A good book

Last year, for one of my English reading programme activities, I read the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (or 1984) by George Orwell. My opinion of the book, at the very least, is that it is very thought-provoking

I am not going to talk about the plot, but rather the underlying themes and concepts behind the book

In Oceania, every aspect of life is controlled by the Party, who is headed by the omnipresent Big Brother. There are cameras everywhere, watching your every move, even in your own home. They also control all forms of media, effectively turning it into propaganda, and constantly revising history to suit their own needs. Basically, they see all and know all, and the citzens of Oceania are constanly reminded of that fact by posters featuring Big Brother bearing the caption: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.

As said before, the Party controls everything, including the dates of each day, so even though the story begins with a statement saying that it is in April, the date may be wrong, as that is what the Party wants people to believe. Thus, the unseen but talked about characters in the book, like Big Brother, may not even exist; they could just be a fabrication of the Party's imagination to force people to submit to their will.

This concept of total media control can also be applied to the world, in countries such as North Korea. Another surprising fact is that it is set in an English country rather than a Soviet state, which just further goes to show that totalitarianism is a threat to every country in the world.

Big Brother personifies the Party, as his face is constantly depicted in posters and television, Thus Big Brother is constantly watching. Obviously, with such close scrutiny on people, there may be rebellion. This is where Ingsoc takes over. Ingsoc demands the total submission-mental, moral and physical-of the people, and will torture to achieve it. It is a complex system of psychological control that compels confession to imagined crimes and the forgetting of rebllious thought in order to love Big Brother and the Party over oneself.

To me, this political ideology is similar to what happened in George Orwell's other book, Animal Farm, which deals with Communism and the brutality of Stalin during his reign of the U.S.S.R.

What I am trying to say is that this kind of thinking, may happen to governments around the world, and is already happening in places like North Korea, and I strongly feel that leaders of more powerful nations should do all they can to prevent this from happening.

Kayaking

In the first week or so of last year's end of year holidays(November 7), I had the opportunity to go on a one-star kayaking course, as it was a course compulsory to attain a certain level in Scouts. Actually, it was meant for the Secondary 2s, but since a few were not going, some slots were open for Secondary 1s, and I decided to go since it meant that I did not have to do it the following year.

It was a wise choice.

It was a two-day course, and even though it was a bit tough, it was definitely worth it as I really learned something new, and it was also relevant and useful.

So the first day, I went to the place, and it was full of different types of kayaks. There were racing kayaks (which were much narrower than normal), recreational kayaks and training kayaks. Obviously we took the training kayaks, which were rather old, single seater things.

We learned the basics of paddling from the trainers and also the capsize drill. In the drill, we had to grip the sides of the kayak with one hand also holding the paddle, shift our weight in one direction to capsize the kayak,and while still holding the sides, tap the hull three times, and then get out and surface on the side of the paddle. It was... strange, because the place we were at, which was the Kallang River, is a very popular area for dragonboats and other boats, so it wasn't exactly that peaceful. But once I got underwater, it was really quiet. So that was a nice experience.

Since we capsized the kayak, a lot of water had entered it, so we had to bail it out. It was done like this: two guys woould grab each end of a water-filled kayak, bring it coser to shore, and then see-sawto get the water. My meaning is, one guy would squat down whike the other would stand up, thus pouring the water out. And then the 1st guy would stand up and the other squatted, util all the water was out.

There's more on the 1st day, but I shall skip all that.

Second day there we had a mini-excursion to the Singapore Flyer. Along the way, we came across a shallow rock area with a warning sign to avoid that area. When I saw that sign, I became incredbly nervous... but luckily, nothing bad happened. We crossed under two bridges, one a minor road, the other a major expressway.

I felt good to be under the bridges, because it must have been around 30-35 degrees in the open, and it was at least seven degrees cooler in the shade. When we finally got to the Flyer, what surprised me was the lack of boats of any kind there, which was actually the Marina Reservoir. Kallang River and Marina Reservoir are directly connected, so we could get there within an hour.

Anyway, back to the point. Aside from a passing "ducktour" boat (those special boats with wheels) full of eager tourists who shot pictures of us as we waved at them, the place was empty. It was like being in a desert, all alone and with such a vast empty space. From our spot where we just sat and relaxed, we could see both the Flyer and Marina Barrage.

