A sneak peek of the future? A prophecy?

“This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper" - T.S Eliot


Hey, it's been more than a week since I've last posted, and my excuse will probably forever be the same. Busy. With what? The stressful life of studying in a Junior College. It's taking quite some time to come up with something to talk about. A topic which I have not touched on yet. Also, I'll need both the mood and the time to type it down and post it in here, so it may take a while for me to do so in my current hectic lifestyle.

Strange things have been happening this few days. When I say 'strange', I don't just mean weird stuff going on... I mean bizarre and almost unnatural things occur. No doubt that those living in somewhere along the equator will have already figured it out that the climate is changing for the first time since perhaps in the last 3 centuries. It's raining almost everyday in the supposedly summer period. No, before anyone launch an argument telling me that the countries near the equator do not experience the four seasons, I absolutely agree. Sure we don't have snow falling down and have freezing cold temperature in the winter period, or have scorching hot sun in the summer that will melt most of us (actually we do, but oh well). But we do have rain seasons. The last time I checked, rain normally falls most heavily during the June and December period. What month is it now? April. Before that? March. We still got May until we finally reach June and our deserved long holiday period. But it's been raining cats and dogs in recent weeks. The rains were sure heavy. I'm sure the roofs got one hell of a beating by the ferocious rain. 

It didn't happen just this year. The weather has been pretty unpredictable and unstable since probably 2010. In 2011, it became rather obvious that the climate is definitely changing. Rainy seasons are arriving either later or earlier, and rain falls are either lighter and heavier. Not to mention the length of each period. The monsoon climate is changing pretty dramatically as well. I'm not so sure about the countries out of the tropical and monsoon climate but I got a feeling that things ain't going to be the same again. Not since punching a giant hole in the Earth's atmosphere. 

The weather and climate is still probably something not considered bizarre yet but there's more to come. For the past week, I've witnessed something more extraordinary. Thunderstorms are so common right now that I wouldn't be surprised at all if there's one tomorrow as well. But this time, I am never closer to the streaks of lightning then I am now. The streaks of lightning are so close that I can clearly spot the intense blue energy sparking in the lightning itself. The bright, burning blue energy. Yes, I'm not joking. I just saw it like more than 3 hours ago. And last Friday, after my college's concert, I'm seeing orangey-yellow lightning flashes towards my house's direction from my college. Hey, we are not in Kanto, Johto or Hoenn region. There's no Pikachu or Raikou or Zapdos that is gonna use "Thunder' and send yellow electric flashes in the sky. I've just said the lightning flashes are bright blue. No way they're gonna be orange or yellow.

Just this evening, there was some sort of a overlap between a sunset and a dark brewing thunderstorm that the sky was totally orange and misty. Since light shines upon Earth, almost everywhere is painted orange. Nope there's nothing wrong with my eyes, and I'm certainly not talking about the kind of mild orange-yellow you normally observe in a sunset. It's pure orange. And after the sun totally disappeared, the lightning began to strike  more frequently.

You might think that it is just something new and I shouldn't make a big fuss about this. Maybe I really shouldn't. But I just can't shake off the feeling that something is gonna happen. Something BIG is gonna happen. Not I'm not referring to Chelsea possibly upsetting Barcelona in the Champions League, nor am I promoting the current NBA slogan. I'm more convinced each day that something is gonna happen. Ya, you might think that I am referring to the "Apocalypse, Armageddon, the Judgement Day, the End of the World" whatever you call it, that's rumoured to occur in December 2012. Maybe I am. Not directly though. Somehow, I'm expecting something to happen. Something that might bring about a huge change in the world. Frankly, I've been waiting for that 'something' to happen since the beginning of my huge imagination in Primary School. Who knows? Maybe it really might happen...

The Association: Boston Celtics

"What hurts more, the pain of hard work or the pain of regret?" - Celtics motto


I've finished watching the documentary series "The Association: Boston Celtics", as I happened to chance upon it while looking through Boston Celtics videos on YouTube. No surprise, by now you should have realised that I'm a Celtics fan. I first saw the Celtics in action when I was invited over to my friend's house in the morning here in Singapore to catch the live action of the 2010 NBA Finals Game 7 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, some 8774 miles away. I don't really like the Lakers led by the talented but cocky and often considered a "ball hog" by fans, Kobe Bryant, so I soon found myself cheering for the Green and Whites, the long arch-rivals of the Lakers.


