Life.

The clock of life runs, a "tick" and a "tock",
But not for long, one day it will stop.
Maybe noon or night, or morning hour,
To know the time, none has the power.

To lose one's wealth is such a sore,
To lose one's health is even more...
To lose one's soul can be a terror;
Coz when life is gone, it is forever.

SUSOM Youth Seminar 2010.

Advantage and Disadvantage of Using Computers in Schools.

Should computers be used in schools? I have gather information from all kinds of different sources and interviewed a few people on their views to this issue. This is what I gathered:

Using computers in school has many advantages. It actually makes learning more interactive. Lessons can now be taught through the LCD, and this will enable students to watch and picture what the teacher is teaching. For example, a physics teacher is teaching about the concept of nuclear fission, but the experiment on it cannot be conducted in the school's science lab, because it's to dangerous. But, with the usage of a computer and a LCD, students will be able to see that experiment done by others, enabling them to understand better.

The usage of computers also match learner' development needs with personal interests. Students are always finding something new to let their brains feed on, as they are born curious. With the usage of computers, it makes learning more real. They are able to picture it three dimensionally.

Computers also have efficient data storage. Data like good articles, exercises and notes can be kept in the computer, and are readily assessable by students and teachers. With the latest introduction of a terabyte storage disk, imagine how many articles, exercises and notes can be stored! And how much students will will benefit from it.

Students who learn using computer will be able to share information among the school community and family members too! This is because they have a much clearer concept on what has been thought by the teachers. Students might also pick up a few new skills, like leaning how to use the computer, and relate that knowledge to his or her family members.

But, every good thing has its cons too. One of the many disadvantages of using computers in school is all teachers and students enter school, most of them are computer literate. When students enter school, most of them are computer illiterate, unless they have gone for classes on learning computers or their parents have thought them. Furthermore, not all teachers are computer literate too. Therefore, a high cost is needed to send the teachers to learn these computer skills required. Teachers would also then need o waste quite some time teaching students how to use the computer, when this time can be used to start teaching the syllabus.

A large sum of money has to be allocated by the school too to pay off the high cost of maintenance of the computer. Computers need to be maintained by buying anti virus programs to protect the computer from computer viruses, and programs needed to use to teach and keep the computers in working condition. Instead of wasting this large amount of money on computer maintenance, why not spend it on something that will benefit the students? For example, more trees can be bought and planted in the school compounds to cool the school down with the money allocated for the maintenance of computers. In this way, students will be able to learn in a much more cooling environment.

The data available needs to be frequently updated too. Everyday, new things are being invented, new theories are being theorized, old concepts are being changed because of new findings... etc. This means the data stored in the computers for the students and teachers must be updated daily to prevent it from becoming stale. This involves great effort and loads of time.

There is also a risk of data loss and corrupted data. Sometimes, when a student doesn't close the program properly or doesn't save the data properly, it migh lead to data loss or corrupted data. This means, someone has to keep a backup for all the data stored in the computer and also monitor and check on the computer after each computer has been used. This job is tedious and not many people would want to hold this responsiblility.

Therefore, there are many advantages and disadvantages of using computers in schools. In the end, it's up to the students and teachers themselves to decide whether the usage of computer benefits them or destorys them.

Written by,
Daniel Ting
Reporter of ICT Magazine.
_____________________________________________________________________________
This was my essay for my EST, which helped me get a 90 for it! I was so glad. This is my first time attempting an real EST paper, marked by a EST teacher. =)

… I wish I had done it the other way.

This is a story I wrote. It's not a true story.

Last Sunday, a group of friends and I wanted to catch a 3 o’clock movie at Alor Setar Mall. A new movie had just been released, and we wanted to be the first in town to watch it. But first, we had to pick Shuang from her apartment.

We headed up to the 14^th floor as her apartment was on that floor. After much chit-chatting at her place and a few drinks, we headed down to the car. We pressed the button to call the elevator up to take us down to the ground floor. Suddenly, the electricity just went out! Irritated, we headed to the emergency staircase.

