Colours

  Colors bring live to a picture. Without colors, life would become dull and boring. The rainbow has seven colors - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. It is very significant as it only occurs after it rains. Christians believe that the rainbow signifies a covenant of God with men. Colors can also represent various emotions and feelings. Red can mean love, danger or anger. Why does red represent love? It is believed that true love comes from the heart and our heart is red in color. Boyfriends normally give their girlfriends red roses to represent their love for one another. Road signs that warns road users of danger are often red in color. This is because red is an outstanding color and does not camouflage with the surroundings. When people get angry, blood rushes to the head which makes the face blush. This is why red also represents anger. The ocean is baby blue in color. It gives one the sense of calmness as the sight of the ocean calms the nerves down. 'Baby' is added to the color blue as it describes a lighter shade of blue. Green is associated with envy and jealousy. Metaphorically, the saying 'green -eyed monster' is used to describe a jealous person. White represents purity. It is said that a child is like a blank white piece of paper. It is up to the parents and educators to design and draw on it. Which means, parents and educators are responsible in educating and grooming the child. Black portrays evil. As seen in fairytale movies, the evil witch is normally groomed in black garments.

Preparing for Exams

  When it comes to exams, students normally have butterflies in their stomach and are filled with anxiety. It is not that they are not prepared but exams can determine the future. Up to date, there are very few resources that can help students to the right path in preparing for their exams. As the society becomes more demanding each day, the current generation faces more pressure. Children are pressured by their parents and teachers to perform well. Some students who are not able to perform up to the expectations result in rebellion or worse still, suicide. Therefore, in varsities, counselors are employed to help counsel students who are facing problems in all aspects of life. Even so, students do not have enough courage to seek help from the counselors as they are afraid that they will become a laughing stock to their friends. Parents and guardians should also be sensitive to the needs of their children and discover their strengths and weakness at an early stage so that they can be groomed according to their talents.

  Here in Malaysia, UPSR, PMR and SPM are one of the most important exams to locals. Various workshops have been held to help students prepare for their exams on the academic side but not so much on preparing them mentally. Every student should take an effort to discover one's most effective study pattern. Some students do best when they do their revision continuously while others perform better when they do their revision nearer to exams. Also, different people have different suitable times to study, either morning, afternoon or night. Most students prefer to study during the night time. Preparing a study schedule or time table would also help in saving time and aids in ensuring that all topics in the syllabus has been covered. Practices on past year papers should be done consistently as the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect". Although we know that nothing is perfect in this world, doing past year papers does help a students get used to the exam format so that they would not panic during the exams. Students should be in a good state of mind when sitting for the exam. In order to achieve that, they would need to take good care of their health - drink lots of water, eat a balanced diet and sleep early. Preparing well for an exam helps a student avoid burning mid night oil. With all that has been said, a student's preparation for exams also contributes to the results of one's exams.

How A Character Has Changed Due To Certain Events That Have Taken Place In His/Her Life

     Based on the novel 'Step by Wicked Step', written by Anne Fine, I realized that Colin had changed a lot due to an incident that happened which made a huge impact in his life. Everything changed when his mother took a flit with him and left his step-father.

     First of all, Colin changed into a very unhappy and lonely boy in his new place. He misses his step-father who was also his best friend that listens to him and knew everything about him. 'The thing about Dad is, you can talk to him. And he remembers what you say.' page 53. Not only that, he had to join a new school and had to go through unpleasant experiences. He got ignored and could not make new friends as the students there already had their own set of friends. His mother was also busy with her job and household chores that she had no time to listen to his problems and feelings.

     Besides that, Colin changed into a dreamy boy which causes him to have less focus in class. As a result, he did badly in school and was sent to see someone. This is because he missed his step-father very much and every night he would take out the tobacco tin out of the toe of his boot and put it under his pillow. He would also hum their favorite song and stay awake for hours talking to his dad pretending he was there. '...I'd hum our favorite song.' page 56. Every time the ice skating ring plays their song, he would be there listening.
    
     Last but not least, Colin became resourceful when he was separated from his step-father. He would keep track on how long since he last saw him which was 5 years,8 months and 7 days. Not only that, he secretly writes his step-father's name and his old address on the forms at school. '...sneak his name and our old address on the forms...' page 60. In order to be able to search for his step-father one day, he tries to save money by doing three paper rounds to earn money.

     In conclusion, Colin responded negatively to the changes in his life in the beginning by being a sad, dreamy and moody boy but soon realized that it would make no difference. Finally, he decided to do something worthy for his step-father. His love and longing for his step-father motivated him to be more optimistic, resourceful and patient in his mission to search for him.

Comparing Two Characters In The Novel Step by Wicked Step

     After studying the novel "Step by Wicked Step", I learned that the novel was about five school children that are different in many ways but have one thing in common. They all come from a dysfunctional family. All their parents faced problems with each other and in the end split up and go their own separate ways. Out of the six characters from the novel, the two the characters who shares a lot of things in common are Richard Clayton Harwick and Colin. They have both similarities and differences between them which can be observed clearly throughout the story.

