Picture Discussion

The campers are attempting to a low element known as 'spider-web'. The trees and tents have revealed the scene of a campsite. The boy in the foreground seems to have difficulties getting pass the small space made by the spider web. He must be feeling very nervous. His team mates are giving him support by holding on to him and ensure that he does not fall or touch the web. The girl in the background has also given in support by cheering for her team. 'Spider-web' is an activity whereby trusts is built up between team mates and it also helps to bond them together as teamwork is needed in this activity. A team consists of team mates and team mates are friends that depend on each other to achieve success when an activity is being carried out. Some activities can never be completed alone, but as a whole. Thus it brings out the phrase 'United we stand, divided we fall'. Take the chopstick story for example, a chopstick can be easily broken but a bunch of chopsticks can't. Unity is teamwork.

(182 words)

Summary

Today, Janina Pietrasiak and Maria Lopuszanska live like sisters. They meet daily and help each other out. Both of them lives alone and are not affluent. Maria's parents were anti-Nazi underground activists who sheltered Janina and her mother. Janina's mother died of tuberculosis. Young Janina clung desperately to her new family, baptized to become part of the family to avoid being detected and killed by the Nazis. She even gave up chance to live with her uncle in the United States. During the Warsaw Uprising, the girls had to fend for themselves. Maria's father fell sick and her mother was demonstrating against the Nazis. Maria was like a mother to the younger Janina. Janina had lost both parents. Her only sibling survived the war but later committed suicide. Both Maria and Janina suffered from cancer. She contacted the Yad Washem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem to recognize Maria and her parents for saving her during WW1.
(145 words)

News Report - Hit-And-Run Accident on 29th July 2009

News reports today that a fatal hit-and-run accident had occurred on 29th July 2009, around peak hour, 5.30 p.m., at CTE.

26-year-old, motorcyclist, Mr. Alan Kong Ai Lang, one of the victims of the fatal accident, suffered severe injuries after being hit by a 2009 BMW M3 Convertible and was sent to Tan Tock Seng hospital for immediate treatment. He fell into a coma soon after the operation the doctors performed on him.

23-year-old, driver, Miss Jamie Sian Jie Mi, another victim of the fatal accident, was however not as fortunate, after being bumped into by the Mercedes Benz and trapped in her own car, she was rushed to Tan Tock Seng hospital as she suffered fatal injuries. She was pronounced dead due to the large impact she had when the accident occurred.

26-year-old, Miss Jane Tan, eye-witness and also a student, said, “It happened so fast!” She was also sure that she saw two cars.

36-year-old, Mdm Moliah Bte Ismail, housewife, a passenger in a taxi passing by when the accident occurred, said, “All I heard was loud big bang!” She was unsure what had caused the accident.

52-year-old, Inspector Abdul Rahman, said, “There was a stream of blood on the road.” He was shocked by what was left of the motorcycle.

When interviewed, Inspector Abdul Rahman advised drivers to drive carefully, and also not to talk on the phone when driving. Bystanders were urged to come forward with information on the license plate number of the hit-and-run car, Mercedes Benz.

The Kong family was shocked upon receiving news about their son being involved in a hit-and-run accident and was in a coma at Tan Tock Seng hospital. Mr. Kong, father of Mr. Alan Kong, said, “I believe my son is a rational motorcyclist, I will get to the bottom of this matter and clarify matters with that irrational and irresponsible driver.”

When the Sian families were noticed about Miss Jamie Sian Jie Mi’s death, they were astonished. Miss Jamie Sian Jie Mi, being the only child of the family, was loved and pampered by both her parents. Mr. Sian said, “She had just gotten her driving license and we had just bought her the 2009 BMW M3 Convertible as a birthday present, but little did we expect things to turn out like that.”



Reported by: Rhobin Lim and Vivien Wong

Report - Avalanche

Friday, July 24

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - An avalanche on New Zealand's South Island buried three skiers Friday killing one, police said. Their mountain guides rescued the other two.

