.
In my opinion Charlie is a symbol of people living nowadays who is money worship. He can take advantage of anyone, including his girlfriend, his brother, for the sake of money. While Raymond lives his owe routine strictly, he is free from all the other concepts of the world. To some degree Raymond is just equally simple to a sheet of white paper. And it is this white paper that let his money worship bother know what himself on earth is. During that journey, Charlie’s emotion changed from resentful to care and love his brother. Raymond’s “idiot” actions let Charlie come to realize that there is something much more valuable than money, it is family affection.
A person who is never thought to be able to equip the knowledge of emotion teaches another person what family affection is, what a ridiculous plot! But my understanding on this point is that in such a world it is we who should learn what family affection is, not those who are thought to be idiotic or low IQ people.

Don’t cry because it is over, smile，because it happened.

Five days off for CLEC Symposium, what a “long” holiday before final exam, report, presentation, poster...and the few days we can get along together.

Still remember, as Mr Mehdi said, the first time we followed Monday tutor to our classroom like chicken following a rooster and his funny expressions and jokes about our names in class.

Still remember, Mrs Sonali embarrassed us with “Don’t think I cannot understand your speaking in Chinese!!” and also her snacks which disappeared totally before movie started.

Still remember, Mrs Leo kindly criticized our oral reports and repeated a sentence that we can use nicely now: “Do you follow what I am trying to say?????”

Still remember, Mrs Esther was late for 10 minutes for some reason during which time we can happily enjoy a short nap; and her attendance of our activities.

Still remember, Mrs Yap cared our works in spite of her illness; and her local delicious food for us to share as well as her excellent story telling skill.

Still remember, Dr Tan flared briefly with super-speed speaking, and then burned out with a unique and heavy accent “ aiz shun aiz pa xi bou~”(as soon as possible);

Still remember, Pro Tay sang those Chinese songs with guitar full of deep feelings as a charming middle-aged man; and his question “ ni jia men pai ji hao??!!”

Still remember, Pro Chew pleased us with formula paper and said “this paper will be given to you during the exams, I promise, hehe~”

Still remember…

Just in six months, we changed into friends from strangers;
In six months, we got to know different cultures from each other;
In six months, we experience a happy time far away from home;

Soon, we won’t have to complain about the school bus whose streak of blue yellow and green never change;
Soon, we won’t have to shoulder the laptops to class wishing no orders there: “Laptops~Shup up! No charge in class !”
Soon, we won’t have to check the time table to figure out how many days left before we can become university students AUTHENTICALLY.

Bridging course, what a special time!

As we talked all days about the rest of our lives, we are gonna be students of NUS;
You may keep hoping times will never change, keep on thinking things should always be the same;
But when we leave this room, we won’t coming back;
No more SM3 project because we are on different track;
So if we get the big jobs and we make the big monay;
When we look back now will our jokes still be funny?
Will we still remember everything we learned in school?
Still be trying to break every single rule?
Will little George be the political man?
Can Amy find a job to attract lots of fans?
I keep thinking that it’s not goodbye;
Keep on thinking it’s a time to fly;
We must move on and we can’t slow down;
These memories are playing like a film without sound.

As we go on,
We remember,
All the times we,
Had together,
And as our lives change,
From whatever,
We will still be,
Friends Forever…

-------Just for Group8 remembering our time in 2010

All endings are also beginnings

This is my last blog in bridging course. Several days ago, when I realized that this was my last blog. I felt very happy because it is an assignment and it often makes me suffer a lot. But today when I begin to write my first blog, I feel a little sad instead of the happiness. The last blog does not only mean fewer assignments but also the ending of the bridging course.

We stay together for almost seven months. We study together, help each other and make progress together. Of course, life is full of setbacks. We also have contradictions in our daily life. But for life it is OK. Finally I think we can clear up the misunderstanding. That is the true life. The precious seven month make us feel the warm of home. Without relatives in Singapore, we all are relatives to each. It's not like we're dead. I have already thought you are my relatives. So I try my best not to think about separation. But I can’t. As a Chinese saying goes that all good things must come to an end. We all have to separate in August and pursue our own dreams. But in fact, all endings are also beginnings. We are still young and we have a long way to go. There are many new things and friends waiting for us.

Here I don’t want to comfort you that do not be sad and tomorrow is another day because I myself can’t do it. But I hope we don’t feel sad for too long time because I want a good ending. My dear friend, NUS is waiting for us. Here I sincerely wish you could have a good beginning in NUS.

Holiday

Five days’ holiday! It was such fun that I felt like grasping every minute. Maybe due to the coming separation, I shall cherish the moment being a member of group 8 before making farewell to my classmates.

Recommended by Mr. Medhi, we had a buffet lunch at a place in Orchard Road named Seoul Garden yesterday. It was really a running and extensive buffet! The buffet lasts over four hours from 11:30 am to 3:59 pm. Besides, there are lavish kinds of food such as porridge, fruits, drinks, tarts, ice cream and salad. However, the main dish was made by ourselves, that is, roast or boil food. Many had a difficult time learning how to roast, especially those boys. Kindheartedly, we three girls at the table roasted fish and beef for them.

Today was surely another exciting day because we together with group 6 would fight against group 4 in the basketball march. Unfortunately, we failed by several scores, but what I saw wasn’t the final marks but their effort and spirit! I knew they had tried their best. In the first half, Walter’s pale face suggested that he was uncomfortable. Even so he still persisted in playing the game and only rested for a few minutes. At the break, I saw sweat running down Edison’s face, but he didn’t utter one word about complaint. Later they rekindled hope when Felix and Walter’s combination gave no chance for our opponents to launch a successful attack. Then Walter scored three hits constantly and Edison shot a three-score hit. The scene that impressed me most was that they called for pause when there was only ten seconds left. The result was obvious at that time, but they still positively thought of any possible countermeasures instead of giving up. This showed their indomitability to every one present.

Only two days left for the holiday. I wish each of you would have a wonderful time!

Homeless to Harvard

This is a true story of Elizabeth Murray who was born in September 23, 1980. In the movie she simply told her teacher to call her “Liz”. Knowing the teacher’s confusion, she explained that her mother called her “Elizabeth” only when her mother was angry with her. That moment I knew I was shocked by her deep love to her mother, because you may not know her mother, but I know.

The movie begins with Liz’s sister’s fierce fighting with her seemingly crazy mother, while all of their father’s attention was paid on TV and let the mother and daughter alone. Her mother fought for the money hidden by her two daughters to buy drugs. The mother wouldn’t care her two daughters had no money for meals, and Liz usually had to find food from the dustbin, but she still loved her mother and take care of her.

Before her mother died of AIDS, Liz had already become homeless and wandered around in the street every day. However, after her mother’s death, she was still homeless, but she knew what she wanted. She said that her parents’ life let her know that one can choose his or her life and that she wanted to struggle to see what life would be for her. She realized that she must get far away from the life she lived now, so she went back to school and finished the four-year senior high school in two years and got a New York Times scholarship which allowed her to go to Harvard University. That’s the end of the movie but far from the end of her life.

I got the new from the Internet that she left Harvard to care for her sick father, who was also addicted to drugs, and returned to Harvard in 2008 and graduated in 2009. Now she is working for doctorate in clinical psychology to counsel people from all walks of life.

I strongly invite you to see this movie. I am sure you will learn a lot from her.

The first day of my rest life, the last day of my memory

How could I address you, my friends, classmates or tutors?