     First of all, Richard and Colin loves their fathers a lot but they were separated. The death of Richard's father separated them and Richard missed his father a lot since then. He would visit his father's grave and spend some time there. 'Sometimes I sit beside my father's grave and run my fingers over the letters of his name...' page 18. However, in Colin's situation, he was separated from his step-father when his mother just took him away and left his step-father. It was so sudden for him that he did not even realize what happened. His step-father was also not aware that they were going to leave. Since then, Colin missed his step-father everyday and could not stop thinking about him. Richard lost his father forever but Colin's father was still alive and Colin has been searching for him ever since. 'Enough to go back and find him.' page 61.

     Other than that, the similarity that Richard and Colin shared is that they were both ignored by their mothers. After their separation from their fathers, they did not get any attention from their mothers. When Richard was treated badly by Reverend Coldstone, his mother's new husband, she did not even defend him. As for Colin, his mother was not aware of how much Colin missed his step-father. She was too busy working at the school canteen and doing household chores which made him feel like she doesn't care.'...how I feel doesn't matter quite so much'. Both of them did not feel their mother's love.

     Last but not least, both of them wanted to run away as they thought it would be able to make things work. Richard ran away from home with the hope that he would make life more pleasant for everyone in his family. Colin on the other hand plans to run away to find his step-father as he really misses him. In the end, Richard realized that running away does not solve any problems but only make things worst while Colin still plans on saving money to search for his step-father. 'I'm saving up now....enough to go and find him.' page 61.

     In conclusion, the two characters suffered much pain and sorrow when they could not be with their father anymore. Not only that, they had to go through it on their own as no one cares about them and about how they felt. There was nobody to advise them on what to do. We should be aware that running away does not solve any problems. In fact, it may affect the people around us. Therefore, we need to think wisely before making a serious decision in life.

Being The Youngest

     Being the youngest child in the family has its pros and cons. For me it seemed like it had more disadvantages than advantages when I was young but now I enjoy being the youngest. I come from a family with two children which means I have an older sister as I am the youngest. We are three years apart so there is a difference of freedom given to each of us. For example, things that she can do but I cannot because I am not old enough yet. I used to envy her when she was given the freedom to go out with her friends without parental guidance and go to parties. She was also given a cell phone for one of her birthdays while I still had to borrow my parent's phone. I was also jealous when she finished her UPSR and left primary school. I could not wait to get over with primary school and go to secondary school. Not only that, I wasn't satisfied when she was given more pocket money than me. I did not understand that the cost of food in secondary school was more than in primary school and that she would need extra money for lunch when she stays back in school for extra-curricular activities.  
     As years past by, I begun to understand why we were not given equal rights to certain things. It was not that we were not given equal rights even though that was what I thought of it as when I was younger but now I understand that it is just in the matter of time. Everything has its own timing. She was once not able to go out alone with her friends or had lesser pocket money also. Now I understand what I did not and am able to see the bigger picture.

Destroy Or Build Relationships

     Facebooking, tweeting, whatsapp, line, snapchat and texting are not only the prevalent but also the preferred forms of communication for many college students and young adults today.

     Social media interaction now dominates both online and offline conversations. In a society where interacting and over-sharing online is the norm, you’re probably more likely to speak to friends and family through electronic devices than face-to-face. But are social media and modern technology destroying our interpersonal social skills? Recent research and studies say so. A study that was conducted found that one in four people spend more time socializing online, via sites such as Facebook and Twitter, than they do in person. Too often at events or parties, guests are attached to their smartphones tweeting or texting, but no one is truly engaging or interacting with the people around them. As more generations are born into the social age, social media will continue to be the favored communication form among young people. However, this shift may begin to affect their ability to properly communicate in person with peers. One day, it may become awkward for one to talk to another face-to-face. They may not even know what to talk about. Therefore, I think that social media can destroy relationships if it is over used, or not used properly.

A Healthy Lifestyle

Everybody is talking about a healthy diet today. There are many books and TV-shows that try to convince the people to eat more vegetables and to go to the gym. But can these things really improve our quality of life?

In my opinion, an ideal diet is impossible today without loading yourself with a lot of work and additional time management. Society is changing, everything has to be fast and easy, but the human body needs a lot more than just feeling full. But our ancestors instinctively preferred high-fat and high-carb foods to survive and we still feel that desire. Food companies know this of course and so we have the possibility to choose our food just by taste and personal flavor. As a result, today‘s life is exactly the opposite of what the human body was built for, because we don‘t know what we need. 

To get all the nutrients that came in our body just naturally thousands of years ago, we have to get a lot of information and spend a lot of time. I think that you should look out not to eat too much junk, but in my eyes an ideal diet is something that we sacrificed for our modern and easy lifestyle. For me, the sacrifice isn‘t to big, because food that tastes good is also good for the soul and maybe happiness is more important than a life stretched to the limit. Besides, who wants to organize his/her life after some diet plan a scientist invented?

