Pengalaman istimewa saya

Hai semua, 

Hari ini, saya ingin bercakap tentang pengalaman istimewa saya. Pengalaman istimewa saya ialah apabila saya mempunyai kerja sambilan semasa cuti sekolah.  Jom. 

Saya bekerja sebagai pekerja sambilan di hospital ng teng fong. Saya buat ujian swab, untuk pelawat dan pesakit. Pekerjaan ini disediakan semasa pandemik covid-19. Saya mengambil kursus profesional untuk melakukan kerja ini. Kerajaan telah sediakan payung sebelum hujan, dengan mengetepikan wang, untuk bencana covid -19. Wang itu digunakan untuk membayar gaji saya. Hari ini, saya ingin menunjukkan cara, untuk memakai PPE. Selepas itu, saya juga ingin menunjukkan cara, untuk melakukan ujian swab. Marilah.

Selepas ini, saya juga ingin menunjukkan cara untuk melakukan ujian swab. 

Hospital ini, mempunyai ramai pesakit bewarga emas. Ramai pesakit tua tidak boleh berbahasa Inggeris jadi saya perlu bercakap dengan mereka dalam bahasa ibunda mereka. Saya juga, boleh bertutur dalam empat bahasa. Yang itu bahasa Tamil, Cina, Melayu dan Inggeris. Itulah sebab mengapa saya menjadi anak emas di hospital.

Maafkan saya. Saya terpaksa membuat kerja saya. Terima kasih dan selamat berjumpa kembali. 

By Vishan Puspanathan

“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” – Aristotle

Shakespeare in the Park 2015 – The Tempest

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”

“O, brave new world / that has such people in’t!”

“Thought is free.”

Anonymous Poem

Like the wails of a newborn
Observe its allure

Reach out to all who

Deserves its will

 

“Offer your soul

Free yourself!”

 

They live, feed, devour off

Hope and happiness

Escape is futile, friend.

 

Fruit and fear

Lie in wait

Innocuous as they seem

Enjoy it with delight

(So much for a paradise)

Speedometer

The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner is a masterful and heart-gripping story that centres on the life of Amir, the son of a highly respected, wealthy, honourable and affluent merchant whom he addresses as Baba. It follows Amir’s narration as he grows up from a boy to a man. The novel is set in Afghanistan, from the fall of the monarchy until the collapse of the Taliban regime.

Growing up, Amir deprives parental love; his mother dies upon giving birth to him and his father always busy himself with business. Hence, he is always left in the company of his family servants and spends most of his time with Hassan, an illiterate child who is the playmate of Amir since birth. Both Amir and Hassan grow up together and are like brothers. Hassan is of a minority ethnic group, the Hazara, the people who are despised by the Pashtuns, the majority of the people.

Once while playing outdoors, Amir and Hassan encounters other boys who decide to stir trouble. Assef, the leader of the boys, has a deep distaste for the Hazara and tells Amir that his father is well acquainted with the new president. He believes that the Hazara should be cleared off their land and is disgusted by Amir and his father’s association with them. Just as he is about to hurt Amir, Hassan stands up for him and threatens to shoot Assef with his slingshot if he does not relent. The unfinished brawl ends with Assef promising that he will get his revenge for his humiliation.

Amir is an unathletic child who has no love for sports and violence and prefers spending time reading in his mother’s study; an opposite of the son his Baba desires. Amir deeply yearns for his father’s approval and even tries to be a “passionate spectator” and enjoy soccer matches with his father, cheering when their team scores and cursing when penalties are given out. However, his father senses his lack of genuine interest and resigns to that fate that his son will never be like him. As Amir rarely receives attention from his father, he tends to get jealous when other children like Hassan get affection from Baba. The only affection he receives is from Rahim Khan, his father’s business partner and childhood friend, who encourages Amir to write.