My first trip in this foreign island is coming to an end, within half a month, together with you all. Two weeks later, you and me, we are going in our own direction to pursue our own dreams, to take our own road. Maybe by accident, I might meet you later in my life. Maybe this is the last chance for me to unfold my heart in blogs, and also the last chance for you to sit in front of your laptop, looking into my feelings hidden between the lines, among the words.

“Separation” is a bitter word, especially read in Chinese. So many beautiful poems and songs are depicting this kind of scenes that every time when it comes into our mind, we automatically associate it with bitter feelings full of tears and pity. Indeed it is not an enjoyable thing to witness my partners, who have been keeping company all along the way, to leave us.

But such is life.

No one can keep company with you all the way, even your parents or closest friends. Maybe we can study and play together today, but separation is doomed to come. As there is no such a thing as an endless meal, never is there a group that can stay together and together and forever. All stories must have an ending, no matter whether it’s happy or not. However, life is always to be continued, no matter whether it’s happy or not.

A friend walks into the way of your journey, leaves several footprints and then goes away. But do not stare at the footprints for too long, because more and more friends are coming into the journey of your life. You know they will one day eventually go away, but it doesn’t matter. What you can do is cherish today.

If I cherished every day, every minute, every second together with you, then I needn’t to be sorry at all when waving goodbye. If you cherished days with us, then no need to be sorrowful when parting. If you seize the day, then there would be no such a word as regret in the dictionary.

Since we have left the most elegant footprints in each other’s life path, since we have such a lot of memories to share, there is no point in burying ourselves in sorrow. Just put away our memory, and arrange package for tomorrow’s journey.

Cause this is the first day of the rest of my life, and the last day of my memory.

Random Thought

This is my last blog.Many friends expressed that how time flied in their blogs.Yeah,this is extremely true.Nearly six months,180 days or 4320 hours has ellapsed silently upon the tips of my fingers without my fully being conscious.

Reflecting on the past six months,frankly I feel a little bit disappointed with myself because it seems that I haven't achieved much in my academic work.It's for sure that I am not working as hard as before when I was in China.What's worse,I seem to have developed the habit of going shopping in my free time instead of reading or visiting museums which may be more meaningful and instructive.

On the other hand,I really appreciate that I have made new friends who really offered great help and surpport especially when now I am abroad.Now I do believe that we are like brothers and sisters in a harmonious family.We make jokes,laugh,hang out,overcome difficulty...all together which keeps enhancing the bond between us.Hopefully,our precious friendship can stand the test of time and won't fade away although our English course will soon come to an end.:(

In addition,in the past six months,what I have made sure is my deep love for my parents.I should say sorry that when at home I sometimes behaved rashly which made my parents upset and anxious.Now the feeling that what an unconsiderate daughter I have been becomes stronger and stronger.Here in Singapore,every time I go shopping in those flourishing malls,I will think of my mum and think:"It would be super great if my mum went shopping together with me" because my mum also likes shopping but she never spends much on those fascinating luxurious clothes or bags although I know she like them a lot.I often make a wish to myself now that some day I will take my parents to Singapore or any metropolitan cities all over the world for a long long holiday and buy mum anything she likes.

This is my last blog.It seems a little bit messy,isn't it?Whatever,I just want to write down some random thought in my mind at this special point of time.

Heroes in western and eastern literature

A hero is someone who has done some brave things so that is admired by people. Heroes are all the same at this point in both western and eastern literature. However, they are also different from each other because how people are valued differently in western and eastern.
In western literature, heroes all have great power or magical abilities and at most of the times, they are descendants of the gods. For example, the Achilles, Hector in Homer’s epic. They were brave and good at fighting in the honor of their countries. They fought for their countries and dare to die, so that they were admired by people. There are also other heroes in the modern literature. One of the most famous heroes is the superman, who is of great power and will help people who are in trouble. Such characters are very common, like Spiderman, Xman and so on. They all faced with powerful enemies but finally will prevail over them. They are all well known though people may not know their true identity.
The heroes in eastern, mainly in Chinese literature, are a little different. Absolutely they are powerful enough to help others but they do not like to show off and do not like to be known. In an ancient Chinese short story, a typical hero was described and became an example of hero in literature ever since created. A poor man had his family broken because the local landholder wanted the man’s beautiful wife. When the man was about to commit suicide hopelessly, a strong man with a score came. The scoreman decided to help the poor man after he knew the whole thing. The next day, strangely the landholder let go the beautiful wife for no reason. But it was said that the landholder found a knife in his bed in the morning without even noticing that someone came into his house. With the knife was a note telling him what to do or the next time the knife would be in his body. The scoreman helped the poor man bring his family back. The heroes in ancient Chinese are like this. They have super abilities, like to help those in trouble and help them secretly. It is different that Chinese heroes don’t like to be known when they do something good because they consider it as what heroics should do and they should not do it for fame.

Memory

What is memory?
Memory is the font No. 12 and the 1.5 line spacing. Once Mrs. Yap stated her instructions of the format of our printed essays. Since then, every time I open my Microsoft Word or revise other’s essays, I change the format almost instinctively. I think I will keep doing so in the future.
Memory is the time that goes by unconsciously. Bingos and memorizing contests convert the dull Monday mornings into party time. Thanks to Mr. Medhi, we have spent so much lively and happy time together.
Memory is the affectionate wake-ups. When I am sleepy and struggle to finish my work, it always echoes in my head that “Go and wash your eyes!” It is quite likely that it is in the voice of Mrs Sonali.
Memory is the logical thoughts. I learn to always express my reasons for any viewpoints and preferences mainly from Mrs. Leo. This is what maybe I’ll never do in China, because I used to think that preferences don’t need reasons.
Memory is the fantastic games. Mrs. Easter often makes us relaxed. Sometimes I even think that I haven’t enjoyed my childhood time. I still remember that afternoon in the botanical garden, when I experienced that kind of pleasant picnic for the first time.
Memory is Bukit Timah. Memory is the East Coast Park. Memory is the debate, the soon-be-held basketball match and the buffet. Memory is working together. Memory is being with you excellent and benevolent friends. Memory is the foever Group 8. Memory is the six months that I will never ever forget.

My last blog

How does this happen? This is my last blog during my bridge course. Maybe the only words I can say are just, “time flies”. Yeah, I have never sensed that this will happen so soon. What should I say in this blog? Searching the internet and gaining some ideas? Telling you a little funny story? Planning the next five free days? Or just talking about this week’s class topic, like divorce? No, no, no, all of those seem to be no meaning if we put it as the last one. Maybe I should try to think about all of the past days during the bridge course: what have I improved and learnt and what is the real meaning of these not very long times’ studying?

Many times, when I chat with my relatives or my friends in China, they would ask me, “how is your English now? It must be fantasying, isn’t it?” At that time, I always don’t know how to reply. Thinking about the first time we came to Singapore, communication seems to be such a difficult and terrible thing to us. No matter going to watch movie, or just shopping, we would feel very nervous when we had the chance to talk with the local in English (maybe we are also the same today). And we always think that after years’ staying here, everything will be so different, then a beautiful world appeared in our brain.