 

It‘s the same principle for me with exercise. A long time ago, exercise was necessary to survive, to escape from predators, for example. Today we don‘t have to run away anymore and we can just get into the car to bridge distances. But fortunately, exercise can‘t be replaced by something artificial invented by companies to make money. Plus, it makes happy. So exercise is actually a very useful advice, since it can even compensate some bad nutrition habits.

Stopping bad habits is similar to the food case for me: Smoking or drinking is not the best for your body, but I‘d rather prefer my soul to be content than my body. If you don‘t overdo it until you‘re sick, you should do what makes you happy. Heredity of certain illnesses or causes of death is maybe something that you should keep in mind, but I also wouldn‘t let my life be dominated by worries about this issue. Something you can watch out for, if it‘s not too much effort, is the quality of the food you eat. Fast food is available everywhere, but in order to satisfy your hunger you can always buy something else. But also there you shouldn‘t spend too much energy to avoid chemistry and just try to enjoy life.

2003 - A Character You Sympathise With

              After analysing the novel ‘Step by Wicked Step’, I learned that all the six characters, Richard, Claudia, Colin, Ralph, Pixie and Robbo come from a dysfunctional family. It is obvious that these children are struggling with their new lives after their parents started to face problems in their marriage. Their decisions affected their children emotionally in different ways. One of the characters that I sympathise with most is Colin.

               One of the reasons why I sympathise with Colin is because he was forced into a new surrounding where it was hard for him to fit in. After his mother took a flit with him away from his step-dad, he entered into a new school. In that new school, he was not able to make new friends as they already had their own friends. “It wasn’t nice for me. For one thing, I had to start at another school, where everyone had friends already” page 52, line 25.

               In my opinion, the reason why I felt sympathy towards Colin is because he was expected to get over the absence of his stepfather after his mother took a flit with Colin. He was expected to adapt to a new life. However, it is hard to do this without any guidance or attention from his mother. In times like this, the only person for Colin to turn to would be his mother as a mother plays the role of giving her child moral support and advice through tough times. However, his mother was too busy working jobs that take long hours to make sure there is food on the table. By the time she comes home, she would be too tired to even talk to Colin. Like said before, Colin had to go to a new school but he had no friends there and he couldn’t fit in. Because of this, he didn’t have any friends to turn to either. Colin had a very close relationship with his stepfather, even closer than the one he has with his own mother. His stepfather is the one that always plays with him, listens to him and tells him stories. It is not hard to understand why Colin finds it hard to live without his stepfather’s presence. After five years, Colin still has not got used to things. In fact, he thinks about his father every day. This is proven in page 60 line 5 in the novel where Colin says, ‘But I haven’t got used to it! And I never will! I think about him every single day.’ Not only that, his inability to cope with his new life had caused the downfall in his grades. Being in a new school in a community of people alien to him, it adds to the feeling of forlornness and loneliness. This situation made him long for the presence of his father even more. In the end he decided that he wants to go in search for his father when he is finally of age to leave home.

               Each of the character had some sort of a happy ending, or at least a resolve to a problem. They saw the small pinpoint beam of light at the end of the tunnel, speaking metaphorically, except for Collin whom still suffered silently. As I do not come from a dysfunctional family, I can only imagine how hard it must be to have one person you are most attached to and then in a flash you have to cope without that one person or being in a completely new environment where you can’t fit in. For Colin to experience it for real, it makes me sympathise with him. 

Addiction to Social Networks

Most people are absolutely hesitant to talk about the word addiction, or address by some as an addict. The term addiction for some is associated and linked with a negative meaning. But there are many kinds of addiction such as shopping, drinking, gambling and computer games. Despite the harmful effect to other people, the bad effect contributed by the user himself to his/her health, social life and mental statement.

Some are spending longer time on the computer as part of their job and most of the technologies are particularly new every second. The term “social addiction” is always seen on news and headlines on paper and television. A lot keep on patronizing social media because of online games, online friends and chat. But some people lost their job and relationships due to online addiction.

Ask yourself, how many hours do you spend your time staring at your computer than talking to human? Taking care of your social needs with online interaction rather than a face to face meet up. Student nowadays, instead of talking to each other prefer to post it up on social networking sites talking about their feeling and thoughts.

How many of us are wasting valuable time in social media sites like facebook, twitter or Instagram? Waiting for someone to re-tweet my tweet or react on my post on walls or even just mention my name. Fighting over social media addiction should start with ourselves. Try to realize that you can do anything and accomplish anything without sitting in front of the computer the whole day. Allow yourself to check your emails or tweets for not more than 15 minutes a day. Discipline is the only key to overcome social media addiction.

Although social media can be a help in term of business productive tool, it can equally play and contribute a negative role if you lack of discipline, not being control of usage of different social media networks. Addiction is something that interferes to our life and being part of it sometimes. Time will come where mankind can do almost everything with the help of technology and still one thing will remain impossible, releasing the addiction on technology.