The trio were buried under two to three inches of snow (six to seven centimeters) on the Ragged Range mountains near the town of Methven in South Canterbury, police constable Brent Swanson told The Associated Press.

By the time the two guides reached one of the three _ a 60-year-old man _ he was unconscious. Rescuers and a doctor at the scene were unable to resuscitate him. Police have not yet released details about the man, saying only that he was a foreign tourist.

The other two were pulled out of the snow alive and flown out by helicopter along with the rest of their tour group.

The surviving pair were in good condition and did not need medical treatment, police said.

New Zealand's Mountain Safety Council issued an avalanche alert warning earlier Friday, after warm winds triggered "dangerous avalanche conditions" along South Island's Southern Alps, it said.

The council has warned skiers, snow boarders, climbers and hikers to avoid back country travel until the avalanche danger subsides.


Above is a news report on an avalanche which occured on 24 July.

Terrorism

Terrorism is a threat around the world, which many fear as it threatens the lives of people living in the country. Take the 911 for instance. On 11th September 2003, two planes were hijacked and crashed into the tallest buildings in the United States of America, taking the lives of many innocent people. Imagine watching your loved one, or your beloved one die before you. How would you feel?

For one, I am very particular when it comes to terrorism, as terrorism is no joke, and may occur anytime. The country which I am living in, Singapore, was one of the targeted places to be bombed after the train bombings in Madrid back in 2003. Living in Singapore, I am being exposed to the threats as well. As long as terrorists are not being wiped out, I will always live in the shadows of fear, the fear that my loved ones or even myself, might be be victims of plotted sudden-attacks by terrorists.

In my perspective, I feel that I can do my part to share the knowledge that I acquired about terrorism, and in the process, allowing more people to know what terrorism is all about and how one can do his or her part to keep Singapore safe. For example, Mass Rapid Transit ( MRT ) in Singapore, has put up an advertisement showing how commuters can report to the staffs in charge when there's a bag left in the train by suspicious articles. Alternatively, commuters can call 999 as well.

Do your part to keep Singapore a safe country, a terrorist-free country, just like I will do my part.

(270 words)

Reflective Summary

My conclusion is, the polar bear and penguin population are currently facing the problem of the decreasing in their own population.

We humans, are one of the main culprits. We may think that what we do in our daily lives does not affect those cute and innocent animals out there, but we are wrong. Global warming, being a threat not only to us humans but also the animals. The littlest things we do in our daily lives contributes to global warming. Not only us, but the penguins and polar bears are threatened by global warming. Global warming threatens rising sea levels along the coasts which may result in floods or natural disasters.

We can play our part by doing the following. (Please refer to Reflective Journal 3)

Climate change could also bring harm to the polar bears and penguins.

In the Arctic, hungry polar bears, unable to sustain themselves on the melting ice, are increasingly making their way inland to such towns as Noorvik, Alaska, and Churchill, Manitoba, where they sniff out garbage bins and scavenge for dinner. And in the Antarctic, wet baby penguin chicks shiver in the rain; warming temperatures mean less snow but more rain, which soaks them through, putting them at risk of freezing to death. These are the consequences of climate change, scientists say.

Polar bears and penguins may live poles apart, with the great white mammals ruling the Arctic areas near the North Pole and the best-known penguin varieties inhabiting the southernmost regions of the globe, in or near Antarctica. But they both depend on ice and cold for survival—a problem in a world that's warming and where temperature increases are most pronounced at the planet's northern and southern extremes.

Even the littlest things we do can help to play a part in conserving these animals, why not do somthing rather than nothing.

Cheers!

Reflective Journal 5

Imagine yourself as a killer whale. You are swimming around when you decide to stick your head out of the water to take a breath. As you are taking a breath, you see a large stream of thick black oil heading your way. You go back under water only to find other animals dying one by one because the oil is damaging their bodies.
This is the way some animals must die in the ocean. They die because of an oil spill occurring in their habitat.