Then, five months past. We are still playing with the limited letters we remembered in China. And we are still talking with others in very strange English which the local always don’t understand. We also still can’t understand the aunty who serves us in restaurants or bookstores. We always chatting in our room that we are still the ones as five months ago like. Poor English, we improved nothing. We are just like the seedlings under the sun, to bask in the sun every day, without any changes, just bask and bask. But actually if we look into it, all of those are not correct. “Sea, show me with a river and then I will let you know how strong I am”, actually, we are seedlings who bask in the sun every day, but if give a little wind, then you can sense that you are much stronger than before. At least, today we can enjoy Mehdi’s beautiful English and his joy on Monday. We can learn from Sonali’s patience to teach us and her beautiful view to study and life on Tuesday. And, Ms Leo Kwang Lin, she seems knowing everything in our daily life, we can get so much knowledge and information from her on Wednesday morning. Also Mrs Esther Soo-Chee, her jovial and many games on Wednesday afternoon impressed us so much. What’s more, Ms Yap, our lovely Thursday tutor (and also my mentor), always can bring energy and joy to the class. All of them show us that English communicating also can be so interesting. And through the process that we feel nervous to we can speak loudly and can understand their words more or less, we have the confidence to say that we have improved. Our oral reports become much easier than before, every time I watch myself in the video, I will feel very good inside. Also answer question in class, do the homework like essay or blog, even the debate.

Life is built by many small things, just like the Great wall in China. I think many small changes have already taken place, we just don't notice it, or we just don’t have the chance to show the changes. All in all, at the end, thanks to all of our wonderful tutors, we experience a really wonderful time through the course, and because of these we surely have the confidence and passion to win in our road, not just about language, but also our way in life.

My First Debate Experience

For the whole first eighteen years in my life, I never joined any debate teams. One reason was that I didn’t like to quarrel with others. I found it much more interesting to be an audience and watch those two teams quarrel. I never thought about joining a debate team, dressing up, debating with others in English. But, it just happened last Thursday.
In fact, after the moment when I raised my hand and entered for the interclass debate, I couldn’t help asking myself: why did you have to be that person? You didn’t have any experience, even in Chinese! There were so many people who speak English better than you, why not just let them participate? But as Ms. Yap said, it was a good opportunity to practice my English. What’s more, I don’t want to give this opportunity to others, even though I can’t speak English well.
During the whole week, I tried to find some materiel about the debate topic. Actually I did get a lot, but the question was that I didn’t know how to get the point. I had read more than 10 thousand words in English, but I still couldn’t come up with any argument. Then our debate team had a meeting, I finally got a point. I was grateful for the other three persons in our debate team that they let me prepare for the first or the last to speak, which was the easiest one.
Then the important interclass debate day came. It was also the first day in my life that I dressed up, went out and let everyone see me. I felt very uncomfortable and, of course, very hot. Then we had the debate with group 6. We didn’t win but I could feel that both debaters and audience had fun that day.
So that was it, my first debate experience. When I told to my friends that I joined the team, they said: ‘It’s so cool!’ But they didn’t saw me sleeping late at 3 o’clock, they didn’t saw my embarrassment when I couldn’t speak fluently in front of others, they didn’t saw that I spent my whole afternoon in the library.

I Am Twenty

Yesterday was a special day. On that day, May the 22nd 2010, I said goodbye to my tens and stepped into my twenties.

When it came to 0:00 at midnight, all my roommates stopped the things they were doing and sang the Happy Birthday song to me. I was so excited that it took me a long time to get to sleep. In the morning, I got up at 8:30 and quickly switched on my laptop to see whether there were any wishes to me. When I logged on QQ and Renren website, I was surprised that there were many new messages came to my eyes. Some were wishes, others were virtual presents. I had never got so many presents and wishes before. At noon, when I went downstairs to have lunch, every classmate and friend I met said “Happy birthday” to me. I was so happy because I didn’t expect that so many people knew today was my birthday. In the afternoon, I went swimming with some friends. Wash out the old things and welcome the new era. Where was the cake? Of course there was. At night, I shared the birthday cake with my roommates.

Now I am a twenty years old man. Not the innocent one anymore. I should become more mature and be responsible to my conduct. I should act as a real man and think more about my future.

At last, I want to thank my parents who give me the chance to come to this world and thank all my friends who keep supporting me. With your company, my life will be wonderful.

The End

Father Time flicks through the pages of life; all of a sudden, I realize with a pang, that the book of SM3 bridging course will soon be turned to the last page, that before long it’ll be the time when we say goodbye to our beloved tutors, to the intensive English course, to Eton Hall, and to each other.

Yesterday we bade farewell to the plump maths lecturer Mr. Chew, and to our last maths class. The warm applause we gave to him genuinely expressed our appreciation that he did a wonderful job in teaching us. In his short speech in response to the long lasting applause, he mentioned “in the university your life will be totally different, the way of teaching will be different, and the way of learning should also be different… I hope you can soon be adapted.”

What he said left me in mild anxiety. Indeed everything is going to change, which means finally we are supposed to get ready for the formidable unknown outside world awaiting—an adventure book. But how I will miss the previous serene one!

However we may describe Eton Hall, it is a haven for us. Because we are familiar with each other, it is like a harmoniously warm and amicable community, in which neighbors visit each other, help with study problems, and hold birthday parties! I do not know what the future residential hall will be like, but I will surely miss this one.

The intensive English course is not as is called. It’s easy, rewarding and fun. Comparatively, university courses is probably rewarding, might be fun, but absolutely isn’t easy. To say the least, there wouldn’t be the leisure to watch movies or read books everyday. Am I truly mentally or intellectually prepared for what demands ahead my journey? I am in serious doubt.

Certainly I wouldn’t forget you all, my dear classmates. Frankly, I was an idiot in socialization. Sounds unbelievable, but it’s true, because from primary school to senior high I was always seated in front, and seldom the need rose to communicate with others, especially boys. But now, unlike before, I am confident in making new friends. For that I would like to salute CELC for arranging only twenty students in one group, leaving me the opportunity to overcome my biggest obstacle in my life. More importantly, group 8 is extraordinarily outstanding. Everyone is so eager to learn and be friends with one and another. Rumor goes that we are the best group, and I believe it has a ground. The active and lively atmosphere in class alone deserves our pride. For that I feel so obliged to give you my profuse thanks, my friends.

Time advances slowly but steadily towards the final page of the book of our bridging phase. I always regret it when the book I have enjoyed so much declares its “The End” in bold and in curlicues, but however unpleasant, games will be over. From the positive side, the ending of one book proclaims the beginning of another more exciting one. March forward, gallant warriors!

The Rain

The rain seems to be one of the most common things in Singapore, just like ants. Every week, there are a few heavy rains. Some of you may dislike the rain, while I like it very much.
Even though sometimes the rain cause lots of problems, I still like to see the raindrop raining down in the daytime. It looks like somebody are scattering many transparent pearls from the sky. At night, even though I cannot watch the raindrop, I can hear the voice that the raindrop drops on the ground. Especially when the other things are quiet, the voice makes me feel tranquil. It seems that I was in a place where is peaceful and quiet. It is said that some human beings can become immortals at some special time. If it is true, it must happen in this kind of situations.
I used to hear that the scene at the rainy night is very beautiful. It is a pity that I never have a chance to appreciate the beauty, to see the colorful and quiet world. I am always busy with doing something pointless and have no more time to spend on other things. What a sad life it is.
Despite that I love the rain, I have to say it is a really cruel thing in my opinion. It will approach you and take off your camouflage which looks staunch; it will touch the weakest part of your heart and give away the deepest thought in your mind. It gives us opportunity to understand the real part of ourselves, which sometimes is really a shock and hard to accept.
And now the rain also makes me feel sad and I can’t do anything to control it. It may because the rain call up my memory and lets me feel lonely. Since I am far away from my hometown and left my families, I become nothing to others. Nobody will care about such a weightless person. I can’t hear my mother asking me to put on the clothes, can’t hear my father telling me what to do if I was ill. Nay more, I do not know whether it rains in my hometown, I do not know whether my parents are healthy. All the things are in the wrong places, just because of the rain.
But I know, finally I will be back. I will sit with my parents and watch the rain, but never fell lonely.

