Mr Seto-Li Bin (Lionel)-Singapore remains the Chinese traditional custom in the Spring Festival

I have been Singapore for almost two months and it is the first time that I spent Spring Festival far away from my home. I thought I would not see any Chinese traditional custom here. But to my surprise, I found Singaporeans also celebrated the Spring Festival even more traditional than Chinese. They cleaned their houses, sticked the couplets and had dinner together. The children would stay up that night to have a longer life. They worshiped the ancestors at midnight and said some lucky words. The next day they would visit their neighbors and the children would get red papers. They all wore new clothes and new shoes and had cleaned their bodies last night. They usually brought two oranges which mean luck and good things are in pairs and they would exchange them to show the blessing. The only difference is that setting off firecrackers is forbidden in Singapore. I was invited by my host family during the Spring Festival and we had a happy day together. I was fortunate enough to see the dragon dance and I got the red paper from them. I was happy to spend the Spring Festival in Singapore.

Blog-"Mrs Pamela"-"Song Zhuokun (Kevin)"-"My first overseas Chinese New Year"

My first overseas Chinese New Year

  Entering Singapore with a vivid dream, I find everything around me is totally new, fantastic, but also unfamiliar. Although there are many Chinese in Singapore, I notice that the Chinese New Year here is not that grand compared with it in China. To be honest, I felt very lonely and all that in my mind were warm pictures when I was celebrating the Chinese New Year with my parents in China until one day my host family asked me if I was willing to join in a party to celebrate the Chinese New Year with them. I was so happy and came to their family with my friends. Their house was so big and nice that I could not believe my eyes. The whole family were really enthusiastic and treated us with a buffet which included an unfamiliarly special dish named "Lao Yu Sheng" that we should eat while saying some lucky words. All the dishes were really tasty and after eating we sang many Chinese songs together. We all appreciated a lot because the whole family treated us as their real family members. The way back to my hostel, I was surprised to find all my loneliness had dissolved and aware that how lucky I was in such a good country with such good people during my first overseas Chinese New Year. 

Thoughts after Watching The Legend of 1900

    Last weekend, I watched a movie entitled The Legend of 1900, which is also known as The Pianist on the sea. I watched two times, and I was deeply moved.

    The movie is mainly a story of a piano genious, Nineteen Hundred, who spent all his life on a ship, even passed away with the explosion of the ship. His future seems to be dim when he was young, for he was deserted on a ship, and was brought up by a humble ship worker. Even though, his 'father' died when he was young. However, he was given a talent of music. At the age of eight, he secretly played the piano, and even his first trying of it attracted a lot of people on the ship. When he grew up, he successfully beated a well-known jazz player in a piano duel. Because of his playing, the strings of the piano became so hot after the duel that they can fire a cigarette. Then some people asked him to play the piano on land, telling him that if he does so, he can gain fortune and fame. But, he never thought about coming to land after he had observed that there were no ends of streets in a city. After many years, the ship was almost forgotten by everyone, and it went so shabby that it should be destroyed imediately. Before he passed away with the ship, his closest friend, who used to play the trumpet with him, found him still on the ship. The friend tried to persuade him leave the ship. Then, Nineteen Hundred explained why he would never leave the ship and stay on land. He said that the number of keys of a piano was finite, and it had end so he could control the piano. But the society on land is complicated and infinite, and like streets, it has no end. He could not see the future and he might lose himself by infinite choices on land. With these ideas, he eventually did not leave the ship. The pianist ended his life with the piano, by constract, his friend finally gave up playing the trumpet.

    The first time I watched the movie, I thought it was a tragedy of the pianist, Nineteen Hundred, because he did not perform on land, and he died with few people knowing he was a genious. But, when I watched the movie a second time, I begun to consider whether it was a tragedy of a lot of people in the world. When living, we face a huge number of choices. We may lose ourselves in a state of choosing, then lose the future and finally doing nothing excellent. The pianist's closest friend finally gave up his trumpet with choices interfering him. So we need to control ourselves, we need to know our object and our future.  We need to control ourselves, hold our dreams, and we should not let them diappear by all kinds of choices in life. This may be the things that the movie want to tell us.