Music Therapy

     Music therapy is a fascinating concept; artists use it to perfection to help patients get rid of their health problems. Music artists combine various important facets like emotional facet, aesthetic, social, spiritual and many more to help patients. This is what is referred to as the inventive genius. Inventive genius is a concept that appreciates and encourages people to think out of the box and come up with concepts that would impact and changes the lives of human beings for the better.

     Music therapy improves cognitive functioning and there are no two ways about this, it has been found that a person who undergoes music therapy starts feeling positive and his cognitive functioning also becomes better. Music therapy can also improve social skills greatly; this can have a positive impact on the patient’s life. At times human beings feel lonely and isolated, music therapy can help them greatly. It is hard for someone who has limited social skills to make new friends and as a result of which depression can kick in. Music therapy can help such people greatly.

     It has also been found that music therapy can greatly improve the overall quality of life. In addition to improving social skills, it can also have a positive effect on how a person improvises and achieves his targets in life. It is an open secret that renowned psychologists speak highly of music therapy. This once again goes to show its influence on people’s lives. In addition to this highly acclaimed physicians also encourage people to undergo music therapy so that they can overcome their problems and put their past behind them.

     Individuals with special needs have greatly benefited from music therapy, it has been clearly found that they were able to focus better after undergoing music therapy sessions. The elderly have also profited by being part of the music therapy sessions. Several major hospitals have started using music therapy and the results have been very encouraging. Patients, who suffer from cancer have been significantly helped by music therapists.

     Finally, it is very fair to conclude that music therapy has been a great invention. It has helped hundreds of thousands of people. Cancer patients who had given up hope have been completely rejuvenated. They have become positive and their lives have been impacted positively. Music therapy has become increasingly popular and it will keep going from strength to strength and it will keep revitalizing human beings in the days to come.

Hari Raya

     Cultural festivals in Malaysia are usually very colourful, exciting, and portray the spirit of unity and togetherness, despite the diversities of cultures and religions. Amongst the major cultural festivals, such as the Thaipusam, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Gawai and Tadan Ka'amatan or the Harvest Festival, which are most fascinating and intriguing celebration of Malaysia, is the Hari Raya. It is also one of the most important religious festivals in Malaysia because most of the Malaysians especially Malays are Muslims.

      

     Hari Raya Aidilfitri, also known as Hari Raya Puasa, is the most meaningful and significant celebration for Muslims to mark the end of Ramadhan or the fasting month. The day is most significant as it includes two of the five tenets of Islam's: to fast during the month of Ramadhan and to pay zakat fitrah, or alms tax. Muslims celebrate the first of Syawal, which is the 10th month of the Muslim calendar, with joyous enthusiasm. By the eve of Hari Raya Puasa, Muslims would have paid their alms tax, which is then distributed to the poor.

     Muslims usher in the day with prayers in the mosques followed by visits to the graves of the deceased. It is also the time for family reunions when people gather and asking forgiveness from family members. It is every Muslim's religious duty to ask for pardon on this day and this is done in order of family seniority. It is customary during this occasion for Muslims to open their homes to well-wishers as well as to visit friends and relatives.

     

     The lighting of oil lamps reflects the festive mood. The lamps are lighted from the 20th day of Ramadhan, the night when the Koran was sent down, right through the actual day of Hari Raya Puasa itself. All mosques, homes, government and commercial buildings are decorated and brightly lit to mark the significant day. The celebrations last a month and although the first three days are celebrated on a grander scale.

Studying Abroad

    It must be admitted that education is the first route a student take to build his future. Some students prefer to pursue their study overseas while others want to further their study in their countries. Undoubtedly, studying abroad has its advantages and disadvantages. I strongly believe that the advantages are far more than the disadvantages.

     One advantage of studying abroad is that the students get to mingle with the different types of cultures and customs of that country. To illustrate, when a student travels abroad for study, he will be completely exposed to positive traditions and cultures of such people. Consequently, he will get useful benefits from such customs when he returns to his homeland. One example for that is my friend who, before one year, traveled to a country for the purpose of study. There, he acquired many positive things from that country such as respect of regulations and the kind treatment of people. Therefore, when he came back to his country, his family was immensely affected by his new positive merits to the point that it begins to apply to them.

     Another advantage of studying overseas is the massive benefits a student gets in his major. In fact, he will encounter the elite professors and academics from which he will acquire a good knowledge and experience in his field. Accordingly, the student will spend less time studying his major due to those highly-educated professors. Hence, it can be said that such student will be highly respected by his people when he returns to his home. Moreover, his immense knowledge and experience will dramatically contribute to the growth and development of his country.

     From the other side, it can be found that travelling abroad has minor negative effects on the students; some of which are clubbing and partying in the late nights. Those bad practices might cause the students deviate from their original morals and traditions. However, this mainly depends on the student himself. If he follows these bad routes, he will not concentrate on his study any more. Therefore, he will acquire the bad habits instead of his golden goal, namely study. Also his future and previous aspirations will be utterly lost.

