Dear Diary...
Colbie Caillat - Never Let You Go
jeudi 25 mars 2010
Colbie CaillatNever Let You GoIf we find that our vision is blinded We should slow down and maybe we will find it Every heart just needs a little time to grow If we go through a little bit of hard times You should know that to fix it it'll take time Baby hold on before we start to lose control What can I say, what can I do How do we change, I'm not gonna lose you If the world stops turning If the sun stops burning When the cold winds starts to blow I wanna let you know, oh I'll never let you go When you feel like breaking When your heart keeps waiting When the tears begin to flow I wanna let you know, oh I'll never let you go Don't hide those feelings inside 'cause If they're tucked back they could turn your heart black How long will it take for us to let this go We you just wait, will you let loose Will you know, my feelings are true If the world stops turning If the sun stops burning When the cold winds starts to blow I wanna let you know, oh I'll never let you go When you feel like breaking When your heart keeps waiting When the tears begin to flow I wanna let you know, oh I'll never let you go Baby I am standing here Trying to get past the fear Hoping you will let me go Oh, I wanna let you know If the world stops turning If the sun stops burning When the cold winds starts to blow I wanna let you, oh I'll never let you go When you feel like breaking When your heart keeps waiting When the tears begin to flow I wanna let you know, oh I'll never let you go Oh, I'll never let you go I'll never let you go Oh, I wanna let you know, I'll never let you go No, I'll never let you go Oh, I wanna let you know, I'll never let you go No, I'll never let you go I'm gonna let you know, I'll never let you go I'm gonna let you know, oh I'll never let you goAu Revoiryongliang
he closed his diary at {20:52}
Dear Diary...
Charity
dimanche 21 mars 2010
I had wanted to sleep early tonight, but I decided to stay up to talk about my sentiments on charity.
Reflection is mental nourishment, and thus is more important than sleep :D HAHA.
Tonight's Thong Chai Charity Night, which was organised and broadcasted by Channel 8 wasn't much of a success, in my opinion compared to charity shows in the past. When I looked at the figures close to the end of the show, I had seen that there were only 400K+ call-in donations, a far cry from previous years' 1m+ calls. I'll post the donations received as soon as they are released.
So, this reminds me of an article/essay I wrote on charity that only got a measly 22 marks. I decided to try writing it again :D
_____________________________________________________________________________
The word, “Charity” entered the English language through the French word, “Charite”, which was derived from the Latin word “Caritas”. In the twelfth century, charity indicated a state of benevolence towards the poor.
In the fifteenth century, charity was used to indicate the state of love or simple affection which was in or out of regarding one’s fellows; an occasion or body of people seeking to embody that state; the love of god, in both directions.
The fraternity was the embodiment of this ideal. In 1700, it meant an optimistic judgement about the good intentions of others; an act of benevolence towards the poor or the needy; an institution erected as a result of such an act.
In essence, the act of charity meant giving to others, with no strings attached.
However, in recent years, there has been an overwhelming trend of commercialisation in charity, which is a paradox within itself. Commercialisation and charity cannot exist together. Commercialisation involves making money and profits while charity purely involves helping the poor and needy. Therefore charities are
often dubbed as non-profit organisations.
Charity has crumbled in the era of commercialism, where only money talks. There is no concern over quality, the poor, the needy, the hungry or the sick. No longer are charities non-profit-driven. A recent study commissioned by Google.org and conducted by the Centre on Philanthropy at Indiana University claims that less than a third of donations are targeted at those in need.
Where does the money go then? They go to the local telecommunication companies, the administrative charges, and to the cost of the fundraiser. Thus, the “love and simple affection” common people like us shower on the needy through donations, do not all shower upon the needy we expect to help. For example, the calls in to Thong Chai charity night were charged $0.21 of administrative charges, including GST apart from the donation itself. For the 400K calls in tonight, the
administration and government coffers would have grown richer by $
84,000.
Apart from the fact that not all that we donate goes to the beneficiaries, there still are other factors why I feel that the spirit of charity has been lost in this era.
Many fundraisers organised by non-profit organisations are often sponsored by large companies or even conglomerates. However, charity is definitely not the main reason behind their generous contributions. The number one reason why the sponsors would agree to fund a campaign is because of the positive media exposure they can receive if they agree to contribute to and sponsor charities and fundraisers. Big names such as Tan Chong and Sons Motor Co. sponsors NKF annually for its charity show, giving the Nissan cars they carry a large amount of publicity. A Chinese saying goes like this, “A good businessman will never make a non-profitable deal”. As such, the sponsors will never agree to sponsor the non-profit organisations if not for the profits they can earn.
Hence, until the day companies are able to contribute under the veil of anonymity, charity will remain a name in the wind.
