Everywhere I can hear voices,
Cries, Laughter, Mumble.
"Mummy, Daddy," shout the kids,
And into their arms the kids are.
Onion, garlic and anchovies,
Fill the kitchen's atmosphere,
"Breakfast everybody" and here comes Mummy,
With fried rice to be served to her family.
"Pass the plate, please," says Sister,
"Thank you." And they eat happily together.
"Yummy. Delicious. Tasty."
"You're our greatest chef, Mummy."
What about the Baby?
He's hungry too. What should Mummy do?
Oh yes. Mummy will get you some milk.
Patiently, waits the Baby.
Gulp. Gulp. Into his mouth, his milk.
"I wanna watch football."
"No, I wanna watch cartoon."
"No, we should watch the news."
Comes Daddy with the remote control,
"CNN. A very informative channel," says Daddy.
Sigh. Sigh.
"We're bored. What are we going to do?"
"Let's play." "Okay!" "Let's play peek-a-boo."
"No way. Too childish. Let's play hide and seek."
"Ouch! My knees hurt."
"What happened?" asks Mummy.
"She pushed me."
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did. That's why I fell."
"Shut up! Don't start. Or I'll beat you up some more."
Funny, should I say,
That I love this place the best.
With all the noise that fills my ears,
But still, it doesn't matter because,
Nothing feels like home.
I know I only got 3.5/5 for this poem but whatever marks I received, I like my poem.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Journal Two
SUMMARY
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak stated that there is no point on building libraries or even giving more tax relief for books if Malaysians don’t care to read. This problem occurs as many prefer Malay books while the bookshelves at mostly every bookstore are conquered by English books. Another factor is that the medium of instruction in schools had been switched to Malay and therefore a lot of students, especially Malay students, whose ability to read in English are limited, think that reading English books is a challenging task for them to accomplish. What exacerbating the problem is the incompetence of teachers in teaching English literature. According to Datuk Seri Najib, we all have to wait for the next generation teachers who are well trained and who are proficient in English to teach before the Malaysians are introduced to literature.
REFLECTION
I agree with Datuk Seri Najib’s points on the factors that lead to the occurrence of only a small number of Malaysians who read books. The factors such as the switching medium of instruction in schools, the limited ability to read in English, the incompetence of teachers in teaching and the majority books filling bookstores consist of English books make sense to me. However, I don’t really agree with his opinion to stop building libraries just because of majority of the Malaysians don’t read books. What about the minority’s rights? They too should be given the facility to do research or even to do some light reading. In my opinion, the present libraries aren’t that interesting to be visited. To be specific, the condition and the atmosphere of the libraries aren’t welcoming at all, and the books in the libraries are mostly outdated. I once went to the national library and I couldn’t find that much of interesting materials there. The magazines were a few years’ back, and the atmosphere was sullen. My former English teacher, who was just transferred from England, went to the national library and commented that there was nothing much to be read there. He said that our national library lacks new stuff. So, what I’m trying to say here is that we shouldn’t be blamed for not practising the reading culture. Hence, to overcome this problem, perhaps, a thorough research should be done regarding this topic. Possibly, the government need not build new libraries; instead, what the government has to do is only upgrade the existed libraries. (Well, it is also good if the number of libraries is being increased.) On another matter, where students’ abilities to read and understand English are limited, the present teachers are to be blamed. Of course, the best resolution to this problem is to wait for the well trained next generation teachers to teach English. What about those who are poor in English at this particular time? They too, don’t want to be left out in this modern world where English is one of the most important language on Earth. Therefore, my suggestion is, while waiting for the well trained next generation teachers to graduate, the government should import well trained teachers from overseas, for example England, for the time being so there won’t be any gap between the present and the future students. Who knows, the present students could speak good English with British accent? :)
The summary and reflection are based on the article "Najib: No point building libraries if people don't care to read" from Sunday Star, 18 March 2007.