If you know anything about rivalry in sports, especially the most popular football rivalries between Manchester United and Liverpool, and the one between Barcelona and Real Madrid, you'll find this rivalry of the two basketball franchises very similar. In fact, Manchester United have won 19 Premier League trophies while Liverpool won 18, and the LA Lakers actually won 16 NBA Championships while the Boston Celtics won 17. Just too darn similar, isn't it?


In a best of seven games series of the NBA Finals that I was watching, Game 7 was to be the tiebreaker and to determine the new NBA Champion. Being held at the Staples Center in LA, the game attracted Hollywood stars and past legends such as Earvin "Magic" Johnson and so on, and I was really lucky to be able to watch the live telecast. It was an exciting battle between the Kings of the East and West, and as I watched on, the Celtics initially had a solid lead. In the last quarter, things began to break down for the Celtics and Kobe Bryant, along with team-mates Ron Artest and Derek Fisher, led the charge to eventually lead the Celtics by a small margin late in the final minutes of the game. Eventually the Lakers won by a seemingly miraculous comeback in the Finals. Upon witnessing the tough and heartbreaking loss for the C's, I was stunned and felt really sad for them.


No one wants to lose at Game 7 of the NBA Finals. They were so close to the NBA title yet it fell to someone else's hands, and to add into the wounds, they lost to their long-time arch rivals. The historical rivalry between the two teams started way back in the 1960's, when the Celtics led by Bill Russell and Sam Jones competed against the Lakers led by Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West. Man, the three-point line had not even been in place yet. The Celtics won all 6 times against the Lakers in the 1960's era when they went head to head in the NBA Finals. Following up in the 1980's era, the emergence of the Showtime LA Lakers led by Magic Johnson and the Celtics led by Larry Bird reignited the deep rivalry between these two teams again, dominating much of the action in the 1980's. The rivalry turned into everlasting friendship between the two greatest NBA icons Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, whose rivalry saved the failing NBA at the point in time, and marked the best rivalry of all time. Not even Michael Jordan came close in beating that rivalry (since he didn't really have a near equal arch-rival in his era but no doubt he's the GOAT). I remember even writing an essay about the rivalry for my English prelims last year, and scoring 27/30!! 


That was in the past, let's look into the recent match-ups. In the 2007-08 season, the Big Three assembled in Boston: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. They will then go on to meet the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals once again since 1987, in which they will clinch the NBA championship again, hanging yet another championship banner in the TD Garden, home of the Boston Celtics. They then met again in 2010, in a deciding Game 7 and Celtics eventually gave up a solid lead and lost to the Lakers.


I'm in love with the Boston Celtics because of the brotherly love the team had for one another, From Delonte West, Glen Davis, Kendrick Perkins to Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, the Boston Celtics had always been a family. The Brotherhood, I'd call it, really. With head coach Doc Rivers as the father of the family, the Celtics had great team chemistry feared by many others in the league, and a unbroken bond between one another. Although business and trades separated some of them, but they will always be a family. 


"The Association: Boston Celtics" starts off after the terrible loss of the Lakers in the 2010 NBA Finals and how the Celtics began to push themselves back into form again and to redeem themselves from their mistakes in the Finals. It also shows the ups and downs of the Celtics during the season, including Garnett's, West's and Shaq's injuries, and also the worst thing that ever happened to them: Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson's trade to Oklahoma City. To them, it's like a loss of a family member. A stab in the heart. My eyes went all wet and tears began to drop as I listened and actually felt the hurt it did to the Celtics players. 


I feel that this team deserves my utmost respect as they displayed unmoving determination, amazing talents, an unbreakable bond and the brotherly love and care for one another. A true family. If anything, I would recommend you to watch the videos, as it really is meaningful and you can definitely feel the struggles and triumphs the Celtics faced day in day out. Till today, I remained a Celtics fan and will always be. In my heart, the Boston Celtics were, are and will always be the NBA Champions. Let's go Celtics, capture Banner 18!! #IAmACeltic


P.S I really need to get a Boston Celtics jersey/T-Shirt soon!!