After going down 9 levels of stairs, to our dismay, we found out that we couldn’t go down any further. The stairs was under maintaince. The cement of the stairs was still wet and we couldn’t use it. Navine, who was quick to express his anger, cursed those in charge of making the repairs, saying that they were irresponsible as they did not prepare another route for people living on the apartment to get down. Zhean Wei, who was always full of ideas, devised a plan for us to get down.

One of his brilliant ideas was to sling down a rope from the fifth floor and each of us would slid down onto the bottom. Another idea he thought of was to get some sort of material, and use it as a slide so that we could slide down the wet cement part of the stairs. Out of the 8 of us, 6 of us agreed to slid down the rope, while the other 2 were afraid, and said that it was very dangerous without safety precautions.

The 6 of us, found some rope, and Zhean Wei slid down the rope first, and he got down safely to the ground floor. But still, the 2 weren’t convinced that it was safe. Slowly, one by one, each of us slid down. When it reached by turn, I was slightly nervous. I was afraid of heights! What will happen if the rope suddenly snapped? But still, not waiting to be labeled a “coward”, I slowly climbed over the wall and slid down the rope. When I was about 3 floors away from the ground, the rope snapped! And there was I, clinging onto the pipe that was stuck onto the wall. Those on the ground floor helpless and shouted for me not to let go and they would get help. I was so scared, and wanted to faint. The other two who wanted to build the slide were already with them because they had some a long plank and slid past the wet cement. I wished I had done it the other way!

A Little Poetry I Wrote...

A candle blew out,

darkness came,
a boy fled,
not heard nor seen ever again.

As time chimed on,
the boy was forgotten,
alone and lost,
the one who was forgotten.

The sun sets,
the moon reveals itself,
the boy sits there near a stream,
looking at his reflection.

Reflecting on himself,
pondering on the what,
that could have been,
lost in thought.

He wished,
he could turn back time,
correcting his mistakes and sorrows,
into long forgotten memories.

Reduce the Number of Cars on the Road, and We'll have a Cleaner Environment...

Reduce the number of cars on the road, and we’ll have a better environment. Do you notice that as the number of cars on the road increases, the weather gets hotter? We should also do something to decrease the number of cars on the road. Each of us can play an important role in making the environment a better place.

First of all, why reduce? Well, we should reduce the number of cars on the road to reduce the gases produced by the cars like carbon monoxide. The gases produced by the cars on the road are harming the environment! It’s thinning the ozone layer! It’s making the weather going to the extremes! When it’s hot, it’s very hot, when its cold, it’s very cold! And also, reducing the number of cars on the road will result in a cleaner environment. The earth is dying as I write, and if no action is taken soon, it will suffer further.

How can we reduce? How can we help to make the environment a better place? First of all, I think we ourselves should car-pool. By car-pooling, we can reduce the number of cars on the road. Net result, less harmful gases is released. Also, we’ll save money on petrol! We’ll also save on using our earth’s natural resources which are depleting greatly by the big usage by us, humans.

The government also can play an important role in making sure that we’ll have a better environment. The government should ensure more public transport, like buses and LRTs. It may seem costly at first, but later on, the benefits are great. The government would make a profit and also save the environment! By encouraging the public to take public transport, the government should make sure the buses arrive on time, and not late. People get flustered if the buses arrive late, because that means they’ll be late for their appointments. Buses should also have like a special debit card or use “Touch N Go”, where they can pay for their bus rides instead of having the hassle of buying coupons or paying cash to catch the bus. It’ll save labor, time and the trees needed to print those coupons!

The government could also encourage the public to cycle in the cities by creating bicycle lanes, but they must make sure the lanes are properly shaded by trees. Or we’ll be sweating from the heat. With foldable bikes around, we can hop from one LRT’s to another. This will reduce the number and need for cars in the city. It’ll be also be a form of exercise for us public too. We’ll burn away our calories, and the number of people obese will decrease in the country. Therefore, we’ll have a greener city and a cleaner environment, plus a healthy population.

So, by reducing the number of cars on the road, we’ll have a cleaner environment.

How Important is it that People Should Marry and Remain Married?

Is it important to stay married to the one you love for the rest of your life? The answer is yes! It's sad to hear that the number of cases of broken families, and divorce rates are on the rise. I pity those children who get stuck in between. The true meaning of marriage of the old has been changed and lost throughout the years.

