Sunday, August 15, 2010

Trip to Peranakan Museum

To find out more about Emily, we went to the Peranakan museum. Looks can be deceiving, the design of the museum mimics that of the Raffles Hotel, not much like museum. However, once i step into the place, i feel that i am immerse in deep peranakan culture. After a few rounds around the museum, i realize myself gaining a deeper understanding about Emily and why she was so obsessed with power, wealth and status. In the peranakan world, being wealthy and powerful is everything, marrying into a rich household is a even more glorious achievement. Sophisticated is a very suitable word for the peranakans. This is evident not only in the types of cutlery they use to the type of clothing they wear for important events. The cutlery they have an array of patterns, from flora to butterflies, enveloping the entire plate/bowl. Furthermore, food plays a very important part in Emily, it is used as a way to socialize and get to know more people. The wedding dress that they wear seems very heavy, with intricate patterns on both the headdress and the dress. Unlike modern gowns, they are often red in color to signify prosperity as the peranakans are known to be half chinese. Going to the peranakan museum has not only brought the character Emily alive to me but it also allows me to learn more about peranakans. In conclusion, going to the museum has not only aid me in my preparations for the upcoming test but also broadens my horizon about others

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Task 1

We slept in our boots
About the writer
Steve Carlsen was born and lives in Dowagiac Michigan. He joined the United States Army in October 2000 and went to Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He then reported to D Company 1st battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 82nd Airborne Division in Ft. Bragg North Carolina. He deployed to Kosovo in November 2001 as part of peace keeping operations. He Deployed to Afghanistan in of December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003. He currently attends Southwestern Michigan Collegewher his professor, Dr Michael Collins challenged him to write about his experiences.
In the poem, it is written in the point of view of a soldier, or rather all the soldiers, from the use of words like"we" and "I run as fast as I can". All the soldiers seem to be doing same thing at the same time. this is evident from"We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks" and"We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared". this shows that they are very organised. He also introduced religion in the poem. he states that" Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire". this shows us that he knows that it is against his religion to hold a gun and kill somebody and he knows that he would be punished soon. The poem gives a rough overview on how a soldier is going through war by revealing to us his feelings and actions.
The situation of the poem is during a landing operation. this is evident from"Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot " LZ stands for landing. from the evidence, it can be seen that the situation is very serious and he has to be quick to avoid the enemies fire. He was in the middle of an intense fight as he had to"I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more". this shows us the type of atmosphere the soldiers are feeling during a war, as they have to be quicker than the enemy to avoid being killed, hence telling us that the atmosphere was tense and they could not slack for a moment.
Lastly, the poem is written in simple and straight-forward language which makes it easier to read and more reader-friendly. The author also includes a few terms used in the army like" Lock N Load" and strong words like"shit" to allow the readers to feel with the soldier and allow them to feel what the soldiers are feeling. in conclusion, this poem talks about what a soldier experience in war.

Monday, March 1, 2010

I just took my learning profile and I realized that I am best at interpersonal and musical. i feel that these two points describe me the best. i enjoy communicating with people and seem to get along with strangers just fine. i like to make friends and go out with them occasionally. For being a musical person, i feel it is partly because of the fact that i am constantly plugged on to my ipod and listening to music for hours on. i guess i cant survive a day without music by my side.
My weakest is Naturalistic and linguistic. i feel that time to time, i find it hard to find the perfect word for the situation and i prefer using graphs and tables to just plain word documents. However, i am surprised that i am not naturalistic as i always help my dad with gardening during the weekends, but i have to admit that i did not enjoy gardening and sometime i feel that i cannot "connect" with nature.
Hence , it can be seen that i am inclined towards music and people.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Really in need or a scammer?

Today, after Malay Special Programme (MSP), I boarded bus number 157. I was on my way home. it was then that i witness an interesting event. it was an handicapped-friendly bus and the bus roughly looks like this:

i was standing at the two parallel standing cushions. So, now on to my story. i saw an old malay woman, with a floral-patterned shirt on seating at the front four seats(on the right of the picture)next to her was a boy from a JC.

After several stops, she suddenly started talking to the JC boy. the conversation was short. "Can you lend me 40cents?"she spoke coolly. the gentlemen, who was engrossed in messaging with his phone, without any questions asked, handed over the 40cents in small denomination, silently, to her. After which, continued texting, as if nothing happened. the woman on the other hand, after receiving the 40cents, took a look at it. She was unhappy.
after another few more stops, a chinese couple boarded and sat at the other two seats. to my surprise, the lady repeatedly asked the old man for another 60cents(40 + 60 =100)the old man ignored her,and to further express his discontent, he got off the sit.
the lady was looked very angry.
at the next stop, a chinese lady boarded the bus and sat next to the Malay lady. they exchanged glances temporarily. the malay woman asked the chinese for another 60cents and the lady just ignored her. she was frustrated at her futile efforts. Meanwhile the lady pretended to be on the phone to prevent the woman from talking to her again.
Not long after, the stop which i should alight came and i wished that i could stay a bit longer to see how the event unfold.
In my opinion, i feel that if i was seating next to her and even if she is a scammer, i would have given the 40cents she wanted so as to prevent any other events. As to if she is a cheat or not, i find it hard to determine so i would just leave the decision in your hands.