To live, as tody is the end of the world

Last week, we study about the poem. Actually, I can only remember one English poem, and I seldom read English poem, because I think English poem is not as easy as Chinese poem to understand because of my poor vocabulary. However, after I find out all the words in the dictionary, I find that English poem is not very direct to express the poet’s feeling. Just like the Chinese modern, English poem always write about some other things, and the poet seldom write himself in the poem. At this point, I dislike the English poem and Chinese modern poem very much, compared with the Chinese ancient poem. Maybe because I used to learn and remember lots of Chinese ancient poem, I have been used to the form and the way it express the main idea of a poem.
Actually, the only one English poem I can remember is a very simple poem I read by accident. At first, I saw this poem in Chinese, and I was addicted to it. Because this poem is very easy, so I remember it at once. After a few months, I saw this poem in English, and when I found it in the Internet, I realized that this poem is a English poem.
The poem is as following:

To love, like you have never been hurt before
To dance, like nobody would watch
To sing, like nobody would listen
To work, like you don't need any money
To live, like there is no tomorrow

I was deeply moved by the words the first time I saw it, though it tell the main idea in the most direct way. I realize that life is really short, and what we should do is to treasure every day, and make full use of the time. Do whatever you want to do; maybe it’s easy to say but hard to make it come true. Don’t care others’ view on you; maybe it’s impossible for everyone. But life is controlled by yourself, you can use your life to do what you think is right and meaningful to you. Get a high score in the exam can be a kind of achievement; fight with others and beat them is also a kind of proud, even though it’s not a good thing, but when put in front of life, everything is equal, no right or wrong. Everyone is their own one, the life belongs to them. To live my own life is my best wish, just like the poem says: to live, as today is the end of the world.

Wise Words to Live Life By

The poetry is the cream of human culture. It is beautiful not only because its ornate diction or creative concept, but also due to the wise words and epigrams of poetry. Looking back at some of these encounters with my buddies, I have found that there are some gems worth sharing.
“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” This is so true, because, in life our choices often have surprising results. Just like the poem “The Road Not Taken”, everyone has to face plenty of crossroads in their life. No one can foretell what lies ahead. We have to decide which way to go or not.
“Make peace with the past so it will not spoil your present.” Many people lose themselves in the past. They struggle and suffer a lot as a result of some regreteful things they did before. Worse still, they cannot get themselves out. I think this aphorism will cheer them up right now. Yesterday is history which will never ever come back. To wit, you can do nothing about the past. What we can do is catch and make full use of today.
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.’ This verse seems simple whereas it reveals the true meaning of our life. It is the pearl of wisdom of leading to a meaningful life. That is why people always ask themselves what am I living for? A life without purpose is like a body with no soul, which has no difference to vegetables. Only when you begin to be clear about what you want from your life can you enjoy an enriched life.
Life is a school and you are here to study. Problems can fade away while the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

without Hand Phone

On Monday the afternoon, I accidently left my purse behind in central library, and then the purse was forever gone with my lovely Nokia 5000 inside, and all the important cards.

Then the next several days were wasted on the procedure to report the loss and reapply for those disgusting cards. But what troubled me most was that with my phone gone, things became even more difficult. The security officer couldn’t contact me, nor could the police. I had to lend one mobile phone to call Ms Lim, the MOE officer in charge of us. To make the things worse, I initially wrote all those numbers like password, passport number, and FIN number in my mobile number, so then I couldn’t remember them anymore. When I went to report the loss, it made me really embarrassed that I couldn’t told officers what’s the card number. Moreover, I couldn’t summon my research group mates. It was such a mass when we intended to hold meetings. The worst thing was that I lost all the phone numbers, my friends, my relatives, my seniors, my befrienders…, which really made me want to tear the one who picked up my purse into pieces.

Tired and hungry, I came back to dorm and buried myself in the bed. Then I really wanted to call mom, just wanted to listen to her voice, which would no doubt comfort me quite soon, but I couldn’t. Without the phone, it seemed that the whole world was gone away, left me alone on some deserted islet, with no sound, no wind, no light, no creature but me.

Then a question came out in my mind. Was it really a sorrowful tragedy? Why did I become so frustrated just because it would become a little bit inconvenient to contact with others? Anyway I still can contact with the outside world. That is the problem. I found myself rely on mobile phone too much. It is true that with the invention of mobile phone our world is becoming smaller and smaller, and the contact becomes more and more convenient. But on the other side, the actual distance between people is further and further. People are used to contacting others by virtual tools, so they ignore the real world. Moreover, the world is cluttered with enormous information, so do our minds. It is to such a extend that we ignore the inner peace, ignore the importance to think by ourselves in a more calm and profound way.

I felt better after I realized it. Maybe we should sometimes cut off the noise from outside world and try something in tranquility.

Rejoicing for The Warm

On May 9^th, I went to our host family, to enjoy the meal at home plan. At first I hadn’t expected anything from that plan, thinking that it was nothing but a formalistic plan full of bureaucratic style.

But the truth proved that I was totally wrong. The host was really a kind, humourous, and well-behaved gentleman. He played a piece of light jazz (maybe) when we were having meal. During the meal, he introduced many places his family had been to, which was really a shock to us for he had been to so many different countries: Italian Milan, France, England (the Lake District…I can’t remember), Greece, New York, Australia… The souvenir (in every place he travelled to he bought beautiful fridge magnets) he collected from all those countries had occupied the whole surface of fridge.

I coincidently met a senior studying in NTU now, who is also from Northwestern Polytechnical University as me. He came here to give present to the host’s lovely daughter. It seemed that he was really a member of this family. I felt quite warm and comfortable.

Food served was no doubt very delicious. But what impressed me most was that the host insisted on driving us back to Eton Hall, and he drove to several food centers, just to buy a local special dessert for us to have a taste.

Thanks for the host family, I once again felt the warm of a family, to which I had thought that I could do nothing but say farewell.

blog 09 Final Decision

Finally, I make my decision to take Statistic as my undergraduate major after a long time's thinking. To make this decision, I have searched the Internet for countless times. Then I chose NUS Science.
I studied in software in NJU, China. My university teacher had once suggested me picking up this major again.Also, one of my best friends has chosen CS. But I'm the one who knows exactly what I want and my interests. I don't think in Singapore I can do the particular job I want, for the country doesn't has huge market and enough opportunities for outstanding programmers. The society just need "one dime one dozen"'s computer programmers from India and China, as said by a local.
Actually, I don't really interested in Statistic. I don't quite sure whether I can switch to financial field as well. But I wish I can double degree in Finance. And then find a good job in MNC.
As for the starting salary, science students' salary are usually lower than SOC and Engineer undergraduates. But from the posters on the web, after several years, finance graduates see a big increase in payment. Whatever, if you want be a success, all jobs will not be so easy to take on!
Statistic is considered as the easiest course among those offers.Perhaps I will live a life of leisure in NUS:)

Lebron James------tragic hero

27 points 19 rebounds 10 assistants, James finishes his whole season with a shining triple-double. But the result is that cavalier lost the game.