In this technologically-advanced year, one would think that we. can get the basic principles of having a family right. But sadly, the awful truth is no. We can invent all sorts of unimaginable gadgets and come up with all sorts of ideas, but we can;t get the simplest thing in life right! Staying with the one you first married is not as complicated as complicated mathematical equations like, e = mc squared.

Why do I say it's important for people to marry and remain permanently married forever? When we exchange vows during the marriage, isn't it like committing yourself to that person for your whole life? It's a promise to each other, heard in front of so many witnesses. Does it mean the promises made are actually worthless? It's a commitment! Marriage is not a game or something that can be toyed around. And also, it's a promise to God to stay faithful.

How can a family even exist without a permanent marriage? If they are to have kids, how can the children be brought up without even the basic principles? The children will go astray, get mixed up with bad activities. They'll think loving someone is not something to be taken seriously too. The children will lose the basic principles of what a society should be made up of. It would be a pity to lose someone who could be great just because of the neglect of their parents. If this happens in one in every one thousand families, millions of lives might never realize their true potential.

With the basic foundation of a society in shreds, how then can we build a strong nation? Marriage is an institution associated with the family unit. The family unit in turn is the foundation to a society. So, if the foundation is in shambles, how is it possible for the country to be strong?

Don't you agree with me that it's important that people should get married and remain loyal to that person forever?

A Story Essay I Attempted in My English Exam...

It has been long since I attempted a story writing essay, this time, since I had to better question to write, I wrote a story about "A Day Along the River". I hadn't much faith of my essay writing this time, because I decided to write the whole story all over again when I was writing through half-way. But, in the end, I got 40 out of 50 for this essay.

Here goes:

It was just the start of the holidays, the mid-term exam fever was just over, a couple of my friends and I decided to spend the day along the river. We wanted to forget the stress of SPM for awhile. With our parents' permission, we headed down to the Sedim River on a bright Sunday morning. But before that, we had to make a few stops for provisions for the picnic; like a portable stove, some food, and a mat.

As Dan could drive, he drove us all the way to Sedim in his Nissan Serena. The journey took about an hour. We had to encounter a few bumpy dirt roads as only a few people know about Sedim area. When we arrived, the sight was unbelievable. The scenery was just fantastic! I didn't know that crystal clear waters still existed in Malaysia. I thought such rivers had already gone extinct as the rivers everyday I see in the city are either polluted with rubbish, or brown in color. My friends and I, who were crazy about photography, took out our cameras and took a few shots of the scenery. After taking a few photos, we unpacked out stuff. We found a shady spot under a big tree.

After unpacking and setting up the place, we quickly changed into our swimming trunks and costumes. Mat and I, who couldn't wait, jumped into the water. The water was so cool and refreshing. Shuang, who was afraid of the water, was reluctant to come in. She wanted to read a book. It was just like her, always reading. After much persuading, she finally gave in. Wen, who was feeling a little cheeky, pushed her when she was unaware. Then, because of that, for the next 5 minutes or so, all we could hear were only her shouts for help. We tried to calm her down, and tried to encourage her not to be afraid of the water. Soon, she got used to the water and actually enjoyed herself. We swam around, chit-chatting by the rocks. Mat suddenly shouted to us "Would you guys like a game of water polo?" We all agreed eagerly. It has been a long time since we played water polo together. The last time we played when we were in primary school. The boys wanted to play a boy versus girl competition, but the girls said that it would be unfair. In the end, one group had two guys and a girl, the other had two girls and a guy. The competition was an interesting one. Although one group had an advantage of having two guys in a group, the group with girls won the match. We were shocked that Shuang who was scared of the water and her first time playing, scored the most goals! She really had overcome her fear of water. Zhean nearly drowned though. Luckily Mat and I managed to pull him out of the water in the nick of time. He was starting to lose consciousnesses. We had to stop the match for awhile to let him recover. Wen cried, because she couldn't bear to watch such accidents.

After our game of water polo, we headed to the shore for lunch as it was about noon. The boys started the fire of the newly bought portable stoves, while the girls got the food stuff out from the car. Before we started cooking, Wen suggested that we had a competition between the boys and girls to see who can cook better. The boys were reluctant, because they knew they would lose. Mat and Zhean didn't know how to cook at all! After half of hour of trying, the food the boys cooked weren't palatable. We all had a good laugh.