However, a chance surfaces for Amir to gain his father’s approval – by winning the kite-fighting tournament. Amir as the kite fighter, teams up with Hassan as his kite runner (the person who chases after second kite that is cut down by the last kite that will be later hung as a trophy) and both of them manages to strike the last kite. Hassan promises Amir that he will get the kite and runs off. Amir then joins and finds Hassan in an alley cornered by Assef and his lackeys. Assef demands for the kite, but Hassan determinedly refuses although he knows that he will not win the fight against them. He gets attacked by the boys, but Amir stays at his hidden corner and does not help. Asssef rapes Hassan, and Amir runs away.

When Hassan returns with the kite, Amir returns home with glory and attains his father’s approval. However, although he starts to get more affection from his father, he is wrecked with guilt as his inner demons eat his conscience up. Hassan tries to rekindle their relationship, but Amir who is struck by immense amount of guilt feels even worse when Hassan stays loyal to him.

In the end, he resorts to framing Hassan of theft in an attempt to cause Hassan and his father to be kicked out. Even though Baba unexpectedly forgives him, Hassan finally realises the reason behind Amir’s doing and makes one last sacrifice for him; he leaves with his father. Amir never admits his wrongdoing although he nearly does many times, and continues to live with his internal nightmare.

War hits Afghanistan and Amir flees to America with his father. They adjust to the new environment and Amir graduates from college. While living in poverty, Amir grows considerably closer to his father. He meets Soraya, a lady who he marries. Baba dies one month later and the couple fails to conceive despite trying. Rahim Khan calls Amir to return to Pakistan to see him for the last time. When they meet, Rahim tells Amir of his life after they left for America, and how he went to look for Hassan. Hassan returns to live with Rahim along with his wife, but is killed by the Taliban after Rahim left for treatment in Pakistan. Rahim pleads Amir to search for their son, Sohrab, who is put into an orphanage after the catastrophe.

Amir is stricken with fear and pandemonium; as he does not want to return to the past he has spent decades trying to bury. Rahim then tells him that Hassan had been his own brother all along, Baba’s illegitimate son. He realises that Rahim had summoned him to atone for not only his sins, but his father’s too. Hence, he decides to embark on the journey to end the cycle, to redeem himself, by searching for his nephew. (I shall leave the rest out in case one would like to read the story :D)

The Kite Runner is a story about the search for redemption and is probably one of the grimmest stories I have ever read. Khaled Hosseini is definitely one of a kind; he is not afraid to just go all out to slash your heartstrings when you are at your most vulnerable. (Just kidding) When I first read the story, I was not expecting the book to be so severe. I believe that one of the reasons why the blow of Amir’s betrayal had been so harsh was because the book is written in the first person’s point of view. The close hand narration allows the readers to fully understand and empathise Amir’s emotions and inner voice. Hence, when he says the words, “In the end, I ran”, the crazy and vehement and killing horror and realisation of Amir’s cowardly decision to run away had created a crater in my heart and blown my mind. By torturously dragging the readers through the suspension (like, literal suspension on a hanging rope) of the encounter, it leaves a full blown effect on the reader as we are forced to read and go through the selfish and unforgivable actions of Amir. Perhaps it may be due to the reason that I am extremely used to reading novels with heroic main characters who always does the right thing at the end of the day. This novel made (evilly forced) me see from another point of view. It opened another window for me to see, and realise that, this is humanity. Humanity is not all about noble sacrifices and righteousness; we do succumb to our darkest and deepest desires out of fear and greed, and harm others gravely along the way.

A significant part of the story is the part where Baba and Amir discusses their religion. Baba tells Amir that he only believes in one sin, and that is theft. He believes that there is no act more wretched than stealing, for “when you kill a man, you steal a life” and when “you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth”.  Amir holds on tightly to his words, but ironically, it led to his decision to frame Hassan of theft as he thought that his father is bound to chase him out for committing this grave “sin”. It is later revealed that Hassan is actually Baba’s son, but Baba is unable to openly acknowledge him for he is a result of the sin that Baba had committed. Hence, he made Hassan and his father Ali live their entire lives without knowing the truth. The reason why Baba tells Amir that theft is the only one sin that matters is because that is the exact sin he had committed and despises himself for it. Hence, he hopes that Amir will never commit the same thing.