"Once I found out it was done, I broke down in tears. It’s just the love. It is a genuine love for each other. I don’t consider these guys as teammates; I consider them as brothers. I don’t consider the coaches as coaches; I consider them as fathers to me. I am just happy to have had the chance to play with Hall of Famers and been a part of the Celtics history.” - Kendrick Perkins

Thirteen Days

If the sun comes up tomorrow, it is only because of men of good will. And that's - that's all there is between us and the devil. - Kenny O'Donnell in the movie 'Thirteen Days'


There was a movie screening of the film 'Thirteen Days' for History students last Thursday in a lecture theatre. I am (of course) one of those lucky people who actually got to watch this film. Just for the movie, me and my class chose the best seats in the lecture theatre so that we could actually enjoy watching it. It was really a good movie but I ain't one to give a full movie review so let's just drop the idea.


In case you have exactly no idea what the movie is about, I shall give a brief introduction on the plot. The movie is based on the Cuban Missile Crisis, apparently all thirteen days of the crisis from the beginning when the Soviet missiles were secretly shipped and placed in Cuba, all the way till the USSR's agreement to remove the missiles and the end of the Naval Blockade in the perimeters of Cuba. 


Apparently, History is one of the subjects I have chosen to take in the A-Levels, and Cold War is one of the very few themes there are in the subject. Having took History Elective (and scoring pretty well in it) in Secondary School, History remains one of my favourite subjects that I trust myself in obtaining high scores. And Cold War is one of the topics that I was taught by my Mr Sem, my History teacher, who had probably made us master the art of "smoking". Besides being taught the reasons and impacts of this and that in the Cold War, I had my very own knowledge of the topic, so I generally had the whole idea of what actually occurred in the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis.


You might wonder, why would I choose to watch the film till the very end if I understood almost everything that had happened, here's my answer: I have been told by my History tutor that it is a great movie. No joke, it really is. The tutors have reminded us that the film is made from the US perspective, and since we are trying to be as unbiased as possible in our essays, we shouldn't really judge from the movie itself and just enjoy the film as it is. Not that we care anyway. 


The film is circled around President Kennedy and his advisors, the dire situation they were facing in the events of the crisis, and the difficult decisions President Kennedy had to make in order to save the world from Mutually Assured Destruction(MAD) when both superpowers would fire their nukes at each other, killing millions upon millions of people. Well, had that actually happened, we probably won't be here right now. Heck, humanity would probably cease to exist.


It was the men of goodwill that saved the world from plunging into an all-out nuclear war. Thankfully, men of goodwill existed in that period of time. Both sides actually negotiated to bring the crisis to an end. That was good enough. After watching the movie, I had a clear picture of what President Kennedy faced during the crisis: the military heads who strongly opposed his decision of a blockade and to bring about a peaceful end to this crisis, the media who was pouncing on him, the unseen enemy in both Cuba and the Soviet Union, and the precious time which was ticking away.


In the end, the crisis was brought to an end without taking away many lives, then I could say it is because of men(or women) of goodwill who saved humanity. I could see such great leadership and moral qualities within the US leaders. I aspire to be like them someday, really. In times of crisis and strife, heroes rise to the occasion. Let's hope that there are men of goodwill in their midst.

House Captaincy

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. - Dwight D. Eisenhower

There are a lot of stuff I wanted to post about including the 4E class reunion I had three weeks back(Yes, I know it's old news but the previous post gave me a massive delay), and certain stuff that I feel that I should actually post on here. Though I have the intention, I simply can't find the time and mood to sit down on my computer and start typing a blog post. Not that I'm a very moody guy, but I gotta actually have the 'mood' to write a blog post, when I'm truly capable of expressing my thoughts. Anyways, JC life is hectic and it's gonna get at least ten times worse when we dive into the next section of Project Work, which is probably gonna make life more difficult. Not that I'm saying that I regretted going to JC but it's just that, I have to manage my time better than ever in order to keep up with the speedy pace of JC life.

Anyways, I mentioned before that I'm pretty interested to join the House-Exco after the spectacular orientation camp we had, and especially after kicking the other Houses' backside(No offence, seriously. Part of the beneficial and healthy competitiveness amongst the 4 Houses) in the Campfire performance we put up. I wasn't selected to be one of the ten potential leaders who would become House-Exco members(I'm probably the eleventh guy T.T), so I had to wait for the current House-Exco to call for willing applicants who desires to join the House-Exco. Finally, last Friday they asked us to submit our names and class in our House Master if we are interested. I did exactly that on that very day.

