5 Marks Off!

Previously, Dr Croc said something about word limit. I have got to agree with him now that I have suffered the same issue he was discussing then. I scored a 40/45 for the main content of my research paper, including an interview with a researcher, 5 interviews with citizens of Singapore and thorough literature research into the topic of population. Yes, that’s pretty high.

Unfortunately, I wrote a total of 4000 words instead of the 3000 words that I was supposed to write since the limit set at my level is 3000 words. This simple act of being hardworking and more thorough with my research, which is supposed to show how serious I was with my work resulted in a deduction of 5 marks off my research paper, resulting in a pretty miserable 35/45.

Well, I admit I wasn’t abiding by the word limit set earlier and should have at least made it a point to cheat on my word limit (by not counting the headings, the sub-headings, and making more footnotes). But I thought it should be perfectly fine if the words carry out their final purpose of informing the reader of the important details of the research and give more information on the topic itself.

The whole problem is that the grading or score should reflect on the quality of the paper and so by deducting marks off the paper for infringement of word limit, the marks are not truly reflecting the quality of the paper. In my opinion, for record purposes and also to benefit the student, the school should show the raw score (not yet deducted), then the final score, and place a remark: “Deducted 5 marks for exceeding word limit”. That would at least show the other parties looking at the marks that the student has the capability to score well, except that the school system’s restrictions have caused him some inconvenience obtaining the score he deserves.

If this is not done, he will be placed in the same category as those who have not put in effort in their research paper, causing him further inconvenience by reducing his confidence in the subject he is good at. Worst, this reduction in score and ‘discrimination’ may end with the student facing ridicule and finally breaking down, or failing in the subject due to lack of the necessary courage to undermine the rules imposed in answering the questions (maybe he could have scored better if he raised some politically-incorrect opinions, but because of the fear or the ‘rules’, he fail to do so and end up producing sub-standard work). This is bad.

And if we analyse the problem further, we realise that this student would also be discouraged to advance further in this subject of interest and the act of deduction of score would end up causing the society to lose a talent in the particular field – when our nation already has a lack of talent, so much so that they have to be ‘imported’. Ah! That’s it! We now understand why some nations lack talents, it is probably because of such ridiculous structures imposed – ‘Word Limit for Research Paper; failing to abide by it will result in loss of marks’. Then we will have some nice students writing an apology at the end of the research paper:

We are sad to inform you (my dear mentor/reader) that this paper do not reflect the complete research we have done and the few pages that you have read did not present 5 important population charts, 10 pages of analysis on the trends that our nation will be experiencing in the next 5 years, 2 pages of analysis of the role of policies in fostering new ideals on population that may ultimately result in change of societal norms, etc. – due to the word limit imposed on us by the department head. We are also sorry for not being able to present the complete list of the important stuff we did, but missed out in this research paper – also because of the word limit. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the apparent missing details. To find out more, please log on to: http://myresearchpaper.com/missingdetails/.

Then the research paper submitted ends up as a brochure for your ‘full’ research paper that is online. Best of all, this nicely done ‘brochure’ includes a preview to your paper and allows the teacher to have a ‘sneak peek’ into the research topic.

Of course, other students facing the same problem won’t do this; they will start sites to flame the department head – well, that was before the purges; you won’t see the sites nowadays. I think some department head should really go back and reflect – maybe dust his education masters thesis and see if he exceeded the word limit. Or even better, write a research paper on ‘Relationship between imposing word limit for research papers and the number of students flaming department heads’.

A Blog or Four?

I thought I was different in my attitude towards blogging, advocating the writing of personal opinion and voicing of social issues, rather than talk about one’s own life and stuff. It is true that I have managed to attain that level, but it appears that sub-consciously, blogging is still a lame activity that dumb people engage in, to do what the teachers’ call ‘funny things’. And this is why when Sin Hwee told me he began blogging, I was taken aback. Of course, I have nothing against him. I was propagating the social stereotype by being surprise at the ‘news’. That’s bad.