A character that I admire is Hassan. Although he may be seen as the typical good willed character that every book has, Hassan portrays a kindness that is really at the purest level. He is extremely loyal and selfless; he never betrays Amir and always takes the blame. Even after he eventually knows that Amir had abandoned him when he was in need of help, he forgives him wholeheartedly. This benevolent act is definitely too good to be true. However, in books, every character serves a purpose to the story and I believe that the reason Hosseini added Hassan into the book is because he is hinting that even in a world full of lies and betrayal, human goodness still exists and will never die.

There’s much more that I would like to say but these are just some of my views that I would like to share! I do recommend you to read it if you haven’t (:

Finally done my review, phew.

Regina 😀

Lord of the Flies (by Andrew)

Lord of the Flies: Human nature

Human nature. A terrifying and dangerous thing if left to the basic impulses of man. It exists in every living person, an inner consciousness that dictates the thoughts and actions of those who are alive. In most aspects of nature, there is always two forces opposing each other. In the case of human nature, there is the conflict between good and bad.

All humans are inherently good people, contrary to what they may appear to be. Every person a good nature, to help and guide others, to love and care for another person. However, every person is born with an evil nature as well, one that delights in the misery of others and the self-exaltation of oneself, with desires for enjoyment, gluttony, violence and power.

We can see from Ralph that his character is of a good nature, with “a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil” and being the one who suggested to start a signal fire with the aim of attracting a passing ship. He knows very well too the nature of young boys, that all work without any form of rest or play for them with only lead to restlessness, so he also allows them to “have fun” on the island, until they get rescued.

On the flip side, looking at Jack Merridew, it is quite clear that his nature is somewhat different from Ralph. Ralph wishes to have a leader to sort their predicament on the island, as while Jack believes he “ought to be leader”, given his authority over the choirboys. When he was not elected as chief, he immediately established the choir as “hunters” for the entire group of boys. Ralph willingly allowed this, perhaps to appease Jack for the fact that he was not chief, and little did he know this little act would soon start a power struggle.

Jack’s nature is seen, as one strongly desires power, doing whatever he can to obtain it. In the first chapter, Jack let the pig go instead of killing it, because of the “enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh”. Perhaps it is not known to the other boys about how he felt about it, but it is very clear to the readers that Jack feels utterly ashamed of the small mercy he gave to the pig, ashamed that he appeared weak towards the others. Although it can be said that his human nature was not completely bad, still having some shred of mercy for living things, his nature quickly deteriorates in the later part. His bloodlust grows stronger within him, making him even leave the signal fire to hunt.

Animals also have a nature. They desire for food, shelter and water. They fight for control within their own pack, like in the case of dogs and wolves. The superior ones desire power and control. All animals have a fear of the unknown. More than anything, all animals all long to survive.

For the boys, each of them all had a bit of an animal in them, and some seemed to be more animal than human. Jack goes hunting not just for his bloodlust, but also to prove to himself and to the others that he was capable. He feels deep resentment against Ralph, merely since the boys respected Ralph more than him, like how a beta male would want to challenge an alpha male in a pack for the right to lead. His ruthlessness becomes more and more prevalent, attempting to start a rebellion against Ralph, torturing Sam and Eric into submission and hunting down all whom opposed him. Most of the boys eventually go to Jack’s tribe, attracted by the offer of food, play, and freedom. They cave in to their animal impulses of wanting to survive, and the lure of food that Jack and his tribe could provide. Even milder ones such as Ralph, Piggy, and the twins hunger for the meat that Jack’s tribe possess.

The strongest example of animal nature would be Roger. He starts out as a “quiet and furtive” boy in the group, significant because he calls for an election for chief. He slowly becomes a bully, then a sadist, hurting those younger than him. He feels no guilt at what he does, in fact he takes delight at his murderous deeds. His nature showed little signs of being good to begin with. His only constraint was his perception of society around him, the only thing stopping him from creating chaos. He threw stones at the younger boys, intended to miss, because of these boundaries. When he feels the boundaries of society fade, his inner beast is then unleashed. It culminates when he kills Piggy with a boulder, with the intention of murdering him.