We were informed that the interview to select the candidates for the House-Exco will be held soon but we did not know exactly when. Today morning, when I was in my Economics tutorial lesson, my mobile vibrated and I took a look at the message received. Yup, it is easy to guess what happened, right? The interview was to be held today. I'm like "Seriously? This sure is a last minute call."

Subsequently I went to collect the application form, which was to be handed in during the interview at 5pm, and have to fill it up. Yes, my name, my class, my House and... What position(s) I am vying for. For your info, there's the Captain, two Vice-Captains, Secretary, Logistics Head, Cheers Head, Welfare Head, and two Treasurers within the list of House-Exco roles. I'm not gonna be the Welfare Head anymore(I've been the welfare head in Sec 3 and 4...), so I suppose I'm gonna choose another position. A position that I had expressed interest in. So for the blank, I wrote down just one word. If you actually spot the title of this post, you'll know which position I've chosen. Besides that, I've also written down Vice-Captain and Welfare Head(I guess "habits die hard'...).

So the interview started and finally it's my turn to enter the rifle range for the interview. To sidetrack a little, my House Master is the Teacher-In-Charge for the Shooting CCA,and hence placed one corner of the rifle range to be the interview zone. By the way, there's still training going on, and candidates were supposed to be interviewed by the entire House-Exco members plus the House Master himself, when the people were shooting air rifles and the place just kept going 'pop' and 'pop', distracting me in my answers to the questions raised by the House-Exco.

The very first question was from the House Master(besides the question which they confirmed my name) was "Out of the few positions you have chosen, which position is your first priority?" I answered "Captain", while grinning at the current House Captain which he returned the favour by smiling back and giving me a thumbs-up.

It wasn't actually a bombardment of questions upon me from the House-Exco, since they only asked a few questions to determine my worth and ability to be able to serve the House as a Captain. Another significant question from the House Master would be whether I am comfortable with my studies currently as he explained to me that a prerequisite for membership of the House-Exco is to be able to balance ourselves between our academics, our CCA, and our House stuff, there were incidents in the past where House-Exco members get ousted out because of failure to do well in academics and it could be considered embarrassing to some. I don't know why but I gave the confident look and answered "VERY comfortable". I was trying to liven the mood by making a small joke but it seemed as though they believed what I said...

Another question that was asked by the Logistics Head was that there will be unpleasant people whom I might not want to work with and sometimes even to the extent of hating these people within the House-Exco, and how will I deal with this matter. A pretty popular question, no doubt. However, it was the final question, also asked by the House Master, that left me intrigued. "What if we decide to place you in the Sub-Committee?" I did not ponder much about the question since I've already have the answer at the back of my mind. "I don't mind."

I left afterwards, thinking about what that question really meant. Are they really gonna put me in the Sub-Committee? Am I not suitable to become the House Captain or part of the House-Exco? Or are they just trying to find out my 'love' and 'commitment' to the House? Will I really accept just being in the Sub-Committee? 

The interview with the other candidates(the potential leaders who already got selected) will occur tomorrow afternoon if I'm not wrong, so they will make the decision soon enough. Soon there will be a verdict and let's see if the underdog will 'win' this time round.

J1 Outdoor Adventure Camp @ Bintan

Mosquitoes remind us that we are not as high up on the food chain as we think - Tom Wilson


I realised that this is a very late post since the entire trip to Bintan happened more than two weeks ago, and only till now that I post about it. Must've been too lazy to do so. Anyways, the whole bunch of J1s travelled to Bintan for our outdoor adventure camp together, and through previous briefings we had on this trip, we all thought that it will be a smooth ride and a whole-new experience. Hey, it's a camp in Bintan! What else can you ask for? BUT.... things ain't what they seem.... Get geared up, it's gonna be a real long post.


I was with my Aquila house again and with my State throughout the entire camp so I thought we'll have a great time there together. Our transport to Bintan is the ferry, which we took from the Tanah Merah Terminal. It was my first time in an actual ferry, so it was a fine experience. Upon reaching our destination, we threw our heavy backpacks containing most of our clothes and necessities, to a corner for them to be transported to our camp site. After that, we set off to our first activity. Oh this one's a novelty. Mountain trekking. If the Taman Negara trip in Secondary 3 was any hint to what I'm about to experience, this sure won't be easy. Also, there was rain in the morning, so the tracks will be wet and therefore VERY slippery. Oh great, just great.