Oil spills happen when people make mistakes or are careless and cause an oil tanker to leak oil into the ocean. There are a few more ways an oil spill can occur. Equipment breaking down may cause an oil spill. If the equipment breaks down, the tanker may get stuck on shallow land. When they start to drive the tanker again, they can put a hole in the tanker causing it to leak oil.

What You Can Do To Reduce Oil Spill:
It may seem like you cannot do anything to stop oil spills. But you can. If you see an oil spill, report it to the government as soon as possible. Less oil is used when people conserve energy by driving smaller cars, using public transportation or alternatively-fueled vehicles or other ways of travel, like walking and bicycling. Instead of dumping used car oil on the ground or down a sewer, people can take the oil to certain service stations to be disposed of properly or recycled. If you change you own oil in you car, make sure you place a container on the ground under the engine to catch any spills. An old cookie sheet works well. Also, people can conserve energy in their homes, too.
If everyone used less oil, fewer tankers would sail the seas. This could reduce the risk of oil spills.

Reflective Journal 4

"An endangered species is an animal that is dying out (their total population is decreasing). Penguins are being classified under endangered species. Some reasons make complete sense, for instance, man-made pollution destroying food sources. Others are surprising, such as deforestation. But there are also a lot of ways people are trying to prevent penguins from becoming extinct."

"Oil spills are probably the biggest problems for penguins. The oil gets on their feathers and they get it in their beaks when they preen. Since they don't fly and must surface often to breathe, penguins are unable to avoid being coated if oil is on the surface of the water. Also their eggs will contain traces of oil in them too. This is a problem because it either kills the embryo inside or the oil deforms the developing chick. Penguins cannot see the oil coming and neither can most humans. On July 23, 2000, the oil tanker "The treasure" sank, leaving a huge mass of oil. The company SANCCOB, a rehabilitation organization, immediately started helping the penguins. Still, almost 40% of the African Penguin population was oiled.
Along the coast of Argentina, Magellanic penguins are killed, not by oil accidents, but by the routine operations of large oil tankers. Empty tankers must fill their tanks with water for (to act as weight) purposes. Then, within about two miles before filling with oil, the oily water must be discharged -- directly into the ocean."

"Deforestation is one way people continue to destroy penguins' habitat. No one would think deforestation would hurt the penguin population, but many penguins can and do live in forests. People have many reasons to like penguins and penguins have many reasons not to like us too."

Reflective Journal 3

Top 10 things that can be done to help reduce global warming-

"Burning fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal, oil and gasoline raises the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and carbon dioxide is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect and global warming."

"You can help to reduce the demand for fossil fuels, which in turn reduces global warming, by using energy more wisely. Here are 10 simple actions you can take to help reduce global warming. "

1. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables.

2. Use less heat and air-conditioning.
Adding insulation to your walls and attic, and installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows. Turn down the heat while you're sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times.

3. Change a light bulb.
Wherever practical, replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs.If every U.S. family replaced one regular light bulb with a CFL, it would eliminate 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gases, the same as taking 7.5 million cars off the road.

4. Drive less and drive smart.
Less driving = Fewer emmisions

5. Buy energy-efficient products.
Avoid products that come with excess pakaging, especially molded plastic and other pakaging that cannot be recycled.

6. Use less hot water.
By washing clothes in warm or cold water helps to reduce the use of hot water and the energy required to produce it. By doing that can save at least 500 pounds of carbon dioxide annually in most households.

7. Use the "Off" switch.
Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights when you leave a room, and using only as much light as you need. And remember to turn off your television, video player, stereo and computer when you're not using them. It's also a good idea to turn off the water when you're not using it.

8. Plant a tree.
If you have the means to plant a tree, start digging. During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. They are an integral part of the natural atmospheric exchange cycle here on Earth, but there are too few of them to fully counter the increases in carbon dioxide caused by automobile traffic, manufacturing and other human activities. A single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.

9. Get a report card from your utility company.
Many utility companies provide free home energy audits to help consumers identify areas in their homes that may not be energy efficient. In addition, many utility companies offer rebate programs to help pay for the cost of energy-efficient upgrades.