     In conclusion, studying abroad has its pros and cons. However, as I stated above, that the advantages are the prominent feature. Subsequently, every student, if intended to study overseas, should pick out the good and beneficial merits from that country and extremely abstain from the ugly habits or customs. Accordingly, will get a multicultural educated and prosperous generation of which we will greatly proud.

The Importance of Reading

     Why is reading so important? Everyone knows that reading is important, but have you ever asked yourself why that is so? Through reading, you expose yourself to new things, new information, new ways to solve a problem, and new ways to achieve one thing. Who knows you might find your new hobbies within it get to actually explore one thing you really like and it may end up becoming your career and success in the future. Exploration begins from reading and understanding.

     Reading does help you form a better you, doesn’t it?  Through reading, you begin understand the world more. Through reading, you begin to have a greater understanding on a topic that interest you; for example: how to build self-confidence, how to make plan better before taking action, how to memorize things better and more. All of these self-improvements start from reading. Through reading, you create a structured path towards a better understanding and better actions to take in the future.

     The more you read, the more you understand one thing. For example, reading allows you learn more about crocodiles and their habits. That you need to be aware of places it usually lurks for, the purpose of staying away from being harmed or bitten. Or perhaps you can try by real life experience, in approaching the crocodile, to see what happen. It can also help you find out the truth of something, right? Reading also increases the understanding of the rules of life, in order for you to adapt, adopt and accommodate into the society better. To play well in a game, you first need to understand the rules well.

     Before you take action on anything, where should you seek for help and guidance? Reading is an essential way which can help you out. In today’s world, getting reviews and feedback from other people can make a big impact on your next decision, and the pros and cons of each choice. Read about how to cook a meal; how to play chess; which place is nice for the holiday family trip; read the menu before ordering food, read the manual before using a new gadget. These all can help you become more prepared before you really get into it.

     Reading exposes you to a world of imagination, showing you nothing is impossible in this world. By reading, you are exploring a different angle to see a thing you’ve known, on how different action leads to different results. Books are beyond imagination. It’s like a huge spider web, where you keep linking to more and more to things you knew, and things you just learn, structuring new solutions and answers.

So in your opinion, why is reading so important to you?

How does drugs affect our society?

The drugs that are beneficial to humanity may also be the same drugs that are detrimental to mankind. It is of no argument that drugs are created to cure diseases and to alleviate human condition; however people may misuse over-the-counter drugs and this is called drug abuse. It has become a social problem because it has afflicted the family, the economy and the community.

Drug abuse can be a source of problem to the family. First, the treatment for drug abusers is expensive. In a study conducted by Barnard, she found out that parents of drug abusers experience health deterioration due to stress and that family relationship become strained. At risk also are the siblings who may follow the same path due to exposure to mind-altering substances. They may also manifest denial behaviors to cope with the problem. Clearly, the family members struggle from their experiences in living with someone who misuse drugs.

Aside from the family, drug abuse also affects another segment of society and that is the economy. The amount spent on drugs can be used for the establishment of businesses and provide for more employment opportunities, it will boost the economy of a country. In addition, drug abusers may turn in poor quality work due to absences and inability to function normally, thus, affecting the overall output of businesses.

The wider community is also gravely affected by drug abuse. There are a number of HIV/AIDS cases due to injection drug use. In the United States alone, it accounted for one-third of the cases. Moreover, drug abuse has been associated with crime and violence. In Brazil, for example, drug abuse was identified as one of the causes of almost 30,000 homicides.

While drugs are envisioned to advance the welfare of the people, it can be a source of complicated social disarray if left uncontrolled. The government and other social groups should, therefore, strengthen their programs to curb this problem.

National Service

  National service have various of benefits depending on how the person views it. There's various motives, some youths wouldn't want to attend National Service because of various reasons, some do really want to go because it has been their life dream to go for National Service.

  The youths who doesn't want to go for National Service would have not expect a lot of things from it, but rather than just army drills and constant discipline. When the youths have no interest in coming, will there be any benefit for them? Yes, surely! In National Service, their mindset will be change because it will be very new to them and the culture is different from home. Their comfort zone will perish as they first set foot on the bus. The youth will have to adapt to the new culture and what benefits for them is that they learned more how to be more discipline and more dependent on themselves. 

  Youth usually depend their life on parents or maids to do their work. After youth have return home from National  service their normal life is change and they will start to do most of chores themselves. Their lives will be more discipline and in order as they also learn to be more dependent on themselves. 

   The youths who are more willingly to participate National service are more ready to expect anything. That doesn't mean nothing will benefit them because they are well prepared. It will give them a harder push in life. Where life is never going to be easy and things will get harder when you are older. National Service is not to bring your confidence down but to help youths to realize that there's more than just a simple basic life that everyone goes through. There will always be ups and downs in unexpected times youths will learn how to handle it. 