And it proved to be more difficult than I thought. That was one helluva steep mountain. Right from the start, before we could even reach the first quarter of the mountain, it is just too damn steep, and people already started slipping, and falling. There was even someone injured. My track shoes are an antique, since it WAS my dad's, and the tracks up are so damn slippery, guess how many times did I slip and fell just on the way up? At least 5 times. My track pants and sling-bag obviously got caught in the mud, and my water bottle, the 1 litre one, which I'm depending on to hydrate myself for all three days during the camp, was broken. I even had to put my hand onto the mud in order to climb up the steep mountain safely. The climb almost killed us.


Finally we reached the summit, but it was pretty obvious to us that we were only half-way done. We need to get down the mountain. Is it me or is it a fact that the way DOWN a steep mountain is often more difficult than climbing UP? Gosh... But, the way down seems a little easier. Take note: A LITTLE easier. It again took us hours to get back down from the mountain, taking another route this time. We were covered in dirt and mud when we finally reached the ground level. By this time, I can't wait to get to the golf-course where the camp site was, and ourselves all washed up. But everything is only the beginning.


The golf-course was in a much better condition than the camp-site for last year's J1 camp(which our seniors went to last year), which was described to be all muddy, moist, and a nightmare. But again, I emphasise, things ain't what they seem to be... We have to pitch tents right after we bathed, and drag them down another steep slope in our actual camp area. And I can't emphasise on how many bloody insects and flies that swarmed us all around the camp site. After settling down and all, we were supposed to do outdoor cooking with our CG, which the weak fire needed so much time to boil, and we officially had our dinner at about 10pm. That's considered supper... And finally, after a immensely tiring day, we were sent off to bed in our tents. You might think this is ordinary, it's just like any other outdoor camps... Well, check THIS out.


We finally got a chance to rest at about 1:30am, and I fell asleep at 2am. Guess what? The strong wind that pummelled our tent woke me up. It was about 4am. I just ignored the wind that is constantly causing the tent to shake. and tried to went back to sleep. I couldn't really go back to sleep, since something dramatic was about to happen. Our tent is opened slightly since we can't close it entirely due to the spoilt zips, and my legs were placed near the entrance of the tent. I felt moisture... I felt drops of water... I felt rain. That's the last straw. RAIN!?? IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT? Things just don't get any better... It was just rain at first, which we all tried to ignore as well, and tried to sleep it off(Though we heard some exclamations from the girls' side, implying the collapse and flooding of tents that probably were not pitched right, or were inadequate to start with. Wonder who pitched their tents...). A trainer shouted to us while we were in our tents to "enjoy our sleep", and our first few activities were likely to be cancelled due to the weather. Fine, so we did. Until we heard something sinister. Something that had a killer intent. That's right. Thunder.


We all knew that being exposed in an area like the golf course during a thunderstorm is very dangerous. The lightning hazard had struck and we were like "Oh shit." We were immediately ordered to evacuate from our tents, get all of our belongings and proceed to the sheltered assembly area(which is just a narrow shelter). Everybody was rushing their way to the shelter, including us. It was like a battlefield when we got out of our tent and looked at what the accursed weather did to our camp. I feel like a soldier fighting an uphill battle while my battalion is getting shelled. Everywhere was rain and thunderclaps, flashes of lightning, and we were carrying our super-heavy haversacks, and bags like what soldiers carry to battle, and like an apocalypse movie, tents were toppling and collapsing in our path, forcing us to change directions. Remember the steep slope I talked about? Yup we were climbing that up to get to the shelter WITH all our heavy stuff with us, which caused us to almost crawl up with our hands. No joke, it was practically a battlefield.


We finally assembled and the rain died down soon... Where's our promised sleep? Gone. In the end, we didn't really get much rest, and we were already leaving for our activities which was rafting and "dragon-boating", after our breakfast. We thought we were gonna take the bus to the beach, but it didn't appear so. So we had to walk all the way from our camp site to the beach. More than an hour's walk. That just sucks man... And it is still drizzling... So after a rather time and energy consuming walk, we eventually reached the beach. Not as grand as we thought it would be, but well, we didn't really care anymore. The rafting activity was the exact same thing that I did back in the Secondary 3 Taman Negera trip(maybe I'll write a post about that someday, good memories...), but this time we gotta design our own raft and how we were supposed to tie them up. 