After a hearty meal, we all slowly one by one dozed off, tired from the game of water polo. At about 5, we all woke and went for another swim again. Surprisingly, the water was still cool. Mat began to tell us the physics concept behind this phenomena, but we all shut him off. We spent the rest of the time collecting some shiny and smooth stones for out parents to put in the garden as decorating objects.

At about 6, we began to pack up, and decided that we all must have another outing by the river when SPM is over!

What do you think of my essay?

Happy Father's Day!

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Is It Necessary to Impose Curfews on Teenagers below 17?

What actually does the word "curfew" actually mean? It can defined as a child has to be back by a certain time that is set by parents for children. In my opinion, I think it depends on the situation. But in general, I think it's necessary to impose a curfew on teenagers below 17.

Why do I say it's necessary? Here are a few reasons to support my stand. Firstly, a curfew should be set so that teenagers get their beauty sleep. If not, sometimes, teenagers would be out hanging out with friends till the wee hours in the morning. This would also affect their mental alertness the following day. If it's a schooling day the following day, this would affect their concentration and ability to learn.

Another reason to support my stand on why curfew should be implemented is because the likelihood of the teenagers getting involved with bad company is greater. These teenagers will hang out in bistros and pubs, and this will lead them to other bad activities, like gambling and drinking. And also, in the cover of darkness, when the roads are empty, the likelihood of getting involved in an illegal race would be greater.

Setting a curfew for teenagers with friends and family is important to ensure teenagers spend sufficient time with their family to strengthen family bonds. This is also to ensure that the parents know what their child is up to and to make sure their child is not involved with bad company.

In conclusion, curfews should be set for teenagers below 17.

School Uniform - Good Tradition or Outdated Habit?

School uniform, is it a good tradition or outdated habit? School uniform has been there since schools were established. In my opinion, I think wearing the school uniform is an outdated habit. A school uniform can be defined as a specific dress code, set by the education department.

Why do I say wearing a school uniform is a bad habit? It means wasting money and time to buy specific school uniforms set by the education department. Why can't students wear jeans. or shorts with a T-shirt to school? It means saving money, because you need not buy extra clothes. The current school uniform is also quite uncomfortable, because the current dress code for boys is white shirt and long pants. in a hot country like Malaysia, wearing long pants can be sometimes quite unbearable.

Furthermore, wearing the same old thing everyday can be a bore. Everyone's wearing it, where is the creativity? Where is the freedom of expression? Choices of clothes to wear to school can denote one's identity. The current school uniform is not up to date with the latest fashion too. Teenagers, like to be up-to-date with the latest fashion. In Australia, students have the freedom to wear anything they like to school, as long it's proper. Why can't teenagers in Malaysia follow suit too?

The specific dress code should be abolished! Students should have the freedom to wear anything they like to express their identity. School uniforms are outdated!

Valentine's Day... Celebrated for it's Commerical Value or Actual Value?

February 14th, is the day when love is in the air. This day is called Valentine's Day. But also to some, they get to line their pockets. Some people celebrate it because everyone is celebrating it. How did it come about in the first place? Because St. Valentine disagreed with the emperor for sending young men to war, and those young men were not allowed to get married. In my opinion, Valentine's Day is celebrated for its commercial value, although some people do celebrate it for it's actual value, that is for love and happiness.

Why do I say it's celebrated for its commercial value? Restaurants, florists and other companies are making a killing during Valentine's Day. Couples go to expensive restaurants on Valentine's Day and usually on that day, the restaurants charge meals at exorbitant prices. Florists sell their roses at double of triple the actual price . To me, any day can be Valentine's Day. It's just because of the legacy of St. Valentine, that's why Valentine's Day celebrated. It's just a matter of perception.

But as in everything, there are exceptions. Some people do celebrate it for it's true meaning, that is for love and happiness. You do see young men mustering up all their courage and proposing to their loved ones on Valentine's Day, and on rare occasions vice versa. On normal days, they wouldn't do it, because there is no push factor. Furthermore, it'll be rather cool for the guy, because he gets to boast to the other guys, he proposed to a girl on Valentine's Day.

