Joshua’s Blog

My life as I know it would be changed forever. Before that, my days were spent in hidden away in a shoebox, as if I were some old forgotten toy. Fortunately, he decided to take me out today. Although I didn’t know where we were going, I was so happy I didn’t bother about our destination. It felt so good to be taken out of that dark dreary box.

He flung me into his black sling bag. It was pitch black in there. I’d supposed that he was trying to keep our destination a secret from me. I could sense a certain level of anxiety in him. His foot steps were erratic.

Alas, we arrived at our long anticipated destination. The unbearable summer heat was quickly extinguished by a rush cool air escaping as we entered the building. Although I could not see a single thing, it was immediately obvious to me that he had brought me to a posh boutique. There was a hint of sophistication which was accompanied with a soft medley of classical hits. The atmosphere was priceless. However, it soon dawned on me that he didn’t bring me there to soak in the ambience, but to use me as a tool in his armed robbery. I felt horrible.

The classy ambience of the jewelry was suddenly broken as he pointed upwards and fired me three times. He ordered everyone to get down on their knees and cover their faces with their hands, so they could not see him. Then, he pointed me at the shop owner and ordered him to put all the goods into a gully sack.

It was awful. I was being used to commit a crime, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I know he had used me for something bad and unforgivable, I was able to feel power and authority for the first time. These two conflicting views were driving me insane! In the end, I gave in to the overwhelming sense of power and authority.

I have done every sort of extreme sports. From Bungee Jumping to Mountain climbing, you name it, I’ve done it. I have also been on the covers of countless prestigious sports magazines and i have also been nominated for the title of ”the world’s greatest thrill seeker”. It wasn’t long before I became a household name for all Adrenaline Junkies across the world. Perhaps, one could say that I was Practically worshipped by those wannabes. I was having the time of my life, doing what i enjoyed best while basking in the attention of the media. That’s what everyone thought.

In fact, I never liked doing all these life-risking activities and i hated the media for hounding me round the clock. My new found fame had turned into a nightmare for me. I couldn’t  go out in public without having a crowd of fans following me around. My mail box was constantly jam packed with invitations for various extreme sports events. I have to admit that I only attended these events for the prize money in-store.

On the outside, I did appear to enjoy my life but it was just a facade to keep the press happy. Yes, I did enjoy doing all these extreme sports when I first started as a casual enthusiast, but everything changed when I became a well known athlete. These sports quickly lost their thrill when the media came to record my every step. Its bad enough that they have to record my every sport event, but they went too far when they began to invade my privacy when they begun to invade my home just for a mere interview. My life had become a living hell.

I was earning quite an impressive sum of money from winning events but I’d give it all away for a quiet life in a hilly countryside, soaking in the scenic countryside without a care in the world. How nice it would be if I could ”retire” from my job and start my own farm. Indeed, to have such a carefree life would be priceless.

b) The room was badly decorated.

The room was in a horrible state. The wallpapers had begun to loose its stickiness and had begun to peel. It seemed as if there was a war going on on those four walls. One wall had prints of cowboys and indians, Another had Chinese dragons, the next had the  Spanish Armada and the last had garish army tanks. In addition the the chaos, the windows were shaded by thick curtains, with medieval castles and knights. To top it off, the room was badly lit with a ceiling light which emitted a strong orange light.

e) She sat heart-broken on her bed.

She sat limp on her bed. She stared at a photo she clutched tightly in her hands and remenicised all the great times she had with him. At last, she decided to put the past behind. Sobbing, she fished out a shiny lighter and began to set the photo ablaze. That night, nothing else mattered to her. That tragic break up shook her badly. She cried her heart out that night. Her night-long outburst left her bed soaked with tears.

          Lately, many stay home parents have left the coop to find a job. Such a thing is not done for personal gain, but is done to supplement the sole bread winner’s income. This often leaves the child in someone else’s hands. But, there are two sides on a coin, just as there are pros and cons to this. Firstly, Having two working parents will present a negative impact on the child. Children who grew up hardly seeing their parents have been joining street gangs . In addition, such a situation may have a negative impact on a child’s mental development. On the other hand, it may also have a positive influence on the child. Without a parent’s guidance, a child unconsciously becomes more independent. Also, having two working parents will provide a sturdier income, which can prove crucial in harsh times.

          Without having a stay home to attend to every whim of the child, he or she automatically learns to rely on himself to get what he wants. Unconsciously, the child is teaching himself to be more self reliant. Tests have shown that children who grew up with two working parents are less likely to ask for help on simple tasks. Thus, having two working parents can be beneficial for their child. 

          During challenging times such as the current recession, it is critical that at least one parent has a stable job. Research has shown that families with two working parents are less likely to fall into bankruptcy. These families are also able to afford occasional luxury items. Hence, two working parents can provide a better lifestyle for the family.