So apparently my State(OG) succeeded, partly because of my experience in this, and the team effort everybody put into the activity. However, the mangrove activity shrank in size as the weather affected the area, and only selected a few to go there. So we went on with our "dragon-boating", which really wore us out. C'mon we had so little rest... After taking a short break, we set off to go where? Back to the camp site. How? Walk. By that time, my shoes were already filled with all the sand and feet soaked with water. The abrasion almost killed my feet during the lengthy stroll back to the camp site. 


Back at the camp site, we proceeded to wash up in the beautiful, 5-star "changing room" which included showers. That was the heaven in hell. I could sleep on the carpeted floor without any complaints. And there's air-con... That's like our favourite hangout where we just lie there and rest after our shower. Probably the best part of the camp.


Anyways, we had our dinner, and assembled in our CGs. We were to write our wishes, the deepest and sincerest wish we had deep in our hearts, onto our Kong-Ming lantern, which we would later light up and let it guide our wishes to the stars, which would make our wishes come true. I can't tell you what I wrote but I'll give you a hint, there's a similar scene in the movie "You are the Apple of my eye" where the male and female lead wrote their wishes on the lantern and let it fly too. So my wish is something similar to one of their wishes. Anyways, we gathered in an area open field in the golf course so as to let the lanterns fly up to the night sky all at once. Our lantern was one of those that got lighted up first, and the CG encircled the lantern, firmly holding on to it although the heat scorched our fingers. We each said a few meaningful sentences to bond ourselves as one, to go through all the obstacles we would meet in the future, in our two years together. It was a very meaningful moment. However, the fuel was used up and the fire extinguished. We quickly had to get another solid fuel to light up the lantern but due to time constraints, we had to stop at the moment to witness the flight of numerous lanterns that carried the dreams of many...


After a few events, we quickly got back to lighting the lantern up but found out that there were holes on the lantern and a severe tear too. Our hopes of witnessing our lantern take flight immediately dashed. Everybody else's lantern flew, but ours. Needless to say, we were a little demoralised. Though, we looked into the bright side, holding the lantern in our hands, thinking "Our dreams are in our hands". We all looked to the bright moon that seemed to be consoling us, as a the guide to our dreams. 


After that the guys were ordered to move all the tents up the steep slope to the flat area next to the shelter. They finally realised their mistake, didn't they? It took us quite a bit of time, but we eventually did it, while the girls just sat there looking at us. Sad life... Still, many tents had collapsed and unable to fix it back into shape, and most were still wet or flooded. We guys once again had to give our tents up for the girls. That night, most of the guys slept outside, under the narrow shelter, instead of the tents. I was sleeping in another corner though.


It was a fairly good rest, and when we woke up, we knew that we were going to go back to Singapore. As I was in the first batch to leave Singapore, I thought I would be the first batch to leave Bintan as well. Of course not. Most of my House went on the first batch to leave, while my State and another one had to wait till the third and the last batch to leave. I have to say, I was pissed. We were pissed. We had to stay in that place and feed mosquitoes till about 11am? No way... The weather was freaking hot, we had to sit under the hot sun. The trainers and a few of the student leaders were just stupid or what? They themselves command from the shelter, while we sat in the front of the shelter, under the sun. They were so inflexible... I just stood up and went to the shelter with a few of my State people. I had been shaking heads since Day 1, at the inflexibility and incompetence of the trainers and some of the student leaders(most are good).


We finally gotta go, and the trip back to Singapore was considered swift. I had been considering to join the House Ex-Co since orientation, and I still have the intention, especially after seeing the utter inflexibility and "enthusiastic but no leadership" people in House-Exco(my House leaders were mostly fine and nice). Perhaps I can change something? I sure hope so... I started writing this post since two weeks before and I've only completed it now. It sure is a heck of a post, right? A super long one... This is the post that made me unable to post much recently. Shall talk more on the next post, Ciao~

Busy week

Hi! I know I haven't been posting anything since the beginning of the March holidays, but I am really bogged down by all the due holiday assignments (which I didn't complete on time as usual), and the hectic week up ahead. I will try my best to post as much as I can but no guarantees. Anyways, just a short update, I've finally completed my Chinese presentation which is about my favourite movie which is obviously "You are the Apple of My Eye". It took me more than 4 hours to complete apparently because I was too caught up with finding photos to put in my slides which will make my presentation more complete, while trying to describe the movie in detail which happens to be my forte as I went on and on and on about the movie, especially the lovey-dovey part. You can see how much effort I put into the slides and the synopsis itself, when I far exceeded the requirement of 500 words in the synopsis by more than 600 words, and the slides were done with all my heart and soul. I am probably presenting to the class tomorrow so wish me luck! Maybe I can upload my slides and synopsis up here in my blog... Hmm... Oh wells, I still needa do my History tutorial! Will post soon!