Tax-deductible donations are another example of the profit-charity paradox. Since an act of charity is to give willingly and voluntarily without expecting return, giving a donation to a charity should be acknowledged as a form of charity. However, the introduction of tax-deductible donations has destroyed the spirit of charity and the act of giving. People no longer donate out of goodwill, they donate so as to be able to receive tax incentives and rebates. Moreover, some people feel that they rather do charity with their money, rather than to pay them as taxes to the government. As such, these forms of donations and acts of charity are not really donations or charitable acts as they are not made out of genuine goodwill, but with an underlying motive of becoming eligible for tax-deduction.
In this modern era, charity is really dead. We no longer help our unfortunate fellow human beings out of goodwill, but with motives. Our acts of charity are no longer genuine as we demand returns for every action. There is little hope for the spirit of charity to be revived, for our youth are benevolent only to earn CIP hours. The era when true charity existed, is a lost generation.
Very little change to it. I only added a few examples to make the essay not so
theoretical. Because I'm tired ):
Goodnight.
Au Revoir
yongliang
he closed his diary at {00:20}
Dear Diary...
Failed OG outing
samedi 20 mars 2010
There, again, another failed OG outing. ):Not gonna make a mountain out of a molehill, at least the 5 of us had fun playing pool :D We'll play snooker next time hahaha. :DOn Friday, after Health and Fitness, I met Chyan Wen to finish up some unfinished business before having lunch. After which, we went to a toy shop where I saw many many many hobby kits! :D It had been a long time since I had made a model, so I decided to browse around and find something nice to make. Sigh, the Ferrari F60 model cost $90+ way beyond my budget. So I settled with a cool looking Comanche :DManaged to complete the set in 4 hours hahaha :D Didn't lose my touch :)Obviously, I didn't paint the kit ): My super duper old Humbrol paint had dried up, so didn't get a chance to paint this kit. Really wanted to paint this kit because it looked really nice, but fate didn't allow me to. haha.But I guess it already looks very cool on its own.
My spartan toolkit.
The model to be made. COMANCHE :D
Parts
The cockpit was really hard to assemble.
Little machine gun.
The smaller missile racks.
Half-assembled.
Larger missile rack
Wheels installed, it can now stand on its own 3 wheels.
Holes drilled manually for the stub wings.
Holes drilled too far apart!!
Completed 'copter. Looks cool right :D
What a beautiful mess, this is.
Oh my, school is gonna start really soon. Just had a bad haircut again, as usual ): Hope it grows back ASAP. I need to find a hairdress who can trim my hair properly!
I think school is gonna get tougher, but as the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Time for me to get going :D Tests coming up, time to be a juggler too. :D
School is nothing really, the future is the real thing.
Au Revoir
yongliang
he closed his diary at {20:30}
Dear Diary...
Colbie Caillat - I Won't
mercredi 17 mars 2010
Colbie Caillat
I Won'tI won't do what you told meI won't do what you said (no)I'm not gonna stop feelingI'm not gonna forget itI don't wanna start overI don't wanna pretend itYou are not my loverGuess you're only my friendCause when it took my heartIt took it allWhen you gave it backI fell apartSo...I won't do what you told meI won't do what you said, noI'm not gonna stop feelingI'm not gonna forget itI don't wanna start overI don't wanna pretend itYou are not my loverGuess you're only my friendMy friendI wont...Well, maybe you're not right for meMaybe this is hard to seeI get lost in your beautyAnd I just stop questioningCause when you took my heartYou took it allWhen you gave it backIt fell apartSo...I won't do what you told meI won't do what you said, noI'm not gonna stop feelingI'm not gonna forget itI don't wanna start overI don't wanna pretend itYou are not my loverGuess you're only my friendFriendI wont...You say it's easier to burn than to buildYou say it's easier to hurt than to healBut I say you lose when you give up what you loveAnd I've lived my life without you long enoughSo...I won't do what you told meI won't do what you said, noI'm not gonna stop feelingI'm not gonna forget itI don't wanna start overI don't wanna pretend itYou are not my loverGuess you're only my friendFriendI wont...No, I won't...
he closed his diary at {21:34}
Dear Diary...