Worst is the new rules that are introduced to the arena of blogging. Blogging threatens any, regime, individual with authority or a respected person, because like any other form of mass media, it has the ability to propagate ideas, spread inciting ideas, which will in turn cause some sort of resentment towards these authoriative figures. Of course, the blogs being online would mean the whole world can see it – increasing its threat against anyone being a target of the blogger. Ironically, the stereotypic idea about blogging is pretty lame – just a site to talk about one’s own life. By far, we have not seen anyone starting a revolution using internet or any online mediums. So we should not let our imagination go too far. There is, perhaps, too strong a paranoia around those with authority.

People in power having such problems are inconfident of presiding over a group of bloggers – they feel insecured that there may be a particular page online that will say something about their weakness or the injustice they did, since these bloggers are clearer with ‘the regime’. Well, it is no longer important whether these stuff are true, because when people do nothing bad, they shouldn’t be afraid that people’s claims (for this claims would not withstand the test of time – as learnt from ancient wisdom taught to us since we were young). Too bad, everyone makes mistakes – now I am probably making one.

PHP Calculation

Since I was free enough to slack around though I still have another few more exam coming up, I might as well brush up my PHP, or rather start picking up PHP, which I do have some idea about. The result of this thought is an experiment I did with numbers, examination scores, and PHP programme – Marks Calculation System. Okay, the name is obviously lame (or lamely obvious) and the function is terribly stupid but at least it helps some poor Math-blur kids from my school get out of their fix by calculating how much marks they need for examinations to allow them to obtain a final score of A1 or total all of their scores up.

All they have to do is fill up a pretty simple form and click a button. The programme generates a score they obtained, or have to obtain (depending on which calculator of the calculation system you are referring to), up to 2 decimal points. Well, that’s nothing to boast of, I was simply trying out what I just learnt. If you want a better calculation system, you probably go to Chen Shuang. But I believe this few files I have coded will suffice if you just need to total your score over the year. Students from my school probably like to try using it.

Oh yah, don’t worry about others knowing your marks. I haven’t learn how to store the data you key into the form into some sort of flat files or sql database – though soon I probably will.

I am probably making more of such calculation programmes for lame usage, working with more complex functions and such. Then, I will try building a ‘site-newscasting’ system for normal organisational usage.

The Croc

I just realised that IE users are not able to view the nice header I made for the new blog layout because of some IE css file which I did not edit when modifying the theme to customise it for my blog. Now I solved the problem.

Interestingly, Dr Croc has decided to introduce himself as Christopher Yang for everyone to know him. Well, I might have to give some background then. As mentioned earlier, Dr Croc will be a co-author of ‘Propagator’, working on interesting insights of the society. If you consider Mib the Political type of person, you can say that Dr Croc is the Social type. Vib is a mix. Please do note that deviation from facts occurs all the time in my posts an names such as ‘Shuqun’ are entirely fictional and is not a personal attack at anyone (unless I explictly state it).

Exams’ off for a while and I probably be a little more active here.

Generational Dichotomies

Many a time I have been told that gaping generation gaps should not exist in a family like mine, so gaping that it hinders unparalled and unobstructed contact and communication between members of the same family. Well, given the current circumstance, my instincts capitulates freely towards that notion; but on zooming closer into the roots of this familial conundrum, praticalism begs indifference.

What I believe, is that such generation gaps arise from the lack of understanding, ignorance, indifference or whatever you call this lacklustre ability to comprehend the sub or mainstream culture of the next generation. Perhaps an unwillingness to accept or a in-built persistance to ram down the throats of the other, personal experiences and perceived benefit, abets this phenomenon. Well, I thought that it would be an uphill task apportioning blame for this conundrum, given that we are superficialites with nary an authority or power over what nature endows us with. You could be quick to derise and say: Blame the causers of this problems! The aged, the middle-aged, for their complacency and extreme esteem, for their unfounded belief that their, and only their experiences and ways of life would serve much in the individual’s personal journey through life. This argument appears sound on the surface, but the underpining insinuation speaks of wrongly and unjustly apportioning blame on the wrong entity. I proffer that mother nature shoulders the full blame, given humanity’s inability to manipulate whatever nature endows us with, or whatever characteristic nature flings at us — just like the instinct to force ideals upon the other.

