Self-confidence

Well, it's already week 11 for this semester! Sigh, it was fast, wasn't it? During these few weeks, we will see lots of students dressed in formal. Usually presentations for every subject will held on these days. And my mind always pop up with a question, why do people bother to dress up formally (I know we are obliged to do so)? My sisters and brother were puzzled when first to hear that we need to be dressed in formal for our presentations. Because they don't do so while they were like my age.

First of all, according to some lecturers, they claim that formal attires looked presentable. But how could you measure how presentable it is? Does formal attire gain more respects from our lecturers or other presenters? Hmm.. I can answer this. From my opinion, I think my answer is 'Yes'. Especially most of the subjects are changing the system of marking presentation. I remembered two semesters ago, my presentation was judged by a lecturer, only. Yet, as those seniors graduated one by one. Lecturers started to come out with this evil idea! Classmates are supposed to get involved in marking section. Not only the attire is important, but we must convince every 'judges' in our class. Because all the marks will be totaled up. Therefore, marks are even harder to gain. I'll say, attire will gain some marks besides our presenting skills.

Well, but this is not my main point. Girls tend to dress sharp and wear high heels to present ourselves. Not only we will then looked presentable but we are more confident in standing in front of crowds. Hence, handle the presentation perfectly. High heels do the trick. Maybe guys may not understand this feeling. I believe all the girls love these feelings. =D My conclusion is, dressing and appearance are very important. Appearance changes what you think about yourself because no one is more conscious of your appearance than anyone else. "When you don’t look good, it changes the way you carry yourself and interact with other people" said by an editor from the website, Pick the Brain. Log on to http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/10-ways-to-instantly-build-self-confidence/ for more information about building confidence. =D

Language: The Bane of International Harmony?

*Spoken in a deep V for Vendetta voice*
Why is it that there exists a myriad of languages to serve the purpose of communication when there is only one race of human beings? Why do we as human beings strive to complicate matters by having so many languages when one language alone is so complex and misunderstandable to even the most prominent of users of that language?

Why do we throw away the idea of international harmony that can brought upon us if only one language were understood and used by the entire populace of this blue planet for petty things like respect and honor for one's origins? Is not the safety of our people more important above all? The people who say they'd rather die than throw away the language of their ancestors for the language of a foreign country need to open their eyes to see the bigger, glorious picture that is this world, basking in the holy lights of harmony, brought upon us by the use of a single, simple and easily understandable language that every single infinitesimal human on this earth will know. If they do not, Vengeance will be inevitable.....Remember, remember, the 5th of November

*switches back to normal voice*
*cough cough* ahem, sorry, couldn't resist doing that after today. Anyway, what I'm getting at is simply speculating how the world would be if there existed one language that is understood by all. As of now, the only people who are able to talk to every person on this planet and negotiate and reason with them are people have a career in studying languages i.e linguists and interpreters. Peace talks between nations are only possible if both parties know each others languages (which most do not) or each of them hire an interpreter. What would happen if one or both interpreters aren't there? Nothing! Absolutely nothing will happen except for the two parties attempting to communicate and probably end up causing a misunderstanding and prolonging and intensifying the war between the countries they represent. I cannot even begin to imagine how a world with one language would work, but I can only hope that it is a much more peaceful world than the one we live in.

The Joy Luck Club

Have you guys ever heard of the Joy Luck Club??....well, you can say it was a really old movie as it was screened in1993. If you do not want to watch the movie, you can always get the book. It was written by Amy Tan and it is a very moving book which i would recommend to all the readers out there. It focuses on four Chinese American families who start a club known as "the Joy Luck Club," playing Mahjong while feasting on a variety of foods. They would then tell stories of their past and how they got away from the difficult situations in China. There are many conflicts between the mothers and their daughters as both the generations were brought up in very different cultures and background. The mothers were brought up in high context collectivist environment of China where as their daughters were brought up as individualists in the Western world. Many of the daughters could not communicate and they didnt want to try to communicate with their mothers who they think is old fashion and unknowledgable. The book is very touching and it really makes you think twice before you judge a person from the older generation.