The one basic impulse all the boys shared was that they fear the unknown. They fear the “unfriendly” wilderness of the island, they fear the unending darkness of the night, and they fear what could be lurking beyond their safe borders. The atavistic feeling that all animals, including humans, feel is that there is something out there waiting for them. They fear the danger outside, the things that they cannot see or explain. It starts out as something by the little boys, as one claims to have seen a “beastie”, a large snake that came in the night. Later, the older boys start to fear the “Beast” that lurks on the island. Ralph almost succumbs to this, almost believing that the “ghosts” seen by the others are real and contemplates stepping down.

Human nature is a frightening thing. It is as volatile as the sea, with all its calm and storm. It is something all men possess. It is the conflict of two natures, good and evil. People are neither good nor bad, just mixed with different aspects. Although it might seem that everyone tends to evil in the end, humans are still inherently good within. It depends on the choices we makes and the intentions behind them that determine who we are.

Mr. Men Pocket Treasury (Review by Armond Bushfield)

This is a review of the 2012 publication, Mr. Men Pocket Treasury by Roger and Andrew Hargreaves. I quote the description, “Smile with Mr. Happy, clown around with Mr. Funny and get up to mischief with Mr. Tickle: meet the Mr. Men in this fun pocket treasury! With eight colourful stories to share and enjoy, this collection is perfect for young readers! The Mr. Men characters have been treasured by generations of children all over the world, since their creation in 1971. Based on Roger Hargreaves’ original concept, these stories have been written and illustrated by his son, Adam Hargreaves.”

This book excited me from the moment I got it from the bookstore. The reason I would pick up what consider to be a kid’s book is that I love narrating it. I was at Kinokuniya with my friends when I picked up a Mr Men book and started reading out aloud, they praised me ability and that’s when I started doing narration for my own pleasure. This book is an absolute joy to read. I will be focusing more on the book itself in this review rather than the plot, you can discover that on your own!
There are plenty of characters with each one unique in their own way. From the main 8 who have stories centred around them, to the supporting cast whom some may know from reading other Mr Men books, all the characters and well written with distinctive traits, making it an absolute pleasure to read. Although some of the plots may be centred on the characters’ seemingly trivial problems, they actually reflect the real world problems faced by people today.

I feel that the book is a great read for elder siblings or parents to read to young children. The illustrations are simple but vibrant with character. It really captivates the reader and helps them imagine the world of Mr Men. However, some critics would point out that stories are better with some things left to imagination. I for one think this may not always be the case. Some readers need extra help visualizing different scenarios, being one of them, I am able to appreciate the simple language and hundreds of drawings. I read one story before going to bed every night.

If there are any negatives, the length of each story can seem excessively long but it can be attributed to the small amount of text on each page, making the book rather thick. The simplicity of each story, although charming, may lead to the reader being able to predict the outcome, especially for avid Mr Men readers.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to my peers. I don’t see anything significant to dislike about the book and I feel it is very well written and illustrated. I am happy with the consistency of the Mr Men series and how it hasn’t strayed away from its identity over the years. Although it may not seem like your cup of tea, definitely give the book a try, I doubt you’ll regret it, I sure didn’t.

The Jewel by Amy Ewing

This story is about a girl named violet lasting. It is a fantasy/dystopian story. The city she lives in has five different circles – the jewel,the bank, the smoke, the farm and the marsh. The jewel is where the royalty lives with wealth and beauty. While the marsh is where the poorest of the families live. However, being a royal comes with a price.

Centuries ago, the royalty was dying out. Their babies were born sick or deformed, and died. Some couldn’t have babies at all. Then this doctor found a strange genetic mutation found in the girls from the poorest of the five circles- The marsh, which allowed royalty to continue having their own children without the risk of the birth defects. Hence the surrogates were formed. During puberty, every girl, has to undergo a mandatory blood testing which identifies whether they can conceive a royal baby. If they are found positive,they will be whisked away to a facility, where they will master their auguries, which is a side effect of their mutation. Each surrogate has three auguries, color-which affects the physical look of the child,shape-which affects the legends off the nose, ear…and the third growth which affects the personality of the child( although it is unreliable).