When we finished, I felt tired but happy. Why? Because I had just learned a new, relevant and useful skill that could be used anytime in my life. But I had a little surprise the next day: Heavy sunburn. So heavy, that in fact, I could peel the raw burned skin out and create two tones for my face, one dark and tanned(sunburned), the other lighter and underneath it(the new skin)......

A enjoyable holiday

Last year during the December holidays, I went to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for a vacation. We went there for five days, and on one of those days we went for a day trip to Genting Highlands. I am going to tell you about the highlights there.

First, we had to get to the place, and what surprised me was the amount of time used to get there. From our hotel, we walked to a nearby train station, then took a train to another station with a bus terminal nearby. That took around an hour. After that, we had to take a bus journey to the cable car station. Another hour was gone. Later, we had to line up to get a ticket and board the cable car. That was probably the only part I didn't really like, because there was a huge number of people in front of us. I guess the only consolation was that it didn't take long for each individual person to get a ticket. But even then, it ook around 30 to 40 minutes.

Then, I realised something: Nearly 3 hours was gone, and we weren't even there yet!

But the wait was more then worth it. The view from the cable car as we ascended was spectacular, but what made me appreciate the view even more was that it was incredibly misty. The top of nearby hills were enshrouded in a thick mist, giving a feeling of serenity and mystery to the whole place. At one point, it became so misty that we lost sight of the descending cable cars that passed us regularly within a few seconds.

It was really something else.

My Hobbies

I currently am fourteen years old and in that span of time which I call my lifetime, I have developed s feew likes and dislikes, and I am going to tell you a few of my likes, or my hobbies.



I think my number one hobby would have to be reading. I have always liked to read since young and I enjoy reading across all genres, but particularly science fiction, because the authors of these books can take the reader to a wonderful high-tech future and each story's universe actually has a backstory of its own, which is why the authors can make everything sound so far-fetched and yet possible at the same time, as long as it fits into their universe, of course.



I also enjoy watching movies whenever possible. Movies each also have their own little backstory, but the most interesting part, in my opinion, is that movies are able to express a story in all its forms- be it emotions, the plot, the atmosphere- much more effectively than any book. My most favourite movies are probably the old classics, such as The Dirty Dozen and Dirty Harry. Actually, my class is currently watching Dirty Harry and I always wanted to watch it, but I never had the chance. But its great that we are actually watching it now, because its such a great movie. The character, emotions, atmosphere all are very well-expressed in the movie, no doubt due to Clint Eastwood's superb acting.


Finally, I like to listen to music, especially rock and roll and heavy metal from bands such as ACDC and Iron Maiden. I do not really know why I prefer these types of music, but its probably because its nice to listen to.

Something unusual that happened...

That particular day was in December last year(2009). It was the Secondary 1 orientation day. The ''unusual'' thing was that I helped to bury a dead teacher's cat. Really. It may not sound believable, but it really happened.

What happened was this: It was around noon time, and I was at the Scout den at school. The orientation had finished and we were packing things up and I saw my Teacher-in-charge talking to another teacher. Later I heard my friend say that this particular teacher in question's cat had died, and they were going to bury it. I wanted to see, so I decided to tag along. My Teacher-in-charge brought along a hoe and me and a few other Scouts went with him. We went to the large grassy area beside school(facing the highway and East Coast Park).

Then we started digging. My teacher started first, demonstrating to us how to porperly use a hoe. Then we all took turns, and I actually dug the most, and eventually an impromptu grave appeared. It was about a metre deep and half a metre wide. It was actually like a ''U'' kind of shape when viewed from the top, except that the 2 ends were further apart, due to the shape of the hoe. That took around half an hour, and to tell you the truth, I had a lot of fun doing it, but we waited another ten for the teacher to come with the "prize". The cat was actually in a plastic bag, which in turn was in a reusable carrier bag.

He went to the grave, and took out the plastic bag with the cat, but all I saw was this rather big black shape curled up in it. And it wasn't moving. He lowered it into the grave, and then we covered it up with the earth that we dug out. After that, the teacher asked me who helped the most, so I said me. He thanked me and walked away.

But it doesn't end there!

Then, I had to keep the hoe but before that, I had to oil it. Since that was my first time, I got some on my hands. I went to the toilet to wash it off. In the toilet, I saw the teacher again. He looked at me and said," Samuel, I didn't know you were such a good gravedigger!" I felt a bit awkward, then I smiled and asked,''So, are you going to get another cat?" To which he replied, casually,"No lah! No more pets. So depressing!''