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak stated that there is no point on building libraries or even giving more tax relief for books if Malaysians don’t care to read. This problem occurs as many prefer Malay books while the bookshelves at mostly every bookstore are conquered by English books. Another factor is that the medium of instruction in schools had been switched to Malay and therefore a lot of students, especially Malay students, whose ability to read in English are limited, think that reading English books is a challenging task for them to accomplish. What exacerbating the problem is the incompetence of teachers in teaching English literature. According to Datuk Seri Najib, we all have to wait for the next generation teachers who are well trained and who are proficient in English to teach before the Malaysians are introduced to literature.
REFLECTION
I agree with Datuk Seri Najib’s points on the factors that lead to the occurrence of only a small number of Malaysians who read books. The factors such as the switching medium of instruction in schools, the limited ability to read in English, the incompetence of teachers in teaching and the majority books filling bookstores consist of English books make sense to me. However, I don’t really agree with his opinion to stop building libraries just because of majority of the Malaysians don’t read books. What about the minority’s rights? They too should be given the facility to do research or even to do some light reading. In my opinion, the present libraries aren’t that interesting to be visited. To be specific, the condition and the atmosphere of the libraries aren’t welcoming at all, and the books in the libraries are mostly outdated. I once went to the national library and I couldn’t find that much of interesting materials there. The magazines were a few years’ back, and the atmosphere was sullen. My former English teacher, who was just transferred from England, went to the national library and commented that there was nothing much to be read there. He said that our national library lacks new stuff. So, what I’m trying to say here is that we shouldn’t be blamed for not practising the reading culture. Hence, to overcome this problem, perhaps, a thorough research should be done regarding this topic. Possibly, the government need not build new libraries; instead, what the government has to do is only upgrade the existed libraries. (Well, it is also good if the number of libraries is being increased.) On another matter, where students’ abilities to read and understand English are limited, the present teachers are to be blamed. Of course, the best resolution to this problem is to wait for the well trained next generation teachers to teach English. What about those who are poor in English at this particular time? They too, don’t want to be left out in this modern world where English is one of the most important language on Earth. Therefore, my suggestion is, while waiting for the well trained next generation teachers to graduate, the government should import well trained teachers from overseas, for example England, for the time being so there won’t be any gap between the present and the future students. Who knows, the present students could speak good English with British accent? :)
The summary and reflection are based on the article "Najib: No point building libraries if people don't care to read" from Sunday Star, 18 March 2007.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
In-Class Assigment - BIAS
1. What is the article about?
The article is about the influence of unhealthy food TV ads on small kids and teenagers that
may lure them to buying it and increase their chance of getting obesed.
2. Are there biases in this article? If yes, is the bias against or for someone or something?
Yes, there are biases in this article. The bias is against unhealthy food TV advertisements.
3. Explain the bias and provide examples.
The article is bias against junk food and fast food TV advertisements as it stated that eating
those unhealthy food may lead to obesity and many other diseases. This is due to the types
of food that are being advertised, which are usually unhealthy; and the numerous times they
appear on TV and these TV ads have great influence on kids' diet regime.
This is an example of the bias:
Whether an ad shows a kid surfboarding through chocolate cereal or a cartoon animal offering
a tween some chips, the message and its consequences for millions of American children
remains the same: eat, drink and be chubby.
The article is about the influence of unhealthy food TV ads on small kids and teenagers that
may lure them to buying it and increase their chance of getting obesed.
2. Are there biases in this article? If yes, is the bias against or for someone or something?
Yes, there are biases in this article. The bias is against unhealthy food TV advertisements.
3. Explain the bias and provide examples.
The article is bias against junk food and fast food TV advertisements as it stated that eating
those unhealthy food may lead to obesity and many other diseases. This is due to the types
of food that are being advertised, which are usually unhealthy; and the numerous times they
appear on TV and these TV ads have great influence on kids' diet regime.
This is an example of the bias:
Whether an ad shows a kid surfboarding through chocolate cereal or a cartoon animal offering
a tween some chips, the message and its consequences for millions of American children
remains the same: eat, drink and be chubby.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE( IN CLASS ASSIGNMENT)
Forget Me Not (Living With Amnesia)
1. sending her strawberry-blond curls flying.