You would agree that the above paints a very bleak picture, in the aspect of solutions for this familial conundrum. The answer is a stark affirmative, and I shall explain, from my perspective why this is so. The question burning on every sociologist’s mind addresses the probability of seeking a solution to this problem, the problem from which the contraction of vices and breakdown of society’s atom stem from. We are overwhelmed in a maelstrom of quick-fixes to this problem, this influx of superficial solutions being exacerbated by the trend of increasing communication breakdown, the engineering of more and more socio-cultural barriers which manifest in the form of fashion trends and the whatnots of youthful displays which collide head on with the wisely image of the older generation, between the child and the parent, between the parent and the grandparent or between the child and the grandparent. All this bodes ill towards the basal functioning of the society, which in essence, is a consolidation of men bound by the same creed or culture.

Generation gaps could well arise from one’s different piriorities in life. Many are quick to condemn the over-gregarious spending culture of teenage mall-goers, but forgot that they likewise, are victims of a massive social plot which plays upon the instinct of authoritative bodies to believe in their philosophy and dress surbodinates — in the case of generation gaps, are the occupants of the lower rungs of societal or familial hierarchy — in a palette of self-concocted values and principles. Hypothetically, if youths commanded the higher authority, the older generation’s culture of conservatism or even mindless money-spindling could be on the receiving end of blunt derison. Perhaps the notion of a mechanism that displays the same characteristics as westernisation or macdonaldisation operating in the local context comes to mind. Similar to the higher power’s ability to dominate and play an influential role the establishing of western culture in part-western societies or countries of oriental roots, the older generation, armed with a plethora of anecdotal experience, harbour the capacity and perceived moral authority to establish a foundation of principles that run on the experiences gained by the authoritative figure. And because one’s piriorities fluctuate throughout the course of life, these principles evolve, usually stablising once the one reaches the yardstick of middle-age. Now, no longer are pursueing fashion or the owning of state-of-the-art gadgets important; money making and providing for the family takes preceedence over the former. This results in an instant derison of the child’s spending habits or the child’s capitulation towards the pestilential influence of various social vices — for the case of communication breakdowns between the child and the parent. For the case between the parent and the grandparent, perhaps the grandparent advocates a disapproval over the parent’s obsession over money making, the decades of experiencing life’s wraths and sweet intangibles allowing them to grasp the worthlessness of monetary wealth in comparison to intangibles like familial bonds and love. Is this not apt illustration for the futility of advocating solutions which do not and cannot address the root conundrums?

Perhaps a passive role played by the authoritative figure can go far in quelling unrest or the suppression of malevolent rebellious behavior exhibited by the social surbodinate in counterance towards the uninvited dressing down of time-proven principles, as this passiveness is a manifestation of acceptance and comprehension of fads and the person’s moral or financial inclinations. No doubt, one could chalk up a heavy moral debt in steering clear of time-proven advice, but if this is adequate to alleviate generational gaps, the social profit would far negate any financial incurrance. Let us bear in mind the importance of the role the social atom — the family — plays in ensuring a cohesive society.

Debut

Hi. This is Christopher Yang. Well, this post is in acknowlegement of Vib for allowing me an archive for some commentaries I produce for leisure.

Before I commence my debut post, I would first like accentuate the importance of taking into cognizance the fact that these are commentaries based solely on pesonal perspective, and statistics, data etc provided will be researched throughly to prevent any deviation from the factual truth.

Thank you.

Closing Down

Walk down Peninsular Plaza months ago and you did notice a shoe store with their signboard covered by a ‘Closing Down Sale’ Banner. If you hadn’t been there before (over the past decade), you shouldn’t be surprise. After all, the store look just like any other store, except that it probably is closing down.

More than five years ago, when I was walking down that path, I thought the same. I never got to know the real name of the shop since the signboard is always covered by the banner. Then a year or two past and the shop remained, never closing down. For once, I thought the name of the shoe shop was ‘Closing Down Sale’ but I abandon that idea after figuring out that there’s a few letters protruding from the real signboard behind the banner.