  The most important thing that everyone will learn from National Service is that we truly learn the true meaning of One Malaysia. Where you mix with different races and know their background. The youths will learn to love and care not just for themselves but friends and family. 

Family

Family is the single most important thing in many people’s lives. From the moment of their birth, children rely on their families to provide for them and make sure their needs are attended to. The most important learning process of a person’s whole life takes place in their earliest years and their main teachers at this stage of their lives will be their parents.

The importance of family can be seen very clearly in the impact it has on people who are not fortunate enough to have a loving family during their childhood years. People who suffered abuse, neglect, or had one or both of their parents missing from their lives during their childhood usually suffer some negative effects throughout the rest of their lives. Children who were brought up badly are much more often to grow up to be criminals, drug addicts, or suffer from mental health problems. Even children brought up in good foster or care homes are more likely to have such issues than other children, suggesting that growing up with your biological or at certain cases adopted family is important.

Family is important as you get older because people of all ages need a good support network around them. Many people rely on their parents or other older relatives for advice about a variety of topics, even when they have grown up and have their own children, because these family members have more life experience and have probably been through many of the same things before. When a woman has her first child, for example, one of the most important people in her life is often her own mother. Many women want their mother to be present at the birth and be available for support, particularly during the first few weeks, because their mother has done it all before with them.

Another reason that family is important is that a loving and supportive family will be there for you no matter what. Friends may leave your side when things get very tough, or if you mess up and do something wrong or something to hurt them. Many families however, will stick by a person no matter what they have done, because they love them unconditionally. This kind of unconditional love can only be found within a family unit and is most commonly found from a parent to their child.

Siblings can also be very important to many people. Children growing up as an only child can be lonely during childhood and they don’t learn vital social skills from an early age, like communicating and playing with other children and dealing with conflict. Many people are very close to their brothers and sisters when they grow up, even if they fought as great deal as children, and there are lots of people who consider their brother or sister to be their best friend. Siblings are usually a fairly similar age and have had similar experiences, so if there is a difficult time as a family a sibling may be the best person to talk to.

Stress

Teenagers nowadays are going through a lot of stress. Stress is a body’s way of reacting to challenges. It has a wide range of effects on emotions, mood and behaviour. For example, the person may have chest pain, palpitations, rapid pulse, obsessive or compulsive behaviour, social withdrawal and isolation.  There are many factors that contribute to this problem such as family problems, school, relationships and also financial issues.

Divorced and broken families affect the children mentally even if the parents do not realize it. There will be constant arguments or even fights between family members. Some children may even have the thought that their parents argue and divorce because of them and often put the blame on themselves. This causes them to lose focus on their studies.

Other than that, school may also cause stress in teenagers. There are many cliques in schools nowadays, especially high schools and there are also many students that do not belong to any of them. They usually have the need in them to belong somewhere and they often have stress trying to make themselves fit in. Not only that, students also tends to compete with their classmates and compare their grades which may be a good thing to push them to do better but may not be a good thing also. This is because they will feel stressed even if they tried their best but did not meet their expectations.

The King of Fruits

One of the many things Malaysia is known for is the various kinds of food. Many tourists come from all around the world just to have that taste of Malaysian food.  Durian, the king of fruits is most sought after but there are many who think that it has a bad scent. Thus, dare not have a taste of it. The smell has been described variously as rotten onions, turpentine and raw sewage. Yes, it has a very strong smell but it is pleasing to some. It has a taste like creamy custard. The durian is a seasonal fruit, unlike some other non-seasonal tropical fruits such as the papaya, which are available throughout the year in Peninsular Malaysia. The season for durians is typically from June to August, which coincides with the season for mangosteen, another fruit that compliments durian.  Prices of durians are relatively high as the demand for it is also very high. It varies with the species and different grades. This very fruit can be eaten by itself when it is ripped or it can also be used in desserts such as ice creams, cakes, puffs, dodol and cendol. These are just a few examples out of many. Durian is indeed a pride to Malaysia.

Freedom Writers

The movie "Freedom Writers" is based on a true story about a young teacher who goes above and beyond her call of duty to motivate her students to learn and excel in a society filled with prejudices. Erin Gruwell is the new English teacher at a recently integrated high school in Long Beach, California. Her students are divided along racial lines and have few aspirations beyond basic survival. Surviving to the age of eighteen is seen as an accomplishment in a society filled with gangs and racial prejudices. When she discovers how much of her students’ day to day lives are engulfed by racial prejudices she introduces them to books like the Diary of Anne Frank. Using the story of Anne Frank, she opens her students’ eyes. She encourages her students to start a journal, like Anne, and to write in it their innermost thoughts. After sharing these stories with each other, the students learn more about their classmates and the racial barriers begin to reduce.

