Children in the Darkness ( Task 2 )

1) This poem's point of view is from the poet. His point of view should be reliable as he had first hand experience as to what happened in the war. From this poem, we can tell that the poet is not supportive of war at all, expecially when young children are being forced to go to war. The poet's purpose in this poem is probably to represent all the people who share the same view as him to try and condemn the government's actions to force children to fight in the war.

2) The setting is in Vietnam, around the year 1967 - 1968. This was when Vietnam was at war and they made young boys go to war, which is the main conflict of the poem.

3) The choice of words of this poem are relatively simple, to reinforce the main conflict on children fighting in the war. There is no common rhyme scheme and this reflects the unpredictability of the childrens' future. The repetition of "Could We" also reflects the uncertainty of the lives of the children in the future. The repetition of "darkness" could mean that the children would have a bleak or dark future. Finally, the poem goes a full circle, ending almost where it started off. This could symbolise the vicious cycle that Vietnam is experiencing. With the children fighting in the war, they would have less education. With less education, means that their children will also be taken advantage of and also be forced to fight in the war.

4) After reading this poem, I felt very sad for the children in Vietnam. They had such a bright future, only for the government to make use of them. I also realised how fortunate I am to be living in Singapore. With a good government that makes sure everyone enrolls in at least primary and secondary school enables us and our parents to have a good education and make good choices for us and not let us be easily take advantage of.

Children in the Darkness ( Task 1 )

Henry M Bechtold was in Vietnam during 1967 - 1968. During that period of time, there was a war raging and he witnessed what was happening. Although he rarely talked about it, he could never close that chapter in his life. Thus, he always goes back there every now and then. He wrote this poem during one of his visits in 2009. He was in his hotel room in Saigon watching the news channel on the television. At the same time, he was finding inspiration to write another poem on the mistreatment of girls by men when a picture of a young boy with a helmet and an automatic rifle in hand flashed on the news channel. This reminded him of the Vietnam war that happened during the late 1960s and immediately, began to pen down his feelings of the war and it resulted in this poem.

Life of a bus driver

As I was taking the bus to church on Saturday, I was thinking of how the life of a bus driver might be. After contemplating for a while, I came up with 2 descriptions of their lives.

The first description is boring. Driving this big, old bus along the same dreaded route 24 hours a day, 7 days a week must seriously be quite boring. Sitting in that cram space, changing gear every few seconds and with no one to talk to, I can;t imagine a more boring job than that!

Another description I would say is pitiful. These bus drivers have to work everyday, including on public holidays. When everyone else is spending quality time with their families, these bus drivers would have to look enviously at them while they drive their buses along the road. They would miss out on their family bonding time and I am sure they would definitely miss their families, which might result in broken relationships. What's more is that for all their efforts, they are not rewarded with a decent income.

But despite saying all these, I feel so helpless that I cannot do a thing to help them.

Ewww!!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Boogerman!! Supervillain of the universe, arch enemy of Superman, the brother of Boogeyman and ... Ok, put aside the corniness, this was what I saw last Friday at the bus stop near my house.

I was waiting at the bus stop for my parents to pick me up as I was too tired to cross the over head bridge :) As I sat down, I noticed a relatively old guy had some thing that irritated his nose. Little did I know that, to my total disgust and horror, he stood up, went to the grass patch and blew his nose. Not once, not twice, but three times. Just like that, in front of the public numbering 10 odd people. Then, he returned to his seat, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

I was terribly disgusted by his act of indecency. After all the advertisements on TV or the newspaper to blow your nose into a tissue, some man still comes along and does this kind of thing, making my blood really boil. But what can you do to curb this behavior? I don't think fines are of much use to deter these really stubborn pests. So, what are your views?

Determination amidst difficult circumstances

About last month, I remember taking a bus and saw a very unusual sight. I mean very, very unusual. Something most of you might not have seen before with your own eyes.

Well, there was a man sitting two rows in front of me. He looked like just your ordinary man - tall and big sized, wearing a striped T-shirt and long pants and with a normal crew cut hairstyle. As I was behind him, I could not see his facial expression. It was only when he stood up that I realised what so unusual about him. He had a prosthetic leg.

I was shocked! I had seen prosthetic legs before in movies, but this was the first time I have seen it "live". It was much thicker than I expected. But that wasn't the main thing that moved me. Rather, it was his facial expression. As he was facing me, I could see his facial features and expression clearly. His eyes were dreary and his looked worn out. I thought I could see the pain in his eyes every time he took a step forwards. But there was something else. It was determination. Determination to press on. Determination to lead a normal life. Determination

Even though he was just a stranger, I still have great respect for him. I feel that we have a lot to learn from him. His determination to lead a normal life despite his disability is really worthy of praise and commendation.

Out of retirement!!

All those who have been following my blog would have realised by now that I have not been posting anything up recently and gone into "retirement" mode. Well, GOOD NEWS!! Jim, the COOLEST is coming out of retirement! There will be some changes to my blog. From the past term, I realised that there is insufficient things that happen in a bus and thus, I am broadening my scope to all forms of public transport like happenings in the MRT and or a taxi. So, get ready for a whole lot of new observations from Jim the COOLEST.

Home learning Part 2

Interpersonal (Interview with Dad)

Me : What first comes to mind when you hear the word "Prejudice"?

Dad : Unfair, preconceived ideas, uninformed.

Me : Is Prejudice right or wrong or does it have a certain extent to which it is right?

Dad : It is wrong, because it does not judge a case on its own merits, but instead rely on past experiences to form a conclusion.

Me : Have you ever been a victim of prejudice?

Dad : Yes, when I was in UK, around 1987/88. As a Chinese in a predominantly English neigbourhood, I was always treated as an outsider, and found it difficult to integrate with the local people there.

Me : What is your stand about Discrimination?

Dad : Neutral. Discrimination is usually negative, but it may sometimes be positive. For example in the case of hiring older workers compared to younger ones, or disallowing young people from visiting the casinos, etc.

Me : Do you know of any recent cases of Discrimination?

Dad : Positive discrimination yes. For example, Singaporeans have to pay $100 to enter the casino, but foreigners need not.

Me : How are Prejudice and Discrimination similar?

Dad : They both have to do with making judgements or actions without objectivity but based on preconceived notions.

Me : How are Prejudice and Discrimination different?

Dad : Prejudice is a preconceived judgement, it is an attitude of the heart. Discrimination usually has to do with actions, or rules that favour one group versus another group.

Me : How do you prevent prejudice and discrimination? State at least 2 examples

Dad : Firstly, one needs to be very open and objective about issues or people. Secondly, one needs to develop a genuine love for the world and humanity in general.

Me : Thanks dad!

Dad : You are most welcome.