Why do cavalier lose the game? Celtics’ mightiness is one reason. But the most important reason is that the Celtics’ players co-operate with each other and they know the importance of teamwork. The most convincing proof is that everyone in the team has good performance and the whole assistance is 24 while cavalier only has 15. However, the cavalier’s players just play basketball alone, especially lebron James, the best player in the NBA, two years’ MVP and the soul of cavalier. Because he is the best in the NBA, he can criticize anyone in his team even his coach. That’s why people call him “little emperor”. Without a doubt, his mightiness helps him a lot in games. But in fact it also does lot harm to him. The mightiness make cavalier become his own team. He controls the ball for a very long time and most of the time he wants to govern the game by himself.

The same scene that James always controls the ball appears in today’s game. The most obvious evidence is that he has as many as nine turnovers while the total turnovers are 22. Another example is that in the fourth quarter when O’Neal has a very good position in the paint, but James ignore him and choose to attack the basketry by himself. Obviously, the ball didn’t go into the basketry.

After the game, when the camera gets on James, I find his eye pits are wet. Although I support Celtics, I still feel pity for James. After all he is so great. But his mightiness destines he is a tragic hero. I hope he can understand that basketball is for five people and teamwork is the only way to success in the court. This summer he will be a free agent, so I hope he can find a good team to realize his championship dream.

About Food

Food has started its development since human beings kindled the first fire. Till now, the varieties and deliciousness of food have flourished to such extent as arousing my amazement time and again.

Eating delicacy is definitely enjoyable, and that is what the tongue is made for. But the enchantment of food is more than that. We all have the experience that when having eaten one kind of food for a long time, we unconsciously get tired of it however we like it at first. So I gather we take pleasure in experiencing something new, such as eating different food, which is like an adventure.

Furthermore, eating is an excellent opportunity for socialization. Usually we feel content when the stomach is full, therefore it helps us to build up and maintain relationships during a feast or tea party.

When talking about food, we can’t skip the topic of cooking. Actually the ideas above come up to me after my reading about an article of guidance on 25 Chinese home-cooked dishes. Frankly speaking, the article makes me plan a menu for my family after my return in summer vacation, even though I can only make scrambled egg and fried rice at present. But I can’t help but imagining the scene that I’m creating a substantial meal in the kitchen and everyone around me is letting out their praise and amazement. Cooking for myself is nice, but cooking for a bunch of people who I know love me is extraordinarily pleasant.

Now I know what I aspire, not sheer cooking, but also appreciation for me and more importantly, family atmosphere. I’ve never confessed that I miss home, but I do feel great tenderness to our cozy and snug flat.

So, both eating and cooking could serve as a link between family and friends, which may account for our feverish affection for food.

May the Dead Live Peacefully and the Living stay strong

12th May.

Two years has elapsed since the desastrous earthquake in Wenchuan,Sichuan Province.

Just within that sharp 1/1000 or even 1/10000 second,the land shook;the mountains trembled;houses fell down;bridges broke up...Innocent people,at that moment,seemed or maybe were so tiny and vulnerable faced with the powerful as well as ruthless natural force:people in the markets scattered crazily like a swarm of hornets when their hove exploded;people strolling along streets a nanosecond before set about bolting in search of an open place;students who were having a Chinese class or writing compositions to express their love to their mums a nanosecond before burst out shrieking and tried desperately to flee or ended up in being buried by the falling wreckage...

Too fleeting to make a response a formerly peaceful and beautiful town was turned into nothing but ruins and a staggering number of bodies lying beneath...

Parents who escaped dashed to their children's schools,digging frenetically for their children;life partners or relatives out of Sichuan dialed over and again,yearning to get in touch with their darling ones to make sure whether their beloved ones were fine or not...

Sorrowful or moving stories happened every day,every hour,every minute and every second.Newspapers,the Internet,radio,TV...All public media were occupied by news concerning the earthquake which sent the whole country weeping.Even those professionally trained hosts or hostesses couldn't control their overwhelming feelings that tears loomed or even rolled down while reporting news.

We dragged down our national flags,set the alarm ringing and stood in silent tribute in memorial of the unfortunate victims.I can still vividly recall the moment the alarm rang,my heart broke into pieces,sending an overwhelming pain through all my body like an electric current shock.Some kind of unable-to-be-expressed grief blocked my throat,making it difficult for me to breathe.Tears just kept gushing and gushing non-stop.This was what happened in 2008.

But in 2009,I had assumed I wouldn't be that sad on 12th May,but when the alarm rang,the grief didn't faint at all!The silent tribute was just in my chemistry class and I felt a little bit embarrassed to cry in front of my classmates as well as my chemistry teacher==!

Now it is 12th May,2010,but I am no longer in China and I have realized that crying can't make any difference.Besides,I believe that the dead wouldn't want us to stay depressed all the time.Their wish,I think,is just like what a poem sentence says:"Remember me only when it makes you happy;do not remember me if you feel sad."We can't bring back the lives of the dead,but we should live our lives to the fullest,to the most splendid because to some degree,we are continuing their lives in this world.

All in all,may the dead live peacefully in another world and the living continue strongly and optimistically.

Micro Poetry

China is a great country as the view of the poetry, there is about 3ooo years’ history of poetry. Among the great family, there are many kinds of poetry, like the poetry in Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty as all of the Chinese known. But do you know there is another kind of poetry in China called “Micro Poetry”? In this blog, I will introduce it to you and experience the picturesque charm inside together with you.

Micro Poetry has existed since ancient Chinese; actually many of the earliest poetry in China were precisely the birth of the micro-poems, but they just appeared as part of the ancient poetry and we don’t call them micro poetry. The modern micro poetry has rapid developed since the New Culture Movement in China and be accepted by people since then.

Micro poetry is a kind of special poetry detached from small poetry. The content of it is poetry and the form is micro. As one word, micro poetry is kind of poetry with only 1-3 line besides the title. The title is an integral part of micro-poems, but also the content of micro-important of poetry. Micro-poems are colorful in the form, people can write it with 1-3 line in various forms according to their expression and aesthetics.

Maybe it is just because of its brevity, many of the poets today like to try it with great passion. And they always can find their own special ways to express varieties of feelings, which help the development of Micro Poetry very much. Just as someone said, micro-poems are easy to write, but are very hard to write good, write skilled, write as everyone praise highly. A poet writes so many poems in his life, and if among them there are several excellent micro-poems, poetic sufficient. Then, I want to share some micro-poems.

“One Generation” by Gu Cheng:

“Night gave me a black eye,
I used it to find the light.”

The poem was very famous at that time when China was still in a very dark situation. The two lines reflected the spiritual pursuit of the people in that generation. Although Gu Cheng was swallowed by the night unfortunately at last, his spirit was alive forever together with these two lines of poetry.

“Gravestone”:

“Bury you,
In the heart of the corner,
I’m your gravestone.”

Use the metaphor of people to gravestone, vivid imagery with extraordinary artistic shocking. “Bury you / in the heart of the corner,” you live in my heart. And “I’m your gravestone!” So strong, so deep feelings vent, how could people not be moved?

“Waiting”:

“Heart in front of wind,
Stand as a tree.”

No matter what kind of wind it is, no matter how cold it is, heart in front of it is just for a word “waiting”. Firm “waiting”, until “stand as a tree”! How sincere, tenacious, and moving it is!