Violet is a surrogate, and the story starts with her preparing to leave for the jewel, where she will be sold to a royal and to conceive a child. From that point, she is known as lot 197 and is the property of a someone else. She is sold to a very prominent women- the Duchess of the lake. At first, the duchess seems caring and warm. Until a more sadistic side of her appeared, as she reveals her plan which could affect the whole future of the country. By listening to the duchess conversation with the other royals,she found out that the duchess of the lake was betrothed to the Exetor( equivalent of king) when she was younger. However the Exetor fell in love with a women from the bank and married her.they had given birth to a son who will soon be betrothed to a royal daughter. The duchess reveals that she plan to use violet to create the most perfect daughter possible and shorten the pregnancy to three months.She believes that with violet’s help, she can create a daughter that will surpass all other. Also as a side story, violet meets a boy ,whom she was instantly attracted to. The boy, ash Lockwood, works as a companion. Where he teaches young royal girls how to socialize with boys. They start a secret relationship and they meet in secret.

This story is very enthralling, as it focuses on an ordinary girl, who was thrust into a different life. A life that she didn’t choose. It transform her from the innocent and naive girl she was to a more mature and understanding person. This is very inspiring as one day, in our lives we might reach a time when our life is spiraling out of control. But what we do, the choices we make or choose not to make matter.

The book comes to a close ending, as violet realizes what happens to the surrogates when they give birth. They Die! This information propels her to Run away and lead a free life in exile. She decided to say goodbye to ash and they shared a tender moment. However, they were caught by the duchess. And violet was sentenced to be executed. The book end in a cliffhanger and leaves the readers eagerly waiting for the sequel.

By Vishan ( I left some parts out because it was too complicated to explain. You need to read the book to understand.

Panic by Lauren Oliver

The story begins within Carp, New York, a rather mellow and characterless town. It was bleek, almost insignificant on the map and had no attractive prospects, whatsoever. However the place is brought to life when it’s time to play the illegal game of life and death, and the ultimate test of one’s mental and physical endurance, Panic. Contestants, made up of graduating seniors of the humdrum Carp, will have to go through grueling and back-breaking obstacles, battling it out with one another through the perilous challenges set far against their favours. Albeit the impossibly ridiculous circumstances, the main characters, Heather and Dodge each decide to put their lives at stake to win the enthralling prize money of $67,000, the largest amount it has ever reached.

After breaking up with her long term boyfriend, Matt, a heart-broken and delirious Heather chooses to play Panic, as a mean to prove her independence, with the thought in mind “since I have nothing to lose”. Living with her alcoholic mother, Krista, and her step-father Bo, life was never easy for Heather. To add on to her burden, she is left with the responsibility of caring for her younger sister, Lily, hence, the whopping sum of cash would come in handy as well to leave Carp with her sister and get a fresh start in life.

On the other hand, Dodge joins Panic with a single objective in mind: Revenge. A few years back, fellow graduates, Ray and Luke, crashed their car with his beloved sister, Dayna in it, leaving her paralyzed while the boys escaped unscathed. Instead of directly returning the guys the horrendous favour, he uses Panic to seek revenge on Ray while Luke is away at college. In addition, Dodge hopes to obtain the winning money for Dayna’s treatment.

Under the cover of darkness, Panic is held with only riled up youths as the audience. Heather arrives with her best friends, Bishop and Natalie to the first gathering, the first chapter of Panic. Bishop refuses to take part in Panic and pleads with Heather to back out, fearing for her life. With the raging, raw burn of her recent breakup with Matt, she insists on playing with greater determination than before

Between the games, Heather meets Anne, an amiable elderly woman, who hires her to assist with caring for her unique vary of pets: chickens, dogs, horses and two tigers. Friendship soon blossoms between the two and Heather begins to develop a love and passion for her job. Anne soon becomes an ally as Heather’s home life deteriorates with each passing day. Krista and Bo are infamous party-hosts and one night, Heather arrives home to find, Lily standing outside, drenched in the pouring rain, soaked to the skin. Lily tells Heather that she was ordered to stay outside. Enraged, Heather harshly reprimands her mother, and leaves with Lily, promising her that she never has to go home again. They live in Heather’s car for a few weeks until a cop tells them that the car is reported stolen (by their mother). Desperate and at the end of her rope, she asks Anne for a room. Both girls move in with Anne and once more find happiness and feel secure for the first time in a long time.