10. Encourage others to conserve.
Spread the message to everyone!

Reflective Journal 2

Global warming is also a threat to the survival for the polar bears. What exactly is global warming? "Global Warming is defined as the increase of the average temperature on Earth. As the Earth is getting hotter, disasters like hurricanes, droughts and floods are getting more frequent. Greenhouse gases are those gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. The largest contributing source of greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the emission of carbon dioxide. "

"When sunlight reaches Earth's surface some is absorbed and warms the earth and most of the rest is radiated back to the atmosphere at a longer wavelength than the sun light. Some of these longer wave lengths are absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before they are lost to space. The absorption of this longwave radiant energy warms the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth some of the heat energy which would otherwise be lost to space. The reflecting back of heat energy by the atmosphere is called the "greenhouse effect". "

"Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth a part of the heat radiation, which would otherwise be lost to space. The higher the concentration of green house gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the more heat energy is being reflected back to the Earth. The emission of carbon dioxide into the environment mainly from burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas, petrol, kerosene, etc.) has been increased dramatically over the past 50 years."

http://knowledge.allianz.com/en/globalissues/climate_change/global_warming_basics/global_warming_definition.html
http://timeforchange.org/cause-and-effect-for-global-warming

Reflective Journal 1

Polar bears, the world's largest predators, can be found in countries like the Arctic, the U.S (Alaska), Denmark etc. Rules were being established to set a limit to the amount of polar bears being hunted within its boundaries in these countries. These helped to stabalize the polar bear population. However, humans, polar bears only predator, is one of the main cause of the decreasing of the polar bears population. Seals are preys of the baby polar bears. Baby polar bears often starve, due to the fact that seals are very rare, especially in summer when the ice has melted.

The polar bears had lesser place to live in when humans move in all across the Arctic to mine oil and coal there. Oil spills are also one of the causes of how human affects the polar bear population. It is very dangerous as "with oil on, the bears cannot regulate its body temperature properly" and also, if the bears were to eat the oil while grooming, it could die.

Man-made pollution has also caused the decrese in the amount of the polar bear population. Pollutants get more concentrated at every stage of the food chain. " By the end when the polar bear eats the seal, it could be lethal.

Phasmophobia- Fear of ghosts.

I cannot deny the fact that i'm afarid of ghosts although they may not exists. I have never encountered one though but my friends claimed they have. I never watch movies which relates to ghost and some TV shows like the incredible tales. The scariest movie that i watched is The Maid, and i have only watched half of it, with many of my friends.

Some poeple believe they exists and i'm one of them. I have never encountered one, but i'm still scared. Sometimes, i do enjoy hearing ghost stories. After hearing them, i have difficulty sleeping and my imagination runs wild, real wild.

Ghosts may seem nothing to other people but they are something to me. No doubt! I doubt there's a cure for this phobia. I had this phobia since young and i think i'm still in the process in overcoming this phobia.

Being afraid of ghosts makes me afraid of the dark too. I never sleep with the lights off unless there's company.Sometimes, even when there's company, i would still leave the ligths on. I don't know what made me so afraid of ghosts.

I think the cause of this phobia is this vampire show which i watched sometime ago when i was young at my friends birthday party. I dont know if vampires are a species og ghosts but i am still afraid of them.

This is my phobia and i'm not afraid to admit it. I am Phasmophobia - Fear of ghosts.

Chong Boon Growth Day.

9th January 2009, Chong Boon Secondary School Growth Day. This is a special, meaningful and memorable day for Chongboonites. Growth Day is held annually. Growth day is loved by almost everyone in school because on Growth Day, lessons will not be held. Growth day is a day whereby students set their targets and grow. Besides setting targets, we also had to do an advertisement on the 16 HOMs. The advertisement lasted for 30 seconds. This advertisment has got to do with the theme this year which is "Beyond Bridging Gaps". Advertisements of different classes were shown at the end of the day. Some were hilarious, some were boring. Even now, I'm anticipating year 2010's Growth day, I wonder what will happen next year.

Tata!