There are many excellent micro-poems like these, and I think all of them are very meaningful and full of imagination. From them we not only can experience the interesting and strongly power of words, but also we can have a deeply view of person’s fine sentiments which are embalmed in poetry. At last, I hope that you have a better knowledge of the Micro Poetry after reading my blog, and maybe you also can have a try. Actually, I think it is much more colorful wrote in Chinese rather than in English, maybe it is just my feeling.

Novel Addiction

Today I happened to chat with Summer and soon found that we shared one thing in common, which is reading novels. Thanks to Mr. Mehdi’s absence (because he guided his mentees about the research paper outside), we two luckily got some more time to continue the topic—novel. During the short thirty minutes, we talked about one popular net novel series and the famed writer Guo Jingming and his work such as tiny times. The chat has inclined me to recollect how addicted was I to novels when in senior high—staying awake till two or three o’clock and grasping every spare minute to read novels couldn’t be more normal to me, really a dement girl! This chat has also rekindled my enthusiasm towards novels. Unable to resist the temptation, I downloaded four novels together with her, and we recommended some to each other. As a result, I failed to confine myself to study tonight, but read novels instead.

Now I am regretful for the lost time, to put it more clearly, I feel guilty myself. Just last week we were taught that time passed then would never return, I am supposed to cherish every minute to ensure it isn’t wasted. But what had I done? Totally contrary to the expectation. You see, human beings always behave like this; things they want are usually contradictory to what they are doing. They may have once set up their goals but cannot stick to the initial dreams, because of the inability to quit the lure, which is somewhat called deep-rooted bad habits. Can one be persistent with what he is longing for? Yes, since nothing is impossible. But it’s hard to find such person. I have to admit that I lack determination and resistance and always violate my pledge to myself. I tried to overcome the defect but failed every time. Bewildered, who can help me out of the dilemma?

IPod in the globe economy

Several classmates have bought iPods, which has made me a green-eyed monster. I am also attracted by the distinctive appearance and various functions. However, my present mp3 unfortunately works very well and I cannot find a reason to replace it with an iPod. In fact, iPods are so popular among the youth that Apple even becomes the only brand of mp3 they will buy. Barely other brands can be found in Singapore as far as I see.
IPod has become an international product that represents a perfect example of mp3. They are sold everywhere in the world, but the price is much higher than that of the ordinary brands. Apple has made the iPod outstanding from other similar products, just like the LV or Gucci in the fashion. As a student who doesn’t have much money, I care more about the price. I noticed that the prices in China and Singapore are almost the same. Take the iPod classic for example, it is sold at 1998 RMB in China and S$ 388 in Singapore. If the exchange rate is taken into consideration, they are nearly the same. I don’t know whether the value is the same all around the world, but the similarity of price between China and Singapore might result in the fact that the iPods are mainly made in China.
The iPod is a very good representative of the product of the globe economy. As the international economy becomes more and more important in this modern society, the big companies are now doing business with the whole world and they can sell goods all around the world. This can benefits the consumers by allowing them to buy the goods from other countries and helps the companies earn more money. Anyway, iPods are not cheap stuffs for me.

The Value of Time

I like the PPT very much, which I cannot remember whether Mrs. Yap let us see last week or the week before last week. Here I will copy some words and express my own opinions.

It says, “To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a year; to realize the value of one month, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby; to realize the value of one week, ask an editor of a weekly newspaper; to realize the value of an hour, ask lovers who are waiting to meet; to realize the value of one minute, ask a person who missed the train; to realize the value of one second, ask a person who just avoided an accident; to realize the value of one millisecond, ask a person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.”

Obviously, it tells the value of time, the same time period can be attached to different importance according to different people and conditions; likewise, different period can also be of the same value. It teaches us to treasure time, design time and make full use of time.

However, I don’t think we should spend every second like a narrowly survivor who is surviving, or spend one minutes like an unfortunate guy who is running to the platform and watching the train go away. It’s no doubt that if I do so, my time will be fully and efficiently used, but I can be also extremely worn out. As a result, I may become slow in mind and behavior. That is to make more loss than gain, when we all know that it’s impossible to keep close attention for a long time. Therefore, if we force ourselves to concentrate, it may lead to the opposite effects. We need rest, so does our brain. I think it is better that we make full use of our time efficiently and not madly, instead of value time all like a person who is going to die and want to experience more.

I am not doubting the value of time. I think the value of time is not only lying on the high efficient use but also on the ease, so I would rather be a survivor who has survived and an unlucky girl who has missed the train. If so, I have known the value of time and can distribute my time better than before.

The Road Not Taken

Days ago, I came across a poem called The Road Not Taken written by Robert Frost. It sparked my eyes because it shed new light upon my mind the sight I saw it. Though I learned its Chinese version in my senior school year, it is this time that it really make a difference in my mind.
Life is metaphorically related to a journey which is full of choices. When we are going on a journey we can never know what would happen in the next few steps, which is the same with our life. We cannot know what on earth will happen until we experienced them. But then, whatever the result is we should face it. That is because we cannot recover the journey or rewrite our fate anymore.
So every time when we are given a chance to make a decision, which is imaged as when the author himself meeting a turn-off during his journey in the poem, we would do as the author do to lose in meditation for a long time. We will look down every alternative as far as possible. In doing so we try to figure out what will be missed out, or what will be get if we choose one of them rather the others. After all, it is beyond our power to foretell what our destiny is.
However, no matter how unwilling we are to relinquish the others alternatives, we cannot step onto two different paths at the same time. Making decision means making sacrifices. If we want to achieve something, we should make a compromise to give up other things in return. Once the decision is made, we would have no opportunity to go back to the original spot to start another journey, which symbolize a different fate. So we should be as rational and careful as possible when making decisions.
All in all, think twice or even three times before you make a decision. After it being made, what we can do is just do it to the best, and never give ourselves a chance to regret!

What Makes a Team a Team?

Have you heard of “human ladder”? Have you ever tried that and been one of its bars before? I was lucky to have such an amazing experience in my service program training last Saturday. I must tell you that hearing of it is one thing, and making it is really another. It requires not only physical strength, but also a clear strategy, obedience and willingness to devote oneself. Any inconsonant note would undermine the whole melody. Rejoicingly, every team tasted the final success even though it was hard to achieve; but we, group 2, were proud to announce that we composed the most wonderful piece. =D

The “human ladder” was applied to a game called “slippery hill”, in which all team players were supposed to climb up the “hill” without any tool except our bodies. The “hill” was actually just a three-person high slope, covered with a large piece of waterproof cloth, and somebody up the hill would pour soup water down now and then to keep the hill slippery. At first, an excited guy could not help trying first and nothing could he do but fall down in different funny gestures. This made us laugh till belly bent and meanwhile immersed us into thinking about an effective strategy. Many ideas rose in several seconds. We quickly picked and merged the most useful ones, and the final solution was born soon. Who acted as cornerstones, who acted as links, whose turn to climb and when to merge two lines into one—we made full use of each advantage of our 13 people and every teammate was clear about his or her position. One up, two up… a funny voice burst out innocently—“Don’t drag my pants!” Three up, four up… a link guy frowned but said nothing. Five up, six up… all became quieter and moved quickly. Five up, six up… a top dragger began to tremble but still held the uppermost link guy’s wrist tightly. Seven up, eight up… the silent tension was deafening…“Three, two, one, drag!” the last two exhausted guys were dragged up safely, and all of us 13 teammates cheered, overlooking the “hill” which we’d conquered.