A few more years past, and the shop remained standing, with the same old banner, selling different shoes, but nonetheless, still shoes and the shop looked exactly the same as the first time when I saw it – orange walls, filament bulb lighting. It is interesting to note that they seem to have more customers nowadays. Last month, I went there and told my Dad about the store. He replied that he noticed that store too; over the years, it seem that the ‘Closing Down Sale’ banner has become a permanent feature and they are using it as a business tactic to attract more people. I thought so, since I realised that the store never did close down.

I set foot on the path again today, everything was the same, the Old Chang Kee, the 7-eleven store. Then I realised something was missing from the picture – the familiar orange-colored store, the ‘Closing Down Sale’ banner is gone. The shop really closed down. It simply feels odd. We all never thought it did close down. After all, it’s been years.

We take too many things for granted, things that seem to exist permanently will not, but we tend to think otherwise. There are things you really hate, like school, some people, and I really did hate that particular store that put up the ‘Closing Down Sale’ banner for years. But the moment you realised it is gone, you find it odd. It is not as if the banner or the store played a part in my life before its absence, it is not as though I really think the schools needs some forgiving on my part, but when these things are gone, you know you can’t hate them anymore. Our stand, our assertion are all too distinct, too comfortable for us, so much so that when the opposition force cease to exist, we feel emptiness. We hate, for the sake of hating, too often, we lose our rationality in our hatred.

For a moment, we should cease to hate and think about the reasons behind all our hatred.

Articles Revisit

There were a few great articles I managed to savage from my old blog, which was unfortunately lost after the transfer of host. I probably be putting them up as ‘montage’ of my 2005 for my blog. Today, we will be looking at one of the longest posts I ever done on my blogs and I believe it still is the longest.

I haven’t been blogging in English for quite some time; and like any other post, this will be extremely long. I realised that I am starting to be very forgetful, or maybe it is just the power of time. I have nearly forgotten how to sing the school song if not for my old dusty planner, which I have dung out from some dirty cardboard box used to store my memories in secondary education.

Life no longer is the same as the past in this school. Everything has changed in this school since the time I came; all except the school song. The name has change, the uniform ‘amended’, the principal replaced, the schools merged, the teachers have moved from low postitions to high postitions (some do move in the opposite direction), others left the school, hopefully getting a better job; of course, there are the great stayers who have remain in the same position and school for more than 30 years, but they have changed their style, their ideas, they have been brainwashed.

Some students remain, some don’t, some left, some enter, others changed. I remained, Mib left, new PRC scholars enter and many friends changed. They become apathetic, restless, tired, lame, less jovial, indifferent to everything and abnormal. I could pin-point a exact reason or cause for such conditions faced by every single of our students; all I can say is that they are no longer the same due to a combination of factors, many in which, involves the school, our teachers, principal, and staff. I suddenly find myself singing the school song, at least I felt the urge to sing it. I felt like I want to sing it to the world and everyone whom I ever knew. But why? Why the school song?

The reason I can find is that I am sufferring from a condition that makes me feel like reverting back to the old days; we had fun, and were much livier. Yet when I sing the song, I start forgetting lines. Something rather odd because I manage to remember every line in the song whenever I sang in school, for all 4 years. I discovered that the song lost its meaning, it no longer applies, it doesn’t speak any word of truth that can ever be fitted into the current situation. I forgot the lines because I no longer believe in them and that they are no longer conveying any sensible message to me. Soon, the song in my memory will diminish. I can try learning it again, and this probably makes me feel even more true that the song no longer works.

I remembered the time when I first hear the councillors sang during my Secondary One Orientation. It was full of vigour, the type that makes us ‘[name censored due to sensitivity]’, the kind that brings out the sense of belonging in us, the class that draws the spirit out of us. I remember the time, my first day of school, which was a Wednesday, when I first sang it properly in school. Though I stumbled on a few words, the idea was generally inside me. But now…

I feel intense fear, and sorrow for such a demise of such a great organisation, with such great students, forefathers, and staffs. I don’t want, and do not know the causes of our being at such a state of existence, revealling them will only uncover more saddness. Yet I see an influx of fools into this great hole that lies right in front of us. I wonder if I should pity or hate them. It is like seeing a great army of humans rushing through the Gates of Hell into the state of extreme helplessness.