So, is Valentine's Day celebrated for it's commercial value or it's actual value? That's the million-dollar question.

An Attempt On A Factual Essay...

I was given this question. And I decided to attempt this question the best I could.

"The media not only transmit information and culture, they also decide what information is important. In that way, they help shape culture and values. Do newspapers, magazines, television, radio, movies, the internet and other media determine what is important to most people?"

Are our lives influenced by the media? there are so many medias around us; the television, newspapers, radio, magazines, the internet and others. Most people are influenced by the media, the believe what the media projects and often do not take time to analyze or ponder more about it, nor looking it from a different perspective.

We are what we see and hear most of the time. Why do I say so? People are easily affected emotionally. A movie can portray many things that seem cool but yet at the same time harmful to us. For example, in a James Bond movie, you'll see James Bond posing coolly puffing away a cigarette. People watching this would like to emulate his "cool factor", making him their idol. This clearly indicates, the media does determine what is important to people. Movies can be also a fashion statement, the brand of clothes he wears from example. Who wouldn't want to have the phone James Bond uses in his movies? Or wear what he wears? The people after watching his movies, would be very taken up by him, and surely would want to dress and the gadgets he uses.So, aren't we what we hear and see most of time?

Another media that can influence us daily is the radio. Sometimes, companies will place catchy advertisements to make people sing to it. In this way, the people would want to find out more about this product they are advertising, and would most probably buy it even though it's good or bad. This is also so, because these advertisement would be played through your brain because it will be played through the radio again and again. And the radio is something we listen to almost everyday.

People read newspapers everyday to find out what's been happening lately around the world and country.Sometimes, newspapers can create biasness towards certain things. For example, sometimes, newspapers can be bias to a certain political party, it'll become a political gimmick. A hidden propaganda is hidden in the newspaper article. Once the people read it, they might get influenced and vote for that party.

So, our lives are clearly influenced by the media. What do you think?

Emotions...

What do you do when you are happy?
What do you do when you are mad?
What do you do when you are just so sad?
I don't know.

In this world of emotions,
it's so hard to control,
oh...
I don't want THEM!

Oh...

What do you do when you are angry?
What do you do when you are down?
What do you do when you are just so confused?
I don't know...

In this world of emotions,
It's so hard to control,
oh...

Taking all my courage,
Taking all my strength,
Let's face them up! oh....
AND WIN THE FIGHT!

Missing...

The days creep by. Life moves on. Time will not wait, for anyone. Everything in the future, would be soon be the past. Time is ticking even as I write this out. Sigh! Why is life sometimes so unfair?

Something is missing...
But I can't find it...
Something is hurting...
But I don't know what....

I know...

You won't cry for my absence... cause...
You forgot me so long... long ago....
You won't long for my presence... cause...
You hardly knew... knew me...

Am I that unimportant?
Or that insignificant?
Is something wrong with me?
Or something I'm missing?

I know...

If I cry out... If I bleed...
Knowing you just don't care...
When I sleep... I dream of you...
And wake up without you there...

Am I that unimportant?
Or that insignificant?
Is something wrong with me?
Or something I'm missing?

Learning to Let Go...

One of the hardest things in life is probably letting go someone that you truly love so dearly. Have you ever felt this way before? I did and still am. It's even tougher if you see the person you love everyday. I'm learning and still trying, but still have not succeeded.

I've told myself not to get distracted this year. This year's my crucial year. This will determine my next step in life. But, sigh! Why is it so complicated? Why am I am a victim of this injustice?

I'm learning how to let go,
but somehow I just can't...
I wish I could let go,
but the feeling is too great...

I'm trying...
I'm failing...
I'm trying...
I'm falling...

One of lives hardest lessons....
One of lives saddest lessons....
One of lives horrible lessons...
Is to let go...

A Song I Wrote...

Sometimes you feel so cold...
Sometimes you feel so alone...
There's no one here...
So cold... so alone....

I feel so sick...
I feel so broken...
Nobody can fix me....
So sick... so broken....

I'm so scared...
I'm so frightened...
That you'll hurt me...
So scared... so frightened...

You're all I need...
All I'll ever have...
That's you...
oh... you.