This is what a team is all about. I have immense confidence to work out a perfect project with these nice guys. I’m looking forward to constructing another invisible but similarly firm “ladder” with them in the coming service! P^o^q

A Sweet and Bitter Dinner with My Host Family

This Saturday, the day before Mother’s Day, my host family invited us to have dinner at their home. The first time, since I came to Singapore, I felt as if I were at home and the first time, I felt a little bit missing my family.

Host Family is a program held by befriender aimed at making us feel warm and welcomed here in Singapore. Before this dinner, my host family had invited us to have dinner for several times, including celebrating Chinese New Year, visiting Asia Civilization Museum, having morning walking with their club. Boring as they might be, these activities contributed to our acquaintanceship with each other. But this is the first time I felt something similar to my home.

It was already seven o’clock when my host family picked us from Eton Hall. The moment Aunty saw us, she got off the car and hugged us one by one. Sometimes, embrace do make people feel warm. Then Uncle drove us to their home for dinner.
It is a cute private house, with soft light on. This reminded me a sentence by San Mao, home is a where someone lights, waiting for you. Usually, they have three children at home, but today only one left. The elder brother had gone to work, while sister had gone to Canada for a month’s study. Despite this, it is still a warm home with the youngest boy, who was in secondary school. In the yard, I saw the wind sitting in the swing.

Finally, dinner was served! Wow! Dishes were so nice! However, what made me feel at home were not the dishes, but the way all the family members have dinner at table, talking and sharing what happened in the day. What blessedness they have, I think. No pleasure in the world can equal that of having dinner together with family after a tiring day.

What about me?
I was drowned in sorrow,deep in blue . While Aunty asked thoughtfully: “are you tired? Do you feel well today?” What I could do was just smiled gently back, saying: “No, I’m fine. It’s really enjoyable today.” Then Aunty kept telling me that "Never let your parents down and never do things you will regret!"

It was not until half past ten did Uncle sent us back to Eton Hall. Before leaving, Aunty gave me an album with the photos we took before, as a memory that we spent happy moments together.
I sat on the swing for a while. I felt the wind became still at that precise moment.

When we arrived at Eton Hall, it was near eleven o’clock. I saw half moon hanging on the sky, the same as the one in my hometown.

Ants!

The stupidity of human beings is to always making up for the loss at a lager expense rather than avoiding the loss.
I go to NUS every weekend for a quieter environment to study in and a more convenience attachment to the Internet. However, today is the first day that I find ants in our classroom.
I hate ants. Because they’re annoying crawling around me, especially when I am concentrating on my study. Anyhow, I don’t know whether I’ll have to suffer for the coming two months. At first, I would kill every ant as long as I saw it. But soon I found that the army was so large that I couldn’t kill even one tenth of them no matter what effort I made.
Suddenly, tutors’ instruction occurred to my mind—“No eating in the classroom!” I confess that I have ever eaten something in the tutorial room and it is what I feel regrettable about. Eating outside is nothing more tiring than walking several meters. On the contrary, killing so many ants or expelling them away benevolently costs much more time and energy. How I want to go back to what several weeks ago! Then I could enjoy my studying without disgusting ants.
Likewise, the entire human race shares the same character. When they are in good condition, they can’t find how precious the environment around them is. They pollute, pollute and pollute. Finally, they find themselves living unpleasantly with so much pollution. As a result, every country sets aside a large portion of its budget every year dealing with polluted nature resources, which costs much more than maintaining them. The phenomenon is particularly common and severe in China. Therefore, actually I am heart-broken while typing so.
After all, this sort of common fault cannot be eliminated only because of my word. I still hope human beings can walk less roundabout ways in the process of civilization. At least, I get to learn cherishing what I enjoy now and trying my best to maintain them.

Opportunity cost

The first time I saw this phrase “opportunity cost” was on the economic books. However, I did not pay too much attention to it. Last week we talked about the global economy and unicorn brought back my memory about this phrase. “Opportunity cost” means the cost and risk that between what you invest and what you harvest. This actually happens to everyone everyday and everywhere. What we do to measure the cost and the benefit. Then we can make some decisions.
I faced plenty of opportunity cost decisions. The first one is whether I should come to Singapore or not. I will spend one of my best ten years in a foreign country apart from my relatives and friends. I also can acquire a different and high quality education. Maybe I cannot adapt to the life and lose my direction whereas this also can be a valuable opportunity which I will regret if I miss. For me, choosing this needs big courage. I believe the margin benefit will be larger than benefit cost.
Currently, I lost into another opportunity cost case. Of course that is what kind of people I want to be in the future. I have to think carefully about my choice. I am not only choosing my major and my Hall. I am choosing my life, my future. A distinctive feature of opportunity is that you have to face both attracting of benefits and adventures of loss. Most of the time the foregrounds are vague. No one can foretell what lies ahead, but you have to make predictions and make your choice wisely. There is no such thing as free lunch in the world. No matter what decision you make, you can never come back. So think carefully before you make a deal.

Is Heaven Real?

I’m reading a book recently. No matter how tired and sleepy after a whole day’s study, I still insist reading it, even just a little bit. The book’s name is HEAVEN IS SO REAL, written by Choo Thomas, a housewife in a traditional family. It introduces some shocking and amazing stories that how she saw the real God and followed it to visit hell and heaven. The language is so simple and plain that I believe everybody could understand; meanwhile, the esteem and the obedience are fairly strong between the lines. I guess that’s why God selected her to put down what it said to alarm and save more souls.

According to my Chistian friends, what happened on Choo Thomas is called “manifesting”. Last Sunday, what I heard in the church seemed to seal this truth. Pastor Kong invited those who once considered committing suicide to come to the front. When all the people were praying, one of ex-suicides reacted strongly—she cried at the top of her voice. As pastor Kong prayed harder and harder, her cry became scary scream and it seemed that she could not stop. I felt frightened. But my Christian friend Qiaoyi told me later that it was quite normal and she herself had experienced once before. Yesterday Qiaoyi sms me excitedly that in SOT she entered a strong supernatural world under Pastor’s guide, and she described that holy feeling thoroughly.

Many of my friends avoid interacting with Christians, because they’re not sure whether those people are cheating them. In my opinion, however, there’s no need for them to cheat; it’s just like that they know a nice cup of wine and they want to share it with more people. Most people who believe God are not irrational; many of them are even high intelligent persons, like enterprisers, teachers, even scientists. What’s more, the globe is so big, but why Christians in different areas encounter the same manifesting? Maybe this proves a common sense again that what you cannot see doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

I admit that I’m swinging and prone to God. What I have seen and heard about “manifesting” are reducing my doubt on God; nevertheless, I haven’t encountered those on my own, so it is hard to eliminate all doubt. Say, if it is true then what about the theory of evolution? The knowledge about the origin of species I first accepted took root too early and deeply in my mind, even though the probability of the fantastic coincidence is almost zero. Thinking about da Vinci’s final surrender to Jesus, I’m hesitant. Is that because he could not explain some defect in his theory, or because he finally perceived that Holy Spirit is actually the designer who conducts all the evolution?

I’m confused now.

Which hall to choose?

The bridging course has passed half and every year at this time we have to decide the major we want at university and which hall we prefer. Most of us have already decided the course we are going to choose because we have known the fundamental knowledge about them. However, when it comes to the hall, we are confused as we know little about it. As a result, “which hall do you want to choose” has become a hot topic these days.

There are six halls in NUS and each of them has its special character. To help us get further knowledge of them, this Thursday night, my seniors took us to some halls to have a visit.