The “Freedom Writers” also shows strong stereotypes within the minority community in the USA, which included African American, Latino, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Caucasian. They belonged to a segregated community. Therefore the issues that affect them the most include racism, violence, crimes, discrimination and drugs. The negative perceptions that surrounded the school environment triggered resentments and acts of violence. The students fate was changed after the arrival of the new teacher who advocated to change what the students believed.   

The Weather In Malaysia

Just this evening, I was playing a game of ultimate with my friends. When I arrived at the field at 5pm, the sun was shining brightly and it was scorching hot. Nevertheless, we started playing. After scoring a few points, the clouds started becoming dark and we could hear the sounds of the thunder. We knew that a heavy downpour was going to come our way but we still continued playing. At around 6:30pm, it started raining like cats and dogs and we had to run to the nearest shelter. We were waiting for the rain to stop so that we could go home as we did not have umbrellas but the rain did not cease so we had to run into our respective cars.

The weather in Malaysia is very uncertain. A minute it will be very hot and the next the rain will be pouring. In the first half of last year, our country was facing drought but after that season passed, the floods came. It did not stop there. About a month ago, it came out in the news that the water in the Selangor’s dam was below the essential level but thankfully we have enough water now. Too much rain will cause floods that will cause a lot of damage but too little rain will cause shortage of water. As water is essential in our daily lives, this can also cause a lot of trouble. Therefore, let's hope and pray that the weather in Malaysia will begin to stabilize. 

Technology

Technology is said to be the collection of techniques, methods or processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation. It can be embedded in machines, computers, devices and factories which can be operated by individuals without them having a detailed knowledge of the workings of such things.

Human lives have been very dependent on technology since it existed many decades ago. This is not necessarily a bad thing as technology helps speed up the time taken to complete a certain task and helps make it easier. As an example, stones, one of the first technologies ever used aided the early humans in their hunter-gatherer lifestyle to perform a variety of tasks including butchering carcasses, get chopping wood, cracking open nuts, skinning an animal and even forming other tools out of softer materials such as bone and wood.

However, the present generation has become too dependent on technology until they do not even try to complete a task on their own. For example, instead of meeting up face to face, many people rather communicate through social media. This creates an unhealthy relationship.

Personally, I think we have to learn how to balance the use of technology as we are given the ability to carry out majority of the tasks we need to do.

Fashion

Fashion is something we consciously and unconsciously encounter every day. Some people would take this as a normal thing or take it in an extreme way. Well, everyone has their own perspective on things and I am not judging them.

What is fashion? Fashion comes from the word ‘facere’, which means ‘do’ or ‘make’. It is formed with an old French word, ‘façon’, which also means "physical make-up or composition; form, shape; and appearance’”. So, it means to make or style an appearance.

Fashion has constantly changed every decade. It changes because people get bored of having the same type of appearance constantly. Humans will never stop creating new ideas because psychologically, it bores us to be in a constant similar environment.

Fashion is important in our daily life. Sometimes, we need to have conscience on the latest style of dressing or our house furniture, because it attracts people and friends. It makes us become more appealing to people.

I find it very odd on how looks and style would control how people will think and judge instantly most of the time. What really matters to me is what or who the person really is and not their outward appearance.

My Trip To Melaka

Just yesterday, I made a trip up to Malacca with a few of my friends. Even though it is my hometown, the last time I went there was around eight years ago as my whole extended family lives in KL now. I spent most of my time there at Jonker Street, one of Malacca's most famous attractions. There were a lot of tourists there and I felt like one of them as I could not remember my previous visit there. I had curry noodles for my lunch which was recommended by a friend and without thinking twice, I can say that it was scrumptious! It was the best one I've ever tasted and very different from the ones here in PJ. After that, my friends and I bought a durian cendol from one of the traditional stalls which blew my taste buds away. Not only that, I got to eat durian ice cream which was mouth-watering. After eating, we walked up and down the street and took many pictures. Soon, it was time to leave the street but that was not the end of our food hunt. As Malaysians, there is no such thing as eating too much. We headed to the famous Klebang Coconut Milkshake. Not only was it affordable, it was also very nice. That is all for my trip to Malacca. It was a very memorable one and I wish to go there again.

Exams

Exams, exams, exams.... the word that makes students tremble at the sound of it. Why is that so? Some people fear it because it determines their future while others face pressure from their parents to obtain flying colors. There are pros and cons to having exams regularly. Exams also known as assessments, encourages students to do regular revisions and helps assess their understanding of what they have learnt. Unfortunately, too much exams can cause pressure and might encourage students to just memorize facts without understanding. There were cases where students commit suicide when they do not get their expected grades. This proves that exams can also cause depression.

However, there are a few ways where students can minimize stressed caused by exams. First of all, studying ahead of time and not burning mid-night oil can prevent accumulation of topics to revise. Studies show that one must at least thoroughly read through something at least three times before the information can sink into their memory. Burning mid-night oil only causes panic and lack of sleep. A minimal amount of information would be absorbed by the student. Other than that, the student must finish the homework given by teachers as it would prepare them for the exams as they will be familiar with their work and concepts. They should always listen to what their teachers teach in class as there may be important facts brought up or explained.