Blog 1 : li xinyan - Mrs Pamela - what i want to protest against

    The first thing i will protest about is going to war. Because for whatever excuses ,war always means a majority of innocence sacrificing for a minority of greed. Nothing would compare to life in any belief. But a war could turn millions of lives into dust in a second. As far as i conseder ,going to war is the biggest crime ever committed by human being in history record.
     Secondly, I may protest against loss of religious freedom. Athough I'm a free thinker myself, I do believe that people have the right to choose their religion,as long as their religions don't harm society. Once people lost their religious freedom , society would lose harmony and there could be chaos and even rebellions.

blog 2：li xinyan - Mrs Pamela - having fun at west coast park

     last saturday morning i went out with my befrienders to west coast park. the weather was pleasant for me--overcast so that we didn't get grilled under the sun. we first had a picnic sitting on the grassland. later we began to play,and this was the real fantastic part. we played throw-and-catch with a plastic plate (never mind i don't know how to name it).actually i believe most of us have already watched this sport played frequently by locals,but that was the first time i ever had a shot! this game might look simple though,i have to admit it did require some kind of skills.i don't think i was doing quite well ,but the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy being with friends! @_@

blog 2：having fun at west coast park

     last saturday morning i went out with my befrienders to west coast park. the weather was pleasant for me--overcast so that we didn't get grilled under the sun. we first had  a picnic sitting on the grassland. later we began to play,and this was the real fantastic part. we played throw-and-catch with a plastic plate (never mind i don't know how to name it).actually i believe most of us have already watched this sport played frequently by locals,but that was the first time i ever had a shot! this game might look simple though,i have to admit it did require some kind of skills.i don't think i was doing quite well ,but the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy being with friends!   @_@

Mrs Ivy-Wang Xiao-What i will protest about-Theme:school and education

   The first thing i will protest about is going to war,which is also the most frightening thing to all people.Well, let's imagine how the world will be without peace.People will lose their passion to do anything living a life without any guarantee.Crying and dying happen anytime anywhere.In a word, everywhere and everything are ruined.NO peace, no human beings!
   And the second thing i will strongly protest about is nuclear power plant in my town.As everyone knows,nuclear power a new powerful but dangerous power.People in the town where the nuclear power plant will under radiation,which do great harm to their health and their generation.Then the town will lose all the living things.So i protest it strongly!

Blog 1-Ms Lim-Zheng Siyuan-What I want to protest about-THeme 1:schools and education

The frist thing I would protest about is going to war.If a country goes to war,it will take a lot of resourse and wealth of this country,which shuold be used in other places to promote the development.What is more important,when the war begins,cuontless people will lose their homes,possessions,even their lives.All of these are horrible.
Then,I would protest about cuts in education.As we all know,education in one of the most important things to a country.Only the residents of the country receive enough education can this country develop.If the government cuts the finds in edcuation,it will affect many people that they cannot get education well,which is very bad for the development of the country.

"Ms Lim"-"Zhang Yaowen"-"Two Things I Would Protest about"-"Theme: School and Education"

Protest 1:Going to war

    Going to war means that there will be quite a large number of people who should be injured seriously,or even lose their lives,especially in this high-technology world,where there are a large quantity of biochemical weapons that are much more deadly than the traditional ones in the past.If a war breaks out,then many other countries will be affected,even the whole world might be ruined.So,to protect every life,which is extremely valuable,there should be "NO WAR".

Protest 2:Cuts in education
    As we all know,education is the root of the development of a nation or country.Cuts in education can lead to more competition and less opportunities among the students,especially those who are poor.If a student cannot have access to education just because of the short of money,then the society will be far from fairness,let alone development.For the future of a whole nation,educational system should be well developed and given enough financial  assistance.

blog1-"Ms Ivy Chan"-"Zhang Chenwei"-"What I Would Protest about"-"Theme: School and Education"

Maybe I will protest about the loss of the religious freedom. For we will be fully controled by others if we loss the freedom. However,Considered the fact that most chinese do not have their belives ,that people are forced to have a same belief may be a better result than nothing.As a philosopher said,"people who do not belive in anything will never gain a happy life." In that case ,at least ,some people will not just believe nothing but money.


If nuclear power is planted in my town, I will also stand out and protest about it.Beacause I cannot see the reason why this kind of dangerous things are planted in a peaceful and prosperous town but not somewhere else with less people. Here is the place where i have my past and future ,faith and dream.Losing it is what I cannot afford. I will do everything I can to save her.