March Holidays
vendredi 12 mars 2010
YAY! :D The March holidays are finally here. This term had been an extremely eventful one. First is my move into a completely new environment. After a decade in Catholic High, I have to travel to Bukit Timah early every morning to Hwa Chong. And It's now coed :/ Then there was orientation. And then there was our classes. And then, the most detested, LESSON PROPER - which eventually led to test after test, and of course, failure after failure ):Talking about failure, I think I totally failed today's GP test :/ "Movies today are entertaining but rarely enlightening." How far is this statement accurate. (something like that...)This was my response: Watching movies is a form of entertainment. It is a popular way of relieving stress and is also a popular activity for gatherings. However, apart from just providing entertainment, movies are also enlightening. In my opinion, an enlightening movie allows the audience to learn and take away something from it when they leave the theatre. Some values that can be spread include teamwork, leadership and care for others. I feel that most movies are able to affect the audience in such a way as there are morals and values to be learnt from them. Therefore, I feel that movies today are not only entertaining, but also enlightening. An example of an enlightening movie is "Invictus" The movie is not only a form of entertainment, but it is also a form of documentation of an incredible milestone of South African history, when a rugby game reunited a nation which had been torn apart and is starting to recover from decades of racial discrimination, prejudice and apartheid. I feel that values such as teamwork, the power of unity and good leadership can be learnt from the movie. Nelson Mendela was the newly-elected president and face the challenge of reuniting a broken country. He learnt during a rugby game that the South African natives support for the visitor team, while the immigrants to South Africa would support the local team, the Springboks. He learnt that the Springboks, which is a team made up of immigrants except for 1 player, reminded the locals of apartheid and their past, thus they detested the team. Nelson Mendela decided that he had to teach his people to forgive and forget so that they can move on. He overturned a petition to dissolve the Springboks, a decision which risked his presidency. The Springboks were a weak team, however they eventually went on to win the World Cup, with everyone in the stadium cheering proudly for the Springboks. A line of Matt Damon's illustrated the idea of unity and the power of people very well, "There were not only 450,000 people in the stadium supporting us, but 6.5 million South Africans behind us." Thus, I find this movie enlightening as it perfectly illustrated the ideas of teamwork and tenacity which was displayed by the rugby players who were given the formidable task of winning the World Cup to repair their country; the importance of good leadership which was displayed by Nelson Mendela and his good foresight; and the power of a united nation which was excellently portrayed in the final scene where the entire stadium of South Africans, natives and immigrants alike cheering on their national team, the Springboks. Therefore, this shows that movies today are not only entertaining, they can be moving and enlightening as well. Another example of an enlightening movie is "The Soloist". It showed how music could grant a schizophrenic musical genius moments of sanity and tranquility, and the healing power of friendship. Columnist for the LA Times, Steve Lopez had ran out of ideas for his column until he met Nathaniel Ayers, a musical genius he described as "the man who has the world on two strings". The power of music can be seen when Nathaniel Ayers was sane and tranquil for the moments in his confused life when he is playing. An unusual friendship between Steve and Nathaniel was formed. The movie offered a perspective of an unusual friendship - a relationship where 2 people are willing to do anything for the other - which can be seen between Steve and Nathaniel. Steve risked straining his family ties, dedicating his time to help Nathaniel Ayers recover and reintegrate and risked being beaten up during Nathaniel's moments of madness. While Nathaniel had to step out of his comfort zone and try to adapt so as to not disappoint his new and only friend's efforts. Thus, in my opinion the movie was enlightening as it showed the power of friendship and how the passion of music could help preserve the sanity of a schizophrenic genius. Therefore it shows that movies today are not only entertaining but also enlightening. However, there are indeed movies which are purely entertaining with no educational value. An example would be "Jonas Brothers Live in Concert 3D". Since the movie was merely recorded concert footage played in stereoscopic format, there is nothing to learn from the movie and it is thus not enlightening and only serves the purpose of entertainment. Other movies such as comedies like "Duplex" only serve to provide entertainment but are not enlightening. However, since this is only a small proportion of movies being screen in cinemas today, it is unfair to say that movies today are rarely enlightening just by using the small proportion of movies as representation. Thus I feel that non-enlightening movies are rare cases and most movies are entertaining and enlightening. In conclusion, there are movies which are not enlightening, they are movies with no educational value like Jonas Brother's Live in Concert. However since this only represents only a small proportion of movies, it is unfair to say assume that movies today are rarely enlightening. Therefore, I feel that a movie is enlightening as long as values and morals can be learnt from it. Since many movies today fit the bill, the statement "Movies today are entertaining but rarely enlightening" is not an accurate description of movies today.something like that...I think fail already. ): Au Revoiryongliang
he closed his diary at {23:09}
Dear Diary...
