Wednesday 28 January 2009

T1W4 Journal Writing : Festivals

The festival I celebrate is Chinese New Year. It falls between mid January or early Febuary depending on the Chinese calender which is different from the calender we use everyday. We have fifteen days to celebrate this festival. On the eve of Chinese New Year, my family would go to my uncle's house in the afternoon to pray to our ancestors then we eat lunch. We would stay there for the whole day till 1 plus at night becauce we need to pray to the sky before 12 midnight. On the first day, after we bathe, my brother and I would greet our parents with two oranges, then we would set off to my uncle's house to greet them. At a certain time, we would set off to my first great-grandmother's house. There altough it is a one room flat, but there are walkways where we can take pictures. So i think it is a great place for phototaking. Then, we will go to my second great-grandmother's house, there will be a crowd there with food but too many people is going to cost more heat in the house. So, we youngsters will go down to the playground to play, take pictures and chat. Then we will go to my father's aunty's house who lives in a condominium with her son, daughter-in-law and her two grandchildren. We will then do to my father another aunty's house who own two units. One of them belonged to her son. There is a great place to play cards and chat. We will then go back home till night and go to my closer relative's house which was decided by one of my aunty. Yes, the muslims celebrate Hari Raya Adiltrifi because the celebrate to mark the end of their fasting month. Yes, because if one of the neighbours festival is here the neighbour can invite us to their house to celebrate with them. We can organise more campaign to encourage us to build a stronger bond between the neighbour and us.

Thursday 22 January 2009

Tooth Fairy



Centuries ago, in Europe it was a common practice when a child's baby tooth fell out (primary tooth), to bury it in the ground. The tooth was, in all likelihood, buried in the garden or in the field's surrounding the child's home. It was done so that a new tooth (permanent tooth) would grow in its place. The other reason for this ritual was the superstition, that if a witch got a hold of the tooth, a curse could be placed on the child, (as with fingernail clippings and/or hair). So by burying their children's teeth, this unfortunate curse was prevented from happening. Hopefully.
Anyway, as people migrated to this country, many of the same beliefs and superstitions followed them. However, since most of the people now found themselves living n towns and cities, bare land wasn't as plentiful. So they began placing the teeth in small flowerpots, or planter boxes. Eventually this rite too changed, and the fallen out tooth was placed under a child's pillow, where the parents switched the tooth (always in the middle of the night) for a treat or a coin.
Of course the curious children wanted to know what happened to their small teeth. And since children love to hear stories, their parents explained to them who was actually removing their teeth and leaving the treat in its place. The Tooth Fairy was born. All children grew to love this rite of passage, and the coming of the Tooth Fairy.
But what never changed, was the practice of placing the child's tooth (after it was quietly removed from under their pillow), into a small box or pouch. Where it usually lay hidden in the back of a drawer, from any unseen eyes. Why? Well, I like to think that even as adults we are still a little afraid of witches.

Sunday 18 January 2009

Total Defence Day blogging competetion

Corn.......


Dragonfruit tree with no fruits. :)





The papayas are not ripe yet.


A papaya tree from my great-grandmother's house. :)
A tree from my great-grandmother's house.



I would defend the Singapore's trees and greenery aspects because Singapore was famous all over the world for being clean and green and it is often known as 'Garden City.' Greening Singapore was a project started by our Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew who realised the importance of plants to the environment. So I think we should uphold the name 'Garden City' so that Singapore can even be a unique country. I would defend them by keeping Singapore green by trying not to litter.

T1 W2 Journal Writing : School's Vision, Mission and Values

The schools's vision is : 'A school of distinction Nurturing Future-Ready Citizens of Character.' The school's mission is : 'Providing quality education to equip pupils with the values, knowledge and skills for the 21st century.' The school's values are : P - Passion for learning, I - Integrity our foundation and E - Excellence in everything we do. I think the schol's vision, mission and values is to encourage the pupils in anderson. Yes, because in our school, we had so many things like computers that are setting up right now, internet cafe and games around in the school so that we can stress out during reccess or lunch. Yes. If we are playing badminton or tennis or golf or table-tennis or swimming we must try our best to beat our opponent these action allow us to strive for excellence in everything we do. Students can live up to it by pracising it in their everyday lives. Teachers can organise games to fascinate the pupils as many pupils play games.