                                                                    Zhang Chenwei

Blog 1)"Mr Seto"-"Wei Wenbo"-"My two protests"-"Theme:Protests"

  Protest 1:I strongly oppose the plan to build a nuclear power plant in my town.On one hand,nuclear radiation will greatly affect health of people.It is proved that the incident of cancer is high in towns with nuclear power plant.On the other hand,the existing of nuclear power plant will make my town unattractive to people from other places,which has a bad effect on thedevelopment of the town.I do not want what happened in Ukrain and in Japan to occue in my town
 
  Protest 2:I disagree with the immigration policy.Firstly,it is not fair for foreigners.People should have the equal rights to pursue their happiness wherever they are.Secondly,the scarcity of work force compels our country to attract foreigners.Besides,immigration policy will damage our reputation in the world

Blog 1) "Ms Pamela"-"Liu Yanan"-Two things I would protest about-Theme:School and Education

Protests

1.    Going to war            

If there were a war, there would be more and more injured in both two countries and many children would be homeless. Going to war increases the country’s budget deficit. There would be economic downturn covered whole country. Nothing can be worse than a war.

                                       I would try my best to persuade more and   more    people to participate antiwar demonstrations.                                                            We can carry banners saying “NO WAR” in front of Government Buildings.

2. Nuclear power plant in my country

       Although we are in high-technology society and nuclear power is new and useful power, I do not believe nuclear power is the most necessary power we must use. Because of its radiation, the people living near nuclear power might be unhealthy. There were many nuclear accidents before.

         Nuclear power likes a snake in the grass. It must not be plant in my town. I would hold an activity to beg our citizens sign their names in a petition claiming against nuclear.

Blog 1) "Ms Ivy Chan"-"Wang Kexin"-"Two Things I Would Protest about"-"Theme: School and Education"

1.      Protest about going to war

      I strongly protest about going to war, for war costs a lot of money and a lot of lives. No matter what kind of war it is, it often left behind it a great loss of life and uncountable deeply and incurably wounds inside everyone’s heart. The war of Iraq officially over on 16 Dec 2011. During this 9-year-long war, nearly 45 hundred American dead, more than 32 thousand wounded. On the Iraq side, the estimate of dead begins at 150 thousand. And the cost in dollars surrounds 800 billion. No parades, no celebrations, but the deeply pain and distress of losing families and friends overwhelm the whole country. In a war, there will never have a winner. So what I protest most about is going to war. And I really wish the world peace and harmonious forever.

   2. Protest about cuts in education

      Cuts in education means giving more burdens on students and their families. And it makes having a further education even harder for those poor students, which is quietly unfair and frustrated. Moreover, cuts in education forces more students apply for educational loan. Once they graduated from school or college, they will have to face the struggle of paying off loans, less likely to take major steps like getting married and buying house. Education is the best investment you can make in your future and economy need more people to have a further education. Apparently, cuts in education slow down the pace of developing in a long run, so I protest about that.

Blog 1) "Mr Seto"-"Zhu Zikun"-"Two things I would protest about"-"Theme: Protest"

    Last Monday, Mrs Pamela asked us to choose two things to protest about.

    The first thing I am against is absolutely going to war. We all know World War II, which was so cruel that over 73 million people died in the war. Resulting from the deaths, many living people suffered a lot from losing their dearest ones. On top of that, the development of many countries was slowed down because the fundamental facilities were hugely hit. What's more, the war also led to severe conflict between peoples. To make things worse, the unhappy feeling even exists among the decendants, taking the unharmonious relationship between China and Japan for example. Therefore, I strongly advocate a peaceful world forever.
 
The other thing I oppose is cuts in education. One crucial reason why USA is so powerful is that USA has the most advanced education system and invests much into education. Development of our modern society is actually based on progress in science and technology promoted by education. And education needs financial support from government. So the government should put in more money to better education.

Blog 1) "Mr Seto"-"Chen Chi"-"Protest and Parade"-"Theme: School and Education"

    We living in the rapid devoloping age,there are many changes happening on the go.Some of them are good for most people but the individual benefits always tend to be lost. As a result,we should protest and parade if something unfair occurs.

    Education is of great importance in society.If the budgets in education are cut deeply,I will be against the act.Nowadays,we are living in IT age,namely Information Technology age.Knowledge is becoming more and more important.If cuts in education happen,many individuals,who tend to get highly educated to keep pace with society,will have no chance to attend universities.Besides,there are many teachers living on their poor salary.So there could be no more cuts in the budgets of education system.