);
mercredi 10 mars 2010
Oh my. Back to my failing ways again. J1 is really feeling like sec 3 all over again. In sec 3 I failed every single Physics Test, Chemistry Test and Math test there was. Always had to go for retests. and failed time after time. It's beginning all over again. Got 5/26 for my first math lecture test. ): Sigh. Good start, good start. Then there was today's Chemistry test. I got stumped when I saw "resultant solution" and started to think which is the resultant solution. The more I thought, the more lost I became, and soon I got lost in my own thoughts. When the tutor said, "3 minutes left!", I snapped back to reality but it was too late to finish. ): Sigh, I'm sure I'll get no more than 4 marks for Chem Test, surely. And I studied for it last night, I redid my Chemistry tutorials. Sigh, only to fail again. Back to square one. Tough road ahead! ): And have you read about Jack Neo? What's going on with men these days. There was Tiger Woods, and now there's Jack Neo. If you can't stick to one life partner, then don't have one at all. You're wasting her time! But then again, you can say that Jack Neo's honest revelation deserves to be commended and his courage admired. However, his actions are to be condemned. I hope I'd be a good man. haha. :DOh my, tough road ahead.Is education important? Sure it is. But then how much of what we learn now are we going to be able to apply in future? I'm positive I will not be drawing graphs, circles and ellipses on graph paper. What are the chances? Don't you think what we're learning are almost completely irrelevant for our futures? Sure, polytechnics are there for students who have decided to specialise in a certain field and thus would be exposed to that field to a greater depth, thus the irrelevance of what they are learning is reduced. JCs are meant for the students who have not made their decisions or have decided to keep their options open. So we are exposed to a greater variety of subjects, but not to much depth. However, I feel that much of what we are learning is irrelevant. What are the chances of an engineer drawing an ellipse OR A STAR on graph paper with a graphical calculator? What are the chances of a chemist diluting a reacted solution over and over again before realising he forgot how many moles of reactant he used and decides to use titration to figure out how much reactant he had using stoichiometry? Honestly? Close to zero.Then what are we doing? I shouldn't be complaining. Au Revoiryongliang
he closed his diary at {20:28}
Dear Diary...
Mountains to conquer
lundi 8 mars 2010
Taking time off to blog. (: Didn't do too well for my math lecture test. Back to my failing ways. ): Math, that's one big, giant mountain to conquer. Can't the mountain just move outta my way? -.-School is starting to get hectic. I'm starting to not know how to do work. I'm starting to become reliant on other people's work to get my own work done. Not a good start, it's only term 1. And CCA. Now I'm having second thoughts about joining floorball. But my calculator said I should join floorball, so I guess I shall. After all, if godbro can do it, so can I. That's exactly what I told myself before the O levels, even though I was still failing badly. If I could pull it off then, I can pull it off again. Can't be that hard, right? yeah, I guess so. We're given a day off tomorrow, but I've got to go back to school to attend my first floorball training. Brilliant start, brilliant start. At this rate I'm going, can I still go cycling once a week? I should spend more time studying.Au Revoiryongliang
he closed his diary at {19:29}
Dear Diary...
Cyber Offences
samedi 6 mars 2010
Yesterday 2 seniors from my school were suspended due to "cyber offences". That led me to think, what exactly is a cyber offence? With the blogosphere booming and people becoming more and more expressive, what exactly is wrong and right to say, or type/publish in this case? Let's say I criticise my school. Maybe I'd say the infrastructure is bad or I don't like the school building. Does that constitute a cyber offence? In my opinion, no not really. :/ As long as you say why you don't like the school building or explain why the infrastructure is bad in a logical manner, I don't think that should be classified as a cyber offence, after all blogging is a part of objective journalism. You are merely voicing out your opinion, journalising your views. Then maybe I criticise a teacher. 'So and so' is a lousy teacher. Does that constitute to a cyber offence? This depends, really. If you say 'so and so' is a lousy teacher cos he/she is ugly, stupid or something along those lines, I would think that's a form of cyber offence. It's a personal attack, no? I think it is. Unless, you explain. Probably her teaching style isn't suited for you. Or maybe you think she cannot control the class. Any of those reasons would make the criticism more objective, and I think it shouldn't be regarded as a cyber offence, simply because you have your right to voice objective, well-grounded, well-based opinions, which have to be true of course. Criticising others (as in classmates, etc). Now, I think this is a sensitive area. :/ If the scenario is that you were supposed to do a project with 'so and so' but 'so and so' did not contribute anything and freeloaded off you, and then you publish a blog post saying that he totally freeloaded off you. I don't think it's a cyber offence, like seriously. I mean, he totally lazed around right? But if you call him a sloth, or something along those lines, I think you crossed the line. Blogging is a form of journalism, so as long as you make well-grounded and well-based criticism (that has to be evidenced), I think that should keep you out of trouble. Unless, someone is making trouble for you or trying to cover up something...Anyway, just got back from LIFE today. [: So fun haha. Today didn't do tutoring, instead I helped a kid draw and colour a picture of a violin-playing cat. Cool right? Then we made kites out of A4 paper, twigs and raffia string. And then we threw it around. So fun to be a child. Anyone wants to join CFTH and volunteer at LIFE with me? :DAu Revoiryongliang
he closed his diary at {13:50}