- metaphor: the colour of her curly hair is compared to the colour of the strawberry.
2. Days and nights are exactly the same. Precisely like death.
-Simile: Days and nights are compared to death.
3. "It's as if Clive's every conscious moment is like waking up for the first time,"
-simile: To Deborah, every time Clive is concsious, she feels like it is the first time he wakes up.
4. Any new information given to him melts as fast as snowflakes on the skin, leaving no trace."
-simile: The information is compared to snowflakes as it is easily forgotten and there's no way to recall it back.
1. sending her strawberry-blond curls flying.
- metaphor: the colour of her curly hair is compared to the colour of the strawberry.
2. Days and nights are exactly the same. Precisely like death.
-Simile: Days and nights are compared to death.
3. "It's as if Clive's every conscious moment is like waking up for the first time,"
-simile: To Deborah, every time Clive is concsious, she feels like it is the first time he wakes up.
4. Any new information given to him melts as fast as snowflakes on the skin, leaving no trace."
-simile: The information is compared to snowflakes as it is easily forgotten and there's no way to recall it back.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
FACTS OR OPINION?
1. In theory, IKON Malaysia sounded like a good idea.
-OPINION: not everybody thinks IKON Malaysia is a good idea.
2. Unlike other talent shows, this one would see established names in the industry
vying for the title and subsequently compete at Asean level.
-OPINION: it can't be referred to as there is no evidence of it.
3. The idea was, presumably, to boost the music industry by taking our music out of
Malaysia. Sounded like a fine plan.
-FACT: We can refer to the records or evidence of this statement.
4. ..she was said to have pulled out, diplomatically citing her hectic schedule as a
reason
-FACT: We can always refer to the evidence or records of her statement.
5. we were told that judging was to be 100 per cent SMS voting.
-FACT: We can refer to the evidence of the statement.
6. The organisers have since reconsidered their decision on the judging method.
-FACT: We can refer to the records or evidence of this statement.
7. Although an official announcement has yet to be made, it is learned that the new
system would see a panel of professional judges responsible for 70 per cent of the
score, while 30 per cent would be from SMS voting.
-FACT: We can refer to the evidence or records of this statement.
8. "The industry has been waiting a long time to find a way to market our artistes
outside Malaysia. The hard part is always to get something going. When there are
people actually trying to do something, more often than not they get bricks thrown
at them before they even begin," said an industry insider.
-FACTS: The sentences are facts as they can be referred to the person who
said them.
-OPINION: But the statement itself is an opinion of an industry insider.
9. She added: "The intention (of IKON Malaysia) is noble. But the organisers’ original
idea of leaving the fate of the contestants solely in the hands of the public is wrong!
I can’t imagine how they could think that it was a good idea.
-FACT: These sentences are facts as they can be referred to the one who made
them.
-OPINION: But the statement itself, once again, is an opinion of somebody.
10. "The real artistes of the day see reality shows like Akademi Fantasia as monster
makers. Some of the reality artistes can’t sing, can’t dance, can’t anything... yet
they’re out there representing the industry. But it’s not their fault they are there.
If you ask me what was the best thing that happened to the industry, I would say
it was Mawi. But he was also the worst thing that happened to the industry."
-OPINION: This statement is an opinion as it is arguable.
11. Another industry player said having established artistes compete with the reality
stars meant only one thing. That the organisers have blatant disrespect for "older’
artistes who have paid their dues in the industry.
-FACT: These sentences can be referred to the evidence or records.
12. "It’s bad enough that the young stars have no respect for their seniors . This will only
perpetuate the problem."In the West, artistes know their place in the industry. They
recognise their idols. If, say, Bono (of U2), a huge name in the music world, competed for a
Grammy with (Sir) Paul McCartney and won, he would probably be humbled because the
former Beatle is a legend in the industry."In our industry, some young artistes —
particularly those created by reality shows — who win awards actually think they are the
best thing to happen to the industry. I didn’t think the music industry could sink any lower.
Guess I was wrong."
-OPINION: These sentences are an opinion of someone and it is arguable.