Meanwhile, Dodge’s home life has taken a turn of its own as well. His mother got new boyfriend, Bill Kelly, the chief of police and so does his sister, a waiter from the restaurant next door where his mother works. Bill not only helps to bring Dayna to the hospital for rehab, but also helps to foot most of her medical fees. Dodge feels a sense of encouragement and relief from this and now clings on to the hope that everything would return to the way it was before Dayna was paralyzed, if not better, if he won Panic.

As Summer progresses, each game of Panic becomes tougher than the one before, up to the final event: jousting. During a game, a house was lit on fire where all the players were to search for a bonus item. Heather, Dodge and Natalie are caught in a room by the fire. Dodge manages to save the girls with the only price to pay was having to be sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation. Unfortunately, the charred remains of the body of Bill Kelly’s son was also found in the basement of the burnt house. A murder investigation is hence under way, along with the search for the Panic players.

With the death of Bill Kelly’s son, the games would most likely be put on hold, yet it was continued nonetheless. A difficult challenge is set for Natalie; she must stay in the tiger’s pen for a full ten seconds. Upon failing this test, having been overwhelmed by fear, Natalie is eliminated, leaving Dodge, Heather and Ray as players. Heather consoles Natalie at her loss and forgets to lock the pen properly, leading to the escape of the tigers. She needs to tell Anne and fears she will hate her and throw Lily out on the streets. To her surprise, Anne is furious, but still cares for her deeply. After the disaster with the tigers, Bishop shows up and tells Heather that he is a judge and that was what he has wanted to tell her since the beginning of Panic. He was also guilty of setting the house aflame and fears he is responsible for Bill Kelly’s son’s death. Eventually, having his conscience constantly being tugged at, Bishop turns himself into the police for the fire and death of Bill Kelly’s son, but learns that (thankfully?) Bill Kelly’s son was already dead before the fire from drug overdose.

The next day, one of the tigers is shot and killed but the second tiger remains missing. The jousting event is now upon the players. Dodge sets his car to explode by placing a homemade bomb near the engine and plans on knocking Heather out of the joust followed by switching vehicles with Ray. However, his plan gets disrupted, for, Natalie, fearing he was going to hurt, or kill, Ray, gets Luke and Heather to help kidnap Dodge, leading to his elimination from Panic. Heather and Ray are left now. Heather takes Dodge’s car, unaware that it is rigged to explode while Dodge is left helpless and can only pray that nothing happens to Heather. At the joust, Heather’s car ignites, and bursts into flames. Miraculously, she is quick enough to escape the burning car, and manages to win Panic. Ray, with Lady Luck not on his side, avoiding the loose tiger in the middle of the road, swerves first, resulting in his loss.

When Heather receives the winning money, she divides it between herself and her allies, Dodge and Natalie.

With the money, the three set off on their different paths having opportunities opened up for them. Heather enters community college to study veterinary services with her portion, Dodge gives most of his money to Bill Kelly for a memorial for his son and Natalie takes up acting classes. Bishop is away at school but comes home on the weekends to visit Heather and complete community service for his part in the fire.

Through this book, I experienced the thrills and excitement the characters felt during the life-threatening game of Panic. Unfortunately, it also made me realise how some people could really turn into ghastly beings with mere money at stake. With wealth within our reach, some of us would willingly throw our lives away, stab a knife into a loved one’s back and commit gruesome, selfish acts without hesitation. Despite claiming aloud, that we are compassionate and empathetic, people, admittedly, all of us has a greedy and desperate side of our own character. We all secretly want the best for ourselves and our loved ones, even if it’s at the stake of hurting a fellow kind. Money makes the world go round, but it is also the root of all evil.

Gwendelynn.