Alone...

I was inspired yet to write another song. Maybe this is how I feel now... Sigh...

Have you ever felt so sad?
Do you know how it feels...
when someone you love...
doesn't know you love her...

Sometimes you wish you were dead...
sometimes you wish you were gone...
seeing her there...
with someone else...

Oh... why...?
Why am i here?
Why am i alive?
I wish I were gone...

Oh... why...?
Why am I here?
Why am I alive?
I wish I were gone...

I wish I'm gone...

Memories that last forever at YLDP... [Day 4]...

Same routine of breakfast and worship. I particularly like todays Plenary Sessions. The session really made me thinking, and also reassured.

The speaker told us about the 10 signs of our connection with God is not good, hindrances to our spiritual connection with God.

*The 10 signs for each thing will come out in my next post...*

Today's connecting time's assignment is list 3 things you have learnt throughout the camp in a skit, poem, or song form. My group came out with quite a few ideas. GAY is one of them. Not the homosexuality gay, but God and You...

Today we had the Amazing Journey during team building time. It was like the Amazing Race show, to complete the race with clues to tell you how. We had a wonderful time. And our group skipped clue number 3. LOL!

After games, we had little time left to do some stream trotting down stream. Sarah, Charlyn & Sam did not go down though. They missed out the fun. I'm sure that they would have enjoyed it.

From left Abishua, Daniel Singh's daughter & Daniel Sing...

Taken from facebook group YLDP 2008

During the night session... I had a few questions that I my own could not answer. Some questions suddenly popped up when I was listening to Daniel Singh talking. Some was answered by the talk, but one was not answered. How do people speak in tongues? Can someone tell me? That night, that talk changed my life forever. Something made me realize, how much wrong I've did. How much shame that carries with it. A revelation is happening in me.

I wrote a song. I always get inspired to write songs when I'm touched or down...

Do you know how hard it is?
When you are feeling so down?
Do you know how sad it is?
When you have no one to turn to?
But deep inside, you long to tell someone...

Hatred, anger, jealously, envy,
So much pressure....
Lust, sex, drugs,
So much temptation...

Oh how,
One can live in this cruel world?
When you're alone?
All you want is someone to understand.
But then I realized... there was God!

My troubles were gone...
My sadness vanished...
My life changed....
A new butterfly... wanting to spread its wings...

I did not finish it though. That night, I made a commitment to myself. I must not break it. I'll try my best to keep to it. I want to change. I do not want to wear a mask anymore. I want to make a stand in this world. I need all the support I can get... Please help me...

NSCF [Day 3]...

The first two days passed so fast. The links to the 1st day and 2nd day are here. I wished time would just slow down a little. Half of camp gone.

There was something special about today. In the afternoon, there was to be a special project. I didn't know what it was about. I was waiting in curiosity. The plenary session, the talk was about 7 reasons why the bible is God's word. The seven reasons are:

1. Amazing Unity
2. Indestructibility
   
3. Historical Authenticity
4. Scientific Coherence
5. Prophetic Fulfillment
   
6. Absolute Meanings
7. Life-Transforming Power
   

After listening to the speaker, I was reassured that the bible is God's word. If not, the bible may be just a story book, or a book of songs. The bible is God's word.

The special project turned out to be planning lunch for the officers with entertainment. They gave us 2 hours to plan while they went out shopping. It was cool.

We had free time today. I played basketball others from other states.

After dinner was, a little worship and the third theme talk. The theme talk was an interesting one. The speaker talked about who lives in you. And what do friends need. Well, the person that lives in me is God. God uses us to speak to the non-Christians, because they have not invited Christ to live with them. We are like God's ambassadors.

Galatians 5:14 says "Entire law is summed into one command "Love your neighbor as yourself."

I sorta wrote a song after listening to the message. Here goes:

What do we need as Christians?
O... What do we need?
We need God.
Yes! God!

Let's all get together,
and unite as one!
Make it possible!
Spread the gospel!

I didn't finish the song, cause it was time to break into our small groups to share about what happened that day.

Fourth day coming up soon...

The Continuous Writing in my English Exam...