The first station was Eusoff Hall whose transport condition was good because it was aside to a bus station. There were many blocks in this hall which were about 4-floor high and had the style of the traditional tropical villa. If you want to live in a double room, Eusoff Hall is a good choice as well as Temasek Hall which is near it. But I don’t want to live in a double room and don’t like the style here, so skip it.

Kent Ridge Hall is the one I prefer which is more modern than others because it is not long since it has been built. Many of my seniors live here so we could have a deep knowledge of it. Most of the blocks are 7 floors and there are only single rooms. The room is not big which has a bed, a table and many wardrobes. The thing I like most is the big window in the room which covers the whole wall, so there can be plenty of sunshine in room. It is so harmonious which gives me the feeling of home. Later at dinner time, seniors invited us to KR’s dining room to have dinner which was much more delicious than that in Eton Hall.

I think I’ve already have my choice. What about you?

To Be Silly

When I was a child, I wanted to be the most intelligent person in the world. In this way, I could not only learn knowledge more easily than others and solve lots of difficult problems but also could achieve the respect and praise from others. But with time goes on, I find that it’s better to be silly and I have been benefitted a lot from it.
First, being silly is good for my study. Most of you may think that intelligence should be an important part of the study. Yes, so it is, however, it is not intelligence but hardworking which is the most important thing. And sometimes, you would be lazy and complacent when you think that you are intelligent. But if you try to be silly and forget to find the “shortcut” in your study, you can learn more. I used to think that I’m so clever that I could make fewer efforts but gain more than others. It was true in a period of time. However, it didn’t last for a long time. I was soon to discover that the person, who I thought was not as intelligent as me, be more successful. I had to throw the old thought away and began to think that I was silly; it means that I had to work harder to make it up. To my surprise, I felt easier to learn. So being silly benefits my study.
It also benefits me a lot when I communicate with others. I couldn’t get along very well with others when I was young. I was so confused that I asked my classmate to tell me the reason. He told me that I was too pompous to approach. But after I decided to treat myself as a silly person, more people would like to make friends with me. It was not because I was more adulatory than used to be. The reason was that I lay my view in a low position so that I could find others’ advantages. What’s more, a “silly” person would laugh at others fewer. It’s good in the communication.
Now, you may know the advantages of being silly. However, being a silly person is not always necessary; it is just a way to make you think about yourself in a different aspect. Most people can’t find the right way to know themselves, which causes a lot of problems; maybe, they can try to be silly people.

After watching Ip man 2

Still not to verify why the Chinese name Ye Wen was translated into Ip man, I experienced the patriotic spirit which stimulated to the mind severely.
In Ip man 2, the actions were refined providing audience a deep impression.
The scene in which Donnie Yen versus Sammo Hung was splendid enough to attract wushu fans. From Fo-Mountain district to Hong Kong, what changed was the house, the life, and apprentices, but not his patriotism and perfect skill of Yong Chun Chinese boxing. After master Hong (Sammo Hung) was killed by Twister (Pierre NgoDarren Shahlavi), a foreign aggressive boxer, Ip man felt a rush of anger flowing quite strong reminding his responsibility to hold for dignity of Chinese. Moved by the words escaped from master Hong “For life, I tolerate them, but when they insult Chinese Kungfu, I never allow it !”, Ip man resolved to stand out and challenge to battle with the foreign boxer. That was absolutely the most shocking climax of that movie.
What I want to ponder is not limited the resolution, of course we merit our fame back. The unforgettable feeling while losing in the movie is when I seated with a white man who probably came from the same country with the foreign boxer in the movie. What was in his mind when the foreign boxer bullied Chinese in the film? I just know I finally released the anger and felt excited for beating the foreign boxer up by Donnie Yen. It’s hard to visualize whether the very man beside me was moved by Ip man or enraged by the resolution, or maybe, just kept neutral. You know, In that case, it was so embarrass two viewers of different ethnologies watching the fighting plot of two boxers corresponding to our nationalities. Well, at least we are the modern persons who are educated; we can both keep a rational hold view in that unique coincidence.
In a nutshell, that’s exactly the reason I wrote this without good organization. Probably, I thought too much about the one next to me, and I didn’t have to do so. But, anyway, Ip man 2 lit a huge flame of a patriotic heart again, absolutely.

Happy Wang Jun’s Birthday

When it comes to someone’s birthday, one’s friends will send gifts to him, sing the happy birthday song, and eat the birthday cake together. These things are done every birthday to make this day unforgettable to somebody. And this time, May 1, 2010 became an unforgettable day to me, and also to the other 16 people because it was Wang Jun’s birthday.
I felt really sleepy that morning because I slept very late at morning. But as this was my first time to go to East Coast, I tried to keep excited. We were planning to eat hot pot there so I didn’t eat breakfast. But it really took us a long time to find the restaurant and I was hungry. The food was fine, but we need to pay for the drink. During the lunch we played several games. I had to say that yesterday was Han Le’s lucky day, because he always got the right number in the game.
Then we went to East Coast. When I saw the sea, I really felt excited and didn’t want to move. At that moment, I make one decision that if I could afford a house in the future, I would buy one which near the East Coast so that I could be here frequently. Before yesterday, a bench on the riverside of Singapore River was my favourite place to relax when I had nothing to do but now it changed. I can just sit in the shadow of the tall tropic trees on the beach and watch the sea for a whole afternoon if I wish.
After eating the cake (the chocolate cake was really delicious indeed), we walked to the bicycle renting point to get the bicycles. It was not so expensive and every time one can borrow the bicycle for two hours. At first I thought two hours’ time was too long for me. But I was wrong. Riding the bicycle, I easily got to one terminal of the beach road with Wang Jun and Laura. Then we decided to reach another terminal. It was proved to be a really long journey. We rode for about an hour but still on the long sinuous beach road which seemed to be everlasting. The farer we rode, the longer distance we have to take when riding back. And the seat of the bicycle really made me suffer a lot because it was so hard. But Laura didn’t feel uncomfortable at all which made me curious a lot. At that moment, I made another important decision that if I could afford a bicycle in the future, I must buy a really excellent one and make the seat more comfortable for me to sit.
I want to thank Wang Jun, not only because the delicious chocolate cake, but also the truth that he organized this trip and make every one of us felt happy at his birthday. And also thank him for propelling me to make those two important decisions.

Robots replace human beings

The former premier of china, dengxiaoping, has ever said that “Science and technology constitute the primary productive force”. The development of science and technology has greatly promoted our society forward. You can’t image our life will be like without science and technology. However, when science and technology bring us convenience, they are also bringing us disaster.
Last night Hugo, the father of artificial brain, went to Tsinghua University and gave a lecture about “artificial intelligence”. He claimed that it costs only about 2000$ to create an artificial brain. Besides, he went on to say the artificial brain will surpass our brain in about 50 years. What’s more, robots will have the emotions and feelings our human beings have. At that time, robots will become a more advanced species than human beings. When I first heard about the news, I was shocked. Because we, the ruler of the world, can be easily killed by robots.
Without a doubt, we can get many benefits from robots in the next 20 or 30 years. With the help of robots, our life will become more comfortable and convenient. But the beautiful scenery will not last long. As long as the robots become stronger than us, they will try to conquest us. Maybe you will doubt that it is our human beings who create the robots. How can the robots surpass us? Just like the fact that we create the computer but computers have surpassed us in some way. To some degree robots can be the product of the evolution of computers.
No one can block off the development of the technology. Maybe the year 2012 is not real, but the disasters the robots bring are very hard to avoid. What we can do now is to worship the robots will not attack us and will go to other planets to live in.