It is not impossible to not excel in exams if there is self-discipline.

ULTIMATE

Sometimes friends or people I just met usually ask me what’s my hobby or what’s my favorite sport. The answer to that question always make them confuse or bizarre. The reason to that is because the answer to that is Ultimate.

“What is Ultimate?” you may ask.  Ultimate is a unique type of sport where there are two teams and each team is to score more points with a Frisbee Disc at the opposing end zone. I’m guessing from now you may recognize what sport it is.

Most people would call it Frisbee, but I would rather call it Ultimate because the meaning of it and how it applies to the sport. The word Ultimate means Ultimate sportsmanship. This sport doesn’t require referee, but rather depending on our spirit of the game (SOTG). The reason why I personally love this sport more than other sport is because it teaches me and other people to play fairly and truthfully. This also helps me to have patience in any circumstances.

Ultimate is an awesome sport to me because it does not just help me to be fit and healthy but also, it helps me and most people to build sportsmanship while playing.

Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year

In the month of February this year, the two most celebrated events are Valentines Day and Chinese New Year.

The one thing that I disagree about Valentines day is that almost everyone has the mindset that it is that special day to treat their 'other half' to dinner, buying them flowers or giving them special treatment. For me, I think that Valentines day shouldn't be the only day where you make your partner feel special because they are not your partner only on February 14th. It should be an everyday thing. Everyday is Valentines day.

I always look forward to Chinese New Year as it is one of the times where I get to spend with my extended family which I get to see once in a blue moon because of the distance. The present younger generation now are always so caught up with their electronics like their phones, tablets and computers that even during reunion dinners on the eve of Chinese New Year, they spend more time on them rather than talking to other family members. That is the only thing I dislike about Chinese New Year. Not being able to have my cousin's time as they'ed rather use their phones.

August 12

I was born on August 12 1998 but there many other events that took place on that day in different years but the invention of the phonograph is one of the event that caught my attention.

August 12 1877, is the day when Thomas Alva Edison completed the first phonograph,a device that recorded sound onto tinfoil cylinders. It is more likely, however, that work on the model was not finished until November or December of that year, since Edison did not file for the patent until December 24, 1877.

While working to improve the efficiency of a telegraph transmitter, Edison noted that the tape of the machine gave off a noise resembling spoken words when played at a high speed. This caused him to wonder if he could record a telephone message. Edison began experimenting with the diaphragm of a telephone receiver by attaching a needle to it. He reasoned that the needle could prick paper tape to record a message. His experiments led him to try a stylus on a tinfoil cylinder, which, to his great surprise, played back the short message he recorded, "Mary had a little lamb."

Mood

Mood is defined as a state or quality of feeling at a particular time. In literature, mood is a literary component that brings out a certain feeling or expression through words and descriptions to provide the readers with a wider picture of the writer's message. There are various methods where the mood can be developed. It can be developed through setting, theme, tone and diction.

 

Without mood in a story, it is like a painting without colors and a statement without emotions. It becomes monotonous and makes it dry for the reader. This makes it loose its purpose as literature is suppose to introduce us to new worlds of experience. 

In a nutshell, mood makes a story come alive.

High School

It has not struck me yet that I am already in form five, a senior. Back then when I was in primary school, I always looked up to the secondary students in light blue pinafore and dark green pants and thought that it would be a long more time before I would wear that light blue uniform. Those five years felt like yesterday. 

Secondary school life has much responsibilities and molding processes. Even though there are many stressful times where I have to complete piles of homework and projects, there were fun times too where I can look back at and laugh at them. I found the co-curriculum activities useful to see where my strength and weaknesses are. It helped me sharpen my leadership skills and gave me confidence.

 

I was told by my seniors and sister that I should enjoy my high school life as much as I can as life gets harder as I get older and move on to university but I found it hard to be true as I thought I still have lots of time in school. Well, its not too late to realize that I have only 10 more months in this school. Even though I am happy to start a new chapter in life, it saddens me that I have to leave. I hope that the coming months ahead will be fruitful ones and that there will be no regrets at the end of the year.

Reaching Out In Times Of Need

The recent floods in mid December was one of the greatest calamity in Malaysian history. The locals of Terengganu, Kelantan and Pahang lost many of their belongings and homes. It claimed the lives of many regardless of young and old. Little children became orphans and many loved ones were lost. This tragedy caused much grieve not only to the victims but also to the other citizens on Malaysia. As the saying goes, when one part of the body suffers, the rest of the body suffers. People from different states and organizations came together and offered help and support to these states regardless of race and religion. Not only basic necessities were donated but emotional support was also provided. The Malaysian government also made efforts to ease the burdens of the flood victims by distributing the BR1M aid earlier than the planned dateline. 

This disaster has thought us all not to take for-granted whether it is our love ones or comfortable lives that we have.