    Religious freedom is one of civil rights.That means that we can believe in whatever we want to except for heresies and we should accept religions of the others.Although I am a free thinker,I will join in the march when religious freedom is lost. If everyone is prohibited to believe in God or must be a Muslim,there is no difference with Nazi.I hope that the situation will not be seen in the future.In a word,people should be free and think free.

    To sum up,we should arm ourselves with our own rights.Go on the protest,and we will have a democratic future.

Blog 1) "Ms Ivy Chan"-"Xiao Xiao"-"What I would protest"-"Theme: School and Education"

 I want to protest about the two following things.

1.I want to protest about going to war.Because if a war breaks out,sadness is the only thing people can get.People may lose the people whom they love.There will be more orphans,and the war will leave them shadows in their hearts.People will live in sadness.I will organize the students to demonstrate on the streets .I will also write a letter to the government to express people's willing of stopping the war,and tell the government the pains that the war brings.At the same time,I will send the video of demonstrating to the Internet to call on people all over the world to protest about the war.

2.I want to protest about loss of religious freedom.Because I think people are free,and people have the rights to choose their faiths.People should not be controlled.We must respect human rights.I will publish my article about religious freedom on the Internet.And I will contact the students in my school who have different faiths to make a speech.At last,I will hold on to myself,and I will never change the religion which I believe in.

Blog1-"Mr Seto"-"Dong Fangzhou"-"Two Things I Protest About"-"Theme: School and Education"

1.I protest about nuclear power plant in our town. It's generally known that nuclear is easy to get out of control. If the radioactive materials in the nuclear power plant were leaked, the residents around the plant would get heavily affected. Some of the affections would last for all life long. Someone would even lose their life because of being exposed to these materials. The environment around would get deeply damaged, and wouldn't get recovered for decades. Furthermore, if  the plant were attacked unexpectly, there would be a tremendous disaster with a heavy loss of life. Therefore, for the environmnet and the safety of our lives, there should never be an nuclear power plant in our town.
2.I protest about loss of religious freedom. It's human right that everyone thinks freely and has his own riligion. Adding a restriction to religious freedom is an offence that has a negative imoact on the circulating of ideas and the development of culture. It is all the different riligions that make the culture of the would more colorful. Loss of riligious freedom would be an restriction to personal development and then would get in the way of the development of society. Only if all the religions go free will there be people in different religions working together in harmony in one society, getting rid of religious conflictions.

blog1-"Ms Ivy Chan"-"Zhou Shaowen"-"Two Things I Want to Protest"-"Theme: School and Education"

1.Cuts in education
     Education is one of the fundamental things of a country, and it also determines the future of the country. The development of science and technology in a country greatly depends on the level of education in the country. If the government spends less money on education, schools and universities will have less money to develop, and students will enjoy a lower level of education. What is worse, tuition fees will also be raised, for universities must make up the deficit. Consequently, poor students will not be able to access education, and this will challenge the equality of the society and make the society less stable. To conclude, there should not be any cut in education.
2.Nuclear power plant in my town
     It is well-known that a nuclear power electricity station in Japan was destroyed during the earthquake, which has caused a large amount of nuclear pollution in the country and even in the world. So,it is not very safe to use nuclear power now, especially when some critical mistakes happen, a long-last and wide-spread disaster may occur. To make things worse, there is not any efficient solution to the catastrophe caused by nuclear pollution, and a lot of people will suffer strange diseases and finally lose their lives in pain without help. The safest way to prevent nuclear pollution in our place is not to bring nuclear power here.

Blog1-"Mrs Pamela"-"Song Zhuokun (Kevin)"-"Two things I protest about"-"Theme:School and Education"

Two things I protest about

     What I protest most is "going to the war".After winning in World War II , Franklin D Roosevelt took a firm stand, saying that "More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars." To me, I definitely believe it is true. Countries invade each other in order to get their own benefits.Citizens cannot choose but go  to the battlefield. They leave their hometown and  relatives to fight against other innocent people even do not know the real reason.After the war, I believe there is no real victor.Everyone sacrificed its happiness that belongs to itself initially.In all, a war means a total disaster.

I would protest "the loss of religious freedom" heavily if one day it came true. Everybody should have its own religion that supports itself to go ahead and do meaningful things through its whole life. Forcing people to have a fixed religion is meaningless because they will not believe it from the bottom of their hearts.And to the whole society, it means a horrible disaster--cheats,fights and even wars will come down soon because everyone just live for its own benefit.I really cannot imagine what the world will be if we do not have the freedom to believe a religion that we like.