Micheal Jackson: Spreading messages through song

Since someone else has already reviewed Ice Age 3 (of which I just watched yesterday), I'll talk more about the late and great Micheal Jackson. Despite the huge mess over whether MJ is a child molester or not (Of which I firmly believe he is NOT), MJ will, in the end, be remembered for all the amazing songs he has given us in the good old days.

Ever since he was 10, he sang songs in the Jackson Five like 'ABC', which was enough to get your feet dancing. If theres one good thing that language and communication has made possible, its song. Who knew that words said at different tones and to varying rhythms could be such a wonderful thing. And Micheal Jackson is pure proof of that.

Songs can be nice to listen and dance to, but sometimes, they can also convey deep and moving messages to listeners and can motivate people to go on. Songs that MJ sang like 'Heal the World' and 'Man in the Mirror' were about helping the poor and making a personal change to change the world respectively when you pay attention to the lyrics.

When listened to closely, almost all of Micheal Jackson's songs have a deep meaning and they all tell something about his personality and his life. Besides MJ's, many other songs by other artists convey alot of emotions and meanings. I guess this is why there are so many love songs, because songs are the best way to convey true emotions. Despite all of mankinds wrong doings, we can make some pretty wonderful stuff with just words and music.

R.I.P MIcheal Jackson, King of Pop

Indeed it has already been at least 2 weeks since the unfortunate and early demise of the legendary Micheal Jackson. Seeing his memorial a few days ago showed how much communication can truly affect people.

Even if it was mass media communication, when MJ's little girl grabbed the mic and said while sobbing and crying "I just want you to know, that my dad is the best dad I could ever have" was enough to move me to tears, and I'm sure it did the same to anyone else who watched that. The raw emotion shown in her statement conveyed exactly what she felt and also showed that she truly meant what she said.

Even before that, the speech by one of MJ's brother was heartfelt and I'm sure everybody who watched will agree with all that he said about Micheal. The entire memorial itself showed that songs, genuine words and participation can show the true feelings of people towards Micheal Jackson. Rest in Peace MJ, we'll miss you.

All we need is teamwork.

When i was at Sasa camp, we were all split into 2 different teams. We had to complete a series of tasks and one of them was to build a mud house. Ok, maybe i'm just exaggerating. Our goal was to complete 2 walls of the mud house. We started by mixing the water and the sand together, trying to achieve Mr G's "perfect chocolate cake" mixture. It took a lot of teamwork to mix everything together as it was a tough job to do. Eventhough we all didnt know each other well, everyone just put aside their differences and start working together to make the wall. The guys rolled the stack of straw to the house. Then every one worked hand in hand to bring the sand and water to the tub and started mixing. After the mixing was done, we were divided into a few groups to work on the different tasks which is covering the straw with mud, placeing the straws on the wires and smoothening out the wall. Everything was going so well until Kah Meng threw mud at my face. I threw back but it missed him and hit Mr G instead. Then the mud fight began. Everyone had a lot of fun but we forgot about the wall completely. Sadly, we didnt complete the walls and it was only halfway done. Come to think of it, if everyone didnt work together, nothing would be done at all.

Meeting new friends

I just came back from my Sasa Camp yesterday. I had loads of fun but it wasnt so fun before. On friday morning, we gathered in the main block at 7am in the morning. I started to panic as i didnt see a familiar face among the crowd of people. The majority of students from Sasa were from A-Levels, there was also a bunch of students from HICT, and there was me, the only person from HMC. Apparently all the Sasa HMC students could not come except for Kit Yang but she was no where to be seen. I gave a sigh of relive when i saw her. At least i know someone there.

We sat together on the bus and started to get to know everyone on the bus. Everyone was really friendly and i guess one just has to get the courage to say hi. We started making new friends with the students from A-levels and HICT during the activities. All in all, the camp has been a great experience for all of us and everyone went home with new friends.