          All young children crave the attention of their parents. Thus it is natural that these kids would turn to other sources of acceptance and care. It is not surprising that 70 per cent of kids with two working parents join gangs to feel that there is somebody that cares for them. From this, it is obvious that having two working parents can affect a child negatively.

          When a child feels neglected, it can take a toll on his mental health. Studies have discovered that most mentally ill patients and serial killers grew up with two working parents who have often left him unattended. It can be quite shocking how such a simple thing can turn kids into dangerous people. Thus, having two working parents can take its toll on a child’s mental health.

          Having two working parents in the family can provide a stable income for the family and teach children to be independent and self reliant. However, it can leave the child feeling left out, causing them to join street gangs, in search of acceptance. It can also badly affect their mental health, as most mental patients and serial killers turned out to have two working parents who had no choice but to neglect them due to their busy work schedule. This issue has great benefits as well as dire consequences. I hope families would weigh the benefits and consequences before having both parents joining the workforce.

I officially declare this blog re-opened as we usher in the ”Great June Holiday Blog Out 2.0”! 

The word ”Genocide” was first created by a polish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin in 1944. the word Genocide comes from the Greek word ”genos” , which means ”race” and the Latin word ”cide” , which means ”to kill”.

There are two expamples of genocide in this article. The first one occured in Darfur, 1998, where an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis were exterminated in the hands of the Rwandan Hutu militias. In this event, the Rwandans systematically used rape as a weapon for the purpose of ethic clensing.

Genocide is yet another horrific manner of killing people. The term ”Genocide” is used to describe a from of racism or targeting another race in a attempt to wipe them out. There were many ways which genocide was carried out in the past by various armies and tribes alike. All of them might shock or scare a person to a certain degree, but I personally find Forced Sterillisation the most horrifying method.  This method was conducted to prevent a certain race or nation from carrying on their bloodline as no citizen would be able to bring fourth a child. This is a very cunning yet cruel form of genocide to me as the oppressors have prevent an innocent life from entering this world. I personally feel that every child has a right to live a full life.

Ragging has been an interesting and fun way to get the freshmen and their seniors to bond and get to know one another in one way or another. This is usually done in an activity where the freshmen are forced to do an embarassing or humiliating activity usually against the newcomer’s will. This has become quite a serious issue as some JC students have been hurt in one way or another during their ragging session.

I Think that ragging is a useless and harmful activity. I have many reason but I’ll just share three of them. Firstly, I don’t think it is right to publically humiliate and hurt a person. Further more, ragging may lead to serious physical or mental injuries in some cases. Last but not least, if a school wants to have a bonding session for freshmen and seniors, the are many more safe and productive activities to be done instead of ragging.

I think there are many reasons why schools implement such strict dress codes. But today, I’ll just  jive you two of them. Firstly, I think the most important reason is to keep and present a good image of the school as they see their students as advertistment boards for the school. So, a well groomed and tidy student would give the idea that the school has brought up her students well, meaning its a good place for parents to send thier kids to. Secondly, schools also want students to feel that they belong to the school as they are wearing a unifrom that carries years of tradition and history.

There are many places which needs a dress code. For example, our local airport. We need our citizens to be presentable to tourists so they will have a good impression of singapore. Next is our favourite wedding dinner. Surely you do not want to embarass the bride and groom on their special day , So please be properly dressed, depending on what kind of event you are attending 

This political cartoon done by Patrick Moberg show all the 44 past and present Presidents of the United States. It caught my attention when all the past Presidents were white men while the recently elected President, Barack Obama, is the only black man in the picture.

Of course, this cartoon is not to poke fun at the Presidents, this cartoon was done to basically tell the world about the new President who is a back man. This cartoon brings much more than a joke, it has a message of change in, as America no longer has a white man for a President, but has a Black President now.

This cartoon really got me thinking, What will happen to America? Will the change of Presidents affect America and its citizens? Will Obama be able to solve the world’s current economic crisis? None of us know what will happen, so lets just sit back and watch America’s new President in action.

First of all, I feel that it is prejudiced and biased to judge a person based on wether or not they have tattoos. After all, its not right to judge a person solely on his or her outer appearance. Most of this biased judgement on the ”tattooed kind” comes from poeple from the older generations, mainly the old and middle-aged folk. they feel that tattoos project a bad image of a person, such as realtionships to gangs, criminals, ex-convicts etc. These ”tattooed kind” are having a really hard time out there finding a job because their potential employers are put of by their tattoos as it might project a bad image of their company.

I feel that the older generation has really got to change their mindset and be more open minded. They judge and discriminate the younger generation who have tattoos, just like judging a book by its cover, when they were the ones who taught us never to judge a book by its cover.