13. IKON organisers should perhaps go the whole hog and turn their idea into a mega-reality
TV show.
-OPINION: This is the writer's opinion and some may not agree with her.
14. God knows, after more than five years of reality TV, we have more than enough young
artistes to feature.
-OPINION: This is also the writer's opinion and there is no evidence to support this
statement.
15. Just check out the list of reality talent shows we’ve had since 2001: Girl, Are You Ready,
Audition, Popstars, Who Will Win?, Akademi Fantasia, Mentor, Malaysian Idol, Project
SuperStar, One In a Million, Rock Unite, and yes, even good old Bintang RTM. Heck, they
could even throw in (radio station) THR’s Juara Popular winners.
-FACTS: the list of the reality talent shows are real and can be supported by evidence of it.
-OPINION: To let the reality shows' winners compete is the writer's opinion and isn't
supported by any evidence.
16. It may not do anything to the industry but it would at least be fun to watch... and far less
painful than watching veterans of the music industry being "thrashed" by their juniors.
-OPINION: This is also the writer's opinion as not everybody would agree with her.
-OPINION: not everybody thinks IKON Malaysia is a good idea.
2. Unlike other talent shows, this one would see established names in the industry
vying for the title and subsequently compete at Asean level.
-OPINION: it can't be referred to as there is no evidence of it.
3. The idea was, presumably, to boost the music industry by taking our music out of
Malaysia. Sounded like a fine plan.
-FACT: We can refer to the records or evidence of this statement.
4. ..she was said to have pulled out, diplomatically citing her hectic schedule as a
reason
-FACT: We can always refer to the evidence or records of her statement.
5. we were told that judging was to be 100 per cent SMS voting.
-FACT: We can refer to the evidence of the statement.
6. The organisers have since reconsidered their decision on the judging method.
-FACT: We can refer to the records or evidence of this statement.
7. Although an official announcement has yet to be made, it is learned that the new
system would see a panel of professional judges responsible for 70 per cent of the
score, while 30 per cent would be from SMS voting.
-FACT: We can refer to the evidence or records of this statement.
8. "The industry has been waiting a long time to find a way to market our artistes
outside Malaysia. The hard part is always to get something going. When there are
people actually trying to do something, more often than not they get bricks thrown
at them before they even begin," said an industry insider.
-FACTS: The sentences are facts as they can be referred to the person who
said them.
-OPINION: But the statement itself is an opinion of an industry insider.
9. She added: "The intention (of IKON Malaysia) is noble. But the organisers’ original
idea of leaving the fate of the contestants solely in the hands of the public is wrong!
I can’t imagine how they could think that it was a good idea.
-FACT: These sentences are facts as they can be referred to the one who made
them.
-OPINION: But the statement itself, once again, is an opinion of somebody.
10. "The real artistes of the day see reality shows like Akademi Fantasia as monster
makers. Some of the reality artistes can’t sing, can’t dance, can’t anything... yet
they’re out there representing the industry. But it’s not their fault they are there.
If you ask me what was the best thing that happened to the industry, I would say
it was Mawi. But he was also the worst thing that happened to the industry."
-OPINION: This statement is an opinion as it is arguable.
11. Another industry player said having established artistes compete with the reality
stars meant only one thing. That the organisers have blatant disrespect for "older’
artistes who have paid their dues in the industry.
-FACT: These sentences can be referred to the evidence or records.
12. "It’s bad enough that the young stars have no respect for their seniors . This will only
perpetuate the problem."In the West, artistes know their place in the industry. They
recognise their idols. If, say, Bono (of U2), a huge name in the music world, competed for a
Grammy with (Sir) Paul McCartney and won, he would probably be humbled because the
former Beatle is a legend in the industry."In our industry, some young artistes —
particularly those created by reality shows — who win awards actually think they are the
best thing to happen to the industry. I didn’t think the music industry could sink any lower.
Guess I was wrong."
-OPINION: These sentences are an opinion of someone and it is arguable.
13. IKON organisers should perhaps go the whole hog and turn their idea into a mega-reality
TV show.