Blog1-"Mr.Seto"-"Two things I protest about"

   1.The things I protest most is going to the war. I believe that life is the most expensive thing in the world. Nobody wants to send his or her brothers or any other family members to the war. we should not go to wars if we have any other solutions. If there is a conflict between two countries, please have negotiations with each other. Never put the world into a war. Just enjoy the peace and enjoy your life.
   2.Cut in education is the other thing that I protest about. Education is relevant to a country`s future. It is the most important thing that can make a country become more and more powerful. Cut in education means that some families can not afford to send their children to school and may affect the quality of school teaching. If a country make this choice, it is really a loss.

Blog1-Mrs Pamela-Hu Yiyao-What would I protest about

    I will contest about cuts in education and nuclear power plant in my town.

l  Cuts in education

    In my opinion,education is so important and it is the cornerstone of national development. If a country cuts education, the overall national quality will drop. And then the level of people's knowledge and the country's development will not be coordinate. Resulted from that,the speed of national development will slow down ,even stop. So,we should fight against cuts in education.

l  Nuclear power plant in my town

    As we all know,on March 11th, 2011, an earthquake hit Japan. It led to the leakage of nuclear and polluted the environment heavily. What is more, it is also harmful to people's health. If there is a nuclear power plant in my town and the nuclear leaks, it will damage my hometown, which is full of my valuable memories, and do harm to the people which I really treasure. That is why I will protest about nuclear power plant in my town.

Steps to follow to Blog

Please follow Steps 1-3
Step 1- Please follow this format for your blogs. Thank you.
Blog 1:"mentor's name"-"your chinese name"-"your own title"-" Theme: School and Education"
EXAMPLE:
Blog 1) "Ms Ivy Chan"-"Dong Fangzhou"-"My impressions of Singapore school"-"Theme: School and Education"

Step 2 - Creating a post and using labelsInstructions: Go to Posting and click on New Post. In the Compose box where you type your post, you should be able to see Labels at the bottom. Next to Labels, there is a Show all link. If you click on Show all, you will be able to see all the group tutors’ names. Tell the students to insert (by clicking on) their mentor’s name every time they post a message.

Step 3 - Read these 2 links before you get started
Links for writing and commenting on blogsSource: http://www.typepad.com/tips/writing-blog-posts-tips.htmlSource: http://techfreakstuff.com/2009/08/useful-tips-writing-good-blog-comments.html
When you give comments, please comment on the students in your group.

Ms PAMELA
Hu Yiyao (F)
Li Xinyan (F)
Liu Yanan (F)
Song Zhuokun (M)
Ye Shujian (M)

Read this before you start your blogs

Please follow Steps 1-3

Step 1- Please follow this format for your blogs. Thank you.

Blog 1:"mentor's name"-"your chinese name"-"your own title"-" Theme: School and Education"

EXAMPLE:

Blog 1) "Ms Ivy Chan"-"Dong Fangzhou"-"My impressions of Singapore school"-"Theme: School and Education"

Step 2 - Creating a post and using labels
Instructions: Go to Posting and click on New Post. In the Compose box where you type your post, you should be able to see Labels at the bottom. Next to Labels, there is a Show all link. If you click on Show all, you will be able to see all the group tutors’ names. Tell the students to insert (by clicking on) their mentor’s name every time they post a message.

Step 3 - Read these 2 links before you get started

Links for writing and commenting on blogs
Source: http://www.typepad.com/tips/writing-blog-posts-tips.html
Source: http://techfreakstuff.com/2009/08/useful-tips-writing-good-blog-comments.html

When you give comments, please comment on the students in your group.

Ms PAMELA
Hu Yiyao (F)
Li Xinyan (F)
Liu Yanan (F)
Song Zhuokun (M)
Ye Shujian (M)

Ms IVY

Wang Kexin (F)
Wang Xiao (F)
Xiao Xiao (F)
Zhang Chenwei (M)
Zhou Shaowen (M)

Mr SETO

Chen Chi (M)
Dong Fangzhou (M)
Ping Sibo (M)
Li Bin (M)
Wei Wenbo (M)
Zhu Zikun (M)

Ms LIM
Zhang Yaowen (F)
Zheng Siyuan (F)

A Happy 2012 to everyone!

Hello students,

A very Happy 2012 to all of you! Looking forward to working with you this semester.

Cheers,

Ms. Lim