I saw the candidates of the general election. I thought they were absolutely nothing but fools, despite having been in this dreadful place for 4 years. They thought they could put out the fires of Hell; they are extremely wrong. Their efforts only fuel the fire, strengthening its power over all of us. They come from almost every single aspect, have a wide variety of talents, it was a display of great diversity of culture. Their speeches, all of different style, brings out their skills and also how naive they are. The most widely used techniques in their speeches were known as ‘crapping’, ‘false appeal’ and ‘manipulation’. Ironically, they are actually manipulated by the school, by a series of crapping of how democractic they are and falsely appealing to their greed for power. Good move, I say, Fat Brother, but it didn’t manage to escape my eyes.

Every single party deserve suppport but unfortunately, we must also see what they can actually do when they are voted. Hence, we can say that it is as good as not supporting them; for they do not have the authority of power to make any changes. Everyone comes out and insult the old system, saying they are ready to built a new one that will remove all the problems and create a utopia. How naive! The past years have also seen candidates doing this and using these tactics, but it appears that within the very short time when they are in power, they still have to struggle with their school work and the authority up there, Fat Brother; I can assure you that they have no time to do anything they sincerely intended to.

Look at the famous Master Rasputin. He convinced all of us to vote for him; but what now, he admits that he did almost nothing within his regime to improve the situation of lack of power in students. Worse of all, he is now still pushing for some Rights Movement. I say, “You have a movement, you gotta move it. Don’t just say move, you gotta really move, even if it is just a step.” Readers, you must think I am crapping, but it is extremely true that Rasputin have been decorating his ideas and speeches so much that they are so impractical to be carried out. Some say transparency, some say have informal feedback collecting. How about you go get out there and give Fat Brother a punch, see if you observe some adipose tissues oozing out or lipids spilling on your hands. Come on, get real, I know Rasputin can run fast, but he just can’t move.

Hey Jack, the beanstalk outside your hut is growing fast, go climb it and destroy Fat Brother before the he attempts to climb down from his high up position and hurt us all by throwing his weight around. You must protect us, help us, use your vision, your beliefs, to make our day a better one. I tell you, I don’t believe you can do it. He has a goose that lays golden eggs and these eggs from crashing down, killing almost everyone that is in the way. Oh, and that golden harp that plays devious music that will brainwash everyone and attempt to blind us from his evil deeds. How about getting an axe to chop down that beanstalk? We are ourselves and he is him; we go separate ways. Oh yah, growing taller helps you run faster when the beanstalk falls, don’t forget to remind one of your member.

And the NCC! You guys are a bunch of disciplinarians who thinks that this school is full of chickens clucking around, waiting for someone to get them to do some push-ups or what. Fat hope! Militants are not welcome in this state of authoritarian. While you might become good friends with Fat Brother due to ‘Ideological Similarities’, he will eventually become suspicious of you, then this suspicion will evolve in to paranoia and and finally the end of you guys. You think this is the “Chun Qiu Zhan Guo” or what? Go home and make kites to fly so that you can invade the enemy’s territory.

So much for Pupils Action. No need to say much, go look at Singapore, the beautiful island that lies in the south of the Malaysia Peninsular. Come on, with a leader who looks like a republican dumbass and members who do not look as though they are satisfied with the current system. Everything in the school is ready for you. The Parliment Model; all seats occupied by one party (our school call it the council), with 3 seats for Nominated people. For your information, nominations are by the school authority. So what can I say? Wear white?