-OPINION: This is the writer's opinion and some may not agree with her.
14. God knows, after more than five years of reality TV, we have more than enough young
artistes to feature.
-OPINION: This is also the writer's opinion and there is no evidence to support this
statement.
15. Just check out the list of reality talent shows we’ve had since 2001: Girl, Are You Ready,
Audition, Popstars, Who Will Win?, Akademi Fantasia, Mentor, Malaysian Idol, Project
SuperStar, One In a Million, Rock Unite, and yes, even good old Bintang RTM. Heck, they
could even throw in (radio station) THR’s Juara Popular winners.
-FACTS: the list of the reality talent shows are real and can be supported by evidence of it.
-OPINION: To let the reality shows' winners compete is the writer's opinion and isn't
supported by any evidence.
16. It may not do anything to the industry but it would at least be fun to watch... and far less
painful than watching veterans of the music industry being "thrashed" by their juniors.
-OPINION: This is also the writer's opinion as not everybody would agree with her.
The GRAPH STUFF
OVERVIEW
Line graph 1
Conclusion
Male motor vehicle crash deaths are still higher than female motor vehicle crashes eventhough there is some decrease in the number of male and a slight increase in the number of female in motor vehicle crash deaths.
Table 1
Conclusion and inference
From the table, male motor vehicle crash deaths declined 8 percent while female deaths increased 11 percent from 1975 to 2005 because as time passes by, the number of women who have the licence has increased.
Line graph 2
Conclusion
In line graph 2, the number of male passenger vehicle occupant deaths per 100 000 people by gender, 1975-2005 is still higher than female.
Table 2
Conclusion and inference
The highest total rate of male and female passenger vehicle occupant deaths from 1975-2005 is 15.7 which is in 1978 while the lowest is 10.6 which is in 2005 because male and female in the year 2005 were given the knowledge of the danger of driving recklessly.
AGE DIFFERENCES
Table 3
Conclusion and inference
The highest rate of passenger vehicle occupant deaths is 23.4 from the age category 16-19 while the lowest rate of passenger vehicle occupant deaths is 2.5 from the age category 0-15. This is because most of the passengers between 16-19 can't drive and therefore they can only be the passengers while passengers between the age of 0-15 has the lowest rate because they prefer to stay at home.
ALCOHOL INVOLVEMENT
Table 4
Conclusion and inference
The highest percentage of estimated death with BACs> 0.08 is 51 percent for both male and female which is in 1982 because that year, the act for the banning of alcohol usage in driving hasn't been introduced yet.
Line graph 1
Conclusion
Male motor vehicle crash deaths are still higher than female motor vehicle crashes eventhough there is some decrease in the number of male and a slight increase in the number of female in motor vehicle crash deaths.
Table 1
Conclusion and inference
From the table, male motor vehicle crash deaths declined 8 percent while female deaths increased 11 percent from 1975 to 2005 because as time passes by, the number of women who have the licence has increased.
Line graph 2
Conclusion
In line graph 2, the number of male passenger vehicle occupant deaths per 100 000 people by gender, 1975-2005 is still higher than female.
Table 2
Conclusion and inference
The highest total rate of male and female passenger vehicle occupant deaths from 1975-2005 is 15.7 which is in 1978 while the lowest is 10.6 which is in 2005 because male and female in the year 2005 were given the knowledge of the danger of driving recklessly.
AGE DIFFERENCES
Table 3
Conclusion and inference
The highest rate of passenger vehicle occupant deaths is 23.4 from the age category 16-19 while the lowest rate of passenger vehicle occupant deaths is 2.5 from the age category 0-15. This is because most of the passengers between 16-19 can't drive and therefore they can only be the passengers while passengers between the age of 0-15 has the lowest rate because they prefer to stay at home.
ALCOHOL INVOLVEMENT
Table 4
Conclusion and inference
The highest percentage of estimated death with BACs> 0.08 is 51 percent for both male and female which is in 1982 because that year, the act for the banning of alcohol usage in driving hasn't been introduced yet.
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