Like any usual form 4 English paper 1 exam, there are two parts, directed writing (the one I blogged earlier on), and continuous writing. In continuous writing, you have five choices. You have to write one of the five titles.

In my final year exam, the titles were:

1. Describe the most beautiful scene you have ever set your eyes on.
2. Write a story with the title: A Wonderful Mistake.
3. If I Were Rich.
4. "Discipline should be strictly enforced in schools" What is your opinion? Do you disagree or agree with this view?
5. Supermarkets.

Guess which one I chose. Normally, I would have written question number 2 or 3. But, I think something must have struck me when I was going to write the essay. I picked the factual essay. Maybe I wanted to be extraordinary. I picked question 4!

After I wrote the whole essay, I knew I would not get a high mark for the piece I wrote. Because, after I wrote it, I realized that I may have wrote out of question. Well, hope for the best, because there was no time to write any question.

In paper 1, the continuous writing takes a total of 50 marks. Guess how much I got. When I got my paper 1 back, I was so shocked and happy. I actually got 40 out of 50 marks! Overjoyed. Well, here goes:

I agree entirely with the statement "Discipline should be strictly enforced in schools." What actually is discipline? Discipline can be defined as one who is well mannered and decently dressed in society. Many students think that discipline should not be strictly enforced in schools. Why? Because they want to do things their own way. Why do schools need to implement strict rules to ensure there is discipline in students? So that the teachers will be satisfied? No! They want to instill discipline in the students so that the students will do better in life. Teacher have more headaches trying to instill discipline in students, life would be much easier for them if they need not instill discipline in students. The teachers are actually doing students a favor.

Why do I agree with the statement "Discipline should be strictly enforced in schools."? Well, here are a few reasons. First, rules instill discipline must be strictly enforced so that the students will dress decently to school and are well-mannered. One must look decent and are well-mannered in society. If not, they will be labeled as ill-mannered creatures. In school, one must look decent and well-mannered too. Decently looking students means that the student's hair is not dyed and do not wear earrings. Some schools, like Keat Hwa 1 and Keat Hwa 2, have no choice but to implement strictly enforced rules like boys hair must not be over 5 cm and girls are not allowed to keep long hair. If such rules are not implemented, the students would not listen and would dye their hair. This is why discipline should be strictly enforced in schools.

Secondly, I agree with the statement above because with discipline instilled in a student, students will have a better learning environment. Students would not simply shout like monkeys or talk when the teacher is teaching in class. There would be no disruptions. The classroom will be quiet and have a conducive learning atmosphere. In some schools, because the rules are not strictly enforced, the students will disrupt the class by talking or not paying attention to the teacher, that will result in an noisy and unsuitable environment for learning. With the loud and unpleasant noises, a student would not be able to concentrate on what is being taught. A leaning atmosphere would not be in the air.

Discipline should be strictly enforced too, so that the housing estate surrounding the school will not be disturbed. What will happen to the school's image if one of the residents living in the neighboring housing estate put in a complaint to the school or write an article about the school being noisy to the local newspaper? The school's image will drop in everyone's eyes. Parents would not want to send their child to such a school, because of the noisy environment, no learning can take place. Furthermore, parents also want their children to be disciplined.

Fourthly, discipline should be strictly enforced to prevent gangsterism. Gangsterism in schools is not a new problem a school needs to face in schools today. By trying to prevent gangsterism in schools, schools have to implement rules like no fighting in schools, and by not allowing outside people to enter the school unless they are the student's parents. Even though the school allow the parents to enter the school only allows the parents to enter to ask the teacher in charge to call their kid down from class. Don't you agree with me now, that strictly enforced rules should be enforced in schools?

Last and not least, discipline should be strictly enforced in schools so that the students will learn to be disciplined in life and in everything they do. Once the student is forced to be disciplined in something, it will become second-nature to them. For example, once a student is trained and forced to look decently in school, it will become a habit. After a long time, the students will also dress decently not only in school, but everywhere. They by themselves would also want to be decently dressed.

Discipline does not come instantly, one must be trained and forced. The school strictly enforces discipline on student is for their own good. Therefore, I agree entirely with the statement "Discipline should be strictly enforced in schools."

To me, this essay is still not very good. I think if the teacher was my mother, my mother would have given a 30 - 35?