And you think you really are ‘The Party’? I think you guys are the party. The ones that goes partying around. This is not the 1970s, nor the Matrix age. That movie was long outdated. You will end in the same as ‘THE CHS’ – gone for good. Go back home and brush up your programming and fighting skills before you come back. You might like to put some virus in the school network so that some Agent Smiths appear to fight with you all, making you guys ‘The Ones’. Remember, get Agent Smith to convert Fat Brother first, or else there will be lots of fatty data left in the harddisk. They will form the Bad Clusters which will cause your harddisk to stop functioning.

I think this is long enough, I shall stop here. Everyone who has read, sit down and reflect upon what has happened and past. Overcome the brainwashing of the golden harp, escape the golden eggs that are falling, flush the Gates of Hell into the earth by dropping a nuke or two, fill up the hole with these earth, go ahead and punch Fat Brother. Stand up. Remove the lipids, destroy the calories and smash the carbos.

This article covered lots of supposedly censored stuff. It was written on the 18 February this year when I was extremely mad at all the changes I see taking place around me. I probably won’t be able to write such long posts any time soon. But I probably be writting a ‘follow-up’ to report on the current status of my surroundings – pertaining to the same topic.

Sushi Talk

Mib is becoming more ethocentric now that he begin his bombardment on Japanese Culture. Before reading further, please go to his blog and read this, so that you understand what I am rabbling about. Now, here’s my comment on his arguement that sushi is from China.

For a start, we can say everything from Japan originates from China. Strictly speaking, if we consider whatever Japan does after their clear breakage (when they start their own language) with China as their own, we must consider that Sushi originates from Japan.

Firstly, Chinese DO NOT mix vinegar with rice for consumption – those are usually animal feed or something like that. Sushi is discovered after vinegar is applied to the rice, supposedly for preservation purposes. More importantly, the great variety of sushi available has rendered its origins unimportant. The ones with raw fish (usually salmon or tuna) on them are definitely from Japan because the Chinese never ate salmon raw.

Next, from a more pragmatic point of view, Chinese (from the background and cultural – not racial perspective) wouldn’t be so ‘dumb’ as to squeeze their staple into balls one by one, eventually eating them all together. More importantly, the kind of rice used for sushi is unlike the Chinese staple type.

Finally, no one really gives a damn about where sushi comes from because you just pop food into your mouth without bothering about their origins. After all, you don’t munch on your pizza thinking about Italy, or chew on some cheese and fantasize French stuff.

And the reason why I am posting this comment here is that I fear he will delete my comments in an attempt to save his ‘face’ – when of course, he could have deleted this particular post as well; but he wouldn’t usually read my blog – so never mind.

Leaving

There is Bingyuan, talking about missing people, the school and stuff. I am here to say how life will still be the same. Haven’t we been through enough transitions, troubles – always brought upon by ourselves? Even in Bingyuan’s posts, he made special reference to the troubles his class has created in his journey in the school. The problem that we are facing now is that we are not going to have our lives changed by just ‘leaving’ the school this time. It is different now, troubles, nonsense are carried forward together with all the troublemakers.

While there are new teachers, new classroom, new rules, new environment, the fact that people remains a relative contant (relative to the past years) still means the same life. We do get to the end of the travelator but there’s still another one ahead. Worst, there’s a custom guard making sure that those with boarding pass labelled ‘IP’ would proceed to this next travelator. We will see different potted plants, new duty free stores and different gate numbers but those on the travelator are still the same. It is not that I mind – I will still meet Bingyuan on the travelator together with other familiar faces (except Mib, who has long landed somewhere else). The ultimate problem lies with the bunch of troublemakers on the travelator. They probably try to pull out the thick strip of rubber used as the hand rest of the travelator or do a hand-stand on the travelator.

The bottom line is that, other than those who have left for their gates, and those especially great educators, we would miss no one. In fact, we probably become irritated by the presence of some people. To be honest, I am pretty annoyed with Bok for slacking Physical Education and talking nonsense with Trix and gang – such attitudes towards learning is despicable (this sentence is sponsored by the politically correct side of my brain, situated on the left cerebrum). I suspect, I will be together with a group of people who have flunked next year, because it happened to me also. I have no real hopes for the future because there seems nothing socially accepted as great that I did like to take up as future career.

We’ll all try to let nature takes its course.