2011 A-Level Results Release

"All's fair in love and war...... and exams..."


The 2011 A-Level Results were released last Friday but I wasn't there to watch everything that happened on that day. I read the newspaper the following day and managed to take a peek at the names of the top students of each Junior Colleges. Not that I know either of them, but it wouldn't hurt to know such stuff. Besides the usual prestigious JCs such as HJC, VJC, and so on, one particular JC drew my attention. It was my very own college, Innova JC. Though being the newest college in Singapore and accepting a wide range of students in terms of results, it was printed there in the newspaper that there were six top students from Innova. I personally feel that it was a stellar performance from these students, who definitely brought our college so much more renown and pride. I really aspire to be one of them, during my year of course. Gotta have FAITH right?


Though I wasn't present when the results were released, I can pretty much imagine how the situation was, for the J2s as well as for the cohort receiving their results. It's just about the same as the release of the O-Level results when I was Sec 3 and was 'invited' to view the entire process. The stress and pressure that is on those taking the results, and also those who will soon be in the same situation the following year. Perhaps this time, it is a lot more serious.


After reading the newspaper and being informed that my college produced such quality top students, I believed that the entire college cohort that took the examination last year did exceptionally well too. However, I was proved wrong today. My principal gave a speech during morning assembly today, about the release of the A-Level results last Friday. According to her speech, there were numerous achievements of the cohort that took the exams. H2 Biology, H2 History, H2 Physics, H1 Mathematics (and others that I have forgotten) all have increased pass and distinction rate. It didn't sound bad at all, until she said something that shook the foundations of our belief. Only 50% of the cohort can get into university. That means one out of two can't get into a university.


To say the very least, I was shocked. How did they do so well in their exams that they improved the pass and distinction rate of prominent subjects but half of them can't make it into university? What exactly are we up against? Those students from the top JCs? And foreign scholars? University is what we all are aiming for since Day One when we decided to enrol in a JC. We can't be going anywhere else but university with an A-Level certificate. This mindset has been drilled into us several times. We are heading to the university, period. But statistics sure isn't doing well for my college in terms of hitting the University Admission Criteria.


My principal stressed to the J2s as well as us J1s to start making the effort now. She is planning to raise the percentage from 50% to 80%. That may seem a little too much of a far cry, but it has to be done. I will be taking the exam for H1 Chinese and Project Work this year, and my other core subjects next year. Everything starts now. It's now or never.


Today, when my class had finished our Economics tutorial lesson, our Literature lecturer who is also our tutor, strode into the classroom, somehow creating a tense and moody atmosphere. It was still rather chilling in the morning, as I recall. I had a question for him, since I did not recall that the principal had said anything about Literature pass and distinction rates improving or even maintaining. But before I could say anything, he gave everybody his answer. The usual impressive grades of H2 Literature of our previous cohorts in this college were diminished. Or shall I say swept away. The national average of distinction rate in H2 Literature was 40+%. My college had previously held higher than national average distinction rates, and now it had dropped tremendously to a pitiful 8%. 8% of eighty-five students who took H2 Literature from our college, is six people. 6 out of 85 scored an 'A' grade. Perhaps there was nothing I can say to describe my Literature lecturer's utter disappointment.


He reminded us to shake away the failures of the previous cohort, to look towards the future, so that we can get into a university, by any means. Best if we can actually get into a university of OUR choice. After his strong speech, I just feel obliged to score well in Literature, and of course ALL the other subjects. I may not have done Literature in depth before, but I ain't gonna give up when the going gets tough. I made my choice to come into a JC, I made my choice to experience the hell here, and eventually get into a university and into a course I wanna take. I don't know who is going where, but I am quite positive towards where I am heading to. Full steam ahead!